In the middle of the night, Grandma woke up to the sound of Chestnut stomping nervously. Nearby, the grass rustled, and a dark shadow inched closer. Raising a hand overhead, Grandma called light to her palm, aiming it with her cupped hand to look around at what had startled the horse.
A pair of foxes stared back at her, eyes gleaming with reflected light, ears back and hackles up. Grandma slowly rose to her feet, doing her best to appear large and dangerous. “I don’t want any trouble,” she murmured, “but I’ll fight if I have to.” Her free hand drifted to her belt, and the knife hanging there.
Wary but curious, Grandma reached for the mana that flowed in and around her. The foxes were two dense little swirls of magic, though they paled in comparison to the giant tree at her back.
[Grandma?] Mina’s sleepy mental voice came. [What’s going on?]
[We have some nighttime visitors.] Grandma watched the foxes, who stared back at her in turn. [I think they’re not ordinary animals, at least not like the foxes that I know from home. They have magic too.]
Grandma envisioned a tendril of magic circulating from her to the foxes and back, connecting them in a loop. The foxes abruptly stiffened as power flowed between them, then relaxed as Grandma poured soothing calm into the connection.
[Wow,] Mina sighed happily. [They’re so beautiful.]
A sense of questioning and curiosity flowed into them. The foxes wanted to know who they were, and what they were doing here at the tree. Grandma put together a series of images, of Mina being mistreated by the Duke’s people, of Mina and Tanner running away, of the three of them finding shelter and comfort in the embrace of the tree.
The foxes approached slowly, one wary step at a time. Grandma released her grip on the knife hilt, and knelt down to offer her hand for them to sniff. Chestnut, having reached the far end of her tether, snorted irritably as the foxes came close, but otherwise stood calmly watching the encounter. [That’s one good horse,] Grandma thought.
[She has a little magic too,] Mina confirmed. [It’s very faint, but I can see her mana glimmering just a tiny bit.]
Well, Mina was more sensitive to it than Grandma was, so Grandma took the girl’s word for it. In any case, it was convenient, since if Chestnut bolted, it would cause problems.
The foxes sniffed Grandma’s fingers, then licked her hand. Mina giggled at the sensation, wet and slippery and warm. It tickled. Grandma smiled too, and slowly moved to stroke their heads. The foxes permitted the intimacy for a bit, then moved out of reach. They sent a pulse of warmth along the connection, a feeling of acceptance, then curled up together just out of arm’s reach of Grandma.
[I guess they’ve given us permission to stay here,] Grandma surmised.
[They’re so cute!] Mina squealed in delight.
[Let’s get back to sleep. I’m sure between these two and Chestnut, we’ll be alerted to any dangers that approach us.]
The rest of the night passed peacefully, and Grandma woke to faint dawn light filtering through the huge tree’s canopy. She felt refreshed, rested and ready for whatever may come. What came was Tanner’s exclamation of alarm.
“Where did these guys come from?” he shrieked, brandishing his knife at the pair of foxes.
Grandma hurried to calm the boy, lowering his knife hand and soothing him like a panicked animal. “Easy there, easy,” she murmured. “These foxes came to visit us in the middle of the night. They’re not going to attack us.”
“H-how do you know?” Tanner allowed his knife to be sheathed at his side.
Grandma rubbed circles on his back to try and calm him further. “We had something like a conversation. Apparently they have magic.”
Tanner narrowed his eyes at Grandma. “Why do things always get weird with you?” He dropped his head into his hands. “Every morning, something new and terrifying happens. First it was those awful beetles, then you were gone and an angry stableboy threatened me with a pitchfork. And now it’s magic foxes.”
Grandma wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it all, but she bit her lip and held it in. “I’m sorry Tanner. I didn’t know it would be like this either.”
Mina, safe from being overheard by Tanner, laughed freely. [I didn’t know it would be like this either. I’m glad you’re here, Grandma. Thanks for saving me from my father.]
[You’re so welcome, dear.]
The children shared a little monster jerky with the foxes, who ate daintily. After they had cleaned up the campsite, Grandma approached the enormous tree. With the foxes watching attentively, Grandma traded places with Mina, and said, [I guess we should open it up and take a peek inside.]
Mina closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She felt the flow of magic inside her, then expanded her perception to the world around her. The tree glowed, almost unbearably bright with the amount of magic concentrated within it. Mina pulled mana from around her until she felt ready to burst from all the power she contained. The tree responded, swelling until a limb of magic unfurled and reached out to her.
“Stop! What are you doing!” Tanner screeched.
Mina jolted in surprise, her eyes popping open to stare at the boy. “Why are you shouting at me?” she asked, bemused.
“You started glowing, and then a hole opened up in the tree! Just like in the graveyard!” He pointed accusingly at the opening in front of the girl. “Don’t tell me you did that on purpose! Are we going to have to fight beetles again?!”
“Um.” Mina smiled sheepishly. “I did do that on purpose. But I don’t think there will be beetles here?” She looked into the dim interior. “At least not corpse beetles. Maybe other kinds of beetles.”
Tanner groaned in aggravation. The foxes, watching the exchange, yipped in obvious amusement. “Oh great, even the foxes are laughing at me,” the boy moped, despondent.
“Come on, let’s go see what’s inside.” Mina lit a small ball of light at her fingertip and pulled out her knife, then plunged into the darkness inside the tree.
Stairs wound up into the tree’s interior, except the space here was much larger than what would normally be possible, even given the tree’s immense size. Grumbling continuously, Tanner nonetheless followed Mina inside. The foxes brought up the rear, their ears pricked with curiosity and tails swishing.
As they climbed, the interior grew brighter until Mina no longer needed to maintain her light. Soon they reached the first floor of the interior, a flat expanse that looked like a mossy maze of tangled roots. Mushrooms grew here and there, towering over the children. They glowed in a variety of unlikely colors: bright purple, shimmering gold, iridescent blue green.
[Let’s not touch those,] Grandma cautioned.
Before Mina could relay the warning though, Tanner had crept up to one, and nudged it with his foot. The mushroom released a dense cloud of spores. Tanner drew breath to yell in alarm – and choked.
[Hold your breath and drag him out of the spore cloud,] Grandma instructed calmly.
The foxes backed up warily, keeping their distance from the jewel bright mushrooms. Mina covered her nose and mouth with the neckline of her dress, took a deep breath, and darted into the cloud. She grabbed the wheezing boy and half dragged, half carried him out of the choking fog.
Outside of the cloud of spores, Tanner collapsed, struggling for breath. The boy’s face was an alarming shade of purple, and his lips were turning blue. Tears streamed down his face, though his eyelids looked swollen.
[Is he going into anaphylaxis?] Grandma asked, fascinated and horrified.
[What is that? What do I do?] Mina panicked.
[Back home, I would administer an epi pen, but here, I’m not sure how you’d calm his body down.] Grandma thought hard. [See if you can pour your mana into him. Imagine washing the spores off him with your power, inside and out.]
[I-I’ll try.] Mina followed Grandma’s instructions, visualizing pouring her mana into Tanner’s body like cleansing water, flushing away the mushroom’s choking cloud, rinsing clear his nose and mouth, his throat. Grandma shared a mental image of a pair of sacks she called “lungs” that were essential for breathing. Guided by Grandma’s instructions, Mina placed her hands on Tanner’s chest and imagined her mana flowing through his lungs as well, washing them clean of the cloying spores.
[It’s working,] Grandma whispered, relieved. [Keep going.]
Slowly, Tanner’s face lost its sickly purple hue. The swelling subsided, and his lips regained their usual pink color. His breathing evened out, easing from panicked wheezing rasps to deep, full breaths. “Thanks,” he coughed, gripping Mina’s hands in his own and squeezing them in gratitude.
“We should, um, not touch the mushrooms,” she said to him.
“Y-yeah, I figured that out, thanks.” He stared up at her, her face framed by strands of tangled blue hair that had escaped her messy bun. “Um, can you let me up now?”
Mina released his chest with a start, a blush creeping up her cheeks for no reason whatsoever. “A-anyway,” she stammered as she turned away. “Be more careful next time!”
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