The thing was dead. Its body lay in the center now, cracked porcelain still letting the grey liquid drip out onto the ground. The grass where it leaked was more vibrant, growing taller already and Nargha was investigating it excitedly. She had a bit of the grey on her dark hair and had applied a bit on a small cut Luce had on his leg, the skin already closing.

  Hitch was sitting against one of the trees. He’d failed to wound the large one, at least in any way that mattered. And it was the big one that had mattered, the leader, the threat. But it was dead now, Hari digging through its guts.

  “Hey, check this out.”

  They pulled out a grey - or at least grey blood covered - object from the guts of the fallen creature. It was palm sized and made of the same hard porcelain material the shell was made of, with seven small protrusions around it. In the center it had a small clear gem, and as Hari lifted it light caught on it, or it emitted it. Hari’s eyes lit up in that same light, then they let out a grunt.

  “SIAR?”

  As the word left their mouth, a light moved slowly from their hand to Anika, coating her in the warm light and gently closing her wounds. Once the glow subsided, Hari fell to their knees, catching their breath, the trinket still in their hand.

  “Fu-fuck” they panted out, Anika running over the moment the light stopped with questions, Nargha and Hitch approaching too, the group surrounding Hari.

  “What happened? Are you alright? I feel way better than before, can you do that again?”

  “I- blegh- I don’t think so. Not right now, at least. It’s like using a Tome, I think. But it only has one thing in it. I think, anyway.”

  Nargha reached out for the metal thing and Hari handed it over without a fight, Hitch offering a hand to them and helping them to their feet.

  “Hmm, it’s not doing anything for me…”

  “Might be spent?”

  Hari shook their head at Anika’s idea.

  “No, I can feel it. I think it’s mine.”

  They blushed a bit, waving their arms and talking faster.

  “Not that I don’t wanna share, I just mean that I think it imprinted on me or something. I can feel where it is without looking at it.”

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  “That’s useful to know. There might be more things like this, so we should run some tests.”

  Anika took the thing as she talked, Nargha having gotten her fill of looking at it, then handed the trinket back to Hari.

  Hitch, quiet up till now, looked over to the camp.

  “Think it can heal more? Like Mayhe?”

  “Maybe? I feel like that would be a bit much, but I’ll try once I have more… more… me?”

  “Maybe talk to Tar about how magic works? He’s the only one left with a Tome here.”

  Hari nodded, walking to where the mage boy was, Hitch heading to look over the other dead creatures alongside Nargha, joining Kunit as she cut out the gemstones from their eyes.

  —

  Hari couldn’t restore the arm in the end. They managed to heal up some cuts and bruises, but got tired out. Using magic took a lot out of the caster, and even after they recovered energy drawing upon the spell again cost more and more each time unless given time to rest properly.

  Tar was talking about the Tomes to the people gathered, books filled with magic but extremely difficult to read through.

  “I’m still working through it, but all I’m able to use is THAPE for now. I’m hoping to learn how to enchant a weapon so it’d be on fire, but it needs a lot of study. So it’s really interesting how just finding the thing allowed Hari to cast.”

  Hari shrugged, sitting against a tree, no one else offering much of an idea.

  Pallia returned while they were talking, bringing back some fruit and looking really excited.

  “I found another one!”

  Anika was the one to speak, all eyes on the returnee girl.

  “Found what?”

  “Like the tree. It’s this hedge maze looking thing. I came across it, and the entrance now has my name. It said that only three can enter and that we’d need to struggle for something. So… Who wants to join me?”

  “Don’t you think it’s too dangerous?”

  “Anika, please, don’t worry. You can join me, we’ll find some more good stuff and win, be ready for when something comes to attack us again.”

  “Just- go eat up, we’ll talk about it later, once everyone’s here, okay?”

  Pallia rolled her eyes and nodded, then hurried off towards the fire, keeping her annoyance silent.

  —

  “Let’s put it to a vote then.”

  Anika held her head in her hands, the arguing having gone on for a good while this evening.

  Pallia wanted to go, and wasn’t about to be stopped. Mayhe wasn’t against it, but was the one with the most ability to stop her.

  “I think people who want to go should go. Just be aware that it’s dangerous. If I could have my arm back, I would like to. But also - it’s dangerous. You can die without going to a place that’s likely to have magic rewards for you.”

  “Exactly! So I want to go. I want to be prepared for next time.” Her eyes were full of determination, full of need.

  “You might die.” Nargha spoke up for the first time in this conversation.

  “I might die even if I do nothing.”

  In the end, it didn’t come down to a vote. Pallia, Anika and Luce were the ones going. They would prepare, take as much supplies as they could, then set out tomorrow, hopefully returning the same day.

  —

  The Moon gazed down, biding its time once more.