CHAPTER THREE

WAXING GIBBOUS

RUBY

Several hundreds of miles from where she was supposed to be stuck in a ditch with a storm raging on, hiding them from the hunters, Ruby stirred a pot of stew. Watching the storm through the window, she prayed it was enough to keep them all safe for at least another day or two until she finished fixing the wheel. Krisdon, one of the orcs she saved from Vandale, was carving her a new wheel to at least get them out of the ditch and into Orrin's territory. Her magical reading wagon crafted by Dwarves was special and would require a proper wheel to get her all the way to Cloteal, she only hoped that Krisdon's spare would hold up for the little time she needed. It was only a matter of time before Scroggins made his next move and she could only hope she'd made her move first.

Ruby sighed heavily, knowing she did too much this time, and paused her stirring. No matter how much she tried to justify what she did, it caused a bigger scene than she meant to. She was only going to get the orcs out of Vandale, the female was pregnant, and the male was obviously protective of her, but when she saw the moth child, she just couldn't leave him behind. As the awful Orion Hunter tried to sell her some of his pets from his prized collection, she saw the lizardman and the shifters and was torn with what to do. The longer she stood there staring at them, she couldn't bear to leave any of them behind. Ruby blamed her mother for her big heart that got her into all the trouble but had no regrets taking all seven and a half of them with her, though it made escaping Vandale and passing through Abernathy that much more difficult.

She once considered Luneburg the vilest city with the corrupt politicians and Lemnos scientists lurking about, but it was tame compared to the Orion Hunter's headquarters Vandale. Vandale was the bloodiest and most inhumane town in all Losenia, especially with Lemnos working together with Orion. Dressed in her nicest bonnet and blue dress with extra petticoats and crinoline to appear like any well-to-do lady from Luneburg, she'd managed to sneak into Vandale, shaking in her boots with the constant fear they'd sniff her out and burned her alive for being a witch. It was a miracle not of her own doing that there was an uprising in the pits and that gave her the slimmest of chances to convince Krisdon to follow her out of there.

She used a cloaking spell to make them invisible and with focused concentration teleported them to the inner level of her wagon. She nearly fainted by the time the Orion Hunter had returned, who apologized for the disruption and asked her to leave. She agreed easily and he escorted her to her wagon, completely oblivious to his missing personal collection, and had set her on her merry way. She'd made it all the way to Abernathy before he realized his collection was missing. They stopped her twice while she was in town and nearly tore her wagon apart twice looking for the missing seven, only to come up empty each time.

Even when they let her go on about her day, Ruby knew they'd come after her again. She felt their eyes everywhere she went in town, to the dressmaker to order bolts of fabric, the grocer when she made her large orders to make it across the desert, and while she was in the post office stamping her telegram to Mamá Teodora. The Blue-Eyed Dragon Witch, Lady Weatherspoon helped her hide the overabundance of food she'd purchased while the hunters so generously assisted her in loading her wagon down with her fabric and Ruby stayed with her for nearly a week waiting before she decided to cast an illusion spell of her leaving to throw the hunters off her trail.

Lady Weatherspoon had her husband's men load up all the food she'd purchased in under an hour, and she'd managed to make it out of town without anyone questioning her. With the strongest of hugs and the promise of a rainy protection spell, Ruby set out to the mountains.

She had three days head start before a nasty lightning storm in the dead of night chased them off track and the wagon hit a rock and sent them into a ditch. Her old reliable horse Duncan managed to not break or sprain anything, but her front right wheel was splintered, and they'd been stuck in the mountains for three days. Lady Weatherspoon was smart with her storms and used them both as a shield and guide for her, but to send her so far south meant trouble was closer than she liked.

Lightning laced the sky and made her head ache and sent a shiver through her at how angrily it sparked across the sky. The trouble was much closer than she liked, and she nibbled at her lower lip with worry. She quickly slid the curtain over it, stirred the stew once more, before turning the heat down and wiping her hands on the towel draped over the handle. A knock at the doorway of her kitchen nearly made her scream as she turned and wielded her wooden spoon like a knife.

"Easy, Ms. Ruby, it's just me." Zelline, Krisdon's mate, held her hands up in surrender with a lopsided grin, allowing the golden caps on her shaved down tusks glinted in the light.

"Zelline!" Ruby slumped in relief against her counter and nearly lost the spoon in the stew. "I'm so sorry, honey. I was lost in thought and didn't hear ya come in."

Zelline's blue eyes crinkled at the edges as she smiled and pointed to the giant blue speckled enamel stew pot, "I came to see if you needed help with supper."

"Oh. . ." Ruby let out a puff of air, trying to situate her thoughts again, before clearing her throat, pointing to the half open cupboard where she kept the bowls and cups. "Um, you can grab the bowls from the cupboard there."

Zelline nodded as she entered the small kitchen and grabbed the enamel bowls from the cupboard. Keeping her back to Ruby, Zelline asked, "Everything all right, Ms. Ruby?"

"Yes, yes." Ruby threw on her best smile and reached for a ladle. "Just mentally mapping which way to go from here."

Zelline hummed thoughtfully as she looked at Ruby. Ruby felt herself shrink under that knowing look and strained to keep her smile free of worries. "My Krisdon should be finished with your new wheel soon, and as soon as this rain lets up, we should be able to leave come sunup."

"That's excellent news!"

It was music to her ears but didn't give her enough relief for her smile to meet her eyes. The rain that Lady Weatherspoon sent cloaked them and kept the hunters away, however the moment it stopped raining they really needed to run like the wind to Cloteal. She didn't like contemplating her odds with how far south they were when they needed to go so far west.

Sensing her unease, Zelline looked her over and reached an indigo handout to hers with a tentative squeeze. "You sure you're all right, Ms. Ruby?"

"Yes, yes." Ruby spoke as reassuringly as she could and squeezed her hands back with the biggest smile she could manage. "Just a little tired is all."

Before Ruby could turn away and start portioning out food, Zelline caught her chin in her hand and narrowed her eyes at Ruby. "Have you been sleepin' Ms. Ruby?"

The baby wasn't here yet and Zelline was already proving to be an excellent mother with her speculative observational skills. Ruby smiled with a small nod as she gently pulled her chin away from the orcian woman. "Course I have, honey, if I didn't, I wouldn't be standing, now, would I?"

"If you say so, Ms. Ruby." The tight line on Zelline's face told her she didn't believe her, but she took a step back to gather the bowls all the same. "We're all counting on you, so if you need to take a little time to yourself, there's no shame in it, especially with everything you've already done for us."

Shame filled Ruby Zelline's kind words for lying to her. Ruby slept when she could, but she was determined to keep as many of her spells going as she could to keep them all safe. There wasn't a need for a cloaking spell so long as the rain kept up, but the rain was inconsistent, and Duncan could get cantankerous when he was wet. She managed to free all seven of them, but she also needed to keep them alive until she got them to Cloteal. Once they were in Mamá Teodora's loving hands, she'd have a good rest then.

The orcian woman helped her fill the bowls with soups and carry them out to the dining table she had in the other room. As she and Ruby set the bowls down on all the tables Zelline bellowed, "Dinner!"

The scurry of feet warmed Ruby's heart as all the others came down the hall. The black haired green eyed werecat sisters Nikita, Nurine, and Nassoma came first, quickly taking their seats, while Jerjan, the horned lizard man took his time and carried Cavender, the moth boy on his shoulders. Cavender's antennae were drooping like he wasn't ready to be awake yet and clung to the horns atop Jerjan's head.

"Come, pequeña polilla," Jerjan encouraged, trying to rouse the mothing from his shoulders, only to have the little fella groan and cling tighter. "Time to eat!"

"I'll get him." Zelline huffed as she tactfully plucked the sleeping mothling from Jerjan and gently bounced him in her arms.

"Gracias, Zelline." Jerjan dipped his head as he took his seat and carefully wrapped his tail around the leg of the chair.

"No worries, just gives me extra practice." She smiled wildly, allowing a hand to fall to her rounded belly, and glanced down the hall for her husband. "Krisdon!"

"Coming!" He called back with a tone of excitement. His footsteps were heavy as he entered the room with the freshly carved wheel resting proudly in his hands. It was a little rough around the edges as she only had a human sized carving knife for him to use, but it looked sturdy enough to carry the weight of the front of the wagon.

"Krisdon, it's wonderful!" Ruby gasped and clasped her hands together. "So talented, thank you!"

"No trouble. I'm happy to help." His smile was wide and crooked with his overgrown curling tusks. "It's the least I could do after what you've done for us, Ms. Ruby." Krisdon set the wheel on the wall and held his hands out wide at the table. "Let us feast!"

Krisdon took his seat at the table beside Zelline and joined in the eating and Ruby took hers at the head of the table. Ruby managed to spoon the hearty stew into her mouth, but she couldn't taste all the flavors with the guilt plaguing her heart. Her mind was trapped in fear of keeping them alive for the journey to Cloteal that she'd overdone it with some of the meals. With how starved they all were when she took them from Vandale and how much Zelline needed to keep her baby strong, she hadn't used her supplies as sparingly as she should've, and she was worried if they were going to have enough to cross the desert. She could always stop in the lizardfolk underground town Warren's Edge and trade with if she needed to, but the only thing of value was the fabric she had for Mamá Teodora, and they hadn't quite cared for it the last time she tried to trade it.

Letting her spoon fall back into her bowl, Ruby glanced around at the others and felt a sense of pride at seeing how well they all fared after a few weeks of her cooking. Their cheeks were fuller, their eyes held more life, and the energy was filled with a sort of happiness that she wanted to keep for them. She hated thinking what would've happened if she left any of them behind now that they were all healing.

Krisdon and Zelline would have a family in freedom; Señor Jerjan eyes didn't leak blood anymore after so much overuse in the fighting ring; The werecat sisters were able to play and joke with one another without fear and even played with Cavender when he was awake. Sweet little Cavender probably the worst injuries with his tiny, beautiful wings in tatters after he was thrown into the fighting ring. They would still grow with him, but there was very little chance he could fly again. It broke Ruby's heart to think about and for the last few nights she'd scoured over her healing books for a spell that would work for his delicate wings.

Picking up her spoon again, Ruby decided she'd do everything within her power to keep them alive. Now that she had another wheel, she would talk to the centaurs in the area about some directions and try to get on her way as quickly as possible. The centaurs tolerated her enough due to her history with Orrin to allow her to trace the very edges of their lands, but they wouldn't want her in their territory for long.

As hope for a better tomorrow filled her, Ruby silently prayed to the gods that Mamá Teodora would notice her absence and send someone to help her just get to Cloteal.