Kyomi was already waiting for me at the door to the Foundation classrooms. I nodded at her from across the courtyard and let her say goodbye to her classmates privately. I had always appreciated when Mother and Father had done the same for me, so I made sure to give Kyomi the same courtesy. She didn’t make me wait long, she never did, but I was appreciative for the few moments waiting had bought me. It was a statement how much the Drawing exercises had taken out of me that even the simple act leaning against a planter and resting felt invigorating.

  “How were classes?” I asked once we got moving.

  “Well,” she responded, “I was asked to demonstrate my writing to the class so Kenji Sensei could use them as an example. In fact, I did well enough that I only have a small amount of practice work left. Though, I might need help with it.”

  I nodded, silently hoping it wasn’t math she needed help with. She hadn’t figured it out yet, but it was rapidly reaching the point where she was becoming better with numbers than I was and I wouldn’t be able to help her with those problems any longer. It was embarrassing that my sister, six years my junior, was almost as good at math as I was, but that was the way the world worked.

  We walked in silence for a few moments before I quietly coughed into my hand. She gave me a questioning look and then a brief flash of guilt crossed her face before she mastered it.

  “And you?” she asked, once her face was composed.

  I nodded in approval, pleased that she had figured out the failing of reciprocity on her own. This winter was going to be Kyomi’s last winter of childhood and while her manners were acceptable for a Foundational class, they needed some polishing before she started advanced classes in the spring.

  “It was a trying day, but I was able to make some notable progress. Hisako Sensei even praised me for my growth.”

  She smiled at that, beaming in a way only children were free to do in public. I gave her a small smile in response and we walked on. It was a short walk to the edge of the Academy grounds and then a slightly longer one down the maintained trails to our village. Imdaros was one of the four commoner villages that supported the academy, with ours having the additional prestige of the library attached to it. We were both free of obligations this afternoon. I hadn’t decided what I was going to do with that extra time yet, but Kyomi had already promised to spend time with Hifumi, neighbor Kaho’s daughter who was about Kyomi’s age, after classes. Her doll was nestled in my basket, ready for play. After I left her with her friend, I needed to stop by and deliver the rest of the basket to Sage Vinollo.

  However, when we came to the edge of the square there was a strange sight before us.

  A merchant’s cart.

  Merchants weren’t a common sight in my village’s square. Most Merchants would go directly to the Academy to trade and those who didn’t would go two days up the road to Ningen where the Noble families resided. We weren’t the smallest of the villages, but Imardos was close enough to the untamed parts of the Wyrvwood that the routes here from the Imperial Way were more trails than proper roads, often obscured by fresh growth or washed away in one of our frequent rain storms.

  Not to imply there were any parts of the Wood that were truly ‘tamed’. The best we could settle for was ‘generally safe’ like the section of the Wood between Imardos and the Academy. You could walk it without worry most days. But every so often a particularly crafty elemental-infused or spirit-ridden creature would slide through the wards and prey upon those unawares. It had been a few years since the last incident, but it was something you never really could forget. Everyone in Imardos knew someone who had fallen prey to the dangers of the Wood.

  It was enough that most years the only visitors we had were families from one of the other Academy villages looking to arrange a marriage and the magistrate’s staff coming to a portion of our crops and Kolim as taxes. It must have been at least two summers ago the last time a merchant came to town, if not more. Longer since one who clearly wasn’t of the People. It was an oddity, a curiosity. It would be the gossip for the next twenty-days, if not the entire summer and much of the fall.

  Despite my fatigue and the heavy basket on my arm, I found myself drawn to the stand, eying the foreign gems and metal necklaces. It wasn’t going to amount to anything, I lacked battering supplies and never had any coin to my name, but I was too curious to let the chance pass by.

  I gave everything half a glance over before Kyomi’s patience ran out.

  “Kar-a,” she whined, “We can look at the fancy bow strings later.”

  I gave her a reproachful look to which she stuck out her tongue.

  I probably should have reprimanded her for that as well, but I was clearly distracted. Instead, I ignored the childish dramatics and scoffed, “Kyomi, that is not a bow string, it is silver.”

  She cocked an eyebrow and tilted her head, furred tail bobbing slightly in confusion and no small amount of disdain. “What, like money? Who would make a bow string out of silver?”

  I groaned and shifted the basket of herbs and flowers so I could pinch my nose. “To wear. It’s a decoration.”

  “Why would you wear money? That seems extra useless.” she asked a tad too innocently for my tastes. I don’t know when she figured out how to play the fool so well, but I didn’t like it. It got on every last one of my nerves. Which, given my sister, was probably why she got so good at it. I was going to rebut when the merchant spoke up, nearly causing me to blush and definitively causing me to miss his words. I had forgotten myself and let my emotions out in public. What was acceptable with siblings was not proper when dealing with outsiders. With a forced smile, I turned to the merchant. “Excuse me?”

  He was a Porforokin of some kind. Short in stature, barely as tall as the still growing Kyomi, but clearly an adult given the confidence with which he moved and the wrinkles around his eyes. His nose was snoutlike, his ears were rounded and atop his head, and he had a long, fleshy, ropy, tail. It must’ve been cold given how much it moved around. I wasn’t sure how one could be cold in this heat, but it would have been impolite to ask.

  “Many reasons to wear necklace, yes yes.” He declared with his oddly accented tongue, ears flicking as if to punctuate what he said. “Necklaces help draw attention to you, useful for attracting mates for young Kitsune.”

  My ears perked up in interest and my blush threatened to rise despite my best efforts, while Kyomi made the disgusted noises expected of an eleven-year old. She was young and well before her first flowering, so she didn’t understand the importance of courtship.

  The merchant, unfortunately, took notice of my interest, drastically undercutting the bartering process. “You understand, yes? Come now, it is of solid make and entirely silver. I swear on my burrow mother.”

  I eyed him skeptically. Porforkin had a reputation for being vicious merchants which almost by definition meant they weren’t to be trusted. Merchants, especially foreign ones, put too much value on coin. And the common wisdom of Imardos was that too much faith in coin was foolish. Winters were bad enough around here that the chance of buying something later wasn’t worth the guarantee of warmth or food now. Though, I often wondered if our disdain for coin was due to the lack of mining in the Wyrvwood. Low amounts of exposure was…

  I was getting afield. With a small shake of my head I brought myself back to the table, motioning to the spread. With naivete threading my words, I opened negotiations. It couldn’t hurt to get a price, right? “You might be right sir, but these have to be terribly expensive. I would not be able to afford one. Especially if you want coin for them.”

  Okay, maybe I did know where Kyomi had learned the innocence act from. Still, it was really annoying when she directed it at me.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  “Oh, of course, of course,” the merchant agreed, bobbing his head along, “Would be rude for me to ask what you do not have. Most rude. But coin is not why I’m here. I’m here for flowers. Rare flowers, only grown in Wood. Perhaps you know where to go and get some?”

  I kept my face neutral while my heart soared. That made sense, the Wyrvwood was far more magically rich than the rest of the world. According to my teachers, outside of the Wyrvwood magical talent was limited to maybe one person in a hundred. Here it was closer to one in twenty and was actually possible to directly extract Kolim, or concentrated magical energy, from plants or hunted animals. In fact, doing so gave you Kolim with unique properties. For instance, using spider silk Kolim made it easier to conjure flexible restraints and Kolim harvested from birds was better at granting flight.

  The fact that the merchant had come this far into the Wood, more than a week's worth of travel from the coast, looking for supplies meant that he was either looking for rarer plants or trying to get cheaper prices. And given that I had never heard of a powerful Porforokin mage in my seventeen years clearly meant they needed more help than the rest. Granted, so did some of my classmates, looking for a leg up in their education.

  “Well, happy day. We just so happen to be carrying some flowers today,” I responded casually ignoring the glares from my sister. Whatever I traded away here would inevitably have to be harvested from the Wood and likely today, which would cut down on her time to play. I would have to make this up to her, somehow. She’d have time to play tomorrow, while it was possible there wouldn’t be a merchant until after I had been married.

  The porofokin’s ears shot up in excitement, “Good, good. Very good. Let us cut deal. Which necklace caught your eye?”

  Just because we didn’t put much stock in coin, didn’t mean that I was unfamiliar with haggling. It had been one of the many lessons the Academy had required for those of us who were likely to be assistants to a noble. Haggling would likely be seen as a waste of a noble's time and well beneath their station, so it was reasonable to expect such tasks to fall to us.

  I pulled those lessons to mind and followed the suggested script. I made a show of contemplating the silver threads before pointing at the one that had originally caught my eye, a silver chain clasped to a set sapphire roughly the size of my small finger’s nail that would hang nicely, compliment my eyes, and help accentuate my otherwise plain features. A shapely figure was not a gift Mother’s blood had seen fit to give me, much to my dismay.

  “Yes, yes. Fine choice madam,’ the merchant declared, folding his long-fingered hands together and pointing with the resulting grasp animatedly, “Clearly, you have discerning tastes. I would normally ask for 100 silver pieces, but for such fine lady, ten heads of Midnight Bloom would be enough.”

  I pursed my lips in thought. I didn’t know what a Midnight Bloom was, but I could guess based on the given name that it was either the Welching Plum or a Withered Dewdrop, both of which only bloomed under moonlight and both had a reputation at the academy for being difficult to harvest given how dangerous the Wood got at night. Though the village had started cultivating growths of both plants near the village that we could regularly harvest due to the high demand, which helped mitigate most of that risk. A prudent investment since most of the healing spells used in town used one of them as a supplement. Seeing how I would have to go pick them by myself if I agreed to this trade, I wasn’t particularly inclined to go for his, what I presumed to be high based on the training, starting offer. Uncertain, I decided to fish for information.

  “Midnight Bloom,” I contemplatively murmured to myself, pitching my voice so I knew it would be ‘overheard’. “I think I know what you’re talking about but I am not certain. Must be a translation issue. Could you perhaps describe it to me?”

  The Porforokin nodded sharply, “Yes, yes. It’s deep purple flower, with leaves that resemble tear drops. You know this plant, yes?”

  Withered Dewdrop then. I nodded sagely while mentally contemplating how to harvest some to replace what I’d be trading away.

  “Yes I do, but the plant is so hard to harvest. Risky. It would be days of work to replace it,” I explained before counter offering, “Five flowers.”

  Truthfully, it would take me all of a bell, half the length of time between the sun rising and reaching its highest point, to fix this work. The local blooms wouldn’t be ready since their last harvest, so I’d have to either arrange or join a harvesting party to venture into the woods. But, I already knew of two growths that I was pretty sure no one had harvested recently and were close enough to the village lights that it wasn’t truly dangerous. One or two guards for the excursion would probably be enough. And the time wasn’t all that much either. Dimarso and I had spent far longer together three nights past on one of our courting walks. I cut my sister’s disbelief and laughter off with a sharp glance.

  In response, she sighed and tilted her head, “We’re going to be late. We can’t bargain much longer.” The brief moment of panic on the merchant’s face made me inwardly smile. Annoying as she was, there were times where I really appreciated my sister, even though I would be paying for that later.

  “Ah, yes. Of course, of course. Dangerous harvest would certainly increase worth. Seven flower heads.”

  Well, that was almost too easy. Either Kyomi had rattled him more than I thought, or there was something more to our merchant. Cautionary tales of treacherous Changelings flashed through my brain, posing as harmless travelers in an effort to catch you unawares, using strange and forgotten techniques to drain your magical vivacity in vain efforts to prolong their lives. I would’ve accused the Elders of the village of trying to scare us into compliance if it wasn’t for the fact that Mori hadn’t been snared by a changeling pretending to be a local spirit last year.

  Caution on my mind, I pooled the energy within me, the flow feeling like the Energy was tearing at my already strained channels, took another glance at the necklace, and murmured a spell under my breath.

  By all accounts, it was a simple spell, empowering my eyes so that I could see any runes and dwemors on the necklace, but it took me far longer than it had any right to. Kitsune, and the People as a whole, were magical creatures. There was a time where the craft was as easy to us as breathing.

  Now, I was in my sixth year of sorcerer training and still winded by a simple analysis spell. And I was one of the more promising students, though that was mostly on my theory work than my casting talent. Mother, when she was in her cups, would bemoan that she mastered that spell in her first week. Aunt Irma had quietly assured me that it hadn’t been quite that easy when she found me crying later, but it was certainly a sign of the changing times.

  Regardless, the necklace was enchantment free. The Porforokin was just eager to make a sale, and from the look on his face impressed with my abilities, as meager as they were.

  “Six heads,” I said, pressing the awe for all it was worth.

  The Porforokin nodded amicably, “Of course, of course. Six heads for impressive lady mage.”

  I smiled politely at the blatant flattery and pulled six of the flowers we had been taking to Sage Vinollo out. I placed them delicately on the table, he took the necklace off the display and placed them next to the flower heads on the stand. We smiled, bowed, and when we finished bowing the necklace was in my pocket and the flower petals were gone from the counter as was right and proper. With nothing left to say, Kyomi and I left the merchant behind and continued on our way.

  Granted, the silence didn’t last long. In order to make up for lost time, we decided to cut through Refrectory’s yard. The Refrectory was a tower designed to concentrate ambient magical energies into Kolim for the Elder Council to use for community needs, which meant it was normally a quiet and reserved location. The repairs and expansion construction had turned it into a bustling mess. It was ostensibly a dangerous path, but the workers were currently sitting for lunch, which meant the only worry was getting caught in conversation. Their talk prompted Kyomi’s own.

  “Days of work?” she asked incredulously.

  “If he didn’t know the proper name, he clearly didn’t know how much work went into getting them. And besides, not like he was going to wander off into the Wyrvwood to find them. We did him a service.”

  She stared at me for half a second before bursting into laughter and I couldn’t help but join her. Walking around some broken tiles, I pulled the necklace out of the folds of my clothes and began to fidget with the clasp so I could hang it from my neck. It took me more time than I cared to comment upon, but I managed to open the clip and then refasten it behind my neck. The silver felt cool on my naked flesh.

  “Mother is going to have a fit when she sees that,” Kyomi intoned seriously.

  I shrugged, shifting the basket of supplies again, “Well, I’m just lucky I have all day to figure out how to explain it.”

  Kyomi smiled weakly before eyeing the basket, “What are you going to tell Sage Vinollo about the missing Dewdrop?”

  I paused and set the basket on one of the piles of bricks, looking at the notable hole where I had pulled the flower heads from. Carefully, I began to rearrange the flowers to fill the gap. “We didn’t get enough in the harvest for our personal needs and to supply Sage Vinollo. Wouldn’t be the first time a harvest had to be split over multiple nights. She might even help me organize the voyage into the Wood. And besides, it’s been a year since we’ve brought Sage Vinollo dewdrops. There’s no way they’re going to need all ten flowers tonight.”

  Kyomi went to respond, but a cracking sound split the air. Both of our eyes snapped to the sky, wary of a Shardstorm. The skies were clear, but that didn’t mean we were safe. She looked left towards the tree line and I right, towards the Refrectory, finding a threat far more mundane. A rope had snapped and the bundle of bricks it had held was tilting towards us. Then the other rope snapped and the bricks cascaded towards us.

  “Move!” I screamed.

  Kyomi, not understanding our peril and fearing razorhail, moved towards the shelter of the Refrectory and directly into the path of the bricks. Frantically, I grabbed her shoulders and threw her clear before trying to dive aside myself.

  I didn’t make it.