Wraithwood Botanist

It took a full week of back-and-forth trips to bring all the construction supplies and meat back to my village, but there was nothing but time, so we enjoyed it.

Once Aiden and I had finished, and there was a mountain of supplies and treasure in the middle of my little village, I called a round conference in the "Wandering Hotspring," soaking with everyone, including Aiden, as Felio was in a conservative bathing suit and I was petty about my culture. It was funny watching Aiden blush furiously and the guards brood a bit, but once I got down to business, everyone forgot their hesitation.

"It's fall time," I said. "And fall's for building and preparing. Winter's for soaking and eating. And spring and summer's for nonstop hikes and alchemy."

I eyed each of them. "That cool with you?"

Cassain nodded. "What's there to be done?"

"Right now, salting meat and building homes. That's… pretty much it."

"Then we'll take care of it," she said. "You and the Mistress Hellara can work on your research."

I smiled wryly. "As nice as that sounds… It's really inefficient."

Cassain and the other women frowned.

"I know you're strong," Asail said. "But do you think so little of us that you don't think we can cook and carve?"

My lips curved into an involuntary grin. "You'll see."

I thought that my mother's face was priceless when she saw her room, but nothing could beat Cassain's panicked face the next morning when she saw Kira swoop down from the heavens like an angel. We were in the central area between the main buildings, and Kira's wings blasted the dirt with enough wind to make the guards cover their faces as they screamed to get into battle formation. It was totally something I would do to show off.

"Meet Kira," I said over their yelling. "My soul guardian."

Kira snapped into my chest and opaque white wings sprouted behind my back.

"What the hell is that?" Cassain screamed, jumping in front of Felio.

"A soul guardian," I said. "She's an autonomous, intelligent being that grows with my soul force. It's like… how do I explain this? A clone? But a lot stronger and made purely out of aura and neara. She's a badass."

Asail was the first to speak. "Sure… but doesn't that mean…"

"You're a soulmancer?" Cassain sneered, clutching her chest as the soul pact sealed the revelation as a secret. "If we would've known this, we never would've come here!"

Her words made sense. Hiding soulmancers was an executable offense if it was proved by the grieves, so they wouldn't have come. That said:

"I'm not a soulmancer," I lied. "I got this soul guardian as an involuntary reward. Hadrian's father delivered it to me last harvest. So you don't have to worry. That said, you all need to keep this secret because, deserving or not, it will trigger a grieves investigation. And… if the grieves were to demand information, you can tell them where I got this guardian. Our pact allows for it."

Cassain lowered her sword and bowed. "Forgive me for my outburst." The others did the same.

Felio ignored them, saying, "Can I pet your wings?"

"Sure," I said as she approached. Cassain naturally opposed it, but she let her pet the wings regardless. As soon as Felio proved it was safe, Aiden said: "Can I pet them?"

"Touch me and I'll kill you," I said.

He grinned and put up his hands.

I hated that grin because it proved that Aiden knew that my response wasn't a sign of hating him — and that fact made me hate him a little. Or rather, it made me hate Brexton. I wasn't sure what that guy taught Aiden, but it bothered me for reasons that I couldn't quite explain.

Once I finished, I turned to the trees behind the main loop. "Can I show you what this bad girl can do?"

Everyone watched in amazement as Kira burrowed through a tree with a massive aura mill, cutting a hole through the wood with a five-foot diameter. It created a space in seconds, and it happened so fast that massive clouds of sawdust were billowing out of the trunk at rapid speed.

"As you can see, Kira is a lot better at just about everything," I said. "I normally practice with her in my body, but we have a lot of trees. So instead, I'm gonna cleanse meat to replenish my aura, and I'll have you all cook and dry it into jerky. By the time we finish, she should have houses ready for you."

Felio and her guards nodded blankly as Aiden laughed. "What am I going to do?" he asked.

"I don't know," I said. "Do you have a diamond request?"

"I do," he said.

Felio and her guards turned to him, stupefied.

"And a platinum?" I asked.

He laughed. "And a platinum?"

"Yeah," I said.

He nodded and blushed at the expressions aimed at him.

"Get the Big Book of Poisons and Poison Sense skill," I said. "You'll need both if you want to leave this campsite without me."

He looked into dead space. "Done…" He looked around and started laughing uncontrollably.

"Yeeeeeeeeeeeep," I said. "Turns a zero percent survival chance to fifteen in two seconds."

"Oh my God," Aiden said. "I feel like I could be a surrealist painter with this book."

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"Then be a painter," I said. "I'll find something for you to do, but just… keep yourself occupied until then."

"What a tyrant," Aiden grumbled. "Didn't know I'd end up in a poor house."

I rolled my eyes and turned to Cassain and noticed they were looking behind me. I turned and grinned when I saw that Kira was already deep inside the tree, blasting out wood in huge piles. The work just kept getting faster as she got more space.

"Okay, let's get to work."

Felio and her guards were mostly useless at first. It took actual cutting techniques to cut through the meat and it wasn't very skilled — more like blunt chops. So I had to cut the meat, carve it, remove the aura, and cleanse it before they could cut, salt, and dry it in strips. But, after the initial start, it became a smooth factory. Kira blasted through trees, I fed her with aura from the meat and then passed it off for the others to do the busy work.

And I suppose I liked it. I had company helping me do the things I did on my own last year, and it was nice.

"Can I feed him?" Felio would say, glancing at a lurvine that watched us cooking.

"Only if you give everyone something," I said. "They get grumpy if things aren't equal. Well, except Kael and Sina, they're grumpy when things are equal."

The group chuckled and smiled, and soon, all the apprehension about the bathing and the soul guardian was gone, lost in a sea of pleasant, simple work.

During the evenings, I would cook, and we would sit around the large round table in my house, eating food that I made and swapping stories with Aiden, who was surprisingly interesting after a few swigs from his flask.

"Aren't you supposed to be running your business?" Felio asked curiously.

"Oh that?" he asked. "Naaaaaaah. My job consists of three things: avoiding my office, spending the money, and reminding Everen that Mira doesn't have any use for money, and thus he can't dick her around."

I grinned. "Is he trying to dick me around?"

"Ah, nah," Aiden said. "He's just… you know… a businessman. A numbers guy. I'm sure he pissed himself when Daddy Melhan showed up with exclusive deals."

I laughed. "What? You didn't tell him?"n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"'Course not," Aiden said indignantly. "Everen's a numbers guy, but I'm a fuck you guy. If he wants twenty percent in hidden fees for Mira's shit — sure, you can. But fuck you. Next year, I'll show up with some fancy plant, and he'll have a ten percent discount below the sale price waiting for you. You feel me? Shake 'em down a bit."

Felio burst into contagious giggles.

"What?" he asked with a wide smile.

"It's just… you said…" she snorted. "You weren't a gangster."

I started giggling. "Yeah, tough sell, guy."

"What?" he asked playfully. "It's not like I asked for this guy to demand a shakedown, but you… he was asking for it. Who was I to refuse him?"

Now, Cassain and the guards were snorting with laughter.

"And it's just like that one guy from The Godfather said: 'Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.'"

This was the new Aiden. He was a lot of fun, but with every drink of that flask, I was worried the good times wouldn't last forever. But for now… at that moment… I didn't want to ask him. I just wanted to pretend.

I would ask soon. Right now, it was all about enjoying the chilly fall breeze and searching for the last harvest of mushrooms for wild stew in the mornings before twelve-hour shifts cutting and cooking meat for the first week.

—--------

Felio's room came out comically better than my own. It had smooth floors and flourished detailing and a queen sized bed on a nice pedestal. There was a full drawer and closet for her clothing and a wood bath the size of a jacuzzi. And as in my place, there was another table, but this one was smaller since Kira's emotions — her feelings of jealousy — wouldn't let anyone have the meeting table but me.

"Good job, Kira," I said with a wide smile.

Kira flicked her hair, and the woman laughed.

"What do you think, Felio?" I asked.

Felio's eyes were wide and glistening and overjoyed. "I would've been happy with anything, but this… this is beyond words."

That made it worth it.

Kira acted for me, offering a hug. Cassain tried to stop it, but Felio hugged her and giggled, saying, "Your armor's so uncomfortable."

Kira transformed into a dress and hugged her deeply.

I was jealous of how deep and meaningful that hug was — and Kira was all about it. She felt emotions far more powerful than I had, and she loved my friendship with Felio.

The day went on.

Soon, I had introduced the other guards to their personal rooms, which were equally quality but with less flourishes and detailing, and once I finished, Aiden, who was living in one of the guest houses with his pets, said:

"You saving the best for last?" he asked. "Or am I a guest?"

"Haven't even started it," I said. "I'm not sure how to make it. I was actually thinking of making it like… how do I explain this…"

"Ah, don't tell me," he said. "I'm excited to see."

My cheek twitched. "Well, whatever. Do you at least have some guidelines?"

He thought about it and then smiled. "Yeah—a bar."

I raised an eyebrow. "You serious?"

He shrugged. "Yeah."

"Why?"

He paused and thought through his words, and then shrugged. "Come check it out sometime."

"I haven't made it yet, you ass!" I grabbed a stick with telekinesis and threw it at him.

He caught it with his fingers and said: "You asked!"

"You guys are cute," Felio said.

I pulled the stick out of his hand with telekinesis, put it back in the exact position it was in before I picked it up, as if I had reversed time, and said: "Forget this ever happened," and left.

Truth was, I was interested in the new and improved Aiden — but not what came with him. Commitment. Splitting my time. That liquid in his flask. I had to get stronger. Travel. Hit Lake Nyralith, get my equipment, and push to the Fifth Ring.

I had shit to do.

So no matter how much my hormones and increased confidence were telling me to finally give in to my temptations, I needed to keep focused. And if my opportunity with him passed me by…

Well, whatever. I'm sure that someone else would come along. After all — I was creating an actual village, and once Felio returned with raw power and expensive elixirs, my village would be attracting the best and brightest. There was bound to be someone in that pool, right?

These were my thoughts as I walked through the forest, unaware that I had lift. Then, as if waking up from a hypnosis session, I realized I was half a mile deep.

I was completely alone —

— except one.

I sat down and said, "Get over here."

Kline trotted up beside me, brushing against my leg—reminding me that he was the only man I'd ever need. I smiled and put him on my lap.

"Things were better when it was just us," I whispered. "In ways."

He meowed.

"But you like Sina and friends, right?"

He turned away.

"Come on, be honest."

He glanced back to snub my response, but my discerning eyes made him blush—the expression whereby a cat's eyes widen in panic and they run away.

"Yeah… you do." I hugged him as he tried to run away, using Moxle Dilation as my new cat lady reflexes. Then, I held him against my chest. "Well you know what? I love you more."

Kline fell limp in my arms.

"I love you, Kline," I said. After a while, I finally put him down and stood up. "Now then… I'm gonna start practicing. You wanna keep me company?"

He jumped out of my arms and started walking back toward camp, only to circle around and lay by a nearby tree. He just wanted to see if I'd panic.

"You little shit…" I crouched and rubbed his twitching ears and closed my eyes. "Okay… let's see if I can make some soul pacts with the plants here."

I needed to master soul pacts if I wanted to enter the bramble without being attacked. So I was determined to practice, unaware that what I would see beneath the surface would chill me to the bone, and answer a whole lot of questions about the Oracle's motivations for summoning me to Areswood Forest.