Chapter Two Hundred and Five - Victory Sleep

We came to a stop a little ways into the ruins.

When we had arrived here, there had been plenty of undead running about and ambushing us. Weaker ones, but still plenty of them. Now, there wasn’t a soul... or a lack thereof.

Peter came back from a quick scouting mission to report on the why of that. “They’ve all collapsed. Not a single skeleton is still standing. As far as I can tell, they’re dead, though that’s hard to tell.”

“Interesting,” Momma said.

I was standing next to Awen, an arm around her back to keep her warm. “So, they died while we were gone?”

“No signs of any combat that I can tell,” Peter said.

I glanced around. The ruins had cast long shadows in the day, but it was well into the night, or maybe the morning, now. The lack of a moon and the overcast sky meant that seeing more than a few paces in any direction was pretty hard, though Amaryllis had cast a small lighting spell that floated by her shoulders. “Okay,” I said. “I guess they were corrupted monsters, so when the root started to die, or lost control of the core, they broke down.”

“That’s as plausible as anything I’ve come up with,” Momma said. “I think we should remain here. At least until morning.”

“I’m a bit worried for Awen, we should get her some healing,” I said.

“Awa, I’m okay,” Awen said. “I took a potion and Momma bandaged me, I’m okay.”

“See, she’s hurt,” I said.

Awen glared at me so hard it wouldn’t have intimidated a kitten.

“We’ll stay here for the night,” Momma said. “And I’ll look at Awen’s wound again, especially now that we have more time. Peter, could you find us a good place to camp? We don’t have tents, but I don’t smell any rain in the air, and we can burn some herbs to keep the worst of the insects at bay.”

“I’ve got a rune thing for bugs,” I said. “Got it when I was in Deepmarsh.”

“That would be welcome,” Momma said.

Peter was quick to find a spot for our camp, just a little area at the junction of two walls covered with weak, ankle-high grass. The walls were in rough shape, like much of the rest of the ruins, but they did provide some cover from the occasional bit of wind.

Momma sent Bastion and Buster and Carrot out to fetch wood while Amaryllis and Peter stood guard. Then she pried off the bandages on Awen’s side while I helped.

“Did you earn anything?” Momma asked as she worked.

“Me?” I asked. “You mean from the quest? No, nothing. It just ended. Not even a general skill point.”

“Hmm, I see,” she said. “Well, there’s nothing for it. At the very least we’ve discovered one way to defeat the Evil Roots.”

“Yeah. But you’ll need to find someone... somebun with Cleaning magic to help next time. I might not be around for it.”

“Hmm. Well, there are plenty of little buns in the village who have yet to earn all of their skills. I’m certain one or two would be willing to help the town by learning Cleaning magic, and we could help them in turn by making them strong enough to use it as you have.”

“Wouldn’t that mean forcing somebun to grow the way you want them too?” I asked.

“Perhaps. Or perhaps we can sprinkle valiant tales of Broccoli Bunch, sky captain and wielder of powerful Cleaning magics, then let the little buns grow that way all on their own.”

I pouted at her, and Awen giggled, even if it meant pulling at her wound. “You’re becoming famous, Broccoli,” she said.

“For all the wrong reasons. I want to be remembered for my friendliness, not my ability to clean stuff well.”

“I’m sure you can be remembered for both,” Momma said.

I huffed, but I wasn’t actually angry. I was too relieved to be angry... and maybe a bit tired.

Stifling a yawn, I helped Momma clean up Awen’s cut, then tied the ends of Awen’s new bandages up with a cute little bow.

Momma stood up, brushed off her hands, then moved over to the side and started stacking bricks and rocks into a circle. I caught on and helped her. The masonry of the ruins had fallen to pieces, yielding plenty of bits of brick and stone that I helped put in place. She grabbed some drier leaves and a few small sticks and started breaking them up. I made sure everything was clean and began picking up around the camp, not just sticks and stuff for the fire, but rocks and bits of debris too. It wouldn’t do to sleep on a pokey rock.

Bastion and Buster and Carrot returned with wood, usually just some branches they cut while out, but sometimes with some bigger chunks of wood. Buster especially, it looked as if he’d taken his hammer to a tree and just brought the chunks back.

Momma flicked a spark into our new firepit, then, with some careful blowing and moving of little branches and leaves, had a fire started in a few minutes' time.

“We’ll cook up the rest of our provisions, I think,” Momma said. “We can toast the bread and warm up the tea. It won’t be the greatest meal, but it should keep everyone fed.”

“That’s nice,” I said. “I have some tea that can help you sleep, and some tea that can help you stay awake. Should I make a bit of both?”

“That’s not a terrible idea,” Momma agreed. “We should draw up a watch schedule.” Momma didn’t leave that up to anyone, and immediately pointed to each of us in pairs, always two people awake, even Awen. There was only maybe five hours until sun-up, but that didn’t mean we could be lazy.

I sat back against one wall while Momma and Carrot cooked up a quick meal. Soon, Awen got up and came over to sit next to me with a pair of blankets. One we bunched up at our backs, the other she draped over us.

When Amaryllis returned, she shuffled closer and tucked herself in on my other side.

I luxuriated in the warmth of the fire. Fires, open and bright, always had a soothing sort of warmth to them. It left my nose feeling dry, but made my toes nice and toasty. It was a comfortable moment to just... reflect.

The dungeon had been saved... maybe. We’d have to see, but I had high hopes. Better yet, we’d made new friends, and had cemented some of that by working together.

My mind sprang a bit further back, to the Beaver Cleaver and all the fun we’d had aboard him already. So many adventures in only a week’s time. And we were still a good long ways from our intended destination!

I was looking forward to the next adventure, and the next!

I had scallywags to hug and teach about being a pirate, and a Bastion to break out of his rigid shell, and of course so much more to learn about my best friends. I hadn’t petted Orange in nearly a whole day too! The poor kitty.

“Food’s ready,” I heard, muffled and distant.

It was almost enough to make me open my eyes, but not quite. I was just resting them for a bit.

“They’re asleep,” someone said. Carrot? Yeah, that had sounded like Carrot. “Guess they’re not hungry.”

“They’re not soldiers,” Bastion said. That was definitely Bastion’s deep voice.

“I suppose not,” Momma said. “Let them rest. We can redraw the watch schedule.”

“Are you sure?” someone asked. I thought it was Peter.

I turned my head, intent to protest. I could do my part! I wasn’t some little bun that couldn’t lift her weight.

Instead, what happened was my head slumped to the side and fell atop Amaryllis’. On my other side, Awen shifted, her arm sliding around mine and hugging me closer.

My protests came out as a mumble, and I heard Carrot giggle and Buster chuckle.

Someone added a blanket atop the one we had already, and it was warm and cozy and...

And tomorrow would be another day for adventure.

The End!

(Volume Four begins on Friday!)