Annie made sure that the fire was giving out medium heat. She had to remove some logs, but it was now perfect. There was a crowd of ogres around her, watching as she placed the sugar and salt in the milk.
“Now, everyone, normally one fries the rice before they place the water. But, this is a rice pudding. So, the rice goes in without frying,” the ogres nodded enthusiastically. Annie was always happy to have an eager student. “Now, it is important to pour just the tiniest bit of mana in the milk while it boils. A small, needle thin stream. Or it would curdle.”
Annie produced a thin mana thread and waved it around so that the ogres could see. Then, she hanged it over the milk and let about it slowly fall inside. With her free hand, Annie took the stirring spoon and began stirring in the mana thread into the milk.
“You must stir all the time. If the mana builds up, it will turn into lumps. And those aren’t tasty at all,” continued Annie. The ogres began practicing making mana threads, but theirs looked like thin ropes, not threads.
“The best thread is made when you listen to your heartbeat,” said Annie, not stopping with her stirring even for a second. “Pour mana every time that you hear your heart and make it go down. That way, you will get a thread.”
The ogres oh’ed again and, soon, they were making threads, too. Annie smiled. The milk slowly began to rise, and Annie pointed at the fire beneath the cauldron.
“Get more logs out of it. The milk needs to be simmering for the next part,” the ogres took the logs out and just left the embers and two logs beneath the cauldron. Annie lifted the heavy rice sack and tilted it over the cauldron. She felt the load lessen and saw that an ogre woman was helping her by lifting it.
“Thank you, dear. Now, we need to cook it for an hour. It has to become as thick as yogurt. From time to time, the pudding must be stirred and mana must be added to it. Does anyone want to try?” A forest of hands was her answer, and Annie pointed to the ogre woman who had lifted the sack.
“You can do it, dear. I believe in you. Now, I will watch and help, if there is a need,” Annie stepped away and the ogre woman took her place. She had on a look of concentration, and she stirred the rice pudding while letting a small mana thread drop inside it.
During the hour, Annie had switched between ten ogres, as she wanted to give more a chance. When the rice pudding was done, two ogres helped Annie take it off the fire, and she began placing it in bowls.
“Everyone, add ginger to your portions. Just one bite will restore your stamina to the fullest. But, eat the entire bowl. You all require some meat on your bones,” the ogres all went to the clearing before the shaman’s tent and waited for their rice pudding to cool. When it did, they dug in.
Gasps were heard, and Annie smiled triumphantly. Happy that the ogres were feeling better already. The green skinned beings ate with gusto and looked at Annie with wonder.
“Better?” Asked Annie with a kind smile on her face.
“Ma’am…” began an ogre, but Annie chuckled.
“Granny, dear. Ma’am makes me sound like I am some uptight busybody,” the ogre cracked a smile.
“Granny, can you teach us how to make more stamina rich food?” Annie beamed.
“Just add the mana threads to each of your dishes. For stamina, you will need to cook eggs, rice, fatty fish, sweet potato, salads, eat many fruits, but those you will have to feed with mana while they are still on the tree or in the bush, and you will have to drink some coffee and black tea in the morning,” finished Annie. She was sure that there were more foods, but that was everything she could remember.
“Nyle, have you finished making their portions?” Asked Annie as she turned to the white-haired teen looking healer.
“Yes, granny. I left the list of what they should eat and when with the shaman. He said he will make sure that everyone is taken care of,” Annie nodded, and she looked at the frail old ogre who was looking at his empty rice pudding bowl.
“To think that my people could have been saved,” spoke the shaman in a broken tone. “And all that happened because of that witch.”
Angry murmurs spread around the gathered crowd. Annie looked around, confused.
“What witch, sir?” Asked Annie. There were no registered witches around Ulssin.
“Arga, the black witch of Nathalas. She came by Ash Forest looking for herbs and found a child in the forest. Arga came and accused the tribe of stealing and then abandoning the child. Then, she cursed us with stamina pox. May the dread horse take her!”
So, it had all happened because of a misunderstanding and because of a single witch judging the people of Ash Forest too harshly. Annie frowned. That Arga was going to get a note from Annie’s lawyer. There had to be justice for the fifty ogres that had died.
“Didn’t you try to hire curse breakers?” Asked Lucita. She had been silent the entire day, just looking mournfully around camp. Her brother placed a hand on her shoulder.
“The curse breakers probably didn’t want to help and sided with the witch,” said Nyle, and the shaman nodded.
“I tried to lift the curse myself,” he said, his voice chocked. “For I am a shaman and know a bit of magic. But, it only became worse. The curse took the children. Children sized coffins are the worst sight someone can see.”
Everyone grew silent after that. However, Annie had a determined look in her eyes. She was going to make sure that Arga the Dark Witch got what was coming to her. That wouldn’t bring back the dead ogres, but it will bring some closure to the surviving ones.
