Crystal Mine

7. Chapter One

Mallory picked a cluster of herbs, straightening and putting them in the cloth sack Ryan held out. They weren’t far from the road, the wagon several metres ahead of them, Ninette nearby keeping guard. The countryside around them was sparsely treed and the dirt track was rough, large ruts in some places.

Wiping her hands against her trousers, Mallory sighed. “I was so certain that would be enough.” She brushed several strands of her brown hair back from her face. It had come loose from her plait, the natural copper highlights glinting in the late afternoon sunlight.

“One XP to go.” Ryan gestured to some herbs further along the edge of the road, the faint glimmer to the plants that could be harvested, making it easier to spot them. “That should do it and then you’ll have your ten CAS points to put in apothecary.” He’d left his backpack in the wagon, but carried his bow on his back and his swords at his sides, along with his quiver. His black hair was tied at the nape of his neck and his dark eyes were filled with humour. “Brodie will be glad you can do average rapid mend.” He paused a moment. “For all of two seconds.”

Mallory laughed softly as she strode towards the herbs. “We’ll be sick of hearing him tell us how unfair everything is by the time he catches up with my level.” Her hand rested on the wand in the canvas hoop at her side. “I wonder if there’s some sort of gag spell.” Her hand lightly brushed the short sword that hung at her other side. Threatening him with it wouldn’t work since he’d know she wouldn’t use it on him.

Ninette, who continued to follow them, laughed. “Silent tongue. Ma used to threaten us with it.” Her laughter faded. “Back when she was alive.” Her hand rested on the hilt of her short sword and she regularly scanned the area.

Reaching the herbs, Mallory picked them, shoving them in the cloth sack. She was now one CAS point off character level five. “Finally.” She glanced at the wagon that was leaving them behind, a canvas stretched over arched saplings so that it reminded her of an Old West wagon. “That was the worst plan ever. There has to be a better way to power level.” Breathing out heavily, she trudged after the wagon wishing it were closer. She was exhausted after how many resources she’d gathered over the past three days. And in particular the resources everyone had helped her gather during the journey today. So much for being able to relax in the wagon after dealing with the crypt. Not much of that had happened. At least the clothes she’d washed hadn’t taken too long to dry and she’d been able to change out of the dress and into the more practical shirt and trousers she preferred to wear. “What are we going to do with all the herbs if we can’t sell them in Velkden?” The vegetables she’d gathered could be eaten, but there were too many herbs for them to use all of them. Although there were also probably too many vegetables to use before they started going bad.

Ryan shrugged. “Maybe Danni will have a suggestion.”

Mallory smiled as they approached the wagon. Brodie and Kruth were still teaching each other insults that were common in each other’s world. Most of the ones Brodie had tried to teach Kruth hadn’t made sense to him.

Kruth shook his head, the canvas brushing against it. At six and a half feet tall and with a muscular build, the space in the back of the wagon was cramped for him. He grinned showing protruding lower canines. “I have a better one. As bright as a swamp rat.” He had greenish grey skin and wore heavy cotton trousers, a hide vest, leather boots and had a wide copper bracelet on each wrist.

“What’s a swamp rat?” Brodie was sprawled out next to Fang, absently patting the wolf’s head. He had the same coloured green eyes as Mallory and his short brown hair was in need of a trim. Fang made a noise in her sleep and he smiled down at her before returning his attention to Kruth. The wolf cub was a mixture of colours. Her legs were mostly white while the rest of her was grey with some red amongst it along with a few white sections.

Kruth stared at Brodie. “You’ve never heard of a swamp rat? They’re the dumbest creatures imaginable. Chew off their own leg if they were hungry enough and then wonder what happened to it.”

Emica glanced at Kruth and Brodie. “I’ll be glad when we reach the farmhouse out from Velkden.” She sat on one end of the vampire Deneg’s travel coffin, using the whetstone she’d borrowed from Ryan, on her two short swords. The twenty-year-old kitsune currently had only her ears shapeshifted into her fox form, wanting to hear anything well before it reached them. Her hair was the same russet colour as her fox pelt and her dark brown eyes continually scanned the area.

Callum chuckled, also glancing towards Kruth and Brodie. “I’m not surprised.” He had the same dark coloured eyes and hair as his brother, but where Ryan’s hair was long, his was kept short. He sat on one of the chests at the front of the wagon, Smudge curled up on his lap, the river otter chattering softly as if in agreement with him. Callum chuckled again, running his finger across Smudge’s nose. There was a paler section of fur near the tip of his nose, the same pale colour as his under body, bright against the darker fur of his upper body. Behind them, the wagoner, Welby and Roast sat on the wagon seat, talking quietly amongst themselves.

Jorgen, who sat on the opposite end of Deneg’s coffin to Emica, plaited his pale blond hair back from his face, including the eight thinner plaits with the glass beads scattered along them. “The greatest insult amongst my people is to tell someone they’re clanless.”

Brodie frowned. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“If you’re clanless, it’s because no clan has been willing to accept you.” Jorgen pulled his hair over his shoulder to continue plaiting it.

“Aren’t you without a clan?” Brodie asked.

“Even if I find none of them have survived, there are other clans that would accept me.” Jorgen’s tone was cool and his blue eyes narrowed as he looked at Brodie.

Mallory tried not to wince as she thought of and discarded several comments and questions to change the subject. She felt like throwing something at her brother for his comment. “Why only eight plaits?” She gestured to his hair that he was tying off.

“They signify the eight main compass points,” Jorgen said.

“Eight?” Brodie asked. “Aren’t there only four? North, south, east and west.”

“There are also the compass points between each of those,” Jorgen said.

Danae, who sat on one of the chests at the front of the wagon next to Callum, said, “Most people only count the four as major compass points. Travellers are different. But then they spend a lot of time going from place to place when many people remain in the town or village they were born in.” Her blond hair was drawn back into a plait to show her pointed ears and her pale green eyes were filled with excitement, her gaze continually scanning the area as she soaked in her surroundings. “You’re so lucky you’ve seen so much of Eridell.”

Jorgen nodded. “I went to Trinity Crossing once.”

Mallory recognised the town name from having read ‘Legend Of The Ancestral King’. It was on the border of where the three countries of Eridell, Maregan and Cachen met. It also reminded her of all that could go wrong if they didn’t prevent Emica’s father, Hisoki, from waking the ancestral king. Once again, she found herself looking for a way to change the topic. “Are any of you going to pick herbs and do some levelling up now I can level apothecary up to forty-five?” She supposed she should probably put her points in the crafting ability. Before she needed to mend Brodie’s knee again at six o’clock.

The wagoner glanced over his shoulder. “We’re nearly there. The river is ahead of us. From here you can see the demonic shrine that’s along the banks of the river.”

Brodie, who was sitting on the floor of the wagon, on the bedrolls that had been laid out, tried to sit up straighter so he could peer between the chests and the arch of the canvas. “I can’t see anything from here.” He glared at his knee. “I can’t wait until my knee is fixed.” He looked at his sister. “Have you put those points in apothecary yet?”

“I can’t heal you until six. There’s no rush.” Mallory added the points in, barely managing not to smile at Brodie’s muttered comments. She read over only the notifications that mentioned something new, glancing past the rest of them. You have reached level thirty-seven apothecary. You now have the ability to treat rare diseases. You have reached level forty apothecary. You now have the ability to do average surgery. You have reached level forty-five apothecary. You now have the ability to use average rapid mend on broken bones.

Ryan checked the pocket watch, returning it to his belt pouch. “It’s only fifteen minutes till six. Those bandits we ran into earlier slowed us down.”

Mallory’s gaze was drawn to the chest Danae sat on. They’d put the bow they’d gained from the motley crew of bandits that had attacked them earlier, inside it. The five bandits hadn’t lasted long. Nor had they gained many drops. The short bow, enough arrows to replace those they’d used and twelve copper pieces. Gaining XP from a fight rather than picking herbs had been a nice change.

Callum glanced over his shoulder. “I wouldn’t mind stopping and having a closer look at the shrine.”

“So would I.” Mallory didn’t bother trying to see out the front of the wagon. She already knew she wouldn’t be able to. At least not clearly with everyone sitting at the front. They’d passed a shrine earlier, on the banks of a lake, and she and Callum had been outvoted when they’d wanted to stop and look at it. Everyone had said they’d wanted to reach Velkden before dark. But she was sure it was more likely that most of them wanted to be closer to reaching Cutthroat Harbour and rescuing those held there.