“C’mon, Lyre. I told you there was a homestead here.” my brother, Aulos says to me as we make our way out of the dense underbrush and into a far less dense area almost a clearing if not for the few sparse quercus trees, causing the first sunlight of the morning to filter beautifully through their foliage, casting the golden rays onto the quaint cottage in the center of the area. The smoke which we had been following for the last couple of hours flows from the chimney in a thin stream, dissipating about a mile up.
I follow Aulos as he quietly sneaks towards the small, fenced-in garden on the side of the small cottage. “I know we need to, but it still feels wrong to steal from someone so far from town, what if they don't have enough food for the winter?”
“We don't have enough food for the winter, Lyre. Mom isn't around to help us anymore, and we need it more than someone with a house.”
“I know, it just feels wrong. It looks like they've already harvested everything, anyway. Maybe we should just go.”
“No, it took too long to get here, we need something. There's a storehouse over there, let's see if there's anything inside.”
As we started towards the small wooden storehouse, a large white rabbit jumped out of a shrub next to the garden, making me fall backward with a small shriek. It looked up at me and then hopped to the cottage and crawled through a small hole in the gray brick wall.
“Keep it down, Lyre! Aulos silently scolded me before continuing to the storehouse. I give a silent apology and glance back at the hole where the rabbit disappeared before hurrying to catch up with my brother.
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I sleepily rub my itching nose and roll over in bed, only for it to itch again. Opening my eyes, I’m met face to face with one of my rabbits “oh.. Hey fluff. Whatcha doin'?” she hops off my bed and then underneath it. I lean over the edge to look at where she went and see a small oddly rabbit-shaped hole. Right, I forgot to replace those bricks I used, I'll get to it in a bit. For now, I phase through the wall to see what my rabbit wants.
I quickly see what it is as the door closes on my shed. I get closer and can see two children through the loose boards. The older one seems to be a boy about fourteen, wearing a roughspun tunic with a matching pair of torn and baggy pants secured with a rope. The younger child is a girl about eleven wearing a similar type of rough dress with faded dyed flowers. Neither wore shoes, their feet covered in scratches and shallow cuts.
Looking at the sad state of these children I feel a duty to help them out, especially once I see them celebrate finding a small sack of moldy grain. “Hey, you kids okay?” I ask to no reaction. “Hello!?” I try again, but still, they just whisper to each other. I try one last time, this time pushing some mana into my words “HELLO?!” this time, the boy looks around
“did you hear that?”
“Hear what?”
“It sounded like a voice, really far away though. Whoever owns this cottage might be out right now. Let's see if there's anyone inside, maybe we can get some real food if there's no one there.”
Looking closer at the children now, I notice something strange about them. Their ears come to a sharp point. They're also taller than I thought since they were kneeling before but stood when they seemingly heard my voice. To be honest, elf kids are the least strange thing I've seen here so I'm not even surprised anymore.
It seems if I want to talk to them I'll need to use a lot of mana but I can't really afford that now, though now that I think about it I can feel quite a bit of mana stored up from my animals working through the night. so I guess I'll try to find another way to communicate. As they walk around to the front of the cottage, they notice the tree growing from the roof and get very excited, seeming to forget that they were trying to be sneaky a moment ago. I push a little mana into one of the underripe fruits and give it a little nudge to make it fall, the older kid catches it in surprise but quickly breaks it in half, giving the larger side to the younger child. The fruit seems to have a hard outer shell that cracks like an egg, with many white spheres inside, I assume those are the seeds but they're very soft as the kids have no trouble chewing them.
While the kids are occupied happily eating their fruit, I decide to make something a bit more complicated, so I phase back into my cottage and see that my core is now slightly larger than a golf ball. I don't want those kids to touch it so I carefully use my mana to move it into the chest next to the door, nestling it onto a folded blanket and activating the locking mechanism from the inside.
With my core safe, I move on to fixing my communication problem. At first, I thought of making a person but that feels a bit weird and would probably scare off the kids. So I decide to make another animal but add even more mana and try to give it the ability to speak. I decide a cat would be nice as it's cuddly and fits the aesthetic
I quite easily form my mana into that of a cat, the fur turning from the sparkling lilac of the mana to the sleek black fur of the cat. Instead of stopping there, I keep pouring mana into the brain and throat of the cat, instilling my intention of speech. The cat keeps accepting mana for far longer than anything I've made before, and I'm completely drained by the time it finally seems to be done. The cat which I have aptly chosen to call Salem looks around the room with bright blue eyes before speaking.
"This place needs some work but I guess you did your best. What do you need me to do?"
"Wow, your first words and you criticize me. Well, I'm impressed with myself for making a sentient being and you can't kill my buzz. Anyway, there's some kids outside, I need you to talk to them for me."
"Oh and here I thought you made me talk so I could scratch them."
"Are you only going to be sarcastic?"
"Well, I was made in your image after all."
"I'm not that sarcastic… don't give me that look, I made you and I can unmake you, now go out there and be friendly."
As Salem walks towards the door I use the bit of mana that my other animals collected during our conversation to unlatch and open it, the creaking seems to pull the children from their fruit as they remember where they are and it seems they're about to run when they see Salem and relax a bit. That relief is immediately replaced with bewilderment as Salem starts talking.
"So, you kids mind telling me why you're here?"
After a moment of stammering, the older boy speaks up.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"I-I'm s-sorry, mist-ter c-cat. We got l-lost and we were hungry-y. Please don't hurt us."
"Relax, kid. My name is Salem, and I'm not here to hurt anyone. My master says to invite you inside, so please follow me."
Salem starts walking back to the door and after a moment of standing still, the kids slowly follow. Once they're all inside, I use a bit more mana to close the door. Once I do, though, I realize I have more than I should with only my animals working. Looking closer at the kids, which are the only change. I now see flakes of white mana falling from them, and being pulled to my core. I hope that isn't bad for them but I'm sure starving is worse.
For the time being, I use my mana to teleport some groundwater into the cauldron, which I had already cleaned out. Then I pull out the impurities and add the grain that the children found. Removing the moldy parts and crushing the remainder into a powder that I mix in. The children stare wide-eyed at the cauldron as to them it seems to cook on its own. I tell the rabbits to bring me some veggies as they seem to be able to hear me from anywhere and I start adding spices while I wait. I don't recognize most of the things in these jars but there are at least a few that I'm pretty confident I can identify. I throw in a couple of bay leaves and some parsley, those are the only two I'm really confident in and I'm not trying to poison some kids so I leave the spices there. The soup is looking very sad until both rabbits and surprisingly the toad hop through the hole under my bed.
The elf girl looks at one of my rabbits strangely but I keep cooking. Slicing a carrot into pieces and turning the top and bottom pieces to mana, then with luck the other rabbit found a potato, I dice it up with the skin after giving it a good clean and look at what my toad brought me. I almost jump back when it opens its mouth to reveal a dead rat. Im about to admonish him when I realize that some meat would go a long way in this soup. Hesitantly, I use mana to teleport it outside so the children won't see and separate all the good meat, leaving behind everything that isn't edible which I turn into mana. Even though all the meat is gone, I still get quite a substantial amount. I use a bit of the mana to make sure that the meat is free of disease and parasites before mincing it and adding it to the cauldron. It's still a bit of a sad soup but the children are salivating at the smell so I suppose it's acceptable
After simmering enough for everything to cook and thicken, I find a few bowls and spoons in a cabinet and give them a good clean, before levitating them the cauldron and filling them with soup, then placing them on the tea table where the children have been sitting.
I tell Salem to repeat after me exactly so I can speak to the children as they happily eat every bit of soup, without question.
"Hello, im, uh. Im." I can't remember my name? Hmm… I don't have any issues remembering anything else. I'll just make one up. "Im Wica, it's nice to meet you two, could i know your names please?"
"I thought you said your name was salem?" The girl responds
"Ah sorry, Salem is the cat, I'm speaking through him right now, I'm the one that just made that soup for you. So could I please get your name?"
The older boy speaks up. "I'm Aulos of Evenwall, and this is my sister lyre."
"It's nice to meet you Aulos and lyre. Is Evenwall where you live? Are your parents there?"
The younger girl hugs the boy closely as he answers. "Not anymore. The plague took them both, and the orphanage couldn't take anyone else."
"Oh, I'm so sorry. How about you both stay here for a while until we can find someone to take care of you?"
The girl perks up at that, releasing her brother and picking up Salem before he can escape. " You mean we can live here! Will you be our parents?"
The boy rushes over to release Salem from her grip and despite the mean look Salem has, he continues speaking for me.
"I don't know about parents but you can certainly live here for the time being."
The girl looks like she wants to scoop Salem back up but the boy holds her back, "what do we have to do?"
"What do you mean?"
"Nothing is free, pa always used to say that, so what do we need to do to live here?"
"Oh you really don't have to do anything, I guess if you want chores I could give you some but I really don't need anything.
The boy looks suspicious but relents after I tell him he can sweep. It's now that the girl yawns and I realize how tired they look, even though it's only noon. I let them sleep in my bed and decide to start in the basement.
With the kids (who I guess I just adopted? I'll process that later.) Asleep, I try to be silent while I work on the basement. Salem went out to hunt with the other animals and he seems really good at it since I've had a hefty influx of mana almost immediately. That, along with the mana coming from the kids gives me enough to silently empty the dirt underneath the cottage, teleporting it to my growing dirt pile near the shed. I try to leave some arched supports to stop the whole thing from collapsing and use some mana to strengthen them, the dirt becomes stone at about where I want the floor to be so that's exactly what I make it. The work goes a bit slow since teleporting takes a bit more mana than physically moving the dirt, and I have to wait a few minutes between loads of dirt, but in about an hour, I have a pretty large room cleared, about the size of the entire cottage and garden.
I suppose there should be a way to actually get in here so I clear out a shaft into the cottage. An almost perfectly square hole appears in the corner between the bed and the fireplace. It's about ten feet down so ill need a ladder and a trapdoor. I remember seeing a standing dead tree on the outskirts of my area. I phase outside and float over to it. I don't know why I bothered walking at all when floating is so much easier. Now that I think about it, I can probably teleport myself. I picture the well and *pop* I'm standing right in front of the stone structure. That's useful but I really need to stop getting off track.
I pop back to the tree and look it over. It stands about twenty five feet tall, completely free of leaves. I try to float up above it but I hit that invisible barrier just before reaching the top. I head back down and knock off all the branches on my way down, which I cut into pieces and add to the fire. I guess I could make the ladder out of the firewood in the shed but that's already chopped into tiny pieces and this tree should be cut down regardless. I pop back over to the tree and point my staff about two and a half feet up the trunk. I remember watching a video about cutting down trees so I do as I remember and cut a wedge out of the side I want to fall, then a vertical slice at the same level, leaving about two inches from cutting all the way through. Solidifying my hands, I give the trunk a good push and send it to the ground. I'm surprised that actually worked, it was pretty fun too!
I run my staff along the trunk, cutting it into boards, then cut out a square for the trapdoor, cut the ladder out of a single board and smooth out all the rungs. The wood is quite pretty, I wish I had some oil to bring out the grain. That'll have to wait but I'm sure I'll find some eventually. I put the ladder in the hole but I realize I don't have any hinges or a handle for the trapdoor, I carefully carve some from the wood but I doubt they'll last long. I'll have to keep an eye out for iron, but it'll work for now. The trapdoor looks a bit plain so I add a bit of shape and carve in some flowery patterns which is way easier now that I don't need to use my hands.
With that taken care of, I can start work on the basement itself. I'd like a safer place to store my core. Even though I'm sure they aren't dangerous, I still get that sense of fear when the kids get near it. I form a stone pedestal near the back of the basement and try to teleport the core but it doesn't move an inch. I open up the trunk and float my core out, down to the basement and rest it gently on the pedestal. looking back at the chest I take out the blanket that my core was resting on, a hand quilted thick woolen blanket, and carefully lay it over the children. Even with the fire going it's still a bit chilly in here so I figure they'll enjoy it. I take out the books next. They're really fancy looking leather bound books with gold lettering on the spines. The first reads “Potioncraft for dummies” and the second reads “so you want to raise the dead?” I dont think I'm quite ready for necromancy, so I put the second back and put the first on my tea table for later. The bottles in the chest look like they used to hold something that's since dried out, leaving hardened dark masses in the bottoms. I wonder if i could rehydrate these potions but i'll try that later.
Back to the basement I have a few ideas for the space. First off, I'd like to have a place to work on projects that isn't outside to keep everything clean and protected, so i take one of the boards i cut, of which i have three left, and turn it into a simple workbench, by cutting it in half and using one side to for a couple sets of table legs using notches to form them in an X formation and laying the other half on top, with some grooves to keep it secure.
A forge would be nice. To keep smoke from rising into the cottage, I hollow out a space in the wall for the forge and make a small chimney above it. I also add some pipes leading to where the coal will go so I can hook up some bellows. I'm not sure yet how I'll make those but it'll need to wait until I find coal anyway so I form a stone anvil and leave it at that. I store the extra two boards in the basement to keep them dry and throw the excess wood and bark into the fire.
I'd like to make something for the kids, but I'm not sure what they would like, that's made of wood at least. I figure They'll enjoy playing cards and that's something I'm sure I can make. I put together a short card table in a similar way to the workbench, and then cut a small block of wood into fifty two very thin pieces. I don't have any ink, so i try to use my mana to burn in the designs. At first they're pretty messy but I get the hang of it and they look pretty good by the end. I'll probably have to teach the kids how to play but this is something I should be able to play with them. Ooh a chess set would also be fun and i could play that too I cut out the board and burn in the squares. Then shape all the pieces to look like different animals, with Salem being the king and me being the queen. and burn half of them black. Those should keep them occupied for a while.
It's getting pretty late now. popping onto the roof, I see the sun setting over the horizon. Everything cast in a beautiful golden orange makes me realize that I'm actually happier here than when I was back home. No job to worry about, no bills, no awful laws or terrible people. I miss my friends, though. As the sun finally disappears over the horizon, leaving only a bright, full moon to illuminate the forest. I stare up at more stars than I've ever seen before, and ruminate on my own feelings for this place. Finally I decide I ought to go to bed. I don't think I actually need to sleep but it feels nice and I don't want to work at night.
I wish there was more of that soup left. I wonder if I can even taste anything or if I'm stuck with mana forever. I decided to test that a bit before going to sleep so I have a rabbit find me a small carrot. I solidify my hand and raise it to my mouth but it's intangible, so I solidify it. But then my hand fades and the carrot falls, so I'll have to wait until I have more mana to even try. I pull the mana from the carrot and I have the idea of tasting the mana itself. As I pull the mana it naturally flows to my core, but I hold my mouth in its way, trying to catch it like a snowflake on my tongue. It isn't stopped or even slowed, but for just a moment I get the faintest taste of carrot. It's a promising start so I call it a win as I tuck in for the night, floating over the fire where it's nice and toasty.