It wasn’t a surprise to me that everybody was put off by our small-scale family meltdown, and now everyone was keeping to themselves. Humey had opted for the low-effort cooking method of jamming meat and cheese into some simple dough. Hey, this is one of the recipes I had written for him: empanadas. Since he can just cook them in his bare hands, he probably just flash fried them with dragon fire and shuffled off to bed afterwards. If Humey is around the height of an average human from my Earth, then does that make these regular sized or kobold sized? Who cares, I’m taking five of them.
My hunger was satiated and my body was still ragged from the magic-induced fever I had only just recovered from, but my mind was still attempting to burn an excess of mental power. How about I just spend an hour drawing and worrying about critiquing myself instead of trying to wrap my head around everything. Does that work with you, my erratic lizard brain? I sure hope so, because there’s just too much fuel for that fire to burn through in one hour.
Everyone else had already gone to bed by the time I had reached my limit of sketching and drawing. The only thing I had managed was a decent landscape picture of what I remembered an old oak tree looked like from my shitty apartment on Earth. Decent spot for acorn collecting and squirrel watching, or if you were a loser like me it was a shady place for a smoke. I sure as hell didn’t miss that place or the life I had there, but there was something nostalgic about sitting with my back to a big tree. Sucks that there aren’t any trees in the desert, I could really use a taste of that simplicity right about now.
…
Another week of being a scribe, another twelve Draks in my pocket. I had actually begun to translate some scrolls with Raevu, and it was explained to us by a passing scribe that our pay was determined by how much work we did. Since we were still learning we were being given “crutch pay” until we could work independently, which I suppose was a decent thing for old Elder Faerkurch to do for his fledgling scribes. Still though, the pay was pretty awful if you had any expenses beyond food, which I suppose would be offset by whatever job someone would have on their regular week.
Speaking of regular paying jobs, I hadn’t actually checked how much I was paid for my previous week of mana stone poking. Combined with my leftover change the total was 81 Draks, 16 Skrats, and something called a Chik which I think is a half Skrat. I decided that budgeting myself in a strict manner was strategically superior to spending half of my paycheck on random junk and the other half on workshop supplies. Twenty Draks and the small change would be my budget until next payday.
I went on my own to the market this time, since all three of my brothers were helping dad with something they had been secretive about and mom was still sulking. I knew she wasn’t mad at me and was just trying to get her mind straight, but the cold shoulder was still just as painful. Maybe I should buy her something sweet to cheer her up, let her know that I’m not mad at her any more than she is at me.
The stall before me was one selling assorted perfumes and jewelry and my eyes had settled on a number of plain rings of different metals and a box of reject gems, which I bought for the eighteen Draks asked. Damn, not being able to haggle really does cut your pursestrings loose. The rest of my shopping was more frugal, though I did score a sweet jam filled tart for the gloomy warrior back home. It’s not much, but a gift means more when it comes from the heart.
The ride down the elevator was slow, which gave me some time to reflect on one of the stranger things to happen during the week: Faerkurch’s refusal to talk. Tuleni said that she promised him not to speak about my nightmares, but when I actually got the chance to ask him he didn’t answer and instead just hovered back up to his tower. When I went back to my desk after a quick bathroom break there was a note that just said “later” on it, but the moment I turned the paper over the word was gone. If there was any way to make me worried and paranoid, it was using magic that I didn’t understand while leaving me with vague replies.
The trek down the tunnel home after the lift was short, but just long enough for me to promise that I’d get my answers from him sooner or later. Juaki* was still sprawled out in her bed with an arm draped over her eyes. The hand lying beside her head was left empty only until I stuck the treat in her hand. She peeked out from over her arm to see who had bothered her and what was placed in her claws, yet even after seeing it was a treat from me she still just returned to her dramatic posing.
I almost turned to go put the other things I bought away while my thoughts hovered over the notion that maybe she would want to talk later, but her voice halted both action and idea altogether.
“I am sorry.”
She moved her arm away, revealing the dark rings that had formed under her eyes accompanying the utterly exhausted look she wore. She didn’t look at me, but showing her face clearly meant that she was giving me her full attention.
“I allowed myself to be caught in the past, consumed by the pain of an old wound I had long thought to be healed. My mother didn’t help the situation by comparing me to my father and scolding me like a child. It also hurt that my daughter would stand up to defend her against me.”
I physically winced at that remark. I didn’t mean for it to go that way, but I can see how from her point of view it definitely felt like being cornered. My intent was to try and keep things from falling apart, not to flip the blame around on anyone.
“However, I have had plenty of time to look back on the situation and reflect on my actions and the words that were spoken…exchanged, I mean. The truth is that I’m still a terrible mother, and if it meant keeping my boys safe I would have forsaken you. Tuleni was right when she said that I would do that.”
I knew that it was nothing personal and it was just her instinct to save whoever she could, but it still hurt to think of how easily I could have been cast aside for the sake of others. It was one thing to willingly sacrifice yourself, but to be abandoned was bitter in my mind. I had already tasted that kind of end. My thoughts were beginning to darken, but the continuation of Juaki’s words pulled me back into the light.
“What Tuleni forgets is that I would have fought fang and claw to find any way to save you. I only give up hope when I have used everything I have, tried every tactic, run out of options, and am left with only the worst choice. I would have strangled the elders one by one until a solution was given, even if it would cost me my life. That is how your grandfather Karrawi died, and it is the thing she refuses to acknowledge. He was a warrior, although not a great one he was a noble man at heart. When monsters flooded the tunnels years ago and threatened to devour a whole mining team he chose to trap the beasts with him in a cave-in as he unleashed his dragon fire to spare others his fate. Although he saved many lives, his death broke our family apart in many ways.”
She pushed herself upright and palmed the tart in her hands before tearing it in half, the jally inside dripping onto the floor as she resumed.
“Before you stepped in I was weaponizing her shortcomings in my mind. Her refusal to recognize my father’s bravery, the way she pushed everyone away and forced herself to work more than necessary, and how she let my sisters leave the city for good. I was ready to tear her down and toss her aside, but you saved her. You threw yourself before my wrath, saying that you would have done the same and that Tuleni was still one of our family. At that moment I was hurt and confused, but over time I began to see the great irony of it all.”
She dropped the tart on the ground as she stood before me with both hands on my shoulders.
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“Despite being a soul from another realm you still inherited that same courage that flows from my father. We share that same defiant blood which courses through us in the defense of others, and it is because of that I was able to hold my tongue when I did and think things through. You are still alive, and although she lied to achieve it Tuleni was attempting to sacrifice herself to save those that she could. She will have a way to earn her way back into my trust, and she only has you to thank for that.”
Her arms pulled me closer so that she was cupping my face in her hands.
“I say this again: I am sorry. You were not trying to harm me or help Tuleni tear the family apart, nor were you trying to justify her misguided actions. You were using yourself as a shield to defend the family against my wrath. For this and so much more, I am truly proud to call you my daughter.”
My heart fluttered when she spoke those words. Every time I heard someone say they were proud of me a tiny firework went off in my soul, making every fiber of my being shiver with glee. I reached up to feel the hands on my face to experience this moment just a little more vividly, but when my fingers reached hers I felt something sticky on her scales. I didn’t want to ruin the wonderful moment, but I just couldn’t let a moment like this pass me by.
“I am proud to be your daughter, but did you really have to waste that pastry? Also, your hands are sticky.”
Mom just hung her head low while shaking it from side to side.
“You have spent too long talking to Tokols and are becoming a trickster. I did not mean to waste it, I was just using it for the dramatic showiness. I could not help it. Here, I will get a damp cloth.”
She raised her head and rolled her eyes at my smug grin before making her way to the kitchen. I couldn’t help but try to chuckle at that. I understood what she meant completely, and to her credit it really did sell the bit about her sisters. I didn’t have much time to think about the possibility of having aunts wandering the world outside when something in my throat changed.
Without warning one of my raspy laughs sent a stabbing pain in my throat, followed by the faint taste of blood brought up by a few ragged coughs. I checked the hand I had used to cover my mouth but found nothing other than my blue scales there, so whatever just happened it wasn’t that bad. Maybe some bit of those moss beetles Raevu and I shared the other day had gotten stuck and got dislodged by my laughing. Well, here’s to wishful thinking on that one.
Mom came back with a damp rag and wiped the sugary syrup from my face before cleaning the mess she had left on the floor. She was smiling again, and the aroma following her was less heavy with sadness. Maybe now that she was in brighter spirits we could go back to the market and do some shopping tomorrow. I know I had just set myself a budget, but this was a golden opportunity for some mother-daughter bonding.
I was midway through writing out a request for a trip to the market when someone parked their cartload of building materials and barrels in front of our door. A moment later Bahruk peered around the corner in a look of curiosity, but soon stepped into the room with a beaming smile on his face when he saw mom walking back from the rubbish bin.
“My love, you are finally back on your feet and smiling no less! I hate to be a bother, but could you lend us your strength? We have some *ehem* supplies we need brought in.”
Mom sighed while she rolled her shoulders on her way to the door.
“Of course dear, it is good to see you too. Kayrux, would you-”
Before mom could utter another syllable dad was at my side with a hand grabbing my wrist.
“Actually, I need Kayrux for something important. Mibata can tell you what all we got and where it will all be going, but Kayrux and I need to make a few adjustments to the house to make room for something.”
I couldn’t even begin to protest before I was pulled over to the far side of the den, just between the hidden book shelf and the entrance to the dorm. I was about to write out a whole bullet point list of questions about what was going on before I was interrupted by the rapidly expanding room made by Bahruk’s magic. He ushered me inside without explanation then sealed the both of us in with only a small hole for air to pass through at the top and bottom of the door. The complete lack of light made the room colorless to my eyes, but I could still see dad rummaging in his bag for something that he stuck into the wall like a rock into soft clay.
A moment after the room began to regain its color as the stone that he had just embedded into the wall sucked up mana from the air to make light. He rubbed his hands together in glee as he looked at me with a fire in his eyes.
“Alright Kayrux, today we’re going to be making a new room for the home, and I want you to help me shape it. I’ll cast the spell to reshape stone, and you will push against the wall to direct me on how big you want it to be. Try to keep in mind that going too far will either put us in the neighbor's den, your bedroom, or back into the room we started in. Oh, and you can tell me where to make indents or raise the roof too, just as long as it’s within reach.”
As cool as it was that he would ask me to help him reshape the inside of the mountain with him, I still had no idea what was going on. I wanted answers first before I comply. I erased the half made request that was written for mom so I could ask the pressing questions to my father.
“What kind of room is this going to be, and why do you need my help?”
He scratched at his chin for a moment before cocking his head to one side with his answer.
“It’s going to be a hobby room. We’re going to put a table in here for Tokols’ sewing and Mibata’s target for throwing knives. It will help get rid of those piles of crates you and the boys have lying around in the bedroom as well. I need your help because You’re the tidy one of the four, and you know how big of a space you’re going to need.”
Something told me that he was only telling me half of the truth. Regardless, There was some honesty in there, so it would probably be best to just play along. I shrugged and gave a thumbs up, then indicated for him to carve the stone away on the wall opposite of the door. If he was willing to give an inch, I might try to get a mile.
Reshaping the very stone of the earth was surprisingly easy, though I suppose that Bahruk’s magic was the one doing all of the work. The room was about twelve by twelve and eight feet tall with one of those glowing stones on each wall other than the door side. A small wall was made around a shallow sitting pit, making the space more like a raised bowl than a divot in the ground on the left side of the room. The far wall was pocked with alcoves big enough for crates or barrels of varying size. I had intentionally left the right side smooth for the placement of wall-mounted fixtures such as the target board. My father was completely drained by the end of it, and I feared that I may have pushed him too far.
While we were working I overheard a great many interesting phrases said by some of the other family members. The closest I could figure without being able to tell who was speaking at any given time was a jumbled conversation like this:
“Where does this part go?”
“Don’t take my pieces.”
“Hold that side up for me. Not that high, a little lower.”
“Are we supposed to glue this?”
“Whose idea was it to color-code the instructions?”
There was a lot more, but the stone barrier between us prevented me from understanding the rest. Once the work was done and dad had caught his breath the door was opened once more. I stepped out into the main room, and what I saw almost made my jaw hit the floor.
Sitting in the center of a semicircle of my family members was a table much like the ones from the workshop, only this one was brand new and had some items I recognized on top. On the left was a stack of all of my old designs that I had sketched out on wooden pieces or spare parchment. On the right was a stack of clean parchment and an inkwell, and a book depicting a rune covered cog. A stool for the table stood off to the side, but was noted all the same. I couldn’t believe my eyes. There was no way they had gone through all the trouble to get me something like this.
Dad explained as he stepped between me and the table.
“I’ve been having a few chats with Dobo about what you’ve been up to as an inventor, and how much work you were able to put out as just a regular repairer. I’ve also seen a lot of your designs and art lying around, so I thought it would be best if you had some place to sit down with some lights and sketch out your ideas. I’ve always wanted a place like this for myself, but I never really had a need for it. I wasn’t lying when I said it would be a hobby room. Tokols got himself some more thread and Mibata went all out on writing supplies. Humey also needed a space to do his painting. Now you all can keep your projects separate from the beds. Sorry for being sneaky, I just wanted it to be a surprise.”
Bahruk should have seen it coming, but the urge to wrap my arms around him and squeeze him tight was too much to resist. It was unfortunate that my angle of approach put my bicep directly over his neck, but I managed to keep from crushing him. I know it’s not my birthday, but this is the best birthday present I’ve ever received. He managed to free himself from my grip once, but the second wave of hugging unfortunately focused on his head, effectively blinding and muffling him.
Eventually I had to let go and help move the table into the room, but setting it up right where I wanted it only kicked the mountain of ideas lingering in my head over, and I couldn’t help but put this new table through its first trial run. Let’s see just how many ideas I can put on parchment before bedtime!