“Ugh!” Rienna yelled. For the past fifteen minutes, she had been attempting to break the crystal and exploit the crack made the previous day. It was about seven in the morning, and she had only been up for an hour, giving her enough time to eat breakfast and take a bath before getting to work. However, she had to admit that Xia was doing most of the work… That didn’t mean it wasn’t frustrating for her, either! So far, they had attempted to stick a needle in the crack, smash the crystal against some more rocks, hammer it, and yell at it enough that it should’ve felt guilty and sad. But no. It was smug and evil, and didn’t care how much Rienna needed it to break.
“What if we get something a little stronger than a needle and try hammering that into the crystal?” Jen suggested, looking down at the broken needle next to the crystal. She had been watching the entire time and looked concerned about Rienna’s anger.
“What’s small enough to fit in the crack but is stronger than the needle? It’s not like a writing quill will help,” Rienna said sarcastically.
“I was thinking something more like a nail,” Jen said flatly.
“Oh.”
Jen sighed, “I will see if Yinda knows where some are. You keep working on the crystal.” She turned around, but Rienna felt like she was rolling her eyes as she walked away.
Fine. I guess we’ll just keep hammering it then. She took the hammer in her hand and knelt next to the crystal. She carefully maneuvered it so that she could quickly hammer the portion that was cracked. Gingerly, she began hammering the crystal as she had done before. It was only about the size of her palm, so she had to be careful not to hit the fingers, stabilizing the crystal. As before, she was more worried that she would break the hammer than the crystal or one of her fingers. Fortunately, it was only about five minutes before Jen returned with two old nails in her hand.
“Here,” she said, handing them to Rienna. “These aren’t likely to be used soon, so it is okay if they get bent.”
Rienna took the nails and placed one directly in the center of the crack. It fit, but it was snug enough that it wasn’t too hard to keep it stable. Carefully, Rienna began hammering the head of the nail. The hope lit inside her by the nail pushing further into the crystal was quickly extinguished when it didn’t go any further for the next two minutes. She threw the hammer and crystal onto the ground and sat back with a growl.
“Here, let me try,” Jen said, sitting down beside Rienna and adjusting the crystal that still had the nail sticking out of it. Rienna watched warily as Jen hammered the nail. She was undoubtedly more patient, and after five minutes of suspense, there was a barely audible snapping noise.
Jen gasped, and Rienna rushed to her side. The crystal wasn’t in two pieces as she had expected, but the crack in the crystal now seemed to go at least halfway down the width of it. Most of all, it glowed. It was similar to the light that the Suppression emitted, and Rienna was immediately worried. What if the magic drains from it? She thought anxiously.
Jen readjusted the nail and began hammering again, though, and Rienna watched eagerly but also nervously. Tink, Tink, Tink, went the nail as it was repeatedly hit. There was occasional progress, but almost ten minutes later, the crystal finally split with a deafening crack! Jen tossed the now bent nail aside and held up the two pieces of crystal.
Rienna blinked in awe at the two glowing shards in Jen’s hands. She was so relieved that they had finally managed to break the crystal. Now, she would have something to give to the king! Although… a quiet little voice in her head nagged, That chunk of crystal is hardly the size of a pebble… She knew that she would have to take the larger piece of crystal so that she would be able to avoid touching the Suppression, but… she had told the king that she would give him a substantial piece of crystal. He won’t think that it is an acceptable portion. He’ll want more, the voice in her head said uneasily.
“How much time do we have until the messenger gets here?” Rienna asked.
“I think about thirty minutes,” Jen replied, handing the pieces of crystal to her.
“Then I better start packing. How long does it take to get from here to the caravan?”
“About an hour -wait a moment,” she said as Rienna turned away. “You are not going to the morning caravan, are you? I thought you were going to the afternoon one.”
“Well, I thought it might be better to go sooner, that way, there’s more time in the day,” Rienna said quickly.
“Wait-” Jen said again as she turned away. “When did you decide this? You told me your plan just this morning.”
Yes, and that plan stood until about thirty seconds ago. “I decided, like, right after I talked to you. I just realized it would work better if I left earlier in the day,” Rienna said.
Jen looked at her suspiciously, “Okay then… If any part of your reason has to do with the king and the crystal… Just remember what happened the last time we overreacted.”
“… Right… I’m going to pack now,” Rienna said. She turned and ran back to the care center and into her room.
She went over to the bag she had begun to pack the previous night and gently tucked the larger piece of crystal into an inner pocket. She double-checked that she had an adequate amount of food in the bag and that the sunscreen jar was sealed tightly. Grabbing a wooden flask Jen had given her, she headed out the door and to a well that she had found near the care center.
After she came back, Rienna found Jen in her room waiting for her. “I got you some extra food from last night to take with you. You should probably eat it for lunch, it will not last much longer than that,” Jen said, gesturing to the bag. “Of course, you are going to be here for lunch. When I said it would take you an hour, I meant that you would have to walk into the town and somehow manage to take a carriage to the entrance. That would take an hour. However,” she continued, “You will not be able to get anyone to take you there because you do not speak Queltan.”
Uh oh. Rienna’s mind said. You’re not going to get out fast enough… Hey! You’ll be fine, it’s just a couple more hours, she chided herself. B-but, danger! The other side insisted. You know… I bet with Xia’s powers, you can get to the entrance just by walking, especially if you are leaving now. That was a good point. “Xia’s powers can get us to the entrance quicker,” she finally said. “We just have to leave right now.”
“But then you will not be able to give the crystal to the messenger!” Jen cried, exasperated.
For some reason, the voice in Rienna’s head had nothing to say about that. “Well… I guess so…” Even if you don’t get to the caravan immediately, you’ll be able to catch up with it! the voice suddenly jumped in. “But we’ll make it!” Rienna said. “We’ll leave as soon as the messenger does, and we’ll get to the caravan.”
Jen clenched her teeth. “Fine,” she said, “Seriously, though. Just remember last time…” With that, she left the room.
Rienna sighed. “Xia, can you get us across the kingdom in an hour?”
“Mrew…” Xia meowed slowly.
“Yes…” Xio translated. Xia chattered a bit, and Xio continued translating, “But I don’t understand why we are doing this. I guess I didn’t realize that you wanted to get home so urgently.”
“It’s been over a week!” Rienna cried. “This crystal is my only way home, and if the King finds a way to keep me here or take the crystal from me… I may never go home.” She sat down on the bed. “I’m only ten years old. Although I guess I’ll soon be eleven. Still…”
“Aw. Rienna,” Xio mewed. “I’m only six months old, so I assumed it wouldn’t be that hard for you. Sometimes I forget that you’re lesser life form.”
“Lesser life form?!”
“Er… I mean, blober-brained?”
“That’s not that much better, Xio,” Rienna said. Although, there was a smile on her face. A moment passed, and then she clapped her hands together, “Alright. Let’s go.” She stood up, checked once again that she had everything that she needed, and hung the bag over her shoulders. She beckoned to the cats and strode out the door.
Jen was waiting in the entrance room of the care center. “Hi,” she said when Rienna came in. “The messenger will be here soon, I think.”
“Hi. I’m sorry I have to leave so abruptly, but I have to get home,” Rienna said, looking up at Jen.
“Yeah. I get it. It goes against everything I do here to send a kid out on a mission to go to Vieryen, though,” Jen said, giving a small chuckle. “I do understand, though. I really do. If that crystal were my only way back to my family, I would be a little paranoid about it, too. Even if it is completely unnecessary,” she added meaningfully.
Rienna smiled wryly. “I wish I could give the entire crystal to Rufdand or at least a separate piece for the care center.”
“It is alright. In fact, there was some crystal dust where you broke the crystal. I collected it, figuring that it could be useful in the future.”
“Oh!” Rienna exclaimed. “I wonder if you mix it into a soup, can it be used as a cure?”
“Yeah…” Jen said slowly. “That or we would create a completely new potion that would do something crazy.”
“Oh…” Rienna said again.
“Yeah… We probably will not use it for anything without a lot of experiments first.”
A quick succession of knocks came from the front door. Rienna glanced at the clock next to Yinda’s desk as Jen opened the door. 7:50… A little early. She watched as the messenger came through the door. She knew he was the messenger; she recognized him as the person who had given her the letter from the King. So she walked over with the crystal piece in hand.
“Hello,” the messenger said. “Do you have the crystal?”
Rienna took a deep breath and held out the crystal, which was no longer glowing. “Yes. Here it is.”
The messenger took it and looked at it with confusion and a hint of disappointment. “Hmm… I was told it would be bigger than this…”
All of Rienna’s fears seemed to come true. “How big did you think it would be?” she asked instead of running into her room and hiding like she wanted.
“To be truthful, I was expecting a crystal about the size of my hand,” he said, staring down at the crystal.
“Seriously? The entire crystal is hardly the size of my palm!” Rienna said angrily.
“Oh? So there’s more crystal?”
I really hope he’s not going to ask for it, she thought. “Yes. I need that piece of crystal, though, and it took a lot of effort to get the crystal to split at all.”
“Hmm… Alright then,” the messenger said, putting the crystal into an empty bag that was way too big for it. “The King will be very grateful.”
If he told you that it would be a whole crystal that’s the size of your hand, and instead, you give him a chunk of crystal that is only a bit bigger than a marble? Yeah, I don’t think he’ll be ‘very grateful.’ Rienna just said, “Okay,” as the messenger left the care center.
She turned to look down at Xia. “Are you ready?”
“Mrewp,” Xia chirped.
“YES. We shall fly across the countryside and to the gates of the kingdom!” Xio exclaimed, bouncing around excitedly, apparently looking forward to an adventure.
“Alright. I guess we should leave then…” Leaving Rufdand's safety seemed daunting all of a sudden, but she knew that she would have to leave at some point, so it might as well be now. “Bye, Jen. I hope I will see you again sometime.”
“Me too,” Jen said. She bent down and gave Rienna a hug. “You have just about an hour to get to the gate in time. Do you have the map I gave you?”
“Yes.” Jen had given Rienna a map of Rufdand as well as a map of the upper corner of the continent, like the map that Yinda had, except with a map of the kingdom instead of the entire continent.
“Good luck, then. If possible, please find a way to send me letters. Maybe we can continue the research that Xio was helping with.”
“Okay. I’ll try. I don’t think I’ll be able to, though,” Rienna said regretfully.
“It is fine. Now go before you are late.” Jen gently pushed Rienna out the door.
“Bye…” Rienna said one last time, waving to Jen as she walked away. She waved back, and Rienna smiled somewhat sadly. Her first friend outside of the Suppression, and now she may never see her again… But she wasn’t going to think about that too much; she needed to focus on the present.
Rienna felt as though she was a feather as Xia worked her magic. She could hardly feel the ground, and the slight breeze seemed to propel her forward. She walked forward, and it seemed to her as though she was a spirit, floating gracefully and without any hardship.
A gust of wind hit her from behind, and she shot forward against her wishes. She tried to fight against it, but it was too strong, and she wasn’t used to being pushed by something she couldn’t see. Fortunately, the gust slowed down in time for her to avoid hitting a tree.
“Xia…” Rienna said, holding onto a tree branch. “I might be a little too light…”
Xia floated next to her, and Xio clung to her back. “According to your map, we will be in an empty field area soon. If we can get there, you’ll be fine,” Xio said.
Still, Xia let Rienna sink closer to the ground so that they could continue their journey without too much trouble.
As promised, they soon reached an empty field area situated right outside the main city. Rienna could see a couple of farms and a couple of clusters of houses, but it didn’t seem as though it was an official farming district like what was right next to the gates.
“If you run, we can get there faster. Especially since Mom can’t control the wind very much while also making you light,” Xio explained once they left the paths and gardens that led from the care center to the town square.
“Okay… Um, Xia? If I’m about to run into something, could you make me my normal weight?” She doubted that she would be so unable to control herself that something like that would happen, but she didn’t want to seriously hurt herself by colliding with a tree or house.
“Mew,” Xia replied, nodding. Xio didn’t translate, so Rienna assumed that Xia was agreeing with her.
Rienna hesitated, but she finally let go of the stone wall she was next to and began running. It was stressful but exciting. Every time her foot hit the ground, she was propelled farther into the fields. She almost felt like she was flying. With all the strength of her normal self, but with a quarter of the weight, she was able to dash for much longer than she would otherwise, barely tiring at all. After a moment of running, she realized that she was actually enjoying herself. She couldn’t think of anything more thrilling than running through the open country with the wind at her heels.
However, she wasn’t used to running for long periods of time, and even with Xia’s magic, she had to take a couple of breaks before they reached the farmlands. Fortunately, there were occasional trees and houses that she could grab a hold of. However, she was pretty sure she had thoroughly scared a woman when she raced past. The woman had fallen backward into a bed of flowers with a shriek and shouted at her in Queltan with a frightened look on her face. Maybe she thought I was a magic spirit! That would be funny.
Once they reached the main farmland, it was half an hour. Rienna didn’t want to harm crops, so they traveled slower for the rest of the journey. Surprisingly, they arrived at the gate almost ten minutes before the caravan did. The kids were already inside, so Rienna would have to convince the caravan master she was allowed there. Fortunately, she had her letter from King Hoyand to show as proof.
The caravan slowed down as it reached Rienna and the gate. It appeared to be a large wagon pulled by a group of horses. It was somewhat similar to a carriage, as it had a roof, but it was much bigger and less elegant. The caravan master got out of his seat in the front and met with a guard who had come forward from the gate. They chatted momentarily, then they both stepped back and returned to where they had been.
Rienna approached the caravan and cleared her throat. The caravan master gave her a startled look and asked her a question in his language. She picked up Xio, and he began talking to the man. A moment later, Xio whispered, “Show him the letter.” Rienna took the letter from her pocket and held it to the man. Too late, she realized that the letter was not written in Queltan.
The caravan master looked at it momentarily, then said something in a questioning tone. Xio shifted nervously in Rienna’s arms and tried to explain what was happening, but the caravan master still looked doubtful.
Suddenly, Rienna had an idea. “The stamp. Tell him to look at the stamp,” she told Xio. He relayed what Rienna had said, and she watched anxiously as the caravan master turned the envelope over to look at the stamp.
There was an excruciating silence before the man finally nodded and waved them inside the caravan.
Rienna placed Xio inside the caravan and waited for Xia to jump inside before she climbed in herself. The inside of the wagon was shaded entirely from the roof, and the amount of crates made the space rather cramped. From what she could see, six other kids were in the caravan, and they were all staring at her. She waved meekly and settled in between two crates next to the entrance. After a moment, the caravan jolted and began rolling forward. The other kids slowly stopped looking warily at Rienna, and a ride of great silence began.
As they left Rufdand, Rienna moved so she could easily watch the gates close behind the caravan. The cats sat beside her, and she lightly stroked their fur. Once they passed the gates, there was a loud grinding sound, and the doors started to close. Rienna marveled at the beautiful carvings and kept watching them even after they closed.
She looked down at her cats and realized they weren’t there. “Xio? Xia?” she said. She started to stand up, but someone behind her pushed her, and she tumbled out of the caravan, almost landing face-first on the ground.
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