Back in the relative comfort of the small stone crypt, Grandma carefully blew on the embers until they flared back to life, then fed it small twigs until the fire crackled merrily again. The pot of water she had boiled earlier was nice and hot, ready for beetle leg soup. Grandma cut the legs up into segments at the joints, then scraped out the meat inside with the knife. It was translucent and gooey, but firmed up into pale lumps as it cooked. For extra flavor, she chopped a few apples into the soup as well.
“This will probably not taste very good, since we couldn’t afford to buy salt or any spices, but it should fill our bellies just fine.” That was good enough. It wouldn’t be the worst thing any of them had eaten, after all.
True to her word, the soup was bland and earthy, and the boiled apples were soft and mushy. There was a faint sweetness, from the meat and the apples both, but Grandma dearly wished she had some soy sauce and vinegar to dip the meat in. The two children grew full well before they ran out of beetle meat, but Grandma cooked everything anyway.
“We can take this along and travel farther with proper food. Let’s get farther away from the Duke’s house. I don’t want him to find us and drag me back.”
“It’s kind of strange that they haven’t come for us yet,” Tanner mumbled around a mouthful of beetle leg meat.
“I guess they were more worried about the horses that got loose than one little girl.” Grandma snorted. “Even if that girl is the Duke’s bastard daughter.”
“You must really hate them, huh?” Tanner stared at Mina.
“Me? I don’t want to waste my energy hating scum like that.” Grandma dug through their packs until she found the waxed cloth that the monster jerky had been wrapped in. Carefully, she plucked out the cooked beetle meat and set it on the cloth to cool. “I want to get far away from them so that they can never bother me again.”
“You don’t want revenge or something?”
“What’s the point? This girl is going to live a good life. And if the Duke suffers as a result, great! But I’m not going to go out of my way to do anything for or against them. It’s a waste of time.”
In the back of Grandma’s mind, Mina stirred angrily. [What if I want to take revenge?]
[I won’t stop you, dear, but first it would be better if you grew up big and strong.]
“You’re weird,” Tanner said finally. “But I guess I’ll stick around.”
Grandma laughed and reached out to ruffle Tanner’s short brown hair. “Thanks, kid.”
After the pair had rested a bit, Grandma climbed to her feet. “Since the dungeon is open, it’s less safe to spend the night here. We can either take turns watching the door in case anything climbs out, or we can walk through the cemetery at night to find another place to camp. Do you have a preference?”
Tanner looked sick to his stomach. “Both of those choices sound horrible.”
“Yep!” Grandma replied with far too much cheer. “I think staying here is easier, but staying awake half the night will be pretty tough on a child’s body.”
“I don’t want to walk around in a graveyard in the dark,” Tanner whimpered.
“That is a fair and legitimate choice.”
“Legi–?” The stableboy looked confused.
“I mean, good choice.” Grandma stretched, her shoulders popping with the movement. “Let’s clean up and put our stuff away. You can sleep first.”
Tanner curled up on a horse blanket and, as uncomfortable as it was, the tired boy fell asleep right away. Grandma watched for a few minutes just to make sure, then peered into the dungeon door again.
[How would you feel about going back down there?]
[By ourselves?] Mina sounded nervous.
[That beetle’s back carapace looked like we could sell it for a few coppers. That might be enough to buy a little salt.] Grandma examined the small knife. [Besides, you could use more practice with the knife.
[Wait a minute,] Mina sounded downright panicked now. [You want me to cut up that beetle?]
[Why not? It’ll be good practice.] Grandma thought of her own children and grandchildren. She had done her best to encourage their hobbies, and give them ample opportunities to explore. This Mina hadn’t had any choice in what she learned, nor much room to find things to enjoy. [But if you don’t want to, you don’t need to do it just because I tell you to.] Grandma filled her thoughts with warmth and comfort, imagining draping a thick fluffy blanket around Mina.
Mina was quiet for a moment. [I want to try it. But you’ll help me, right?]
[Of course!] Grandma beamed.
The girl crept down the stairs, a tiny glow on the tip of her finger to light the way, until she reached the corpse beetle they had killed earlier. Other critters had found it and eaten most of the soft parts, but the hard shell remained. There wasn’t much to do, actually, and all Grandma had to do was point out the remaining few connections between the shell and the thorax. Mina sliced through the last bits of shell that held the pieces together, then freed the wing carapace with a quiet grunt.
[Well done!] Grandma approved, watching from behind Mina’s eyes. [Now let’s head back up and put that away.]
The rest of the night passed peacefully. None of the beetles and other dungeon critters seemed particularly motivated to climb the stairs and investigate the strange new smells wafting down from above. Mina woke Tanner after Grandma had counted to an absurdly high number.
“It’s been pretty quiet,” she whispered. “Wake me up if anything comes up, all right?”
Tanner rubbed his fists into his eyes and yawned, then nodded blearily. Grandma was sure he would fall asleep sitting up, but Mina needed to rest. Well, Grandma was tired too. This was a lot of shenanigans in one day, for someone who had been using a power chair to roll around for years. As Mina drifted off to sleep, Grandma reviewed her current situation.
She had gone to sleep after her family had visited her, and had somehow woken up in the body of the villainess from her granddaughter’s story. Had she died in her sleep? Did that even matter at this point? She remembered bits and pieces of the story, useful locations and side characters that had caught her ear, but the overall plot hadn’t interested her very much, so she hadn’t exactly paid close attention. She had been more riveted by the sound of her granddaughter’s voice, her sweet smile as she read aloud. Ah, she missed the girl. Wrapped in the nostalgic memories of her family, Grandma drifted off to sleep.
The children woke with a start as the clicking, hissing sound of beetles climbing up the stairs filled the stone chamber. [Knife!] Grandma yelled as she came alert from Mina’s spike of adrenaline.
Light bloomed on Mina’s fingers as she pulled out her power, and the kids scrambled to their feet. Mina scooped up the knife nearest her, then rushed to the doorway to the dungeon. In the glow of her finger lights, she counted seven corpse beetles slowly feeling their way up the narrow stairs.
[This is good, they’ll only be able to come at us one at a time, and if we kill the first one before it comes out, the others will have a hard time moving forward.] Grandma analyzed the situation with cold clarity.
[I’m scared,] Mina admitted in the privacy of her mind.
[Do you want to do it, or me?] Grandma offered.
[I’ll do it this time.] Mina gritted her teeth and clenched her fist around the knife handle.
[Remember, the joints on the legs are the weak points. Once they have trouble moving, you can stab the neck. Watch out for their mandibles.]
[Their mandi-what?]
[The scary mouth bits.] Grandma hid a chuckle.
Mina threw a glance at Tanner. He had skittered to the far end of the room, caught between panic and guilt. “Get the knife!” Mina shouted at him. He didn’t have a helpful Grandma whispering advice into his ear, so Mina would have to help him instead. “Go for the leg joints!”
[Should I go down to the beetles?] Mina asked nervously as she waited at the top of the stairs.
[No, it’s hard to fight on steps. Better to do it here on level ground.]
Mina’s hand sweated from how hard she was gripping the knife, her knuckles turning white and aching as she stood. After a brief eternity, a beetle leg emerged from the gloom. She leaped forward and plunged the knife into a joint, the crunch of shell as her knife tip penetrated sending shockwaves up her arm. The beetle flailed and hissed, and Mina nearly lost her grip on the knife. She clung on desperately, yanking hard to free the blade before she was thrown off.
A small body charged past her on the other side, Tanner diving forward and stabbing at a leg on the other side of the beetle’s body. The creature hissed again as it stopped crawling forward, its head thrashing in pain. Mina took a deep breath, then rammed the knife into the narrow link between the head and thorax. The beetle convulsed, its legs jerking spasmodically, before going still.
“Is it over?” Tanner wheezed.
“There are more behind this one,” Mina told him grimly.
[If you want to run, I think you have enough time to pack up and grab the horse,] Grandma suggested.
“Should we leave? It’s still dark out but I think we can grab everything before the next beetle climbs out.”
“I don’t want to stay here!” Tanner whimpered.
The two rushed to collect everything. Mina kicked apart the little fire pit, scattering the cooled coals and stamping on them just to be extra sure. They wrapped up the beetle meat, stuffed everything into the saddlebags, and scampered out the door.
Chestnut was shifting restlessly at the end of her tether, no doubt woken up by the commotion inside. Tanner dragged the horse’s tack over and Mina helped him get everything ready. There was no mounting stool here, so Mina laced her fingers and helped Tanner scramble up, then Tanner leaned down to pull Mina into the saddle behind him. As the beetles shoved the corpse of their comrade aside, Tanner nudged Chestnut into a restless canter through the predawn gloom of the cemetery.
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