Chương 44: Stonewake

Vaelith clapped me on the back.

"I still can't believe you went out and took a bounty all on your own. I knew you had the heart of a warrior the moment I saw you. And a golem, too? Oh, this is going to be fun."

"Yeah… fun," I replied. Still, there was some truth in her words. I was starting to enjoy the thrill of adventure and combat. Perhaps not more than the peace that came with safety… but I understood the appeal. We'd left Moolisa behind for this trip. The Stonewake was only about half a day's walk away, or so we were told. Before we left, as promised, I had given Pella a taste of the Redcap Pepper Jerky. She complained that it wasn't spicy enough, but did say it had a depth of flavor she'd never tasted before.

She wrote down some of those flavors in a little notebook so she could try to copy or recreate them later. Sable had tried a piece. Vaelith as well. Marnie had inexplicably disappeared before I returned. Nobody knew where she had gone. As for Darwin, once he tried a piece of the jerky, something had changed about him. Well, not just physically; he had grown a small red mushroom on top of his carapace-like shell. Mentally as well. He seemed more observant of his surroundings… and he asked far more questions.

"What is that?" Darwin asked, gesturing toward a yellow plant growing beside the road. Each of us looked at one another and shrugged. Darwin looked disheartened that none of us knew. But that wasn't the only change. His speech had changed as well. Before, he had spoken very directly and in short bursts. Now he seemed capable of holding longer sentences and asking deeper questions. He asked one in particular that upset him when I couldn't answer. He had asked…

"What am I?" None of us knew. He seemed saddened by that. I named him Darwin because he seemed to evolve with each recipe, but this latest change had been the most concerning of all.

"So, Sable… I'm guessing you came because you wanted to investigate the place of power?" I asked.

"More witch trouble?"

"Nothing gets by you," she replied, narrowing her eyes.

"But yes… right on the nose. A single place of power is nothing. Two could be a coincidence. Three… and there is something brewing."

"A witch's brew, you could say." Sable sighed.

"Sorry."

"No, no, it's just…" she went silent.

"You still don't know what you're going to do?" I asked. Sable shook her head.

"What's the problem?" Vaelith asked.

"If you still love her, fuck her. If you don't, kill her. Either way, you win."

"Subtle," I replied.

"Classy," Sable mocked.

"What?" Vaelith said, throwing her hands into the air.

"I'm just making conversation. I was feeling left out."

"And you're supposed to be a princess, right?" Sable asked. Vaelith nodded.

"I'd hate to see how the common demons act, then." Vaelith smiled and flicked her nose.

"So what will you do if you find out where the witch is?" I asked.

"You could choose neither option, you know. Living forever ain't so bad… right?" Sable smiled sadly.

"Living without my music bringing joy to others is a fate worse than death." She held out her lyre.

"This cursed thing."

"If the object is cursed, just be rid of it," I suggested. Sable took a few steps back and smashed the lyre against a rock, throwing the broken pieces into a nearby bush.

"What the hell?" I gasped. Sable held out her hand, and soon, the instrument appeared there, brand new.

"Whenever I feel like playing music," she explained.

"Anything at all. No matter where the lyre is. No matter how far. No matter how damaged. It just… appears. And worse, if I'm holding another instrument, it…" She mimicked an explosion with her hands. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

"So cursed to only use a cursed item… what the hell did you do to that witch?"

"Ysra?" Sable replied.

"I… Well, it's not really the time to get into all that. I have a feeling that our fates are inexplicably tied, and that you'll meet her face-to-face. And when you do… well, she'll likely tell you herself. She's a bit of a blabbermouth, honestly."

We continued down the road until, just off to the side, we saw flat-topped stones arranged in a giant circle. The grass around them grew thick and dark, brushing against the lower edges of the ancient slabs. Moss clung to the sides and faded markings had been carved into several of the surfaces. The air felt still around the formation, untouched by the breeze moving through the surrounding trees. Somehow, I'd expected a place of power to be more… secretive.

"Is this the place?" I asked. Vaelith put a hand to her chin. Sable looked positively terrified. Yep… it was the place all right.

"Alright then… does anyone know how strong a stone golem is?"

"It depends on many factors," Sable replied.

"How much mana is in the area. What it's made out of. How many cores."

"How many cores?" I asked.

"You mean there can be more than one?"

"Usually there is. A Stone Golem is normally just a small rock. Maybe slightly bigger than your hand. It's when they all come together that they become a real problem. If this one is causing issues, then I suspect it has many cores." Well, that solved the problem of choosing whether I used a core for my recipe or gave one to the merchant for the knife.

"So how do we lure it out?" I asked.

"Should we have some sort of plan?" I grumbled to myself. While the trip had been short, the only monsters we had seen were three goblins. Vaelith took care of two of them, and I only managed to slay a single one, which meant… only two servings of Goblin-Eye Soup.

"I want to prepare a recipe," I said.

"In case things go… sideways." They agreed, and Vaelith went out to scout. We decided to stay on the road instead of venturing into the stone circle. Best to prepare first. And I did just that. I had bought some supplies before the trip: the basic ingredients for a few of my recipes and the means to cook them. From my bag, I removed a pan. I found a nearby sapling and broke it down into smaller pieces, then used the strange fire-starting powder.

I struck the flint against a rock, and the spark caused the powder to combust. Soon, I had a roaring fire. I added water to the pan and began cooking the Goblin-Eye Soup. The broth slowly darkened as the vegetables softened, and the earthy smell of mushrooms mixed with rendered fat and moonleaf. Steam drifted across the road while the nearby standing stones watched in silence. There was one thing I wanted to test. When it was done, all four of us sat around the fire.

"I only have two goblin eyes," I explained, "but I made enough soup for everyone. I want to test something." Vaelith grinned.

"You want to see if your magic works without the core ingredient, don't you?" I nodded.

"Well then," she continued, "if you eat one, how do we decide who gets the other?" All four of us stared at the soup.

"I'll pass," Sable said. Vaelith grumbled.

"Fine… I'll pass too. But I get the first taste of whatever you make next."

"Deal," I replied. I set four bowls out, scooped the goblin eyes into mine and Darwin's, and then added only vegetables to the other two.

"First, let's see if I made it right." I ate a spoonful. As usual, it was delicious, and a calming warmth filled me. The broth was rich and savory; the vegetables soft, and the goblin eye had taken on the flavor of the mushrooms and salt. Sure enough, I saw the buff as my System activated: System Buff Gained: Goblin-Eye Soup +MAX STR: +2 DEX: +4 LCK: +10 Additional Effect: +10% Maximum LCK Duration: 8 Hours Darwin ate, looked up, and smiled with his sharp teeth neatly displayed.

"Alright then, you two," I said. Both went into it. They ate heartily, so the taste was still good, but in turn, each lifted their head and shook it. Neither had received a buff.

"As suspected," I concluded.

"Next time, I'll need to split the eye in half to see just how much—" The earth shook. The bowls toppled over, spilling the rest of the soup onto the fire. The flames hissed out, sending a plume of gray smoke into the air. We all jumped to our feet, and I hadn't even realized I'd pulled my weapon until I found myself holding it at the ready. The earth shook again. Rocks rattled across the ground. Nearby, the soil split into thin lines, cracking through the dirt and roots.

Suddenly, over the top of a tree, a hand appeared. The creature had to be fifteen feet tall, and the hand itself was nearly as large as my entire body. The air seemed to warp between the standing stones as a golem emerged from the nearby forest. Branches snapped against its shoulders, and loose rocks ground together with every heavy step. It looked around until it saw the spent fire, locking onto it like a signal flare. Without hesitation, it charged through the trees directly at us.