On the way back home, feelings were somewhat relieved that everybody had made it back safely, but also worried about what is happening on the other side of the Wound. Venamo took the opportunity to tell Suiv everything that was worth mentioning from the little trip, and the more he told, the more Suiv understood Venamo's and Yilka's willingness to go back there. Varma attempted to make a case for her going back there, but the case was shot down every time she tried. The direction of the carriage was still Reutsa, the favoured pitstop for travellers and pilgrims, and once the carriage reached said town, no thieves, bandits or fraudsters targeted it this time, since the busy day was already in the past. Even after entering through the town's gate, the first striking detail that everybody noticed was that the road was now mostly clear and so were the streets.
"Nice to come here after everybody has returned home. We have some space to move this time. No market stands and crowds where frauds can hide themselves." Suiv commented with a pleased tone.
"The doctor might be a fraud." Varma said, trying to get Suiv to change her mind about the necessity of the upcoming visit.
"The frauds operate outside the town. These folk can tell a fraud and won't tolerate any of them inside these walls." Suiv assured.
"Well.... what if..." Varma began to say.
"How bad can it be?" Suiv said right back before Varma could make another excuse.
"What if the doctor shoves some metallic tools in my throat or something like that?" Varma asked.
"Ugh. Oh that's right. You've never actually visited an actual doctor." Suiv said and sighed.
"Hot juice with honey as always worked when I'm sick. And I'm not even sick!" Varma insisted.
"And that's why we have to get your odd condition looked at! And besides, we're already here." Suiv said and stopped the carriage by an alley.
She stepped down from the carriage and went to the back of the carriage to open the back wall that also serves as a sort of door. She gave Varma a stern look that signaled that she wasn't in a mood for arguing.
"Quit acting like a child about this and just get this over with." Is what Suiv said to her daughter who submitted and got out of the carriage.
Suiv then turned to the passengers remaining in the carriage.
"And you keep watch here. If any of you are missing by the time we return, we'll leave you behind." She warned.
"She won't actually do that." Yilka said under his breath confidently.
"Find out at your own peril." Suiv warned one last time and then began walking towards a house on the other side of the road with a sign hanging above its door indicating that some kind of medical man works there.
Time passed slowly while waiting in the carriage, and the most entertaining thing to do was watching the occasional pedestrian walk by the alley, and counting the critters who live in the alley. After too much waiting, Yilka decided that he wanted something.
"I want mead." He said on his seat.
Venamo and Vaino both looked at him curiously.
"Is now really the time?" Venamo asked.
"By the time they come back, we'd have gotten home by walking. I may as well enjoy myself while I wait." Yilka replied.
"The last time you had mead, you were wobbly after one pint." Venamo reminded.
"Why would it matter if I'm wobbly while I sit in the carriage. I can just bottle the mead I buy and bring it all here so we can drink while Suiv has the reins." Yilka suggested.
"We?" Venamo asked.
"I have enough of the fine salts to afford some for you too." Yilka generously offered.
"You are your own man and you can make your own choices, but I'll pass your offer. And besides, you should save your salts for that woman that you so like. We still owe her." Venamo told his brother.
"Yes, yes, I know. If you see Suiv come out, shout really hard." Yilka said and hopped out of the caravan with a satchel slung around his left shoulder.
As he walked across the main street of the town, he kept an eye on the medical man's shop to make sure that nobody came out of there. Once he had safely reached a house that had a sign indicating that it's a tavern. He slipped in. When he did, he was met with a rather empty, but surprisingly clean tavern with plenty of tables but only two customers. When Yilka came in, he got glances from the eyepatch wearing, plum and bald tavernkeeper cleaning wooden cups with a dirty rag behind a counter, and the black robes wearing lady with tied up black hair who was wiping a table.
"Afternoon." The tavernkeeper said with a gravely voice.
Yilka cleared his throat.
"Afternoon." He greeted back with and walked to the counter.
"Not many customers at this hour?" Yilka broke the ice with.
"And we are thankful for that. Yesterday when folk returned from the Bloom festival, we were overcrowded." The lady in black chimed in.
"But as always, we were prepared." The tavernkeeper added.
"Must be lovely for you. Tell me, how big of a barrel could I buy with a fistful of this?" Yilka asked and opened his satchel.
"Not a drop." The grumpy tavernkeeper answered with.
"Huh? Why not?"
"We trade with money."
"Well, you can exchange this for money..."
"I won't. Me and Kesmo the salt trader have agreed that we won't sell what the other specialises in. I don't know where you come from, but over here we respect agreements."
"Well hey now! We respect agreements over where I come from too, and besides you can just sell this to the salt merchant and it'll all be good."
"He won't like it if he hears that I've bought from a competitor and he sure as shite won't buy from anyone other than whoever he already buys it from. You better stow that stuff away before I throw it in the outhouse and mix it with this mornings dung." The tavenkeeper said seriously.
Yilka got a disgusted look on his face.
"Well, I don't actually have any money on me since it all got robbed outside of town so this is really the only..." Yilka began to explain.
"Fine story, but it doesn't move me." The tavernkeeper stubbornly insisted.
The spot next to Yilka on the counter was then slapped with a hand. Yilka looked to his left side and saw a man with a black cape sit next to him on a wooden stool.
"May I ask where did you get those salts from?" The caped man asked and showed his face decorated with a gray beard and a scar above the eyebrow.
Yilka remembered what Suiv said about keeping the little visit over the border a secret.
"Just... some fellow at the Bloom festival." Yilka lied quickly.
"Do you remember anything about that fellow?" The caped man asked further.
"And what's it matter to you?" Yilka asked.
"Next time you see that fellow, tell 'em to not come to this town, because somebody already has a good foothold here." The caped man warned.
"You're the salt trader, aren't you?" Yilka asked.
"Clever one, this one." Kesmo the caped merchant said, stood up and turned his back to Yilka so he could walk back to his table.
When Kesmo's back was turned against Yilka, he saw a red stripe going across the cape, and that immediately got the young man's curiosity. Yilka also stood up and called for Kesmo again. The salt trader sat by his table and Yilka sat next to him.
"That stripe on your cape. Do you happen know what the Road of Blood is?" Yilka asked frantically.
"And what's that matter to you?" Kesmo asked right back.
"All I'll reveal is that I was told to meet someone with a similar stripe and bring a certain object to them." Yilka answered.
"Do you have that object?" Kesmo asked.
"Not right now but I have it in my carriage. I'll go get it quickly. I promise." Yilka said and rushed out of the door.
To his despair, he saw that Suiv and Varma were already in the carriage. Despite her earlier warning, Suiv did appear to be waiting, but not patiently. Yilka sprinted across the cobblestone road with salts spilling from his satchel, and jumped into the carriage once he reached it.
"Suiv! Can you wait just a bit longer here? I need to take just this quick trip to the tavern because..." Yilka began to bargain.
"You want to keep us waiting so you can go have a drink? Is that what you're saying?" Suiv interrupted with impatiently.
"No, no. I need to go give him these arrows we got so we can join them." Yilka explained.
"You found a member a of the Road of Blood already? Let's not miss this chance." Venamo said and grabbed one of the stolen arrows.
Yilka also grabbed one, but when Varma tried to grab the third one, Venamo snatched it away before she could, knowing that Suiv wouldn't approve. Varma gave him an insulted look as in to ask what gives, but Venamo only jumped out of the carriage along with Yilka and went to the tavern. In the tavern Yilka led his brother to the table where Kesmo was still sitting. Yilka slammed his arrow onto the table and Venamo did the same, and Kesmo looked at the arrows.
He picked up both of them and inspected them briefly before putting them down again.
"I will remember your faces when I next see you at the Road of Blood." Kesmo simply said and took a sip from his wooden cup.
"Does this mean we're in?" Yilka asked.
"You did the task and proved the lengths you're willing to go to for the fight. You've earned our trust and the right to know what we know." Kesmo said.
"Great. Let's head back." Venamo said and turned around to leave through the door.
The other brother had nothing to say to the salt trader anymore either, and also left the tavern. They got back in the carriage where Varma gave them both a death glare for robbing her opportunity to join the Road of Blood.
"It's for your own best." Venamo said to her, as if he knew what she was thinking.
"So you've made your decisions." Suiv stated.
Both the brothers remained silent for a moment.
"Let's return home." Venamo stated.
Suiv didn't argue, and got the carriage moving out of the town.
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By late afternoon in the distance they could see the familiar houses and fruit trees. The dirt road leading to the village of Kalekanka ran parallel to the forest near the village. On the last straight Venamo decided to finally bring up something that he had been wondering all journey.
"What did the medical man say about Varma's condition?" He asked.
"He knew nothing. Said my condition was unlike anything he had ever seen. I told him that my lungs and back burn especially hot." Varma answered.
"Your back?" Venamo asked for clarification.
"Well, it feels like it's burning especially hot under the skin of my back." Varma clarified.
"That is worrying." Venamo commented.
"It's actually been getting worse and worse all day. Simply inhaling is getting really uncomfortable." Varma told and sounded worried for herself.
"I don't understand it. Did you get into contact with some disease that only exists on the other side? That's all I can think of." Suiv wondered frustratedly.
"If this was a sickness, they'd have gotten sick too. I think." Varma theorised.
All anybody could do was think, theorise and guess quietly as the carriage came closer to home.
Varma was only repeating: "Never should have gone there." while leaning over the side. While she was doing that, she heard calm humming coming from the woods. Everybody in the village knew that only one person would be careless enough to hum in the woods.
"The Wicked lady! She knows all the odd drinks and spices. If anyone here can help, it's her." Varma said and hopped out of the carriage to run towards the sound.
"No, you will not speak to her!" Venamo shouted after her but she was already on her way.
Venamo chased after her, and Yilka decided to run to the woods as well because he just wanted to seize any opportunity to see Nofa.
"Wicked lady!" Varma shouted into the woods when she saw Nofa ahead of her.
She got within talking distance of the Wicked lady and they looked at each other.
"Oh, you're the kid of the hardworking lady who bought cold medicine from me a few times. What is the matter?" Nofa asked curiously.
"Why am I so hot all of a sudden? I'm boiling inside! Do you know any way to get rid of this feeling?"
"Oh noes. That sounds unusual. Let me think..." Nofa replied and began pondering.
While she did that, Varma's cousins caught up with her and also came within talking distance of Nofa. Nofa was delighted to see one of them.
"Oh, did you come to pay me back?" Nofa asked Venamo.
"Yilka, just give her the damned salts already and get that over with." Venamo said to Yilka.
He then tried to pull Varma closer to himself but burned his hand on her back.
"Agh! I came to prevent this girl from talking to you." Venamo then said to Nofa.
Yilka walked over to Nofa and handed the entire satchel.
"I missed seeing you." Yilka said to her as the satchel changed hands.
"My, how direct you're being. But I missed seeing you too. Now what did you bring?" Nofa replied. 68Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzNmwZEmucN
She then looked inside the satchel.
"I didn't even ask for this much. This must have cost you a fortune." She commented.
"You can keep it all if you think of anything for the girl. Even if it's just something that can relieve her problem." Yilka told her.
"Hmm. I don't know of any disease or curse that makes someone boil inside, but I know of something that might cool her." Nofa replied.
"What is it?" Yilka asked.
"Yeah! What is it?" Varma shouted from a bit further away.
"The Rarhean mushroom could cool you from inside. Up there in my homeland it's no good to eat because how cold the place already is. It has sponged the cool air of the Rarhean mountains and tundras, and keeps that cool air sponged inside for all of its lifespan. I have a few of them left in my cupboard. With all this fine salt you can have all six of them. I'll be taking another trip there in the peak of summer to get some more. But sure, the six are yours." Nofa told everyone.
"Thank you! I need them!" Varma exclaimed.
"Are we sure we can trust..." Venamo began to question.
"The feign flesh is working, isn't it? Isn't that why you payed me back? What do I have to do make you trust me like the other two do?" Nofa interrupted him, feeling insulted.
"How quickly can I have the mushrooms?" Varma asked.
"Well, I've just about filled my basket for today, so I could call it a day here. I could go get them right now." Nofa answered.
"Would you bring them to us or should we come with you?" Yilka asked.
"I... umm... don't think the locals want to see me in their village. Just follow me to my hut." Nofa said and made her way towards the main road.
And so back at the road they returned to the waiting carriage where Nofa and Suiv saw each other's faces for the first time up close.
"Is this the Wicked lady in person?" Suiv asked when she saw who came with the rest.
"The very same." Nofa answered before anyone could answer for her.
"Do you know any way to help Varma?" Suiv asked, her worry for her daughter triumphing over the prejudices taught to her.
"At home I do. Can I get in the carriage to get to home a bit faster?" Nofa politely answered and asked.
"Get in. Thank you. And thank you for the previous times you've helped as well." Suiv replied.
"Thank you, and you're welcome." Nofa said and got in along with the rest.
Once the carriage entered the village, Nofa felt self conscious and judged, so much so that she looked down to the floor of the carriage when it entered the village. Half of the people in the village had done business with her, but none dared to publicly be on her side. As the carriage passed the village, most villagers were busy doing their daily chores, but Nofa still got some nasty looks from elders and intrigued looks from children. Nofa of course saw none of the looks.
"Boys, get the mounts in the staples and Vaino into the house. I'll go with Varma and the Wicked lady to get the medicine." Suiv told Venamo and Yilka, who didn't argue back.
"They can come too. I still need to prove to someone that I can be trusted." Nofa said.
"We better not wait for them too long." Varma complained.
"It won't take long." Yilka promised.
Once the carriage was by the correct house, Venamo peacefully stepped down from the carriage to untie the mounts and Yilka shook the old man Vaino awake, since he had fallen asleep again. Yilka made absolutely sure that Vaino wouldn't see Nofa while being escorted out of the carriage into the house in a state of being half awake. Once those tasks were done, they regrouped by the carriage.
"Looks like I'll be getting quite an audience. Well, come with me then." Nofa said in a cheerful tone to her worried company and led the way.
They didn't cheer up. Varma's discomfort made everyone else uncomfortable as well, and Nofa saw it too, and so remained silent until they had all come to her hut and gotten inside.
"I'm home again, love. And this time I have even more guests!" She exclaimed as her butterfly landed on her waiting finger.
Varma and Suiv found it a bit odd that she talked to a butterfly whereas Venamo and Yilka had already seen it.
"Oh, right. The mushrooms. Let me get them." Nofa said and started opening the several little doors that she had on her walls to search for the right one.
"Aha! Here we go!" She exclaimed when she found what she was looking for.
She pulled out a bright and clear bottle that had six white mushrooms with gray spots on them. She opened the wooden cork of the bottle and took one out.
"I'll just grind this into powder and mix it with water and that should cool you." She told Varma.
Nofa went to her mixing table where she put one Rarhean mushroom in a clay bowl. Once the mushroom was reduced to powder, she poured the contents into a cup and poured water from a pitcher into the cup. She then handed the cup to Varma who drank it quickly.
"How quickly will it affect her?" Suiv asked.
The cooling effect is the mushroom's defense mechanism. So it should affect as soon as it's consumed." Nofa answered.
Suiv saw that Varma had drunk the entire cup. She touched Varma's back to see how quickly the medicine works.
"I can feel her slowly cooling down!" She exclaimed.
"I can feel it too." Varma confirmed in a tired voice while breathing heavily.
"Tasted awful." Varma then added.
Nofa chuckled at the comment.
"I can't do anything about that unfortunately." Nofa said, feeling happy that it actually worked.
Suiv embraced her daughter in a hug to get a better feel at how the medicine was cooling her down, and to comfort her as well.
"Am I still somebody who still shouldn't be trusted?" Nofa asked Venamo directly.
"How long will that medicine work? You might have just tricked us with a medicine that only works for moments." Venamo questioned.
"It is only a temporary solution. If the girl's odd condition doesn't go away, she'll need more. Or maybe she'd need to go to a cooler climate, such as Rarhea while she waits for her condition to go away." Nofa answered.
"You cannot be serious about that." Venamo said.
"I'm not saying that she should. It's a harsh place to live with nothing but rocks and tundra and dead trees. But even in the summer it's chilly, since only a few flaps of the Fire Feather's wings make it there." Nofa clarified.
"Thank you." Varma simply said and looked at Nofa with a tired mind and exhausted body.
"I'm just happy that it worked." Nofa said back to Varma.
"I'll invite you for supper one of these days as thanks." Suiv said to Nofa sincerely while still hugging Varma.
"Ohh, no. That is not necessary. The fellows already paid me." Nofa replied.
"I want to personally thank you." Suiv insisted.
"Well, if you insist then I won't resist. As long as everyone is fine with me coming over." Nofa said.
"I'm fine with it." Yilka said straightly.
"I'm sure my girl would also be fine with it. Isn't that right?" Suiv said and stroked Varma's hair.
Varma didn't reply, but only snored into her mother's shoulder.
"Does her condition also cause tiredness?" Suiv asked.
"She hasn't slept in two nights. And for that matter neither have I." Yilka answered the question.
"My word, all three of your runaways better get yourselves to bed soon or you'll be walking corpses tomorrow." Suiv said and stood up with Varma cradled in her arms.
"I might actually stay here for a moment more. I have something to say to Nofa." Yilka replied.
Nofa looked pleasantly surprised. Venamo gave Yilka a dirty look and was about to say something.
"That's fine. We'll be... ugh... returning home." Suiv said and did her best to carry Varma who had grown quite a bit since the last time Suiv carried her like this.
Venamo gave Yilka one last disapproving glare before he followed Suiv out of the hut and shut the door behind. As the door closed, Nofa turned to Yilka happily.
"That was just the cutest thing! Nngh, made me melt inside!" Nofa gushed.
"What exactly?" Yilka asked with confusion.
"Suiv carrying Varma like that so caringly and patiently. Like she wasn't bothered or troubled by having to carry the girl because she loves her so much. I wish I had a mother growing up." Varma answered.
"So you learned their names already." Yilka observed.
"We exchanged names when you and your brother were getting the mounts and the old man inside. Anyway, you said you wanted to say something." Nofa reminded him.
"Right. I did." Yilka simply replied and seemed to be feeling down.
"Something serious? Would you want to sit down while we talk?" Nofa asked.
Nofa's blue butterfly pulled a chair by the table to make room for Yilka so sit down on it. Yilka just looked at the butterfly with a curious expression and forgot what he wanted to say.
"She's stronger than the typical butterfly. Must have been something I fed her." Nofa said with a slight chuckle.
"Something?" Yilka asked and sat down on the offered chair.
Nofa then also sat down by the opposite end of the table.
"I used to try new things on her before I try them on myself. If her reaction wasn't immediate, I'd throw the potion away. Whatever made her so strong must have been one of those scrapped potions. But I don't experiment on her anymore. She has become a beloved member of the household." Nofa said and put her finger up horizontally to make a "branch" for her butterfly to land on.
"Aren't you?" Nofa babytalked to her butterfly once it landed on her finger.
"What's her name?" Yilka asked.
"I call her Blueberry. Because she's blue, you see." Nofa answered.
"Fitting, I suppose." Yilka commented.
"And speaking of berries, would you like some of this new juice I created?" Nofa asked.
"What will it do to me?" Yilka asked with worry in his mind.
"Hopefully nothing. It just tastes good. Bring the pitcher, would you, dear?" Nofa said to Blueberry who flew away on command.
Blueberry flew to a wooden trapdoor on the floor and pulled it open to reveal a cellar. It flew into the cellar and brought back a glass pitcher with a glass lid. Once Blueberry was close enough, Nofa took the pitcher and put it on the table. Blueberry then retrieved two wooden cups and when the cups were on the table, Nofa dipped her finger in the juice and let Blueberry lick the tip of her finger as a reward.
"Thank you, dear." Nofa said to the butterfly.
"How does she understand you?" Yilka asked.
"Practice." Nofa answered.
"You can afford glass?" Yilka then asked.
"Made it myself." Nofa bragged.
"So what is in your juice?" Yilka asked and looked at the pitcher full of bright red juice.
"Hopperberries." Nofa answered.
"Hopperberries? Those are poisonous and thick inside. You couldn't have made juice out of them."
"Ah, but I found a way. By pouring the thick insides of hopperberries on a filter, the thick and poisonous material stays on top of the filter, while the thin liquid pours out of the filter. I tasted the liquid and it was delicious. Try some." Nofa explained.
Yilka poured himself half a cup and Nofa poured herself a full one. Yilka drank his hesitantly and Nofa drank hers slowly while savouring it.
"You were right." Yilka commented.
"I know. And that's not all. The thick insides of the hopperberries don't slide out of my clothes when I apply them. They stick and even rain won't wash them away." Nofa explained.
"Why are you saying that like it's a good thing?" Yilka asked.
"Because the branch hoppers find the smell disgusting and they will stay far away from me no matter how deep into the woods I go. I gathered lots and lots of the berries and with enough berry paste I was able to dye my entire robe into a nice and pretty shade of red. Odorless to us, but disgusting for the branch hoppers. Far better than my last repellent that smelled disgusting." Nofa bragged and felt proud inside her red robes.
"That's actually unbelievably helpful around here." Yilka admitted.
"I know! Everyone will want this, and I will be rich like the queen of Vastusar." Nofa replied.
"It's such a helpful thing that it feels wrong to ask something in exchange for it. It can be life saving." Yilka commented
"Well, I suppose if you think of it like that... But anyway, what was that thing you wanted ask? Let's finally get to it with no more distractions." Nofa replied and asked.
"Right. Me and Venamo will go away tomorrow."
"Oh? Where?"
"To the other side of the wall, down to Vastusar's territory.
"I understood that nobody is allowed to go there." Nofa wondered.
"We know it's a dangerous place. And we may be there for a long time, if we ever come back at all." Yilka explained.
"What are you going there for?" Nofa asked curiously.
"We're going to war." Yilka simply answered.
"War? Where is there a war in the world?" Nofa asked with minor shock.
"There will be one. We will fight the Kingdom of Greater Vastusar."
"What? Are you absolutely certain about that? I don't know that much about what is happening in the world but I at least know that there is a reason why nobody opposes them. They have mastered the Holy magics! How would you and your brother fight them?" Nofa interrogated Yilka.
He remained quiet in his thoughts for a moment.
"There is always a way. What they're doing has to come to an end." He answered.
"So in other words you've got no plan and no clue." Nofa said.
"But we know a group of people who have plans. We're not by ourselves in the fight." Yilka explained.
Nofa pondered for a moment.
"And when would you be leaving?" She then asked.
"Maybe even tomorrow. Every moment we waste, they go unopposed."
"In what?"
"Do you really want me to explain the whole story?"
"I'd prefer that."
"Fine then." Yilka said, poured himself a small amount of juice and cleared his throat.
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