They had traveled about ninety-five miles in six days, but the most difficult day was ahead of them. Absolutely exhausted, Terran was softly snoring the moment his head hit the ground, and despite the soreness over his entire body he slept the entire night. He awoke to Luna gently calling his name, a furry paw against his chest.
"Terran," she whispered. "We need to get up now if we're going to make it before afternoon rains set in."
Groaning, Terran sat up and stretched his arms above his head. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes then reached out to try to touch his toes and stretch his back and legs. He spent a few minutes applying clean bandages to the many blisters on his feet before packing everything up and beginning the climb up Mt. Moss.
The sky was an inky black as they began their ascent, though behind him the horizon had a very slight lighter blue glow indicating the sun would be rising soon. Ahead of him the stars were blocked by clouds and the morning was chilly with a steady headwind. Terran was too tired to think about the weather. He was only focused on getting to the top, collecting the Sky Moss, and getting back to Gneiss Glen before the next seed expired.
The first hour of travel was a slow trudge through the dark as the sun rose behind them. Light filled the sky, and a fine mist hung low to the ground. Before long, Terran's shoes made a squishing sound with each step he took, and the straps on the backpack were rubbing the skin on his shoulders raw. As the mist turned to actual rain, each step got harder and harder to take. Terran estimated they were about halfway up the mountain, but it was difficult to tell through the trees.
Luna looked like she had been dunked in a giant bathtub as her wet fur shrunk around her body, revealing each bone and muscle beneath. She stopped every few minutes to try to shake the water out of her fur to no avail.
"Do you have to do that on top of me?" Terran snapped at Luna as she shook herself off, sending water droplets everywhere.
"It's not like we could be more wet," she grumbled.
The grade on the trail slowly increased as the trees began to thin, and had it not been for the thickening clouds, it would have been possible to see the top of the peak.. As they made their way slowly up the switchbacks, the rain turned to sleet and Terran trembled with cold. Although he was exhausted, he was afraid that if he stopped moving the cold would be too much to bear, so he pushed on, focusing on each squishing step getting him closer to the top.
You are chilled!
Fatigue rate increased due to chill. You must spend a day recovering to cure chilled.
Tears streamed down Terran's face as they reached the tree line and the sleet turned to pelting hail. He shook uncontrollably as he turned to look at how far they had traveled. Below him were the tops of some clouds, and he longed to stay in the shelter of the trees as the tiny pebbles of hail beat down on his head, but they had to reach the summit, and his fatigue levels were climbing higher even when he wasn't moving. If they maxed out while he was on the mountain, he was certain he could die and the whole ordeal would have been for nothing.
Neither Terran nor Luna spoke a word as they took one laborious step after another, trying desperately to reach the top of the mountain. As they traversed over a large rockslide, Terran lost the trail. It was impossible to tell through the hail, fog, and giant rocks where he was supposed to go. He stood balancing on two black granite boulders searching for some sign of the trail as a marmot peeked out from under a rock.
"Don't stop now, you're almost there," Terran heard a strange voice say.
"But I've lost the trail," he cried back.
He was trying to figure out if he was delusional from hypothermia when a notification filled his vision and the hail turned back to sleeting rain.
[You have increased the skill Commune with Nature]
Skill: Commune with Nature 2 (CHA) 2
Others might think you're crazy, but now the animals will talk to you first.
"Nowhere to go from here but up, silly," the marmot responded. "It's maybe twenty minutes to the top."
Terran didn't think he could handle twenty more seconds, let alone minutes, and he sat down on a large rock to take a drink of water. Luna looked just as miserable, but she rubbed her face against Terran's leg and purred.
"Come on, Terran. You can do anything for ten seconds. The hail has stopped at least. Grab my tail and I will lead us to the top. Just keep counting to ten," she said, somehow finding a surge of energy to help push them to the top.
Reluctantly Terran stood and sighed. Tears mixed with rain continued to stream down his face as he grabbed hold of Luna's tail and followed her up the rocks. He counted each step until he reached ten, then started over again. Every muscle in his body burned, and pain shot through his blistered, wet feet each time they touched the ground. In about five minutes Luna had rediscovered the trail and Terran could see the final extremely steep switchback to the top. Sections of the trail had to be at least a forty-five-degree incline, but they kept moving one step at a time.
True to the marmot's estimate, about twenty minutes later Terran and Luna reached the top of the mountain. Terran threw off his pack and collapsed on the ground, shivering as he surveyed the area. The trees and some of the clouds were below them. Off to the left was a small caldera ringed by what looked like purple rocks. Fog clung to the water in the caldera, giving it an eerie feel.
Through chattering teeth Terran gestured in the direction of the caldera. "Guess that's what we're here for. Let's get this over with."
Terran dug through his pack for the special jar Petram had given him, his water bottle, and a snack. As he sipped the water, he shuffled his leaden feet down the small slope to the lake, determined to reach his destination. The rocks around the lake created a barrier from the wind allowing the glassy water to reflect the gray, foggy sky above, filling Terran with a sense of peace and accomplishment. Purple, spongy stuff covered most of the rocks in the area. He broke out into a wide grin. After a week of walking and today's awful climb, he had finally found the Sky Moss. He stood with arms raised, spinning in a circle, laughing hysterically.
"We made it, Luna," he rejoiced. "Thank you for your help. I don't know if I could have done this alone."
A smile spread on Luna's face and her ears perked up despite the rain. "You're welcome, Terran. I've never been up here myself, and after all this I'm not sure I want to come back, but we make good companions."
Terran's hands trembled as he stuck them in the nearly freezing water to refill his bottle in the still lake. Ripples continued to cascade along the water as he tried to warm his hands between his thighs, but he could barely feel his fingertips. Once he could finally move his fingers, he sat down next to one of the large rocks covered in the Sky Moss. Using his pocket knife, he scraped the moss off the rock into the jar. He only took a small amount from each boulder before he moved to the next one until the jar was filled.
You have completed the quest Obtain the Sky Moss
+1000 reputation with Rock Leaf Elves
You are now liked by the Rock Leaf Elves
Terran tightened the lid on the Sky Moss jar, holding it out in front of him to admire the strange purple color of the moss. Luna stood beside him and arched her back, stretching as she intently watched Terran.
"I know you'd like to stand here all day admiring that jar, but we really need to start back down. If we don't get moving we'll never make it back in time to use that stuff on the next seed," she said to Terran, breaking him out of his reverie.
Terran nodded. "You're right. Plus I don't want to spend the night up here. It's only going to get colder, and we're still soaking wet."
Terran carefully stowed the jar of Sky Moss in his pack before they began their descent back down the mountain. He thought that going down would be much easier than the climb, but the wet scree-lined path was extremely difficult to traverse. Twice Terran found himself sliding, his arms pinwheeling as he tried to catch his balance, and once he actually fell on his rump as his feet slipped out from under him
completely.
As they finally reached the tree line, the sleeting rain slowed to a mist, giving the pair hope that it might soon stop altogether. Because of the hit to Terran's fatigue, they had to make more frequent stops to rest, but there was no time to take an entire day to rest, so the pair pushed on towards home. They made it to the far side of the saddle just past their previous night's camp before Terran called it quits for the day.
As the pair continued their journey back to the glen, Terran spent his time trying to identify any tracks he saw on the path in order to distract him from the exhaustion. Twice he found tracks, the first from a small two-legged creature, the second from a larger four-legged creature that Terran knew instinctively was the spirit bear, even though he didn't know how. He wasn't worried, because he could tell—again he didn't know how—that the spirit bear was nowhere near. The tracks agreed with his gut feeling, looking at least several days old, so he wasn't too concerned.
Chapter Seventeen
On the afternoon of the thirteenth day, Terran was met with handshakes and smiles on his return to Gneiss Glenn. Even Lhoris seemed pleased to see Terran.
"I didn't think you'd have it in you. Perhaps you're tougher than I've given you credit for," Lhoris said while patting him on the back.
Terran took out the jar of Sky Moss and passed it around for everyone to admire. He was surprised by the reverence the elves seemed to have for a jar of moss.
"Many have never seen this variety," Petram explained when he saw Terran's confused look. "No elf has made the trek in hundreds of years. The danger far outweighed the need to increase seed production. You have impressed us all, Terran the Tenacious. Perhaps you should feed the tree now," he said with a slight incline of his head.
As long as the airtight seal remained, the jar contained enough moss for five feedings. Terran unscrewed the lid and removed a handful of the purple sponge before tightening the lid back on the jar. The moss turned dry and rigid as he crumbled it in his hands and sprinkled it on the dirt around the Mother Tree, leaving a slight purple tinge on his palms.
You have decreased the production time of this seed by 50%. The current seed will now be ready in three days.
As Terran finished fertilizing the Mother Tree, Petram returned from his shaman hut cradling another seed. "You should plant this as soon as possible. Do you know what you want this tree to grow into?" he asked, handing the gray stone seed to Terran.
"I thought an orchard would be best for now, since that will give 10% food production and a 10% morale boost."
"A wise choice considering our population will keep growing. We have already had four more elves arrive while you were gone. One of them was the Tender for the Mother Tree," Petram said, pulling a small jar of loam out of his pocket and handing it to Terran.
Terran took the seed and the loam to the far edge of the clearing. Luna dug a hole with her claws where Terran pointed, and the seed was planted. Again the elves sang a song as the tree grew, shaping it into its form with the symphony of voices. This time the tree formed a large central area on the ground floor lined with storage boxes shaped by branches woven together by a high soprano's trilling voice. Much like in the shaman's hut, the upper floor had six bedrooms around a central fire pit area.
Terran watched with mouth open as a root of the tree extended far out from the central trunk in a straight line coaxed by an eerie alto melody. Every three feet along the root a new sprout erupted. A tenor and a bass voice joined the alto, forming two more lines of roots, each sprouting their own smaller trees. Terran realized the different voices were growing different kinds of fruit trees as the lines of the orchard began to take shape. When the tree finished growing there were thirty fruit trees, the central storage area, and housing for six more elves.
Terran opened his settlement tab to see the progress and assign jobs to the newest arrivals to the settlement. He knew he would give the Tender her original job, and now they would need elves to harvest the orchard.
Settlement: Gneiss Glen (Tap to rename)
Level: 1
Fortifications: none
Sky Moss used: 1/5
Population: 20/30
Housing: 3/5
Seeds grown: 2/5
Days until next seed harvesting: 3
Total Buildings: 2/5
Barracks 0/1
Fungi Garden 0/3
Shaman Hut 1/1
Chieftain Hut 0/1
Orchard 1/3
Leaf Armory 0/1
Weaponmaker 0/1
Occupations:
Orchard Tender: 3
Mother Tender: 1
Armorer: 1
Captain: 1
Shaman: 1
Tenders: 2
Warriors: 2
Loamers: 7
He was headed to talk to Petram about what the next building should be when singing erupted from around the central fire pit. All the singing was starting to get on Terran's nerves. He was exhausted and every part of his body hurt, and he just didn't feel like being around anyone.
He sat down in the grass and rested his back against the main orchard tree, watching the leaves on the fruit trees rustle in the wind. Slowly he removed his shoes and socks being extra careful around the now bleeding blisters. The corners of his mouth drooped as he wished for a cold stream to soak his feet.
"You okay?" Chanterelle asked when she noticed Terran sitting alone.
"I'm fine. My feet have seen better days though," he replied, flexing his blistered toes.
Chanterelle winced when she glanced at his feet.
"I know something that can help," she said over her shoulder as she jogged towards the fire.
Terran watched as Chanterelle said something to Petram. The shaman stopped stirring the pot and put a hand to his chin while looking upward in thought. He snapped his fingers and headed into his hut with Chanterelle trailing behind. Soon Chanterelle came out carrying a large, flat bottom bowl in her outstretched arms. She seemed to be balancing whatever contents were inside the bowl as she slowly walked back to Terran.
She set the bowl down next to Terran's feet.
"I'm going to get a seat for you. Put your feet in here," she instructed as she dragged over a tree stump for Terran.
A long sigh escaped Terran's lips as he placed his feet in the cold water swirling with herbs. Small bubbles formed on the surface of his blisters as soon as the water stilled, and his face slackened as he was filled with relief from the pain.
"Twenty minutes soaking and you'll be as good as new," Chanterelle said, smiling up at Terran from her seat on the ground. "Then you can join us around the fire for the songs."
"I don't sing," Terran mumbled.
Chanterelle's eyes went wide and she tilted her head. "What? Everyone sings."
Terran shook his head. "Nope. Not me."
"That's ridiculous. I'm sure your voice isn't that bad, and no one will be able to tell because everyone is singing."
Terran kept shaking his head. "It's not that. Though it's been so long since I've sung anything that maybe I do sound terrible now."
Silence hung between the pair as the leaves overhead rustled. The joyous sounds of the elves met Terran's ears as he slumped his shoulders and sighed.
"It's a long story," he finally said.
"Well, there's plenty of time for you to tell it while your feet soak." Chanterelle smiled encouragingly.
Terran rubbed the hem of his shirt between his thumb and forefinger before he responded. "Tabitha Green," he whispered as his cheeks flushed and he bit his lower lip. "She was the smartest, prettiest girl in my class when I was eleven. I had a huge crush on her and wanted to ask her to the dance. I knew her favorite band was Starborn Killers, because she often wore their shirts to class. So I came up with a plan.
"I learned one of their songs and changed some of the lyrics to ask her to the dance. I kept looking for a chance to get her alone when one day she asked to go to the library to return a book. As soon as she left, I excu
sed myself to go to the bathroom and followed her to the library. No one was there, so I started belting out the tune as soon as she turned towards me.
"She stood with her mouth open the whole time I was singing, then bolted out the door as soon as she could without saying anything. I was so embarrassed, but that wasn't even the worst of it.
"I didn't know it, but one of her guy friends was in the library. Kaiser had filmed the whole thing. By lunchtime everyone had seen the video. They started calling me Starborn Lady-killer. It was awful. The worst part was that she was the one that gave me the name. That was the last time I sang anything," he said, keeping his gaze fixed on the bubbles in the water around his feet.
Terran kept his gaze averted, but gave a single nod while still picking at the hem of his shirt. The sun had completely set and the stars were twinkling in the sky above the clearing. Whatever was cooking over the fire was steaming and smelled delicious. Terran just wished a hole would open up in the ground and swallow him. He had never told anyone else that story, and Chanterelle's silence left him feeling insecure.
Chanterelle finally said, "That sounds embarrassing. I can understand why you don't sing, but I hope you'll come around in your own time. No one here would make fun of you. Looks like dinner's ready. Let's go eat," she said with a smile.
Terran was grateful for the excuse to get up and do something. Somehow that made him feel less awkward. "My feet look as good as new," he said, looking down at his fully healed feet.
Chanterelle's cheeks flushed as she bent down to pick up the bowl. "I told you it would help." She tossed the water with its soaking herbs onto the ground by the fruit trees, then grabbed Terran's hand and led him to the fire. Her hand was rough and calloused, but it was warm and fit nicely. When they released, the hint of a grin formed at the corner of her lips before she moved away.
The Stone Tree: A LitRPG Adventure (Kingmaker Saga Book 1) Page 11
