A porridge bowl and spoon for a mortar and pestle.

A soup pot for a cauldron.

Mousey had never brewed medicine before, nor seen it done. So, as he conjured items to aid in the mixing of the elixir that would save his mother’s life, he had to think of the best substitutes that came to mind.

“Now,” said Sopher, “Stir the ground blister rue in the icri bud nectar until it becomes like a paste. Then boil it with the spider’s web.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Mousey. The simple, stirring motion reminded him of the times he’d mixed the dough to help his mother bake bread. A smile forced itself to his lips, as he found himself thinking that some day soon he’d do that with her again.

Sir Ranae paced back and forth nearby, with his sword in hand. He’d claimed earlier that he was “patrolling,” not pacing, but his route was too short.

Once the mixture had become a paste, he scooped it out into the boiling pot and mixed it with the spider’s web. “How long does it need to boil?” Mousey asked.

“Just a few minutes,” said Sopher. “Then you need to bottle it and find a way to cool it. All three of you will need to drink it.”

“All three?” croaked Sir Ranae. “I beg your pardon, but why…?”

“Because you might have caught it too,” said Sopher. “You know how contagious Bog Plague is.”

Sir Ranae turned a paler shade of green. “Oh… I see…”

“You don’t have any of the early warning signs, do you?” Sopher asked. “Have you lost your appetite?”

Sir Ranae’s eyes widened. “Umm… I… I haven’t eaten anything since I left to get the ingredients we needed.”

“You might have caught it,” Sopher said with a nod. “Don’t worry, you’ll be cured soon enough.”

“’Don’t worry?’” Sir Ranae croaked. “Just now, you told me I might have caught a disease which I have never seen cured!”

Sopher shook her head at him. “With all the things you’ve seen in this world, is it really such a wonder that there may yet be truths beyond your experience?”

“I can only hope so,” said Sir Ranae, resuming his patrol.

“The elixir should be ready,” said Sopher.

Mousey produced a large, glass bottle, grasped the pot by the handles, and poured its contents into the bottle. He was especially careful not to let any of it spill, for fear that they may end up with too little medicine.

Once all the medicine had poured into the bottle, Mousey aimed his stave at it.

Sopher held her paw in his shoulder. “What are you doing?”

“I can make it cold faster with snow,” said Mousey.

“No!” said Sopher. “If you try to cool it down too fast it will break the bottle.”

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Mousey looked up at her. “So… we just have to wait for it to cool?”

“I don’t know of a better solution,” said Sopher.

“The Toad King and his soldiers are out looking for us!” Mousey squeaked.

“I know.” Sopher patted his cheek with her paw. “Believe me, I know. But we can only handle one problem at a time.”

“We’re going to get caught…” Mousey whimpered.

“Be brave,” croaked Sir Ranae. “We defeated Mogur together, remember?”

“And then Nycht beat me up by himself,” said Mousey. “I’m starting to wonder if it was just luck when we defeated Mogur.”

“’Luck’ is a simpler way of saying you doubt yourself,” said Sopher. “You have no reason to do that.”

In spite of Sopher’s comforting words, Mousey joined Sir Ranae in his “patrol.” The two of them paced around the camp together, though Mousey had to take two steps for every one of Sir Ranae’s, given how long the frog’s legs were.

Finally, when Mousey stopped seeing steam rising from the bottle, he rushed over to it and placed his paws on the sides. “Still warm, but not hot.”

“Then it’s time,” said Sopher.

“Remember,” croaked Sir Ranae, “All four of us need it.”

“Only you three,” Sopher said. “Sir Ranae, I’m the spirit of a magic book. I can’t catch Bog Plague.”

Sir Ranae licked one of his own eyeballs. “…Right…”

Mousey brought the bottle to his mother’s mouth, and tilted her head back. He did his best to only pour one-third of the bottle’s contents, and watched his mother’s eyes.

She swallowed the medicine, and, after a few seconds, her whole body shook, and her eyes opened wide. “Mousey!” she squeaked, just before throwing her arms around him.

“Mom!” he squeaked back, and held her tightly. He buried his face in her shoulder, wiping his tears there.

“Thank the Heavens!” Sir Ranae croaked. He grinned widely at Sopher. “Your cure really worked!”

Sopher folded her paws in front of her lap and nodded to him.

“Mom,” Mousey said, gently pushing away from her. “Just a second…” He drank some of the medicine from the bottle, then held it out to Sir Ranae. The frog knight happily took the bottle and drank the rest. No sooner had the bottle left his paw, then Mousey hugged his mother again.

Mrs. Souris looked down at him. “Oh, my sweet pup!” She planted many an embarrassing kiss on his forehead. “How did you escape? No one has ever escaped from the Nocturnal Patrol’s dungeons!”

Mousey wiped his forehead and stepped back from her. “Magic,” he said. He gestured with his paw to Sopher, to make sure his mother knew that wasn’t a joke.

Mrs. Souris’ jaw dropped and her eyes widened. “Oh… what… oh…”

“Mom, this is Sopher,” said Mousey, guiding her closer to the book spirit.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” said Sopher, bowing her head to Mrs. Souris. “Your son has been a dear friend to me, and, in return, I have taught him magic.”

Mrs. Souris stared at the book spirit in awe.

After a few moments, Sopher said, “Please, don’t stare too long. You’re making me self-conscious.”

“Oh, yes, terribly sorry,” said Mrs. Souris, turning her face away. “You’re right, that was terribly rude of me.”

“It’s quite alright, Mrs. Souris,” said Sopher.

Or Xandra…

It was then that Mousey remembered everything Nycht had said, claiming that he was really Topo Souris. How could anyone resist the curiosity? He wanted to know if Nycht had been telling the truth, but given that his mother had never seen his face she couldn’t confirm that Nycht was, in fact, Mousey’s father.

But, she could at least confirm whether or not Nycht really knew her first name.

“Mom,” he said, tugging on her sleeve.

“Yes, pup?” She turned to face him, still struggling to take her eyes off Sopher.

“I don’t know your first name,” said Mousey.

“What?” Mrs. Souris said. “What a strange thing to think about at a time like this…”

“Well, my brothers and sisters all just call you ‘Mom,’ and all the adults in our village call you ‘Mrs. Souris.’ But I may have heard someone say your first name.”

Mrs. Souris raised an eyebrow. “Again, this is an odd time to talk about this. Shouldn’t we worry about getting to your brothers and sisters?”

“Is your name Xandra?” Mousey blurted out.

Mrs. Souris stared at him, her head cocked to one side.

Sir Ranae tucked his lower lip under his upper one and looked away from the two of them.

“Alexandra,” Mrs. Souris said. “My first name is Alexandra. Most people call me Lexi, though.”

“Lexi,” Mousey repeated, smiling up at her. There was something nice about the sound of it. “But… I won’t call you that. To me, you’re still Mom.”

“Good pup,” Lexi said with a chuckle. “Xandra, though… where did you hear that? The only person who ever called me Xandra was your father.”