Chapter 2

  “What are you waiting for? Are you scared? What are you, some kind of Rat?”

  Graham clenches his jaw at the insult. He held his tongue as he continued to circle his opponent with his shield held before him and his shortsword poised to strike. He wasn’t going to let his opponent get him riled up that easily. That’s how he ended up in this predicament to begin with.

  “Fine, have it your way.”

  The other Mouse hoisted the two-handed axe behind him and charged at Graham, letting loose a battle cry. In a wild horizontal swing, the red-furred Mouse tried to take the head off of the smaller brown Mouse before him. Seeing the axe flying at him at impressive speed, Graham hurriedly ducked below the axis of the…axe, making sure to bring his ears down with him so they didn’t get caught up in the mayhem. Poised in a crouching position, he shoved his shield into the exposed gut of the Mouse standing in front of him. A small grunt of pain came from the bigger Mouse but he barely moved a foot. Using the momentum, the bigger Mouse pivoted on his foot and brought his axe back around for another pass. Graham, wide-eyed, barely raised his shield in time and caught the axe head straight on, making him tumble away, nearly losing the grip on his sword from the sheer force of the swing.

  Standing up, he lightly shook the dust off his head and ears and once again took his stance in front of the Mouse Brute. Graham clicked his tongue looking at the Brute wearing the same characteristic sneer he had when the confrontation began. He had to find an opening, or he would get squashed by that oversized axe, and the last thing he’d see would be that damned sneer. He’d wipe that look off of the bigger Mouse’s face if it was the last thing he did. The fight had escalated way past the reason it began.

  This time taking the initiative, Graham rushed forward, trying to catch the Brute off guard. Graham swings his sword in a diagonal slash towards the Mouse’s shoulder but it’s easily deflected by the axe. Recovering into a horizontal slash, Graham’s strike is once again deflected as the Brute simultaneously side steps behind Graham and kicks him square in the back, sending the smaller Mouse tumbling once again.

  “See that, boys?” the Brute shouts as he rests his axe on his shoulder. “Little Mouse wants to be a big Knight in shining armor! Running to protect others when he can’t even protect himself. Pathetic. You wouldn’t last two seconds against a Feral.” Three bigger mice snicker off to the side. Two of them had already exchanged bets on how much longer Graham would last before passing out or surrendering.

  “You should just go work in the Sunfields like your Mother and your Rabbit friend. You shouldn’t be anywhere near a battle.”

  Seeing that his back was turned, Graham rushed to attack Hould. Noticing his advance, Hould turns to Graham with a sinister smile on his face, ready for the Mouse to try and make his move. Feinting to the right, Graham manages to catch the cocky Mouse off-guard and spins around on his left foot to deliver a decent slash to the larger Brute’s arm, drawing blood for the first time.

  “Heh, looks like you might have some fight after all. More fun for me, then.”

  This time, Hould doesn’t wait for Graham and rushes at him with an underhanded axe swing, which Graham barely manages to move out of the way of, losing a couple of hairs and a whisker or two. Recovering the strike into an overhead swing that would cleave any creature in half, Graham desperately rolls out of the way to Hould’s right side, his axe slamming into the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.

  Recovering from the roll, Graham discovers that the larger Mouse had abandoned his weapon in the ground and instead delivers a swift knee to Graham’s head before grabbing him by the back of his vest and throwing him almost a full 20 feet across the clearing.

  Graham picks himself up out of the dust and spits out a mouthful of blood. Looking over to the side of the clearing, he could see the three mice brutes were laughing at him, and on the opposite side, he saw a familiar Rabbit with half of her face covered with her paw as she watched Graham bite the dust. Again. Her eyes were already pooling with the tears that Graham knew there’d be no stopping once that dam was broken. Still tasting the iron of blood in his mouth, Graham hastily tried to catch his breath. Getting pulverized in a fight was tiring work, apparently. Who knew?

  “I will be a Knight. Being a Knight is about more than just strength.”

  “You know, all the Knights who said that usually already had the strength to back up their words. Stop kidding yourself. Just lay down and don’t get back up like a good little Mouse.” Hould started twirling his axe playfully as he walked closer to where Graham was trying to catch his breath. Even the wind stilled as Graham uttered his response.

  “Never.”

  Shrugging, Hould charged once again with a roar, his axe looming, looking to take Graham out of the fight for good.

  “Stop this tomfoolery!” A loud female voice rang.

  Several Rabbits entered the clearing behind the younger one that was already watching in astonishment.

  “That’s enough, you lot. Go back to the Burrow.”

  “Ms. Roxy! It’s my fault I told Graham to meet me out here and–” The younger, brown and white rabbit began.

  “Silence, child. I’ll hear of this later. Go on! And rest assured your parents will hear of this! No, not you. You stay.” The Rabbit gestured to the barely-standing Graham.

  The Mouse Brutes wandered back into the forest, grumbling. Strong as they are, they knew not to antagonize the Druids of House Clearfoot. Watching them go, the Rabbit identified as Ms. Roxy scowled as only Rabbits could at the backs of the Mousefolk wandering back into the trees, stealing glances back at Graham who had moved to sit down in the clearing, still shaken up from the beating he took. The entourage of Rabbits moved over to Graham, but none so fast as the young Rabbit who had already seen the fight.

  “Graham! Are you ok?” The rabbit made a waving motion with her arms, drawing the visage of a leaf with green energy-tipped paws before pressing into it, sending a soft green glow into Graham’s seated form, visibly restoring the cuts and bruises that he had accrued in the bout.

  “Thanks, Fleur. I owe you one. You’re not hurt are you?”

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  “No no no. Those Brutes never touched me. Thank you for saving me.”

  “Graham Northtail, was it?” The pair looked up at the other Rabbits that had made their way into the clearing.

  “Yes, ma’am. I appreciate you looking out for me. But I had it handled.”

  “Stubborn and foolhardy, just like your father was. How is your mother these days?”

  “She’s…better. You knew my father?” Graham looked up at the Rabbit with a curious glance, completely ignoring the question. He had never gotten to meet his father. He had left long before he was born; went off to slay monsters, his mother had said.

  Ms. Roxy chuckles. “Come, children. We’ll have tea. And maybe pie if there’s some left.”

  At the mention of pie, Graham immediately perked up, despite the beating he just took. With hardly a thought, he confidently strolled after Ms. Roxy, who was leading them away from the clearing and into the forest, followed by her entourage of Rabbits, none of whom spoke during the exchange.

  Leaving for a Rabbit village with what was basically a complete stranger? Yes. I mean, who was he to turn down free pie? Getting to see the Rabbit village again was a plus, too. He hadn’t been since early Fall, since he had to help prepare Burrow and some of the other surrounding farm villages for the Winter.

  Following closely behind the group of rabbits, Graham looked around at the forest that was now fully into Spring, the last embrace of Winter had gone, giving way to the bloom that now spread through the forest, celebrating the return of warm sunshine. Flowers of all colors and sizes bloomed along the path they now walked on, already being visited by butterflies and bees alike, starting their working seasons of pollination. Birds chatted in the trees and also sang their melodies, celebrating the new year. The Spring Festival would be happening soon depending on when the Sage of the Earth decided to wake up from his Winter slumber.

  Soon enough, the path and the canopy of the trees opened up into a series of cottages all surrounding a much larger tree in the center whose canopy towered over the surrounding trees, making the small village that rested at its base seem almost like it was in a massive cave. This was Honeypot Village, the nearest farming village to the Burrow, the Mousefolk city to the East. There were no guards here watching the roads, for the borders of this village were maintained by the Clearfoot Druids, so the trees themselves offered more than enough protection against any would-be invaders. Though the village didn’t have to worry about anything of the sort since the Predatory Wars almost a dozen Winters ago now. Back then, the predators of the forest were leading small bands of raiders, mostly Squirrels, into believing they could conquer the forest and rule over it themselves. After the wars ended and the Predators scattered, the Squirrels mostly kept to themselves, having been shunned by the rest of the woodland folk for their more-than-willing participation.

  The small convoy of critters slowly made their way through the village where various Rabbits milled about, tending to their gardens, or fixing roofs or fences that had weathered during the Winter months. As Ms. Roxy passed them, most turned and waved to the older rabbit leading the pack, calling out greetings and pleasantries, all of which Roxy returned. The feeling of Spring was still fresh in the air which meant the whole village was abuzz with cheer and general well-wishings of their neighbors after the harsh Winter. Winter was hard everywhere in the valley. Even along the Northern shores to the Salty Sea, the cold would invade. Most of the Birdfolk flew past the Salty Sea and over towards the land beyond, where Humans and other Largefolk dwelled. They didn’t interact, though. If there was one thing that the denizens of the valley agreed on, it was that larger creatures bring about even larger problems.

  Graham adjusted the shield on his back as he walked and rubbed his shoulder with a sigh.

  “Graham? Are you still hurt? Oh my gosh don’t worry I’ll hit you with another healing spell!”

  “Fleur, a healing spell won’t heal wounded pride. Right, Graham?”

  With a sigh Graham turned to Fleur with a downcast look.

  “She’s right, Fleur. Let’s just go get some tea.”

  Graham straightened his back and jogged up to catch up with the Rabbits in front. Fleur watched his back and sighed. For all the healing that she could do, she still couldn’t help her best friend.

  Ms. Roxy led the crowd to the base of the large tree, where it appeared that a two story cottage stood, smoke already wafting out of the chimney, with the scent of a fresh-baked pie in the air, which Graham quickly picked up on and started drooling.

  “Thank you, all, you may return to your duties.” As one, the Rabbits that had accompanied Ms. Roxy bowed to her and began scattering to different parts of the village from whence they had come, still as silent as when they had arrived.

  “Do they not talk?” Graham asked curiously, watching them return to their duties, which apparently involved using their nature magic to clean up the streets, tend to weeds, and maintain general order in the village.

  “They do not, at least not in the same way as you and I do. They are Druids. In service of nature, they’ve offered their voices in contract for the powers they possess. Instead they commune through nature itself. They can speak to one another or any other who hold the contract. I myself once walked that path. Though that was long ago, long before either of you were born.” Ms. Roxy looked at both Fleur and Graham.

  “Then how are you able to talk now?” Fleur and Graham both were looking at Ms. Roxy in amazement now.

  “You’re only bound to serve for 20 Winters, then, if you are willing, you may leave the service of nature. Though I still serve nature in my own way, as all who dwell in the valley do.”

  “But who makes the contract? It’s gotta be someone strong right? Is there someone stronger than you that does it?”

  Ms. Roxy laughs heartily before answering the young and inquisitive Rabbit.

  “Dear one, the contract is with the Tree itself. You do know of this Tree’s importance, do you not?”

  Graham could only direct his sense of wonder over to Fleur, for he had grown up in the Burrow, not subject to the tales and folklore that surrounded Honeypot Village. Though the village was less than a day’s walk from the main city entrance to the Burrow, the cultures were significantly different, in no small part due to the Druids’ protections around the village. Graham was one of the only Mousefolk from Burrow allowed in, these days.

  “Yes ma’am, I know the story by heart! It’s my dream to one day be like Villia!”

  “A fine goal for a budding Druid.” Ms. Roxy smiles. “It seems we have a lot to discuss with young Graham here.” She gestured to the positively vibrating Graham standing next to Fleur. Graham couldn’t control the swishing of his tail in his excitement and a passing Rabbit almost paid the price for it.

  “Excuse me Mr. Mouse? Could you please not do that with your tail? Someone could get hurt.”

  “Oh, uh, I’m sorry!” Graham hugged his tail close to his chest to try and hide his reddened cheeks.

  Ms. Roxy chuckles again while waving to the passing Rabbit in thanks.

  “Come inside, children, and we’ll see about getting some tea and pie while we chat.”

  Ms. Roxy turned and walked toward the door of the house. The house was built entirely of stone, and had roots from the tree whose base it was built at running through the stones and accenting nicely with the dark gray of the stone. It looked as if the stone house was being retaken by nature and pulled back into the ground from whence it came.

  The front door gave a loud creak as Ms. Roxy opened the door, beckoning them inside from the doorway. They could already see the fire roaring in the hearth inside, fighting off whatever wisps of Winter dared still reside in the village.

  Graham and Fleur gave each other a sidelong glance and together strolled up to the front door of the building that had a sign hanging above it reading Villia’s Respite.