Dawn broke as they rode away from the cemetery, away from Westhill and the Duke’s estate. Chestnut plodded along, calmer now that she was no longer picketed next to a crypt full of beetles. Tanner snoozed in front of Mina, and the girl struggled to hold him upright in the saddle. By midmorning, Mina was tired, cranky, and hungry.
[Let’s take a break and have breakfast,] Grandma suggested.
Mina awkwardly guided the horse off the path and into a grassy clearing. Tanner twitched awake as Chestnut slowed to a stop. He yawned and mumbled a question that Mina couldn’t quite make out, but managed to perk up some when the girl mentioned eating.
[Want me to take over for a bit?] Grandma offered.
Exhausted from their late night and early morning, Mina nodded and retreated, letting Grandma take over before curling up to sleep in a corner of her mind.
“Here,” Grandma said, handing Tanner a lump of beetle leg meat. It was cold and bland, but still filled their bellies, so Grandma wasn’t going to complain. She’d had worse as a child, after all, and so had Mina. Tanner took it with a muttered thanks and stuffed it into his face, grimacing in between bites, but he also downed it without whining. “Tanner, how old are you?”
“I’m eleven,” he said, swallowing his food. “I just haven’t hit my growth spurt yet,” he added defensively.
Grandma tried to hide her surprise. She had thought he was eight at most. Maybe the kids in this world were just smaller. Was it because they were all under-nourished? “O-oh, okay.” After an awkward pause, Grandma asked, “Why are some things called animals and other things called monsters?”
Tanner shrugged. “Monsters attack people, so people kill them.”
“But animals attack people too. A horse can definitely kill a man.” Grandma eyed Chestnut warily.
“That’s…” Tanner trailed off. “I don’t know. Ask a priest, not me!” He huffed before stuffing more meat into his face.
Grandma shook her head and sighed. She should find some knowledgeable adults to help her learn more about this world. These two children were both too young and too hard used to have been carefully educated. She didn’t blame either of them, but the lack of knowledge was dangerous, even if she did have an advantage from her Mina’s reading.
Tanner fell asleep sitting up against a tree trunk. Mina was also still snoozing in the back of her mind as well. Chestnut grazed idly on the soft grass. Birds chirped in the foliage all around them. It was surprisingly peaceful. Grandma spent the downtime meditating, breathing in and out and feeling the flow of power through Mina’s body. She imagined a river circulating through her, merging with the currents of life around her, the grass and trees, the birds, the wind stirring her tangled blue hair. As she inhaled, she visualized pulling that energy into herself, and as she exhaled, pushing it back out again, blurring the boundaries between her body and the world around her. This, Grandma knew, would be the most fundamental cornerstone of Mina’s strength.
Grandma lifted a hand and imagined a swirling ball of water coalescing in her palm. She pushed the energy surging through her out of her hand, visualizing the current of power churning into a sphere. Slowly, a glimmer of light turned into a droplet of water, then a trickle, swirling and swelling until a ball the size of her fist turned gently in the palm of her hand. Awed, Grandma cupped both hands around the sphere, and brought it to her lips. It was cool and sweet, refreshing and clean, perfect for quenching her thirst. After drinking her fill, Grandma laid down, exhausted. Her hand ached, her head throbbed, and her belly growled. Not an efficient way of getting drinking water, then. Closing her eyes again, she pulled life giving energy from the currents flowing through the world around her, replenishing the power she had spent.
“Mina, you’re glowing again,” Tanner said as he woke up and prodded Grandma with his foot. “Last time you did that, a creepy door opened. Can you please stop?”
“Hush, you brat,” Grandma chided with a laugh. “There are no creepy doors around here. I’m just practicing a little, that’s all.” She let the excess power flow out of her, feeling refreshed. “Ready to get moving again?”
It was afternoon by the time they got back on the road. Grandma looked back at the cemetery in the distance, wondering if the corpse beetles and other dungeon denizens would emerge to hassle the Duke’s soldiers. She sincerely hoped so. It would be very convenient for deterring pursuit, after all. She was glad that nobody was living in the village right now. There would be few casualties from such a surge, unlike what happened in the story that her granddaughter had read to her.
“Where to next? You’re not going to take us to another graveyard, are you?” Tanner sulked.
“There’s a pest control company in the next town. I’m hoping they’ll hire us.” Grandma nudged the saddlebags with her foot. “And I’m sure they can help us sell off the corpse beetle shell I collected while you were sleeping last night.”
Tanner threw her a dirty look over his shoulder. “You went down by yourself?”
“Sure did,” Grandma answered with equanimity.
“You sure like to take risks,” Tanner grumbled.
When Mina finally woke up from being jostled about in the saddle, Grandma shared her recent memories with the girl, showing her how to make water from the power flowing inside her. As they rode, Mina and Grandma traded off, taking turns practicing pulling energy in and sending it out again as water. Tanner chose to ignore them after the first few water balls, focusing instead on guiding Chestnut down the road.
They traveled late into the night, not wanting to stop before their destination. Chestnut faithfully plodded along, even when the light faded. “Do horses normally like walking around in the dark?” Grandma asked, curious.
“I don’t know about other horses,” Tanner said. “But Chestnut is a good girl. She’s always been calm and sweet, and I’m glad she’s the one who came with us.” He patted the horse’s neck affectionately.
[I still think we should sell her soon,] Grandma thought, [but I’ll feel bad for Tanner when we do.]
[Do we have to? I think Chestnut is sweet.] Mina pleaded.
[It’s hard to take care of her with just us,] Grandma answered. [We’ll see how things go.]
The town was mostly dark and empty by the time they arrived. The sole building still sporting a lit lantern was the inn. The stableboy there was asleep in an empty stall when they rode in, and rather than waking him up, they decided to take care of Chestnut themselves. After removing all her tack and giving her as good a brushing as they could in the dark, the children found a pair of empty stalls, one for the horse and one for themselves, and they all settled in to sleep.
Mina woke up early the next morning. Grandma was still snoozing, so the girl took control and rolled to her feet. Grandma had told her all about the pest control company, so Mina carefully tugged out the beetle shells, wrapped them in her horse blanket, then crept out of the stable to take a look around the town. People were already starting to rouse, and the air was filled with the scent of wood smoke and cooking food. The center of the town held a small paved square that was lined with shops and stalls. Streets radiated out from it in several directions. Mina took a moment to orient herself against Grandma’s instructions, then set off down a narrow road lined with businesses.
A burly man was just stepping out of a building with a red door when Mina approached. He hung a sign on a nail in the door, then paused to stare at her. “What’s a kid like you doing here?” he asked, not unkindly.
“Is this the pest control company?” Mina asked, her voice only shaking a little. She shifted her awkward bundle on her back.
“Yes it is. Do you need something?” The man squatted down to be closer to eye level, eyeing the package she carried. He had laugh lines around his eyes, a bushy beard, and flaming red hair cut close to his scalp.
“I want to sell,” she told him. “We killed a corpse beetle recently, and I heard you buy monster parts.”
“All right, little miss. Come inside, we’ll take a look.” He smiled, all his wrinkles bunching up.
The man gestured Mina inside, then closed the door behind her. “Right this way.” He led her to a counter in the back of a long room. “Need a hand?”
Mina shook her head and laid her burden down with a quiet grunt. The man carefully unwrapped the blanket, revealing two iridescent wing shells. He bent close and examined the pieces, tapping on them gently, flipping them over and scrutinizing them from all angles.
“These are in great condition, little miss. Did you harvest them yourself?”
Mina nodded, though she felt guilty about it. After all, Grandma had helped her, but she wasn’t about to try and explain that to him. “How much can I get for those?” she asked.
“We don’t see corpse beetles much around here, so I’ll give you a decent price for them.” The man rummaged around behind the counter and counted out a handful of coins. “This will get you some better clothes and food for a few days.”
[Grandma, are you awake?] Mina asked as she stared at the coins.
[Mmhm, you’re doing great, love.] Grandma had been quietly watching Mina with a growing sense of pride. [Do you need some help counting the money?]
[Yes please.] Mina touched each piece as Grandma counted, one, two, three…
[This is more than what we got from the whips and riding crops,] Grandma confirmed.
“Thank you sir,” Mina said with a wobbly curtsey. She swept the coins into her pocket and turned to leave.
“If you run into any more of those beetles, or anything else for that matter, bring us the parts. We’ll give you a good price for them.” The man smiled and waved to her as she left.
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