Chapter 9: Chapter 9

They made it back to the road without incident and continued walking for the rest of the day. They made camp, and the elves hooked their tents together, finally dropping all pretense about their relationship. Lyreen had visited Barika and got a small vial from her before going back to her tent. Anna walked over to Barika. “What was that?” she asked. “It stops a woman from getting with child for a month or so. They don’t want any surprises on this expedition,” she said. “Oh. How could a woman tell if she was with child?” Anna asked.  

“If she misses her monthly cycle is the earliest sign,” she said. “Come to think of it, you said you don’t bleed once a month, right?” she asked. “No. I’m not sure what you even mean by that,” Anna replied. “Do you mind if I examine you?” Barika asked. “I don’t, but how do you do it?” Anna asked. “With this,” she replied, holding out a round crystal with a gold wire wrapped in the shape of a symbol Anna didn’t recognize. “Sure. Let’s go,” Anna said. She wanted to see how the crystal worked.  

They walked away from the main camp, and Lyreen joined them. “Where are you off too?” she asked. “I want to see why she doesn’t get her cycles, and maybe figure out if her strength is because of mana or something physical,” Barika replied. "Can I watch?” Lyreen asked. “Yes,” Anna said, feeling somewhat bad for embarrassing the woman earlier. “I wonder what the dreamer did when it made me?” Anna thought. The longer she was in this world, especially the last few weeks with the adventurers, the farther away from the being she felt. It was like the Dreamer itself was becoming more distant. She had a feeling, however, that she would always be connected in some way.   

They walked away from the camp and found a flat grassy spot. Barika took off her cloak and laid it down. “Take off your clothes and lay down on your back,” she said. Anna did so without complaint or shame. “I’ll never get used to that,” Lyreen said. “What?” Anna asked. “You can just strip down in front of anyone,” Lyreen replied. “Is that wrong?” Anna asked. “No child, it's just that some peoples are uncomfortable with nudity, especially when it’s a woman. Some places even have laws against it,” Barika explained gently. “I'll keep my clothes on around people who think like that, but I still don’t really care,” Anna replied.  

“That’s good enough,” Barika said, laughing. She started to prepare the crystal for use. “Lyreen, sorry about telling everyone about you and Voekeer fucking,” Anna said, making Lyreen turn bright red again. “Oh child, you’re starting to sound like that dwarf. It’s called sex. Lyreen and Voekeer are having sex. Not fucking,” Barika said. “This is my fault. I shouldn’t have left you alone with that dwarf for a week,” Lyreen said. “Let’s get started,” Barika said, decisively changing the topic. She sat near Anna’s knee and held the crystal a few inches from Anna’s skin. It was warm and tingly. Barika started at her hip and moved down her left leg and then down to her foot. She then switched to Anna’s right one when finished with the left. Once she reached her left foot, she pulled the crystal away. “They are perfect,” she said thoughtfully.  

“I know that,” Lyreen said, looking at Anna’s legs with something akin to envy. “No, I mean on the inside. There is no scar tissue. Nothing torn and nothing out of place. I've never seen someone with no imperfections at all,” Barika answered. “Oh,” Lyreen replied. “Let’s continue,” Barika said, scooting over to Anna’s waist. “Spread your legs farther apart,” she told her. Anna did, and then Barika moved the crystal between them a few inches from her skin. It was warm and tingly as well, and it felt nice. “Well, at least something is normal,” Lyreen said. Barika didn’t seem to notice the comment and was concentrating while moving the crystal up her body and moving it back and forth. She paused just below her stomach before taking the crystal away. “Well?” Lyreen asked. “Everything is perfect, except she doesn’t have any eggs,” Barika said. “Like a chicken?” Anna asked puzzled. “No child. Not like that. It explains why you don’t bleed, but it also means you won’t be having children,” Barika said sadly. “Why would I want children anyway?” she thought. “I’m fine with that. Is everything else normal?” she asked. “Yes, very normal,” Barika replied, looking between her legs again like Lyreen had. She didn’t get what they were talking about, but she did feel odd down there. Kind of gooey. “I wonder what happened,” she thought.  

Barika continued moving up her body, not pausing anymore. Once she got to her chest, she moved it back and forth a few times. “She has the biggest mana core I have ever seen,” Barika said. “I guessed that. About how big is it?” Lyreen asked. Barika held out her hands about a foot apart, and then half a foot. “I’m surprised that it could fit in her chest,” Lyreen said, looking at Anna. “That’s not all. There is something the exact same size on the other side, but I can’t really see it. Like a hole, but not,” Barika continued. “The only thing it could be is some Fae organ we don’t know about,” Lyreen said. “Most likely,” Barika replied. “So, they can’t see the Dreamer’s core but can tell it’s there,” Anna thought. She had decided to call it that since she was certain it had put the thing in her.  

Barika finished up checking her arms, neck, and head. “Nothing else out of the ordinary. You are perfect in every way on the inside. The only things I'm not sure about are your lack of eggs and the extra core. I’ve seen women without eggs. Old ones mostly, and the few young women without them had other deformities. You don’t, so that’s what’s odd about you. As far as the extra core, it may just be a Fae thing that we don’t know about,” she said. Anna got dressed and walked back to the camp with the other women. When they got back to camp, Lyreen went to her tent and joined Voekeer. Barika went to her tent to put away her things, and Thokri was sitting next to the fire. Anna decided to go to her own tent and think about what she had learned. 

 She thought about bandits and then the bath. She enjoyed seeing everyone naked. She thought about her body, and how she was different. She wondered about the Dreamer’s core too. “I’m no good at magic, but maybe I can try it,” she thought. Closing her eyes, she reached inside herself and pulled from the Dreamer’s core instead of falling into it. More and more, she pulled black stuff through her mana channels. They buzzed with power. Unlike pulling from her mana core which seemed to cool off with use, the Dreamer’s core got hot. As it moved, she forced it into her hand like the light spell she had tried before, but without the focus crystal she started to feel dizzy but kept going.  

An eye opened. Not her eyes, but one in her that was floating above her palm. She could see through it, but what she saw didn’t make any sense and was making her dizzier. She opened her actual eyes and saw the thing in her palm. It was just an eye from her dreams, it was facing away from her and the back of it was covered in a black liquid-like substance that reminded her of when fish oil spilled on the street on a rainy-day. It had a rainbow pattern. The eye turned to face her. The black formed almost a lid on the top and bottom. It had white like a person's eye, but the iris was a blur of rainbow colors. When she looked at the pupil, it was looking her in the eye. She stared for a moment, seeing through all three eyes and passed out.  

She woke up to Voekeer shaking her leg. “You alright?” he asked. It was dark out now. “What time is it?” she asked, still feeling strange as her chest was still hot. “Time for your shift. You must have been tired. I've never seen you sleep so soundly,” he answered. He told her of his shift and how nothing was really happening, and then he went to get some sleep. She had the last watch, so she packed her things, and then sat by the remains of the fire. “I need to practice that more, but I'll have to wait till we get somewhere safe.” Not for her own sake, she didn’t think she could be hurt, but the others wouldn’t have survived the dire wolf according to Thokri. She leaned back. The right side of her chest was still warm, and the strange sights still fresh in her mind. The rest of the night was quiet, and the heat in her chest went away. The others got up at first light and packed up, Voekeer looking at the map. “There is a farmstead a day away. It’s built on a crossroad. The other path leads to some ruins, according to the locals. We should stop there for a few days, resupply, and repair our equipment,” he said. They all nodded. “Well, let's be off then,” he said.  

They walked along the road, Anna in the lead. They all agreed that she should be in the front in case of ambush again. Normally Thokri would have been the one out front, but she had proven herself even more formidable than a dwarf in plate armor, which was an impressive feat. She casually scanned the road in front of them, looking for sparkles or distorted air. Her mind was clearer than it had ever been, like she had been dreaming her first few months. “Maybe it’s the trip. I've learned more in the last few weeks than the months at Fishport,” she thought.  

That day’s journey was uneventful. They stopped at the usual times to eat, and they found an old stone building to camp in that night. They reached the first signs of the farmstead by noon the next day. A large field of grain spread out for miles on the right-hand side of the road. The left side was still forested. They spotted a man working in the field too, and Voekeer waved him over. They met each other off to the side. Anna was looking at the forest to the right. She thought she heard voices in the distance but couldn’t tell. Voekeer returned. “They can put us up for a few days while we explore the ruins. He didn’t know much about them. None of the farmers go near the place,” he said.  

The farmstead was surrounded by a stone wall that came up to her waist. They entered a garden though a wooden gate with an iron latch on the inside. It didn’t seem like it would do much good. Even she could just lean over the gate and open it. There were three houses inside the fenced area, and they headed to the largest one. Voekeer walked up to knock on the door. Anna looked around while they were waiting, spotting several young faces peeking out from behind a nearby shed. She waved at them causing an explosion of giggling, and a girl who looked around ten walked out and headed her way slowly. Anna crouched down, and the girl came closer.  

“Are you a princess?” she asked shyly. “No,” Anna replied. “Oh, why do you have rainbow hair?” she asked. Anna leaned closer and whispered in the girl’s ear. “I’m part fairy,” she said. “YOU’RE A FAIRY?” the girl yelled, causing all of the other children to run out towards her. “SHE’S A FAIRY!” they all cried. “FAIRY, FAIRY, FAIRY!” they continued to chant, swirling around her and touching her hair, hugging her, and one even sniffed her hand. It was all too much. She just started laughing, and they got even louder. By this point, the adults had noticed, and two women started to make their way over. The children scattered except for a very young girl that toddled over and put her arms up in the universal sign that a child wants to be picked up.  

Anna leaded over and gently picked the girl up. She made babbling sounds and smiled at her. Anna crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue, causing the child to squeal with delight. The younger of the two women rushed over and held out her arms. “Who is that, Anna?” she asked. Anna was confused and looked at the woman oddly. The woman noticed. “Oh, uhh, her name is Anna,” she said. “Oh. So is mine,” Anna replied, handing little Anna to the woman. “I’m Eris. I’m Anna’s mother,” she said. “Pleased to meet you,” Anna replied as the other woman walked up. “I’m sorry if the horde bothered you,” she said. “It’s no bother. I like children,” Anna replied. “I’m Olive,” one woman said. “Anna,” Anna replied. Olive looked at little Anna and smiled. “Which house is yours?” Anna asked. Olive pointed at a fourth house in the distance outside of the stone wall. “That one. It was getting crowded at our parents’ house, so me and my sister here got our husbands to build us a bigger place. We just moved in last week,” Olive said. “Let's round up that horde and get them washed. It’s almost time to eat,” Eris said. Olive nodded, and they set off to catch the children.  

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Anna looked around and noticed she had been abandoned to the horde by the other adventurers. The door to the large house was still open, so she went inside. Her companions were sitting at a long rectangular table, so she joined them. “So, what did I miss?” she asked. “The ruins are about two days walk to the west. No one could tell us much about them. They had only seen them from a distance, so we don’t know anything much, but at least we have a place to spend the night before and after,” Voekeer said. The others grumbled a bit about the lack of information before taking their things up to the rooms. They had only been given two rooms, one for the men and one for the women. Voekeer and Lyreen seemed disappointed about these arrangements. There were six beds in the room. They were lined up against the far wall. Lyreen took the one on the far right, and Barika the one on the far left, so she ended up with the one in the center, not really getting why they needed a bed between them.  

The women left their weapons in the room, Anna leaving her whole belt since she would not really need anything in it. Here, they met the men at the table. They planned the trip to the ruins, discussing what they would need. The main issue was that no one knew how big the site was, so they didn’t know how much food to take. After half an hour of arguing, they decided to take three weeks’ worth. Thokri set off to find the head of this place to negotiate a fair price. The elves left without saying a word, which left Barika and Anna alone at the table. The two women left the house, wanting to explore some before the day was over. Anna was impressed with the amount of produce they were able to grow in the garden. Barika got a stern look on her face and started off down one of the paths. Anna followed along, not sure what was going on. 

 “You poor thing! Where are your parents? I want to talk to them.” Barika asked. Anna walked around her to see a small boy holding a stick under his arm. One of his legs had a noticeable kink in it. “Momma is in that house ma’am, and papa is in the fields,” he said, pointing first at one of the smaller houses, then at the fields to the south. “Come with me,” she said, walking towards the house. She waved the boy on. They walked at a slow pace so he could keep up. Barika knocked on the door and a teenage girl answered. “Yes?” she said like a question. “Can I speak to your mother?” Barika asked. “I’ll go get her,” the girl replied. Now that Anna looked, the boy and girl did seem to be related. “I wonder how Barika knew?” she thought. An older women came to the door. She had the start of wrinkles at the corners of her eyes and a few strands of grey hair. “Can I help you?” she asked. “I’d like to heal this boy’s leg,” Barika responded. The woman looked at Barika, noticing her necklace. “What do we need to do?” she replied seriously. “Clear a table,” Barika said. It was an order, not a suggestion. 

The woman nodded and rushed into the house, giving orders to the girls inside. They entered the house and went to the table in the center of the main room. It was a smaller house and table, but it was more than enough for the boy to lay on. The boy had rolled up his pant leg to just past his knee and was lying flat on his back. Barika was using her crystal and holding it much closer to the boy’s skin than she had with Anna. She moved the crystal back and forth along the break, moving it around the sides as well. “We will have to rebreak it. Anna, if I show you how, would you mind doing it?” Barika asked. “I will,” she replied. “Wait, why her? Why not you?” the mother asked. “I’m not strong enough without a tool, and if I break it by hitting it, it may shatter, and I don’t have enough power to fix that,” she replied. “She’s stronger?” the mother asked. “I know she looks small, but she’s very strong,” Barika replied. “Small, she’s a tiny slip of a thing!” the mother said. “I’m a Fae child,” Anna said. The mother and all the girls looked at her. “A Fae?” the mother asked, looking suddenly nervous. “She’s only part Fae. The rest is human,” Barika said. “Just heal him,” the mother said softly.  

Anna put her hands on the boy’s leg, and Barika moved them into the correct position. “Break it here,” Barika said. Anna pressed her thumbs against the side of his shin bone, and it broke with a popping sound. The boy screamed and passed out. “It’s for the best,” Barika said. The mother was looking wide eyed at Anna. Barika had Anna adjust his leg so it was straight and pull it slightly to line up with the other leg. She then cast her spell, the golden light sinking into his leg. The magic was warm and tingly like the crystal had been. His leg was healed and straight, and he woke up soon after and was able to walk with only a slight limp. “He will recover completely. It just takes time to relearn how to walk,” Barika said. The mother and the girls ran over to Barika and hugged her, thanking her profusely. The mother turned to Anna, thanked her politely from a distance, and then asked Barika if she wanted to stay for dinner. She politely declined. They then left, heading back to the large house.  

They entered the large house and found Thokri at the table. He had a mug on the table in front of him as well as a large pitcher. He picked up the pitcher and began drinking out of it. They sat down next to him at the table. “What have the two of you been up to?” he asked. Anna told him the story of the boy and how the family acted afterwards. “Bah, humans are a selfish lot acting rude just cause someone ain’t the same,” he said. “Even after fixing one of the little ones. No dwarf would have treated you like that. Not after helping,” he continued. “What’s it like living with the dwarves?” Anna asked.  

“Lass, dwarves are the clan. Everything is for the clan. We take care of each other. We look out for all the children like they are our own. There’s no such thing as an orphan dwarf. We take care of the old folks as well. No dwarf goes hungry, and no dwarf is lonely,” he said, taking a drink. “And we respect those who help us no matter the race. If that would have been a dwarf boy, the lot of us would have to be rolled out of town in the morning cause of all the food we were stuffed with” he finished.  

Anna nodded, and so did Barika. “Tell me Thokri, how do dwarven men treat their wife?” Barika asked. “Same as any other dwarf. I told you we take care of each other. Doesn’t matter if you’re fucking and living together or not,” he answered. Barika looked thoughtful hearing this. “Do you have a wife?” Anna asked. “Aye, two of them, and I got a girl and two boys back in the mountain,” he replied. “You’re married with children?” Barika said, shocked. “Aye. Got two wives,” he said. “You have two wives!” she repeated. “Aye, and one of them has another husband. The other one hadn’t found another man yet, but she’s still young,” he replied. Barika was simply speechless hearing this, and Anna decided that dwarves had complicated families.  

Voekeer and Lyreen returned and sat at the table. “So, how long have you been away from home?” Barika asked. “Fifty years,” he answered. “Fifty?” Barika asked. “Aye. Don’t look at me like that. My kind lives to be eight hundred or so. Why, my girl won’t be old enough to find her own man for another twenty years, and the boy’s beards aren’t even past their chest yet,” he answered. “Oh,” Barika said. “Lass, you got to quit thinking like a human when you’re talking to dwarves,” he said, looking at Barika.  

“He’s right. It’s the same way for elves. We live to be two thousand, so fifty years is nothing to us,” Voekeer said. Anna thought about the dreamer and realized that she was, without question, the oldest in this room if you counted when she was part of it. If not, she was the youngest. “I wonder how long I’ll live,” she said, mostly to herself. “You could live forever depending on how much you take after the Fae,” Lyreen said. The conversation quickly died after that.  

Soon it was dinner time, and they ate a bowl of stew that had fresh meat and vegetables from the garden. It came with fresh bread and cheese, and as far as Anna was concerned, this alone was worth the trip from Fishport. They went upstairs, partially because they needed rest, and partially because there was nothing to do at the farmstead past sundown. She awakened late in the night to a commotion downstairs. Quickly getting up, she put on her belt and slid her club into the frog. Her movement woke the others, and they grabbed their weapons, ready for a fight. Then someone ran up the stairs.  

“Goblins! Goblins attacked! Everyone up!” a voice cried. With that, the women were out the door, and the men soon followed from their room. Thokri wasn’t wearing his plate armor, just the padded clothes that he wore underneath. He carried a short spear and a small shield. Voekeer had his chainmail on but wasn’t wearing his sword. Instead, he carried a spear that came up to his chin.  

Running down the stairs, they found a group of people huddled around the table. A young man was laid out on it, covered in blood. Barika pushed her way to the man on the table and healed him, though she looked tired from the effort. “Poison,” she said. “Dammit. We don’t have any potions,” Voekeer swore. “Where is the attack?” Lyreen asked. They were rushed out the door by a group of men, and Anna saw smoke coming from the house in the distance. “Oh no,” she said gravely, and took off into a sprint. 

 

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