"Where are the splints?"

  "Over here!"

  "Keep the tourniquet tight. Don't release until I say so."

  "Go find more clean cloth."

  "Elmer hold her straight."

  "I'm givin' it all I got!"

  "I'll help."

  "No, I need you to hold these in place while I secure it."

  "I think she's awake."

  "Atraeya?" Gramps asked. She groaned. Everything hurt but she didn't have the energy to complain about it. She couldn't even speak. "Don't move. We're almost done."

  "I got more clean cloth." Was that Poe?

  The adults all around her worked fast to fix her leg and tie everything up. It still burned. Every movement, every jostle sent pain up her leg but it was much less than before. She found herself clenching and grinding her teeth to keep herself still or from crying out. An old, calloused hand slipped into hers and she gripped it tight.

  "Almost done, dearie. You're doing so well." If Poe was here, it made sense for Mira to be here as well. The thought calmed her down at least. Soon enough, her leg felt snug and tight in whatever bindings they put on her. It no longer moved wrong or felt off, thankfully.

  "And done. That should hold over until a proper doctor comes over from Brockrote. She should get some rest for now," Chief Trina said.

  Already her eyes were drooping. All her energy had been spent. "Here, drink this. It'll let you sleep through the pain." Mira pressed a glass vial to her lips, which she eagerly drunk down. It was cool, and sweet. She heard Chief Trina gasp before her consciousness faded.

  Atraeya woke up to another setting sun and her stomach practically screaming at her. There was movement at the corner of her eyes, but her vision was too blurry to make out who it was. A woman? "Mom?" Her voice came out cracked and raspy.

  "I'm sorry sweetheart, no. It's Mira." She got up and placed a hand over her forehead, mumbling something about a fever. "Can you sit up? There's a glass of water right here."

  Atraeya tried but her whole body ached. Her leg especially felt as if someone tied it down with extra weights. Mira noticed her struggle to even sit up and helped her, then gently placed the cup of water to her lips like she had done before she fell asleep.

  "What did you give me that made me fall asleep so quick?"

  Mira smirked. "A sleeping potion. It was the last one I got from the previous witch before she got chased out." Atraeya's mouth dropped. Mira dealt with the witch? When? How? Her mind swirled with a thousand questions but the woman kept talking like it was no big deal. "She may not have been a nice woman, but at least her potions were effective. I just didn't think it would knock you out for so long. How's the leg?"

  She looked down at her leg, which was covered with a blanket. It was only now she realized she was in a bed. An actual, proper bead. This must have been gramps' room. "It doesn't hurt anymore. Where's gramps?"

  "Interesting… Elmer is just outside, getting dinner ready. I'll let him know you're awake." With that, Mira left. She took whatever she was sewing with her. Atraeya pulled back the blanket to reveal her leg was splintered and fully wrapped from her thigh to her ankle. Clean bandages, too. It really didn't hurt anymore. Maybe a bit warm, if anything. She tried to move it, but the wrappings were too heavy and her leg too weak.

  "Don't strain yourself, or you might reopen your wound." Atraeya gasped and jumped in her own skin. How did gramps always sneak up on her? She watched as he pulled a chair closer, next to the bed. He groaned as he slowly lowered himself to sit, his hand gripping his cane to keep himself steady. Would she need one too? Her placed a hand on her forehead. "Fever's gone at least. Does your leg hurt?"

  She shook her head. "No."

  "Strange. Doctor gave us some painkillers for when you wake up. She was sure you would be crying. Bah! It probably wouldn't even work all that well anyways," he grumbled. That was probably true. Witches were the ones who solved problems. Doctors just identified them. Without a witch a doctor was stuck with primitive solutions they didn't understand how it worked.

  "What happened with the boars?"

  Gramps sighed.

  "Robin killed the mother boar that charged at you, but that pissed off the rest of the sounder. They really got wound up, I'll you that. Bali and Jess got involved in herding them out since they do well against those wild animals. Then the wolves came…"

  "Wolves?" Atraeya shuddered. So they were close by after all.

  "Mm hm. A whole pack of them came out and attacked the wild boars. Some of 'em escaped and the wolves gave chase, but most of the wild boars and their piglets were killed and dragged back into the forest."

  "So they're all gone?"

  Gramps grunted. "For now, but because Duke Hellare took most of the men for the war, and Lord Brockrote is off in the capital with all his retainers, Verdantvale doesn't have the personnel necessary to go on regular boar hunts. Those wild boar will breed their numbers back up in no time, and they'll wander back in to town and cause who knows what havoc."

  Atraeya had never heard of these people before. Duke Hellare? Lord Brockrote? She knew she lived in Verdantvale, that much was clear at least. But what did those two have to do with it? There was a Lady a town over but that's it.

  She tilted her head. "Who are they?"

  "Lord Brockrote is the baron of Brockrote and Verdantvale. You saw his wife a few days ago, Lady Brockrote. And Duke Hellare is the man in charge of the duchy we live in."

  She tilted her head to the other side. "I thought we lived under a king?"

  "Do you think the King has the time to personally manage all this land? You think he cares about whether the chickens from down the street ate the grain on the farms?" Atraeya quickly shook her head. "A King delegates the land he owns. He splits the kingdom into duchies, and that Duke splits his lands smaller and smaller until there's only a barony left.

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  This information was all much too much for Atraeya. It didn't concern her at all so she decided to forget all about it and focus on the current situation. "So… is the farm alright?"

  "No. Those boars dug up what little they could, and killed a lot more. Not just our plot, but many others', and the community farms."

  No farms meant no food. No food meant death. Surely they wouldn't starve right? "There's still time to plant more right?"

  "We're more than halfway through summer. It's too late to plant the summer crops and much too early for the fall crops."

  Her face fell. Gramps didn't have to say it outright. They would surely starve. Her mind raced with any possible solution. Anything that could help them. Could they hunt the wolves for meat? No. They could barely hunt those boar and those just wandered right in. "What if… what if there was a potion? To make the earth grow crops faster?"

  "Absolutely not. You would have to out yourself to the entire village if you want to use it."

  "Then I'll just use it on our plot! No one would know!"

  "They absolutely would! What do you think if our plot was the only one growing the food? Especially when they saw multiple wild boar were around our house? They would suspect a witch in an instant."

  "Elmer is right, Atraeya." The door opened to reveal Mira with a bowl of oatmeal. "Don't even think of making any potions, especially when you're still recovering."

  Atraeya gasped. They had been speaking so loudly, she had forgotten that there was still someone else in the house. "Wait! I-I mean! I'm not-"

  "It's alright. I figured it out a while ago." Mira sighed and handed her the oatmeal. "You're just a kid. I cannot possibly imagine what you have been through, through no fault of your own. Not everyone in this village is so blind with their hatred that they would condemn a child who just wants to help her grandfather."

  Atraeya was at a loss for words. A lump formed in her throat at Mira's words and she couldn't swallow. Her face contorted all ugly like and soon enough heavy tears fell from her eyes and her mouth let out an sob. All those emotions she had been trying so hard to hold in burst forward like a broken dam. From just the simplest empathy a neighbor had given her. Something her own mother had forgone the moment she found out she was a witch. A stranger she had never met before coming here was acting a nice as her mother did before that day.

  Atraeya let out all the emotions she had been holding in, her face swollen and red and wet, from both the tears and the snot. Mira at one point sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed her back, which made her cry even harder. Her mother used to do that. As much as she hated to admit it, she did miss her. She missed the way she cooked dinner, with extra salt. She missed the way she would flatten her hair in futility or brush the dirt off her skirts. She missed how she would hum when fixing a button, or lulling her to sleep. She missed the nagging most of all. No one here does any of that.

  And the worst part was that her mother would never take her back. She had been abandoned, and could have been dead in the city for all her mother knew. And even then that wouldn't have changed anything. Her mother wasn't out looking for her. She wasn't about to turn up on gramps' doorstep, crying and begging for forgiveness. Atraeya didn't matter anymore. It was time to accept that.

  Once she could cry no more, and was reduced to mere sniffles and rubbing her eyes, Mira wiped her face with a spare cloth, and made her drink more water. She was exhausted. The crying had sapped whatever energy she had gained from her near 24 hour sleep and now her leg was beginning to ache and itch.

  "Eat your oatmeal and get some rest, OK?" Gramps asked. She nodded, and did as she was told, without any complaints or resistance for once. She ate slow, as she barely had the energy to lift her spoon. Gramps' mouth pressed into a hard line as he watched her, deep in thought. Though he didn't voice any of them and she held no desire to listen. He took the empty bowl from her, and she fell back asleep without another peep.

  When she next woke up, Mira was gone and in her spot was gramps, carving wood. As he usually did. He glanced over at her when he felt her wake up. His brow briefly creased with concern before shifting back to his usual grumpy self. Like she never even cried. Atraeya was slightly grateful, and oddly refreshed, as well. She could easily sit up. Gramps watched for any signs of pain, but there wasn't any. "I feel much better," she said before he could ask.

  "Do you now? How's your leg?" He got up and placed a hand on her forehead again.

  "Fine."

  "Fever gone down again… Try moving your leg." Atraeya yanked back the covers and first tried her toes. They wiggled just fine. But when she went to move her entire leg to the side is when a bolt of pain ran through the entire limb. She yelped in pain, clutching her thighs tightly until it subsided. Gramps nodded as if that was fully expected. "You might have been using your mana subconsciously to fix your leg. That's what that fever is. But it ain't gonna fix the whole thing all at once. You're gonna have to stay in bed for at least a week."

  "A week!? But that's forever!"

  "Consider yourself lucky, young lady! Any other person would have died from that injury, and if they survived, they would be out for months. And even then they'd be limping and using a cane just like me!"

  Atraeya paused at that. Months? She would rather have the week, in that case. Especially if her witch mana was helping. Gramps was nagging but in this case he was right, so she listened. "But what will I possibly do while I sit here for an entire week?"

  Gramps shrugged. "You can keep reading that book of yours. See if you can find anything useful. Besides making the earth grow crops better. Where is it, anyway?"

  "I brought it to the cottage in the woods… I didn't want anyone to find it here, so I thought that was the best place!"

  "Fine," gramps sighed. "Poe can get it, then." He nodded as if that was that and went to get up.

  "Wait! It's not just out in the open!" Gramps stopped, his eyebrow raised as if telling her to continue. "I put it in the floor, under the rug by the bed. Where I found it."

  He nodded and left, and Atraeya was left to her thoughts. It looked like the middle of the day, judging by the amount of light in the room. Gramps should have been at work, but he was here instead. Her heart fluttered with the idea that he had sat by her all night and waited for her to wake up. It was comforting. He wasn't her parents, but he still cared for her like one. That meant she just needed to work harder. Be more careful. Listen to his rules…

  If she had just listened in the first place she would have had a working leg still. Don't go out at night, gramps had said. And what did she do? Exactly what she was told not to. If she had listened to her mother… Instantly her emotions plunged into the depths as before, but she shook her head to free the thoughts. She shouldn't let it get to her. It was no good to keep ruminating on the past.

  A while later, Poe knocked on the door and peeked in. Upon seeing her awake, opened the door wide open and walked in, a heavy book held in both his hands. Her heavy book. "Elmer said you wanted your book?"

  "You found it! Yes, thank you," she said, her arms outstretched to retrieve it from his arms. However his face dropped. His arms loosened on the book and she feared he would drop it.

  "Seriously? I thought he was pranking me cause he knew I was scared to go in there! Don't girls like flowers when they're sick?"

  "Flowers aren't going to temper my boredom, Poe."

  He frowned. "Fine. Here's your stupid book then." He slammed it on the edge of the bed and ran out the door. She spotted half plucked, half wilting, colorful flowers near falling out of his back pocket as he ran out.

  Atraeya shrugged and opened the book, only to realize she also left her name stick back at the cottage as well. It was going to be significantly more tough to read the recipe book now that her cheat sheet was gone. It gave her a headache trying to read it, but with nothing else to do but sleep, she kept at it. Slowly her memory came back to her on some of the more common letters, and from there she could start to decipher and sound out the words.

  Her first task was to find some sort of potion that would mitigate the damage the wild boars had done on all the farms. Gramps had said no, but maybe there was a way to be more discrete?

  She stopped herself. This was exactly what she should not be doing. But there was no harm in checking, right? If there wasn't, then that was that and she would move on from that goal. But if there was, then she considered it her duty as both a witch, and a citizen of Verdantvale, to help the village that had welcomed her so warmly.

  She would only try to read the first few lines on the pages to get a gist of what the potion was, if it was not outright named. Each page was dedicated to one potion each, and it was a rather thick book. Some pages were cramped, with notes in the margins, and edits and clarifications between all the lines. While others flowed more cleanly, with beautiful illustrations and clear diction hinting at their steadfast recipe through the ages. It was certainly going to take her more than a few days to get through even half of the book.