Chapter Nine: Dinner with the Rune-Weavers

Dusk had fallen on the Great Valley, and a particular group of adolescent dinosaurs had gotten a firm scolding from their guardians. Rhina and Sharpfrill had also gotten their own harsh punishment from their families. However, the frill-heads didn't seem sorry for what they had instigated. They made up excuses, and whatever was said to them had passed over their frilled heads.

With her dinosaur friends grounded to their nests, Remy returned to Suri's home. It would have been awkward if she had hung around just to listen to their punishments. She returned just as the family of four was finishing preparing dinner. Suri looked up from where she placed the last of the plates. She smiled and greeted Remy with a wave.

"How was your day with the dinosaurs?"

"Eventful." Remy sighed, shrugging her quiver and arrows off and setting them beside the guest bedroom.

"That sounds like it didn't go well." Suri placed silverware next to each of the five plates, listening to Remy recount her latest adventure inside the Great Valley.

"Well…" Remy leaned over the chair she usually sat in when she shared meals with the family. "After I found Littlefoot, we both went over to see Ducky's mom's nest. The atmosphere was pretty tense and sad since all her mom could think was about the children she lost. Then, we went to see Maia's eggs, and she nearly attacked us because one of her eggs went missing. After that, Littlefoot showed all five of us to this really cool waterfall. Then I saw a pair of suspicious claw-hands. We chased them past the Sinking Sands, where we then heard screaming and had to pull out Branchback's niece and Teosa's two kids from the sand. After that, Littlefoot showed us this really cool tree, but then these two horn-faces bullied their way to the tree, riled up Cera, and a fight broke out. Topps found us, and now the Gang is grounded to their nests."

Remy laughed, pulling her wavy dark brown hair out of its ponytail. "I can't believe dinosaurs can be grounded just like normal teenagers. I mean…I guess it isn't too far off since they are sentient, but it's just so strange." She shook out her hair, combing her fingers through it until the waves were relatively smooth.

"It does sound like you had an eventful day, Remy." Suri's mother commented from where she was cooking some sort of soup. "It's good for those teenagers, though. They needed to be punished a long time ago for all the trouble they get themselves into. Their families have been too soft with them since they survived the journey to the Great Valley all by themselves and killed the great Savage-Carnage."

"Do you have bad opinions on them?" Remy asked.

Ima sighed. "Teenagers can be rebellious. They need to know what is right and wrong, and if they do something wrong, they should be punished for it so that they learn from it. They are all good kids, but they manage to get themselves in more trouble than any other resident in the Valley."

"Maybe it's because everyone knows about them. They are Savage-Carnage's killers after all." Suri brought the still warm, freshly baked bread to the dinner table. "It sounds like Sharpfrill and Rhina aren't the greatest of dinosaurs. They are like the sprinter Hyp and his friends Nod and Mutt. Those three enjoy picking on those younger than them."

"Yeah. It's kind of odd to think that those bullies are just as much of a mixed group as my friends. A sprinter, a stone-body, and a spike-thumb. Unlike Rhina and Sharpfrill, they don't seem to care about the type of dinosaur." Remy shook her head and stared hungrily at the bread. "Anyway, how do you make food like bread in this realm? It looks as good as something I'd eat at home."

"We make most of the stuff we need, but there are larger human settlements that my husband and I will journey to trade goods. We don't have bread very often. Though, our family is a little more advanced than some of the other weavers. It's an advantage of being a rune-weaver." Ima winked before tasting the soup.

True to the blonde-haired woman's words, there were different runes placed throughout the small log cabin. Several heat runes were carved into the combined stove and oven where Ima currently cooked the soup. It worked just as well as any electrical heating appliance in Remy's home realm, baking and cooking delicious warm meals.

Cold runes were carved into a metal box, making it essentially a refrigerator. Glowing runes were placed throughout the house, keeping areas lit when darkness fell. Every member of the family could easily adjust the amount of magic the runes were siphoning, which changed the rune's output. It was as easy as turning a knob on the stove or pressing a button inside the refrigerator in Remy's realm. And here, in the Valley, magic was plentiful.

"Is dinner ready yet?" a masculine voice asked as the door of the cabin swung open. "It smells delicious."

"Just about," Ima answered. She waved her hand over the heated stone disk the pot sat on, stopping the flow of magic through the heat rune.

Suri's father walked into the cabin, Lumi following him, a strange fruit clutched in his hands. The eight-year-old placed the fruit in the center of the dining table. "Anoda found out what happened from Petrie. She also found out about the tree Littlefoot found. She got a few of the fruits from it. I brought this one back for you."

"Thanks." Remy took the bright blue fruit from the boy. "I think everyone should have a taste of it. It's really delicious."

The family agreed. Soon enough, everyone was seated at the dinner table, digging into their meals. The conversation drifted from how Lumi's own adventure went with his Pteranodon friend. Then, to Ima and Suri's day at home, to which they went herb collecting. Finally, Suri's father told them about his busy day, helping sick younglings and patching up minor wounds.

Once the meal was finished, the family departed to their rooms while Remy and Suri cleaned dishes. The girls didn't mind since it let them chat without worrying too much about who was listening.

"You picked up the arrows from Ebrima, right?" Suri asked Remy as they picked up the dishes and deposited them into the water-filled sink.

"Yes. They look just like the ones my Uncle Yar made. I think you carved the exact same runes that he had carved. Ebrima also crafted the arrows really well. I hope they work just as well as the first ones. Though, I kind of wish I hadn't lost so many of Uncle Yar's arrows."

Suri smiled, dipping her hands into the hot soapy water. The water was heated by a heat rune in the sink while the soapy substance came from a soaproot plant. "I hope they work as good as your uncle's. Some were very complicated, and they took a while for me to draw. Activating the runes took a lot out of me too. But I needed the practice." She stressed the words before Remy could interrupt her.

The blonde-haired girl scrubbed at the plate where a stubborn piece of food had dried. "The more complicated runes must have been Shard sensitive. That explains why your arrows are so reactive to your Shard."

"Shard sensitive runes?"

"Many runes are always active, like the runes I carved on your arrows. For example, one rune keeps your arrows sharp, and another ensures they fly straight. However, combined the runes with the magic of the Shards, and they become extraordinarily powerful. But that doesn't happen automatically. Another rune must be carved and activated near the runes that someone ones to channel the Shard magic. It's believed that's the realm's way of keeping the Shards from reacting with any rune."

Suri pulled a plate from the water, rinsing off the suds with water from a small container. Placing the plate on a drying rack, she turned to Remy. "Do you think your uncle lives in this realm?"

"I don't know. He might. Or maybe he just learned all this stuff from my grandmother, and he knew it would be a great gift. My mom knows about this realm, but she doesn't like it. My uncles and aunt also know about it, so why wouldn't Uncle Yar? Maybe he visited here a few times and was inspired by the runes." Remy grinned. "Maybe he has a book of runes from a friend like I have a book of plants from you. Wouldn't that be cool? If my uncle went adventuring in this dinosaur realm just like me. Or maybe one of my other relatives."

Suri hummed, though it was clear something else was on her mind. "Remember when you mentioned that your mother was uncomfortable speaking about your grandmother?" Suri asked, gazing into the dishwater, deep in thought. "Your mother never told you much of anything about your grandmother. Your mother also never told you anything about this world?"

"Yes."

"My mother is the same way with my uncle." Suri lifted another plate from the water. "She doesn't like talking about him. However, every so often, he's brought up in conversations, especially when family visits. He was talked about a lot when I was younger. I don't know what happened, but everyone speaks about him in hushed voices. From what I've heard, I think he did something bad and paid with his life."

"Really?" Remy took a few of the most recently washed dishes and began drying them with a towel. "I guess we both have some mysteries in our families. Maybe we'll have to solve them together and find out more about our uncles."

"That'd be exciting. I haven't been outside the Great Valley in years. It'd be nice to get out and discover what's out there. I don't want to stay in the Great Valley forever, but my parents don't want me to leave the protection of its walls."

"I guess that means I have to take you on one of our adventures, then," Remy grinned.

The two continued to chat until the dishes were cleaned and dried. Their chatting went on until the moon had risen high in the sky. Late into the night, the two girls finally departed and slipped into their separate bedrooms.