"Wait! Please, wait!"
Wen-ci paused mid-stride. She palmed the tiny glass whistle in her hand and dropped it unobstrusively into a pocket in her travel cloak. When she turned, she found herself nose to snout with a ghasten bull.
She sucked in a startled breath. She recognized the bull. She'd seen a most serene painting of the creature not two days before. Wen-ci looked up past the quizzical eyes to find Parker-ye sitting on the bull's back, panting.
"This is most unexpected," Wen-ci said, striving for a calm, peaceful tone.
Ghastens were temperamental. That was why they were considered hard to tame. A ghasten might like you one day but decide that you might taste as good as the grass they were grazing on the next. Considering that they were omnivores and could, and did frequently, resort to hunting when bored, it wasn't a nice thought. It was especially so when you realized that ghastens, despite their resemblance to their faint bovine ancestors, still retained the agility of their lagomorph ancestors as well.
Wen-ci really wondered which mad mage had thought that rabbits and cows would make a good farm animal. She rather thought that one of the first ghastens had eaten the mage, making a definitive statement on the matter.
Unfortunately, whoever they had been had first made a few dozen of the creatures, and ghastens possessed the lagomorph trait of breeding fast and often.
Luckily, they weren't as formidable as youngsters, and only a careful herd could raise them to adulthood. Otherwise, the countryside would be overrun by the things.
Still, ghastens made for really good eating if you could catch them and not get eaten yourself. A tamed herd was worth more than a clan house.
"Greetings, Parker-ye," Wen-ci said, slowly blinking her eyes.
The ghasten bull snorted and lowered its head to snatch up a mouthful of clover growing by the side of the road. Wen-ci heard the rustle as something lurking by the road made a quick getaway.
She wondered if she was imagining the amused snort of the ghasten bull as it chewed.
"I was hoping to catch you before you got too far," Parker-ye said, sliding off the back of the bull. He patted its flank. "Thank you, Nero. Don't go far, okay?"
The ghasten bull gave him a doubtful look before ambling a few steps away and snatching up another mouthful.
"You wanted to catch up with me?" Wen-ci asked, pulling her attention from the ghasten bull back to Parker-ye. Part of her really wanted to run screaming for the nearest tree and continue the conversation from there, but manners were created for a reason. "And why would that be?"
"I heard that you were going to the Collectives?" Parker-ye rummaged through the bag slung across his chest.
"I might," Wen-ci agreed cautiously.
"Could I trouble you to bring these grapes there? I want to see if they can find me some more," Parker-ye said, pulling out a bunch of grapes.
They looked like a work of art. Each grape was a uniform deep dark purple color. Where the light hit them, a glimmering blue light shone. The vine that connected them was a muted dark green. There were no grapes that were malformed or even bruised.
Wen-ci's eyes widened. She knew those grapes. She'd seen them in the Institute's Lexicon. The thought gave her a faint twinge of guilt. The Lexicon had bonded with her, and even now it rested in her travel satchel, ready and willing to spring to Wen-ci's new inventory at a moment's notice. Wen-ci wasn't even sure just how it had opened up the inventory; it was all so very mystical and mythical. However, one point about it stood out firmly in her mind.
She really, really, really wanted to be far away from her hometown before the Institute's dean discovered that it wasn't sitting snugly in the Institute's library. Even her father would be furious at the thought. The Lexicon was one of the cornerstones of the Institute and had been there ever since its founding, ostensibly added to by centuries of professors.
None of them had ever thought that the Lexicon could be a Key. As far as Wen-ci knew, no one thought that there was a Key sitting in the capital of Liannenken. Otherwise, who knew how many enemies would have been besieging the city? Keys were also a mystical, mythical existence that most beings thought were ancient legends or just pure fairy tales.
"Did you really want to know if they could find you more Grapes of Darkness?" Wen-ci asked, looking from the grapes to Parker-ye.
"No," Parker-ye shook his head. He glanced around nervously. "What I really want is for you to see if there are any more, uh, 'weird two-leggers' like me."
"What do you mean?" Wen-ci was intrigued. There were differences?
"You can't see the forums, um," Parker-ye stopped and blushed. "I was wondering if there were anyone else with farm animals or special pets or something like that?" He ran a hand through his hair. "I heard a rumor that someone was trying to get their hands on animals like Nero."
Behind him, Nero snorted again. It turned a disdainful eye on Wen-ci as if daring her to believe that someone other than Parker-ye could handle him.
"I raised Nero from a little thing. No clue he was going to grow so big," Parker-ye admitted. "He's special. I wouldn't have a herd without him. He just gathers them up somehow."
"Your bull was the one who gathered your herd?" Wen-ci asked. She blinked at the information. "I thought that you conquered a herd or something."
Parker-ye shook his head.
"No, once Nero got older, he would disappear and then reappear with a cow every so often. Then it got as big as it is now. He's the one who picks the culls, not me." Parker handed the grapes to Wen-ci. "The grapes are just an excuse. I have the seeds I need for them, but I didn't want anyone to get suspicious."
"Okay," Wen-ci agreed. She glanced at Nero who was ambling back towards Parker-ye.
She watched as the bull stopped behind Parker-ye and snuffled his hair amiably. Parker-ye froze and then ducked away with a muffled yelp. She could have sworn that the bull laughed in some indefinable way.
"Anyways, if you can get any news about something like that, I'd be highly appreciative. I can give you some more grapes like those or some of the opposite caliber." Parker-ye shook his head, ruffling his hands through his hair frantically.
"You have Grapes of Light?" Wen-ci asked. She ached to drag Parker-ye back to his lab and wherever he was keeping all these various goodies.
She had a very good, ancient recipe that called for both Grapes of Light and Grapes of Darkness. Wen-ci couldn't even imagine how popular her brother's restaurant would be with that vintage on the menu. Of course, her main concern was tasting the wine herself, first, before letting anyone else have it.
"It was a quest reward," Parker-ye muttered as if that explained everything, and in a way, it did. Quests were mysterious things. "I can give you some when you come back."
"Of course," Wen-ci started. She tucked the Grapes of Darkness into her travel bag. She could almost taste their smoky flavor. "Is there anything else, Parker-ye?"
"Um, nope. Have a safe trip," Parker-ye said. He turned to his bull. "Nero! No eating my hair! Bad ghasten!"
Nero made a sad little noise. It even made Wen-ci feel bad for him. It had an even better effect on Parker-ye who winced as if someone had hit him.
"It's not so bad. You're not so bad," Parker-ye hastily said. He reached into his pocket. "Here? Does Nero want some deer jerky? Nice, tasty deer jerky?"
Wen-ci resisted the urge to shake her head. Nero perked up, bouncing around like he was a small dog instead of a hulking predator weighing nearly a ton. Parker-ye tossed the jerky into Nero's mouth, laughing happily as Nero snapped it up and then gave him a lick with a long pink tongue.
"Again, have a safe trip!" Parker-ye called as he hopped onto Nero's back.
With a careless wave, the ghasten bull turned around and loped back towards the distant lights of the Liannenken capital.
Wen-ci paused for a long instant before shaking her head.
"That was interesting," she told herself. Then, not able to resist, she plunged her hand into her travel bag and pulled out a Grape of Darkness. "An honest to goodness legendary fruit," she marveled before popping it into her mouth.
She closed her eyes as she savored the taste. Letting out a pleased noise, she pulled out her glass whistle.
"And he has more somewhere," Wen-ci whispered to herself. Then she gave herself a shake.
Wen-ci brought the whistle to her lips and blew. Her father had given it to her with strict instructions. She wasn't to use it anywhere near towns or other non-elven people.
A few moments later, she flinched as a gust of wind whirled around her. She looked up at her first transportation as the whistle crumbled to sand in her hand.
The dragon would only be enough to get her to the border. Then it would be up to her to go further.
Still, it would be more than enough. She wasn't some hothouse flower to wilt at a bit of adversity. Her father had given her information on a new caravan that was forming in the human kingdom two kingdoms over. If she hurried, she'd be able to make it.