Demon-Killing Sword

6.3 Smugglers

Huginn stood and started toward the pot. Muninn glared at him from the corner of her eye. Rude! I was just trying to help.

"No one asked you to help," Huginn muttered to himself as he passed by.

For a second longer, she followed him with narrowed eyes, but started out of her stare at the splash of soup ladled into Niina's bowl. The savory scent beckoned her, while steam curled invitingly from the surface of the liquid. She hurried over and joined Huginn in line. He pulled away from her, but she ignored him. If she didn't care, then it didn't matter how rude he was being.

The soup tasted just as delicious as it smelled. Much better than half-cooked monster meat, she thought to herself. Just the memory of the flavor was enough to make her grimace. It hadn't seemed so bad at the time, but compared to this, it was awful.

Across the circle from her, Huginn coughed into his soup and winced.

"Too hot?" Vivi asked, concerned.

He shook his head. "No, it's..." His eyes narrowed at Muninn. "It's nothing."

He's determined to hate me. Huginn was a lost cause when it came to making friends. She looked at Niina instead. She sat slightly apart, perched on a tree stump. No, it's impossible, she decided. Niina was so much older than her, and so pretty, too. No way would she want to be friends with a kid like Muninn.

Niina lifted the bowl of soup to her mouth and lapped at it.

Muninn stared. Is that... is that a smuggler thing? She glanced around the circle. Should I do that? Everyone else seemed to be eating normally.

"Niina," Vivi said gently.

"What?" Niina asked.

"Drink it or eat it, dear, don't lick it."

A guilty expression passed over Niina's face, followed by a faint blush. Casually, she tipped the bowl back and drank the broth as though she'd been doing that the whole time. Muninn grinned into her soup. Even someone that pretty made mistakes.

With a heavy thump, Kjell dropped his bag in the middle of the gathering. Paper rustled as he pulled a map out and unfolded it over the top of the bag. Muninn scooted closer, curious.

It was a map of Midgar. The whole country, not just the portion behind the wall. Cities nestled between emerald forests and silver mountains. Rivers wound through the land, picked out in brilliant blue. One of the roads stood out from the rest, a larger, darker line. This road arced across the map, over rivers, around mountains, through forests to the far side, where it vanished beyond the edge of the map. The map stopped abruptly at the border of their country, a spiky black word the only clue to what laid beyond. Even though she couldn't read, Muninn knew what it said: Muspell. The land of the demons. Muninn bit her lip, anxious. Why couldn't the map have shown more? The demon king's castle was deep in Muspell. There could be any manner of demons between her and the castle.

"Here's the wall, the edge of modern Midgar," Kjell said, drawing his finger across the map. He cut off a corner of the country, not even a full quarter of its size. "And we're here." His finger moved half an inch, barely any distance. "If we're going to get to the capitol before the miasma gets worse," he tapped a city halfway between the wall and Muspell, "we'd better get going."

"We've a long walk ahead of us," Niina commented. She stood and stretched. "Just the way I like it."

"I wouldn't have minded a short hike," Vivi added lightly.

Muninn stood, hoisting her reed basket over her shoulders. With demons all around, it felt so vulnerable to sit still. Best to be on the move.