Page 10 of Where the Shadows Land (Garden of Hope #1)

“Fine.” Astoria stood and slung the hastily made quiver over her shoulder and lifted her bow. “I do not need big game. A rabbit or two will be enough.”

Mairuk led Astoria past the boundary of the garden, through the vast barren field and into the living forest. Winter still clung to the sleeping dirt, the chill lingering heavily in the air despite the bright sun that poured through the skeletal branches.

The roots buzzed with the energy of renewal, but the slumbering trees had not yet begun to wake.

When spring arrived, the entire forest would erupt in bright song and all life within would harmonize with the tune.

It took only a hands-worth of minutes for the human to spot her query in the underbrush.

How she found the small creatures so fast without a gift like Eseif , Mairuk couldn’t tell.

The brown fur blended into the brush and the small rabbits moved in near silence.

Yet, she spotted the creature several heartbeats before they did.

Astoria crouched low and stalked forward on silent feet.

Mairuk hung back and observed how she moved.

She chose each step carefully to make the least amount of noise, yet she did not hesitate, either.

She readied her bow and her eyes never left her target.

Despite not watching her step, Astoria moved through the forest as if she was as much a part of it as her pray.

The moment the rabbit was within range, Astoria loosed her bow, and the arrow found her target.

A second rabbit ran from its hiding place, and she was prepared for it.

She ended its life as quickly as she had the first. Each move she made was done with brutal efficiency and Mairuk tilted their cap as they watched her gather her meal.

Astoria left the creatures on her arrows and searched through the underbrush. She pulled several wild seed heads and placed them into her pack, along with plant cuttings and a few small plants, roots and all .

“Why are you taking plants from the forest?” Mairuk asked.

“Food,” Astoria said. “Meat is good, but I cannot survive on that alone. Do you have any food seeds, or a place for me to plant these in the village?”

“We do not know what humans eat. We have a plot for planting, but nothing has taken root there in many years.” Mairuk buried countless offerings into the heart of the garden to feed the soil, but no life bloomed.

“I will try these and see what happens.” Astoria straightened and stretched her arms upward to the sky, then allowed them to fall. She repeated the process a few more times, then bounced on her feet. Her body jiggled with the movement and Mairuk was transfixed.

They tore their eyes away and made their way back to the garden. “We want the blood of your kill. The bones too. Anything you will not consume.”

“Very well. Do you have bowls or buckets in the village?”

“The blood is best from the vein.”

Astoria’s face crinkled into something sour, but she passed them her kills all the same. “Fine. Don’t get your…spores…in my food. Take the blood if you want it.”

“We have never had blood so delicious it made us release. Do humans have such meals?” Mairuk tilted their head. Is that why humans add spice and heat to their meals, for release? What odd creatures. The system hummed in their combined confusion.

Astoria did not reply. Instead, she walked at a faster pace than Mairuk witnessed from her before with her eyes on the ground.

Mimicking her hummed song from earlier, they plucked the arrow out of the neck of the first rabbit.

They slipped their long, thin tongue into the artery and drank deep, savoring the still warm blood of the creature.

Mairuk drained both by the time the pair returned to the garden, now sated and full.

They returned the bloodless corpses and arrows to Astoria and nodded in her direction once. “You have given us a gift that you were not obligated to give. You are more capable than we assumed. To show our gratitude, take the next three days to do what you must and care for yourself.”

“I will,” Astoria said as she took her meal from them. “Leave a bucket outside my door. I’ll put whatever I won’t eat in there.”

Mairuk hummed an affirmative sound and watched their human vanish between buildings. Her fox appeared from the opposite direction and took his place at her heel. Mairuk waited there until Astoria’s door closed, then they went about their new list of tasks.

The human told them of the things she needed to survive.

Clothes, food, and tools to make more of her weapons.

Mairuk did not want to be alone again, so they wandered about their garden, grabbing a vast array of objects.

They started with the buckets, one for the discarded bones and another for water.

They filled the water bucket and left both by Astoria’s door.

Over the years Mairuk spent rebuilding the garden, they made and traded for many tools and materials.

They pulled leather from the rebuilt tannery at the edge of town and grabbed a few of the pelts they had yet to make anything out of.

From the textile workshop, they pulled the fabric they purchased and some of the rough-woven linen they tried to craft themselves.

Next they gathered several tools, anything they thought the human might need to craft herself clothing and get what she needed to survive.

If she met her basic needs, she would become a better assistant to them and one day, perhaps take on projects unsupervised.

Content with their collection, Mairuk dropped everything they brought her onto her doorstep.

Astoria gave them a gift by sharing her sustenance with them.

The act was a small thing in the grand scheme of everything else between them, but among the Rholctai, such sharing was rare due to the nature of how they consumed.

Even lovers rarely shared a meal. Astoria’s small gift was one Mairuk intended to return .

They moved deep into the apothecary and gathered a fistful of bursting berries, a few drops of bubble sap, a few sprigs of dried mint, and a hydrating clay.

Grinding all the ingredients in a mortar and pestle, Mairuk made a fragrant, gooey mixture.

They scooped the soap into a clay jar and set the lid on top.

The human was dirtier than the forest floor and desperately needed to bathe. Perhaps she did not bathe for the same reason she did not eat. If that was the case, Mairuk hoped the soap would allow her to clean herself and get rid of the stench of rot that clung to her skin.

Mairuk set the jar on her step and went over everything they brought her.

Both her requests and the things Mairuk thought might help her littered the step.

They puffed up their chest and chittered a cheerful sound.

They provided for someone in their garden, and that alone was enough to ruffle their gills.

Sure, it was a human, but the human was all Mairuk had.

Her company was better than none, and through these small actions, they assured the human’s survival.

Having her life in the garden eased the chill that lingered in their bones.

They hoped to keep her around for a long, long time.