Seekers of the Stone Maker

The party traveled North, and Mr. Muffins kept his eyes focused. It was tedious work sometimes, but he did enjoy the scenery. The trees had already started changing as autumn worked its cold into them. The sun was already high and past its zenith. The wind kicked up now and then, pulling the breeze west, bringing a salt-tasting air from the Sea of Shining Stars just East of them. It was a quiet afternoon, except for the party talking occasionally, so it was a pleasant surprise when he looked over to the sea and saw something moving.

“Rhokhishi.” He spoke out.

Rhokhishi turned to see Mr. Muffins, then followed his gesture out. They both watched two figures near the water. They looked humanoid, with clothing on, but they were too far away to reveal details. Both were sitting on a log, and after a moment of watching, Mr. Muffins realized they must be fishing on the shoreline. They cared for a little longer, and then Rhokhishi yawned loudly.

“Doesn’t seem like a worry,” She stated.

“Agreed.”

They moved further on. The path had already disappeared, and they were mostly watching the sun as the day moved on and kept the sea to their right as their only form of navigation. He could hear Ana and Leaf talking about twenty feet back but didn’t focus on it much. The sound must have sparked the idea of speaking to others because soon after, he heard a voice in his head pipe up.

Mr. Muffins? Myla’s voice rang through.

Yes, Myla?

Just checking the connection, and… Well, I wondered if I could ask you about poisons?

What did you want to know?

It was quiet again for a moment, then she spoke up again.

I’m curious about your knowledge about them. I want to take the tail of that creature and make something useful. I could put something on my dagger’s blades and maybe add some extra damage when we’re in a fight.

I’m sure that would be doable. Have you ever done it before?

No… That’s why I thought I’d ask you.

Mr. Muffins sighed to himself, thinking of his schooling.

Well, poisons and acids are hazardous things, so you would need to extract, carry, and use a couple of things. First would be gloves and other protective gear to cover your face or eyes. Then, you’d want to buy some vials or containers to carry it. Something durable, so it doesn’t break while traveling and hurt yourself or someone else. After that, you’d need the know-how to extract a poison or acid from the creature’s body.

Do you know anything about extracting poisons from creatures?

Just the basics, from my experience traveling, like you. It wasn’t one of my areas of study.

At Westford?

Yeah, at Westford.

What did you study there, if you don’t mind me prying?

Well, I spent much of my time taking magic and metal, finding new ways to put them together and build contraptions that could help everyday life.

It was quiet again for a minute, and Mr. Muffins could feel Myla stirring with more questions. He waited patiently.

Why did you leave Westford?

He let his horse move him forward and thought about it for a while. After a few minutes, he thought it out to her.

When not studying, we all spent a decent amount of time indoors. We didn’t travel. We didn’t go anywhere, really. We just stayed inside and worked. I tried, but I couldn’t find inspiration inside blank stone walls. It was advised that I try and seek inspiration somewhere else, so I packed up and left. About a year later, I found myself at the carnival. I can do shows to make coin, and I have my own space for work whenever I want. It’s nice.

He remembered the day he met the carnival and smiled to himself. He wasn’t sure whether Myla heard it because she didn’t answer. He was happy with the answer, even if he was the only one who heard it.

The evening came, and the party stopped. Looking around, Mr. Muffins tried to get his bearings.

“It seems like we should be close to the fork in the road, but it’s hard to tell since the grass is pretty high here,” Rhokhishi stated.

“Look here,” Mr. Muffins pointed to their left. “Tracks.”

To the West, a series of hoof marks and straight lines resembling carriages’ wheels turned from the path. He couldn’t tell how many there were but counted at least five tracks.

“Yeah! We’re close!” Lyla exclaimed.

Lyla and Myla were looking at a tree just a few feet ahead. On one side, Mr. Muffins could see markings, which Myla was redrawing with her dagger. On the other side, the bark was missing. He recalled the past couple of years with the twins and how they always stopped at a tree before turning West to the campground.

They must have marked it every year to remember.

As he looked at them on his right, his eyes passed them and trailed the shoreline. After a few seconds, he noticed something strange. Two humanoid figures were sitting on a log. He watched, realizing they were fishing.

“Rhokhishi?”

“Yeah?”

“Look.”

Rhokhishi turned, and a surprised gasp escaped her lips.

“Didn’t we see them earlier?” She asked.

“It looks like the same people, but it’s hard to tell from this far back.”

“I don’t see any horses either. If it is the same people, how did they make it this far, possibly faster than we did?”

“I don’t know.”

Mr. Muffins knew there was magic that could help with getting from one place to another quickly, as they had just seen it recently with Helena, but the fact that they had reappeared in a spot so close to where they were going set off alarm bells to him.

“What do you want to do?” Rhokhishi asked.

“I think we should leave it alone. We’re close to the campground. We should head there.”

Rhokhishi nodded, and the party turned left and started in the new direction. Mr. Muffins knew the campground was only a few hours away, so he figured they would make it around nightfall. Rhokhishi swapped places with Lyla since neither of the twins could see well in the dark, and they moved on.

He kept his eyes out, trying to notice any shift or change around them, but nothing came. They moved towards the sun and watched as it fell behind the tree line, the darkness of night taking over. Another hour passed. Then, another. At the third hour, Mr. Muffins realized that something was off.

“Wait,” He said loudly.

The party stopped. Mr. Muffins looked up and pointed at the sky, then straight ahead.

“Something happened. Mirus is now in front of us, and look. The sea.”

“Did we get turned around?” Leaf asked.

“I think so… But I’m not sure how. We followed the trail exactly.”

He felt confused and slightly paranoid. Was it because of those two people? Was it a trap? What was happening?

“Maybe it’s nothing, but we should probably make camp. It’s getting dark, and the dome Ana can make will keep us protected.”

“But we’re so close!” Lyla groaned.

“Yes, but Mr. Muffins is right. We might get there tonight or get turned around again, which would tire us and our horses, and then we’d still need to make camp,” Leaf replied.

“Um… I could take a look if you all want?” Ana asked.

“What do you mean?” Rhokhishi questioned back.

“I could turn into an owl and travel West a bit. If it’s only an hour or two away, I could probably get there and back.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Mr. Muffins stated. “We can set up camp, then when you’re back, you can create the dome.”