“So nice. I wish I could grow up faster.” Ruba pouted, peering down at her bitsy little arms and cute, stumpy legs.

“Dontcha worry! Two years’ll go by a zippy, and you’ll be the same age as me.” Howell chirped. “By then, we’ll all be fierce hunters, hahaha!”

The shark-eyed boy bounced up. “Whether it’s the lakes, the manna-rioghs or the forests, I’m gonna join a hunting team at the Shire with Siani after I get me Nascent Totem made.”

Vesiphis rolled his eyes, then thwacked Howell’s head hard. “Pipe down, fish-head. Ignite all your nodes before talking so big. Maybe you could do it sooner if you weren’t always playing with ropes and spears during cultivation.”

“Hehehe.”

Cati wasn’t interested in hunting or fighting. But the three-eyed toddler admitted that Cadfael and Vesiphis were really cool when they beat up the scary-looking fishies.

“Mommy said my Totem is about di-di-digisigrating-”

“-Disintegrating?” Ysbail chimed.

“Yes! That. When I grow up, I can stare at gheists really meanly, and they will die. Can I join Howwie then?”

“Me too! Ysbail will go too!”

“Sure ya can. I thought it was a shame that us cousins couldn’t get’ta blast more fish today. Pa always told me of the good old days when they were young ’uns. I heard one time, our pas and mas went to a Naeman Conclave and killed an evil Faediaval that ate babies!”

“Oh! So cool!”

“We’s gotta do something better, I tell ya. I bet if we were all to fight together today, not just me, Busyfish and Black meanie, we could’ve killed hundreds of fish. We are Earthloch scions, after all! Of course, bitsy Ruba can join us too if ya wanna.” Howell cackled, facing the sky, his fists placed at his sides.

“I also know that Eudav’s father lost his arm trying to shove a draught down that Faediaval’s maw.” Vesiphis dutifully poured cold water. “And Ysbail still hasn’t learnt to cultivate. Cati and Ruba are barely initiates. Lord Elrhain and Lady Agwyn are the same, and neither of them can swim.”

“I can too!” Ruba protested. “I can eat while swimming! And sleep!”

“My point is, if over-confidence does not get you killed, it will most certainly your companions.” Vesiphis tugged Howell’s ears. “Quit planting bad ideas in their heads. Didn’t you say you were responsible now? That’s why your father gave you the Totemic talisman in the first place!”

“Eyy! Ey, that hurts. ‘Kay, I was joking. I know we can’t fish gheists now! I was saying ‘bout our future. My ear is turning purple like Gwynnie’s angry face, ah!”

“Hey!” Agwyn objected to the defamation, then pulled Howell’s other ear.

“Oh! Hi, Gwynnie, Rhainy.” Ysbail scuttled up to them. There was a slight bump on her forehead, presumably from bashing her head with the flying Ruba a few hours ago. But Ysbail looked unconcerned.

Elrhain greeted her back, then spent a few good seconds to squish and stretch her gooey cheeks. He gestured towards Vesiphis and Howell; the shark-teeth boy was now panting on the ground after finally being released.

“That might not be true.”

“What isn’t?” Howell asked.

“That we can’t fish gheists as we are.”

“Hahaha.” Vesiphis suddenly chuckled. “My lord, what precise use of humour. As a whimsical person myself, I, too, am in awe of your sublime sarcasm.”

“It… wasn’t a joke?” Elrhain was stunned. He looked at Agwyn, but the girl shook her head.

“…. Surely it was. No, what? My lord! You cannot be so unreasonable. Someone so fat as you will sink like a rock if you try to swim, let alone fish the gheists!”

If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

“Rude! One day with Randuman, and he’s already an unhealthy influence. And besides, the fishing I am speaking of, and the fishing you know, are completely different. It’s safe, even for idiots like Ysbail.”

“Grandfather isn’t an unhealthy influence!”

“Rhainy is mean to me again.”

“T-that’s beside the point.” Elrhain coughed, appalled at his own involuntary comment about Ysbail. That little girl always attracted bullying from all directions, like a nerd in a vocational school.

The mood spiralled out of control in less than three seconds. This was one thing Elrhain didn’t enjoy about talking to kids. Everyone had the attention span of a drunk frog, including himself.

“Okay. Everyone, gather around.” Elrhain pushed past the playing children, including the village twerps, and signalled them to round up in a circle.

“Vesiphis. Listen up, and be illuminated. Because I am about to reveal to you one truth of the world that will transform your entire life.” He clapped his hands in front of his mouth, trying to make himself look more professional.

“I am smarter than you.”

His audience booed.

“Because Annie and I read a lot in the archives.”

“Oh, man. You guys can rea-” Ruba was about to exclaim in shock, but Elrhain violently shush ’ed her with a, “Yes! Your uncle already did all that.”

Elrhain held up Agwyn’s hand above their heads, drawing the spotlight onto her.

“You know how Annie found the cure to the Swampling’s Curse in a forgotten scroll no one ever read, right?”

The chattering ceased. Vesiphis, obviously, even Cati and Ysbail paused their banter and at last gave Elrhain their undivided attention. They realized that the young prince was serious.

Ruba looked at the odd atmosphere with her adorable face scrunched up. She patted her temples hard for a moment, recalling what her grandfather had taught her. Always pay heed to the wisdom of the Earthlochs.

Her eyes lit up, and she told the children of her village to listen attentively too. She might be a toddler, but she was the noble toddler of the Haragol house.

“C-Can we really hunt fish, even though we are little?” One of the Haragol servant kids gulped, then courageously asked after sharing eye contact with Ruba. The Haragol heiress watched curiously.

The boy looked to be about Vesiphis’s age. He was old enough to be privy to urgent matters in the family, such as food.

Other kids might take joy at the sumptuous feast being arranged tonight. But he had overheard his parents grumbling about it last night, that there was hardly enough food to feed themselves, so why be this wasteful?

Of course, that was just a servant’s momentary grievance. And it wasn’t like the Onthoakt mistreated them either. In fact, they were considerably better off than some of the other villages in the area. The servants knew that, but gossip had a way to spread around.

Whether or not the food shortage was true, this boy wanted to do everything he could to help his family. The adults wouldn’t let him be a hunter since he wasn’t talented at cultivating. Still, he was very reluctant to run around the mountains as a farmhand servant.

The boy clenched his fists, then peered at the Earthloch lordling with anticipation.

Elrhain nodded with his nose pointing high. “Of course. We’ve uncovered so many peculiar and exotic tales in the disc-walkers’ memoirs, stuff that the adults or cultivators never even touch since they all think anything not related to cultivation is useless. I’m telling you, people need to read more, and learn to think. Not just speak high talks like Howell.”

The shark-eyed boy brushed off the insult like the dust on his clothes. “Rhainy! Stop teasing us and get to the point.”

“Okay, geez. So, since I only read this in one such scroll, I don’t know if it’ll actually work. But I think it’s worth the try! From now, you do everything I tell you, and if the spirits bless us, we will be rolling in fish in no time. Alright?”

Everyone echoed their affirmation. Vesiphis agreed as well, since he knew what had ensued in Onthoakt Slanout’s village. He felt helpless at the prince’s momentum, but expectant as well.

Cadfael sat to the side with a dour expression after being kicked in the shin by Agwyn for ignoring Cati and creeping her out. But even he shot his gaze over.

“Good.” Elrhain grinned. He pointed at the village kid who had asked him the question, “You there. What’s your name?”

“R-Roodles, my lord!” Roodles stammered. Agwyn giggled at the funny sight of a big lizard-faced kid talking so nervously to a toddling dumpling.

“We need a long and flexible branch. You look like the eldest of the village children here. Do you know where we can find one?”

“T-The Lontwood, my lord. Other than the shiny ones used for magic work, we can use the rest.”

“Excellent! Go bring me some.”

Roodles yelped, then ran off.

“Ruba.” Elrhain continued. “Take some kids and bring back a few bundles of rope. It can be a vine or weaved, but it has gotta be strong.”

“I can!” Ruba eagerly lifted her hands. “They got Zakky vines near the drying scaffolds. They cut them up into smaller vines, then use them to hang fish meat! Can I bring some dried fish too?”

Elrhain gave her explicit permission. The Haragol heiress took off with her little buddies. Cati and Ysbail had been rather curious about the scaffolds, too, so they followed. The threats about foul smell didn’t deter them.

As long as the area was clear of fish-gremlins, that is.

Elrhain barked more orders.

A bucket-full of hooked teeth from the Sawmouth Snappers. Small chunks of gheist meat, the waste parts inedible for dhionne would suffice.

A club. Just in case.

He thoroughly enjoyed the feeling. It reminded him of the time being a rich CEO.

Agwyn smiled at Elrhain’s back, then strolled towards the waterfront and sat down to contemplate. After tonight, a massive problem plaguing Earthloch would vanish into smoke. Since catching fish was never the hardest part.

What came next would be the most crucial.

Handling that was her responsibility.