The sun was setting.

Or well, the second one was.

The sky was quickly becoming dark, revealing… a rather empty night sky.

“There’s only a few stars,” I said, disturbed by the lack of them.

“They come and go,” Krift said.

I hated how… easily I believed him.

Stars? Coming and going?

If anyone other than Krift had said it, I’d have…

Well I would have run away from them.

Since they would have been insane.

“Stars come and go. Multiple suns. Two moons… which I haven’t got to see yet… and wood we can eat. I’m not really sure what’s the weirdest of all those,” I said, watching Krift put another long branch over his fire.

He smiled at me, but said nothing as he rested the branch on the set of sticks he had forced into the ground. With the new stick, there were now five of them. All resting over the fire he had very quickly made a few minutes ago.

The fire crackled, and I liked how warm it was. The Rift was… cold. Even colder than the cliffs had been. And those cliffs had been windy, and stormy.

“I’ll have you know Lena loves these trees. She’d pay you a hefty sum for one of these branches,” Krift said, standing over his fire.

He seemed content with five branches, and was now slowly turning each one. Like turning a spit.

“She does?” I asked.

Krift nodded. “Actually a lot of people like them. At least, all the ones I’ve cooked for,” he said.

“Why doesn’t she get some then? Or plant one of the trees to harvest later?” I asked.

“Nearly nothing found here can grow outside the Rift. They will either wither, or won’t grow at all,” Krift said.

“Then just harvest a whole bunch at once?”

“Well… she’d have to be able to find them, first. Then be able to bring them back home… then be able to make a fire hot enough to cook them,” Krift listed the supposed reasons that Lena wouldn’t be able to do what I asked.

“I see. Is it that hard?” I asked.

“Mostly. The fire? No. Humans have magic for that. But yes it’s hard to find these trees, and most humans can barely survive a few minutes in the Rift… let alone travel a whole day into it to find a single tree,” he said.

“Hm… you found it easily enough,” I said.

“Because I had already found it. Years ago. We’re walking a path I’ve already tread, remember?”

“Ah…” I nodded, remembering. That made sense.

I shifted a little, glad for the backrest. The pair of bags behind me was comfortable enough, honestly… and just large enough that I was able to lean back against them.

But it meant Krift had nothing to rest against.

We had stopped in a small clearing. Only a few trees were around us, and we hadn’t sat down anywhere near them.

And other than those trees, and the… soft grass beneath us, there was nothing else.

Not even rocks.

Looking around, I noticed that it had grown even darker.

I’d only looked away for a few moments…

That sun really moved quickly.

How it was so quick, but the other hadn’t been, was weird to me. I understood this place was… unnatural… but how did that work exactly?

The fire popped, and I looked back to it. Krift was watching it intently, still spinning the sticks he was cooking.

Eating wood.

It sounded ridiculous.

Especially since I remembered trying to eat grass when I was younger.

Mother had cooked the grass in water. Boiled it.

We had barely been able to eat any of it. Even as hungry as we had been.

“What’s the tree called? The one we’re going to eat?” I asked.

“Its name?” he asked back.

I nodded.

“You need to know its name, to eat it?” he asked, amused.

“It’d probably make it more… edible,” I said honestly.

Actually, I just was interested.

“It doesn’t have a name… as far as I’m aware. No one’s ever asked for one,” Krift said.

“No name? Really?”

“Really. Most of the Rift is unexplored you know? It isn’t that surprising. Practically everything here has no name. At least, none that we know,” Krift said.

“I see… that’s a little sad, isn’t it?”

“Is it?”

I nodded.

“Hm. Well you can name it then, if you want. But wait until after you taste it, at least,” he said.

For a small moment, I hadn’t understood what he had said.

“I can name it? Really?” I almost stood at the offer, but stayed seated while Krift nodded.

“Go ahead. I’ll even tell anyone who asks. I’ll let Lena know, too,” he said.

Several moments passed as my mind raced. I can name a tree! It sounded so ridiculous, so…

“Can I just name it though? Am I allowed to?” I asked, worried.

“Allowed? Who would stop you?” Krift asked. I could both hear and see that he was amused.

“I mean… you can’t just name things, can you? Isn’t there… something else involved? Or rules?” I wondered.

“Rules? Set by who?” Krift asked.

“I don’t know! Maybe… whoever owns the Rift? Or rules it? Is there a ruler here?” I asked.

Everyone had said this place was magical, but when I thought of it… no one ever really spoke of anyone who lived here.

Although I was still heavily in thought, I eventually noticed the silence from Krift.

It was very apparent, as the fire crackled. He had even stopped turning the wood he was cooking.

“Krift?” I asked, wondering what that expression he was staring at me with was.

Had I done something stupid?

“Hm…” he finally looked away from me, to the sticks he went to quickly turning again.

“What…?” I asked softly.

“There actually is a ruler. Of the Rift,” he then said.

“Really?”

He nodded. “It’s not like us though. It’s… magical, in nature. It’s not something we can talk to. Or reason with. And I highly doubt it has named anything, if it even comprehends such a concept,” he said calmly.

As he spoke, I noticed his familiar calmness return. Whatever I had said that bothered him, was gone.

Or at least hidden away.

“I’ve never heard of a ruler of the Rift,” I said.

“Nor has anyone else. But… that’s because they’ve never asked me if there is one,” he said softly.

I had barely heard him over the fire, but his words had been clear.

Before I could ask more, he pulled one of the sticks off the makeshift spit.

It was smoking, and a section of its center was pitch black. A sharp contrast to its otherwise pale blue color.

“Here. Avoid the center, I burnt it there,” Krift said, stepping over to me as to offer the stick.

I gulped, and not just because I suddenly smelled something sweet.

“Is it hot?” I asked, slowly reaching out.

“Grab it,” he said.

I did.

And it was cool.

Completely.

“It’s cold,” I complained, taking it from him. I touched the stick up and down with my other hand, to see if it was warm anywhere else.

“It’ll be warm inside. Once you bite into it,” he said.

A small moment passed as I smelled and stared at the stick. It wasn’t much thicker than a finger, but…

The thought of just… biting into a stick, was ridiculous. It still felt like a stick. Like wood. The bark was even a little rough, prickly in some places.

“You’re not teasing me, right?” I asked, unsure.

“No. Here. Watch,” he said, lifting one of the other sticks.

Krift promptly bit off one of the ends of the stick. After chewing, rather obviously, he then swallowed.

“It’s fine. Really,” he furthered.

With a sigh, I weighed my options.

Krift most likely wouldn’t really tease me like this… but I also knew he was a riftborn.

A man strong enough to kill with a single kick.

A man capable of lifting and carrying a stone for two days straight, that took multiple other men to lift.

Him being able to eat a stick wasn’t that unbelievable.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

But could I?

After seeing Krift take another bite; a lot less exaggeratedly… my own hunger and interest won over.

And I took a bite of my own.

When I first bit into it, I panicked. I felt something hot. And it crunched loudly, a sound and feel unfamiliar with almost anything else I had ever eaten.

Then… something sweet and impossibly soft… too soft, to be bark or wood, was in my mouth.

I chewed, and the deliciously chewy piece sat in my mouth for a moment… Then I finally swallowed…

And with closed eyes, I savored the taste and feeling of satisfaction.

“Well?” Krift asked.

I didn’t answer him. Instead I nodded while taking another bite.

There was a sweetness to it, but it wasn’t so strong that it reminded me of a treat or dessert. Instead, it was more like…

“It’s delicious. And reminds me of breakfast bread. The ones with honey,” I said, after a few more mouthfuls.

“That fluffy bread? Yes. I suppose it is a little similar,” Krift agreed.

“This is better, though,” I said.

He smiled at me, and grabbed another stick.

By the time he offered the second stick, I had been only a few bites from finishing the first.

I had eaten around the burnt middle, but a part of me wondered if even it was edible.

“Thank you,” I said, taking the second stick.

Although we had eaten very well before entering the Rift… the tastiness of these sticks quickly proved that those meals were long in the past.

I was now hungry. And these sticks were a perfect cure.

“And you were so unsure,” Krift teased, watching me devour the second stick.

This one wasn’t burnt anywhere… or at least, I didn’t taste any such thing as I ate the whole stick.

“Teasing tree. That’s what I’ll call them. No one will ever know why, since I doubt anyone would think to actually eat them,” I said, licking my lips.

“You’re kidding,” Krift said, handing me a third.

Although happy to take it, I didn’t go straight to eating it.

“No. I can see it. People staring at the tree, wondering what the tease is. What the joke is. Who’d think to cook it? To eat it?”

“I would,” Krift said.

“Well… yes. Speaking of that, how’d you know? That it was this tasty?” I asked, taking my first bite out of the third stick.

“I didn’t. I used it as firewood. Then noticed the faint smell they gave off,” he said.

They did smell a little sweet. Like freshly baked dough.

“Smelled it, and then took a bite. Still seems like a stretch, honestly. I mean… they’re even cold to the touch,” I said.

“The leaves are nasty though. No matter how you cook them. Or use them to make drinks,” Krift said.

“Ah. I hadn’t thought of that… do any of the other plants or trees taste any good?” I asked.

“Not that I know of.”

“You’ve tried?”

He nodded.

Amused by the thought of Krift cooking and eating other trees, at random, I was slightly disappointed that there weren’t any others.

After all that meant I’d not get to experience this neat, new, taste again.

“I tried something in RiftWarren. Some kind of drink… It was worse than that slop you had in RiftCliff. It wasn’t as thick, but it tasted like stale water from a barrel,” I said.

Krift studied me for a moment, and then smiled. “Mintmorency, it probably had been stale water from a barrel. Most of the shops in RiftWarren offering Rift products, food at least, are scams. What did it cost? A few coppers? Nothing from the Rift is that cheap,” Krift said.

Stopping mid-chew, I quickly realized how honest he was.

“But… what about that slop in RiftCliff? You said it was made from the blood of an animal from here, or something,” I said.

“It was. Or is. But it’s also expensive. A single cup of it could feed a whole family for a week,” Krift said.

I blanched at the idea of something so nasty being so expensive.

“So me and my uncle had just been ripped off then, in RiftWarren,” I said. If I remembered correctly, it had indeed only been a few coppers. Although I had left a gold coin on the table, thanks to my uncle’s outburst.

“Likely. I mean… maybe someone did come into the Rift and grab some plants or something, but I doubt it. It’s not that easy to just come and go. Remember how I said the Rift Wall was nearly a day away from where we entered? That’s normal,” he explained.

“Oh… I see…” I said, and wondered if everyone else knew that as well. Did the locals know, and they had just seen me and my uncle as easy marks?

“Still… thank you Krift, for letting me eat this. It’s very good. Much better than the dried bread and meat in the packs,” I said.

He nodded again, saying nothing.

As I finished the third stick, I watched Krift finish his first. Yet he didn’t go to grab the fifth and final stick.

With my final bite, Krift grabbed the last stick… then promptly held it out for me.

“Are you going to cook more?” I asked, worried.

“You’re still that hungry?” he asked, startled.

“No! I… I don’t know if I’ll even be able to finish that one,” I said honestly.

“Then eat your fill already,” he said, stepping closer. The end of the stick was almost poking me in the face.

I took it, but didn’t feel good about it.

After all, he wasn’t going to go get more by the looks of it.

“Aren’t you still hungry, Krift?” I asked.

“Me? Not really.”

“Surely there’s more? The tree you took them from is just right there,” I said. I could barely make it out in the dark, but it was there.

“It is. So are a few more, around us. But if that stick will fill you, then that’s all I’ll cook,” he said.

“Why? Do you willingly starve yourself?” I asked.

He hadn’t eaten much at the inn either. A few plates, but not as much as me.

“Can I be honest?” he asked.

“Always,” I said.

“I don’t like them. At all.”

For a long moment I stared at the Riftborn’s face. Shadows danced on his face, thanks to the fire, and made him look…

“You’re joking,” I said. I couldn’t believe it! He was absolutely serious!

“Not at all. I don’t mind eating them, but they’re… not really my kind of taste. I rarely even eat them, honestly. I cook them when guiding others, like you, since it’s a good food source and everyone seems to enjoy them. Calms them down… Which is valuable in the night of the Rift,” Krift explained.

With a sigh, I took a bite out the last stick. It was almost insulting for him to not like them!

“You have horrible taste,” I said to him.

“And you should have realized that when you tried to drink from my cup at the inn,” he said back.

Remembering that horrible sludge I wished he hadn’t brought it up. It almost made the stick taste bad.

Almost.

“I’ll never trust you concerning food again…”

“That’s not fair. I said the wood was fine. I told you to take a tiny sip of the blood… in both instances I had been honest,” Krift argued.

“Fine. I’ll just not trust your tongue then,” I said.

He shook his head, and dislodged the sticks he had used to hold the ones he cooked over the fire. He pulled them out of the ground, and plopped them into the fire.

As he did, I noticed the sounds of the fire.

The crackling of its new fuel. The popping and soft blaze of the flame was refreshing. Since it was so normal.

Mixed in them all was the sound of Krift’s heavy footfalls. Dirt and earth crunched under his weight as he stepped around the fire. As he shifted his weight.

Then of course, my own sounds. Of me eating the stick. Of my breathing.

And the absolute absence of any other sounds.

There wasn’t anything else beyond us, it sounded.

No insects chirping.

No animals or creatures.

Not even the sound of wind, or rustling leaves.

“The night… is a little quiet here, isn’t it?” I asked.

I couldn’t see much past the immediate area around us. It wasn’t that the night was… that dark, but rather because of the fire. It was bright enough, to block out the shadows beyond its glare.

“Sometimes,” Krift agreed.

“Can you hear anything Krift? Past our little area, right here?” I asked, worried.

“Yes. I can,” he said.

“What do you hear?”

He looked at me, in the eyes, and I noticed the studying. The weighing.

“I promise not to get scared,” I said, understanding.

He smirked, and nodded.

“There are a few things around us. A large bird creature is watching us. It’s perched on a very large rock, that way,” he said with a point.

I followed his finger, but of course I couldn’t see it.

“And over there,” his finger went the opposite way, passing over me. “Is a family of small… well, dog looking creatures? The parents are teaching the pups to hunt it looks like. They’re making a large circle around us, cautiously, wearily.”

How could he see so well? Or were…

“Are all powers able to see so well?” I asked, worried.

He had asked me how my eyesight was. That first night.

I had thought I had passed whatever test he had been giving me. Maybe I hadn’t.

“No. Not at all. Especially not here in the Rift,” Krift said calmly.

“Is it… because you’re a riftborn?” I asked.

He nodded. “It is.”

Although a little disappointed, I was also relieved.

So it wasn’t because I was… lesser, than the rest of our kind.

Krift stood still, staring at me gently. The fire was in-between us now, and still burned fiercely.

There hadn’t been much wood in the pit, when he had started the fire… but it was still burning as if full of fuel. Maybe it was because the wood was unique.

“Do you… normally tell people you’re guiding, what kind of monsters are around them?” I asked.

“No. Most would break. You get scared, but don’t let it ruin you. To be honest, I’m impressed,” Krift said.

“Thanks.”

“I mean my words, Mint. I’ve seen hardened warriors break under less.”

His words warmed me… but at the same time bothered me. After all, maybe it was because those hardened warriors truly comprehended the dangers they were in.

Did I? Truly?

The worst injuries I’ve ever sustained were from daily life. Working on the farm. Accidents on the river. A broken arm, from falling out of a tree.

“Lena… did she get her scars here? In the Rift?” I asked.

Krift studied me for a moment, but nodded. “She did. She almost died then. I actually thought she would have, honestly.”

“You saved her?” I asked.

“She saved herself. I just happened to be there,” he said.

Somehow I doubted it was as simple as that…

“I’ll not tell you more. It’s her story, not mine,” Krift then added.

I opened my mouth, but wasn’t sure what to say about that.

What did I say? I wanted to know, but at the same time…

“Fine. You said you get scared sometimes still. Do any creatures scare you? Like those here in the Rift?” I asked.

“Creatures…?” Krift wondered for a moment, and then nodded. “Yea. A few. Many of the beasts in the Rift are dangerous, but there are a few that… are more scary than dangerous. If that’s what you’re asking,” he said.

“It was,” I said.

“Then yes. I can shiver just like you. If the moment is right. Though if you’ll forgive a little boasting, I never shiver long. Nor does it stop me from fighting back,” he said.

“I’ll forgive it,” I said.

He smiled, as if actually thankful.

Before I could ask more, he then pointed directly behind him with a thumb. “In fact… one of those creatures is here. And not very far from us. Standing near the tree I took those sticks from. It is a rather… deadly creature. Which is the main reason I’ve not gone to get any more food,” Krift then said.

My heart thumped at this new knowledge. Especially since that tree had been ridiculously close to us. I had almost been able to make it out a little bit ago, before the real darkness of night settled in.

“Calm down. It won’t attack. Only if I go near it,” Krift said.

“I wish I hadn’t asked,” I said, suddenly not hungry anymore.

I put the stick down onto my lap, and tried to stare past Krift.

Nothing but darkness was behind him… and he was a little too far away from the fire. Why didn’t he get closer?

“Mint.”

Blinking at my name, I looked to Krift. He was smiling.

“It’s fine. And you’re the one who made me promise to tell you, remember?”

I gulped, and did remember. “Maybe I shouldn’t have,” I said.

“Maybe. But do know, that even if each and every creature here attacked, you’d be fine,” Krift said.

“Really…?”

Krift’s smile grew, and for the smallest moment… it was he who scared me.

The fire made shadows dance on his sneer, and it was unsettling. “Really.”

Looking around, at the darkness surrounding us… I wished he was a little closer.

But maybe…

“Is that creature why you’re standing there? In-between me and it?” I asked. He was oddly fixated on that spot. Even when he had walked over to give me the sticks, he had walked in a rather obvious line. Centered on that tree’s location.

Krift’s sneer died down; back to the normal smile I was familiar with and liked best.

“Yes. It is,” he said gently.

Although still scared, and fiercely worried… I found myself calming down.

His steadfast answer had been like a warm blanket, covering me on a cold winter night.

The Riftborn had just once again proven his loyalty.

And it was a fierce loyalty indeed.

For many quick heartbeats, I studied Krift’s eyes as he watched the fire. They like always were calm. Steady.

I had only known him for a few days. A handful at best.

Yet it was becoming very clear that Krift was not just a man of his word, but also one of principle.

Lena had said I could trust him. That she trusted him with not just her life, but more.

I could see clearly why.

Krift was a man that you genuinely could trust with your life. At least if you were his responsibility.

Which was why Momma had paid him so richly.

Why Lena had sent me to him, as to pay off her father’s debt.

Possibly even why I would be able to survive the Rift.

All because of Krift and his strange dependability.

And I was quickly growing to believe that there was nothing that could sway that fierce trustworthiness.

No man.

No beast.

Not even magic.

Possibly not even the Rift itself.