“Hello?” she called out quietly. Eli was still chewing on the horn, he glanced at her with his tongue sticking out, she smiled and patted his head “Not you, dear.”
She placed her hand on her frying pan, the web covered handle reassuring her. She looked upwards; the ceiling was made of cerulean crystals growing from the roof. They glowed the perfect amount to appear like the sky peeking through the trees. The illusion of sunlight was created by white crystals that cast beams of sunlight indistinguishable from the real thing unless you paid attention.
Mrs. Strawberry took a deep breath for a count of five and released it for a count of seven. She continued this as she grounded herself with some techniques her father had taught her. Once she was back to her normal state of mind, she spoke aloud as she walked herself through what was occurring. “I’m lost.” She acknowledged. It was best to not argue with facts. “I have no clue how I got here or why I’m here.” This helped her accept her situation and move past the thoughts of wishing she wasn’t having to deal it or that life wasn’t fair. Instead, she focused on what she had experience within a forest. “The normal way to deal with being lost is to stay in one place, but what is the case for magically being lost?”
She needed to know what exactly she was dealing with. She looked at a nearby tree, something was off about it. The cook guided the beetle over and rested her hand against the bark.
Stone.
Stone trees carved to look real.
She closed her eyes for a moment, listening to the sounds around her “I know a trap when I see it.” Her voice was calm though her muscles tensed to deal with whatever was about to occur “Whoever you are, you tangled with the wrong cook.”
Nothing.
She was not going to wait all day, using a paring knife she carved an arrow into the stone bark, showing the direction she was traveling. Above the arrow she carved a strawberry. She turned the beetle in the direction she had come from and started a slow steady path back.
Her ears straining to pinpoint the thing stalking her.
Nothing.
Eli and the beetle were unphased by the environment they were certain the forest ranger knew where she was going. She marked each tree as they passed, a way for her to keep track of her direction as well as letting her party know which way she had gone. It took her only a little bit of time to notice the sunlight had moved on its own. An attempt to subtly disorient her and cause her to double back on her path. She was not so easily tricked.
Her unwavering path brought her to a stone wall. The Eulb beetle smack into it with a bone jarring crunch. At first Mrs. Strawberry though it was some type of invisible barrier that was blocking the path. Upon further inspection she discovered it was actually perfectly carved in relief to appear as if the forest continued. “Perfect craftsmanship, if you could only see this Marshall. You would have spent days figuring out how the tricks of light and form created such a flawless illusion.” She let herself enjoy the thought for a moment, feeling calmer as she imagined his smile. She turned the beetle around and said to Eli “This is the way we came from.” She eyed the trees. “Which means something is blocking our path out.” She scooped up the Frozen Death to move him out of easy attack range. “So, what do we do next?”
A female spoke, her words sounded like a politician, smooth, even tones and beguiling, “You appear lost, can I help you?”
Eli snarled; it was a sound he had never made before; it was dangerous, he was for the first time deadly serious. In response the beetle clicked its large mandibles together in a challenged towards whatever threat was stalking them.
“No need for help.” Mrs. Strawberry answered with steel in her voice. She remembered all the stories her father had told her of magical creatures that used words to ensnare the unwary. She wasn’t sure how factual they were when dealing with real magic creatures, however she wasn’t going to risk it. She kept her words as simple as possible. “I’m simply travelling through.”
“Are you sure?” the voice asked again, with each word it seemed to be behind a different tree.
The ranger focused on the voice, ignoring the echoes, and paying attention to the initial source of the voice. She turned the beetle to face a large tree, the origination point. “I am positive.”
Blue lightning crackled behind the tree.
“Are you sure?” the voice repeated again. The echoes were louder, attempting to distract the woman. “Wouldn’t you prefer we be friends?”
Mrs. Strawberry was undeterred, still picking her words carefully as she nudged the beetle closer to the threat. “I don’t suppose you know the way out.”
“You look tired, don’t you feel tired?” the voice asked softly. There was a flicker of black tattered cloth behind the tree. The blue lighting of the pseudo sky changed to warm oranges and yellows as if it was dusk.
“No.” the cook responded calmly.
The female’s voice was softer almost a lullaby as she repeated the words, “You look tired, don’t you feel tired?” There was something behind the words, hypnotic like rain on a tin roof and the distant soft boom of thunder, a lulling sound that tried to creep around the cook’s concentration and have her put down the heavy frying pan and slumber.
Mrs. Strawberry laughed, it was melodious and cut through the magic being woven around her, it was hearty and happy. She spun the pan in hand and looked at the tree “I’ve stood guard for three days and three nights without sleep before, honey.” Her words were amused, egging her unseen enemy on “Bless your heart but you are barking up the wrong tree if you think you can make me sleep. Show yourself!”
The pale female emerged from behind the tree; she wore a torn black dress, fabric had been gathered into ruffles at strategic points to emphasize her shape. “I am here.” She responded with a smile on her blue lips, only the lower part of her face was visible beneath her ragged hood.
“Name yourself.” The cook ordered.
The ebony material of the dress moved more than it should have, giving the appearance that the clothing was alive. Her words were formal, ritualistic “I am one of the Tattered Siblings, Sister Blade.”
“Why are you here?”
Sister Blade circumvented the question by extending her hand towards Eli. Her bare white arms glowed and crackled with energy with every word she spoke as she approached the trio.
Sister Blade extended her hand towards him “I have never seen such a creature before, where did you find him, friend?”
Eli chomped his teeth in anticipation.
The beetle lowered its head and clicked its jaws in warning.
“You are not my friend.” Mrs. Strawberry’s tone mirrored her two companions’ postures “My friends don’t like you, it might be best for you to leave, Sister Blade of the Tattered Siblings.”
“You dare to order a Tattered Siblings!” The energy crackled along her arms faster. Transparent tentacles rose up from cracks along the stone floor, curling and twisting in cadence with her voice.
The cook’s pan moved into a ready-to-smack position “I do.”
“You are intruding in my land; you should be kneeling in obeisance!” Sister Blade said in an imperial tone.
The granny chuckled “I’ve dealt with people like you before; you twist social niceties to control others, right now you’re trying to make me feel bad for questioning you.” She nudged the beetle to take a threatening step forward. “I don’t like you, Sister Blade, I don’t like being the prey for the Tattered Siblings.”
The two females measured the other.
“What are you?” The pale creature pressed her blue lips into a frown, her arms folding and the energy flickering dwindling as she waited for an answer.
“A travelling cook.”
“No,” the Tattered Sibling shook her head “I didn’t ask your profession. I asked what you are.”
“A granny.”
Sister Blade’s energy started to crawl across her skin again in her annoyance. “I’ve been managing this trap for over two thousand years. I’ve never met someone still coherent after all my magic was employed.”
“Maybe you’ve lost your touch.” The ranger spoke with a motherly tone. Though her expression made it clear that she was not in a maternal mood. “You might want to open my path out of here. If you and your Tattered Siblings want to survive. I have killed beasts much bigger than you on this adventure and you won’t even be included in a foot note of my cookbook.”
The Tattered Sibling’s voice was less honey and more vinegar now; she no longer was trying to lull a scared animal into a false sense of security, she was snarling at a fellow predator, “What. Are. You?”
“I am many things,” Mrs. Strawberry explained to the unsettled black garbed female before her. She tapped the beetle twice (her signal to charge) as she finished with her statement “Most of all.” the beetle lunged forward with mandibles wide. “I AM A WARRIOR COOK!!!”
The rag wearing Sister Blade she leapt into the air and out of reach of the crushing jaws. She pointed back at them, transparent tentacles whipping through the air at her direction. Mrs. Strawberry made the beetle dodge with quick movements. She unhooked the makeshift saddle and just as the Eulb insect had been trained it made a roaring buzz as it launched into the air with winds flapping.
“I was trying to be genteel about this!” she said, her pale white face impassive as she caught a tree limb and used her momentum to arc back towards the cook.
The beetle knocked the ridiculously thin woman away.
“I had hoped to lead you into my parlor for DINNER!” She caught another tree limb and arced again. She now held sword and short sword pointed at Mrs. Strawberry’s throat, the older woman deflected the attack from the black blades and brought her free hand up to strike her opponent in the throat.
The Sister Blade coughed and plummeted to the ground.
The beetle plunged after her with a buzzing rattle of rage.
The Tattered Sibling didn’t have time to react she was impaled onto the Eulb insect’s horn. The bug didn’t stop there it lifted her into the air and slammed her into a stone tree for good measure. The pale creature gasped in shock, dropping her blades as she lay gored on the horns, her eyes met Mrs. Strawberry’s “Who would have a thought,” she gasped as a dark red blood started to seep from the edge of her mouth. “I have enthralled entire armies and butchered them, and today I am killed by a little old woman and her bear.”
The cook drew near keeping an eye for any traps, she caught a motion in the predator’s hands and brought her pan up to deflect the flung blade, Mrs. Strawberry kept her pan up in case there were any other surprises. “Still trying to kill me even as you die.”
“Yes. Wanted to take your essence with me to the land of the dead; the Shattered Graveyard.” The dying creature hissed out, spittle and blood mixing as it was spat from her mouth. “Easier to cross the chasm if I sold your dying breath to the Cartographer.”
Mrs. Strawberry peered at the creature, “Is that what this was? Gathering the dying breaths of living to pay this Cartographer?”
“The afterlife is all that matters.” The Sister Blade gasped as her blue lightning dwindled. “We are focused on it always. Your deaths are irrelevant as long as we can reach the Necrotic Nests.”
The cook surveyed the Tattered Sibling with new loathing. “How many?”
“What?” The pale creature mumbled, her focus starting to fade as her lifeblood seeped into the tree’s ersatz bark. She feebly attempted to push the Eulb horn out of her chest but it would have been easier to squeeze tears from a rock.
Mrs. Strawberry’s words were cold as she asked, “How many did you kill to reach your Shattered Graveyard?”
“Not nearly enough.” The Sister Blade said with a gurgling giggle. “Our victims never to returned to their loved ones. I wonder who would have missed you.” Her voice trailed off, and a few moments later she was dead.
Mrs. Strawberry didn’t lower her cooking implement until Eli stopped snarling. She inspected the weapons of Sister Blade, “Spoils of war, I supposed.” She said to the cub as she picked them up. She wrapped the metal handles of the blades with torn pieces of fabric from the Tattered Sibling. Using more of the black fabric to create makeshift covers for the razor-sharp edges. She strapped on the beetle’s saddle then tied the blades to it “Now to find a way out.”
It was a brief exploration to find there were no exits.
There was however a large tower formed of stalactites and stalagmites in the middle of a small lake. She crossed a natural bridge of stone to reach the massive structure. Along the way she had several battles with the transparent tentacles and a few traps that would have killed her if she hadn’t been attentive.
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When she finally reached the colossal building and could see it in all its glory, “An elegant place to die.” She observed with gallows humor.
There were delicately carved stalagmites; some parts were carved to look like petals; the stone so thin that the cook could see the orange light through them. Other parts were sculpted into large, leafed plants, small blades of grass and every type of plant in between. As she traveled through the gates of the enormous structure she had a difficult time telling that those leaves weren’t stirring in a breeze. The only thing that reassured her that they weren’t alive was the monochromatic grey brown.
“Don’t try to eat them.” She warned as Eli sniffed at them, he got a large snort of dust in his nose and sneezed with a look of displeasure.
The open gates were carved stone as well, chiseled to look like scenes of various fantastical creatures leaping and dancing, again the trick of the light as she drew closer made them appear alive. “Not sure if this stuff was made by magic or by hand but it is beautiful.”
When she passed on column carved to look like trees, she spotted the chisel marks not yet fully smoothed, and stashed in several crevices were a variety of sculpting tools. “Created by hand. Wonder where the crafters are…”
Turning a corner she saw a small creature on a makeshift ladder, gently polishing one of the fresh carvings to pristine smoothness. His skin was pebbled, head bald and small pointed teeth.
“Hello.” She called out.
The diminutive being turned, his eyes dilating in shock as he spied the cook atop her massive beetle. He took a distracted step back, lost his balance and crashed to the ground in a tumble of items. Drawing near to the creature she could finally decipher the single word he was repeating, “Leave, leave, leaveleaveleaveleave!!!”
He pushed his tools away and started pushing on the giant beetle’s tusk without any fear towards the insect that made a warning chitter of annoyance. Mrs. Strawberry stayed atop the bug, her eyes watching for possible danger. This miniscule scaled creature was terrified of something else, something so dangerous that he was unafraid of the irritated arthropod that could have crushed him with no effort. Her words were soft and soothing even as she spun the pan in her hand to keep her hand muscles from cramping up “Why must I leave?”
“The Tattered Siblings!” the creature squeaked “If they see you, you will die! You must leave the way you came, as long as you haven’t been seen by one of the dark garbed hunters you can still escape!”
The ranger shook her head “No, the path I took is now a stone wall. No path out.”
“Nonsense.” The creature snapped with impatience. “You just got turned around. Just go back the way you came if you want to live!” his eyes were darting around as if he was a mouse in a room full of hungry cats.
The woman held her gaze on the creature until he met hers and gulped. Only then did she speak “I have circled this entire domain, there is no way out.”
“Impossible! The only reason that path would be closed is if a Tattered Sibling closed it. And you would be dead if that were the…” His words trailed off as he spotted Blade Sister’s dagger and sword wrapped with her black tattered dress “Oh.”
Mrs. Strawberry kept her gaze on him as she patted the cloth wrapped weapons to drive home her point “If you are referring to the woman that attacked me; my beetle crushed her.”
“Im, im, impossible!” he finally blurted out. “Sister Blade has never gotten a scratch! I know, the H'trae have tried!!!”
Mrs. Strawberry looked him over more closely, seeing the malnutrition and the ticktacktoes of scars across his body. “Even the most dangerous of creatures can be scratched or stabbed or crushed. It only takes the right preparation.”
“I won’t let you!” the starving H'trae snapped with narrowed eyes. “I’ll kill you myself.”
The ranger hopped down from the beetle at this threat “I see, Stockholm Syndrome, should have guessed; they let a few of you H'trae live and you become ingratiated for the honor.”
“Yes!” he made a low guttural sound in his throat before he said to himself “Must kill her but mustn’t call for help. Must do it myself.”
“What do they have you doing?” she asked, keeping her hands up in a non-threatening manner as she edged ever closer towards the H'trae that was clearly delirious with hunger. “Housework and stone carving? Very generous of them to let you do all that work while letting you starve.”
“I am a survivor.” The creature barked as he picked up a chisel, clear he would attempt to kill her “If I kill you they may let me sleep tonight, might even let me eat more than a half handful of food.”
He lunged at the woman with the stone carving tool extended towards her midsection. She easily caught his wrist and pinned him against the beetle, he attempted to break free but in his weakened state it wasn’t even a challenge for the woman.
“Sorry but there’s nothing for it.” She shoved a wad of tattered black fabric into his mouth before he could scream for help. She tied his hands and feet together, then she tied his fingers together for good measure “Once I’ve killed the other Tattered Siblings I will let you go.”
“Mrph!” the creature said with eloquence.
She pushed him into one of the stow away crevices and put some tools in front of him to conceal him. “I’ll see you later.”
As this exchange was occurring, Eli smelled something alluring. He took a step towards the scent and tumbled from his perch atop the beetle. He landed without a single woof, he didn’t want his owner to curtail his investigation. He lifted his head up to follow the glorious smells, he trundled off as confident as a kitten in a field of daisies. A short while later the blue cub found the hidden door, where the scents of food cooking snuck out from the crack in the bottom. He grumbled to himself as his attempted to lick the smells from the air around him. He was still attempting to somehow catch the flavors when Mrs. Strawberry found him.
“What’re you doing, Eli.” She asked the digging cub.
The Frozen Death looked up at her, she was good for this type of thing. He woofed and pawed at the barrier. The cook pressed her hand against the stone and could feel the heat, she could also see the outlines of the door hidden beneath all the carvings. She quickly found the hidden hand and pushed the door open, Eli immediately trundled down the long hallway with many rooms connected to the passage, he lifted his nose in the air sniffing the delicious food and trying to decipher which room held his treat.
“I don’t know what that moron Forma is thinking,” A female’s voice could be heard down the hall, the blue cub picked up speed as he grew confident in the direction of his next meal. The female continued talking, frustration in her words. “He spends more time carving and polishing those sculptures than he does helping us.”
Mrs. Strawberry followed Eli to a small kitchen, two H'trae females were doing food prep. Both the same species as the one bound and gagged outside, these females however had hair on their heads. The ranger stayed in the shadows of the hallway uncertain if these would be crazed zealots as well. Unseen by the occupants, Eli entered the kitchen and padded under the table looking for food that might have been dropped. A female (this one with hair as red as a rose) made a long sigh of annoyance in response to the other’s words, she sliced vegetables with a hint of vindictiveness in her chops “Forma’s trying to get into the good graces of the Tattered Siblings, as if they have any sort of thought but their own interests.” She looked over her shoulder at the orange-haired female “Geo, do you mind tasting that, make sure there aren’t too many Lilo shavings in it?”
“True.” Geo replied, she had orange hair that fell into her eyes as she used a spoon to taste the bubbling cauldron of stew, smiled at the flavor despite the grim conversation and returned to sitting on a nearby counter while she waited for the other H'trae to finish prepping vegetables. “Food is good, might need more salt though, Tecto.” She licked the spoon clean before speaking more on the subject of the Tattered Siblings behavior, “Remember Stalac? He was in their good graces for years, then one day he just was gone, no trace of him.”
The red-haired Tecto paused in her vegetable massacre. “Such a shame, he was a bit of an adorable catch wasn’t he?” she wiped her hands on a rag of an apron. It had been white once, now it was stained and brownish.
“He was very sweet.” Geo said, she rubbed her temples as if it would help alleviate the despair plainly written in her slumped shoulders. She used the spoon to view her reflection, she gingerly touched a fresh bruise on her jaw and her lip trembled for just the tiniest fraction of a moment. She shook her head to clear whatever thoughts were plaguing her, but it failed as her voice echoed her feelings, “Just like the rest of them. Sweet and gone. Wish we could somehow slip some poison into this stew and kill Tattered Siblings in one go.”
At these words Mrs. Strawberry made her decision that these females were not crazed worshippers of the Tattered Siblings, she spoke quietly, “Excuse me.”
Geo and Tecto whirled around with fear in their eyes. It took them a moment to realize the woman before them was not a Tattered Sibling.
“Who are you?” Geo asked with a stony expression.
Tecto looked towards a door that led up a flight of stairs, her red hair twirling around her face with the abrupt turn of her head “You need to leave now, or else they will kill you!”
The warrior cook held up the Tattered Sibling’s dagger “I won’t die.”
Geo’s voice was louder than she intended the surprise clearly breaking her composure. “That’s Sister Blade’s! How did you…” her expression changed to one of tentative hope “You killed her?”
“Yes.” The granny answered. Technically the beetle had killed Sister Blade, but providing that tidbit of information would not help the confidence of these H'trae. It was best to give them succinct information and obtain information on the rest of the Tattered Siblings.
“Are you here to rescue us?” Tecto asked.
“Yes.” The ranger answered. She knew that time was of the essence in these situations. Her voice was firm and confident as she spoke, “I need to know what I am up against. Tell me about the rest of these Tattered Siblings.”
-
Mrs. Strawberry climbed the stairs from the kitchen with pan in hand. “Three more siblings.” She muttered to herself. She had a plan of action to deal with them. Mostly it was focused on bashing their pale faces in with her cooking implement. The other part was catching them all and ending their tyranny. Sometimes the best plans were simple and besides she had a deadline “I only have three days left in this realm; I do not want to waste all of them chasing around a bunch of bullies in black rags.”
She opened the first door that she came to. The room was gilded in gold, mother of pearl fixtures and silver trim over everything; no doubt these had been taken from their victims. On the table was a tea set made of the same stone as the building, each piece sculpted to look like a coiling snake, from the cups rose a pleasant scent that was sweet and seductive. Sitting at the table were two of the Tattered Siblings. The female wore a black veil that covered her face, atop the delicate fabric were a host of spiders crawling. The male wore a tall, thin top hat with matching black were a suit and a white bowtie. They spoke as one “Welcome, food.”
“I think you are overestimating yourselves.” Mrs. Strawberry said as she spun the pan in her hand, a trick to keep the muscles from tensing. “You’re just batting practice!”
The female hissed out her spell “Twining tentacles take this tramp.” The floor flared with blue magic and a torrent of transparent tentacles lashed towards the cook. The granny drove Sister Blade’s dagger through the first attacking appendage and skewered it to the wooden floor. Her long blade sliced the tentacle down the middle, causing the split thrashing limb to trip the male.
“DIE!” The female screamed as she lunged with short black daggers, the warrior cook was unimpressed, she lowered her stance and slammed the female to the ground with enough force to send the Tattered Sibling on her journey to the Shattered Graveyard.
The grim granny didn’t have time to celebrate her victory.
There was the sound of running feet and she saw the large black cleaver aimed for her throat. She took a step to the side and deflected the blade. The deflection caused the male to lose his footing, before he had time to reorient on the woman, she used her pan on his kneecap. His leg buckled and as he fell forward the cook swung with all her worth upwards into his face. The male was gone to the Shattered Graveyard before he hit the floor.
The thrashing tentacles faded around the woman. She eyed the large doors made of gold and her jaw set as she pushed them open and headed up the luxuriously carpeted stairs towards the final Tattered Sibling. Her words were laced with finality as she said, “Time to finish this.”
-
“It is done!” Mrs. Strawberry announced as she entered the kitchen with a triumphant smile on her face. She was toting the various blades of the Tattered Siblings in a makeshift bag made from the last pale creature’s gold spun curtains.
“You were gone a long time.” Geo eyed the woman with various superficial cuts across her body. “Are you alright?”
The ranger sat down on a chair with exhaustion “Totally fine. Just had more a time dealing with the last one than I expected.” She wiped sweat from her neck using the shiny yellow fabric of her new bag. “Could have filled up three chapters of a book.”
“What happened?” Tecto asked with curiosity.
Mrs. Strawberry gladly took the proffered cup of tea and gulped it down before answering “Nothing of much interest; traps and magic, monstrous creatures and a dead Tattered Sibling.”
“Oh.” Tecto was disappointed in the lack of detail in what was clearly an epic battle.
The ranger took another sip of the warm, comforting tea before she mused to herself “Surprised he was so stupid about that guillotine.”
“What was that?” the red-haired H'trae queried hopefully.
The granny was not paying attention to the question, she was unpacking the various weapons of the Tattered Siblings and appraising them with a practiced eye. She inspected a long thin curved blade “This might make a good blade for deboning.” She moved through the rest of her new weapons, assessing each, “Nice set of pairing knives and who doesn’t need a butcher knife.” She looked at the items “These will be perfect for cooking.”
“Cooking!” Tecto’s mind was having a hard time processing the thought of these weapons of war being used in someone’s kitchen as if they were simply normal cooking utensils.
Mrs. Strawberry misunderstood the reason for the female’s outburst. She wiped a bit of the last Tattered Sibling’s blood from the razor sharp edge of the deadly weapon. “Oh, don’t worry, I’ll give them all a good cleaning before I use them for any type of cooking.”
“Cooking?” Tecto asked weakly.
Geo did not have any such thoughts. She ladled three large bowls of stew and passed them to her companions. “Now that the magic of the Tattered Siblings is gone we can finally eat all we want. And we can actually explore this place.” She caught the questioning look of Mrs. Strawberry. “We were kept to this kitchen by magic. But now, now we eat, then we figure out next steps, can’t think on empty stomachs.”
-
The next steps were exploring the complex structure, it was large above ground, but it was even larger below the earth. The females discovered an entire populace of H'trae slaves growing crops for their evil overlords. They had been bound to their places of work by magic chains. It had only taken a few well-placed whacks to destroy the blue bindings keeping the slaves in check. With that imprisonment gone there was hustle and bustle of activity as the scaled creatures whooped and celebrated. The celebrating H'trae ranged in age from younglings up to the wise elders.
As one would expect all ages were excited to ransack the castle for food. Once they were sated, the newly freed investigated the rest of their former stone prison. They freed more victims (these had been travelers recently captured and forced into servitude) and on their further explorations found a gigantic treasure room, a well-kept weapons rooms and even a magic room with lightning crackling across the ceiling.
“I think you might find this of use.” Tecto offered the ranger a ladle. It was wooden, carved in a simple (yet elegant) shape. “I found it in the treasury, probably misplaced but beautiful all the same.”
Mrs. Strawberry eyed the cooking implement with uncertainty.
“Keep it dear,” Geo ordered as she helped a group put a chest full of gold chains and crowns onto the Eulb beetle’s back “We’ll be giving you as many valuables as you can carry. That treasure room has more loot than we could ever use.”
The final order of work was freeing Forma from his crevice where Mrs. Strawberry had stowed him. He was clearly unhappy at both being bound and the death of his masters.
“I’d keep my eyes on him.” The warrior cook suggested as Forma was taken away to get some clean clothes and a much-needed bath.
Geo watched him go “Already had that planned. There are a few like him that we’ll be watching. The H'trae living below ground have identified Tattered Sibling supporters. Our race has been down here for thousands of years, eventually loyalty of the young and impressionable will shift to the overlords.”
-
It was only a few hours until Mrs. Strawberry led the freed H'trae out of the caverns of the Tattered Siblings and into the sunlight.
The granny watched from atop her beetle as the H'trae of all ages splashed in a quick running stream; some of them hadn’t seen sunlight for years. Others had been born in captivity and had never seen true sunlight. Their pale scales turning pink in the warm light.
“Worth the detour.” Mrs. Strawberry to Eli as he chewed on a large soupbone. She stopped to carve an arrow in a tree, above it she carved the simple strawberry symbol.
“What’s that for?” Tecto asked, attempting to decipher the logic.
“It lets my friends know which direction I am heading.”
“Well, let me help with it then.” The red headed H'trae called a few of the younglings (the ones that were running wild with antics and getting into mischief) and suggested they play a new game. “Mark the trees pointing in the way we are going, just the way she did, try to mark as many as you can.”
The young H'trae looked uncertain.
“Winner gets to ride on the beetle.” Mrs. Strawberry offered.
With that the younglings took up the cause with whoops of excitement, soon every tree within a kilometer radius had an arrow carved into its bark with a crude sketched strawberry above it.
Unbeknownst to any of them, this game of carving a strawberry and arrow would become a point of myth and legend; a legend that came to be called the Path of Strawberries. This symbol became the coat of arms for the H'trae. And when they spoke of the founding of their nation they always spoke of day of deliverance where the entire race of H'trae was saved from the Tattered Siblings by a cook and her frying pan.