The Winds of the Past [Rune Factory 4]

Chapter 12

We just stared for a minute, slack-jawed, then I slowly responded, "That... was incredible. No wonder you can execute such amazing maneuvers in battle."

She smiled and thanked me, then looked curiously at Dylas, who was still staring with his mouth hanging open. "Dylas?" she asked, questioningly.

I waved a hand in front of his face but got no response. "Ahh," I said, turning back to her with a smirk, "it looks like you've broken his head. I suspect there's only one surefire way to snap him out of it. I believe I will take Baldur on a very long walk, and I leave his cure in your... hands? We'll be sure to make plenty of noise when we come back, just to be on the safe side."

She blushed at what she assumed was my teasing. However, with complete seriousness, I called Baldur to me and we set out. I grabbed an empty sack to bring with me and kept an eye out for greens as we walked slowly through the springtime fields.

************

Sure enough, when we returned some while later, I found them preparing breakfast—or rather, she was trying to prepare breakfast while Dylas persistently held her in a tight embrace while nuzzling and kissing her neck. They both had a satisfied look to them that suggested she had successfully implemented my implied cure for Dylas's bedazzlement.

I dropped the bag of greens on the ground at Avani's feet, saying, "Glad to see you're back among the living, Dylas. Hey, I found some ramps growing nearby! And I picked some mushrooms, too."

Avani looked skeptically at the mushrooms in the bag, and asked, "Are you sure these are edible? I can't tell the good ones from the bad ones."

"Oh, there's no such thing as bad mushrooms," I said with a mischievous grin. "Only exciting ones!"

"Ugh," she replied closing the bag quickly. "I can do without that kind of excitement, thanks."

"True, true. You and Dylas do seem to get plenty of excitement. But for a single man like me...," I said with a mock sigh.

"Stuff it," said Dylas good-naturedly.

"Stuffed mushrooms..." I mused, "that sounds pretty good to me."

"Yeah, and I'll show you exactly where you can stuff 'em," Dylas replied, pulling the ramps and greens out of the bag and ignoring the mushrooms.

Soon breakfast was ready—grilled fish and a very good scramble of eggs, sautéed ramps and spring greens. Dylas and I had coffee while Avani sipped her hot chocolate. The morning's events caused us to get off to a late start, but no one seemed to mind too badly.

************

We headed southwards from our base camp, following an established path. After a little ways, the path forked, the branches continuing south or heading west. We opted to continue south, and soon found ourselves at the mouth of large cave. A stairway led down to lower levels, and so we drew our weapons and took the stairs down.

We found ourselves in an empty cavern, with an opening to an adjacent cavern to the south. We carefully entered the second chamber and found two large holes in the ground with a sign between them. I stepped up and examined the sign. "It asks if we are male or female, and says if female, to jump into the hole to the west."

"Well, I'm the only female here... so I guess I should be the one to go?" Avani said uncertainly.

"Like hell you will," Dylas said with a scowl. "We're sticking together, whether we go down one of the holes or just get out of here."

"I agree," I added. "Since we do have a lady in the party, I say we jump down the western hole—all three of us. I find this rather intriguing, myself." Avani nodded, and we stood at the edge of the hole and leaped down together, landing in another cavern similar to the one we just left. I took a look at the new sign, saying, "This sign says that if we're good cooks, take the western hole."

"Okay, western hole it is then," Dylas said, striding up to the opening. Again we jumped and landed in a similar cavern.

"Let's see," I said, "this time if we're beautiful or pretty or cute to take the western hole."

"West hole again," Dylas said.

"Thanks, I do rather pride myself on my appearance," I said, affecting a blush.

"Shut the hell up, you idiot. I wasn't talking about you," he said, rolling his eyes. Once again we jumped together.

This time we landed in an empty cavern, with only an opening to the north. We entered the adjacent cavern, and there we found a large, raccoon-striped creature. "At last you have come, my bride!" he exclaimed, gazing rapturously at Avani.

"Huh? Say what?" she replied, looking baffled.

"I've been waiting for twenty long years for you to arrive, and finally you're here. Quickly now, let us be married right away!"

"You can't be serious." she replied, looking aggravated.

"Like hell is she marrying you!" Dylas snapped, stepping forward to Avani's right.

"I agree. The lady has no wish to marry you, so I'm afraid it's out of the question," I added, stepping forward to her left.

"Oh, how quaint. You've brought your pets. A pony and a puppy," the creature exclaimed. "Well, if you won't marry me willingly, I'll just have to make you marry me!" With that, he incanted a shielding spell, trapping the three of us in the cavern.