Chapter 30: From the hut, to the gate
The two walked, led by Paul, who seemed to know just where the road was. The wolf pup walked briskly, and didn't stop, unless it was to sniff the air.
"He is brilliant now," Erin commented, as Paul's ears twitched. "Good Paul."
"He was smart before Belle turned him into a familiar," Lysander commented, and Paul's tail began to wag.
"Yeah, you are right," Erin said. Suddenly, the two boys heard laughter come from the left side of the road.
"Let us just keep on walking," Lysander reached out, and took Erin's hand in his. He knew that, if Belle spanked them for self-defense, then them searching for trouble would just result in another spanking. His bum had not forgotten the feel of a stick brought down on it.
Erin edged closer to Lysander, and bit his bottom lip. If push came to shove, then he would turn into a drake. Seeing as he was a water drake, he won't set the forest on fire. Yet, he didn't want to ever kill again. So, the two picked up the pace. Paul too began to run.
Yet, the laughter grew ever nearer. Suddenly, it was before them. There was a strange man on the road. He had goat legs, and horns on his head.
"Ly, who is that?" Erin asked, stopping in his mad dash to escape the laughter. He was panting, and his knees were burning.
"A satyr," Lysander said. He seemed to visibly brighten at that. "We are real scarrity cats, you know that, right, Rin?"
"So, a satyr is not bad?" Erin whispered, not wanted to offend the man, who was walking towards them.
"Not normally, no. Paul, sit," Lysander gave the command, and then the two boys waited for the half-goat, half-man to come to them.
"You are really fast, boys. My old knees nearly gave up on me, when I tried to catch up to you," the man finally said. Erin saw that he didn't have any fangs. This was a good thing, as far as he was concerned.
"Sir, we are going towards Crystargar. Would you like to share our meat and water, on the way?" Lysander knew that, for the inhabitants of the frontier, sharing food was a show of trust. The satyr patted his back.
"Only if you share the fruits, which I picked this morning. Fresh strawberries. Mostly for the market, but I can spare a few for the two of you," the boys brightened up at that. Belle didn't let them raid strawberries from gardens, as they were tended to by other people in the frontier.
She had explained to them, that the strawberries needed to have their soil fertilized, upturned, to have their green stems trimmed from time to time, and even have herbs placed around them, to keep insects out of their leaves. That was a lot of work, and anyone who puts it, does it for profit.
The two boys had come clean about the cabbage patch, then. Belle had tugged their ears, and made them go apologize to the gnome village, that was a little to the west from the cabbage patch. The gnomes had been forgiving of them. Then again, the two boys did come to them with ten slabs of salted and dried mammoth meat.
"If you are carrying fruit, are we close to Crystargar?" Erin asked. Even he knew, that fruit spoiled and bruised easily.
"Just an hour to get to the entrance," the satyr said. Then, he took off his hat, and did a bow. "The name is Elias. A pleasure to meet Belle's boys."
"You know about us?" Lysander asked. Suddenly, he was suspicious of the man.
"Everyone does," Elias said. "Belle finally became a mother. And her children want for her to get white hairs. Stealing from wolves, killing witches. If you were my boys, I'd have you weed the strawberry patch the whole day. Nothing like hard work, to make one into a law-abiding citizen."
"But, there are no laws in the frontier," Erin protested. Surely, Belle was going to tell them if there were.
"No laws?" Elias asked, shaking his head. "The law of common decency is one which is universal."
"Universal?" Lysander was confused. Just what did that word mean?
"Ah, so the rumors about you were true. You weren't raised by parents. Universal means that it applies to everything, and everyone. Just because we don't have written laws, it doesn't mean that we don't have laws. Granted, Goldana, that old witch, didn't follow the laws either. And see what that brought her."
"She was bad. She wanted to eat me, and use me as bait, to eat Ly!" Erin defended himself.
"You could have still handed her over to the forest guardians, little boy. One of which, is your mother, Belle," Elias said. Then, he turned to Paul, and saluted him. "But I, for one, think the forest is a better place without her. Now, I don't have to worry, about my own kits being eaten. They can play further away from home."
"You have children?" Erin asked, practically bouncing in place. "Can we meet them?"
"You live deeper into the forest, than I. But, if you'd like, I can take you to meet them on our way back. Now, enough talk. The strawberries will turn to jam, in this heat. Come here, boys. I washed them after I picked them, so they are good to eat," Elias said, and pulled out two plump strawberries from his satchel.
Just to prove to the two boys that they were good to eat, he pulled out an additional one, and ate it. Finally, Lysander let go of Erin's hand, and the two went, and got their threat.
"So tasty," Erin said. How he wanted to buy some of the strawberries for himself.
"Can we buy some? Maybe ten of them?" Lysander asked, also enjoying the fruit.
"Well, ok. That would be a silver coin," Elias said. Lysander pulled out a silver coin, and then handed it over. Soon, each boy had five strawberries in their hands, and were following Elias down the road, as the satyr hummed them a song.
Chapter 30: From the hut, to the gate
The two walked, led by Paul, who seemed to know just where the road was. The wolf pup walked briskly, and didn't stop, unless it was to sniff the air.
"He is brilliant now," Erin commented, as Paul's ears twitched. "Good Paul."
"He was smart before Belle turned him into a familiar," Lysander commented, and Paul's tail began to wag.
"Yeah, you are right," Erin said. Suddenly, the two boys heard laughter come from the left side of the road.
"Let us just keep on walking," Lysander reached out, and took Erin's hand in his. He knew that, if Belle spanked them for self-defense, then them searching for trouble would just result in another spanking. His bum had not forgotten the feel of a stick brought down on it.
Erin edged closer to Lysander, and bit his bottom lip. If push came to shove, then he would turn into a drake. Seeing as he was a water drake, he won't set the forest on fire. Yet, he didn't want to ever kill again. So, the two picked up the pace. Paul too began to run.
Yet, the laughter grew ever nearer. Suddenly, it was before them. There was a strange man on the road. He had goat legs, and horns on his head.
"Ly, who is that?" Erin asked, stopping in his mad dash to escape the laughter. He was panting, and his knees were burning.
"A satyr," Lysander said. He seemed to visibly brighten at that. "We are real scarrity cats, you know that, right, Rin?"
"So, a satyr is not bad?" Erin whispered, not wanted to offend the man, who was walking towards them.
"Not normally, no. Paul, sit," Lysander gave the command, and then the two boys waited for the half-goat, half-man to come to them.
"You are really fast, boys. My old knees nearly gave up on me, when I tried to catch up to you," the man finally said. Erin saw that he didn't have any fangs. This was a good thing, as far as he was concerned.
"Sir, we are going towards Crystargar. Would you like to share our meat and water, on the way?" Lysander knew that, for the inhabitants of the frontier, sharing food was a show of trust. The satyr patted his back.
"Only if you share the fruits, which I picked this morning. Fresh strawberries. Mostly for the market, but I can spare a few for the two of you," the boys brightened up at that. Belle didn't let them raid strawberries from gardens, as they were tended to by other people in the frontier.
She had explained to them, that the strawberries needed to have their soil fertilized, upturned, to have their green stems trimmed from time to time, and even have herbs placed around them, to keep insects out of their leaves. That was a lot of work, and anyone who puts it, does it for profit.
The two boys had come clean about the cabbage patch, then. Belle had tugged their ears, and made them go apologize to the gnome village, that was a little to the west from the cabbage patch. The gnomes had been forgiving of them. Then again, the two boys did come to them with ten slabs of salted and dried mammoth meat.
"If you are carrying fruit, are we close to Crystargar?" Erin asked. Even he knew, that fruit spoiled and bruised easily.
"Just an hour to get to the entrance," the satyr said. Then, he took off his hat, and did a bow. "The name is Elias. A pleasure to meet Belle's boys."
"You know about us?" Lysander asked. Suddenly, he was suspicious of the man.
"Everyone does," Elias said. "Belle finally became a mother. And her children want for her to get white hairs. Stealing from wolves, killing witches. If you were my boys, I'd have you weed the strawberry patch the whole day. Nothing like hard work, to make one into a law-abiding citizen."
"But, there are no laws in the frontier," Erin protested. Surely, Belle was going to tell them if there were.
"No laws?" Elias asked, shaking his head. "The law of common decency is one which is universal."
"Universal?" Lysander was confused. Just what did that word mean?
"Ah, so the rumors about you were true. You weren't raised by parents. Universal means that it applies to everything, and everyone. Just because we don't have written laws, it doesn't mean that we don't have laws. Granted, Goldana, that old witch, didn't follow the laws either. And see what that brought her."
"She was bad. She wanted to eat me, and use me as bait, to eat Ly!" Erin defended himself.
"You could have still handed her over to the forest guardians, little boy. One of which, is your mother, Belle," Elias said. Then, he turned to Paul, and saluted him. "But I, for one, think the forest is a better place without her. Now, I don't have to worry, about my own kits being eaten. They can play further away from home."
"You have children?" Erin asked, practically bouncing in place. "Can we meet them?"
"You live deeper into the forest, than I. But, if you'd like, I can take you to meet them on our way back. Now, enough talk. The strawberries will turn to jam, in this heat. Come here, boys. I washed them after I picked them, so they are good to eat," Elias said, and pulled out two plump strawberries from his satchel.
Just to prove to the two boys that they were good to eat, he pulled out an additional one, and ate it. Finally, Lysander let go of Erin's hand, and the two went, and got their threat.
"So tasty," Erin said. How he wanted to buy some of the strawberries for himself.
"Can we buy some? Maybe ten of them?" Lysander asked, also enjoying the fruit.
"Well, ok. That would be a silver coin," Elias said. Lysander pulled out a silver coin, and then handed it over. Soon, each boy had five strawberries in their hands, and were following Elias down the road, as the satyr hummed them a song.
