Curselock

Chapter 104: Sheep

Five days into their journey up the mountain, the boys entered a small shepherding village. Honestly, it was hard to quantify the sparse buildings as a village, but a small sign on the dirt road leading in promptly declared it as such. “Wooly Village,” a name fitting for the amount of sheep roaming the open area.

The high altitude didn’t seem to affect the local herds like it did the boys. Leland was the worst off, panting and huffing after climbing the slightest of slopes, unlike Jude and Glenny. The more physically able of the trio didn’t seem to mind the low air nor the frequent breaks, accepting the situation for what it was.

Although that didn’t stop them from goading Leland. Phrases like “mages are weak” and “you can’t take another break, your mana can’t be that low,” were thrown around lightheartedly, especially in the more barren sections of their ascent. Leland accepted them all, creating his own taunts for later usage. He did have a few in-the-moment quips that were received with “ooohs” and gasps from the friend not targeted.

All of the rambunctiousness ended when they first came into view of Wooly Village. A wavy sea of white, gray, and black mixed well into the blanket snow and patches of chewed over grass. Sheep, full winter coat and all, meandered around, eating what they could or moved just to move. Shepherds were out as well, young and old, each keeping their crooks behind the mass of animals.

And what a mass they were. Huge beasts, fluffy yet muscular. Being much smaller than Floe, the sheep were nowhere close to the largest animals the boys had seen in the past week, but still. They were enthralled watching the buffalo sized furballs move around.

Their gawking attracted the attention of a nearby elderly shepherd and a shepherd-in-training. The child waved her hand, her miniature crook stuck stiff into the snow. The elder mimicked the same gesture, but when he slammed his stick into the ground, a dull thud echoed across the area.

Instantly the sheep turned to him, even the rams – who looked less than impressed. The old man nodded toward the boys and all of the sheep turned to look. A moment later, the animals went back to grazing or stretching their legs.

The old man signaled for the boys to approach, and they did, cautiously. The rams eyed them suspiciously, huffing like a bull when Jude got too near an ewe.

“I thought animals like you,” teased Leland, the short break giving him enough of his lungs back.

Glenny burst out laughing.

They continued closer to the old man and child, the little girl copying the elder’s mannerisms. Both stood tall, crook embedded into the ground, and arms crossed expectantly. A gentle but tired smile ran along the man’s face, one that tied well into his protective persona. He was the master here and not just of sheep.

“Welcome to Wooly,” the man said. “What brings you out this far?”

Leland spoke for the group. “A quest for the Lord of Nature.”

The man reeled back slightly. “A quest from a Lord, truly?”

Even the little girl seemed impressed. Leland waved his hands. “No, sorry. A Legacy of the Lord of Nature. Sorry, I didn’t mean to insinuate anything.”

Jude and Glenny quickly glanced at one another, silently making sure each other realized the cover story. While direct quests from Lords weren’t unknown, they weren’t exactly common either. That was especially true for quests given to individuals not part of their Legacies. Those individuals were often highly renowned, and not three young adults.

Which, in turn, made keeping secret that they were actually on a direct quest from the Lord of Nature all the more important.

Leland, who felt foolish at the slip up, continued, “There should be a cave or hole around here with a crystalline scorpion infestation.”

The little girl let out a shrill eek, causing a wave of sheep to turn their heads. A few rams huffed.

“Aye, I know the place,” the man said. “Three of you might not be enough. It’s a big nest.”

“There will be four, actually. We are meeting a Legacy of Nature there.”

“Ah, that’s good. Lost a few sheep from the scorpion’s venom. We have to move our fencing around and train the rams to be on the lookout.”

Jude’s eyes heightened at that. “Train, you say? Could the sheep, perhaps, be trained to allow me to pet them?”

With that asked, the man and the child, who was introduced as his granddaughter, set their focus on getting the rams to allow Jude near their herd. It took several minutes, and plenty of giggles from Leland and Glenny, but eventually the berserker was petting one of the massive sheep.

“So soft,” he muttered in awe.

“It better be!” the old man laughed. “My family’s been breeding these beasts for nine generations!”

“That’s impressive,” Leland said. “I bet their wool sells for a lot.”

The little girl snorted. “We are the primary provider for the kingdom! We even sell to the Queen herself!”

“Now, now, we don’t brag, remember?” the old man said to the kid.

“But! We do!”

Glenny chuckled at that. He crouched, aligning his eyes with the young shepherd’s. “You know, I once saw the Queen. When I was younger than you, my parents were invited to some rendition of one of the greatest plays ever written… or something. I don’t remember much of it, only that the Queen wore red.”

“And probably our wool!” the girl retorted instantly.

The grandfather sighed. “That’s enough of you,” he said, eyeing the girl before turning back to the others. “We don’t have much room to house you, our ‘village’ is in name only so that those greedy merchants in the capital are forced to respect us. Luckily none of them care enough to call our bluff. I’ll tell you if someone finds out we are nothing but a glorified ranch, little one here might not have a roof over her head next year!”

The old man laughed and the little girl huffed, stomping her foot in the snow. The boys awkwardly chuckled along.

“I jest, I jest. We’d just kill the merchant before they could spread the tale!” the man laughed louder, and even some of the sheep looked at him weirdly.

From across the herds, a young woman shouted, “Don’t listen to him! He’s going senile!”

As the laughter died down, Leland said, “Don’t worry about housing us. As long as it's okay with you, we’d love it if we could set up camp somewhere on your property. A small fire, nothing too big.”

“Sure, sure. The sheep might be interested, however. Hope you don’t mind a thousand eyes sharing the flame with ya!”

The boys conversed with the locals for many more hours. As it turned out, shepherds were quite lonely and just bursting to talk with someone other than each other. At some point the boys were shown a small pathway leading higher up the mountain, much to the dismay of Leland, where the scorpion cave was located.

After a night of being surrounded by hundreds of sheep, and a breakfast where Jude shared most of the food with the bravest of the sheep, the boys set out to finish their climb. The cave wasn’t so much a cave but rather a dug-out hole in the ground. Scorpions moved in and out, shifting soil and rock like ants building a nest. A mound of dirt had formed from the excavation and the entrance was unluckily at the top.

Seeing into the hole was strictly impossible unless they wanted to risk angering the nest early.

They spent a bit of time looking around the area trying to find the person they were supposed to protect, but after an hour they gave up.

“Looks like they aren’t here,” Jude said. “Any idea when they will appear? Today, right?”

“Give or take,” Leland answered. “The Lord of Nature only said a week, not a specific hour.”

“Well let’s go back to the sheep. At least they are soft—”

Jude cut himself off as a thing suddenly unearthed itself beside them. It came up as a wooden wedge, like a pumpkin seed, but human sized. It split through the frozen ground, where it then quickly bloomed and blossomed. Flowers, vines, large and very green leaves, all sprouted, covering the immediate area of the mountain in rich and dense foliage.

Then, like a drunkard kicking in the door to his favorite bar, a bare foot kicked through the wooden thing. The wooden material sundered at the force, opening like a chick cracking open an egg. Soon the annoyed face of a middle aged woman showed through the gaps. She fidgeted in her seedenclosure, pushing against the walls before scoffing.

“Any help here?” she asked, sarcasm oozing.

The boys gave each other a shrug and got to helping.