Chapter 32: Feeding

The next day was more endless walking across a field of newly growing wheat that stretched beyond the horizon. This traveling felt eerily similar to my world. I could remember trips I had taken - though if they were with anyone else I didn't have the faintest idea - where I drove past field after field of wheat and other crops. I wondered if it was as mind-numbingly boring as this trip was. Probably.

Time seemed not to exist and my thoughts became hazy as we walked on and on, the only thing keeping me in reality was the people around me. Surprisingly, the siblings seemed not to be as zoned out as me, they were looking around constantly as if what they were seeing was awe-inspiring. I didn't understand them.

Eventually, the sun went down without me even noticing and Hazel suggested we stop. I slipped the robe off and we walked into the portal which took us straight to the bedroom hallway, like I wanted. We cleaned up and each went to sleep in our respective beds.

It was strange, after a full day of walking, my mind felt tired but my body did not. Yet, it knew it was supposed to be tired. My muscles felt like they wanted to ache, my legs wanted to be cramped up. But they were only a bit more worn out than when I had woken up that morning, as if I had walked a mile, not thirty. Everything about my body…this body, felt wrong.

I closed my eyes and my mind found it didn't want to ponder on this, but to simply sleep.

#

Finn stared at his mess of a hand as Gronan unwrapped the bandages. Gronan had expected him to gasp or scream in fear at the sight of the hand, in its charred and deadened mess but it seemed to not phase him at all. Gronan assumed it was because Finn thought it would be healed by Gronan’s powers. He wouldn’t prove that wrong, he had a duty to heal Finn’s hand.

He wrapped his glowing yellow hand around Finn’s hand, letting his energy out into the hand. There was a new, small fracture within the wrist, most likely from the fight with the shilners. He fixed the fracture with ease and then moved on to the real problem. There had been a major issue with the hand that he hadn’t quite understood the last time he had tried to heal it in the hospital, but now he knew what it was. Much of the tissue within the hand was dead, but it wasn’t just that. The dead tissue was moving. It wasn’t enough to be noticeable to the naked eye, but it was obvious to Gronan’s holy energy.

The Goddess forsaken necromancer had put a curse on Finn’s hand.

Gronan focused on the tissue and began to channel all of his healing energy into it. He felt his own hands begin to shake and warmth began to overtake him. He closed his eyes, focusing on the unholy spirits quivering within Finn’s hand. They were squealing, crying out to not be taken out.

Gronan paid no mind to the unholy wishes, he allowed his healing light to consume the enemy. The tissue began to grow and morph until the deadened, unholy part of it was small. He then allowed the large, new tissue to smother the old tissue, allowing no oxygen to get to it until the dead tissue no longer lived. To his surprise, it seemed even the reanimated tissue needed oxygen and soon died.

The heat surrounding him began to become cold and he felt himself panting. He couldn’t do it anymore. He opened his eyes and took his hand away from the hand. The only difference in the hand was it looked to be slightly swollen. If anything, it looked worse.

“I will do more tomorrow,” He said. “Sorry, it looks like that now.”

Finn shrugged but his face seemed angry, “Injuries usually have to get worse before they get better, right?”

“I suppose they do,” He wrapped the bandage back around his hand and then got up. “Rest now.”

“You too.”

He closed the door and slunk back to his room. He had helped Finn with his injury but he couldn’t help but feel dissatisfied about his work.

I’ll just have to put more effort into it tomorrow.

He nearly collapsed into his bed.

#

As Gronan left his room, Finn sighed. His hand didn’t look great, but it was better than being dead which he surely would’ve been without Gronan. And now, even his hand, a reminder to do better, was being healed away.

He felt his blood boil from his uselessness. The worst part, he had been just taking all of that anger and putting it onto La’Quet. He couldn’t help but feel like a bad person. A bad person who couldn’t keep anyone safe, not even himself.

#

As I opened my eyes the next morning, it felt like I had only slept for a few minutes. What had I dreamed? It was foggy, but there was something. Wheat. Was there something else? Something red, that was all I could conjure up.

It doesn't matter, it was just a dream.

I got out of bed, dressed, and washed my mouth out with the cleansing wash that Hedge gave me. I walked out of the hallway and downstairs to find freshly made grilled cheeses spread out around the dining table with a small mug of ale beside each plate.

That was except for two plates which were empty and missing their mugs. I took my grilled cheese and mug in hand and went where I suspected whoever the thieves were. In the front yard, I found Finn and Velajn standing together and Sofi in her stable, staring at them.

I watched them from behind as Finn dangled a slab of raw meat with his good hand. “Come on, girl, come on,” He said in the highest pitch I could imagine him having.

Sofi just glared at him.

“What in Gahen am I doing?” He asked, keeping his eyes trained on Sofi.

“You are gaining her trust and respect,” Velajn answered.

“I'm talking to a bird,” He began to move his hand down to his side.

She grabbed his hand and forced it back to being outstretched. “Why don't you want it's trust?”

He grunted. “I just feel ridiculous.”

“Being ridiculous with someone can gain their trust.”

I didn't see it, but I knew he rolled his eyes. “Fine,” he said, and then his voice became high-pitched again. “Come here, Sofi, this is for you sweety, honeymoon, bestest lil girly ever.”

I put my hand over my mouth, forcing myself not to bust out laughing.

Velajn giggled, “There you go.”

Sofi took a step toward him and I could've sworn that in her eyes was humor. Quicker than even Finn could move away, Sofi snatched the meat out of his hand and then moved back, chewing it.

Velajn threw her hands up in excitement, “You did it!”

He turned to her, a smile touching his lips. “I guess I did.”

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She hopped and gave him a big hug.

Finn hugged her back with his bad hand which didn’t have blood all over it. As she let go of him he asked, “Can I get a rag now?”

“Oh, right,” she went to get a rag off the cutting table by the house.

He turned to watch her but his eye grazed over me and he stopped. “How long were you standing there?”

I mimicked his high-pitched voice, “Only a little.”

He pointed at me with his bloody hand, “You never speak of this to anyone.”

I put my hands up, “Sure, yeah, yeah…definitely.”

He glared.

“I’d let you try, La’Quet, but that was the last bit of meat.” She said as she gave the rag to Finn. “Hedge said after eating he was going to go hunt for more.”

The front door opened and closed and I looked to see Hedge walking outside with a crossbow that was half his size.

“Speak of the devil,” I said. “Be careful, Hedge.”

He patted his crossbow, “Nothin’ me and this bad boy can't handle. I'll be back by sundown.”

“What are you gonna do while he’s away?” Finn asked.

She shrugged, “What I’ve been doing since yesterday when you all leave. Read.”

“What have you been reading?”

“Romance, mostly.”

“He has romance books?” Finn asked.

She laughed, “That’s his biggest collection.”

Finn snickered, actually snickered. “You’re saying he enjoys romance?”

“Oh yeah, when he saw me reading Ogres Long Dance, he went on and on about the romantic tension in each of the dances.”

I yelled out toward Hedge, who had now reached the end of the top of the mountain where I saw stone stairs that I presumed led to the bottom. “Can I read Ogres Long Dance?”

He turned slightly, “Ye would never understand the emotional complexity!”

I couldn’t help it, I burst out laughing.

#

Once everyone woke up and had eaten, we went back to walking along the unending path filled with wheat. “This world is filled with monsters and magic,” I started as I wiped sweat from my brow. “There’s gotta be better transportation than walking.”

“There are,” Hazel said. “But we will be excluded from all means other than walking for quite some time.”

“Fine by me,” I said in relief. “As long as we don’t have to do this forever, I can feel at ease.”

“Walking’s good for you,” Gronan said. “It’ll keep you healthy.”

“Something tells me exercise doesn’t do much for us anymore,” Finn responded.

“Healthy in the mind,” Gronan tapped his temple. “But I wouldn’t mind getting on a rail,” He admitted.

“A rail?” I asked. “Like a train?”

“If by train you mean a big machine on tracks that can take you from one place to another, then yes, a train.”

That answer was so good I didn’t even question how the word ‘train’ didn’t exist in their language. “Where the hell are they? ‘Cause I definitely don’t see one around here.”

“They’re dedicated to District Two. Well,” He rubbed his neck. “It was. It was all being repaired when I left.”

“What happened?” I asked.

He didn’t answer. That was when what he had said a few days ago came back to me. “You’re telling me a Soul Hunter destroyed the rail system?”

“It’s more complicated than that,” Gronan said. “But, overall, yes.”

Hazel spoke up. “Much of the recent events in District Two have not been revealed to Bellcliff, would you care to elaborate?”

Gronan thought for a moment and his face grew into a dark, wistfulness. “No, no I would not.”

Once again, darkness began to come and we took shelter in Hedge’s house. Hedge was back and had hunted down several creatures he called trimps because apparently they looked a bit like trints from Gandria.

The steaks Hedge prepared with the new meat were fantastic.

As we were about to get ready for bed, Hedge asked us if we were going to make it to the city tomorrow.

“Yes, we should,” Hazel answered.

“Well, there is somethin’ I’d like from there.”

“What is it?”

“A book. It should be by the name of,” He seemed to search his brain for a moment. “Impervious Bonds and Broken Steel.”

“What is it for?” Gronan asked curiously.

“I won’t say. Sorry lassies, but it’s a surprise,” He gave us all a sly look that would’ve fit more keenly on Finn.

“We’ll look for it,” I told him.

#

The bath was hot and refreshing like each time before and once again, when my tired mind touched the pillow I was asleep almost instantly.

The light hit harshly on my retinas and I squinted to see my surroundings. Light yellow wheat was all around and I stood along a dirt road. I looked at my hands. They were a dark, tanned brown and had hard calluses that were trying to crack. On my wrist was a gold watch that was frozen in time.

I was frozen in time.

I looked in front of me and an object made itself clear to me. A red door, the paint peeling to reveal the brown wood underneath.

#

I opened my eyes groggily. The image of that wheat still in my head. Was that what my hands had looked like before? Why did I always have to have so many damn questions?

I got out of bed and went down the familiar stairs. Velajn and Finn were already almost done with their breakfast, which seemed to be a sandwich with the meat from the trimps. A trimp sandwich?

Hedge gave me a sandwich and I took a bite. There was a sort of barbecue sauce soaked into the meat and the bread had been made with seasoning within. “How are you such a good cook?” I asked through the bite.

“Years of practice, lass,” He began to make the rest of the group’s sandwiches. “I left three raw slabs of the trimp meat for ye and the others to feed Sofi with.”

I blinked, “We’re feeding her? All of us?”

“O’ course, lass. Ye all should get acquainted with her.”

“Well, I mean, it’s not like she’s gonna be with us forever.”

“Even if that is so, ye should learn how to befriend an animal. It'll help ye, lass.”

Velajn got up and grabbed my hand, “It'll be fun,” She forced me through the front door and toward the stable where Sofi sat with her two babies.

Velajn took a slab of meat sitting on the butcher’s block and I stuffed the rest of my sandwich in my mouth. “Here you go.”

I took a hold of the meat. It was wet and slimy. I wished I had fully eaten my sandwich before now because the feeling made me want to throw it up. I forced myself to swallow and went to Sofi, who stared at the meat in my hands like a target. “Hey there, buddy,” I said sweetly. I now understood what Finn felt yesterday now. Somehow talking to a pet dog in a cutesy voice was much easier than doing it to a massive bird. “You want this? Go on, take it.”

Sofi didn’t move.

I forced myself to get further into the cutesy voice, “Hey there girlie, you want this? Who's a good girl? You are, just come and get some of this yummy meat.”

She took a step closer to me, her gigantic wings slowly spreading out to show me her true size. I felt a twinge of fear in the back of my mind, screaming at me that this was a bad idea. But I didn’t back down, “Come on,” I said, keeping my voice up. “You know you want it. You can do it, just take a bite. That’s all and you’ll see how good it is.”

Her glare broke from the meat to my eyes, staring into me. I saw satisfaction in those sharp eyes, as if she understood I hated the voice. But then the eyes grew angry as they continued to look at me. The feathers began to further outstretch, the bird making herself as big as possible. She understood what I had done to her. I had torn her away from her home and forced her and her babies into this place. And now she wanted to take her revenge on me. Hedge had been right, she was one helluva smart bird.

“Quet,” Velajn said softly. “Drop the meat and back away.”

I stayed still, keeping the meat outstretched toward her. I dropped the voice, “Go on, take the meat.”

Sofi moved her head closer to me, past the meat. If I moved just a little my nose would touch her beak.

“Quet, run,” She whispered. “Do not challenge her. Please.”

“You can kill me,” I told Sofi. “This is not my body, this is not my home. You hate me for what I did, but I did it for others to survive. You were killing their income, those trints were theirs. Do you understand? Do you understand my words?” Perhaps she didn’t. Perhaps all she knew was to kill me.

Yet she didn’t kill me. She just stood there, as if listening to me - wanting me to give her a good reason not to rip my head off.

“You will have a better home here, your kids will have a better home here. But if you don’t want to stay, that’s okay too. But you won’t go back to that forest, you deserve to go where you belong, where you used to live. The mountains. Don’t you remember those beautiful peaks?”

Sofi was very still for several moments as if considering her next action carefully. It seemed she had decided. Slowly, her wings began to retract and her head shrunk back. She stood there, still staring into me.

I nodded and threw the meat onto the ground, taking several steps backward. Sofi was a blur and then the meat was gone. She chewed it several times, the baby birds chirping loudly next to her. She leaned over and spit a little into each of their mouths.

Velajn gave me a rag, her mouth agape. “H- how did you know to do that?”

“I didn’t, not entirely. But I knew that if she was half as smart as I had been told, she would understand what I wanted to give her. What you just saw was a contract between me and her. She doesn’t kill me and I get her back to the mountains.”

She shook her head and took the rag from me, “I never thought I’d see something like that. I mean, she’s just a bird.”

I looked back to Sofi as she put her wings protectively over her babies. “No, she’s not. Also, never call me ‘Quet’ again, please.”

She giggled, “Fine…La.”