Allard

“I don’t know how I feel about all of this.”

Cool juice squirts out around Allard’s teeth and coats his tongue. The first apple from the new tree in his backyard is just as delicious as he imagined. He tried to say no when Momo announced she would be starting her morning with tree-raising, but then a cyclone of sparkles rushed around them accompanied by the excited voice of their astounding water sprite, and Momo was so busy purifying morning water and the sparkling bits of a dozen water, wood, earth, and air sprites that she wasn’t listening to him. Next thing he knew, he was holding a gorgeous red apple while bright green wood sprites cooed and sighed around him. Momo shooed them away so he could eat and took off for the watchtower.

He runs after her, juice dribbling down his chin, falling into place beside her.

“Feel about which parts?” She asks, gesturing at everything and nothing.

“Not the healing of the sprites, not really. But yes that.”

She lifts the corner of her lips in a smirk. “Well, that explains everything. Thank you.”

Allard shakes his head and frowns down at the ground. “Sprites don’t use deception, but that doesn’t mean they tell all of the truth. Do you believe him? That all the sprites but the ocean-dwelling ones are infected? Why does it only affect their magic but it doesn’t affect anyone else’s?”

“I don’t know. Maybe because they are made of magic? Maybe it’s affecting them differently than flesh and blood creatures because they don’t have flesh and blood.” Momo waves at an ecstatic brown sprite that dives into the ground ahead of them. The path shimmers as they go, and after a few feet, it comes back up and sits on her shoulder with a high-pitched groan. Allard looks away, studying the slender blades of grass that are already poking up through cracks in the recently ‘swum through’ sections.

When the earth sprite leaves again, racing ahead to join up with the wood sprites waiting at the wall, he continues. “But then why did they not all immediately head to the ocean? And why is the ocean the only area unaffected? And why are the air sprites affected when the air is clean? And why-”

“Allard! Take a moment. Breathe. Have you ever fished in the ocean?”

He nods his head. “Just once. Why?”

“Did you notice that the fish you caught there were different than the ones you can catch in the inland waters? In rivers, lakes, and creeks there are all different fish. Fish from one area could be dropped in the other, but they would die because the ocean is saltwater. Fish adapted to freshwater can’t survive there. Doesn’t it make sense that the sprites that live on land might be suited for that environment and struggle everywhere else?” She pauses to greet Norag as he heads back to the village. His green screen takes on a ruddy tint as he mumbles a greeting in return and hurries past them.

“I don’t know, Allard, this is all new to me. But something is telling me that we can trust them and that we should help them. If their jobs are to protect their domains by purifying them and making sure the living things are safe and healthy, but they can’t do that because they get contaminated when they come in contact with the spoiled things, then what else can they do but ask for help? It isn’t any harder for me to purify an area with them in it than it is to do without them. That’s just how my spells work. It’s an area, not a specific thing.”

She pats him on the back with a smile. “But you are right to doubt. A leader needs to be able to see everything around them and not just be told things.”

“What?” He sputters, bits of apple spraying across his hand. He sadly looks down at the wasted specks. “I’m not the leader, Momo. You are the one that’s saved everyone.”

“Am I? I’ve grown some vegetables and hit dead things with sticks. You are the one that looks out for everyone, makes sure they have food and water, and that everything is going okay. They may all look to me to protect them, but they look to you for everything else. They know you and they trust you.”

Allard can feel the heat rising on the back of his neck. That isn’t true, they come to me because they know me, not because I’m their leader.

“What do you know about a guard named Farrel?”

The words take a moment to get through his thoughts. He lowers his apple in confusion. “Farrel? Who was talking about him?”

“Just a name I heard,” Momo answers him with an innocent shrug that he doesn’t believe for a moment. “ I think it will be an important name in our near future, though, so what do you know about him?”

“He’s the Head Guard in Yanniston. The Mayor uses the Guard for all safety and rule enforcement, but when the dead started biting people he pulled people in from the guard to form a private protection unit. Farrel refused to join it. He’s always seemed like a reliable man, he puts the people’s safety above everything else.”

When she doesn’t respond, Allard finishes his apple and wraps it in a handkerchief before putting it in his pocket. It would be nice to see if we can grow something from these seeds so we don’t have to exhaust her all the time.

The sprites that rushed ahead are circling a cluster of sparkles, and Momo changes her direction to meet them. One new, very hyper wood sprite later, she rejoins him near the watchtower ladder.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“What about those around him? Would you recognize individuals that could be a problem if they come here?”

“Momo, what’s going on? Can you see the future?”

She chuckles, breaking the tension hovering in the air. “No, not in the way you are thinking. Let’s just say I get feelings sometimes. I heard the name Farrel and I have a feeling I am going to be meeting him. I want to be prepared. I’m going to walk the wall, and maybe you could do me a favor.”

“Sure,” he responds immediately, “anything.”

“I need everyone here to know not to tell anyone else that comes that it is me that is purifying the water. And that I can grow plants. Let anyone that comes think it is just a weird quirk of the village.”

She throws him a wave and walks off, immediately surrounded by squealing forms that land on her shoulders and head and chatter away. Allard frowns and watches her for a moment before heading up the ladder to spread the order.

image [https://i.imgur.com/yMK4ItS.png]

Since its earliest days, Spring Village has struggled and thrived just like any other area where disparate groups congregate. Over the years, there have been some hard times when hunting was scarce or crops failed and belts were drastically tightened by the end of winter. Bandits tried taking over once, but they found that the people within the houses weren’t worth the effort to subdue. New people moved in, had children, the children grew old and many of them left for other areas. Villagers were born, lived, and died within the boundaries. Until the ‘scourge of biters’ descended, the humans, elves, goblins, and a lone orc lived pleasant lives and felt they could adapt to anything that came their way.

Something heavy settles in behind Allard’s breastbone as he speaks to the last of the villagers. Few have come outside their homes since returning, and even those don’t walk out the door unless they can travel in a pack. With the exception of Norag and Vae, that is. Norag’s sheer size has given him a certain level of confidence and Vae fights better than anyone Allard has seen. Well, anyone before he met Momo. He wonders if the older male would be able to handle a blunt plank of wood with the same finesse. While Norag’s confidence comes from his size, Vae’s comes from the edged weapons that rest in sheaths around his body, along with years of experience using them.

A few of the other villagers have learned basic defense skills over the years, the way Fauna did while she was running merchant caravans, but even she hides behind her shutters and insists on making the walk to the tree for her shift while in a group. The biters did more than take lives when they began to overrun the towns. And cities, if rumors are to be believed. They have taken once confident, able people and turned them into fearful wraiths.

Allard rubs at his chest with his palm. Introspection has never been his strongest skill, and too often he accepts things more easily than he should. Accepting a situation is different than giving up hope, he thinks, looking back at the closed doors around him. At least they have more trust in Momo and I than they do the people who ran Yanniston. I don’t think anyone would give her up. I hope blaming everything on the sprites is believable enough.

I probably should have run that idea past Momo first. What if the guards do come and nobody believes that some sprites survived and have been taking care of the people here?

He stands still, letting anyone that might be peeping through cracks see that the non-combat former farmer feels comfortable enough to stand outside his house without a guard. Coming up blank on anything else that needs to be done, he does as he always does when he is bored. He looks for Momo.

Luckily for him, she is right where he left her and he doesn’t have to wander around to find her. She has been busy since he went off to do as ordered. As much as she talks about relaxing, he often wonders if she is physically capable. Some people aren’t made to lounge around. They always have to be getting something done. He tried to tell her that once, but she is forever adamant that she can do it, she just has to get some things done first.

Her current ‘thing that needs to be done first’ appears to be a sizeable room being built outwards from the wall. Two walls are already done, each one twenty feet long at ninety-degree angles from the original wall and forty feet apart. She stands with her fists on her hips, arms akimbo, talking to one of the green sprites. As soon as she sees Allard approaching, she stops and waves.

“I hate to send you back out again so soon, but Fauna just called down that she sees someone approaching from the direction of Yanniston. Everyone should stay inside their homes when possible for a while.”

“How long?” Allard asks while looking at the trunk of the watchtower tree, as though he can see through it to the approaching group.

“I don’t know. The sprites and I are putting together a holding area so they don’t have to be out with any biters while we figure out exactly what they want. Could be a day or two. We’ll still get them water and harvest will be done in the morning tomorrow same as usual. As soon as we know anything we’ll tell them more.”

Allard drags his eyes back toward his friend, and his eyebrows shoot up. “Are you excited about this, Momo? You look like you are eager for a grand battle or something.”

“No,” she says with an exaggerated eye roll. “I don’t like things being uncertain, that’s all. I’ve been waiting for someone to come looking for us since I raised that darn tree. I knew someone would be coming. I don’t know if they will be looking for refuge or a fight. Not everyone is a good person, Allard. I’d rather have the people I can’t trust figured out sooner rather than later.”

“I know there are bad people in that town. Not everyone was starving, or at least not as much.” He rubs at his sternum again. The lump resting behind it is growing larger rather than dissipating.

“Are you alright? Why don’t you sit here with me for a few minutes, we can take a rest.” She sees his doubtful look and plops down on the ground with a smile. “Don’t worry, they are still some way out. We have enough time for dinner if you want to go back and eat early.”

The ground is warm beneath his brown trousers. A cool breeze ruffles his hair, and he sighs in comfort. “No, I can sit just fine. I told everyone to say it was the sprites that were saving everyone. I was worried they would all try to overexplain and give different explanations. I hope that’s alright.”

“I appreciate you letting me know so I can tell the sprites. That was a good idea. The wood ones can control plant growth to an extent, and enough of them working together could probably raise all this over enough time. Good thinking!”

The knot in his chest finally begins to loosen, and Allard leans back with his hands propping him up from behind. “How long do you think it will take them to get here?”

“Oh, a fair amount of time I should think. Fauna had to use her binoculars to make out it was a group of humans but still couldn’t see much detail. She has good eyesight to tell there was something that far out without using them. Probably after nightfall. Which means I should try to take a nap before they get here. It will be Norag’s shift by then, but I think we should be here when they arrive.”

“So you can close them in?”

“No,” she says, slumping forward to rest her elbows on her knees. “Well, yes, so I can close them in. But also I don’t trust anyone after the things I’ve heard about that town. I need to talk to them myself.”