“Why did you have to give up?” Christena asked.
“Squishy couldn’t smell the Impossible Deer, and she doesn’t leave any footprints.” Addie looked up at Christena’s face. Fluffy was wrapped around Christena’s shoulders, like usual. When Addie glanced at her, Fluffy gave her a vulpine grin and a half-skittered mischievous laugh.
Christena glanced at Fluffy, “Hush you,” then booped her on the snoot, making the orange Slyfox hackles raise and chitter in outrage.
Addie used her hand to cover up her giggling.
Christena smiled, “I’m glad that cheered you up.” Fluffy seemed smug, too. “Let’s think for a moment. You said the deer had no scent or tracks... Hmm. I can see how that would make it hard to find. If that is the case, how did you find it, before?” Christena took another bite of dinner.
Well, most recently Addie saw the mother deer after she saved her baby. Before that, the Impossible Deer had snuck up on her while she was sleeping and sniffed her a few times before wandering off. Addie explained this all to Christena, who nodded her head, slightly dislodging her frilled bonnet before she used her hand to adjust it.
“Well, maybe you don’t need to find the Impossible Deer. In both situations, it came to you,” Christena pointed out. “What if you go camp under the stars again? Maybe she’ll find you.”
If only it were that easy, Addie thought. Out of all the times she camped out in the night, it had only appeared once.
“Are you certain it was only the one time, my lady? Perhaps she watched over us frequently. I could not sense her, either way.” Squishy said.
Addie nodded her head. “I think you’re right. I’m going to try sleeping outside tonight, thanks Christena!”
“I hope it works out for you. Do you want me to prepare a tent?”
“Nope!” Addie wanted to be directly under the stars.
“At least allow me to prepare a tarp for the mud, and a sleeping roll so you don’t get cold.”
Christena had a point. Sleeping in the cold mud didn’t sound fun at all.
After that, Addie had a much better dinner, and all of the flavors that had seemed so muted earlier on now tasted full of life and wonder.
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This would be the first night Addie camped outside without her dad. Christena had brought the tarp, just like she suggested, and they found a good spot out of sight from the mansion. Despite that, Addie still generally knew where she was and could probably make it home by herself if she had to. Either way, Squishy wouldn’t ever get lost.
They laid the tarp out on the driest piece of the swamp they could find, which still meant when Addie sat down on it, the tarp sunk a few centimeters into the earth. It felt oddly cold on her backside, as if the ground was wet even though she knew the tarp was actually dry. As she lay down, she could hear the cool night breeze rustling through the swamp grasses and bushes. A few of the scraggly trees swayed in the wind, too.
Christena lay down on the tarp next to Addie, crinkling it a bit. They both looked up at the stars. Squishy and Fluffy were off in the bushes somewhere, play fighting. Addie could hear Fluffy’s chittering laughter echoing in the distance.
Addie pulled the front of her bedroll up higher, just over her chin. That felt much better. The inside was lined with fluffy wool, which was pleasantly soft. Despite it being late summer, the nights still got surprisingly cold. All the moisture in the swamp seemed to reach up and touch Addie, keeping her cool even when she wanted to snuggle into the warm sleeping roll. She could hear the frogs croaking nearby, and she hoped none of them would try to join her near the tarp.
“Why are there so many stars?” Addie asked. Christena always knew the answers to Addie’s questions.
“Some say the stars are fragments from the clash between Aggan and Servus.” Christena began. “Long ago, before the advent of magic, it’s said that Aggan and Servus were both stars themselves, bonded to each other like you are to Squishy. They circled one another in an eternal dance. But one day, Servus became greedy and tried to suck up all the magic from Aggan, turning into a black devouring pit. To this day, we see the Binary in the sky this way. The history books from this time are all but lost, now. And there are so many accounts of other intelligent species other than humans who are all dead now. Those peoples called it the great cataclysm—Where the Gods in the sky turned on each other and caused great chaos for our planet.”
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Wow. So the stars are left over from that?” Addie asked.
“At least, that’s what our oldest history and religious texts say. All the tiny pieces of Aggan that escape from Servus go off to become tiny twinkling stars. You can only see them at night when they aren’t afraid that Servus will find them.” Christena answered.
Addie always loved looking at the stars. They brought things into perspective for her, that no matter where she went, there was always something grand out there, beyond her grasp. It was a feeling, more than a thought. A sense of awe that came only from the beauty of the night sky.
Squishy walked back into their camp, with Fluffy dangling from his jaws by the scruff of her neck. “I am superior, as always,” Squishy declared, posture impeccable.
In response, Fluffy swatted him in the face with her giant tail, making him drop her and recoil. She yipped while Squishy was still recovering, and ran over to Christena’s side, unharmed. From behind Christena’s leg, Fluffy ground her teeth together and chittered at Squishy.
Addie and Christena laughed. How a black-scaly creature like Squishy could be flushed, Addie didn’t know, but he looked embarrassed nonetheless.
The tarp to the right of Addie started rustling, and a bit of cold air intruded up into her face as Christena stood up. Squishy took that as his cue, and he walked over to the now empty spot conveniently pre-warmed by Christena. Unceremoniously, he sat down. Somehow, he didn’t have a trace of mud on him. Addie hoped that wasn’t just because she couldn’t see properly in the dark. If he got her muddy she would be really upset. At least he was just on the tarp.
Christena patted down the sides of her maid uniform’s skirt. “Well, good luck, Addie. Are you sure that you don’t want me to at least leave Fluffy here with you?”
“Definitely no. The Impossible Deer only ever showed up when it was just me and Squishy.”
“Ok, well, the mansion is only a few minutes’ walk from here, if you need anything,” Christena replied.
Addie and Squishy watched as Christena walked away from the clearing. Fluffy tried to jump onto Christena’s shoulders for her customary spot, but Christena swiftly dodged her Slyfox and pushed her away and back onto the ground. She would never let that muddy fox ruin her uniform. Addie listened as Fluffy’s chittering faded while they walked into the distance.
“Did you hear what Christena said?”
“I am afraid not. That precocious vixen decided to spar, and I spent my focus thoroughly trouncing her. What did Christena tell you?”
“She said all these stars in the sky are tiny pieces of Aggan that ran away from Servus so they wouldn’t be eaten.”
“That would certainly make sense to me, I suppose.”
“Do you think that’s what would happen to us if I tried to take too much magic from our bond? Would I become a giant hole in the sky, too? And bits of your soul would try to run away?”
“Do not worry so, little one. I told you back in the forest what I will say now. I shall not let you destroy our bond so soon. Surely Servus is insatiable, but perhaps Aggan is too kind and giving.”
That made Addie think. Her bond with Squishy was a partnership. She couldn’t just use their magic by herself, it required that both she and Squishy willed it to work. In that sense, perhaps Servus was more like a cascade. His soul tearing itself apart as it grabbed hungrily for power.
Addie shivered, she definitely didn’t want to become like that. It warmed her heart, that Squishy was her bonded. As long as they were together, she knew they wouldn’t ever cascade.
Maybe Addie didn’t need to be out here, asking the mommy deer for help. Of course, Addie had thought about asking Sen for help instead. If a mighty dragon like Sen swooped in, he could certainly save the day without a problem. But Sen had told Addie that he wouldn’t ‘interfere in squabbles between mortals’, so she was afraid to ask him. Maybe that made her weak, but Squishy thought it made her respectful of Sen’s wishes. Regardless, Sen couldn’t help give Nettal magic. She needed a bonded.
Before closing her eyes under this night sky, Addie put a thought out there, to the stars above. “Mommy deer, please come find me tonight. Nettal needs a bonded to help her, and you could have the chance to fight the bad guy who hurt your baby.” Addie repeated these thoughts in her head, “Please come,” the more she thought about it, the more she imagined how the universe might accept her pleas. Laying snug and warm in her bed roll, the cool air touching Addie’s face and ears felt comparatively pleasant. She drifted off as the stars lulled her to sleep.
The Binary had risen, but Addie didn’t want to open her eyes just yet. She stretched her whole body as she yawned deeply and then sat up. It was still cold out for some reason. Finally, she blearily blinked her eyes. At first, she was confused. The sky was still dark, and she could still see the twinkling stars. Yet somehow, the entire clearing had lit up as if the Binary had risen.
She started to push the sleeping roll down off her shoulders. Looking at the shadow she cast, she realized the light source must be behind her. She turned her head around, and behind her was a giant furry leg that ended in a hoof. The hoof scraped against the ground, and somewhere far above her head, Addie heard the Impossible Deer snort. Her warm breath cascaded down across Addie’s head and face, smelling somewhat like musty grass.
“Oh. It worked,” Addie said, dumbfounded.
The plan had certainly been to get the Impossible Deer’s attention, but now Addie was at a loss. She hadn’t actually thought this far ahead. Addie gulped.
“We need your help. Well, Nettal does. I mean, we found black cloak!” Addie shook her head, she was rambling, “Um if you don’t know that’s the man who hurt your baby. Oh also Nettal and the other children need magic to help heal their souls.” That hadn’t exactly been the way Addie wanted to phrase things, so it kind of came out as a jumbled mess, and even Addie realized she didn’t do a great job of explaining anything.
Addie raised her head up to look at the deer’s face, and atop its monstrously huge head sat milky yellow glowing antlers. Specks of light peeled off them occasionally, and flew up into the air, reminding Addie of the embers from a campfire.
“Um, can you help Auntie fight the bad guy? And maybe help Nettal, too?” Addie repeated after a minute of silence.
The deer just huffed out another breath of warm air. Addie didn’t know if it understood her or not.