Mom took me home, fed me some soup and we went straight to bed.

The lights were out. Crickets outside. Soon it’d be dawn. A new day.

Yet, neither of us had any sleep in our eyes. Mom didn’t really ask me questions and I didn’t really have the guts to ask anything either.

On our way, Serec did try to explain just how hectic things with Mom were but I could have gotten that much even without him explaining.

Lyra was pretty weak but Xerec and Lyra’s son took her and the newborn baby away safely. Or so Xerec reported before leaving for his own home.

All in all, everything was settled and I was back in my mother’s arms. And yet, there was this looming uncertainty hanging in the air. And though I knew it was there, I couldn’t understand why.

In the end, I stopped worrying and giving a fuck. I just… rested my head on her arm, wrapped my arms around her like she was some bodypillow, and tried sleeping. I’d slept for a few hours in the cave so I wasn’t feeling very sleepy. Yet… her warm chest, her warm embrace made me drowsy, and I eventually fell asleep.

…

Lin

Sol was back. Back to her arms. Yet, she couldn’t rest. She couldn’t calm down and she couldn’t really find a way to sleep.

He was back, sure. But she’d lost him for her lack of oversight. She wanted to teach him a lesson. She wanted to impart some wisdom before she had to let him go. Before the passing. Yet, it had gone all wrong. Sol was smart. And he made it back somehow. Even if he had to be contracted with a malicious spirit, he was still back. And that mattered more than anything.

However-

Keeping him safe from the church was going to be impossible now. Sooner or later, they would know of his existence, and the existence of the contract. Sooner or later… they would come for him. And when it does happen, would she be able to protect him?

Lin was a fighter. She was a hunter. She was a homemaker. She’d learned all the skills she deemed to be necessary. However, she wasn’t a mother. After all, that was one thing she never expected to be. She didn’t dislike kids. But she didn’t really like them either. She knew enough to survive on her own, but not enough to help a baby survive.

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Yet, Sol had survived. He was almost four and a half. And soon he’d be five. Lin was looking forward to that. To his fifth birthday.

Yet…

She sighed once, looked out the south window. Trees moving. The wind was strong tonight. If one thing- just one thing hadn’t gone right, Sol wouldn’t have been there. The boy claimed he’d fought the lizard for a couple of minutes and even ended up sacrificing his hand but the lizard only ate the finger. What if the lizard ate his hand? What if it pretended and then ate him too. What if-

Lin sighed once more. Worrying, thinking, overthinking, none of that was helping. Right now, Sol was in her arms and no matter what, he was going to be in her arms. She was going to make sure of that. Even if it meant leaving her home. Even if it meant leaving the village. Yet, she knew leaving now would only endanger his life even more.

***

The next morning, Lin cooked some more soup. She’d been trying to learn some new dishes but so far, they weren’t any good, so she kept on trying new ways to make the soup taste better. Spices, new vegetables, different meat. Of course, the soup did taste different but… just soup wasn’t enough to satisfy Sol anymore.

So, Lin had started growing some wheat and rice just outside the house. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do with them but that was a different story.

Zena visited first thing in the morning, and thanked both of them extensively. She’d brought a gift of sorts. A whole basket of Honeycrisps.

“How’s Derek?” Lin asked.

“He’s doing all right. Might have to cut the leg,” she said. “Oh, Xerec and Serec went to the cave first thing. They said, they’ll skin the corpses and sell it to the mayor.”

The antidote had worked. However, Derek’s leg had already suffered serious injuries and was mostly… dead.

“You can use this,” Sol said. Offering a rather thin vial of glowing liquid. After discussing about it with Lin last night, both of them had come to the conclusion that they’d share some with Derek if need be. And not just Derek-

“What is this?” Zena said.

“Elixir basically,” Lin said. “I just used some on my finger earlier and it has both rejuvenating powers and regenerative one too.”

Zena’s hands shook. “Something so precious. You could sell it for at least a couple of gold and-”

Lin shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. If it bugs you that much, teach some more things to this little brat,” she went over to the kitchen.

Sol had a rather dissatisfied look. “Brat? Seriously?” He sighed but got over it rather quick. “I have a whole bunch more. So, feel free to use it.” And in fact, he planned on sharing 1 vial with the whole group. They were there when Lin was in distress. Sol wanted to repay that kindness.

“How? You fell down and-”

“Got lucky?” The boy snickered. “Anyway, we’re about to head over to Lia’s place. How about you?”

Zena stared at her hand, at the vial. “I’ll catch up.” That said, she left.

Sol grabbed a fruit and almost bit into it. Almost because, his mother had taken it away from him. “Finish your soup, then dessert.”

“Alright.”