CHAPTER 101: Dancing on the night lights
It was still early morning when Hana and I decided to visit the unusual glade in the Dryad again. The old man left somewhere with Antonetta leaving the place to us. Hana wanted an opportunity to practice some archery with some modified arrows and I promised to improve her armour. While I busy with that, Hana also asked me to create a better short sword for her.
We moved a spare mobile bench out onto the middle of the glade. Realising that we wouldn’t want to sit under the direct sun all the time we put up a big sunshade over the bench, large enough so that Hana and I could at least sit on the bench or lie down next to it in the shade. When the door closed, I placed a marker at the spot in the grass. Even though I knew the door wouldn’t go away, I shuddered at the thought of trying to find that door again.
I spent the rest of the time creating different types of arrows for Hana. She tested them out with varied results. My new flame arrow became an instant hit, something I asked Ara to help me create. It was an arrow with an assisted air skill to make it fly faster and utilising an explosive warhead to cause more damage to targets. When the arrowhead hit a target, a thermal runaway effect superheated a small liquid capsule inside the warhead, creating a loud bang. With that arrow, far more damage could be done to larger targets like ogres or direwolves.
As for Hana’s short sword, I created a brand new one for her. She studiously watched me as I started making the sword, not that she kept quiet while watching me. She certainly had a lot of instructions about how I should make it. Sword length, weight, and grip type she described to me in detail. Strangely, she didn’t want any magical attributes for the sword. Overall, we had great fun designing and creating different weapons while Hana tested them out while giving her opinion on how they felt and operated. Afterwards, we quietly rested on the grass while lying in the shade of the cover. I certainly felt it counted as one of the best days in a while and I was quite happy to stay lying there, until our stomachs started growling. I pulled out a silk rabbit I had kept in my space storage for a day like this.
“While you can skin and prepare this rabbit, I’ll set up a fire to prepare and cook it.”
Being a blacksmith apprentice did have some benefits, one of them was being able to find metal components quickly to make a BBQ stove. Before starting with the cooking, I quickly made a small BBQ set with a height adjustable grill and side handles while Hana prepared the meat. On the side of the BBQ set I made adjustable air holes to control the air supply. I even made a small lid with an adjustable air hole on top to allow heat to escape.
Hana did an excellent job cutting up the rabbit. Keeping the leftover fur, I put it in my transfer storage to cure for another time. The offal I put into a spare storage I kept purely for animal remains. Heaven help the day I released the contents of that storage. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near ground zero. The Geneva convention probably covered something like that under chemical warfare.
Hana noticed the sharp kitchen knife I used while cutting up the fillet pieces. She was so insistent I made another one for her too. Then I realised it could be a good opportunity to improve my social network a bit, so I made a few more knives while I was at it. I could give Haruhime a couple, Alma, Orilay and a few others I might decide to gift some to. I doubted those knives would ever need sharpening again if only used for kitchen purposes.
For Hana I created a scabbard made from dungeon rabbit leather I previously cured. The ladies at Endeavour were very helpful when it came to curing skins for me. They never asked me anything for the work, they seemed only too happy to do it for me even when I offered to pay. Hana looked overjoyed with the knife, judging by her smile.
Cooking the meat fillets, I added a bit of salt, pepper, and a personal mix of spices I bought off Schneider the last time he was around. Since I couldn’t go to Shimmerstal as often as I liked, whenever I needed more spices Schneider turned out to be a reliable source for all sorts of materials and edibles. Overall, it cost me thirty silvers altogether for the small parcels of spices he provided. It was pricey, but my mealtimes were far more enjoyable.
Most herbs could be found in the forest and surrounds if you knew where to look, but spices were a different story. Spices needed a drier climate like Obon but required more water than Obon could supply. Since spices were imported from other kingdoms, they tended to be too expensive for the average person and only the wealthy could afford them, so food was generally only lightly salted.
After cleaning up the BBQ ash into my rubbish and offal storage, I fired up a new session with the BBQ and cooked more types of meats and then stored the hot meat for another convenient time. In Shimmerstal there were enough small food stalls and shops selling quick foods I could purchase from, but in Obon it needed to be home made. That way I could pull it out when needed and it would be ready to eat. Next time I would make meat skewers with vegetables, that would be a good filler. I would love a way to create instant food for people, something like a scroll that could be opened and that just produced food, would be just great.
After we finished eating, we both lay down and relaxed on the lush, soft grass again. It felt like lying on the softest bed. The balmy atmosphere seemed to reinvigorate us, not too cold nor too cold just goldilocks right. Even the lively little blue bells and white daisy flowers growing between the glade’s green grass seemed enamoured with life.
Hana looked filled with radiance when she suddenly said.
“Shane’s food tastes good. I’ll try not to hit you when you’re making food.”
“Thank you, Hana. There’s no need to talk about me in the third person and not hitting me at all would be much appreciated. Why did you try to hit me when you first met me?”
She quietly thought for a while as her nose scrunched up.
“I didn’t know you then. The trader didn’t like me because I wouldn’t do what he wanted. He couldn’t sell me so he said he would sell me to the first idiot that he could find. That’s when you purchased me.”
“I’m glad I was stupid enough to buy you.”
I looked at Hana only to see tears running from her eyes. She was trying hard to hide them. I didn’t want to hurt her by exploring her past if she didn’t want to, it could wait for another time, so I changed the subject.
“Where do you suppose this place is?”
“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never been here…but at the same time it seems familiar and comfortable.”
I had the strangest feeling that the old man wouldn’t know either, but it also seemed comfortable to me.
Time and space seemed totally screwed up in the Dryad, I never understood what might happen there. Perhaps that was a requirement for being there, just accepting what was. One thing was for sure, it never became dark. It was sunny twenty-four hours a day. One could misplace all sense of time in that place. Even the wild animals didn’t hoot anymore, as if hooting didn’t fit the glad stage production. Did that mean we were the main actors?
I suddenly got an idea. I pulled two items out of my pocket dimension storage.
“What are you doing?”
“This thing is a plant bulb called a Fairy Flower that Tomu and I found where they’re digging out the sand at the ancient riverbed. This one is an acorn thing called a Dryad tree seed.”
I planted the bulb near where I had been lying and wondered if anything would come of it. With very little ceremony I planted the acorn dryad thing at the top of the small rise, dusted the dirt off my hands and smiled having done a good job I thought.
“Huh, as easy as that. Would you like to come here again sometime?”
We both agreed that we would use this place more often in future. That night before we left the workshop, I attempted to build something else. My marsh stones collection wouldn’t last much longer. I needed to visit the Wildemere marshland and soon.
“I’m not going to freeze there like last time. Otherwise, you can go there yourself.”
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Sometimes I missed having Hana as a slave. With her acquired freedom, Hana made her thoughts quite clear. I knew how susceptible she was to cold climates. She nearly fell unconscious after we hid in a river from monsters tracking us after their attacks on the Blister Oak Forest. I sighed when I recalled how close we came to losing our lives there. With proper planning we didn’t need to risk our lives unnecessarily while operating in the marsh. That we knew what challenges waited for us, we didn’t need protection escorts either, although I would miss the Red Sparrows.
“With my storage systems there’s no need to drag a cart along. We only needed horses for travelling but I also don’t want horses or us trudging through icy water like last time. On the other hand, I don’t want to build a large pontoon capable of carrying horses either. Traversing with something like that while loaded with horses and trying to get through those dense banks of reeds in the marsh would be a nightmare, no pun intended. With my skills I can easily scoop up materials off the bottom of the marsh. What I need is a better and faster way of travelling through the water. Granted, I prefer to build a smaller, faster boat.”
Of course, I would need to deal with the horses somehow, I couldn’t leave them tethered to the nearest tree like wolf bait while I frolicked around the marsh for a few days. I could store them like we did the Berelli’s bandit horses, but then our horses might not recover too well from that treatment. After all, how many horses do you know that do skydiving, albeit only around four meters. But I considered it a problem for another day because I wanted to focus on designing and building a versatile boat capable of carrying at least three people.
It would cost me some EE, but it would be worth investing in my future harvesting efficiencies. I decided on making a small Jon Boat design sporting a typical shallow rectangle shape, square bow, and stern. I designed for an outboard type motor using liquid skills on the propeller blades to rotate them. Turning a handle on the steering mechanism would control the blade turning speed. Hana naturally wanted to immediately try it out until I reminded her that it couldn’t operate outside of water while needing the liquid skill. She looked dejected until I offered to help her make more jewellery to which she perked up immediately. She was far too easy to distract.
That evening Karato walked into the Screaming Banshee as we started supper. We last farewelled him in Endeavour when he returned to Shimmerstal with Mevné the dark elf lady. Imagine my surprise when he waltzed in with a beaming Mevné.
“Hi everyone. Nice to see you again Shane.”
I’m not sure what shocked me first, that Mevné followed Karato to a place as barren as Obon, at least from a dark elf’s perspective, or that she smiled. Smiling wasn’t on a dark elf’s agenda. From my experience they rarely ever smiled at someone, and when they did, it wasn’t because they liked them. Yet Mevné blushed like a newlywed bride.
“Hi Karato. Nice to meet you again Mevné, I see Karato’s looking after you well.”
She shyly looked down as she softly greeted us in return.
“Greetings. I see you are also well.”
“Ah, look at that. You’ve gone and made her all shy now.”
Boomed Karato loudly while slapping me hard on the back. My burning shoulder blades told me it may have been a bit harder than his usual brusque greeting. He shoved two spare chairs our way like he was bulldozing a highway through the patrons. He then offered Mevné her chair then joined us.
“So, what have you all been up to?”
He whispered in a sotto voice.
“Not much.”
Shrugged Hana.
“I’m wondering if we should be asking you that.”
She said while looking at the pair of them. He grinned at Hana.
“A gentleman never tells. Besides I have more interesting news, especially for you Shane.”
News from Karato wasn’t unexpected. In fact, I demanded it because I burned to know why the king pulled the proverbial carpet from underneath me. Without warning, he shut down Endeavour with a draconic decree. Even if he just asked me nicely I would have done it.
“He knows you’re probably upset about his decree.”
“Probably?”
“You know what I mean.”
“Then why?”
“Why? He didn’t have a choice. The nobles threatened to send knights to launch an armoured attack against you in order to shut down Endeavour. To save you he told them he would shut down Endeavour.”
That shocked me to the core. It was the first time I realised to what lengths the nobles would go to get what they wanted. By removing the town, King Leopold saved me by focusing the nobles’ hatred on the town, and not on me.
“What threat were we to them?”
“Not we. You.”
“Huh? Just because I threatened Lord Berelli with a bit of financial burden? I thought he had enough money to get through the pandora moth situation?”
“That’s not the issue. Not only are you someone His Majesty trusts but your growing fame amongst the populace is threatening them.”
I couldn’t help but stay silent at Karato’s words. Certainly, people approved of me, the amazing growth of Endeavour proved that. But again, was that enough of a threat to launch an attack against something as small as me?
With that download of information, my meal proved to be a little more insipid than usual. Once I finished my meal I decided to get some fresh air. As if sensing my unease, everyone decided to follow me outside as if to emotionally support me. Suddenly I stopped when the captivating spectacle of the road made me hold my breath. Soft waves of intersecting silver light rolled along the street in soft lines.
For the first time I witnessed the effect of the mustite in the blue paving stones Mr. Papadopoulos and his men laid down so long ago. I left to start endeavour camp before I could see the effect. Apparently the mustite in the stone took time to charge enough environmental EE to put on its first display. Fortune worked it that I could be there on the very night it started. It was a gift like no other, notwithstanding the fact I arranged for it to be placed. In some ways it felt like I wrapped up a present for myself. Everyone looked stunned at something no one in living history had ever seen before. Soon people started walking out of their doors, curious at the unusual sound of many hushed voices whispering outside.
Hana was the first person brave enough to step onto the road, as if doing so might dispel the enchanting view. She then did something I never expected. She started swaying to the rhythm of the light waves. At first it was only a slight rolling of her head, then her upper body joined followed by her hips. Her arms extended as her feet started dancing as if playing on waves of light. In the darkness of the night, the light show effect illuminated Hana in a way that highlighted moments of her moves like a dancing performer on a stage production.
“How is she doing that?”
I whispered. No one answered me, so enthralled were they by the experience. As if on cue, Elle joined Hana in a very un-elvish show of expression. Soon she joined Hana in her dancing, reciprocating Hana moves with her own unique style of slow pirouetting.
“Heck, that’s truly captivating.”
Said Karato. Although not a sound of music could be heard, they kept in rhythm as if dancing to an invisible band. I then realised Mevné had joined them at some stage and was using dancing moves somewhat alien to my thinking, and yet it fitted the other two’s dancing perfectly.
Someone nearby started playing a drum. At first it seemed to mar the quiet atmosphere, but soon its hypnotic rhythm complimented the dancers, adding to the audience’s excitement. Another drum joined in and then a flute. If any witness explained to someone afterwards about how the music started, they would think of a cacophony of sounds the likes of some Asian religious festival. But that’s not what I heard. Perhaps, the light rhythm added a soundless beat to the impromptu orchestra because all the musicians played in perfect harmony. Not one musician overplayed their part, as if adding too much would detract from the performance. And with that, soon the three beautiful dancers were joined by others and Obon witnessed something that would be talked about for a long time to come.