Casual far Ming

by Taylor and Laura

Farmer

3. Book 3

Chapter One - Kept Promises

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 1st day of Summer! 90 days until the Summer Festival, and 363 days until the Spring Festival! Not that I'm counting, of course. Ahh, it's a lovely day, isn't it? Bright skies, clear weather, the perfect weather for planting and harvesting! Storms are expected in the next few days, but nothing too severe.]

Jason sighed deeply, then rolled out of bed and walked up to the window. He pulled it open and stuck his head through, inhaling deeply. The odor of the prairie filled his nostrils, and he sighed deeply. The air was indeed warm, without a drop of dew on the grass. A lovely summer morning in Summer Shandy. He lifted his eyes toward the town, where he saw a thick pillar of smoke rising high into the sky. Instead of being worried, he began laughing at the stark reminder of the previous year's chaos.

"Looks like Theresa really did keep her promise." He shook his head and pulled back through the window, then slid it shut. With that, he strode over to the wardrobe and changed into a pair of clean overalls, then headed down the stairs. They squeaked as much as they always did, and for the third year in a row, he began formulating plans to fix them. This year, though, he had a pressing reason to get it done: In exactly three hundred, sixty-three days, he would be getting married, and it wouldn't do for his new bride to have a house with squeaky stairs.

He was getting married.

He was getting married.

The thought filled his mind as he walked into the

kitchen and sat down at the table. His cookbook began to

flip its pages back and forth in excitement, and he could do nothing but grin back at the object.

"I know, right?" He let out a squeak. "Me! Married! It's... Oh, what will that be like? Am I old enough to get married? What does that even entail? I don't... Hmm." He crossed his arms tightly. Thoughts poured through his head. What would it be like to wake up next to Tess every day? Or, for that matter, to share a house with her? She would just... Always be there. He had grown up in a large family, but now... Now, he would be the father. Well, Tess wasn't pregnant yet, of course, so perhaps father was a bit of a stretch for the immediate future, but certainly the husband. Would he be able to be a good husband? His own father had been a half-decent father and husband, but...

Jason shook his head as the thoughts continued to assail him. "I'll be able to hash those details out with Tess at a later date." He nodded firmly. "For now, I need to get to work. Cookbook?"

The cookbook began to flap its pages once again. "Make me something... nutritious."

There was a flash of light, and a plate of eggs and

hash browns appeared in front of him, with a side of spinach greens. Jason's nose curled up slightly at the spinach, and he sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"Did Tess program you with that?"

The cookbook raised its front cover a few times, seeming to indicate yes. At that, Jason sighed again. Thus far, Tess had been fairly tolerant of Jason's questionable diet. That said, he knew that she was quite a stickler for the greener side of nutrition, and he wasn't looking forward at all to what that would entail.

Oh, well. There was no time like the present to begin practicing. He plugged his nose and gobbled up the spinach, then ate the eggs and hash browns at a more relaxed rate. When that was done, he rose and made his way to the front

of the home. There, he put on his boots and was soon out in the yard.

Lady nickered at him as he came into view, and he smiled and walked over to her stable. He quickly took her out and hitched her up to the post, then poured some oats into her trough. A handful of ideas flickered through his head about how to improve the stable. After all, it wouldn't be long before they had to hold two horses there, and Angus was not a small creature. If Jason wagered a guess, he supposed that Tess's horse weighed at least twice as much as Lady. Angus would make a good workhorse (if Tess allowed it, that is), but it did mean that Jason would have to expand the stable.

Oh, well. There was nothing to be done about it at that time, in any case. As Lady ate, he walked into the lean-to connected to Lady's stable, where he stored all his farm equipment. His planter gleamed in the early morning light, and he leaned down and began to squirt oil across some of the rustier patches. In no time at all, it was ready to go, and he walked back over to Lady, put on her harness, and soon had her hitched up to the planter.

All the while he was doing this, the first weed- monsters of summer were just beginning to appear. A handful of small crabgrasses skittered out and began snapping their wiry pinchers at Lady and the planter. There were a few histles as well, and even a razorgrass. Jason laughed a bit when he caught sight of the lone razorgrass. Those monsters were really quite wonderful for a good bit of entertainment, and it had been almost a year since he had actually seen one. He nearly ignored the creature, but he was feeling in such a good mood that he pulled Lady to a halt, hopped off the planter, and drew his sword.

"Ah-ha!" He cried out. "You come onto my farm to eat my crops and expect no retribution? To that, I say... Die!"

The razorgrass skittered forward on its roots, the metal blades of grass glinting in the early morning light.

Jason struck down at the razorgrass, and it expertly parried his strike, then lunged forward to counter. Jason was only just able to parry the counterstrike, and off they were! Back and forth across the farm they went, until Jason heard hoofbeats in the drive. He turned to see Jeremiah riding up, a broad grin across his face, and Jason waved at him. He then drew a pistol and shot the razorgrass, then holstered the weapon and came walking up to his neighbor.

"Howdy, neighbor!" Jason called out, mimicking Jeremiah's own calling card.

"Howdy, right back atcha." Jeremiah grinned, then swung out of his saddle as he approached. He held out his hand, which Jason shook gratefully. "I didn't really have a chance to congratulate you! You know, on the engagement. I mean, I know I did, and all, but not private-like."

"I get what you're saying!" Jason smiled. "Thanks, it's much appreciated."

"You know, if you ever want marriage advice, you're always welcome to come on over and ask me." Jeremiah flashed a slightly crooked grin. "I'm not going to say the missus and I necessarily have always got along, but we've certainly made it work well enough for us."

"I'll take anything you can give me." Jason chuckled. "I'd..." He bit his lip, then shrugged. "I love Tess a lot, and I don't ever want anything to happen to our marriage after we've been hitched. You guys have been together for... Well, I don't actually know how long, but all your kids are out of the house, so I assume it's been a while!"

Jeremiah chuckled. "We'll be celebrating thirty years here in... Or was that last year?" He frowned and scratched his head. "I dunno. Dates were always Delilah's thing. That's the first bit of advice. Don't ever assume you know when something's going to happen. You'll be in plenty of trouble if you miss it, mind you, but if you get it wrong... Better to miss an anniversary than to be a few days off."

"That sounds like terrible advice, but I'll take it into consideration." Jason flashed a small smile. "Wouldn't it work to just write things on a calendar?"

"Probably." Jeremiah shrugged. "But then you've got to deal with the prospect of writing things down on the calendar wrong, and..."

"Well, I'm sure it won't be a problem for Tess and I."

"Ooh, now that one's going to get you!" Jeremiah chuckled, then started to turn away. "Oh, well. I suppose you'll just have to learn on your own." He swung himself up onto his horse and started to ride away, then paused. "I think I heard that the wedding will be on the Spring Festival next year?"

"That's the plan for the moment." Jason nodded. "You're invited, of course! For that matter..." He paused and kicked at the ground for a moment. "Would you be my best man?"

"Would I ever!" Jeremiah's grin nearly split his face. "You'd better believe I'll be your best man! Why, I'll be the best best man there ever was! You won't regret it."

"We'll see." Jason rolled his eyes.

"You mind if I invite some of my kids to come?" Jeremiah asked as Jason started to turn back to the field. "I know you don't know them and all, but I've been looking for an excuse to get them back here for a visit, and this seems like the perfect opportunity."

"I'll have to ask Tess to be sure, but I'd say the more the merrier!"

"And that's what'll keep you out of trouble. Always ask the missus, unless you're absolutely positive it falls outside her sphere of influence." Jeremiah tipped his hat. "Well, I'll be off, neighbor! Let me know if I can do anything more for you!"

He started to ride away and made it about three feet before Jason heard a loud "Ouch!"

Jason frowned and turned back around, where he saw Jeremiah waving his hat in annoyance.

"What's the matter?" Jason asked, walking over toward him.

"Don't know." Jeremiah scowled. "Something bit me."

Jason frowned, only to hear a soft buzz in his ear. A small insect flashed past his head, so quick it was almost a blur, and landed on his arm. His arm was protected by a long, plaid sleeve, so he wasn't terribly concerned, but he still felt more than a little apprehensive as he gazed down at the thing.

It was about an inch long, blue-green, and kind of shimmered in the sunlight. Its wings were jet-black, and it had enormous pincers that looked as though they could rip his flesh straight from his bone.

"Well, what do you know?" Jeremiah climbed back down from his horse and gazed at the odd insect. "Never seen one of those before. Left a nasty welt on me, I'll tell you that." He held out his left arm, which sported a large, rather red bump. "You ask my opinion, you should squash it quick, then take it into town."

Jason nodded and tried to swat it, but the insect buzzed away long before he could hit it. He wound up simply slapping his arm, and he scowled as Jeremiah laughed.

"Well, here's hoping that was the last we've seen of... whatever that was." Jeremiah swung back up onto his horse and started to ride away. "See you around, neighbor!"

Jason waved at him, and Jeremiah soon vanished down the road. With that, Jason turned back to his field, and took a deep breath.

It didn't take long before he had filled the planter with seed and started off into the field. Lady moved at a fast pace, and they soon had a significant portion of the field covered. They stopped around lunchtime for a quick break, and Jason stabled Lady for a rest while he went inside and

ate a small meal. A bit refreshed, he soon came back out and started up again, and by the time the sun was setting in the sky, he had planted the entire field.

Both he and Lady were exhausted as he put her into the stable. She lay down almost immediately on her bed of hay, and he checked her over for a few long moments before heading inside.

As he closed and locked the front door, he looked around the empty home and sighed deeply. He had so many fond memories of the place. Already, it looked so different. The furniture in the living room had been spruced up a great deal, the wallpaper had been changed, better lights had been put in... It was turning into a proper home. That said, as he stared at the empty hearth, and walked into the kitchen for a quiet dinner alone, he found his heart aching more than a little for his beloved Tess.

Finally, as he finished his meal, instead of heading up to bed, he walked out onto the front porch and sat down in a small chair there. The sun was down, and the stars were twinkling overhead. A few distant lights twinkled across the prairie from Summer Shandy, mostly torches carried back and forth by the few townsfolk who were tying up the remainder of their business. He sighed deeply, watching it for the better part of half an hour.

How he couldn't wait until he had company in the home. Permanent company. It was a dream that he knew now would be coming true... It would just be a full year until he could enjoy it. The feeling was bittersweet, in every sense of the word. He was getting married! It was just... going to take... forever...

He sighed, then climbed to his feet and strode back inside. Well, marriage or no marriage, he had work to do on the following day, and he knew that he needed to get into town relatively soon to talk to Tess about plans. He was soon in bed and felt himself drifting away under the cover of night.

Yes, it would be a long year, indeed. All he could hope, and all indeed he could plan for, was that it would be a pleasant one.

Chapter Two - Lovely Day

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 14th day of Summer! 77 days until the Summer Festival. It's looking like a lovely day today, though we are expecting showers to begin later this evening and run into the next three days or so. If you have outdoor work to get done, now's your chance!]

Jason rolled out of his bed and walked up to the window. Indeed, most of the sky was clear, but as he glanced off toward the horizon, he could see a darkening shadow. Today was his first harvest of the season, which meant he needed to get to work. He jogged over to his wardrobe and dressed quickly, then jogged down the stairs. He waved at the kitchen as he past, then raced out into the yard. Still in his bare feet, he was snapped at by several crabgrasses, but he largely paid them no mind. Instead, he took Lady out of her stable and hitched her up, then went back inside to eat his breakfast while she got herself ready.

"Make me something good to harvest with."

With a flash of light, something that looked like stewed cabbage appeared on his plate. It smelled rather like what he imagined dog vomit might smell like, and his nose wrinkled.

"Ahh... Something not good to harvest with."

With a flicker, a plate of pancakes appeared in front of him. Now that was more like it! He gobbled down the meal, then rose and made his way back out into the yard. Lady had almost finished as well, and he soon had her hitched up to the harvester.

All things considered, harvesting crops was both Jason's favorite and least-favorite job on the farm. It was

fun, inasmuch as it was the triumph of his work. He had planted the crops; he had fought away the monsters that tried to eat them. With the harvest, he got to see the results of that work! The machine itself was quite a marvel, outfitted with whirling blades connected to the wheels. The faster Lady pulled the harvester, the faster the blades spun.

Of course, Jason had to stand just above these blades, which was the roundly terrifying portion of things.

The harvester whirred to life as Lady lumbered toward the gates of the field, bouncing and rattling across every single bump or pothole in the driveway. Jason was tossed back and forth as he tried to keep from being tossed into the blades and reduced to a pulp. The various monsters filling the driveway weren't so lucky, and dozens of crabgrasses, razorgrasses, histles, and a long shrump were all chewed into oblivion. A few moments later, they entered the field, and the true harvest began.

Jason had planted the field with wheat, just as he had done every year before. He was considering trying out some specialty crops later that year, but for the moment, the older, familiar crops were easily the best ones to stick with. The golden grasses waved as wind rolled across the field, looking for all the world like amber waves. Jason sighed deeply... And then the blades hit the wheat.

The machine did a number of things, starting with the simple cutting of the stalk. It then, though Jason didn't know exactly how, separated the wheat kernels from the bits and pieces of stalk and hull, and blew all the excess material out the back end. This resulted in Jason being utterly covered in chaff dust, and he coughed furiously as they lumbered through the field. Still, it was quick work, and they covered slightly over half the field before lunchtime. The sky was still darkening, and Jason quickly took Lady over to her post and hitched her up before jogging inside to grab a quick meal himself.

When he came back outside, he found Lady still lying there, rolling back and forth in the grass as she tried to clean all the chaff and dust off her coat. Jason couldn't blame her there.

"Come on, girl," he muttered as he walked up. "I know it's not fun, but-"

"Howdy, neighbor!"

The voice didn't belong to Jeremiah, and Jason spun in excitement as Tess came trotting up on the enormous black mass that was Angus. She hopped down, clad in her standard battle armor, and held her arms open wide. Jason threw himself into her embrace, and they hugged for a few long moments before they broke apart.

"Wow." She glanced him up and down. "You're so sweaty and dusty I think you might rust my armor."

"Thanks. Really. You're here earlier than I expected."

"Guild business is still pretty slow. We're still sorting everything out, you know, and... I don't know. It seemed silly to wait around until evening. Figured I might as well come out and get a bit more used to life out here."

Jason flashed a small smile. "Well, I'm glad to see you. I've got to get back out into the field, but you're welcome to watch."

"Would you like to use Angus for the last half?" Tess asked. "Lady looked exhausted, and the rain looks like it's coming earlier than we'd thought. You've only got three, maybe four hours before it gets here."

Jason grimaced. Rain on a crop of ready-to-harvest wheat was a sure way to kill the yield of the crop. He nodded after only a moment. He had used Angus once before for fieldwork, and... Tess's steed was strong. It took only a moment to get him hitched up to the harvester, and Jason soon had him back out in the field.

The blades whirred at a breakneck pace as the harvester was pulled through the field by Angus's mighty muscles. All told, the rest of the field took no more than

three hours to finish, and as they came whirring to a halt, Jason shakily stepped to the ground and shook his head.

"Wow!" he gushed. "If he can still work like that once we get married, I'll be able to fully farm out my second eighty-acre patch, no problem."

Tess helped him unhitch the harvester. "I don't know why he couldn't work, at least a bit. He wasn't bred to be a workhorse, so I'll need to check with the breeder to see how much he can reasonably handle, but he seems to hold up well enough."

Jason inclined his head, and Tess kept speaking.

"Now get inside and take a shower. Come down to the kitchen table when you're done, I'll have things set up by then."

Jason smiled and nodded again, then gratefully went inside. With the heat of the day, he had a thick layer of dust caked across pretty much every part of his body. The shower felt wonderfully refreshing, and he had soon changed into a fresh tunic and came back down to the kitchen, where, indeed, Tess had set up quite a spread of papers. Jason glanced at it all as he sat down and let out a small whistle.

"This is... What is all of this?" Jason mused as he started looking it over.

"All the plans." Tess grinned broadly. "If we're doing this, we're doing it right. Now, the specific plans will come later; this is just the preliminary stuff we have to get figured out ahead of time."

Jason just chuckled and shook his head. "You know, I remember a time when you wanted to run off and just get married on the spot. Nothing formal, no big invitations or family or anything."

"I think we've established that that didn't work out so well." Tess snorted. "Now, the first thing we have to decide is who's coming to the wedding. The number of guests will

determine pretty much everything else that we have to figure out."

"True enough." Jason let out a long breath. "Well... I have a large family. I can get you the exact numbers, but if all my siblings and parents come, then my aunts and uncles will want to come too... If I had to wager a guess, you'll looking at somewhere around forty or fifty just for my side, to avoid offending anyone."

Tess nodded slowly, then bit her lip. "That works for me. Can you get me a list?"

"I'll do what I can." Jason chuckled. "Honestly, I think we'd be better off just to send an invitation to my mother and ask her who all will want to come. Then she can send us a proper list, and we can go from there."

"And... done." Tess scribbled a note. "What's your mother like?"

"You know? I... I honestly don't know, at this point." Jason shrugged. "I always thought we were close, at least as close as we could be. We weren't quite like what you'd sometimes hear about in fairy tales, of course, but I never thought we were on bad footing at all. Over the last two years, though..."

Tess nodded slowly. "What did they say when you decided to come out here? When you found out that you inherited the farm?"

"They thought I was insane." Jason chuckled. "I remember showing them the will, and they all thought it was a joke at first. My father sent out a letter to Summer Shandy asking for confirmation that my uncle had actually died, and I think we were all a little shocked when we were informed that the will was real. They all told me to just sell the place, but... I don't know. I decided to give it a shot."

"And you haven't heard from them since?"

"Not a peep." Jason shook his head. "Truth be told, I told them I was just going to check the farm out, and if I liked it, I might stay. If I thought it would be impossible to

handle, I'd just come back. Since then... I'll admit, things got a little crazy after I first arrived, and I didn't exactly send them anything letting them know how things were going; but on the flip side, they never sent a single letter. They never asked me how things were going, or sent someone down to check on me, or... anything." He sighed deeply. "It almost seems like... Oh, I don't know. It feels like they see me now like they used to see my uncle. Just some lunatic who abandoned the family and who will never amount to anything."

"Jason?" Tess raised her eyebrow. "I knew your uncle. You are nothing like him."

At that, Jason chuckled. "If you have any stories, I'd love to hear them sometime. I know almost nothing about him. I know he was an outsider during his childhood, and that he moved away as soon as he could, and after that, crickets."

"I'll try to think up a few for you." Tess chuckled. "He was a character. Not unpleasant, mind you, but not someone that we exactly cheered when he came to town."

Jason sat there for a few moments, then nodded at Tess. "What about your family? You said a few weeks ago that you didn't have any real family, but I'd love to hear more. If you want to talk about it, that is."

Tess grimaced. "In complete transparency, I really don't like to talk about it. That said, we are engaged now, so I suppose it's time you get the lot of it."

Jason nodded slowly, and Tess began.

"Like I said, I don't really have any family. My mother and father were both warriors, traveling throughout the land delving into dungeon after dungeon. I don't know a lot about either of them, but I do know that they had a similar group of friends, so they'd at least known about each other for a few years before they got together. They fell in love, and I think they even started planning a wedding. And then... I came along."

Tess looked down at the table. A single drop of liquid fell from her eye onto the paper, and Jason reached out and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Once again, I don't know much," Tess continued. "As my mother became pregnant and was unable to keep dungeon-delving, she fell into depression. She set herself up in an inn that was apparently close to a bunch of dungeons, so my father was able to keep diving into dungeons to support the two of them. It was too much for either of them to bear. Neither could stand being in one place without moving around."

Jason bit his lip in sympathy. "Then... Did they just drop you off when you were born?"

Tess shook her head. "They tried to make it work for a while. They would go to new places and leave me with babysitters while they went off and fought, but that could only last for so long. Eventually, I started getting older and needed closer attention, and since I wasn't exactly used to a great deal of supervision, I was apparently somewhat of a handful."

"I can't imagine that." Jason remarked dryly.

Tess laughed softly, then continued. "Anyway, so it went. Finally, one of their friends took pity on me. She was a bit older than my parents and didn't think I deserved that sort of a life. She approached my parents about adopting me, and they readily agreed. We moved to a little town down in the south, far away from the dungeon routes that my parents usually followed, and that was that."

Jason sighed, then brightened. "What about her, then? Could we invite her?"

"We could, if she was still alive." Another tear dropped to the paper below. "When I was a teenager, she started trying to dungeon-delve again. She had missed being in the dungeons and wanted to try it out again. The problem was that she'd been out of practice for so long, and tried to do the same thing she'd done years earlier, and..."

Tess couldn't continue. She leaned back in her chair, and Jason nodded slowly.

"And that's why you try to protect everyone in the dungeon."

"One of the reasons, I suppose." Tess flashed a small smile. "Anyway, with her death, that really only left me with my brother."

"Brother?" Jason blinked in surprise. "We're going through all of this, you say you have practically no family, and you have a brother?"

"I was getting there!" Tess scowled at him. "It's not like I've intentionally tried to hide him, it's just that I haven't really talked to him in years, and I'm not even sure where he is at this point." She paused. "He was another dungeon orphan. His parents were killed in the dungeons; we don't even know who they were. He's about a year older than me, we think. Someone brought him to the woman who raised me, and she gladly took him in. When she died in the dungeons, too, he kinda... I don't know. I'm not going to say that he went crazy or anything, but it hurt him really badly. He left, and while I've seen him from time to time since then, it's going to be hard to track him down."

"Well, we're going to do it," Jason declared. "One way or another, we're going to get your brother here to be at our wedding. Who knows, maybe we'll even convince him to settle down here in Summer Shandy."

"That much, I doubt. Still, though, I suppose that stranger things have happened. Weddings are always an interesting business, and you never really know how they're going to turn out.

Chapter Three - Echo

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 20th day of Summer! 71 days until the Summer Festival. With that rainstorm last night, crops should be growing well! Expect fields to be too muddy to support larger equipment until at least late afternoon, but if you really want to avoid having to pull your planter out of a puddle of mud, you'll be better off waiting until tomorrow.]

Jason flashed a small grin, then rolled out of bed and slowly walked up to the window. As he gazed out across his farm, he could see the still-dark soil underneath his crops, and he sighed contentedly. On a whim, he opened the window and inhaled deeply. There was nothing quite like the smell of a farm on the day after a rainstorm. The soil was fresh, the air was usually still damp, it just all felt alive.

On that particular day, though, as he stuck out his head, he frowned in confusion. All the usual noises and smells were there, but there was something extra. A soft, buzzing sort of noise that seemed to echo in his ears. He pulled himself back inside and shut the windows, and it went away. Odd.

Curious, he changed into overalls and headed downstairs. He had planned on heading into Summer Shandy for the day, both to buy supplies and to see Tess, but if there was something happening, he might have to change that plan. He paused in the kitchen to eat a quick breakfast, then strode out onto the porch and stood there for another few long seconds. The buzzing was still there, and a good deal louder, if he wasn't mistaken. He frowned, then walked back inside, put on his boots, and made his way out to the stable.

Lady stuck her head out through the door and nickered softly. Her ears twitched in annoyance, and he knew that she was bothered by whatever was happening, too. He led her to the hitching post as quickly as possible, poured her oats, then started looking around. Nothing seemed to reveal itself initially, and he finally just closed his eyes.

The noise seemed to come from all around him, echoing from the prairie and the field and the yard and... No. No, it was slightly louder coming from one direction. Keeping his eyes closed, Jason turned and started following the noise as best he could. It wasn't easy, and he tripped over more than a few potholes and logs (and, once, a razorgrass whacked him soundly on the knee); but soon enough, he bumped into the fence that surrounded his field.

He opened his eyes, somehow unsurprised, and gazed out across the expanse. Eighty acres of fresh crops, little sprigs of wheat bravely poking their stalks up out of the soil. The field had only been planted three days earlier, and as such, the springs of wheat were only a few inches tall. Short, vulnerable, and tasty for basically anything that enjoyed munching on grass.

As Jason gazed out across the field, he seemed to catch small glimpses of tiny, black dots flashing back and forth. He scowled, then slowly climbed up and over the fence. Moving as carefully as possible, he dropped down amidst the rows, trying not to disrupt them. It was possible to tread too heavily upon freshly planted crops and destroy them, and he rather wanted to avoid that possibility.

The moment he touched the ground, though, an odd message appeared.

[Wheat. Durability: 10]

"Ten?" Jason frowned. "It's usually around eighty or ninety."

He knelt and started looking more closely at the blades of wheat, and he couldn't help but notice that they

appeared a good bit spindlier than before. He reached out and stroked a few of the blades, and his fingers grazed across several large holes that had been chewed into the leaves.

"That's not good," he whispered softly. "Did something get into my field?" He rose and crossed his arms. "Status update: Fence."

[All fences on the property are well-maintained and have a durability between 95 and 100.]

"That's odd." Jason bit his lip. "Are any of the fences missing? Is there a gap that's formed somewhere?"

[All crops being grown on the property have 100% protection from roving monsters.]

"All right, then. What monsters are on my property?"

[Error: You are not a high-enough level to unlock that skill.]

"Of course not." Jason scowled at the ground, then bent down once again. He could still see black dots moving across the field a bit further out. Suddenly, one of the dots flashed over to land on a blade by his foot, and he bent down as slowly as he could manage.

His eyes opened wide in surprise as he found a small insect almost identical to the one that had bitten Jeremiah at the start of summer. This one was a good bit larger, almost two inches in length, and as he watched, its enormous pinchers began to bite and tear at the wheat. Jason scowled and slapped at it, but it only flew away to a different stalk.

"Go bother someone else!" Jason called after it. "Actually, no. Just go eat the grass growing on the prairie! There's plenty of it!"

The insects paid him no heed, and he turned his gaze slowly across the eighty-acre expanse. It was impossible to know just how many of the bugs were there. Certainly, it wasn't a proper fog of insects or anything, but there were quite a few. He thought for a moment, then went back into

his house and grabbed a glass jar out of his pantry. From there, it took him more than a few tries before he managed to catch one of the insects, but succeed, he did. With the lid screwed on tightly, he mounted Lady and rode off for town. Hopefully, someone there would have the answers.

It only took him a few minutes to ride all the way into Summer Shandy, where it seemed to be a relatively lazy day. The town farmers were out counting and feeding their sheep and goats, while a few children played, but all in all, it wasn't the type of day that really stimulated a lot of movement. As the sun rose and the air heated up, the water in the soil began to evaporate, making everything incredibly humid and sweltering.

Jason soon rode up to Paulina's store, where he dismounted and hitched Lady up to one of the posts there. He made his way inside, where he found Paulina speaking with a handful of the local farmers. She waved at him, and he waved back, making his way to the rear of the line. It was a busy day, and he wasn't in an enormous rush. After a moment, inspiration struck him, and he pocketed the jar and strode out of the store and across the town square.

Soon enough, he came up to the Guild Hall for the Warriors Guild and stepped around to the side where Tess's office was located. He knocked on the door sharply, and her voice rang out promptly.

"Come in!"

He opened the door, poked his head inside, and found her sitting at her desk rummaging through a large stack of paperwork. She looked up, and her rather frustrated face lit up.

"Jason! I wasn't expecting you today!"

"I was planning on surprising you," Jason admitted with a smile. "And to be fair, the nature of my visit has changed somewhat."

"Anything I can help with?" Tess flashed a small smile. "Oh, by the way, I sent out some of the invitations!

Specifically, one of them to your mother, and then to an old contact of mine who might know where my brother is staying."

"Perfect!" Jason beamed. "Hopefully, we'll hear back soon. What does it take, four days to get mail between here and Illumitir?"

"Something like that." Tess nodded. "Now, what happened? Is it a problem?"

"Maybe, maybe not." Jason shrugged and took out the jar. "You ever see anything like this?"

Tess stood up and took the jar from him. Her brow knit in concentration, and she stroked her chin.

"This is the same thing that bit Jeremiah?"

Jason laughed. "He told you about it?"

"This is about half the size of the one that he

described, but yes." Tess nodded thoughtfully. "I tried to look it up based off his description, but I didn't get very far. With this... \I might be able to find something. That said, Paulina might be the better bet."

"That was my plan." Jason confessed. "I was mostly stopping in to see if you wanted to come along."

"I'd love to, but I'm afraid I have a bit of work I need to get done." Tess sighed. "I'm still sorting through all the paperwork that Blacksuit created for me, and then I'm guiding a handful of tours through the dungeon later this afternoon."

"Got it. Well, have fun!" Jason turned to leave, then paused. "I... There's something I've been meaning to ask you, but I haven't exactly known how to do it."

Tess flashed a knowing smile. "Don't worry about me. When I said yes, I knew what was being asked of me." She paused. "It's going to be hard to give up the guild, and I won't hide that fact, but... When I grew up, I saw what it looks like to have parents who tried to fight in the dungeons as well as raise a family. I want a family with you, and I am not putting our children through the horror of never knowing

if mom is going to come home at night. I don't know how I'll do it, but I'll have the guild transferred to someone else by the time that the wedding comes along."

Jason nodded slowly. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Tess flashed a smile. "I'll be the mother that I never had. I may not have had a positive example, but I do know what doesn't work. Now, run along. You have work to do, and so do I."

Jason reciprocated her smile, then left the office and walked across to Paulina's store. It was still quite busy, though as lunchtime neared, the farmers were beginning to trickle out. Jason continued to stand in the back, until finally, the line at the counter had faded away. Paulina smiled wearily at Jason as he walked up, and she sighed.

"I don't mean to be rude, Jason, but I'm utterly exhausted. You're a friend, so I know you'll understand. Is there any way you can be really fast about this so I can go to lunch?'

"We'll see." Jason chuckled dryly. He pulled a list from his pocket and laid in on the counter. "A handful of supplies that I need."

"Ahh! That makes life easy Anything else?"

"Yes." Jason took out the jar and set it on the counter. Inside, the insect buzzed angrily and began beating itself against the glass. "Is there any way you can tell me what this thing is?"

Paulina's eyes opened wide, and one of the other farmers nearby let out a shout.

"That's the same thing eating all my crops!"

"Mine, too!" another farmer cried out. Within a moment, Paulina's nearly empty counter had half a dozen farmers clustered around it, and one of them had run to the door to summon several of the men who had already walked away.

"Sorry," Jason whispered as a proper mob began to form around Paulina's counter.

"No worries." She puffed out her cheeks. "This may wind up saving me time this afternoon. As you might have picked up on, this is somewhat of a common problem I'm dealing with at the moment."

She picked up the jar and looked closely at the insect, then reached down underneath her counter and took out a large book. It was labeled, "The General Guide to Central Plains Monsters." It was... thick. Jason felt his eyes widening as he took in the assortment of monsters that were apparently ready to assault his farm at the slightest notice. He knew that some of the monsters in the area had fairly specific spawn conditions, but it now seemed that there were far more than he had ever imagined.

When it became clear that it was going to take some time to figure things out, Paulina took the jar and the book and made her way upstairs to eat her lunch while she searched. Jason could hardly blame her for that move, and he started to wander around the store while he waited. A few of the farmers left to get home to their families, but the majority hung around and joined Jason in their aimless browsing. Jason discovered a handful of items he had never heard about before, including a few fancy horse-grooming tools that he decided to buy for Lady. When Paulina finally came back down, almost an hour had passed, and the farmers quickly clustered around Paulina as she set the insect back down, then thumped a far smaller book onto the countertop.

"Here you go." She nodded. "It's called a Juun Bug."

The farmers began to jostle each other around as they tried to get to the book. Jason, instead of looking directly at the image of the insect itself, glanced at the title.

"Extinct Insects of Southern Illis?" he asked, then glanced up at Paulina. "What's going on?"

Paulina grimaced. "Truth be told, I don't know, but if you look at the picture compared to your specimen, they're

identical. Behavior patterns seem similar from what I can tell, but you guys will have a better idea than I do."

"No, I meant the book." Jason blinked. "It's extinct? What's Illis?"

"As near as I can tell, Illis was the name for this land several hundred years ago." Paulina held up her hands. "I'm no history expert, but the foreword at the front of the book seems to indicate that it was written about fifty years ago. At some point a few hundred years before that, this land was renamed the Central Plains, which is way less cool in my estimation. Apparently, during the period of time leading up to the renaming, a whole bunch of the local monsters and stuff went extinct? I dunno, but you're welcome to take it for yourself if you want it."

Jason nodded and again stepped to the back. Soon enough, he was the last one there, and he scanned the entry as quickly as he could.

"Let's see... Juun Bug... Size can be anywhere from one to... six inches!" He yelped softly. "Can eat up to twice its weight in grass per day... Sometimes bites people or livestock, but only when agitated... Only known repellant is... the Lonesome Rose."

He blinked. "What's a Lonesome Rose?"

In response, Paulina pulled out a second book and plopped it down on the table.

"Extinct Plants of Southern Illis. Of course." Jason sighed. "So, unless these roses start popping up, too, I don't have many options?"

Paulina frowned, then turned and walked into the back of the store. A few moments later, she came out with two large jugs, which she set on the counter. She gestured at the smaller one, a blue-and-white bottle.

"You might give this a whirl. It's some new-fangled, all-natural insect spray. They have some greenhouses up in Illumitir that they apparently used to grow some sort of a plant that can be crushed up and mixed with water to create

a whole host of different chemicals and things. Supposed to be environmentally friendly, though... I dunno. Anything that's supposed to not be as harmful doesn't sound like it'll be as effective, but I got a tax break for buying some of it."

"I'll give it a try." Jason flashed a small smile. "What's the second jug?"

"Monstertrap spray." "Jeremiah ordered a whole pallet of it from Illumitir and told me to make sure to keep one back for you. He already paid for it. Said you could buy him a few in return if it actually works." She frowned as she looked at the ingredients. "Now this stuff looks like it'll actually do something. Basilisk venom... dragon blood... Whew! You are not going to want to get this on your skin, I'll tell you that much."

Jason chuckled softly and took everything. He paid for what he had purchased, then started to make his way out of the store. "Thanks for everything, Paulina!"

"Thank me when it works!"

A few moments later, Jason was outside, and once more mounted up on Lady. The spray would work. It had to work. After all... if it didn't... what would happen? What could happen? He was on the verge of getting married to Tess. He couldn't lose the farm to a swarm of insects.

He wouldn't lose the farm to a swarm of insects.

Chapter Four - Juun

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 21st day of Summer! 70 days until the Summer Festival. All things considered, today should be a good one! Low winds, moderate temperatures. The next week's gonna be a series of scorchers, so enjoy your time outside while you can!]

Jason rose from bed, feeling more than a little weary. He made his way over to the window and gazed out upon his field, which was looking sickly, to say the least. Lady already had her head out through the stable window and tossed and flicked it in annoyance. He grimaced, then opened the window just a bit. The buzzing noise was louder today, and he exhaled sharply. He quickly changed into his overalls, then bolted down the stairs at a slow trot.

The cookbook flapped its pages in annoyance as he walked past the kitchen, threw on his boots, and marched out into the yard. Lady looked up at him gratefully, and he soon took her out of the stable and hitched her up. That done, he walked into the lean-to and picked up the jug of chemical. It sloshed about as he cracked the lid open, and a distinctly chemical-y smell filtered up into the air. It turned his nose with just that little whiff, though he did have to admit that he could detect the faintest hint of wildflower amidst the chemicals, which was a nice touch.

His original intent after buying the stuff had been to go start spraying that very day, but he had gotten halfway home before realizing that he had forgotten to buy anything to actually spray it with. As such, he had been forced to go back to buy a backpack sprayer, which was quite heavy and more than a little awkward. As he filled it with the odd

chemical, then lifted it to his back, he felt rather like some sort of mad scientist. The thought filled him with a great deal of delight, and he quickly marched out and climbed over the fence into his field.

"All right, Juun Bugs!" He grinned and pointed the nozzle of the sprayer at the crops. If this worked, he would have to go back, buy more of the chemical and a larger sprayer; but for the time being, this would be an adequate test. He squeezed down on the trigger and a blast of spray came out, showering the nearby crops. The jug didn't exactly say how much to put on, so he just started walking through the crops, spraying rather wantonly.

By that point, the shoots were about six inches high, and the stalks were rather firmly developed. At least... They should have been about six inches high. Some of them were really that tall, but the majority were significantly shorter, chewed to bits by the Juun bugs. Even as he watched, dozens of the creatures swarmed about on the crops, biting and chomping and chewing. A particularly large sprig of wheat had no fewer than six Juun bugs sitting on it, and he quickly pointed the nozzle directly at it. The spray came out with a blast... And all six Juun bugs leapt up and began to buzz about in the sky.

That, of course, was when he remembered Paulina's admonition that they only bit people when they were upset.

As he turned to run, he realized that the Juun bugs weren't upset because the chemical was actually working, as much of the area that he had sprayed seemed to be covered in more Juun bugs, not fewer. No, he supposed that they were only mad because they were wet. He could only hope that they flew slower, perhaps, when they had been doused with spray.

He soon discovered that they did not.

All six of them quickly landed on his arms and legs. One of them scuttled up onto the back of his neck, and he frantically slapped at it. He was too late. Pain flared as

pincers began chomping on him across his body, and he let out a frantic yelp. Desperately, he threw off the backpack and bolted.

That was when he discovered a second, rather fascinating fact about the Juun bugs. It was later confirmed by reading Paulina's book, and was, essentially, that when they began to feed on something (or detected a threat), individual Juun bugs released chemicals that attracted other Juun bugs to their position. In that moment, Jason must have lit up like a beacon, as dozens of Juun bugs from all across the field came swarming toward him.

The bugs began to bite up and down his body, and he leapt over the fence and ran frantically toward the farmhouse. He was able to beat away most of them, then went crashing inside and slammed the door shut to prevent any more from following. As there were several more that were still chewing away at him, he then raced up the stairs and dove into the shower with all his clothes on. That time, the deluge of water managed to wash them away, and as they lay flailing on the floor of his tub, he rather mercilessly stomped each one of them into goop.

That done, he changed out of his soaking clothes and into a fresh pair of overalls. As he did so, he couldn't help but notice that his entire body was covered in welts, and he groaned as he pulled on the new pair of clothes. He groaned even more when he realized that he did still have work to get done that day.

When he stepped back out onto the porch, he took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and made his way back over to the field. His bottle of spray was still there, as were the Juun bugs. Some of them had even started crawling around on the bottle, mocking him, and he scowled at them.

This time, before he picked up the bottle, he put on a thick pair of gloves, then added a thick, leather coat that he had been given at some point in the past, likely by Jeremiah.

It was swelteringly hot, but with luck, the coat would keep out the Juun bugs.

As it turned out, Juun bugs like the taste of leather.

Once more, he bolted for the shower, washed himself off, and regarded his new set of welts with something akin to worry. He didn't know for sure if Juun bugs were venomous, but he couldn't imagine that being bitten so many times was good for him, and he made a mental note to go visit the local healer, Theresa. Once again, he changed clothes, then headed out into the field for the third time.

"Surely I'll get it this time." He muttered. "Maybe..."

A thought began to swirl around in the back of his mind. When he retrieved the sprayer, he cast a long look back at the area he had already sprayed. Unless it was his imagination, the wheat there actually had more bugs than the areas around it. He sighed, then climbed over the fence and started walking along the side of the field, spraying the prairie grass around his property. Maybe, if the chemical was attractive to them, he could entice them to leave his field alone!

When he ran dry, he couldn't tell for sure if it had really had any effect. There was a lot of field, and a lot of Juun bugs. While a handful certainly were buzzing through the sprayed prairie grass now, it was a certainty that it wasn't enough of them. He needed a better option, and he needed it quickly.

Finally, he simply returned to the main portion of the farmstead, grabbed a broom out of a storage shed, raised it over his head, and charged into the field. In retrospect, it had been a roundly terrible idea, but... He was frustrated, and it did feel rather good to whack them out of the sky as if he were playing baseball. He could only imagine that when they chomped into his flesh, it felt just as good.

When he staggered out of that third shower, his body was covered in so many welts that he hardly recognized

himself. He groaned in pain as he pulled a new set of clothes over his body and staggered into the kitchen for lunch.

He ate only a small meal, then made his way outside, climbed up on Lady, and wearily began to ride toward town. Theresa was going to give him all sorts of heat for repeatedly running into such a situation, but he honestly didn't care. If it would get rid of the things, he would have readily done so yet again.

The only question, of course, was just how to get rid of the things. Finally, though, he forced it out of his mind. Paulina would come up with something... And, if not, he was sure that Tess could come up with a way to firebomb the whole prairie. In any event, he wasn't worried. One way or another, they would come up with a way to solve the problem. He was sure of it.

Chapter Five - Caution

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 25th day of Summer! 66 days until the Summer Festival. If you're out in the fields, watch those Juun bugs! Nasty little things. Do not, I repeat, do not attempt to engage them using conventional means. If you'd like to join the search party hunting for the Lonesome Rose, please visit my office. If you'd like to hire a warrior to come fight Juun bugs on your farm, come to the Guild Hall and post your request on the bulletin board.]

Jason groaned as his eyes flickered open. Instead of lying in his bed, he was still lying in one of the hospital beds in Theresa's Healing Den. As he slowly rose and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, the door burst open, and Theresa came walking inside.

"Hold on there! No slipping out without your final examination."

"Is this really necessary?" Jason scowled at her as she pulled back the sleeve of his pajamas. The red welts were nearly all gone now, with only a bit of pink still showing.

"Yes. You did fall unconscious the moment you arrived here, and you're one of the ones who managed to recover fairly quickly." Theresa seemed unconcerned by his frustration. "You farmers, always willing to do the dumbest things just for the sake of driving off some sort of pest."

Jason flashed a crooked smile. "I just-"

"You're healed enough." Theresa stood up. Her voice was sharp, but she did have a smile on her face. "Keep taking some of the medicine for another few days until the pink goes away and there's no more swelling. I know it's tempting to just quit taking it now, but I don't want to see

you again in a few days because you're going into toxic shock or something."

"Fine," Jason muttered, swiping the bottle of pills off the bedstand. Each of the pills was large enough that he suspected that Lady herself would have a hard time swallowing them, but they did seem to work to reduce the swelling of the welts. Jason quickly made his way out through the den, noticing the dozens of other farmers there sporting the same red welts. There was a line out the front door as he walked out into the town square, and he whistled softly. The Juun bugs were really turning into something, that was for sure.

According to Tess, who had visited him multiple times over the previous several days, Lady had been stabled in the Guild stable, where she was being taken care of until Jason was ready to retrieve her again. He quickly made his way over to her office. After knocking and poking his head inside, he found that she was missing, though a check of the stables revealed that Angus was still there. Most likely, she was still in the dungeon.

"Hey!" He waved at a warrior who was just walking out of the stable. "Do you have any idea when Tess will be back?"

"Not until tomorrow," he answered. "Sorry about that. A bunch of newbies wanted to hold a dungeon camping trip, and she agreed to guide them."

Jason grimaced but nodded. He found Lady in the stall where Tess had indicated, and soon enough, he was back on the road riding to his farm. He didn't really see anyone along the way, and as he came riding into the driveway, he sighed in frustration.

Juun bugs still buzzed across his crops, and while the wheat was still growing, he wasn't certain at all if he would still have a crop by the end of the season. His discarded bottle of spray still lay in the growing grass, where it had fallen the last time he had fled the scene. He exhaled

sharply, then slowly stabled Lady and took a long look around the farm.

His body still ached, no matter how brave a face he had tried to put on for Theresa. The bite of the Juun bugs didn't really hurt that badly at first, at least not compared to how the bite developed over the course of several hours. By the time three or four hours had gone by, the welts were near-excruciating, and by the time five or six had gone by, it was hard to remain conscious. He had absolutely no desire to go near the creatures, at least not for a long while. That said, the idea of going inside and spending the rest of the day lounging around sounded equally detestable. He wanted to be doing something, and that didn't leave him with many options.

As he climbed down from Lady, though, something caught his eye: the second bottle of chemical, which still sat in his storage shed. A smile flickered across his face, and he pulled open the gate and slowly picked up the jug. It wasn't large, perhaps two gallons, but must have weighed thirty pounds.

"Mix two ounces of spray with five gallons of water." He read the instructions carefully. "Do not allow to come in contact with skin, eyes, clothing, etc. If ingested, there will be no need to induce vomiting, as you will certainly regurgitate everything that your body has inside it. It is suggested not to open this bottle within fifty feet of any plant that you care about in any way, shape, or form about. Illegal to use in the Eastern Isles, the Western Isles, the Mountain Province, Mechanor, the Confederation, the General Republic, or any of the minor nations that have laws regulating pesticide use. Legal in provinces around Illumitir."

"Better use this before the legal status changes." Jason chuckled, then slowly rose. It was as good a plan as any. He quickly grabbed the backpack sprayer and filled it with water, then took Lady back out of the stall, mounted up, and rode out.

This time, instead of heading for the road, he entered the small trail that led across the prairie. He had only traversed the distance a few times before, but it was a location that he was looking forward to getting back to, if only to once again examine his purchase. Lady was eager as well to get away from the Juun bug, and she lost no time scampering over the hills and through the ravines.

The eighty-acre parcel that Jason had purchased was located about half a mile away, and by the time he got there, the farmstead had completely vanished. As he came over the final hill, he found himself looking out across a great field covered in Mars Monstertraps.

When he had first planted the weeds the year before, they had seemed like a miracle. They ate up any monsters that came near, and they had done wonders cleaning up some of the pests that plagued Jason's farm. The only problem was that they had soon proved to be incredibly invasive, and they utterly took over this secondary farm. It had taken nearly a year to dislodge them from his own primary farm, and it had only been out of necessity that he had planted an entire field of the species out in the middle of the wilderness.

Now, as he stood there looking over them, he found himself almost in awe at the sheer scope of them. Gaping mouths turned to look at him, and photosynthetic jaws began snapping angrily at his approach.

"Come on, now." He spread his arms. "Is that any way to greet an old friend? I did give you your last meal, if you'll remember."

The monstertraps neglected to return any sort of gratitude, and he sighed and climbed down from Lady. He positioned himself on the edge of the field, just outside the snapping jaws of the monstertraps, and cracked open the lid of the pesticide.

A single whiff of the stuff made his stomach lurch, and all around him, plants began to wilt. Prairie grasses

crumpled up, and monstertraps screamed and began to flop over dead. Jason blinked in surprise, then poured about two ounces into the sprayer. At least, he hoped it was two ounces. It was hard to know for sure, since he had forgotten a cup, but it was close. The liquid was a dark brown, though it began to foam and hiss as soon as it came in contact with the water. Golden bubbles formed on the surface of the water, and he clapped the lid of the sprayer back in place before they could pop. With that, he gave the sprayer a few shakes, then lifted it onto his back. The wind was blowing from the south, so he moved himself to that side of the patch of the monstertraps and began to spray.

To say the least, the spray was impossibly effective. Monstertraps blackened and withered as soon as the spray even touched them. The smell was enough to kill them all the way on the other side of the patch, leaving Jason with little to do except to walk along one side of the field, slowly spraying out a bit at a time and watching the results. It was wonderful, in every sense of the word, though he had to admit that he was feeling a bit queasy by the time he finished. His vision still seemed fine enough, and he had few troubles making his way back over to Lady.

"Well." He took off the backpack and set it down next to the container of chemical. "I have absolutely no idea what I'll do with the rest of that, but I imagine I'll find a use." Lady said nothing back, and he started to look around.

The small patch of ground, while largely being simply out in the middle of the prairie, was located just to the north of a large forest. Jason had been inside the forest in other parts of the land, as there were several other towns that were located within it, but those were all located miles upon miles away. It didn't look to him as if anything had been inside that part of the forest in years, and a thought leapt into his head.

"Wanna go look around?" He glanced at Lady. She gave no answered once again (which, possibly due to the

chemical, rather annoyed him), and he struck off for the trees. The wind soon cleared the air a bit, which made his head quit hurting. Not that he had really noticed it hurting, but he certainly noticed when it got better. He went back for Lady and led her to somewhat greener pasture as well. He wound up taking her all the way to the forest itself, where he tied her to a small oak tree and let her graze on the fresh grass that was growing there. And, with that, he entered the trees.

His suspicion that no one had been there for some time seemed to be confirmed, as the trees grew so thickly that he could hardly pass between them. It was a far cry from the other portions of the forest, which was set with roads and walking trails that made it easy to traverse. Here, enormous oak trees grew up with maples, elms, and chestnuts all set right up against one another. It was common for Jason to come upon sudden ravines, carved deep into the soft soil and limestone rock. Small trails of tepid water ran along the bottom of these ravines, and largely looked to be pools of mire that would trap him if he were to fall inside. There were thick vines that grew here and there, largely ancient strands of poison oak and poison ivy. He marveled at nearly all of it, especially when he came to the bank of a small river, perhaps thirty feet wide, that wound its way across the land like a snake. The bank dropped away sharply, forming a mud-dirt wall about twenty feet high, all the way down to a narrow bank covered in the footprints of different animals.

Jason whistled softly as he took it all in. It was beautiful, that was for certain. As far as he knew, it was public land, too, which meant that he could take Tess there without worrying about trespassing or anything. He continued to look at it all, then turned to leave. As he did so, though, something caught his eye: a large stone monolith that rose amidst the trees not far away.

If it hadn't been for a trick of the light, Jason might have missed it entirely. As it was, though, a narrow beam of sunlight fell across the grey slate.. It took him almost twenty minutes to make his way over to it, as he came across one of the many ravines and had to backtrack; but arrive there he did. Rising amidst the trees, coming to a height of perhaps forty feet, was a simple stone edifice that glared down at him rather like a giant.

He stared up at the monument for many long moments, musing about it. It was chipped around the edges, worn by untold years of neglect. An ivy of some sort crawled up one of the sides, and mushrooms grew across its stone base. Jason stroked his chin as he looked up at it, and slowly he walked up and touched it. There was no reaction, but as he ran his fingers over it, he felt as though he were touching ancient.

"You're nothing natural," he whispered softly. "Grey slate... All the stone around here that I've ever seen is limestone. You get granite and other stones brought up from south, and some white stone brought down from Illumitir, but... Slate isn't something you find here. How far did they have to haul you? How was that even possible?"

His voice echoed in the empty air. Suddenly, as he looked up at the monument, he became aware that several of the markings that he had originally assumed to be simple aging marks were, in fact, letters. Or, at the least, runes, or some sort of ancient writing. His eyes ate up the odd symbols, and he did his best to memorize what he was looking at.

"Now this is something interesting." He crossed his arms tightly. "A mystery. A good and proper mystery!" A smile split his face. It was nothing ominous, nothing that would be marching across the prairie to try to kill him. It was a simple challenge: Figure out what had built the monolith, and why.

And it wasn't a challenge that he planned to forget about.

Chapter Six - Work Done

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 50th day of Summer! 41 days until the Summer Festival. Looks like it's another scorcher today! Since it doesn't look like the Juun bugs are really affected by such things, and they'll be out in full force, it's probably best to just stay inside unless you've got a pressing reason to be somewhere else. P.S., Visiting your fiancé is a perfectly valid reason to be somewhere else.]

Jason smiled broadly as he rolled out of bed. He imagined that other subscribers to Tess's Almanac likely didn't always appreciate her references to Jason, but anyone who knew Tess at all probably didn't mind terribly in the long run. He strode up to his window, stuck out his head, and found his smile quickly vanishing as he looked down at his farm.

The buzzing noise was louder than ever. His wheat, which was just now poking up out of the ground, already looked pale and sickly. He had harvested the field a few days earlier and had only gotten about a quarter of the wheat that he usually would have been able to harvest. Ordinarily, he would keep back as much wheat as it would take to re-plant the field the next day. This time, he had just barely had enough to plant the field with, and he had been able to sell the excess for only a few hundred shandys. He had plenty of money in his account from a bountiful previous year, so he wasn't worried, but it was quite annoying. He had been hoping to start expanding his farm a great deal, moving into other crops and buying new equipment, but it now looked like those plans were going to have to go on the back burner.

He looked out for quite some time, then slammed the window shut in frustration and marched down the stairs. The cookbook apparently heard him coming, as there was already a nice plate of eggs and sausage on the table by the time he arrived. Since he likely would have just skipped breakfast altogether if the cookbook hadn't been so thoughtful, he sat down gratefully and ate the meal quickly. When he finished, he nodded at the cookbook thankfully, then rose and made his way outside.

His frustration mounted as he walked down into the yard. The buzzing was giving him a headache, and he clapped his hands over his ears. Lady's ears twitched back and forth, and he could tell that she was in pain. The previous two days of planting and harvesting hadn't exactly been pleasant ones, and while Jason had enjoyed seeing dozens of the Juun bugs getting blasted into goop on the blades of the harvester, there had been more than a few of them that had survived the ordeal and had come out angrier than a hornet. He had the welts to prove it, and so did Lady.

"We need to get away from here for a while, I think." Jason took Lady out to her hitching post and poured her some oats, then walked into the stable and sat down in the soft straw, after sealing himself in by closing both the lower door and the upper part, which usually was only closed during winter nights. The straw was still warm from where Lady had been laying all night, and he relaxed into it. The buzzing was a bit quieter in there, though he could still hear it pressing at the edge of his consciousness.

When he'd finally had enough, he rose and marched back out of the stable in frustration. Lady was almost done with her food, though several Juun bugs were flicking over to start munching on the oats as well. Jason shooed them away carefully, then saddled Lady and climbed up onto her back. It was a wonderful feeling as he rode up to the road and the buzzing began to fade. As he reached the road,

though, he cast a look back and forth. Should he go up to Summer Shandy, or down to Jeremiah's place?

It was a tough question, but in the end, he turned and rode down toward Jeremiah's ranch. The Lazy-H was a sprawling facility that produced thousands of cattle every two weeks or so. He had dozens of hired hands, facilities that he had built up over the course of decades, and more than a few cannons that had come in handy on multiple occasions.

As Jason came riding up to the Lazy-H, Jeremiah was just walking down from his porch. He waved broadly, and Jason slowly came riding up to meet him.

"Howdy, neighbor!" Jeremiah grinned. "What brings you around these parts?"

"Just needed to get away from all the bugs, you know?"

At that, Jeremiah laughed. "Oh, I get it. The Juun bugs aren't really bothering the cattle too much, though every now and again one of the bulls will let out a bellow and you just know he picked a fight with one of them and got bit, but I've been in the same boat before. Here, we're always dealing with horseflies... Don't ask, they're the worst insects ever created... And a few years back we had an infestation of dragon flies. Those were a nightmare, let me tell you that." Jeremiah paused for a moment, then shrugged. "Though I will say that when a swarm of dragon flies started breathing out fire, they could roast a steer in no more than ten seconds. If you could chase them away before they started eating the thing, you'd have a thousand pounds of roast beef if you could get it packed away in the root cellar quick enough."

Jason chuckled. "I wish there was a way to do that with my crops. The way it's going now, it won't be long before I'm losing money. I'd almost just sit back and wait for the Juun bugs to pass, but..."

Jeremiah shook his head. "That's a quick way for both you and your land to fall into laziness. Keep at it, and you'll prevail." He paused for a moment, then added, "If you've got a few minutes, and it sounds like you do, come here with me into the house. I've got something that might help." He turned around and started walking up into the house, even as he continued to mutter under his breath.

"Then again, it might not, but at this point, what do you have to lose?"

"That depends on how dangerous this mysterious thing happens to be." Jason climbed down off Lady, handed the reins to one of the hired men, and scampered after Jeremiah. A moment later, Jeremiah was striding rapidly toward the kitchen inside the enormous log cabin. At least... it was made from logs. It was quite enormous, consisting of dozens of rooms, so the word, "cabin," didn't really seem to fit.

"You're back early." Delilah looked up from the dishes as Jeremiah walked inside to join her. "Problems?"

"Not a one, 'cept maybe that bull over in the south pasture," Jeremiah answered. "Weatherhand just told me he got his ring caught on a fence post again, so some of the boys and I are going to ride out there in a few minutes to try and get that all taken care of. Before we go, though, I'm looking for something for Jason, here."

Delilah turned, and her eyes came to rest on Jason. She lit up and came running over, clasping his hands.

"Jason! It's been a while. I don't know if I've said it yet, and I'm sure my husband has, but congratulations! Oh, I can't wait for the wedding. I do love weddings, you know. They're so beautiful. If there's anything that you all need to get your lives started, you just let me know. I've got a few extra sets of china that I'd love to give to someone who would use them, and-"

"Honey, that's going to be a question for Tess, not for him." Jeremiah pointed out. "Now, do you know where that

old repellant recipe got to? You know, the stuff that we quit using?"

"Oh! Yes, it's right over here." Delilah bustled to a corner of the kitchen and took down a large cookbook labeled, "Farm Recipes." She put it on the counter and started flipping through the pages, and Jason raised an eyebrow.

"You don't use it anymore? Really sounds like something that'll work for me."

"For all I know, it won't work any better than anything else," Jeremiah admitted. "All I know is that from what I'm hearing from the other farmers, nothing else seems to be working. The fancy, synthetic stuff just smells bad, and the Juun bugs don't seem to mind, and the organic stuff is about as useful as throwing flower petals at them and trying to induce them to give up their ravenous ways."

"That's... That's genuinely a pretty fair description." Jason nodded thoughtfully. Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he flashed a crooked smile. "Speaking of stuff that does work, that monstertrap spray you left me did wonders. Two or so ounces, and that whole eighty acres is dead." He paused for a moment. "Now, all the grass died along with the monstertraps, so I'm hoping I can actually get something to grow there again in the future, but one step at a time, right?"

Jeremiah laughed. "I'm glad it worked! Same story out here." After a moment, though, he scowled. "Now, that said, I didn't realize it was going to be so all-fired powerful. I ordered a whole pallet. Fifty gallons. You know how much fifty gallons of that stuff cost me? I figured I'd use up most of it, then just give the rest to you. Just took a couple scoops from one bottle to solve the problem, and now I've got loads of stuff that's illegal to use anywhere but here. Can't sell it to anyone, that's for sure. Oh, well. If a situation ever does arise where we're faced with another horrendous invasion of something, we'll have the means to fight it back."

"Ah-ha!" Delilah beamed and pulled a small piece of notebook paper out of the cookbook. She handed it to Jason, who looked down at a short list of ingredients and a handful of instructions. "Here, try this. Back in the early days of our operation, we were on a shoestring budget, and had to make do with just about anything we could find. One of the ways we cut costs was by brewing our own insect repellants. There were a handful of formulas we tried, and this one actually worked against a fairly broad spectrum of bugs. Not all of them, mind you, and it is a little flammable if you happen to get any dragon flies around your place, but..." She shuddered slightly. "We lost fifty head that one time, remember?"

"Oh, I do. Nearly bankrupted us." Jeremiah slapped his thigh. "But we pushed through, in any case, and now we're here! Well, Jason, like I said, give this a whirl, and then let me know how it goes. As always, if you need anything at all, you know where to find me!"

"I'll do that, thanks." Jason pocketed the recipe, then turned to leave. It took him another five minutes to reach the door, of course, as Delilah loaded him down with a picnic basket and enough food to feed him for a week, but he hardly minded the interruption. Soon enough, he was outside and back on Lady, riding back to his own house.

Along the way, he passed half a dozen other farmers, all of whom were returning from Summer Shandy. He exchanged a few pleasantries with them, but the overwhelming consensus was that no one knew what to do about the Juun bugs. They hardly talked about anything else, for that matter. By this point, all the store-bought chemicals had proved useless, so everyone had their own homebrew method that they were planning to test out, and everyone promised to share the results with everyone else if, indeed, it worked.

When Jason rode back up onto his farm, and once again was surrounded by the incessant buzzing, he nearly

screamed. Still, he was able to keep it together and made his way into his house. There, safe from the noise, he was able to think a bit more clearly, and he took out the recipe to look it over.

It was a simple recipe, consisting of a handful of plants and herbs, most of which he already had on hand. There were a couple things, namely garlic and rosemary, that he didn't have, and he was forced to make a quick run into Summer Shandy. Tess was off on a dungeon raid, so he didn't stay long. Within a few hours, he was back in his kitchen, ready to start.

To begin, he took down a large pot, which he placed carefully upon the stovetop. It was a bit of an oddity, as he had really only used frying pans of a few different varieties up until that point. As he stepped back, he added water, then began to dice the different ingredients into their proper sizes and tossed them into the slowly boiling water. It wasn't hard work by any means, but the recipe was unique (at least among recipes that he had seen before) in that it required things to be done at different times. Instead of just throwing it all into a frying pan and waiting for it to either succeed or fail, he had to throw in the garlic, wait six minutes, then add moldy potatoes, wait three minutes, add a sprig of cilantro... and so on and so forth.

All told, the process took the better part of the afternoon, and when he finished, it was nearly dinnertime. That said, he had absolutely no desire to eat anything, as the whole concoction smelled worse than the droppings he took out of Lady's stall. For that matter, it smelled worse than just about anything he had ever smelled before. The liquid was a thick, brownish sludge, to the point where he really wasn't sure he would actually be able to spray it at all. Still, though, he had to try.

The pot was almost all the way full and must have weighed fifty pounds. He let it cool, then carefully took it off the stove and carried it through the house to the front door.

A bit of it sloshed on his overalls as he was opening the door, and he groaned. Somehow, he was certain that it wasn't going to be easy to wash out.

Out on the front porch, he stood there in the evening air, listening to the droning of the Juun bugs, and his resolve set. He made his way over to the sprayer, which he had carefully packed away next to the harvester, and filled it full of water. The recipe hadn't said how to mix the chemical, so he just put in a few scoops using an old measuring cup that he had no intention of ever using again, then hefted the backpack up onto his shoulders. He gave it a few shakes to agitate, then walked over to the field.

"All right." He bounced lightly on the balls of his feet. "Get ready to run if things go south."

He slowly raised the wand and squeezed the trigger.

[Action Used: Spray Chemicals. Remaining Actions: 38]

Jason blinked as absolutely nothing happened. He glanced at the tip of the sprayer but didn't see anything blocking the spray. After a few seconds, he shrugged and tried again.

[Action Used: Spray Chemicals. Remaining Actions: 37]

Now, he was convinced that something was going on. He sighed and shrugged the backpack off onto the ground, then knelt and started looking it over. Opening the lid revealed a swirling mass of brownish liquid inside, and he frowned. Curious, he reached down and disconnected the hose at the bottom of the tank, wondering if the liquid would still flow out. That, at least, would tell him if there was a problem in the tank itself, or if there was some sort of an issue with the hose.

As it turned out, both were the case.

It took him several hours of experimenting and fiddling before he really got to the root of the issue. The thick, sludge-like gunk that he had spent so much time

brewing had simply settled to the bottom of the tank, at least mostly, and had promptly clogged up the entire hose. It then, for good measure, caked itself along the bottom of the tank, utterly sealing up even the small hole that let water and chemicals flow from the tank into the hose. Jason scowled furiously at the thick, brown gunk as he took apart the different components of the hose and found them all caked solid. Over an hour was spent washing out the different components and getting them functional again, and by the time that was done, night had fallen over the land. The only bright side, perhaps, was that the constant drone of the Juun bugs had been replaced by the far more benevolent sound of crickets.

He walked up and into his house broken and defeated, and he flopped onto his bed without a lot of fanfare. It felt as though he would never be rid of the pesky insects, and then... What would come of his farm? Tess was planning on leaving her job at the Warriors' Guild. If she did, and then his farm fell into ruin, would they start out their marriage as paupers, moving up to Illumitir to beg on the streets?

The rational side of his brain told him that the residents of Summer Shandy would never allow such a horrible predicament to befall the two of them, but he still found himself worrying, nonetheless. He had to find a solution, and he had to find it quickly.

If he didn't... He didn't know what he would do.

Chapter Seven - Storm Brewing

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 55th day of Summer! 36 days until the Summer Festival. There's a storm brewing later this afternoon, and it sounds like quite a nasty one from the reports we're getting down south. Get your work done quickly, that's for sure!]

Jason groaned and rolled out of bed. What did work even mean for him anymore? He staggered over to the window, where he gazed out at his failing crop of wheat and sighed sadly. He didn't take long to get dressed and soon started down the stairs to the kitchen.

About halfway down the stairs, he caught a whiff of something that smelled like bacon, and a smile flickered across his face. He took the remaining stairs two at a time and burst into the kitchen to find Tess just putting the last of a small breakfast onto the table. It was nothing extravagant, and about half of it was some sort of unidentifiable vegetable stuff, but there was also a solid amount of bacon and eggs, and that was good enough for him.

"Tess!" He grinned and threw his arms around her. She was in her standard battle armor, and he nodded down at her. "What's the occasion? I didn't expect to see you here today."

"With the storm coming in, I figured it would be another good day to discuss wedding plans! We started getting some positive responses in the mail."

"Great!" Jason beamed, then remembered, "I do have a bit of stuff to get done today, though, before we can do that."

"I figured I could help with it," Tess offered. "That's why I came dressed to work!"

Jason eyed her armor. "You do realize that you can kill most of the monsters around here just by stepping on them, right?"

Tess rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean."

"Do you even have clothing other than armor?" Jason asked as he chewed on a piece of bacon. "I mean, what are you going to do when you get pregnant?"

"They sell maternity armor up in Illumitir. I know someone I can get a discount from." Tess winked. "I'm kidding! I mean, yes, they do sell maternity armor, and I'm likely to buy a set or two of it once the time comes, but-"

She beamed, "Oh, Jason, we're getting married!"

They gazed at each other for a long time, then Jason forced himself to go back to eating. They soon finished their meal and headed out onto the farm. Angus and Lady were already hitched up to the post and were munching away happily. Jason kicked at a few of the crabgrasses as he walked up to the fence, then leaned against the metal rails and looked out across his sickly field.

It should have resembled a great, green carpet, about two feet tall, that was just about ready to burst into heads. Instead, it was a brownish-yellow, with just enough green left to justify saying that it wasn't dead yet. If he got a yield off it at all, it wasn't even going to be enough to use to re- plant the field. He sighed dejectedly, and Tess joined him.

"At this point, I'm less concerned about trying to save this crop, and more concerned with figuring out a way to prevent the things from getting at my next crop." Jason gestured vaguely at the swarming insects. A few of them buzzed past his head but paid him little mind. "I've been trying out this stuff that Jeremiah told me how to make, and it's working well enough when I can actually get it onto anything, but it's clogged up my sprayer eight or ten times

now, and I just can't figure out how to treat an area more than a few feet across as a result."

Tess pursed her lips. "Do you still have more of it? What portion of the field did you treat, and how did you do it?"

Jason sighed, then led her to the corner of the field nearby. There, nestled among all the dying wheat, was a small patch, about three feet on every side, that was miraculously quite green. There were still a few bites taken out of the leaves, testifying to the fact that the concoction wasn't perfect, but it was a good deal better than anything else Jason had tried. When he had gone into Paulina's store and listened to the other farmers talking, it was obvious that none of them had been able to find anything that worked any better.

"How'd you do it?" Tess repeated her question. "Were you able to get the spray to flow through the sprayer for a few seconds, or..."

Jason just chuckled and shook his head. "Have you ever been to a church where the priest sprinkles the congregation with holy water before mass? There's a ball mounted on the end of a stick that he dips into a bucket, and... I don't know. It seemed like a half-decent idea, so I gave it a whirl." He grimaced. "It took me two days to wash the stench out of my hair."

Tess chuckled, then leaned in close and gave his hair a sniff. "Make that three, or however many days it's been since then."

"You're no help," Jason quipped. "Now, do you have any brilliant ideas?"

He turned and walked back to the lean-to, where the large pot was still resting. It was still a brownish sludge, and it seemingly had been unaffected by any and all forms of mold, algae, or other forms of decay in the five days that it had been sitting there. Tess leaned over and picked up a stick, which she dipped into the liquid. She stirred it for a

few moments, then let go of the stick. It remained standing upright, and Jason exhaled with resignation.

"See?"

"Indeed." Tess thought for a moment, then suggested, "Have you tried some sort of explosive device? Maybe dump a bunch of it into a bomb, then chuck the bomb out into the field? The explosion might disperse it. We've done similar things to get goblin repellant through dungeons, in case of emergencies."

"Yeah. A bomb going off in the middle of my field is exactly what the crops need to grow well."

"That's a fair point."

Jason crossed his arms, then slowly looked up at the sky. It was darkening rapidly, which meant that even if they did somehow come up with a half-decent way to disperse the spray, it was just going to get washed away as soon as the rain came.

"Well, now you've seen the problem, at least. If you come up with anything, let me know. I'm exhausted, and opening letters sounds like a much better option. Like I said, I'm not getting anything out of this crop anyway."

Tess inclined her head, though her face was sad. They turned and walked back into the house and had soon settled down in the living room. Tess took a small bundle of papers out of her inventory and passed them to Jason, and he scanned through the envelopes.

"Let's see..." He took out a letter addressed to "Ms. Tess of Summer Shandy," in rather elegant handwriting. "This one's about your brother?"

Tess nodded. "We can save it for last, if you want." "No, I'd like to see." Jason handed it to her. "Open it!" Tess smiled and slit the envelope open, then took out

a small piece of paper. It wasn't much, but she'd soon unfolded the message and read it out loud.

"Dear Ms. Tess, I'm so happy for you! Just imagine, you're getting married! Thanks so much for inviting me! I'll

be there if at all I can. In the meantime, I do have a bit of information about your brother, as you asked. The last I heard, and that was about six months ago, he was heading down into the Volcanic Country to start working on clearing out some high-level dungeons there. If you write to the Warriors' Guild Headquarters in Lava City, I'm sure they'll be able to track him down. It sounded like he wasn't going to be moving on for quite a while, so you'll probably be safe. Once again, congratulations! Yours truly, Samantha Nottingale."

Jason nodded at the letter. "Who's she?"

"She was a friend of mine while I was growing up," Tess answered. "Her parents were also dungeon warriors, but not quite to the same extent as mine. Only one of them would go out at a time, and only for long enough to earn that month's food. Lovely family, actually. We spent quite a bit of time playing together, whenever she was available," Tess reminisced. "About the time I entered training to become a Guildmaster, she met a handsome young warrior who was just starting to prove himself in the different circles that warriors run in. They got married, and I'm pretty sure they have three or four kids now."

"Wow." Jason flashed a small smile. "That's a full house."

"They're shooting for a full dozen." Tess chuckled. "They joke that they like dungeons so much, they're just going to turn their house into one!"

At that, Jason laughed. "Well, at least we know where to find your brother now."

Tess nodded. "I've visited that Guild Hall before. It's a good one, they really do a lot to coordinate all the different warriors in the area. It'll... It'll be good to see him again."

After a contemplative pause, she flipped through a handful of envelopes. "These are all my different warrior friends that I've made over the years. You won't know most of them, so I can open these later."

"Hey, your friends are going to be my friends soon," Jason countered. "You've got it easy. All my friends live right here in town, so you already know them."

Tess chuckled softly, and they spent the next several minutes opening all her envelopes. When they finished, there was only a single one left, and Jason felt a stab of nervousness.

It was a simple, brown envelope, inscribed with a black pen. It was addressed to "Mr. Jason of Summer Shandy." Tess passed it to him, and he slowly tore it open. There was a single page inside, and he pulled out the small, faded paper.

"Jason, your invitation comes as a bit of a shock, given how you've snubbed us over the last two years. I'll be coming down with Killian and Nathanial as soon as I can get matters squared away here, and we can discuss your business endeavors. Lacy."

Jason sighed, then handed the letter to Tess. She read it herself, then frowned in confusion.

"My mom," He clarified. After a moment, he drummed his fingers on the armrest of the couch. "I guess now we know how she's viewed the last few years."

"Maybe you can explain things once she gets here?" Tess held up her hands.

"That's my hope, too." Jason did not look confident in that hope.

"And who are Killian and Nathanial?" Tess asked.

"The youngest of my brothers. Probably the only two that are still at home." Jason stroked his chin. "My dad will be staying home to keep working. I'm not exactly sure when they'll be getting here or what they mean by discussing business ventures, but... I guess we'll find out."

"Yeah," Tess muttered softly, then glanced at him. "How was your family life growing up? Was it as tense as it seems now?"

"No!" Jason shook his head. "We were all really close! At least I thought we were. My brothers and sisters and I would all go playing through the streets, we had free rein of pretty much the whole city. My mom and dad were always there in the evenings, and my dad would read stories to us around the fire. I really don't know what's happened since." He exhaled slowly to center himself. "I only hope that it can be resolved quickly. I don't like the idea of being at odds with them, you know?"

"Yeah," Tess whispered softly. After a moment, she continued, "I don't know. It just sounds so wonderful, to have had a family like that. I can't imagine being upset with your kids, or your parents, at least not to that degree. I mean, I'm sure there are times when you'd love to just chuck them into the closest dungeon and barricade the entrance, but most of the time... I don't know. I wish so badly that I could have had that."

Jason flashed a small smile. "After we're married, you will. Our kids will."

"And I'm sure you'll be a wonderful father." Tess sighed. "I only hope I can be a good mother."

"You will be." Jason hugged her tightly. "You will be."

They sat there on the couch and stared out through the front window, watching the prairie grasses rippling in the growing wind. A few Juun bugs whizzed past, and lightning flashed as the storm came roaring over Summer Shandy, and Jason found the moment bittersweet. Outside, it was a strange and cruel world. In here, though, he had something wonderful. He only hoped that the arrival of his mother and brothers didn't upset that balance.

Chapter Eight - Field

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 75th day of Summer! 16 days until the Summer Festival. Looks like today's going to be a bit cooler! Expect temperatures to start cooling steadily all the way up until the start of Fall!]

Jason woke up, rolled out of bed, and walked up to the window. He stared out at his mostly dead field, along with the small patch of green in the corner, and took in a deep breath to prepare himself. After his meeting with Tess, he had tried a dozen more methods for getting the Juun bug repellant out onto the field, but none of them had worked. On the bright side, he was fairly confident that even if he stirred up a whole swarm of the insects, none of them would come near him, as he had utterly soaked himself, time and time again, in the thick sludge. On the less-bright side, the stench also kept away all the townsfolk when he went into Summer Shandy for supplies, so... There was that.

He soon dressed and made his way down to the kitchen. He dropped into a chair, and the cookbook made him a plate of something green, and he chuckled. It was greener than just about anything else on his farm, and he ate it with a full acknowledgement of the irony. When he finished, he slowly made his way outside, hitched up Lady, and leaned against her stable as she ate.

The green grass of his yard was starting to vanish, as well, leaving very little for Lady to graze upon while she was hitched up. He scowled at a group of the bugs flying overhead, then shrugged. What more could he do? Nothing. Nothing at all, save to rant and rail. It felt odd, in truth. He felt more inactive than he had been since moving into the

property, but everything he tried felt like spitting into the wind. Sure, it was possible that there was something that would eventually be able to help. but he didn't have the faintest idea what it might be.

On top of that, the letter from his mother was continuing to eat at him. She wanted to discuss his "business endeavors." What did that even mean? Was she interested in the farm? She hadn't even seen it, but maybe she was just assuming that since he had been down in Summer Shandy for two years, it must be at least a little profitable? He didn't have a clue. Nowhere was there a mention of congratulations. Nowhere was there a question about what Tess was like, nor what kind of wedding they were planning, nor how he was doing. It was simple, to the point, and that was that. Not that she had ever been the most expressive person in the world, but certainly she was a little more excited than that... Right?

The thought continued to eat at him, until finally he couldn't take it. He grabbed Lady's saddle out of her stable, strode over and cinched it up, then climbed onto Lady's back. With that, they both rode off into the wilderness. He needed to get his mind off current events, and he didn't see any better way to do that than to visit the stone monolith.

While it had certainly been in the back of his mind, thoughts of the monolith had remained floating around his brain ever since he had first found it. He doubted that he would really be able to come up with many answers, but it was worth going back to take another look. As he rode across the gently rolling hill,. the ride was refreshing, and he found his mind turning to the landscapes that hadn't seen a human other than Jason himself in untold years. How long had the land laid dormant? How long had it been since a fellow man had walked across those prairies? Jason knew little of the history of the land, but he could imagine plenty. Perhaps there had once been a great civilization there, a powerful race of people that had fallen into ruin over

thousands of years until nothing remained but memory. Perhaps it had been a vast expanse of unexplored wilderness, until the first few people came and built up a handful of towns here and there, only for their constructions to become lost amidst the sands of time, and new towns like Summer Shandy sprang up to replace them. Would anyone remember his own farm in a hundred years? What about Summer Shandy itself? Would it, too, become so overgrown that later generations would walk past it and wonder if anything had ever existed on that barren prairie hill?

He had the answers to none of these questions, and he supposed that they mattered little in the end. He rode onward, until he came over the last hill and into full view of the expansive field. There, much to his delight, he found that everything was still utterly dead. None of the monstertraps had regrown, which normally was quite a problem with the odd plants. It took almost nothing to get them to start growing, and once they did, they spread like no one's business. Of course, a good swath of the prairie around the field was also dead, and the leaves on a number of the trees closest to the field had curled up. He winced a bit but supposed that there was nothing to be done about it. Soon enough, he had ridden Lady up to a tree with loads of fresh, green grass growing underneath of it, dismounted, and strode off into the woods.

It took him the better part of half an hour before he found the monolith once again, due largely to the twisting and claustrophobic nature of the forest. When he finally came up to it once again, he sat down on the ground and just stared up at it.

It was strange, in a way, just how magnificent it truly was. How many years had it stood there without anyone looking up at it? How many people had once looked up at it, never imagining that such a great stone could fall into such obscurity?

Jason sighed, then took out a notebook and pencil and began to sketch the thing, focusing specifically on the faint, almost invisible runes. He copied them down as best he could, then pocketed the notepad yet again. He would show them around town, see if anyone happened to recognize the scribbles. Maybe they would, and maybe they wouldn't, it was hard to know for sure. He could always take them up to Illumitir if he ever got that way again, he was sure that there would be some sort of a history professor up there who would be able to translate the document. For that matter, there was a good chance that showing the runes around Illumitir would bring down an expedition of historians hoping to learn about the monolith and everything that it might hold.

Even as the thought crossed his mind, Jason rejected it out-of-hand. He had seen what an influx of outsiders could do in Summer Shandy, and he had no desire to see a repeat of what had happened the year before. Sure, the people behind the influx had been the parents of a maniac who had tried to destroy the town the year before that, but... details. Even before that fact had been known, growth had not looked good on the small town.

Jason continued to stare up at the thing for quite a long time, then slowly rose and walked up to it. This time, he walked all the way around it, running his fingers across as much of the surface as he could touch. There were no seams that he could find, ruling out the possibility of the monolith being a building of some sort. There were cracks, but they were the natural sort of crack, not the type that indicated a hidden doorway. The backside of the monolith was sheer, without an indication of any type of writing at all. It was disappointing, but Jason supposed that it couldn't be helped. After a few minutes, a thought leapt into his head.

What if there was more in the surrounding trees?

His heart leapt with excitement. In retrospect, it was a rather silly feeling. After all, what would more monoliths

really do for him? Give him more mysteries to deal with? Nevertheless, in that moment, he began to eagerly rush through the area immediately around the monolith, looking for anything that may have indicated that there was more construction, more anything, that he could find to examine. Nothing yielded to his search, and he paused for a moment. He needed to be more methodical, and not get hopelessly lost in the thick forest. Lacking a compass, he picked a direction that, from the position of the sun, sure seemed to be west, and started walking in that direction. It was the direction away from his farm, and if he was right, would lead him deeper into the forest.

He walked for almost fifteen minutes before he came upon the river, which seemed to be sloping to the north, where it would presumably be the same river that ran through Nightford, where Jason had taken Tess to view a carnival. At that point, he looked down at the slope to the mud, didn't see any other way to get across the river, and slowly turned to walk back to the monolith.

When he got back, he frowned, then turned and started walking south, from the backside of the monolith. He only went a few hundred feet before he struck the river again and was forced to turn back. This time, though, he followed the course of the river for a hundred feet or so, then turned back to the north. This path took him to the side of the monolith, once again without finding anything that might have been related to the great structure.

Growing frustrated, Jason started just walking in circles around the monolith, going ever-further from the structure. Suddenly, though, he came upon a particularly large oak tree, with huge, gnarly roots that rose out of the ground like tentacles. He climbed up onto some of the roots just for fun, smiling a bit at their sheer size. It was just like something from a fantasy book, a gnarled tree that would prove to have a portal to fairyland or something similar.

After climbing about on the roots for a few minutes, he climbed down and walked around to the far side of the tree. There, a depression in the ground fell away beneath the tree, allowing the roots and the trunk itself to form a cave of sorts. Importantly, though, the floor of the small cave was covered in stones that all appeared to be the same grey slate that the monolith had been made from. A grin split Jason's face, and he started down the steep slope into the cave.

It wasn't a large cave, only about twenty feet deep (the width of the trunk, more or less), equally as wide, with the wooden ceiling just a bit higher than his own head. He marveled as he walked into the musty environment and slowly looked around. Water dripped down from the roots, while a carpet of soft leaves lay scattered across the soft dirt. Slowly, Jason bent down and ran his fingers across one of the grey slate stones. It wasn't large, and in fact looked rather like a cobblestone. He tugged at it, and when it didn't move, he tugged at it a bit more.

The stubborn stone still refused to budge an inch, and Jason slowly climbed up to his feet and gave it a kick. A sharp crack echoed through the air, and Jason had the sudden and distinct impression that he should not have done that. With a rumble, the floor gave way, and Jason felt himself falling into a cavernous pit.

Thankfully, the cavernous pit was only about ten feet deep, and the landslide of dirt that came after it provided a slope for Jason to climb out. He exhaled gently in relief, then sat down on the slope to wait for his nerves to calm down. As he did so, he gazed around him, taking in the structure that he had fallen into. All told, the environment did not allow him to calm down.

He was in a tunnel, that much was obvious. To his left and right, the tunnel stretched out seemingly without end, and in both directions, darkened doorways led into unseen areas. The whole structure was made of cobblestone,

though much of it appeared cracked and unstable. There were a few small alcoves with ancient candles, now yellowed and far beyond use. Most importantly, though, there were bones that littered the floor. There were a lot of them, and they all bore many teeth marks. Several skulls lay among the bones, skulls that looked a great deal as if they belonged to predators of some sort.

Jason lost no time scrambling up out of the tunnel. When he reached the top, he glanced down inside, imagining that he saw all sorts of horrid shadows moving about below him. He shuddered, then turned and walked away.

Whatever the monolith was, and whatever Jason imagined himself to be, he was no warrior. If there was an old dungeon in the woods, it deserved to stay well enough left alone. He would bring Tess there at some point, and she could look it over. Until then, he had seen enough to stay away.

For that matter... Even though he didn't really know yet how he would take care of any of his problems, he already felt refreshed by the excursion. It was time to return to his life... And hope, beyond hope, that he could figure something out.

Chapter Nine - Spray

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 90th day of Summer! 1 day until the Summer Festival. This'll be the coolest day yet, folks! Expect a return to warm temperatures tomorrow, and then after that... Fall!]

Jason rolled out of bed and struggled to his feet. Welts from Juun bug bites covered his body after the previous day's planting, and he groaned softly as he staggered to his window. As he came up and gazed out across his farm, he took a deep breath. The wheat sprouts would have emerged overnight, and while he wasn't at all expecting to have a good crop, he was planning on heading out to Jeremiah's house later that day to work on an application method for the insect repellant, and hoped to be able to figure out, with the crop, how to solve his problems.

Of course, that whole plan required something to be able to test the spray upon... Which was going to prove rather difficult, given that every last ounce of green sprout appeared to have been eaten. Anger flared through Jason's body, and he turned and marched for the door. His steps rang out loudly as he stormed down to the ground floor, and he didn't even stop in the kitchen long enough to grab a bit to eat. Instead, he simply swept out into the yard, fought his way through a swarm of crabgrasses that had made their way onto his farm, and came up to the fence.

Swarms of Juun Bugs flitted across the field in a thick mat, almost looking like a living carpet across his topsoil. He screamed in rage, but the bugs didn't seem to pay him any mind. It was true. Every single stalk of grain, every last bit of his freshly planted wheat had been gobbled up. He balled

his hands into fists and had to restrain himself from just jumping over the fence and stomping on the monsters. Who did they think they were, anyway? Didn't they know that if they put him out of business, they'd be out of food to eat?

His fury only continued to mount as he took Lady out to her hitching post and realized that he was out of oats. Great. He couldn't feed Lady, as the Juun bugs had eaten up most of his grass as well. His crops were gone... It felt utterly hopeless. He scowled and thumped back into the house, where he gobbled down a plate of sausage and greens about as fast as he could manage. When he finished, he went back out, threw a saddle on Lady, and started out.

The ride took a bit of the edge off him, and when he came up to the Lazy-H, he found Jeremiah sitting on his porch, smoking a pipe and waving amiably. Jason soon rode Lady up to the hitching post, and one of the hired men walked up to take her.

"If you'd be willing, she could use a bit of feed." He nodded at the man. "Much obliged."

The hired man nodded and led Lady away, and Jason walked up to the porch. Jeremiah gestured at a chair just next to him, and Jason gladly sat down. They stared out at the prairie for a few seconds, and Jeremiah took a long draw on the pipe.

"You look like you could use one of these." Jeremiah remarked after a few moments. "You ever try it?"

Jason shook his head. "No, and I can't say as I'm going to start."

"Pity. Yet another victim of the modern health movement. Can't do anything that might hurt your body, even if you die of stress." Jeremiah took another draw on the pipe and shrugged. "You mind telling me what's going on? Not troubles with Tess, I hope."

"Nothing of the sort." Jason shook his head. "No, everything's going well with the wedding. I think. I know Tess is making a bunch of the arrangements. She's bringing

me in on all the important aspects, but I'll admit that I'm not exactly sure what all those are."

"And that's the way it should be," Jeremiah advised. "You know, when I got married, Delilah insisted on making these bumblebee pins that everyone was required to wear. Apparently, it was a reference to someone who, when she and I started dating, said that the two of us were as cute as bees. She was so excited, I didn't have the heart to tell her that I was deathly afraid of bumblebees."

Jason chuckled. "Does she know now?"

"We had a laugh about it... Oh, I think I told her at our five-year anniversary. Something like that." Jeremiah chuckled. "Anyhow, glad to hear that everything there is going swimmingly. Now, what's ailing you today?"

"Juun bugs." Jason scowled. "What's the point of farming if everything I plant is just going to get eaten anyway?"

"You do realize that everything you produce will get shipped off to Illumitir, where it gets eaten anyway, right?" Jeremiah raised an eyebrow.

"You know what I mean."

Jeremiah chuckled deeply. "Yeah, I do. Monsters aren't exactly the best about tipping you for your service, I'll certainly say that much. Well, then, if that's your trouble, then I imagine that we'd better be about our day. Ahh! Looks like the rest of the party just showed up."

Jason looked up as Tess rode into the yard mounted high on Angus. They both beamed as Tess dismounted and walked up onto the stairs, and Jeremiah emptied the ashes of his pipe into a small bowl and rose.

"Now that you're both here, I think it's time to get to work. Come on out back, we'll get this figured out."

Jeremiah quickly led the way around the side of the house to the back, where Weatherhand was standing next to a table with a variety of odds and ends. A cannon stood just next to the table, and Jason blinked.

"Did you know I was going to be here?" Jason whispered.

"What do you think?" Tess hissed back. "Of course not! Jeremiah made it sound like we were going to surprise you. I mean, it looks like we did, but not quite in the way I had anticipated."

"That does sound like Jeremiah." Jason chuckled. They walked up to the table, and Jason looked down at the assorted supplies. Suddenly, Delilah came walking out of the house with a large stew pot, which she set down at the end of the table. A horrid, yet quite familiar, odor came wafting out, and Jason choked.

"At least I know I made it correctly." He coughed and waved away the smell. "Gotta admit, I was afraid I had done something wrong."

"It's a hard recipe to mess up." Jeremiah chuckled. "Now, one thing that did cross my mind after you'd already left was the fact that this was a pour-on insect repellant. We'd put it on the cattle to keep away bugs when we had them in the chute for other sorts of medical examinations, we weren't just spraying it over the pen. Tess told me about your troubles with the sprayers clogging, and... Yeah. I'm rather impressed at your perseverance, to be honest."

"So, what's your plan for today?" Jason asked. "Why do we need Tess? Not that I don't want her here, of course, but I'm a bit confused."

"Of course, of course." Jeremiah smiled. "She's here because we're inventing things, and Delilah told me that if two guys got together to invent something, and explosives were involved, we'd better have a girl around to make sure that we didn't do anything too stupid."

"Explosives?"

"Explosives!"

Jason raised an eyebrow, but Tess sounded downright

excited. At that, Jeremiah chuckled.

"Oh, Delilah is going to regret the fact that she let Tess be the one to supervise us. Weatherhand? Give them a demonstration!"

Weatherhand nodded, then walked over to the cannon. He struck a match, then lit a fuse and braced himself.

With a powerful KA-WHUMP, the cannon erupted. Smoke poured from both ends of the weapon, and a fiery projectile flashed from the muzzle and sailed out over several of Jeremiah's pens. A moment later, the cannonball exploded with enough force for Jason to feel the blast in his chest. A brilliant, red dust showered down on the cattle below, making them stomp and churn about.

Jeremiah laughed, Tess grinned widely, and Jason blinked in surprise.

"Now, what do you think about that?" Jeremiah clapped his hands. "What I just fired was a bit of mineral powder. Nothing too extravagant, and harmless to the cattle. Might make them lick each other's coats, but that's nothing they don't do anyway every now and again. I used to use this method all the time for giving medicines to the entire herd, but it does kinda rile them up, and Delilah told me that it was breaking too many of her canning jars in the house."

Jason nodded slowly. "It's... It's interesting."

"So, when I propose something like this, it's crazy, but when he brings it up..." Tess began, even though there was a smile firmly upon her face.

"You suggested just putting a bomb in the middle of my field," Jason countered. "This is something entirely different."

Tess paused, then nodded. "That's fair."

"Anyway, the principle is solid, but we're going to have to do a bit of experimenting, like I said." Jeremiah continued. "I don't really know how much this stuff weighs, so we're just going to have to fill a bunch of these cannon

balls up and do a whole bunch of tests with different amounts of repellant and gunpowder."

"We could also just do the math," Tess suggested. "I didn't bring it with me, but back at the Guild Hall, we have a bunch of calculations for these sorts of bombs. Densities, volume, viscosity, all that sort of stuff. It might save us a bit of time and supplies."

Jeremiah nodded slowly. "We could. Or, and hear me out... We can make up a whole bunch of cannonballs and spend an entire day doing nothing but playing with inordinate amounts of gunpowder and explosives."

The door of the cabin opened, and Delilah whacked the side of the house with a spoon. Jeremiah backtracked.

"All right, not playing, per se, but..."

"I vote for the trial and error," Jason spoke up. "After all, it is more likely to produce better results. Calculations are one thing, but you can never be certain that the final result will work the same way as you'd think."

A smile grew on his face as he muddled his way through the hocus-pocus excuse to play with the cannon. Delilah rolled her eyes and headed back inside, and the door fell shut with a thunk.

"And there we go! Permission!" Jeremiah grinned. Weatherhand picked up one of the cannonball casings, and he showed it to Jason and Tess.

The cannonballs were hollow and consisted of two casings, one inside the other. The inner casing held gunpowder, while the space between the inner and outer casings was filled with the chemical. The cannonball was then corked and rammed down the barrel of the cannon, after, of course, a generous amount of gunpowder was poured down the barrel first.

"How does this work, exactly?" Jason asked as they prepared for their first test-fire. They had decided to go for broke and filled both the inner casing and the outer casing

as full as they could make them. "How does the inner gunpowder know when to go off?"

"There's no exact science." Jeremiah shrugged. "When the first explosion goes off, there's a ton of heat. I mean, you can't pour more gunpowder into the cannon for a solid thirty seconds after a shot, and you wouldn't want to touch it with your bare hands for five minutes or so. That heat just goes right down to the gunpowder at the center and causes it to go off, but because the cannonball's already been thrown up into the air, by the time the heat gets to the center, the cannonball has traveled a few hundred feet or so."

"I don't think that's exactly how it works, but we'll go with it." Tess shrugged. After a moment, she nodded at the direction the cannon was facing. "If for some reason the cannonball doesn't go off, there's nothing off that way that we're going to hit, is there?"

"I've got pasture for five miles that way, and I've already cleared all the cattle away from that part of the ranch. Beyond that, there's nothing but open prairie for another ten miles until you come to Old Franklin's farm, and if the cannonball does happen to get that far, he'd deserve whatever damage it happened to cause." Jeremiah shrugged. "Not that I expect that to happen, of course. This this is foolproof. Weatherhand? Let it rip!"

Weatherhand lit the fuse, and their first test began. A moment later, the cannon went off with a resounding blast, and the cannonball flashed up into the air. Defying Jeremiah's expectations, quick as a blur, it flashed over his sorting pens and barns. Out in the pasture, there was a sudden blast of soil as it struck the ground.

"Hmm. That doesn't usually happen." Jeremiah stroked his chin. "That stuff must be better at absorbing the heat than I thought."

"I didn't want to say it, but liquids are notoriously bad when trying to make fog bombs." Tess shrugged.

"Then we'll just have to try again!" Jeremiah grinned. They brought out the supplies and soon had a new cannonball to test out. This time, they filled the inner shell all the way to the top, but the outer casing they only filled about half-full. Weatherhand quickly packed it into the cannon, and Jason stepped back as they prepared to run a test again.

"What happens if it goes off too quickly?" Jason glanced at Tess.

"Well, Delilah'll be madder than a hornet, and that'll be worse than just about whatever a pest could do to you." Jeremiah answered. "Let 'er rip!"

Weatherhand lit the fuse, and Jason glanced at Tess. She took out her shield and held it in front of them, and the cannon went off a moment later.

This time, the two explosions nearly sounded as one, and Tess groaned as a great deal of shrapnel rattled against her shield. As she lowered the shield, Jason found a large plume of smoke hanging in the sky only fifty feet away from them. Jeremiah had a small trickle of blood running down his arm, and Weatherhand looked rather shell-shocked himself.

"Well. That was a bad idea." Jeremiah frowned, then shrugged and walked up to the table. "That said, we did get a good mist from the spray. We'll just have to try again. Maybe a little less gunpowder to go along with less spray."

Jason couldn't have agreed more. They spent the next several hours pouring gunpowder and the thick, sludge-like chemical into the cannonballs. It really was a science, and it wasn't long before Jason found himself immersed in trying to create the most consistent result. Finally, they determined that for optimum performance, the outer casing needed to be filled about three-quarters of the way with chemical, and the inner casing needed to be about half-full. With that formula, they were consistently able to make the cannonballs explode in the same place, about two hundred feet from the cannon's position. Jason whistled softly as

they set down the recipe, and Jeremiah began scribbling some figures.

"All right, then. I'll come by tomorrow with a load of a hundred cannonballs, and we'll see what we can do. Tess, if you wouldn't mind coming out as well, tomorrow's going to be a lot more sweat and a lot less fun."

"I'll be there." Tess nodded. She turned and gave Jason a kiss on the cheek, then started striding back toward her horse. Jason sighed and watched her go, then nodded at Jeremiah.

"Much obliged."

"Oh, you'd do the same for me if the tables were turned. You have, in quite a few ways." Jeremiah smiled. "We're neighbors. Eventually, you've just got to stop counting favors and just accept help when needed and give it when necessary."

Jason nodded as he watched Tess ride away on the horse. "Well, I'm still grateful."

"You can be grateful tomorrow when this actually works."

Jason chuckled and started walking over to the barn, where Lady had been stabled. As he did so, he heard Jeremiah chuckling behind him.,

"You know, Jason, I have to admit that you're one of the oddest sorts I think I've ever seen. You're either at the top of your game and nothing can touch you, or you're so miserably down on your luck that anyone with half a brain would have packed up and went away."

"Then call me half-brain." Jason guffawed. "See you tomorrow, Jeremiah! Can't wait!"

With that, he soon rode away, smiling and sighing deeply. The next day was both the Summer Festival and the day that he would spray his crops with a cannon.

What could possibly be better than

Chapter Ten -Summer Festival

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 91st day of Summer! It's the day of the Summer Festival. Warm and bright today! Come out early and help set up, and we'll have a proper party tonight! Oh, and ignore the loud explosions coming from the countryside.]

Jason rolled out of bed and walked up to the windows as quickly as possible. As he gazed out over his farmstead, he saw Angus already stabled next to Lady, along with several sacks of oats propped up by the door. Jason smiled, then turned and took the stairs two at a time as he raced down to the kitchen.

Tess looked up at him and flashed a grin at him as he came into the room. The table had been prepared, and he was somehow unsurprised to find that nearly everything there was green. Apparently, on such a wonderful day, it was completely licit to force him to eat healthy. He sighed and started to eat, and Tess beamed at him.

"Our first festival as an engaged couple!" She grinned.

"We were technically engaged at the Spring Festival." Jason pointed out.

"Yeah, but you remember how it was. Everyone sorta made the party about us - I mean, I know it wasn't actually, but Viola and Paulina and Theresa dressed me up, and there were all the dances, and this time, it'll just be us. You know?"

"Yeah." Jason flashed a crooked grin. He finished eating, then asked, "What time do you think Jeremiah will be getting here?"

"About half an hour. Now, I only know that because I rode out of town with him, but..."

"Why'd you ride out of town with him? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine. He used up more gunpowder than he had intended to use yesterday, so he had to go buy more from Paulina before he could finish making all the cannonballs. He also apparently had to go buy a bunch of new canning jars for Delilah."

At that, Jason chuckled. "Somehow, that doesn't surprise me."

"No, not in the slightest. On a related note, I'm going to have to learn how to can. It actually looks kinda fun, you know?"

"It does at that." Jason slowly rose from the table and started walking toward the front door. "Actually, I may need you to keep your warrior skills honed."

"So I can fight off all the monsters?" Tess asked.

"No. I found something up in the woods... Oh, I can't exactly remember when. I meant to mention it to you, but we've been so busy I haven't really had a chance."

He explained about the old dungeon as they got their boots on and strode out into the yard. When he finished, Tess nodded slowly.

"I've heard of things like that before. They're not terribly common, but every now and then, old dungeons don't get closed up properly. They usually don't have any more monsters spawning in them, but they're kinda fun to go look around." A sudden smile split Tess's face. "Hey! You've never actually been inside a dungeon, have you?"

"Not a one." Jason shook his head. "Most of them don't allow you inside unless you're a warrior class, and the ones that do... I mean, come on. I know it might be fun, but no one takes you seriously if you go through a slime dungeon, you know?"

Tess laughed. "I know it's a bit of a stereotype, but I have to admit, slime dungeons are fun. It's like fighting your way through the inside of a giant's nose."

"That was not an image I wanted in my head." Jason guffawed as they walked out onto the porch. They soon walked up to the field, which was still matted with the Juun bugs. Most likely, they were still following the hormones left by previous Juun bugs, as there was almost certainly nothing left to eat. It would be good enough for a test, in any event.

Almost exactly half an hour later, Jeremiah came trotting in through the driveway. He was pulling a cannon just behind his horse, while Weatherhand came along with a wagon piled high with cannonballs. As they set up, Weatherhand dismounted, waved to Jason and Tess, and then unhitched the horse from the wagon, climbed up, and rode off. Jason looked after him questioningly, and Jeremiah responded.

"I need him to handle some new recruits we just got down from Illumitir. I can't tell how many of them are eager young souls looking for a solid income, and how many of them are criminals trying to run from the law. He'll be able to sort them out in my absence, in any case." Jeremiah rubbed his hands together. "Now, shall we get this party started?"

Jason flashed a grin. "Let's!"

They quickly wheeled the cannon into position and started getting things ready. Without Weatherhand there to help, Jason was put in charge of pouring the gunpowder, Tess was in command of wadding, and Jeremiah rammed the cannonball in himself. They took turns lighting the cannon, of course, as that was by far the most fun part of the job.

When the first shot went off and smoke filled the air, the cannonball exploded wonderfully over top of the field. A fine mist came sprinkling down onto the Juun bugs, and

Jason held his breath. He walked closer to the edge of the field and watched, and a grin soon split his face.

The moment that the spray hit the ground, the Juun bugs all launched themselves into the air. At least, most of them did. He thought he saw a few that persisted in crawling across the ground, but the number was low, and that was the important part. The trio exchanged a round of high-fives, and they got to work.

That, of course, was when Jason realized just how much work the process truly was. The cannon, weighing several hundred pounds, couldn't be easily moved even by all three of them working together. To spray all eighty acres, they were forced to hook up the cannon to one of their horses, drag the cannon to the next position, fire it, wait for the thing to cool, drag it to a new location, and fire again. It wasn't the worst job that Jason had ever done, but it wasn't the quickest, either.

They had finished about half the field by the time that lunchtime came around. All of them, eager to get into the festival, agreed to keep working. Tess left her post for a short time to run back to the house to make up some food, but she soon enough brought it back out, and during one of the five-minute cooling breaks, they scarfed down as much as they could. As soon as the cannon was ready to move again, off it went.

When they finished, the sun was just starting to set, and Jason rejoiced. The field was almost completely clean, and while it wasn't perfect (and he had no idea how the Juun bugs would respond once something green was growing in the field again), it was a better result than he had seen yet that year. Jeremiah stood tall and whistled through his front teeth.

"Now there's something you don't see every day. It's a good day's work, everyone." He clapped his hands and hitched up the cannon to his horse. "Let me know how it works when you start planting tomorrow. If it's going to

actually keep them away, I'll figure out some way to get it applied to all the farms in the area. I'll have to charge something for it, I'm afraid, but if you all can actually get some crops harvested, I think it'll be worth it. And don't worry, I won't gouge you; I'll only charge for the supplies themselves."

"I'd be immensely appreciative, and I'd gladly pay for it." Jason nodded. "How much was all of this?" Jeremiah suddenly started to twist his boots back and forth in the dust, and Jason persisted. "Jeremiah? If you start doing this for everyone, you're going to have to accept compensation. I'll have to find out sooner or later."

Jeremiah winced, but admitted, "Oh, all right. Each cannonball came to about a thousand shandys, with most of the cost in the actual metal itself. Gunpowder's pretty cheap, and so is the repellant." He climbed up onto his horse and started riding off. "Now get off to town! There's a festival waiting, and I, for one, don't plan on missing it!"

Tess and Jason waved at him, and Tess nodded at Jason.

"I'm going to head back into town to get changed into something a bit more suitable. I'll see you in there?"

"I'll be there soon."

Within a few moments, Tess was riding off for town, and Jason made his way into the house. He took a quick shower, largely to wash off the stench that had drifted onto him, and then changed into a proper dress tunic. With that, he ran down the stairs and climbed up onto Lady.

By the time he arrived in Summer Shandy, the sun had set, and the party was in full swing. Tess was nowhere to be seen, nor was Jeremiah. Delilah and several of the hired men sat at one of the tables eating food from the great banquet, while Paulina, Theresa, and Viola sat a bit further down. There were several empty seats by the girls, and Jason quickly walked over and sat down.

"Jason!" Paulina flashed a small smile at him. "I could hear that cannon going off all day. Everything worked out well enough?"

"Hopefully." Jason nodded and started scooping a bit of food onto his plate. The majority of the feast had been picked over, but there was still enough that he was able to scrape a good meal together. "Have you seen Tess?"

Theresa nodded. "She came riding through here... twenty minutes ago? She ought to be out soon enough, but I don't know how fancy she's going to try to make herself."

Jason nodded, then finished filling his plate and sat back a bit. He chatted with his friends about a few things, and within about five minutes, the door of the Guild Hall swung open.

Jason felt a smile breaking across his face as Tess walked out to join the party. She was in her gilded dress armor, complete with a metal skirt, rubies and diamonds set in elegant designs, and a helmet with brilliant red plumage. She sat down next to Jason and started filling her own plate, then glanced at him.

"Oh, Jason, you didn't have to wait for me!"

"I mean... We are engaged. We have to do at least a few romantic things."

Tess whacked him upside the head but had a smile on her face as she did so. Even as they started to eat, the band began to get a bit livelier, and a number of the townsfolk began to pull tables aside to make the town square into a great dance floor. Constable Hank walked out into the middle of the area and began to dance a jig that was positively painful to watch, but since he was the constable, no one really said anything. The townsfolk began to push him out of the way as they started dancing across the area, and Jason felt euphoric. Oh, how he loved it here in Summer Shandy.

"You know, we never had anything like this up in Illumitir," Jason commented. "There were a few holidays,

but everyone just celebrated them in their own homes. The idea of an entire neighborhood... An entire village getting together, it would have been unthinkable. It's just lovely, you know?"

Tess agreed, "I never saw anything like it either, during my time on the road before settling down here. It's just so... peaceful."

KA-WHUMP!

A fiery blast erupted from the edge of town, slightly down the road a bit. Everyone jumped... And then a second explosion went off directly above the town. Fire filled the air, and Jason leapt to his feet.

Suddenly, though, he became aware that something was falling from the sky. He slowly held up his hands, watching as flower petals began to drift down around him like snow.

"Happy festival, everyone!" Jeremiah came striding up, a broad grin plastered across his wide face.

"Jeremiah Scott!" Delilah leapt to her feet. "Those petals had better not be from my prized rose bush! To say nothing of firing a cannon when there are people around!"

"What better time is there to fire a cannon?" Jeremiah protested.

"It was his idea!" Weatherhand called out.

"You agreed!"

Jason was subsequently greeted with the sight of

Jeremiah fleeing through the town, with Delilah hot on his heels brandishing a turkey leg. Everyone laughed, and Jason turned to look at Tess.

"Care to dance?"

She smiled back at him. A few minutes later, they were out on the dance floor, swirling around in time to the music. Their feet swept lightly across the carpet of rose petals, and Jason felt blessed.

The previous season had been hard, but now it was over. They had managed to drive off the Juun bugs, at least

mostly; and besides, winter was coming on fast. The cold weather would kill the insects, just like it had killed the monstertraps. He had a life in Summer Shandy unlike anything he had ever dreamed of. He had a wonderful woman pledged to become his wife.

He was living in a dream, and he knew that he would never let anything ruin that reality.

Chapter Eleven - Chilly Day

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 1st day of Fall! 90 days until the Fall Festival. It's a cold one, folks! For that matter, it's looking to be a pretty chilly fall from start to finish, possibly a record- breaker! Hopefully that trend breaks by winter, but we'll just have to see!]

Jason rolled out of bed, shivering more than a little. He let out a long breath and was surprised to be able to see it drifting through the air. Tess wasn't kidding when she said that it was cold. He ordinarily didn't have to worry about heating the house until later in the fall, sometimes not even until winter, but he considered making an exception. He slowly walked up to the window and gazed out, where a thin layer of frost covered the ground. Lady stuck her head out of the stable and snorted, creating small puffs of fog herself. Jason was fairly certain that the day would warm up as the sun rose, but until that happened, he was just going to have to muscle through.

He quickly changed into overalls with a long-sleeved shirt, then made his way downstairs to the kitchen. There, the cookbook flapped its pages in excitement, and he sat down at the table and stroked his chin.

"Let's see... It's a cold day. Let's go with some pancakes!"

The cookbook flapped a few of its pages, then turned to display all the empty pages at the end of the book.

"I know, I know. I haven't done any experimenting in a while," Jason apologized. "You do remember some of the last times I tried that, right? All the sausage I blew up."

The cookbook slammed its cover shut, then opened to the blank pages once again.

"Yes, I know it saved my life, but that still doesn't mean that I want to try something new right now," Jason whined.

The cookbook continued to display a blank page, and Jason acquiesced. He climbed to his feet and walked over to the pantry.

"Show me the recipe for pancakes."

The cookbook happily flipped to the pancake recipe. [Flour Water Eggs Sugar]

Jason quickly added all the requisite ingredients, then

browsed through his pantry. It was quite full, and he soon found a few blueberries that he tossed into the pan as well. There was a flash of light, and a plate of blueberry pancakes appeared on the table.

"You're welcome." Jason sat down at the table and began to eat.

The cookbook slammed itself shut, and Jason shrugged.

"I did as you asked."

The cookbook popped its front cover open once again, then slammed itself shut a second time. Jason chuckled and rolled his eyes, then finished the meal and walked to the front of the house. Soon enough, he had on his boots and stepped out into the frosty world.

As he walked over to Lady's stall and took her out, he couldn't help but notice a loud crunching noise. He glanced down and was more than a little delighted to find that he was walking over a layer of dead Juun bugs. The sudden cold snap, as frustrating as it was, had killed the bugs! A wide smile broke across his face, and he did a little dance, likely about as atrocious as Constable Hank's jig, as he took Lady out to her hitching post. He poured some oats for her, then walked into his lean-to and began inspecting the planter.

All things considered, the planter seemed to be in good condition, though it did have a few patches of rust that looked like they needed to be cleaned up. Jason took out his can of oil and soon had it all polished up, then loaded it with sorghum seed and went back to get Lady. She nickered as she was hitched up, and Jason let out a long breath.

"Here we go, Lady," he whispered as they rode up to the gates of the pasture. "We had a rough summer, but here's to a wonderful fall."

Lady nodded and stamped her feet, and with that, they were off. Jason pulled a lever to drop the planter into the ground, and they quickly began setting out the crop.

In some ways, the planter was a good deal easier to use than the harvester. In other ways, it was a great deal worse. It had a handful of disks that dug into the soil, cutting trenches for the seed to fall into. The seed then fell through long tubes and into the ground, and press wheels came up behind to close the trench. It was a wonderful setup, and Jason rather wished that he could meet the genius who had come up with the idea. He could ride on a small platform on the back, far away from the whirling disks, with the seed box located just below him. If he did fall, he would simply land on the ground behind the planter, thus negating the danger to life and limb that the harvester posed.

So... What made it worse?

The fact that he was a great deal more likely to fall off than in the harvester.

With the blades of the wheels digging into the ground, every single rock, every single hole, every single variation in the ground made the planter leap back and forth as if it were a bucking bull or stallion. It rattled Jason to his teeth, and by the time they had made a single pass down to the end and turned around, he already ached. He had only fallen off twice, though, was which was an improvement. He was getting stronger from all the times he had planted the

field, and he imagined that his grip was far more solid than it had once been. He rather wondered how it would compare to the grip of his siblings, but he had no way of knowing for sure. At least, not yet.

At that thought, his heart was filled with dread, and he momentarily lost his focus. The planter hit a small log at that exact moment, and he was thrown to the side with uncaring force. His breath left his body with a dull whomp as he landed, and he slowly climbed to his feet and raced after Lady. Luckily, though she didn't even notice his being bucked off, she was trained well enough that she continued straight. A few moments later, he had hopped back onto the planter, and his thoughts returned to his family.

When would they arrive? The letter had made it seem like they were coming relatively soon, but it was hard to know for sure. Would they be angry with him? Were they secretly happy to see him? His mother had never exactly been the most expressive when it came to emotions, so it was entirely possible that she was happy to see him and just didn't know how to say it. Of course, that may have just been wistful thinking on his part, but he knew that he couldn't really know for sure until they got there... Which was a terrifying thought in and of itself.

He was forced to put the thought out of his mind as the planter hit another bump and bucked him off, and he once again had to race after the thing. This time, he focused a bit harder on the task at hand, and all things considered, that proved to be the best option. He soon even forgot about the chill, and by the time that lunch came around, he was even sweating more than a little.

They took a long break for lunch, much more than Jason ordinarily allowed. He and Tess had stayed up fairly late the night before, just talking as they walked about the town, and he was really starting to feel the exhaustion as the day wore on. He nearly fell asleep while he ate a lunch of roast beef and tomatoes, then walked out onto the porch,

leaned back his chair, and kicked his feet up on the railing that ran around the porch. He didn't know exactly how long he stayed there, but eventually Lady started nickering at a warrior coming up from the south, and Jason was forced to get back to work. He waved at the warrior, then slowly walked back out to his field, hitched up Lady to the planter, and forced himself back into motion.

The second half of the field was even more brutal than the first. At a glance, it looked like several patches of ground had started to become unworked, likely as a result of the Juun bugs. As long as something stayed growing in the ground, and new seed was planted within a few days after the harvest, there was no need to till up the ground after the initial plowing. That said, it looked like the previous season had been enough to cause several large sections to harden, and Jason felt chagrinned. Taking out the plow was never fun, especially when he just had to plow up a few small areas of the plot. Still, if that was what he had to do, it was what he would do. He would wait until after the first harvest of sorghum, of course, but that was easy enough to manage.

When he put the planter away for the evening, he was roundly exhausted. Still, though, he had a smile on his face. He put Lady in her stable, then walked up to the fence and leaned against the railing, contentedly.

"Now that's what a field should look like," he whispered softly to no one. The ground was soft and rich, covered in tiny stripes that indicated the path of the planter. There were no Juun bugs, no monstertraps. It was a simple, pristine expanse of ground, just like he might dream about. He watched it for a few minutes, just to make sure it wasn't going to run away and he wasn't going to wake up, and then he turned away in satisfaction.

As he did so, though, something smacked into his face. It wasn't large, perhaps the length of his finger, and it fell to the ground with a telltale buzz. Jason's smile

vanished, and he knelt to see a Juun bug lying on the ground, buzzing and flapping its wings in annoyance. It looked up at Jason with a hungry, angry sort of look, and Jason stomped on it just as quickly as he could. Even as he did it, though, he could hear the distant drone of more of the insects.

"No," he groaned softly. "No, please no."

There was no answer, the bugs certainly didn't want to do anything except eat, and he felt a desperate need to reassure himself.

"Look. There's no reason to worry," he affirmed. "We just sprayed the field yesterday. I don't know how long it'll stick around, but it drove off the Juun bugs then, and it'll do it again. Maybe I have to pay Jeremiah to treat it again in a few weeks, but as long as I can get a single harvest..."

His voice trailed off, and he turned and gazed off into the setting sun. There was a low buzz, and a cloud of insects shot momentarily across the disk of the sun. His heart fell, and he slowly turned away.

Jeremiah's spray would work. Maybe Jason wouldn't completely get rid of the bugs, but he would be able to keep away the majority. There was no use borrowing trouble. He would sit back, he would wait, and everything would be okay.

It was a new season, it was a better season, and if it started to prove otherwise, Jason was going to do everything in his power to make it better.

Chapter Twelve - Early Frost

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 7th day of Fall! 84 days until the Fall Festival. Another cold one today! By the way, while the farmers of the area are well-acquainted with them, we're starting to get complaints from the village-dwellers about the Juun bug threat. Rest assured that we are seeking a solution. In the meantime, don't do anything to make them angry, and you shouldn't have any problems. It's also suggested that, if you have plants that you care about, take them inside.]

Jason sighed and rolled out of bed. His breath emerged as a fog, and his body shivered. That said, he refused to start a fire in the fireplace. It wasn't yet winter, and he wasn't going to start wasting good firewood until it was necessary to do so. After all, he wasn't pulling in enough of a harvest to justify it, anyway.

As he walked up to the window and gazed out across the frosty ground, his heart sank. The whole ground was nothing but bare soil, except a few scraggly blades of grass that grew up here and there. Juun bugs buzzed back and forth, nearly loud enough to rattle the windows. The sun had only just risen, and already they were on the hunt for more food. Jason shook his head, then slowly turned away. He dressed in frustration, then made his way downstairs and took his seat at the table. When nothing appeared, it took him several long moments to realize that he hadn't remembered to order anything.

"Ahh... I dunno. Pancakes with some new sort of fruit."

The cookbook flapped its pages, seemingly trying to remind him that it couldn't experiment for him.

"Fine, then. Strawberry pancakes. I don't have the strength to try something new."

There was a flash, and the cookbook yielded to Jason's wishes. He stabbed the fork into the spongy dish and started to eat. Hardly any of the flavors registered in his mind, and soon enough, he was done. He leaned back in his chair, then slowly forced himself to move again.

He had been so certain that it was a new season, and that his troubles were over, that it nearly felt like a slap in the face to realize that the Juun bugs were still there. That they were still eating up everything that he put into the ground. More and more, it was just feeling hopeless. He pulled on his boots and slowly walked out into the yard, through the swarming Juun bugs toward the stable.

Lady nickered happily as he pulled open the door of the stable and led her out into the yard. Her tail flickered the Juun bugs away, and soon enough, he had her tied up to the post and poured a healthy serving of oats. Even as she munched away at the meal, Juun bugs began creeping over to start eating them as well, and Jason shooed a few of them away as carefully as he could manage. Finally, he just resigned himself to walking back to Lady's stable to clean it out, only to find Juun bugs already munching away at the bed of straw. He scowled fiercely at the creatures, then lowered his head in defeat.

One of them came buzzing up and landed on his arm, and he slowly lifted his arm to look down at it. It stared back at him through multi-faceted eyes, and he frowned. There was an odd streak of red down the Juun bug's back that he didn't remember seeing during the summer months. A flash of inspiration struck him, and he quickly shook the thing off and went back inside his house. It took only a moment to grab another jar and lid, and a few minutes longer to catch one of the insects. It buzzed around the inside of the jar angrily, and he quickly slipped it into his pack and saddled

up Lady. Not long after, he was riding for town, more than ready to get away from the disaster that was his farm.

Quite unfortunately, as he went along, he was given no solace from the Juun bugs. They swarmed across the entirety of the prairie, munching away at nearly everything they saw. The softly-waving grasses, which by autumn were usually several feet tall and as full as they could be, now looked a good deal sparser. In fact, the whole prairie looked downright sickly, as though it were suffering from some sort of nasty wasting disease that Jason needed to stay well enough away from. He shuddered and made Lady trot along a bit faster as they moved into town.

When he came up into town, he found that the entire population seemed to be a bit bummed, or at least a bit down on the outs, from the Juun bugs as well. A few flowerboxes still sat outside a few of the windows, but they held only withered, unappetizing flowers in them. Children ran around through the streets, but many of them displayed red welts on their exposed skin and always ran and hid as soon as a swarm of the bugs flew overhead. Constable Hank sat at the well, but even he wasn't his ordinary, cheery self. Tess sat just next to him and waved at Jason as he rode up.

"Looks like we need another festival to cheer everyone up," Jason muttered as he came to a halt.

"To be completely honest, we've thought about it," Tess answered back. "We're just a little nervous that putting out food might draw in more of the bugs, and... That likely wouldn't have the intended effect."

"That's a fair point," Jason replied. "What are you two up to today?"

Constable Hank answered first. "Oh, you know. Just the usual work of running the town. Reining in all the hooligans, knocking heads together, that sort of thing."

Tess snorted, then rose. "I have a meeting with some Guild representatives later this afternoon, but until that

happens, I'm free. I'd say I'm up for whatever you're here for."

"Nothing terribly exciting, I'm afraid," Jason apologized, then started riding over to Paulina's store. "Just checking on something." As he approached, he caught sight of Jeremiah's horse, and flashed a grin. "Looks like I've got company."

"You know, I sometimes wonder if he actually does anything to run his farm," Tess remarked as Jason swung out of Lady's saddle. "Seems like he's always in here, every few days."

"In fairness, I make the trip a decent amount, too," Jason snorted. "Besides, since the trick with the cannon, I wouldn't be surprised if Delilah kicked him out of the house."

Tess tittered. A few moments later, they'd made their way into the store, where Jeremiah was leaning against the counter speaking with Paulina.

"...just saying, it seems like an overreaction. I broke two jars, and now I have to sleep on the porch for a week!"

"Well, I do sell sleeping mats. Aisle thirty-seven, two hundred shandys apiece." Paulina answered.

"Two hundred shandys!" Jeremiah whistled. "And a hundred for each of the jars? You're gouging my pockets here!"

"I could charge you for all the jars you broke when you fired the cannon in the town square." Paulina raised an eyebrow.

"I'm getting, I'm getting." Jeremiah tittered softly, then glanced at Tess and Jason. "Howdy, neighbor, and neighbor-to-be. What brings you into town?"

"A bare field," Jason muttered. He took the jar out of his inventory and set it on the counter. "I just noticed the odd marking this morning. Any light you can shed on it? Either of you, for that matter?"

Paulina nodded. "Yes, I can. A few of the other farmers brought in the same question a few days back. It's a variant of the ordinary Juun bug. The Autumn Juun Bug. It can survive in lower temperatures and eat a wider variety of foods."

"Any chance that there is something to repel them happens to be a plant that's still growing?" Jason asked, though he didn't have a lot of hope that such would be the case.

"I wish there was," Paulina sighed. "Unfortunately, no. It can only be repelled by the Autumn Lonesome Rose, which is apparently just as extinct as the Lonesome Rose. I still do hire search parties every now and again to go look for it, but they haven't been able to find a thing yet."

"I've been doing the same thing," Tess answered. "I have a handful of warriors who double as herbologists. They've scoured the whole countryside but haven't found anything that might be the Lonesome Rose. They did identify a new species of prairie wildflower, though, so... That's at least a little exciting."

Jason exhaled sharply and shook his head. "I just don't know what to do. We don't know where these bugs came from, and as of yet, we don't know how to get rid of them. The spray stuff that Jeremiah made up seemed to work on the summer variety, but it already looks like it's failing against this variety."

"You might try tweaking the recipe," Jeremiah called out from the aisles, where he was gingerly picking out a sleeping mat. If Jason had to make a guess, Jeremiah hadn't really been kicked out of the house but would likely take the opportunity to make a joke of it anyway. "If I had to wager a guess, at least based on the studies that I did while I was in Illumitir, different insect repellants work by countering the hormones they release to attract other insects to their position. You know, the stuff they squirt to make everything swarm?"

"Yeah." Jason nodded slowly. "That makes sense, I guess."

"Well, given that the Autumn Juun Bugs have a different rose to repel them, it probably means that their noses sniff things just a bit differently."

"Do you have any suggestions?" Jason raised his eyebrow.

"Hmm." Jeremiah stroked his chin. After a few moments, he replied, "Nope. Maybe some sort of very spicy pepper. Sure drives just about everything away from me when I'm eating them."

Jason snorted, though after a moment, he felt heartened. Crushed and dried peppers could keep ants out of houses; he had seen his mother use that remedy to keep insects out of his home in Illumitir more than a few times. In any case, it was worth a shot.

"You also might try burning it," Jeremiah added after a moment. "Make it normally, they dry it down into a powder and toss it into a bonfire or something. Fire always works well against fall monsters."

"Now that sounds useful," Tess snorted. "You know, sometimes I wonder how you were able to build up such a reputable ranch with all... All of what you do."

Jeremiah just smiled broadly as he walked back up to the counter. "It's all about knowing when to goof around and when to be serious."

"Or it's because you're currently covering up the fact that you're stressed about the Juun bugs, too," Paulina countered. "Not for yourself, certainly, but you have a lot of friends who are being eaten out of house and home, and you're doing what you can to cheer them up."

Jeremiah froze, and his mouth twitched. "Well, in any case, I've got to be getting back to the missus before she starts thinking I ran away. If you need anything else exploded, just let me know!"

He paid for the supplies and walked out into the town square, and Paulina winked at Jason.

"He's wound so tight he's about to bust."

"He's a good friend, that's for sure," Jason stated. "Well, thanks for the advice. I guess I'll take some peppers. Hottest you have."

"Ahh... One moment." Paulina turned and walked into the back of the store, emerging a few moments later with a small bag that held exactly three peppers. "The Phantom Pepper. Just use one, and the smoke from that fire will cause you to tear up. Hopefully it'll make the Juun bugs think a second time too, but I'll guess we'll see."

Jason quickly paid for the peppers and inclined his head. "Much appreciated."

He turned, and he and Tess soon made their way out into the town square. Jeremiah hadn't made it far, as he was now at the town well chatting with Constable Hank, and Jason glanced at Tess.

"I'll see you around."

They leaned in and kissed, and Tess flashed him a small smile.

"Come out to the town square in three days, if you're able. I think you'll like what I have."

"I'll be there." Jason smiled back, then mounted up on Lady. A few moments later, he was riding down the road back toward his farm.

He stabled Lady and forged his way back to his house through the swarms of Juun bugs, relishing the relief when he made it into the kitchen. Out came the stew pot once again, and Jason again prepared to brew up another batch of the strange chemical. He followed the instructions like before, adding all the ingredients at the requisite stages, only adding the pepper toward the end of the process. He wasn't exactly sure how long it needed to cook, and he didn't want to give it too little time to brew.

He became thankful for his caution within just a few minutes of adding the vegetable. The water bubbled and boiled, and the stench slowly grew as the different smells were mixed about. Suddenly, though, Jason became aware of the fact that a tear was trickling down his cheek. He also noticed that his nose was starting to burn, and that his stomach felt more than a little upset. He looked at the stove in more than a bit of horror, then quickly walked out to sit on his porch. The stench followed him even that far, and his eyes continued to water as he sat there in the cool air. Thankfully, the Juun bugs all began to buzz away, and he felt a momentary flash of victory.

When he judged that it had been enough time, about three hours since he had returned from Summer Shandy, he plugged his nose with a clothes pin and made his way back into the kitchen. By then, the emissions from the concoction were overwhelming, far worse than they had been before. His eyes burned, and tears began to trickle freely down his face. His nose began to run as well, and he gasped for air. That only made his lungs burn fiercely, and he turned off the heat and grabbed the pot as quickly as he could.

Desperate for air, he rushed out onto the porch, where the stench was a bit more manageable. Being close to the pot still made his eyes tingle a bit, but it was far better than before. With the concoction outside, he began lugging it over toward his field to figure out how to dry it down.

That, of course, was when he realized that he didn't really possess any good way to dehydrate things. He had seen dehydrators in Paulina's store but had never felt it necessary to buy one. Without any other option, he began eyeing the eternal torches that ran along the top of the fence.

A bit of an eyesore during other parts of the year, the eternal torches had been an addition from his very first year in Summer Shandy. Some of the fall monsters, specifically the smut, were deathly afraid of fire, and as they could ooze

straight through ordinary fences, could only be kept away with the deadly flame. The torches weren't large and consisted of a black handle and a small nozzle from which proceeded the fire. Jason wasn't exactly sure what powered them, but they had been burning for two years now, giving credence to the "eternal" portion of their name. He glanced around the farmstead, then quickly walked back into his house, grabbed a spoon that he didn't care about, and swiftly began walking around the perimeter of the field. A single spoonful was poured into the nozzle of each eternal torch, one by one, all the way around.

When he first poured in the liquid, the thick, brown sludge would simply fill the nozzle and prevent the flame from getting out. A few moments would pass, the liquid would begin to boil, and then, finally, smoke would begin to emerge. Twenty or thirty seconds after the initial filling, the flame would re-emerge, this time with a thick plume of smoke rising as well.

When Jason was satisfied that this would work, he started moving quickly around the field and soon had every single torch filled. A heavy smoke poured up from the field, and he smiled. At least, he smiled until he inhaled a bit of the smoke. It burned just as badly as the vapor from the stove had burned, and he lost no time getting inside. As he barricaded himself within the safety of the farmhouse, he went up to his bedroom and gazed out at the farmstead. There, he was gratified to see large swarms of the Juun bugs flying away, though just as before, time would be the only indicator of whether the treatment actually worked.

With that, he slowly made his way back down to his living room. There wasn't much else he could do for the remainder of the day, as it was already late. The next day, he would plow out the land that had reverted, and then he would try planting a new crop. There was no way of knowing whether it would work... But at the least, it was worth a

shot, and it gave him more hope than he had felt since the day that the Juun bugs had returned.

Chapter Thirteen - Titled

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 10th day of Fall! 81 days until the Fall Festival. If you don't have pressing work, it would be a great day to come out to the town square! Especially if you happen to consider yourself someone particularly adventurous or daring or know someone who might be!]

Jason slowly rolled out of bed and rose, weary as though he hadn't gone to bed at all. In all due fairness, he hadn't been able to get to sleep until well after midnight. He had spent the previous several days out in the field, trying desperately to get a good crop put in, but had run into a bit of a problem. The smoke from the torches, as effective as it was in keeping away the Juun bugs, also made his own body ache quite horribly. He had been unable to enter the field without extraordinary pain, at least while the torches were going. As such, he had been forced to wait until the torches burned up all the repellant before he had been able to enter, which had resulted in his staying up extraordinarily late, as he hadn't really been able to get to work until well into the afternoon on the previous day. In any event, the seed was in the ground, and he had been invited into town by Tess.

He stumbled over to the window, still half-asleep, and gazed out at the field. The torches were smoking again, as he had refilled them after putting away the planter, and a smile flickered across his face. The sprouts hadn't come up yet, but the Juun bugs were staying well enough away. Perfect. He quickly changed into a tunic, then strode down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"All right, cookbook." He dropped into a chair. "Make me something that will wake me up. Do we have any coffee?"

With a flash, a mug of steaming coffee appeared in front of him. He picked up the mug and took a sip, then contemplated.

"Mmm. Now... Eggs. And cheese. And anything else you might think appropriate."

There was a flash of light, and a plate of scrambled eggs mixed with a number of vegetables and some sausage appeared in front of him. No... Hardly scrambled eggs. An omelet! He grinned slightly, and quickly tucked into the meal. It had been a while since he had eaten one of those, so he relished the taste. When he finished, and downed the coffee, he felt quite refreshed, though still not necessarily awake, and he soon made his way to the front of the house.

When he strode out onto the front porch, his eyes snapped open. If he hadn't been awake before, he was now. The smell of the smoke filled the air, burning his eyes and stinging his lungs.

"Oh, that's bad," he muttered. "We've got to find a better solution."

No one answered him, and he soon had Lady out of her stable. She flicked her ears and tail in irritation. Moving quickly, he put on her saddle and attached a small saddlebag, then filled the sack with oats, mounted up, and rode off with her toward town. He took the ride slowly, as Lady was also still quite tired, and in that poor state, they soon came upon Summer Shandy.

As they rode into town, Jason glanced around the area and found a proper gathering slowly taking place. Juun bugs buzzed overhead, but no one seemed to pay them any further mind. Instead, a small stage was being erected next to the Guild Hall, while Tess was standing nearby watching. Constable Hank stood just next to her, and Jason rode up next to the two of them.

"It looks like you're really planning something," Jason remarked. "You said you had something going on, but I'll admit that I didn't think it would be anything quite like this."

"I think you'll like it." Tess turned and flashed him a smile. "I mean, don't get too excited. It's nothing horribly extravagant or anything, but..." Her eyes narrowed as she looked him over. "Are you okay? You look awful."

"Let's just say that Paulina's pepper has worked wonders." As he swung down, Jason joked, "If you ever need good human repellant, it's bound to work wonders."

At that, Tess chortled softly and shook her head. "I'll keep that in mind. Take Lady around to the stalls and get her bedded down. Once you have her settled into place, feel free to head into the Guild Hall and crash. This won't be ready for a few hours. The warriors in there all know who you are, and most of them are out fighting Juun bugs anyway."

Jason nodded gratefully, and soon rode Lady around to the small stable. He dismounted and put her in her standard stall next to Angus, then walked up and into Tess's office. He knew that she had offered to let him stay in the main hall, but whether or not the warriors accepted him, it was a warriors' hall, not a farmers' hall.

"We need a farmers' guild," he muttered as he sat down next to her desk and leaned against the outer wall of the building. "I don't know what we'd do, but we need a farmers' guild. Maybe I'll have Tess arrange it... once... we're married."

His head felt heavy, and he allowed himself to slip into sleep. He wasn't aware of anything until he felt something shaking his shoulder softly. With that, he sat up instantly and snorted.

"Huh? I'm awake."

Tess smiled down at him. "It's time, if you're ready." Jason nodded and climbed to his feet. She was

dressed in her standard battle armor, though it looked

polished, if Jason was any proper judge of it. She quickly led him out into the town square, where nearly the entire village seemed to have gathered. Jeremiah and Delilah stood near the back, while Paulina, Theresa, and Viola stood at the front near the stage. Tess patted him on the back, and Jason walked over to stand next to Jeremiah while Tess climbed up in front of everyone.

"Citizens of Summer Shandy!" Tess called out loudly. Instantly, every eye was fixated upon her, and she flashed a smile. "Thank you for coming out today. I know you're likely confused by my summons. Some of you may have worked out what this is about, but the majority are probably in the dark. As such..." Tess took a deep breath. "I'm here to formally announce my resignation as the Guildmaster of the Warriors' Guild in Summer Shandy."

A ripple of confusion swept across the crowd. There were certainly no cheers, but there also weren't exactly cries of disappointment, either. Tess waited a few minutes for the murmuring to die down, and then continued.

"I've thought long and hard about this course of action. A lot of you won't care, I know, and likely won't blink an eye at whoever steps up to replace me. I'm here to advise you not to be so casual about it." Tess started pacing back and forth across the stage. "I know I didn't make many friends last year, when I was vying with Blacksuit for control of the Guild. The fact of the matter, though, is that I care about this town a lot. I care about its safety. Dungeons are how our economy functions. I've heard of distant lands where this isn't the case, where money is generated by banks and then given to their favorite landlords to trickle down to the people. Here, though, all money, all wealth, all of our society comes from these dungeons. Of course, so do monsters. The only way to have a well-regulated economy is to have a well-regulated dungeon. Blacksuit, as you obviously learned eventually, would have destroyed the town anyway, but even if he hadn't been a homicidal

maniac bent on revenge, his policies likely still wouldn't have done Summer Shandy any favors. When businessmen from big cities get their hands on small-town dungeons, they suck up every spare coin that comes from the tunnels, and very little trickles down to the citizens. I want to prevent that from happening."

She paused for a moment, then continued. "Further, there's the concern of making sure that warriors are kept in check. A feasting warrior, fresh out of a dungeon, can easily get lost in the fight and come out into town still swinging his sword. A guildmaster must be many things to ensure the safety of the town. They must be willing to sacrifice everything. They must be willing to put their life, their reputation, their relationships, and so much more on the line. And, of course, they must be physically at the top of their game."

She took another deep breath. "Now, despite the Warriors' Guild being an international organization, with thousands of Guild Halls spread across the land, each individual hall is run in its own way, at the discretion of the local operator. As such, I have carefully gone over the paperwork and filed with all the requisite departments, and I have secured the ability to choose my own successor. Without my approval, no one will be able to take up the mantle of Guildmaster in this town."

At this, another slow ripple began to build its way through the ranks, and Tess smiled.

"I see that excitement. Yes, you're hearing me right. I will be holding tryouts among the citizens of Summer Shandy, starting before the Fall Festival, to choose my successor. Anyone interested will need to file their names with Constable Hank, who will vet your criminal record and other such important items. He'll then pass his findings on to me, and I will consider his report alongside the physical trial. At the end of it, I hope to find the worthiest candidate possible to hold the title of Guildmaster in Summer Shandy.

Of course, I'm not going anywhere, I'll still be living here, but my future duties will prevent me from taking such an active role."

With that, she stepped back. Most of the crowd began to disperse, returning to their homes and herds, but several strapping young men and women pressed forward quickly to speak to Tess. She climbed down from the platform and began speaking to them, and Jeremiah elbowed Jason in the side.

"You think you'll try out?"

Jason snorted and shook his head. "I'm nowhere near strong- Hey!" He laughed for a few seconds. "You had me going, there."

"Gotta keep you on your feet, eh?" Jeremiah crossed his arms. "Maybe I'll try out, just for fun."

"You'd best not, if you know what's good for you." Delilah turned away and started walking back to the carriage. "Now finish up whatever you're in town for. I have a few pies to deliver, and then I need to get back home just as quick as possible."

Jeremiah sighed and shook his head as she walked away. "I think she came along with me just to make sure I got home at a 'reasonable time.'" He mimicked quotation marks with his fingers, and Jason guffawed. "Still, though, in all seriousness, it could be a lot to fun to try out whatever Tess has planned for her trial. I always like to see how I measure up to the young folks."

"And you enjoy having people laugh at you," Jason pointed out.

"That's a fair point!" Jeremiah chortled, then sobered. "I smelled that smoke when we drove past your house. That stuff'll peel the pain off your house, smells like."

"It'll peel off my skin, if I'm not careful," Jason lamented. "Now we just have to see how it works. It's keeping the bugs away for now, but nothing's come up yet."

"You'll figure it out." Jeremiah clapped him on the shoulder. "On the bright side, I talked with Paulina, and there's no winter variety. You'll have at least one season free of them."

"Yeah, one season where I can't grow anything anyway."

"Take what you can get." Jeremiah began to turn away. "Looks like the misses is coming. I'll leave you to it."

Jason waved as Jeremiah started walking toward some of the villagers, then turned as Tess approached, her face bright. They embraced.

"It's good to see you." He smiled as they pulled apart. "It's been a long few days. Admittedly not just because I haven't been able to see you, but that also hasn't helped."

"So I've smelled." Tess wrinkled her nose, chortling, then asked more seriously, "What do you think?"

"I think I didn't realize there was so much you did," Jason admitted. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I knew the Guildmaster was important, but I had no idea you regulated so much."

"I mean, it's not like I'm personally responsible for the well-being of the town or anything, but there is a lot that goes into it. It's not just about swinging a sword." She turned and pointed at the group of applicants. "They look like a good bunch. I mean, I already know most of them, so I can personally vouch for the fact that they're a good bunch, but they're already showing a lot of enthusiasm."

"What are your steps from here?" Jason asked.

"Well, like I said, Hank's going to run some background checks on them. That step is required by the Guild Headquarters," Tess answered. "Once the background checks come back, I'll be able to start working with the candidates. I'd like to get them into the office and show them a bit about the paperwork on the back end, check their aptitude for mathematics, and that sort of thing."

"Gotcha.. What happens if you can't find anyone among them who's a good fit?"

"It's entirely possible," Tess acknowledged. "If that happens, I'll have to start looking elsewhere. I don't want to do that, but in my travels, I've seen what happens when bad Guildmasters get put into office. Some of them are just bad, like Blacksuit would have been, but some of them are well- meaning people who just can't handle one aspect of the job or another. When that sort of thing happens, it never goes well for the town. If we do hit that point, and I dearly hope we don't, I'll start looking at the warriors passing through the city. A lot of warriors would be willing to take up a position as Guildmaster when they retire, especially if they don't sincerely want to retire but were forced to do because of some sort of minor injury that's made them just a bit too slow. Or, you know, if they get married and want to settle down but don't want to give up the adventure. It works for a lot of people, and it might have worked for a few specific people I knew, but..."

Tess sighed and looked down at the ground. "Anyway, that's my plan. Worst comes to worst, I'll send some advertisements up to Illumitir, and I'd certainly get plenty of replies from it, but I'd rather avoid that possibility if I can."

"I think everyone around here would, too," Jason agreed, then hugged Tess again. "Well, best of luck. Let me know if I can help at all."

"Of course." Tess smiled softly, then brightened. "And if there's anything I can do to help you with the farming, especially getting around that smell, you have to let me know!"

"Will do!" Jason started to turn away, then paused. "You know, Lady isn't going to be ready to ride again for a little while. Would you like to grab lunch?"

"I'd love that." Tess reached out and took his hand, then took a long breath. "To the future?"

"To the future," Jason echoed. "And to whatever it brings.

Chapter Fourteen - Cookbook

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 20th day of Fall! 71 days until the Fall Festival. Nothing terribly exciting happening today. Cold weather, maybe a storm in a few days.]

Jason frowned as he read the message, then climbed out of bed. Ever since the announcement that she would be stepping down, Tess had been extraordinarily busy fielding different requests for information, along with applications. Somehow, word had leaked over to the next few towns in every direction, and eager young adventurers were flocking in to put their names in the pot. She was apparently a bit overwhelmed by it all, and as such, Jason had hardly seen her at all for the previous week. Hopefully that would change soon, but it was hard to know for sure, and he was trying not to be too anxious about it.

He soon walked up to the window and gazed out across the land. His eternal torches were still smoking, though the plumes were dwindling to faint wisps, and he could see a few Juun bugs flitting past the fences to sneak a few chomps from the tender stalks. As he watched the sorghum, though, a smile broke across his face.

Juun bugs or not, he was genuinely making progress with the crops. He had to brew new repellant every three days, and reload the torches every single day, and the whole process was easily the most painful thing he had ever gone through; but he was still making progress, nonetheless. The sorghum crop was now just a few days away from harvesting, and when it did come time, he was finally going to be able to get a proper yield out of it. The

thought filled him with joy, and he dressed quickly and made his way down the stairs.

"All right, cookbook!" He beamed as he dropped into a chair. "Make me some pancakes, any variety!"

The cookbook flapped a few pages in annoyance.

"All right, an omelet then. I can be excited and want to celebrate, can't I?"

The cookbook answered with an ambivalent cover slam, and the food appeared on the table with a flash. It was nothing fancy, likely a jab at Jason's excitement.,. Oh, well, he thought. Beggars couldn't be choosers, and he hadn't bothered to specify the exact recipe he wanted to use. He ate the meal quickly, then rose and made his way to the front of the house. He quickly put on his boots and entered the yard, though this nearly made him turn back, as the painful smoke began to burn his eyes.

Working quickly, he walked to the stable and opened the door, allowing Lady to come out into the morning air. He had taken to closing the stable up tightly, so the stench would be bearable for her overnight. Lady's ears flattened against her head, and he quickly led her out into the prairie and slightly upwind. He wasn't allowed to construct anything off his own property, of course, but he had managed to find an old tree stump that worked well enough as a hitching post. Lady was soon happily grazing on the bit of grass that the Juun bugs hadn't bothered to eat, and Jason headed back to the farm.

He entered the small lean-to and picked up the pot of foul liquid, grimaced, then glanced around. He soon spied his goal: swimming goggles that he had bought from Paulina. They didn't help his lungs, but until someone invented something that could successfully filter chemicals out of the air itself, there wasn't a lot he could do about that fact. With his eyes, at least, protected, he set off around the field, dumping new scoops of the sludge into all the different torches.

It was grueling work, made all the worse by the fact that he had to do it every single day. Nonetheless, there were two distinct upsides. The first one, and perhaps the greatest one, was the fact that he was able to look out across his field. The heads were now bursting forth, and while the kernels of the sorghum were still quite green, they would soon be turning a deep and brilliant red, ready for the harvest. They certainly weren't as robust as he would have liked, due to the few Juun bugs that managed to brave the smoke, but he was happy enough with the result. The second upside to the process was the fact that none the odd steps he was taking counted as actions. Doing anything else on the farm, as long as it registered as a farm-related activity, took up his available actions for the day. Dumping sludge into a torch? If it did register as an action, Jason could only imagine that whoever or whatever monitored such things simply felt so bad for Jason that he/she/it just let the whole thing slide.

On that particular day, Jason had made it about halfway around the field, and was starting along the backside, when he glanced up at the farmstead. Two horses stood in the driveway, one of which looked rather like Angus. He grinned brightly, couldn't directly spot Tess or whoever she was with. He started to work a bit faster, though he made sure not to skimp on the sludge. After all, it wouldn't do for him to come all this way, only to have the field get eaten with just a few days left before the harvest.

All told, it took him about an hour total before he made it all the way back around. Angus and the other horse, a stallion, had been moved out to the hitching post with Lady, while Tess and the mysterious visitor were still nowhere to be seen. Jason glanced up at the house. Something moved inside one of the windows, and he wondered what it might be. A few minutes later, he had put the sludge away, washed his hands, and walked up to the door.

As he did so, though, a flash of apprehension washed over him. He wasn't exactly sure why, but... He felt a bit odd. He shrugged it away as best he could, squared his shoulders, grabbed the doorknob, and stepped inside as quickly as possible.

"Tess?" He called out as he walked across the doorway. "You here?"

There was a muffled thump from the kitchen, and Tess quickly stepped into view. She had a nervous sort of smile on her face, which left Jason even more wary. She was dressed in her ceremonial armor, a far cry from her ordinary-day armor. Jason raised an eyebrow, and she glanced down at herself and blushed.

"I... Ahh... Hi."

"Hi." Jason bit his lip. "Something the matter?" "Nope." Tess shook her head. "I'm just... Excited.

Maybe a little nervous. I've never actually done this before, so I don't really know what comes next."

"The introduction." A deep voice rumbled from the kitchen.

Jason blinked, then crossed his arms slowly. "Introduction? What's..." A thought struck his mind, and a smile crept across his face. "Did your brother make it into town?"

Relief seemed to wash across Tess's face. "He did! Sorry, I... I don't know... I..."

There was another thump, and a mountain of a man strode out of the kitchen and walked up to Jason. His head nearly scraped the ceiling. He must have been six feet and more than a few inches tall. His skin was dark and covered in scars, though he had a warm smile on his face. He was clad in thick battle armor that had just as many scars and scrapes as his body, with metal colored a deep red and a sigil on the breastplate of a roaring lion.

"Daniel. Daniel Talson."

"Jason." Jason reached out and shook the man's hand. All things considered, he couldn't have been much older than himself or Tess, but he was certainly huge. "You... Ahh... You're not quite what I was expecting."

"Did you expect a warrior maiden like Tess to have a nerdy little brother like you?" Daniel boomed down at him, then flinched. "Sorry. Didn't mean it that way. It's just... You're so small!"

"Daniel. Manners." Tess walked up next to him and smiled. The top of her head came barely to the middle of his chest, and Jason gulped slightly. "The culture in dungeons is rough. He's not used to dealing with many civilians."

"Definitely not farmers!" Daniel chuckled softly. "Except for when they have monsters get into their fields and muck things up. You have no idea how many griffins I've chased away from livestock pens, or the number of wood golems I've had to remove!" He laughed a bit louder. "Imagine being afraid of a wood golem!"

Jason scowled. "Yeah... Imagine that."

"I mean, they have what, a hundred health points? Anyone with a strength over 20 can take them out with three hits of a melee weapon, you just have to make sure you-"

While Daniel continued to talk, Jason privately checked his stats.

[Strength: 15]

"And I thought I was doing pretty good. It was only 11 when I first got here." Jason muttered under his breath. Daniel continued to laugh, and Jason coughed. "Well, Daniel, would you care to sit down? I'd love to hear a bit more about you. I don't really know much about Tess's childhood, or-"

"And I'd love to meet the man she's marrying!" Daniel shook Jason's hand once more, nearly ripping the arm from Jason's socket. "You can't be one of those namby-pamby farmers if Tess is settling down with you. She wouldn't ever

feel comfortable with someone she could beat in an arm- wrestling match, and I tell you, she's strong. At least for a girl." Daniel dropped onto one of Jason's chairs, and to Jason's dismay, the legs cracked, and the whole thing came crashing to the ground.

"Oh! So sorry." Daniel climbed back to his feet. "Forgot to deactivate my skill. Massive Inertia. Helps me with my melee attacks in the dungeon, and when you need a little extra oomph to manhandle the larger critters. And... There we go! Deactivated. I shouldn't ruin anything else."

His statement was quickly proved false, as he sat down on Daniel's rocking chair and crushed it into splinters. He finally decided to sit down on the floor next to the fireplace, with Jason and Tess settling onto the couch.

"Don't worry, I'll pay for all that." Daniel gestured at the destruction. "I just ran the Lava Strip. You've heard of it?" Tess nodded, but Jason shook his head. Daniel, for his part, took the gesture as an invitation to explain exactly what it meant. "Oh, you'd love it! If you were into dungeons, that is. See, some dungeons don't just exist as single facets out in the middle of the wilderness but are all clumped together. When that happens, you can do something called 'running the dungeons,' which is where you go from one dungeon to the next without resting or buying new supplies or anything. Healing yourself using your own skills, spells, or healing items is allowed, of course. The Lava Strip is one of the longest ones in the charted world; it has twenty, I think. Trying to run it is super dangerous, but three of my friends and I managed to do it! We won a pot that's been growing for something like ten years, so I'm kind of a zillionaire right now."

"Right." Jason finally nodded slowly. "Anyway... It's good to meet you, Daniel. Is there any way you could tell me about your childhood with Tess? Anything that she might not have told me, or-"

"Oh, I could tell you dozens of stories!" Daniel roared loudly and slapped his thighs. Metal gauntlets crashed on his metal leg armor, creating a resounding crash that echoed throughout the room. "Let's see... Ooh! Did she ever tell you about the time she brought home the crystal egg?"

Jason shook his head, but by then, Daniel had already launched into his story.

"So, we were... Oh, I think I was ten, and she was eight. Well, she goes out exploring in the woods, and she finds this crystal egg. Being the sweet girl that she was, she was afraid that it had been abandoned, so she brought it back to our house, tucked it into her bed, and then faked being super sick so she could stay in bed all day and keep it warm!"

Jason chuckled softly and glanced at Tess, who blushed slightly at the memory.

"Well, probably a week or two pass, and we're all wondering why she isn't getting better, when all of a sudden, she screams and comes flying out of her room. Now, that's surprising enough, as we all thought she was basically knocking on death's door, but then she's followed by a blood dragon hatchling! She'd hatched a dragon! Oh, I tell you, that was a fight!"

Jason blinked. "You mean... You didn't go get a warrior?"

"Are you kidding me? We'd both been trained to hold a sword from the time we were toddlers." Daniel snorted. "It was a measly little thing, too. I still remember the stats. One thousand HP, dealing five hundred fire damage per second of breath attack, and a solid one hundred damage per bite. There were a few other melee attacks it could perform, too, but you won't be as interested in those. Anyway, Tess and I both ran and grabbed our swords - Don't get the wrong idea, we were so small that all we had were these short machete things - along with our handmade shields, and we went into battle. Well, our mother soon came home and

found the thing dead on the floor and both of us devouring her pantry trying to heal up before she noticed, and did we ever get scolded!" He laughed loudly. "We sold the head to the local tavern, and they paid us a thousand coins for it. Overpriced, of course, but you know what people will do for kids. That was the first time I ever earned an income from fighting a monster, unless you consider all the little monsters I'd clean up in my mom's garden. Razorgrass, histles, that sort of thing. Tess would always take the crabgrasses. It was always so cute to watch her running around with a wooden spoon whacking them until they died!"

Jason tittered and leaned back in the couch, and Tess reached over and took his hand. Daniel, who was apparently the type of person who rarely stopped talking once given an opening, spoke at length about their collective childhood for the better part of three hours. Finally, sensing that Daniel was more than a little uncomfortable, Tess suggested that he go get settled down in his room in Viola's inn.

"That's a good idea." He rose and flashed Daniel a smile. "Sorry I hogged the spotlight. I didn't really get to hear much about you, but I'm sure we'll meet again. I mean, I'm here until the wedding. The wedding! How about that. My little sis is going to be a farmer's wife. Farmer Tess."

He was still chuckling as he made his way out onto the porch, ducking through the low doorway as he did so. Jason visibly relaxed when he left, and Tess flashed a worried look at him.

"I'm sorry. He's... We never really had much of a social life growing up, and being locked into a dungeon-delving culture hasn't exactly helped that, but he does mean well."

"Oh, I'm not upset at all." Jason shook his head. "He certainly seems nice. He obviously loves you immensely, and he always apologized when he realized he was overstepping."

"Trust me, he'll grow on you," Tess promised, then added, "I hope."

"Thanks for introducing me." Jason took her hands. "It was... It was nice to hear more about your past. It really does sound like you had a wild childhood. Makes me realize why you decided to settle down here."

"It was either this life, or that." Tess gestured over her shoulder. "And... I love him, and I do love dungeon-delving, but I could never have made it work long-term."

She gave him a hug and a kiss. "See you soon?"

"Whenever that is." Jason inclined his head with a smile. "Travel safely!"

With that, Tess was gone, and she and Daniel rode back off toward Summer Shandy. Jason watched them go, feeling an odd sort of an ache in his gut.

That was her brother. That, a man who could apparently break dungeon records or something, was the brother of his bride to be. It certainly meant that Jason had a lot to live up to.

He only hoped that he would be able to manage it.

Chapter Fifteen - Application

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 35th day of Fall! 56 days until the Fall Festival. Today is the last day to submit your application to Constable Hank if you've not already done so! Other than that, today should be a pretty quiet day.]

Jason smiled as he rolled out of bed and rose to his feet. A quiet day, indeed. Content, he walked to his window and gazed out across his farms. His torches were still smoking, walling off the ripened sorghum. Ordinarily, he would have gone ahead and harvested on that day, but a rainstorm the day before had made the field far too wet to enter with his equipment. As such, after sending a few letters back and forth with Tess, they had arranged a bit of a date.

He dressed quickly and made his way downstairs. To his delight, he had arrived sooner than Tess, so he set out an array of the greenest food he could find, though he did intersperse it with a good deal of bacon, sausage, and eggs. He had only just sat down when Tess slipped into the kitchen, a smile on her face.

"Sorry I'm late! Had to sort out a few things with Constable Hank before I could get away from town."

"Important things?" Jason raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing terrible. He does need to meet with the two of us to discuss some of the wedding plans, but I think he still wants to wait for the time being. There's also been some discussion regarding boundaries, as far as Daniel is concerned. He's not really accustomed to being in a town like Summer Shandy. There are tens of thousands of dungeons around the world, and most of them are a lot

larger than ours. He's bored out of his skull, and bored warriors are rarely a good thing to have hanging around."

"I can only imagine." Jason grimaced.

"How have things been around here?" Tess asked. "You've gotten two harvests out of the field since I introduced you to Daniel, right?"

"One," Jason corrected with a scowl. "I harvested the first field and got a half-decent yield. It all looked good, but more of the bugs had been able to slip through the smoke than I had realized, and about half the crop had been eaten. I replanted, and then..." He chuckled and shook his head softly. "A few days after planting, I needed some supplies, and I was fairly tired, so I rode into town without refilling the torches. That was the day I saw you for a few seconds?"

Tess nodded. "You looked like you were in a hurry, but I was busy with some meetings, so I didn't have time to ask."

Jason nodded. "I remembered the torches while I was checking out at Paulina's store. By the time I got home, the Juun bugs had eaten just about everything. I just plowed everything else under, then replanted, and... So far, I've managed to keep it alive."

"I'm glad. So, what's the plan for today? You said you had a secret for me?"

"I do." Jason finished eating and rose. "Help me refill the torches, and we'll be off!"

The next forty-five minutes were filled with what was by far the nastiest job on the farm, but it passed quickly enough with the two of them working together. As they finished, Jason walked out to their horses, then mounted up on Lady. Tess hopped up onto Angus, and off they went.

A smile crept across his face as he took Tess off past the field and out into the prairie, winding toward his distant patch of land. She rode up next to him, smiling broadly as well.

"You're taking me out to the old dungeon!" She grinned broadly. "Oh, Jason, I've been looking forward to this!"

"I have to admit, I am, too." He chuckled. "I'm still not sure what you're going to find inside, but I'll admit to wondering more than a little bit about what the inside of a dungeon looks like."

"This is so exciting!" She beamed. "You get to show me your work, but I've never been able to do the same. This is going to be epic!"

Jason just nodded and smiled as they rode on across the hills. Soon enough, they popped over the last hill and came into view of the massive expanse of dead grass. It was hard to tell if the land was recovering yet, largely because the Juun bugs were still eating everything this far over as well. He did his best not to think about it and simply rode up to the edge of the trees. There, Tess dismounted and hitched Angus to a large tree branch, and Jason did the same. She then turned and looked at him and made a sweeping gesture with her hand.

"After you, my liege."

Jason chortled, then started off into the forest. This time, it took him only a few minutes to locate the monolith, as he was starting to remember the path. He and Tess walked into the clearing in front of the immense object, and Tess tilted her head back and whistled.

"Wow. I've heard about these things, but I've never seen one before."

"What is it?" Jason glanced at her. "I've been scratching my head up one side and down the other, but I just can't figure it."

"It's a dungeon marker," Tess answered. "Back in ye olden days, before the land was really colonized, the dungeons would have these huge markers outside of them to let people know where to look. Warriors could see them for miles off; it helped navigate." She gestured at the faded

writing. "At least from what I've been told, no one ever really managed to translate the old writing, and I think most people just assumed it was gibberish to try to draw in curious warriors, but there were a handful who believed the markings indicated what sorts of monsters lay in the dungeons. You still see that script in modern dungeons sometimes, scattered here and there around doorways and on crypts and such."

Jason marveled at his betrothed's wisdom. "Wow. How do you know all that?"

"History enthusiasts who come through the Guild Hall. I met a few of them growing up, but since I became Guildmaster, there are always a few historians per year who come through to ask me all sorts of questions about the history of Summer Shandy, or to check out the new dungeon and examine how it's different from older ones. Some of them are professors who enjoy a good adventure, and some of them are warriors who enjoy a bit of history. I've picked up a decent bit listening to them ramble, though I'll be the first to admit that I don't always pay the best attention." She puffed out her cheeks and exhaled before she continued. "When you're sitting between a warrior telling the story of how he bested an ice dragon using a single saber-cat tooth, and a historian telling you about the different historical drop rates of wildflowers inside various dungeons, it's easy to see which one you might pick."

Jason just tittered softly. "I think I would have the same difficulty, though in the reverse direction. Well, that confirms that this is definitely an old dungeon. Come on, the entrance is over here."

Jason quickly led Tess over to the old oak tree, where the small cave was still present beneath the gnarled roots. The floor of the cave was back, though, to Jason's chagrin.

"Oh, no! Everything must have filled itself in. We'd have to dig to get in, now."

Tess just giggled and shook her head. "Come on! I think I know what's happening."

She strode down into the bottom of the cave and stood there on the soft soil for a few moments. Suddenly, the ground gave way, and she tumbled into the darkness. Jason yelped and slid down the slope, only to find her at the bottom grinning broadly.

"It's a trap entrance. You really don't see that sort of thing nowadays. Way too much liability, or so I'm told. It'll stay open until we leave the dungeon, and then will close as we walk away. Come on, let's look around!"

Tess reached into her inventory and took out a torch, which she quickly lit. In the flickering light, Jason could see that the tunnel extended about a hundred feet in both directions, coming to T-intersections in both cases. Tess began to walk forward, lighting the candles in the small alcoves as she went.

"Oh, Jason, this is incredible!" she whispered softly. Jason stayed close behind her as they walked over the bones of dead monsters. They came to the first room, and Tess held the torch inside. Jason glanced around the doorframe, where he found several chains hanging from the wall, and scattered bones and such around the floor. A treasure chest sat at the far end, and his heart gave a leap. "Go open it!"

Jason felt reluctant, but he proceeded. He trusted Tess, and he trusted her sword if anything went wrong. He quickly walked across the floor, grabbed the lid of the chest, and pulled upward. There was a great, rusty squeal, and he revealed the inside of the box. Empty. He sighed a bit in disappointment, then walked back to Tess. They soon walked to the next room, which had an almost-identical setup. Room after room proved to be exactly the same, and they came to the end of the hall without anything terribly exciting happening. Jason's nerves were beginning to calm

down, but more than that, he actually found himself a bit disappointed at what he was seeing.

"This is incredible," Tess whispered for what must have been the hundredth time. They turned a corner at the end of the hall and started walking down a side corridor, far out of view of the light from the tunnel exit now.

"I have to say, I'm a little underwhelmed," Jason remarked.

"First of all, this would be a lot more exciting if there were hordes of monsters charging at you," Tess countered. "Secondly, this is a historical find. Modern dungeons are a lot different. Older dungeons, I've been in one or two that are like this, are super blocky, have very little variation from one room to the next, and look a lot more like actual dungeons that you might keep prisoners inside. They typically had one or two treasure chests per room, a few hidden chests, and a boss room on every floor. Ooh! I wonder what the boss room will prove to be!"

She started to walk a bit faster, and Jason hurried to keep up.

"How deep did they go?" he asked as they moved along. "The one in Summer Shandy has five floors, right?"

Tess nodded. "Older dungeons had a lot more floors, but as you can see, they were also a lot more plain. Five to ten floors is a pretty common number for low to mid-level dungeons today, but back when this dungeon was built, you couldn't have had fewer than a dozen floors and been called a dungeon at all. I think the average was somewhere around fifty, with some of them having close to two hundred. Again, all of this is secondhand information, so take it with a grain of salt." She whistled softly. "Those old-time warriors were tough, I'll give you that. Even my brother would have had a hard time keeping up with a lot of them, from what I've heard. Ooh, here!"

Tess's torch illuminated a large archway, and they rushed out into a much more open room. The ceiling rose a

bit higher than the surrounding tunnels, but not by much. Large, square columns rose from the floor to hold up the ceiling, while various obstacles lay scattered here and there. Broken statues, a few lava pools that had since cooled into obsidian, that sort of thing. Near the far side, a gaping pit seemed to open like a great mouth into the depths of the earth. Tess hurried forward, unconcerned by the husk of a giant spider, twenty feet long, that lay next to it.

"Here you are, Jason." She stepped up to the edge of the hole. A ladder led down one side, though in Jason's estimation, based on the five-foot-tall mushrooms that were growing down below, the ladder was mostly used for getting up rather than down. "The next floor! Want to come look?"

Jason shuddered, then strengthened his resolve. "You know what? Why not?"

"Yay!" Tess leapt down into the abyss, bounced off a mushroom, and motioned for him to follow. He took a deep breath, grimaced, and leapt forth.

The two of them spent the rest of the day in the dungeon, not emerging until the sun was setting in the sky. They made it down four levels, all of which were nearly identical, until they came to a place where the tunnels started to collapse. They did manage to find the portal down to floor five, but the hole only dropped down a dozen feet before coming to solid rock. It was a disappointment for them both, but they shrugged it off and started back up, looking through as many of the treasure chests as they could find. Tess found an old dragon's tooth in a hidden boss lair she discovered, and Jason found a glittering diamond in one of the treasure chests, though he managed to pocket it before Tess noticed. He didn't know exactly what he could do with it, but he fully intended to surprise her with it later.

And with that, one of the best days Jason had experienced since his engagement came to a close. He and Tess walked out into the sunset and embraced, and Tess exuded contentment.

"Thank you for this, Jason." She glanced over in the direction of his farmstead. "I had a lot of fun today, and I hope you know that."

"I did, too," Jason agreed. "It was nice to see what you do. Or at least what your far-superior ancestors once did."

At that, Tess guffawed. "Good luck with your farm. I really do hope you get the Juun bug problem figured out soon. That stuff is... nasty."

"You're telling me," Jason muttered, then waved and climbed up onto Lady's back. "See you around."

"I love you!" Tess called as she started to ride away, taking a path cross-country back toward Summer Shandy.

"I love you, too!" Jason called back. He started off toward his farmstead, a warm glow in his heart. Sure, things were tough, but as long as he had Tess, he couldn't imagine that they could ever get too terrible.

Chapter Sixteen - Record

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 37th day of Fall! 54 days until the Fall Festival. It's another chilly one, folks! I think we're looking at a record-breaker, to be honest. Make sure to bundle up if you go outside!]

As Jason's eyes blinked open, he shivered violently for several long seconds. Indeed, the inside of the house was frigid, almost unbearably so. He rose from his bed and struggled to the window, which had a layer of frost grown across it. Still, he managed to wipe enough of it away to gaze out over the farmstead, and his heart gave a small leap.

The field of sorghum was ready to be harvested, that much was a certainty. The heads of grain were red and full to bursting... At least, as full as they could be. The eternal torches had largely stopped smoking overnight, as they were wont to do, which left the field largely exposed to the attacks of the Juun bugs. A few of them flitted across the field even as Jason watched, apparently impervious to the cold. Jason shivered again, then quickly walked over to his wardrobe and changed into thick, woolen clothes that would still hold up to the harsh conditions.

When he came downstairs, he ordered a plate of pancakes, which the cookbook reluctantly made for him. He scarfed it down quickly, then scampered out onto the porch. The low buzz of Juun bugs was already filling the air, and he felt dismayed. He had a few options, neither of which were pleasant. He could either go refill the torches, and then try to harvest the crop amid the terrible smoke, or he could

leave them be and just try to get things harvested as quickly as possible.

The little bit of smoke still drifting through the air stung his eyes, and he made up his mind. He took Lady out of her stable and hitched her up, then went and started getting the harvester ready. The moment that Lady had eaten, he hitched her up to the harvester and set off. Blades whirred to life, and with that, he tore into the field.

Where wheat harvest was uncomfortable, sorghum harvest was downright unbearable. A thick, red dust filled the air like a fog, clogging his lungs nearly as badly as the smoke itself. Not only that, when it came to rest on his skin, it itched fiercely, and despite his thick clothing he wore to protect against the cold, the dust seemed to somehow find its way into and under the wool. His arms burned, and he wanted nothing more than to let go of the harvester and scratch painfully at basically his whole body, but he forced himself to keep pressing forward. He had a job to do, and it wouldn't do for him to be pitched into the blades of the harvester.

On and on they went, rumbling over the field, back and forth. As he went along, the Juun bugs swarmed in thicker and thicker. Those that landed and found a bountiful crop quickly called others to their position, and soon enough, bugs swarmed thickly across the ground. He imagined that he could hear the sound of their pincers ripping and crunching over even the sound of the machine, though he wasn't sure if that was real or just his imagination. In any event, a simple glance at the remainder of the field revealed that the heads of grain were so covered in Juun bugs that they appeared black instead of red.

When lunchtime came, he ruefully allowed Lady to take a rest, and he staggered up to the house for lunch. He didn't want to stop harvesting, as every second he delayed meant less grain for him to successfully harvest, but he didn't see what he could do until he had refreshments.

Suddenly, though, hoofbeats echoed in the driveway, and he looked up to see Daniel riding up on his roan stallion.

"Jason!" Daniel boomed and swung down off his horse. "Be a good farmer and get him some hay, would you?" After a moment, he looked Jason up and down. "Pardon me for saying so, but you look like you just came through a battle with a Blood Spider."

"Thanks," Jason muttered and took the reins of the stallion. He led the beast over to the hitching post and poured him some oats, then walked back over to Daniel. "What can I do for you?"

"I just came to talk to you without Tess here. You know how womenfolk are, especially sisters. There are some things you just can't talk about around them, and I'd like to get to know you a bit better."

"I'd like that, too, but for the moment, I've got to get this field harvested." He gestured at the blackened heads. "If I don't get this crop out soon, there won't be anything left of it."

Daniel stroked his chin. "You mind if I help?"

"Go for it! Assign yourself as my companion, and you'll get some farming actions. Ten, I think."

Daniel closed his eyes.

[Companion: Your new companion has been given 10 bonus actions for the day, and you have been granted 5. Remaining actions for the day: 19.]

"Got it!" Daniel grinned. He strode up to the field and took out an enormous sickle, which he raised high over his head. It looked to be made of obsidian, and the staff had to be at least ten feet long. Jason whistled at the oversized, ridiculous-looking weapon. "Let's see what I can do! Activating all my extra skills that might help here."

Jason shook his head. "You'll probably need to use the harvester. I've used a sickle before on the farm, and it can only do so-"

Before he could finish the sentence, Daniel swung the sickle with all his might. At least, Jason hoped that it was with all his might. If the warrior was only using part of his strength, Jason didn't want to see what a full-strength blow might look like.

In any event, the sickle carved through the air, creating a momentary shimmer as it passed. There was a moment of hesitation, and the shimmer blasted out across the field like a shockwave, cutting down almost a full acre of sorghum in a single blow. With a flicker, all the heads were absorbed into Daniel's inventory, and he grinned.

"Hey! That was fun! Let me try that again!"

Before Daniel could respond, Daniel raced forward, up to where the sorghum was still standing. He swung his sickle a second time. As it turned out, the first swing had not been with all his might. This time, two full acres of sorghum were taken down, and Daniel whooped with joy.

All told, he was able to use up the full 10 actions in the span of as many minutes, and when he came walking up, the tiniest bit of sweat could be seen on his brow.

"Thanks! Ahh, gotta love a mild workout from time to time! You know what? I think I see why you like this life, now. It's just so peaceful."

As if in response, a razorgrass scuttled up and began whacking at Daniel's leg. He turned and stomped on the monster, crushing it in a single blow, and turned back to Daniel. "Well, I hope that was enough of a break for you. I'll let you get back to it, and then we can talk when you're done. Oh, and I'll get all that grain transferred to you."

[Personal Transfer Request - 500,000,000 sorghum seeds]

Jason nodded and accepted the transfer, though he felt mixed emotions as he did so. It was something, and he was glad of it; but it was not even a quarter of what the yield should have been, given how much land Daniel had

harvested. Still, there was nothing to be done about it. He soon had Lady hitched back up, and they got back to work.

Another hour passed as he rumbled back and forth with the harvester, until he finally finished. Covered in sorghum dust and utterly exhausted from all the rattling around (not to mention how itchy he was), he had absolutely no desire to talk to Daniel. That said, he knew he had a duty to the man, and after he had put everything away, he walked up onto the front porch and sat down on one of his chairs. Daniel sat down very carefully on another one, and the two of them relaxed as the sun began to crawl downward through the sky.

"So, Jason," Daniel began. "Tell me what you see in my sister. Why do you want to marry her?"

"I don't know how much Tess has told you about our relationship, but... I don't know. She just cares about things, so deeply. She goes above and beyond every single call of duty that's ever placed before her, and it's just wonderful to see. I've only been with her a short time, but... I just can't imagine a better mother for my children."

Daniel nodded slowly. "I've heard some of the stories of how the two of you met. It sounds to me like you care an awful lot about this town, too."

"I do."

They sat there in silence for a few moments. Finally, Daniel spoke up again.

"Jason, I want to like you. I really do. I'm just a little concerned."

"What about?" Jason glanced at him.

"All you want to do is settle down," Daniel asserted. "Stay here in Summer Shandy, raise a family, so on and so forth. If that's truly what Tess wants, then by all means, I want her to have it. She's my little sister, you know, I just want her to be happy. I'm just afraid that she's gotten all tied up in this small-town life, and that when she finds

herself tethered in place, she's not going to be able to handle it, you know?"

"You think I wouldn't be good enough for her?"

"Oh, it's not that at all." Daniel shook his head. "You seem like a good, hardworking fellow, if maybe you're a little small. And weak. And you smell bad. My fear is that... Tess never liked staying in one place, even as a kid. When we stopped moving around and settled down, Tess would go to the Guild Hall and beg the warriors to take her into the dungeon, or on trips to see the next town, or whatever. If she starts to get antsy with you or anything, she's going to find herself in quite a conundrum, and I don't see it working out well for anyone."

"I don't think that's going to happen," Jason countered. "She seems happy enough getting out of business as a Guildmaster."

"That's true, at least for now, but she's never been away from the dungeons for that long in her life."

Jason stroked his chin, then offered, "How about this? I love farming. I love it more than any other job I've ever worked, but I love Tess more. Let's say we settle down, and after a few years, she's starting to get uncomfortable. She wants to get back into Guildmastering, or she wants to go do some dungeons. I'll... I'll support her in that." Jason crossed his arms. "I won't let such a little thing come between us, especially if we have a family. Besides, there's no harm in her using a weekend here and there to go dive into a dungeon just for fun. I have family up in Illumitir, I'm sure there are dungeons there we can visit, and vacations are always fun from time to time."

With that, a smile came across Daniel's face, and he slowly rose.

"I was hoping you'd say something like that." He held out his hand, and Jason took hold of it. As such, he was utterly unprepared when Daniel hauled him to his feet like a rag doll. "Well, you seem solid enough to me. For what it's

worth, I asked Tess pretty much the same questions, and she answered the exact same thing. Says that she loves you more than the gnarliest dungeon she ever entered, and that if marrying you means that she never enters a dungeon ever again, she's willing to make that sacrifice."

A warm glow spread across Daniel's body, and he smiled.

"Now, I've got to be getting back to town." Daniel walked down the steps of the porch, cracking two of them as he did so. "I'm heading into the dungeon tonight to try a new challenge. The backward, blindfold challenge! You walk through the dungeon backwards and with a blindfold on! I made it up myself, of course. I already went through the dungeon backwards once, and blindfolded once, but never at the same time. Wish me luck! You know, you should try out the Summer Shandy dungeon sometime. I bet even you could do it. Maybe you could get together a posse of your farmer friends, just in case."

Daniel soon rode off, leaving Jason standing there, shaking his head. He sighed and turned back into his house, ready to take a shower and relax for the evening. He still wasn't sure how he felt about Daniel, but he was convinced that Tess's older brother only had her best interests in mind. In the end, he supposed, that was really all that mattered.

Chapter Seventeen - Hard Harvest

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 50th day of Fall! 41 days until the Fall Festival. Anyone whose application was accepted, please come to the prairie to the east of Summer Shandy for the trial for Guildmaster. Anyone who would like to watch, feel free!]

A smile flickered upon Jason's lips, and he rose eagerly. Shivering only a bit, he made his way to the window, where smoke poured upward from his eternal torches. Tess had told him about the tournament, and had begged him to come watch, so he had filled the torches with Juun bug repellant the night before. All he had to do was saddle up Lady and ride off, and he would be set for the day. Envisioning his day, he made his way down the stairs.

More and more, he found himself wanting to just leave the farm behind for the day. The previous harvest, while he had indeed managed to get a crop off of it, had been far from stellar. All told, it hadn't even been enough grain to replant the field, and he had been forced to buy seed from Paulina for the first time in quite a while. He wasn't sure how the current crop was going to do, but all things considered, he didn't see it doing a lot better. A growing part of him just wanted to give up until the Juun bugs were gone, but... If he did that, how long would it take him until he managed to get the farm back on its feet again? He had seen what a neglected farm looked like, and Juun bugs or no Juun bugs, he wasn't going to let it fall into such disrepair again.

In any event, that day, he had a tournament to watch. He dressed quickly, then made his way down the stairs and ate a small breakfast. The moment it was done, he dashed out the front door, fed Lady, then rode off for town.

The air was crisp, though not quite as cold as it otherwise might have been. He was about halfway there when he heard hooves on the road behind him, and he turned in his saddle as Jeremiah and Delilah came riding up in their carriage.

"Howdy, neighbor!" Jeremiah called out as they approached.

"Howdy!" Jason grinned back. "You're going to go check out this here tryout, too?"

"That's the plan." Jeremiah winked at Jason. "I might even give it a whirl myself."

"If you value sleeping in your own bed again, you won't go near whatever deathtrap that girl has set up," Delilah threatened him. "No offense of course, Jason, but Tess isn't exactly known for making things safe for the average person."

Jason tittered softly. "She does do things intensely, doesn't she?"

"Now there's an understatement." Delilah muttered.

Jason and Jeremiah both chuckled, and they went on together up toward town. When they came to the town square, they found the area largely abandoned, though they could hear the excited chatter from just beyond. They quickly rode up past the Guild Hall to the north, then wrapped back around to the east. As they did so, they went past the abandoned "anti-guild-hall" that had been built up the year before. Tess had neglected to tear down the fortress-like structure, though Jason really couldn't fathom quite why. He imagined that she had some use for it, or perhaps Constable Hank just didn't want multiple burned- out shells of old buildings scattered around the village.

In any case, they soon came around to the backside of the village, where a proper gauntlet had been set up across the prairie. Jason whistled softly as he took in the contraption, wondering just what exactly took place in modern-day dungeons. The old, blocky one that he had taken Tess through had consisted solely of ... rooms.

Spread across the prairie, though, was an immense obstacle course well over a hundred feet long. A small platform sat at one end, just in front of a large pit of mud that had long strands of barbed wire stung overhead. Coming out of the far side of the mud pit was a narrow balance beam. Small boulders hung from ropes just above the balance beam, no doubt providing extra difficulties to anyone trying to make it through. Past the balance beam was a ladder leading up to a platform about twenty feet off the ground. Spaced out away from this platform were a number of poles, each with an equally small platform mounted on top. They started out fairly close together, but by the last one, there was a nearly ten-foot gap that would have to be crossed. The final pole had a ladder that led down to the ground... Only to immediately transition into a large climbing wall. Of course, the climbing wall only had about three handholds, each spaced further apart than Jason's entire body. At the top of the climbing wall was a flag, which was presumably the end of the course.

"Welcome, everyone!" Tess called out loudly as the assembled villagers clustered around. "All contestants, please watch carefully! I will go through this course once, to demonstrate how it can be accomplished. I don't intend there to be any tricks; I just want to gauge your physical fitness."

Jason and Jeremiah dismounted, then made their way to a place where they could watch everything. Smiles spread across both of their faces, even as Delilah rolled her eyes and muttered something about "menfolk." Tess quickly walked up to the start of the course, then glanced around

the crowd. Her eyes locked with Jason, and she grinned, then turned and plunged into the thick of the mud.

Jason had to admit that he was more than a little impressed. She tore through the mud like a fish, arms and legs pulling her along faster than Jason thought he could have run along the side. Meanwhile, Daniel stepped up next to the boulders and began to whack them with something resembling a baseball bat. They swung back and forth wildly, and by the time Tess came to the end of the mud pit, they were all swinging with vigor.

Tess leapt up out of the mud and balanced carefully on the beam. She hesitated for a moment, then bolted forward. Her feet slipped a bit on the beam, as they were still covered mud, but she didn't fall. Instead, she seemed to dance nimbly between the boulders, and came to the end with a flourish. With that, she climbed up the ladder, paused, and leapt from platform to platform with the grace of a cat. She hardly even seemed to be breaking a sweat when she climbed down the ladder on the far side, and the way that she climbed up the climbing wall made her look more like a spider than a human. When she came to the top, she took hold of the flag and spun around, and the crowd cheered.

"All right, then!" she called down loudly. "Who'd like to try to follow me?"

"Me!" A voice cried out, and one of the strapping young villagers came marching forward. Tess nodded, and he walked up to the end of the mud pit. Daniel started whacking the boulders back and forth, and the boy dove into the mud with a splatter.

Almost instantly, the true difficulty of the course became obvious. It took the boy almost twice as long to get through the mud as Tess, and where Tess had looked rather like a fish, the contestant looked more like a floundering duck. He slogged up the far side, climbed shakily onto the beam, and paused for a moment while he considered the

boulders. After a moment, he nodded and bolted forward... Only to slip from the beam and fall flat on his face before he ever came near the boulders.

The crowd winced, and Tess called down from her perch.

"This isn't timed! Take as much time as you need. I want to see that you can do it, not how fast you can do it. Speed will come with practice. Being a Guildmaster for the Warriors Guild means not making any mistakes. It doesn't mean you win races."

The boy climbed to his feet, his pride seemingly injured more than his body, and he slunk away. A girl went next, a shepherdess that Jason had seen around town during his time there. She made it through the mud pit a good bit slower than even the boy, but as she stood up on the balance beam, she had a far surer footing. Jason had to admit that he was impressed as she made it almost halfway through the field before being sideswiped by one of the enormous rocks and getting thrown down.

After her, the rest of the villager contestants all gave it their best shot. Not a single one made it past the boulders, and Tess encouraged them to try again. They all went back, and while the majority were struck down a second time, three of them managed to make it through. That said, the poles proved the undoing of each and every one of them. Two of them attempted the jumps, only to slip and fall to the ground twenty feet below. In those cases, their bodies seemed injured more than their pride, though Theresa was on hand to make sure that they recovered quickly. One of them, the same girl as before, took one look at it after climbing to the top, and decided that it wasn't worth falling flat on her face and breaking a limb. At the end of it, not a single one made it even close to Tess. She stayed up top, looking more than a little bummed, and Jason sighed.

"I'd better go talk to her." He started walking in her direction but was cut off by a yell.

"Tess!" Jeremiah called out. "You mind if we common peasants give it a whirl?"

Tess looked down and gave a small shake of her head. In retrospect, Jason wasn't sure if she meant that no, she didn't mind, or no, don't try. Whatever the case, Jeremiah took it as permission, and rushed to the start of the mud pit even as Delilah called out after him.

"Jeremiah! If you put one toe in that contraption, you're going to regret-"

Jeremiah dove into the mud with a loud squelch, and Jason chuckled. He went completely under, then came up sputtering and gasping for air. Still, though, he forged on, performing a breaststroke through the thick sludge that would have made a professional swimmer proud. When he came to the end, he was dripping like a swamp monster, and stepped shakily up onto the balance beam. Daniel started whacking the boulders to get them moving, and Jeremiah wobbled a bit.

"Wow! This is a lot harder than it looks. How much do you think these things are going to hurt?"

"Not as much as my rolling pin when we get back home!"

Jeremiah smirked, then ran forward. At least, he tried to. His feet slipped on the beam, and he fell headlong into the path of an oncoming boulder. The whack was audible across the entire area, and his body was tossed to the side rather rudely. He rolled across the ground several times, coming up at the feet of Delilah, and groaned.

"Ooh... That hurt a lot more than I was expecting." He slowly struggled to his feet, wincing a bit, and holding his ribs.

"And was it worth it?" Delilah demanded. "Totally."

Theresa rushed over to take a look at him, and Jason chuckled and walked over to the base of the climbing wall. Tess soon dropped down next to him, and he could tell she felt disappointed.

"Did any of them even remotely show enough promise?" he asked softly.

"Not a one." She grimaced. "Believe me, I'm not trying to be rude here, I just... This was a very basic course. If they weren't even able to pass this, they'll be eaten alive in the dungeons. That's not an exaggeration, either. All of these things you'd have to be able to do just to get through the relatively simple Summer Shandy dungeon."

"In fairness, none of these people here are warriors. I don't think most of them have ever even been in the dungeon, except maybe on a dare."

"I know," Tess responded. "I just wanted to get someone local. That way, I could make sure that everything was in good hands. Don't get me wrong, I think I can find a warrior who will be good enough, but... It's far from ideal, you know?"

"Yeah." Jason flashed her a small smile. "Well, if worse comes to worst, you could guarantee that Jeremiah would give it every ounce of effort he had."

"That he would." Tess laughed. "Well, thanks for coming out, Jason. Want to come eat lunch with me before you head back?"

"I'd love to." Jason nodded. "Lead the way!"

As he walked away from the course, despite feeling elated at spending more time with Tess, he did have to admit to feeling a bit of fear. His farm wasn't working out well... Tess was struggling to get a replacement for the Warriors Guild... Neither was going to affect the wedding, but both would make things far more difficult if they weren't figured out quickly.

Chapter Eighteen - Oats

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 65th day of Fall! 26 days until the Fall Festival. Big storm today, folks! Seriously, stay inside if at all possible!]

Jason shivered, as was his wont for the fall, as he climbed out of bed. A distant boom rumbled across the ground, and he walked up to the window and gazed out at a darkening horizon. Clouds already covered much of the sky and were moving rapidly even as he watched. A cold wind rippled across the prairie, making what little grass remained wave furiously. He shuddered, then changed quickly and made his way downstairs.

He passed the kitchen by, then made his way quickly out into the yard. The wind was freezing, and a bit of cold mist was already coming down. It stung his face, and he heard Lady neighing in fear inside the stable. He ran quickly to comfort her and poured her some oats in her small trough inside the stall. He wasn't about to let her outside in whatever was coming, that was for sure. As he finished, he turned toward his field, where the smoking torches had nearly run dry. The storm was nearly there, arriving in less than an hour certainly, and he tried to measure how many Juun bugs were around. At a glance, there certainly didn't seem to be many flying through the air, which made him quite tempted to just skip the spray treatment for the day.

"Jason!" Tess's voice rang out, and he turned as she came riding up into the drive. She swung off Angus as she came up and handed him the reins.. "You'll want to get inside, and quickly. This storm is supposed to be nasty. I've

gotten a few letters from towns where it's already hit, and we need to get in."

Jason inclined his head. He quickly stabled Angus with Lady, closed the stable up tightly, and jogged after Tess up and into the house. They closed the door behind them, even as the wind began to pick up even more. The old house seemed to groan under the impact, and Jason shuddered.

"Well, want some breakfast?" he asked. "I haven't eaten yet, and-"

His voice was drowned out by a thunderous crash, and he winced. Running to a window, he saw rain coming down in sheets. Grass was flattened to the ground, and he groaned as he saw his sorghum, at least what was left, being turned into a green carpet that covered the eighty- acre field.

"Oh, come on." He scowled at the storm. "That yield was going to be half-decent! At least I think it was going to be. It was on track to... Oh, never mind."

He scowled and marched into the kitchen, where he ordered up a plate of pancakes topped with bacon and sausage. Tess eyed the dish warily as she sat down, but she ultimately said nothing, and simply ate a simple meal of spinach and eggs. When they both finished, Jason stared out the window.

"Well... Thanks for coming to warn me. I probably would have been out in that when it hit."

"That's kinda what I figured. It blew up out of nowhere, which is why I haven't been warning about it. There's some speculation that a volcanic eruption up in the Northern mountains may have triggered it, but I don't know enough about that sort of thing to really comment one way or another."

Jason just shrugged, then flashed another small smile at her. "Well, what do you think we should do today?"

"I was hoping we could discuss a few more wedding plans?" Tess posited. "Just a few. I've been getting together

a few more specifics, and I think we can finally start moving forward on some things."

"Sounds wonderful to me!" Jason grinned as they finished eating. "Let's use my office upstairs. It's been a while since I really gave it any good use, and I'd like to start incorporating it a bit more."

"You just want to turn it into your man-cave once we get married." Tess raised an eyebrow.

"A study, not a man-cave," Jason corrected. "But yes!"

"As long as I can turn the basement into a miniature dungeon for the kids, I'm totally okay with that." Tess smiled as they made their way up the stairs.

The old farmhouse was large and consisted of far more rooms than Jason had really been able to make use of on his own. One of those rooms that had barely seen more than a glance since he moved in was the small office-library. As Jason cracked open the door, dust came billowing out, and he coughed loudly.

The room was small, with every single wall covered in lines of bookshelves. All the books, or at least all of them that Jason had really spent any time looking over, were quite horrid, and covered such topics as monster care, meeting conditions to bring more monsters to your land, and other such things. He'd wanted to clear all the books out as soon as he could, but as with most of the rest of the housework, it had fallen to the wayside. He quickly walked around the desk and sat down in the old chair, while Tess sat down just across from him. She began to spread papers across the wooden surface, and Jason flashed a small smile. It felt nice to be sitting in his own office, in his own house, with a woman who would soon be his wife. As he looked down at the papers, though, his smile faded. "Some things" seemed to have a very different meaning for the two of them.

"What is all of this?" Jason frowned as he looked from page to page.

"Wedding plans." Tess looked up at him as if he had sprouted a few extra limbs. "What does it look like?"

"There are detailed maps of the town, monster spawn rates in the area..." Jason flicked through the papers. "And... something called wedding colors?"

"Yes!" Tess grinned. "All right, let's start with the most important part, since you already brought it up. What do you think our colors should be?"

Jason blinked a few times. "Is there a certain number of them I'm supposed to be guessing?"

Tess scoffed, "Have you never been to a wedding before?"

"Let's just say that it's been a while, and I'm a guy. I was more concerned with the cake than with the ceremony." "That's fair. But this is going to take a lot of work. All

right. Weddings have colors. Typically, two, and everyone does their best to coordinate the decorations accordingly. I was thinking blood-red and corn-gold."

"I'm no expert, but even I know that those colors clash horribly with each other." Jason shook his head.

"All right... Slime-green and sorghum-red."

Jason only raised a quizzical eyebrow.

"Dragon-blue and... Wheat-yellow?"

"We don't have to have things that match our various

professions. That said, I do kinda like yellow and blue." "Then we'll lock it in!" Tess grinned, grabbed a sheet of paper, and started scribbling on it. "And... That affects the flowers and arrangements. We'll want sunflowers, of course, and... Daisies can be yellow, right? And daffodils. We'll want some sprigs of wheat, but you can grow all of that out here on your farm. For the blue, I'm thinking lilies, maybe some

orchids, and..."

Jason lost focus for a few moments as she spoke about

all the different flowers. One of the pieces of paper was a long list of assorted flowers and their colors, as well as where they could be found. He largely agreed to most of

what she wanted to do, though he did nix an expedition to a cave in the northern wastes to fight a dragon and obtain a rare flower that it dropped. When they had chosen the flowers, Tess launched into questions about the arrangements of the flowers, how many flowers per table, in each bouquet, and other such things. That took the better part of half an hour, and when she finished, she wiped her brow.

"Whew! You know, if someone made a career out of supplying and arranging flowers for weddings, they could make a fortune."

Jason snorted. "Come on. That's such a specific venue, no one would be able to make a full living off it."

"I'd pay them," Tess answered, then turned to the next matter of business. "All right. Next, we need to figure out food. Are we wanting a full buffet in conjunction with the Spring Festival, or do we want to provide snacks earlier in the day to hold people over? That also ties into whether we want an early-morning wedding, or a later wedding."

"What about a mid-day wedding?" Jason asked. "Set up in the morning, wedding right after lunch, and then the reception and the Spring Festival pretty much just go together."

"Perfect!" Tess grinned. "All right, that answers a lot of my questions... I mean, I'll have more, but I'm going to have to go back to the drawing board with some of this... Ooh! One more question. Where are we going to have the wedding? We could do it out in the town square, but then we might have to worry about the weather, or we could do it in the old General Store. Paulina still owns it, and she told me that we could convert it into a wedding chapel for the day. She's just been using it as a warehouse, you know, and we could probably make it beautiful, but what do you think?"

"Inside," Jason answered, then pointed at the door. "I do not want to get married in a storm if one happens to blow up. Tornados and weddings do not mix."

"That's fair. And... That answers a few more questions for me..." Tess continued to scribble on the paper just about as fast as her pen could move. Jason watched her, a smile growing across his face. How lovely she was. He couldn't imagine anyone else sitting across him, making plans for their wedding. It was strange, as he never would have pictured himself with anyone like Tess before meeting her, but now that they had met, he just couldn't imagine life without her.

She didn't speak again for several minutes as she made her notes, and Jason started fidgeting with the desk drawers. Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he pulled open the bottom drawer, where a handful of wills had been stored. He slowly picked them up, flipping through the different names, and sighing deeply as he tried to ponder the mystery of it all.

The year before, when he had been going through the room with Tess, he had discovered a large pile of wills that had been left in the desk by his uncle. To his immense surprise, each one of them was identical to the one that had informed him that he was the owner of the farm, with one distinct exception. Every single one of them had a different name, listing different members of his family. There was well over a dozen, listing both of his parents, an assortment of his aunts and uncles, and several of his siblings. About the only people in his family who weren't mentioned were his eldest siblings, along with a handful of his really crazy aunts and uncles. He slowly laid them out on the desk and whistled softly, trying to take it all in.

"You haven't destroyed those yet?" Tess looked up at him.

"Why would I?" Jason asked.

"Oh, I don't know." Tess shrugged. "Because when your family gets into town, if they happen to find them, there could be problems. Legal problems. You could wind up losing the farm. I mean, if that happens, we'll make it work

out together, but I'd rather not start out our marriage as homeless bums."

"That's fair." Jason put the wills away once again. "Tell you what. Let me take them to Hank, and if he gives me the go-ahead, I'll destroy them. Does that work?"

Tess just rolled her eyes. "You've been planning on taking those wills to Hank for the last six months. You're never going to get around to it."

"Yes, I will!" Jason protested. "I've just been busy. The farm hasn't exactly been running as smooth as silk, if you haven't noticed."

"That's fair enough. All right, but it makes me nervous. All those documents have been signed and notarized. Each and every name on those wills has a legal right to this farm."

"No." Jason pointed at the wording. "Each of these documents leaves everything to the named individual. By the very definition of the word, all the land and equipment would go to exactly one person. The fight would be over who exactly got it."

"If I had to make a guess, based on similar cases I've heard about with warriors willing their fortunes to multiple relatives, the courts would probably just divide it all up between everyone named." Tess tapped the documents. "Now, since a lot of this can't be physically divided up, it would wind up working out that you stayed as the landlord, and then paid a portion of the profits to everyone involved."

"That sounds terrible." Jason muttered. "I think I'd just sell the farm at that point and start over."

"I think I'd join you in that decision." Tess chuckled, then nodded at the desk. "Do you mind if I look at those?"

"Be my guest." Jason pulled them back out and passed them across the table. "If you have any insights, I'd love to hear them."

Tess looked over the wills, thumbing between them for a long while, then handed them back.

"I've got nothing. They're all written on Hank's legal paper; they all look like legal documents. Makes no sense."

"Agreed. Well, in any event, they're less important than our wedding."

"Indeed!" Tess squealed, then passed something else across the desk to him. "All right, so if we're having the wedding in the warehouse, we're going to need to get seating set up. Should we have chairs or pews? Chairs will be less expensive, but pews look classier."

"If we're going to do this, it's all or nothing, right?" Jason raised an eyebrow.

Tess looked up at him with soft eyes.

"Have I said that I love you?"

"Many times, but I could stand to hear it again."

At that, Tess laughed and looked down at the papers.

"Uh, huh. All right, let's get these details hammered out. What I'm thinking is..."

Outside the house, rain continued to hammer down, but inside, within that small office, all was right in the world. Jason sighed deeply, drinking it all in. He was safe. He was at home.

He was at peace.

Chapter Ninetee - Window

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 84th day of Fall! 7 days until the Fall Festival. There's a thick frost this morning, but it looks to clear up sometime around noontime. Otherwise, the weather should be clear!]

Jason rolled out of bed. This time, he didn't shiver, but only because he had broken down and bought a pair of long johns from Paulina's store. They were the ugliest pair of clothing that he wore by far, but they kept him warm enough, and as he walked up to the window and saw his breath hanging in the air, he knew that it had been the right decision.

It took him a moment to wipe away the frost from the window. Outside, sure enough, a thick layer of crystal-white color lay across the ground, the stable, and the gleaming red sorghum. A smile broke across his face, and he crossed his arms. The rainstorm, while it hadn't thoroughly destroyed his crop, had certainly reduced it enough that it was hardly worth spending the time to harvest. It had then taken several days to dry out, and as some of the crop had survived, he had been obliged to take out the plow and till up the whole field before he had been able to replant it. His experience with onions allowed to rot that sprung to unlife in a prior year was not one he ever wanted to repeat; he shuddered at the thought. All things considered, his attempt to grow sorghum this season had been quite the ordeal, and he was now more than ready to get on with the harvest before the Juun bugs ate everything.

He rubbed his hands together and changed quickly, then made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen.

That room was far warmer, as the cookbook seemed to have kindled a small fire in the belly of the stove. Jason quickly warmed his hands before the flames, then stepped out of the room and walked into the living room. There, he retrieved a piece of paper and a pen, then came back and scratched out a quick letter while he ate his breakfast.

"Tess, if your brother would like to come down and help me with the harvest, he'd be more than welcome. Jason."

As soon as he finished writing, he folded up the letter, dropped into an envelope, and raced to the front of the house. The moment he dropped it into the mailbox, a message appeared.

[Mailbox: Please state the intended recipient.] "Tess, of the Warriors Guild."

[Mailbox: ...]

[Mailbox: ...]

[Mailbox: ...]

[Mailbox: Message sent.]

Jason nodded, then walked back to the table, finished

eating, and soon made his way out into the farmstead. He took out Lady and hitched her up to the post, then slowly made his way over to the fence and gazed out across the field. The smoke still stung his eyes, but... There it was.

A wonderful, bright-red field of sorghum, ready for the harvest. His success had been due to a handful of factors, all things considered. For one part, the colder weather had begun to affect even the Autumn Juun Bugs, though as he watched, several swarms of them still buzzed across the prairie. For the second part, he had taken to filling the torches twice a day, once in the morning and once at night, to make sure that there was always protection. It seemed to have worked well enough, as the crop practically looked like it would appear in an ordinary year.

He was still standing there when hoofbeats sounded in the drive, and he turned around to see Daniel riding up. He

swung off and handed the reins to Jason, who led the horse over to stand next to Lady.

"Tess told me you wanted my help again?" Daniel clapped his hands, causing a small shockwave to blast across the immediate farmstead.

"I just wanted to offer, if you were interested," Jason expressed. "You seemed to enjoy it last time, so I figured I would offer. This is the best crop I've gotten all season. All year, really, depending on how you count it."

"Well, then, I'd love to!" Daniel grinned widely. "What would you like me to do? Use the scythe like I did last time? I was thinking about it, and I think I can chain a few of my other skills together to make it even more effective!"

"By all means." Jason inclined his head.

"Great!" Daniel took out his enormous scythe, which gleamed in the sun. He looked terribly grim-reaper-esque, which Jason thought was rather entertaining. His eyes glazed slightly as he began to work on activating all his skills, and Jason walked up next to him. When he finished and his eyes refocused, his blade began to gleam in the sunlight, and he took a deep breath.

[Companion: Your new companion has been given 10 bonus actions for the day, and you have been granted 5. Remaining actions for the day: 44.]

"All right, Farmer Boy. You'd better stand back. This one could hurt if you get caught in it."

Jason nodded slowly. "What exactly are you doing?"

Daniel puffed out his cheeks. "Let's see... I have all the stuff you saw me do last time. My inertia skill, of course, along with a shockwave skill. That's what creates the ripple, of course. Then I have a magnetism skill that lets me grab items from further away. You've seen all of that, but I just added..." He paused for dramatic effect. "One I missed last time is called Chainmail. It basically makes your attack grow more powerful the more things you defeat. Now, each stalk isn't going to cause the attack to increase by much, but

since I'm hitting so many at once, it oughta do something. I also added one that makes blades sharper, and an area-of- effect attack that-"

Jason's head was soon lost amidst the different factors that would change how much damage was ultimately performed on the field. Daniel seemed to sense this fact and flashed a small smile.

"Well, just stand back and watch me work, eh?"

He threw open the gates of the field, drew the scythe back over his head, and then swung it with all his might.

This time, Jason was sure that it was done with all his might.

Light trailed from the tip of the blade as it swung through the sorghum stalks, and the shockwave erupted across the field. Unlike the previous time, this shock wave glowed brilliantly, and it seemed to gain in power exponentially as it leapt across the eighty acres. Both Jason and Daniel stood there, slack-jawed, as the shockwave blasted out the far side, took out his entire length of fence, and cut down a good swath of the prairie before finally wearing out. There was a flash of light, and all the sorghum was transferred into Daniel's personal inventory. He stumbled and fell to his knees, groaning as he hit the ground.

"Transfer, transfer!"

There was another flash of light, and all the grain was sent straight to the box where Jason stored his crops to be sold. Daniel climbed back to his feet, then whistled.

"Now that's not an accomplishment I ever imagined I would receive."

"You just harvested eighty acres of sorghum in a single blow." Jason turned and gazed up at Daniel. He had known that the warrior was powerful, but it was hard to really gauge just how strong he was, given that Jason knew absolutely nothing about how strong a crystal dragon was compared to a behemoth troll. That feat, though...

"I did, didn't I?" Daniel chuckled deeply. He glazed down at the scythe, then laughed gleefully. "What do you know? I ought to hire out my services!"

"You'll have to include a clause about taking out fence." Jason pointed at the downed length of fence along the far side. "Not that it'll take long to fix, but..."

"How about I help you fix it right now?"

Jason blinked. "I'd love that. Thanks."

"Think nothing of it!" Daniel waved his hand and

started walking off toward the fence. "Or think everything of it. I don't really care which."

Jason rolled his eyes as he followed. They soon reached the far end, where Jason began picking up the pieces of fence.

"I've got that." Daniel stepped up. "I have some repair skills that will help with the first few links. Come to think of it, I can probably temporarily share some of those skills with you, so you can move faster, and we don't have to rebuild it all from scratch."

"Once again, thank you." Jason blinked in surprise as Daniel picked up the first length of fence and reattached it, and the broken links healed in a split second. They started to move down the length of the thing, and Jason glanced at Daniel. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"Ask away! I'm an open book!" Daniel chuckled. "At least I think I am. Reading has never really been my strong suit, if you know what I mean. I find all sorts of books down in the dungeons, mostly for fetch quests and stuff, but I always just sell them to the librarians."

Jason chuckled. "I was just wondering if you could tell me another story about when you and Tess were little. Your lives were so different from my own, and I sometimes wonder how you two managed to turn out... I don't know. Not utter jerks, you know? I feel like I knew dozens of people up in Illumitir whose parents were killed for one reason or another, and most of them just grew up bitter and cruel.

Some of them didn't, mind you, but a lot of them just focused all their anger and hate on whatever they thought killed their parents, and... You know what I mean?"

"Yeah. I think it's because Tess and I saw a lot of other dungeon orphans who were just like that. The woman we called our mother was a blessing beyond compare. We both knew our parents, and we both hated the fact that they were gone, but we weren't completely on our own, you know? I know we made her turn grey before her time, and I know I wasn't always the best-behaved son, but we tried, you know?"

There was a pause of a moment, and Daniel turned the subject away. "You wanted a story! Right. Let me think... Okay, I've got one. This was from about a year after my parents were killed. We had just moved to a new town, and we were hanging around the local tavern because it was just about the best place to catch news of what was happening in the dungeons, and who should walk in but Tess's parents!"

Jason felt his gut clench as he imagined the way that the scenario might have played out, but Daniel just pressed on.

"Anyway, we both freeze, 'cause you just know how awkward that's going to be. We both hid under a table and listened to them talking about all the dungeons they went into and all the monsters they fought and stuff. When they finally left, you'll never guess what Tess did."

"I think I have an idea," Jason muttered under his breath.

"She followed them!" Daniel laughed. "Just ran off! Oh, Mom was furious. We went after her, but she knew how to cover her tracks well; and pretty soon, we'd lost sight of her. She followed her parents for a hundred miles across the Eastern mountains. She'd stay just behind them, so they never noticed, and then... She attacked them! I didn't see it, of course, but I've heard the story since then. Sounds like

she was quite a beast, just swinging a butcher knife like a sword and hacking away at them, and they just thought it was the cutest thing they'd ever seen, and..."

He laughed and shook his head. "Oh, I wish I could have seen it."

Jason bit his lip, then crossed his arms. "Who told you that story?"

Instantly, Daniel froze. He coughed and shook his head. "Ahh... You know, why don't you tell me a story? I've heard a bit about what happened with the Dungeon Guild and Leonard and stuff from a few years ago, from Tess, but I haven't actually-"

"Daniel." Jason stepped forward. "Tess didn't tell you that story, did she?"

Daniel's eyes were wide with fear. "Ahh... Not exactly." "You know where her parents are."

It was definitely a stretch. For all he knew, Daniel had

just tracked them down years earlier, and hadn't seen them in a decade or more. That said, the way that Daniel was acting certainly seemed to indicate a greater level of guilt.

"I don't know exactly where they are." Daniel held up a finger.

"You know the city."

There was a long pause.

"Yes."

"You've talked to them recently?"

"That depends on how strictly you define the word

'recently.'"

"Then define it for me."

Daniel kicked at the ground, then sighed and shrugged. "Ahh... About two days before I left to come here."

Jason's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "You what? You're telling me that you know who Tess's parents are, you know where they are, you've talked to them... I can't believe you! Tess has no idea, does she?"

Daniel shook his head slowly. "Not a clue. And I only really know her father, to be fair. Her mother died about five years back."

Jason just shook his head incredulously. "I'm in shock right now. Complete and utter shock. Do you have any idea how much she misses her parents?"

"Of course, I do!" Daniel snapped. "Why do you think I haven't told her?"

Jason froze, and Daniel continued.

"You just heard the story I told you. That's not the only one like it. When we were growing up, she was, always and forever, trying to figure out where her parents were located. Our mother didn't move us around very often, but every time she did, it was to get us further away. The few times they bumped into one another, things never went well. If she found out that her father was still alive, and that he still didn't want a relationship with her, she would be crushed."

Jason blinked. "He still doesn't want that? He obviously has a relationship with you."

"He knows who I am." Daniel stalked up to Jason and flicked him on the forehead. It was a powerful enough jolt to send Jason staggering backward, and Daniel crossed his arms. "We've talked like five times since I left the house to start adventuring on my own. I'll admit, I went down to the volcanic region with the purpose of meeting him. You know why I went there?"

Jason didn't have a good answer.

"I went there because I wanted to check, yet again, if he would be wiling yet to go talk to Tess. His answer is still no. I will keep checking with him, and I will tell Tess the moment that he agrees to a meeting, but until that point, I have to protect her."

"Tess isn't the type of person to accept protection from others."

"Then why don't you go marching right up to her and tell her." Daniel snapped. "Tell her that her father is still

alive, and that he wants nothing to do with her. She already knows that. Telling her where he is would only pour salt on the wound."

Jason crossed his arms. "I still think you need to tell her. If nothing else, as a courtesy. She's not a child anymore, Daniel. I'm not saying that you should just drop it on her like a ton of bricks, but I do think that you need to at least inform her that you've talked to her father."

Daniel held Jason's gaze, then lowered his head. "Maybe so." He sighed deeply. "Just... Do me a favor and let me be the one who decides when it's the right time."

"That much, I can do."

Daniel sighed deeply, then turned and walked from the farm. A few moments later, he was gone, and Jason was left with his head spinning. He turned himself and walked back into the house, uncertain of how to continue. Tess needed to know, that was for sure. Still... It couldn't hurt to wait a little while, just to give Daniel a chance to make things right...

Chapter Twenty - Last Day of Fall

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 91st day of Fall! It's the day of the Fall Festival. The weather is fresh and cool, but no wind, and the sun should be shining brightly today! Come out early to help set up for the festival, and make sure you're in the mood for pumpkin pies!]

Jason rolled out of his bed, warmer than perhaps any other morning of that fall. His long johns were still keeping him quite warm, and the air temperature was surprisingly less than frigid. He quickly dressed in a town tunic, then bolted down the stairs. He only paused for a quick breakfast in the kitchen before putting on his boots and bolting out through the front door. He had Lady fed and watered within just a few moments, then mounted up and rode off toward Summer Shandy.

The reason for his haste was twofold. First, he was simply excited to see Tess. He hadn't seen her in person since he had talked to Daniel almost a week earlier, and he wanted to see if she had spoken to her bother about her parents. Secondly, Tess had asked him to come in early to discuss wedding plans with Constable Hank, and he was eager to get that meeting over and done with. He didn't mind Constable Hank in the slightest, but meeting with him wasn't always the most pleasant thing in the world.

When he rode up into the town square, Tess was already waiting for him. She wore light armor instead of her standard combat gear, and she grinned at him as he came riding up to Hank's office. As he dismounted, she caught

hold of him and gave him a kiss, and he couldn't keep a smile from his face.

"Morning!" She beamed at him. "It's been... Awhile."

"I know," he acknowledged. "In fairness, that hasn't been my fault."

"I know, I know. On the bright side, I almost have all the paperwork and meetings squared away for the Guild, which means that my schedule should be opening quite a great deal here within the next few weeks." Tess started walking toward Hank's office. "Now let's get this out of the way, because that will square away quite a lot of other things."

Jason nodded, and a few moments later, they walked into Constable Hank's building. It was a jail/office, with several cells built into the walls just behind his desk. Nearly all the cells were filled with cobwebs, as the last person that they had really held for any length of time had been Tess herself. Constable Hank wasn't exactly the type of person to do a great deal of arresting, even if there was due cause for it.

Hank himself sat behind his desk, looking down at some paperwork. He looked up and smiled broadly, and Tess and Jason sat down across him from him.

"Welcome, you two lovebirds!" Hank clapped his hands. "You know, if you ask me, I really ought to be getting a bit of credit for this here marriage. I was the one who first sent Jason over to Tess's Guild Hall, if you'll both remember."

"Yeah, and I nearly chopped his head off for it," Tess growled softly at him. "You knew better."

Constable Hank just shrugged. "Well, let's just be glad we made it here, eh? Now, Tess, you filled out all the paperwork I asked you to do, so let's just run through it all. I've looked over it a bit, but I do have a few questions."

Tess nodded, and she winced slightly. Constable Hank started running his finger down the paperwork. "You have

the application for the marriage license filed, so that's good. You have permission to use the venue, good. You have... You seem to have everything in order, except for the fact that you don't have me listed as the officiant."

"Ahh... Hank?" Tess coughed slightly. "Do you remember the last time you officiated a wedding?"

Hank's face went slightly blank. "That would have been the Olersons' wedding?"

"Yes." Tess nodded slowly. "That was five years ago, Hank. There have been dozens of other marriages since then, and every single one of them has gone to another town because they remember that whole debacle."

"What debacle?" Hank slammed his hand down onto the desk. "I did a great job!"

"The fact that you think so is a big part of the problem." Tess sighed. "You... Ahh... Helped yourself to a bit of the refreshments before the wedding started, and you could hardly speak a single line that wasn't slurred beyond recognition. You tried to take the rings for yourself, you tried to kiss the bride, and I don't even want to talk about the exit. Those are just the things I can remember offhandedly. Not to mention all the jokes you kept cracking. Not appropriate, Hank, and you'd be doing that whether you're sober or not."

Hank pleaded, "Won't you give me another chance?"

"I only plan on getting married once in my life, and I don't really want to risk my perfect day on the roll of a dice," Tess snapped.

Hank sighed and kicked at the ground. "I... I suppose... I mean..."

Jason felt a bit of a twinge in his heart, and he glanced at Tess. "Isn't there any way we could allow it?"

Tess's face turned red, and not with embarrassment. "Jason, I thought we talked about this."

"What if we take his Constable badge, put it on an anvil, and have your brother hold a hammer above it?"

Jason suggested. "If he slips up during the ceremony, Daniel smashes it into slivers."

Hank's face turned rather white. "You wouldn't dare. That badge... Do you know how much they cost to buy from the Constable's Guild?"

"A whole lot more than usual, given that I doubt you've filed any of their paperwork for the last ten years of your life." Tess nodded slowly, a gleam coming into her eye. "All right, Hank, that's your deal. You can officiate, but Daniel gets to smash your badge if you mess up."

"And he's got a strong arm," Jason emphasized. "I don't know if you've heard the story, but he harvested my entire eighty acres in a single swing of his scythe."

"Trust me, everyone has heard that story," Hank muttered, then shrugged and nodded. "Oh, all right. You've got yourself a deal."

"Wonderful." Tess flashed a smile. "Now, I think that concludes everything. If you can get all the proper paperwork filed, we can-"

"Actually, I have one other thing." Jason spoke up. He reached into his inventory and pulled out the stack of wills. He had grabbed them from his desk several days earlier, when the meeting had first been placed on the books. "I was hoping you could tell me a bit about these."

Hank took the stack of wills and started thumbing through them. As he did so, his face turned even whiter than at the mention of smashing his badge.

"Ah! He... Ahh... Hmm." Hank muttered a few times under his breath. "These were... Ahh... Supposed to have been destroyed."

"Indeed?" Jason raised his eyebrows. "You think you can explain them, then?"

Hank stared at them for a moment, then rose and started for the door. "You know what? We have a lot of work to get done, and I really think it would be prudent to-"

Tess drew her sword and threw it at the door. The blade flashed through the curve of the elegant door handle and pinned the structure shut. Hank froze, and Jason rose.

"Hank, I'm not trying to pin you to the wall or anything. I'm just trying to figure out what's going on. There's so much about my uncle that I don't understand, and..." He shrugged. "I just want to get to the bottom of everything."

Hank sighed, then slowly turned and started walking back to his desk. "That's Constable Hank, to you," he muttered, then dropped into his chair. He picked up the wills and started thumbing through them, then inquired, "How much did you know about your uncle?"

"Almost nothing," Jason admitted. "Everyone said he was crazy, and then suddenly, I find out that he's dead and left everything to me. I've heard that he was married, but his wife left at some point before he died, but that's it."

Hank nodded slowly. "He was unusual, that's for sure. Kept to himself. I've been in Summer Shandy for fifteen years now, and he had been an established member of the community since before my time. No one knew when he'd gotten there, only that they couldn't wait for him to leave." Hank drummed his fingers on the desk. "I'd serve him eviction notices from time to time. He paid his taxes and all, but the place was such an eyesore that he really needed to have been cleared out. He just ignored me, though, and I wasn't about to go marching into that filthy place to pry him out."

"Hank, you're stalling." Tess prodded him.

"Oh, you be quiet," Hank snapped, then continued. "Anyway, after his wife left him, he started to get real sickly. Started to look more like he was dying than he already had. He put together all these wills, said that they were everyone whose names he could remember. He told me..."

Hank started to shift a bit in his seat, and he again looked longingly at the door. Tess started to rise from her

seat, and he gulped.

"He told me to notarize them all, and then to do

research on who I thought was the most capable from among his relatives to handle the farm. Once I was done, I would send the rest back to him. I assumed that he would just destroy them, but it doesn't look like that was the case."

Jason felt a momentary flash of pride. "You mean... Out of all my relatives, I was the one you deemed most worthy to handle his farm?"

Hank's already-guilty face became even more pained, and Tess glared.

"The will with his name was on the top of the pile, wasn't it?"

"I am a very busy man." Hank scowled. "I don't have time to run up to Illumitir on the whims of madmen! I picked Jason's name, sent the other wills back to him, and a month later, he was dead. End of the story."

Jason's pride deflated. His name had been on the top of the pile? That had been how he got the farm? He sank back into his chair and sighed deeply, and Hank seemed to smile in pity at him.

"I know that comes as a bit of a shock to hear, but-"

"Hank?" Tess slowly rose. "Allow me to recalibrate our threat. If you officiate at our wedding, and make even the smallest mistake, I will have Daniel smash your desk along with your badge."

Hank gulped again, then nodded. "Jason, my boy? Since the truth is out now and all, would you mind just destroying those other wills? In the strictest read of the law, I'm technically not supposed to notarize multiple wills for the same person without destroying the old ones first, and... I mean..." He laughed painfully. "That just wouldn't look good."

Jason didn't say a word but rose and walked to the door. Tess did the same, pulled the sword out from the door

handle, and a moment later, they were out in the fresh fall air once more.

The moment the door came shut, they both broke into grins. Seeing Hank uncomfortable was always a bit of a pleasure, as he took a rather inordinate amount of it when seeing others uncomfortable. Still, though, Jason had to admit that he was a bit thrown off by the revelation about the wills. Up until that point, he had always assumed that someone had seen something in him. Now, to find out that it was just sheer chance that had brought him to Summer Shandy... In a lot of ways, it hurt. It shouldn't have hurt, but it did.

The rest of that night went by in what seemed like a blur. Tables were set out, a proper feast was piled high across them, and everyone came into town to dance the night away. Jason did his best to keep his mind focused on the party and having fun with Tess, but he just couldn't quite commit to it. As the sun set, the band played, and pumpkin carving contests began, he sat back next to the Guild Hall and just watched it all.

"You okay?" Tess whispered, sliding up to him. "You just look off."

"I know." Jason sighed and gestured at everything. "It's just... I don't know. To think that I nearly missed all of this... To think that a simple shuffle of papers could have resulted in me staying back in Illumitir, trying to carve out a living among those crowded streets, where everyone just views everyone else as a chance for profit... I don't know."

"Well, you're here now," Tess whispered. "Let's not dwell on the what-ifs. Let's focus on the now. Come dance with me."

Jason blinked a tear out of his eye, then nodded. He knew it was silly to be sad about the fact that he almost missed something, and yet, there it was. In so many ways, that simple fact made it feel as though his life as it stood

was hanging by a thread, as if he could lose it all with the snip of a pair of sheers.

As he and Tess whirled about the cobblestones, he allowed himself to become lost in the music. He was home, and he wasn't going anywhere. In the end, that was the important part. He just had to convince himself of that fact.

Chapter Twenty-One - First Day of Winter

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 1st day of Winter! 90 days until the Winter Festival. It's a cold one today, folks! Just like fall, expect record-breaking low temperatures throughout the season. Snow should start within a few days, but for the moment at least, it's just going to be freezing]

Jason rolled out of bed, shivering by the time that his feet hit the floor. That was what he had forgotten the night before! Logs in the fire! By the time that he and Tess had parted and he went back home, it had been late, and he had barely been able to stumble up the stairs to fall asleep. Something had been nagging at the back of his mind, though he hadn't quite been able to figure it out. Now, he knew.

He slowly walked up to the window, wiped away the frost, and gazed out at the surrounding landscape. Sure enough, there wasn't an ounce of snow. The prairie grass was simply a great expanse of dead, dried material that made the whole thing look like a ragged carpet. Lady's stable was battened down tightly, and Jason felt dejected.

He made his way downstairs, ordered the cookbook to make him a plate of pancakes in about ten minutes, then put on his boots and marched out into the freezing cold. The sharp wind bit through his feeble clothes, as he hadn't yet changed out of his long johns, but he didn't really care. Soon enough, he'd pulled open the door to Lady's stable and stepped inside. She nickered happily, and he pulled the door shut. Inside, with Lady's body heat, it was surprisingly

warm, though a cold wind did whip in through a few cracks. He poured her some oats and fluffed her bedding, then stepped back out, closed it up again, and made his way back inside.

He had only just closed the door behind him and shrugged off his boots when something rattled in the mailbox. He reached down and pulled out a small envelope, which was addressed to him in Tess's handwriting. A grin spread across his face, and he made his way into the kitchen right as a plate of steaming eggs and spinach appeared in front of his chair.

"I see you're already obeying Tess instead of me," he grumbled, but he ate the meal anyway. As he did, he slit open the envelope and took out the letter, which he began to read.

"Dear Jason, Just wanted to let you know that your mom came into town this morning. She just rented a room at Viola's inn. I think you'll want to come here, and quickly."

Jason wadded up the letter and tossed it into the trash. He then rose and made his way back upstairs, where he changed into something a bit more presentable. It was still nothing exceptional, but he didn't really want to appear before them in his pajamas. When he finished, he wrapped a cloak around himself and reluctantly made his way back out into the cold weather.

His mind spun as he reviewed the words. They certainly didn't fill him with hope, that was for sure. Lady grunted and stamped her hooves as he led her out into the cold weather, but she obeyed, and soon enough, they were setting off for town. What would they want? Sure, his mother had told him that she would be coming, but what would the purpose be? Would she be happy for him? Angered? Disappointed? It was impossible to know, and though he wanted to find out, a large part of him rather wished that all his relatives had just stayed in Illumitir.

It wasn't long before he came riding up into the town square. Tess stood just outside Viola's inn, a worried look on her face. She was wrapped in a shawl, under which was the armor that Jeremiah had given her the year earlier. Jason dismounted Lady and hitched her to the post just in front of the inn, then gave her a nod.

"Have you talked to them?" he asked softly.

Tess shook her head. "No. I saw them from a distance, and I know they spoke to Hank, but that's about all I know at this point. Your guess is as good as mine. They just looked... annoyed."

"My guess isn't all that wonderful," Jason admitted as he started toward the inn. "Come on. Let's get this over with."

They stepped up to the door, and Jason slowly grabbed hold of the handle. When he twisted it open, they stepped into the warm, cheery atmosphere of Viola's inn... And somehow, it still felt as though they had entered an atmosphere even more dour than before.

The inn was a cheery place, with a reception desk off to the left of the door and a set of stairs just beyond the desk that led to the upper floors. To the right was a large banquet hall, with a blazing hearth at one end, a door to a large kitchen, and dozens of tables that the patrons could use for feasting, or even just sitting and chatting. A handful of warriors and travelers who had come into town for the Fall Festival were taking their breakfast, while a very familiar trio sat at a corner table. As Jason laid his eyes on his family for the first time in over two years, he felt a pang come over him.

His mother, Lacy, was a tall and thin woman, rather reminiscent of the spiders that she was always sweeping out of the corners of their home. She looked a good deal older than she was, made so by the pressures of keeping together such a large home. His two brothers, only a few years older than himself, sat on either side of her. They both

could have easily passed for slightly bulkier versions of himself, though neither was necessarily muscular. Killian, the youngest of the two, was only a year older than Jason. Nathanial was two years older than Killian, and both appeared as though they were already starting to show the same wear and tear as their mother.

Jason took a deep breath, then marched up to the table. The trio looked up as he approached, and he flashed a smile.

"Hi, mom. Hey, Killian and Nathanial. It's... ahh... It's been a while."

"No thanks to you," Lacy sniffed. "I was hoping you would come. Have a seat. We're waiting on our breakfast, but it's taking a very long time."

"They do cook it all in the back," Tess offered as she sat down next to Jason, just across from Lacy. "It's not like all that big-city stuff, where they prepare it in advance."

"Big city stuff is faster," Lacy muttered.

"Do you have anywhere to be?"

Lacy regarded Jason and Tess with a raised eyebrow,

then shrugged and folded a napkin on her lap. "No, I suppose not. Well, then, Jason, let us jump to business."

"Yes, let's?" Jason raised a quizzical eyebrow. "You aren't even going to ask how I've been for the last two years?"

"You don't seem interested in knowing how we've been doing, so I see little value in returning the favor."

Jason Snarled, "You know, typically, the mother is the one sending incessant letters after the son. Asking how I'm doing, wanting to know if I'm alive or not, if I've been eating my veggies, that sort of thing."

"And I did," Lacy snapped. "Dozens of them. You never bothered to reply, and I did receive notifications that they were received, so don't you dare try to tell me that they never came through."

A flash of annoyance went through Jason's chest. "Did you send them to the local law office?"

"Probably!" Lacy shrugged. "I certainly didn't have your address, so I just sent them to Jason, of Summer Shandy. As I said, they went through."

Jason cast a knowing look at Tess, and he knew that she was having the exact same thought. Somewhere deep within Constable Hank's office was a large pile of letters that included a great deal of his mother's correspondence that Hank had never sent along. Jason scowled, but before he could press the issue, Lacy continued.

"In any case, now that we're here, I feel as though we must discuss matters. You seem alive and healthy, though I must say that your stomach is bulging a bit. Have you been eating plenty of salad?"

"Tess has certainly been trying to make me."

"Then I suppose that's a point in her favor," Lacy allowed. "Well, then. Tell me about the farm. It's still alive?"

"It's more than alive," Tess cut in. "It's thriving. As a matter of fact, Jason just purchased another eighty acres last year that he plans to start developing once we get married."

"Very true," Jason agreed, though, in fairness, he wasn't exactly sure how he planned on getting anything to grow. It was still largely a barren wasteland after the deadly chemical spray. He was beginning to realize why the toxin had been banned in so many places, though he still had a good deal of time before he needed to start worrying about developing the land.

"Interesting!" Lacy's eyes lit up. "You're turning a regular profit?"

"More or less." Jason nodded. "The first year was rough, I'll say that, and this year we've been dealing with a bit of a Juun bug infestation, but once that gets cleared out-"

"Wonderful, wonderful." Lacy clapped her hands. "Have you ever thought about selling stock in your company? We could use a bit of those profits for ourselves, back in Illumitir. It's not so easy up there, you know."

"I do know," Jason cautiously affirmed. "That's why I was so willing to move. Down here, it's just so-"

"Waitress!" Lacy called out. "Can I get an update on my breakfast?"

A nearby waitress turned and curtsied. "It's coming along slower with every question you ask about it."

Her voice was perfectly polite, even though the words were harsh. Lacy turned rather red and began to sputter.

"Well, I never! Just imagine the nerve! You'd never see that in Illumitir, I can tell you that much. No, never. I haven't seen much of this town, but I can assure you, I'll be ready to leave it behind."

"And yet you want my money," Jason muttered softly.

"Of course! It's a child's born duty to support his parents in their old age," Lacy declared firmly. "You know how hard your father works, and he's only had to work even harder over the last two years."

"Do tell?" Jason asked, trying to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

"Oh, yes." Lacy nodded. "Our old business fell through, so he's taken to working in the mine. You know, the one where they mine light crystals out of the big cave underneath the city? Of course, you know; everyone does. Well, he goes down inside at sunrise, and doesn't leave until sunset, and works six days a week. I hardly see him anymore, and the children miss their father."

"Mom, everyone is out of the house except for Killian and Nathanial here." Jason pointed at his brothers, who seemed to be doing their best to melt into their chairs. "They wouldn't see him anyway. Besides, if dad is working in the mines, it's because he chose to. You know how much he loves working underground."

"Never mind the circumstances. I'd like him to be home more, and if we were getting money from you, he might be able to do that." Lacy folded her hands. "Now, we can discuss that matter in a more private venue. I'd like to come out to visit your... ahh... farm, just as soon as we can. In the meantime, though, I'd like to get settled in. Tell me, what's there to do around this place anyway? It doesn't seem to have a great deal in the way of recreation."

Jason glanced at Tess, who looked to be doing everything in her power to restrain the urge to throttle Lacy. In any event, she gave no answer.

"There's not a lot," Jason explained. "Out here, you just enjoy life. You can watch the warriors coming out of the dungeon, that's always fun. Sometimes they'll throw you monster eyes and stuff."

"Disgusting."

"Or you can go over to Paulina's store and walk around. Always a good conversation to be had over there."

Lacy sniffed. "Pass."

"Or you can just sit on your front porch and let the world turn around you." Jason held up his hands. "It's surprisingly peaceful. Jeremiah's been trying to convince me to do it while smoking a pipe, but I've been resisting him thus far."

"And that seems like the one bit of good advice I've heard come out of this place!" Lacy declared.

Never had Jason wanted to smoke a pipe, but he noticed that he did in that moment. Fortunately, Tess interrupted before he could say anything that he would regret later.

"It's been wonderful meeting you." Tess rose. "Unfortunately, I have to get back to work. I have a dungeon tour later this afternoon, and I'm sure Jason has lots of work back at the farm."

"If I don't, I'll come up with something," Jason muttered under his breath as he rose. His two brothers gave

him pained waves, and within a moment, Jason and Tess had made their way out into the freezing cold air once again.

Neither spoke a word, though Jason tried to think of a few. Tess went storming off toward Constable Hank's office, likely to chew him out, and Jason mounted up on Lady and started riding back toward his home. As he rode down the long, winding road, he felt as though he could still hear his mother's harsh words ringing in his ears.

Never had he known her to be so upset or cruel. Sure, she sometimes got mad when he tracked mud all over the house, but so would any mother. This was something different. Jason only hoped that he could get to the bottom of it before the wedding.

Chapter Twenty-Two - Lots of Snow

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 5th day of Winter! 86 days until the Winter Festival. Lots of snow coming down today, folks! Nothing record-breaking, but it looks to be mixed with a good deal of sleet, so make sure you're careful if you venture outside.]

Jason slowly rolled out of bed, more than comfortable as the heat from his distant fire filtered up through the room. The window had a thick layer of frost across it as a result, and he soon wiped it clean to reveal a sparkling winter wonderland beyond.

The snow was falling hard, and as Tess had indicated, it was mixed with a large amount of slush. The ground was covered in mounds of half-frozen water, and as Jason watched, a great deal of it slid off the roof and cascaded to the ground below, where it splatted across a large area. He shivered, not wanting to go outside for more than a few moments, and soon changed into more appropriate clothing.

When he went downstairs, he passed by the kitchen as usual and made his way outside, where he ran to Lady's stable and soon had her fed and watered. It took him a few minutes to get the straw scooped and fluffed, and then he closed it up and let her be. At least, that was his goal.

As he stepped out into the slush-covered driveway, hooves clattered on the muddy road, and a small carriage rumbled up to the house. Lacy sat in the back, with Nathanial and Killian sitting on the front bench. The wagon was hitched to a chestnut mare that nickered softly when it

saw Jason. He believed it belonged to Jeremiah, though he couldn't be certain. He waved and started walking toward them, but only Killian and Nathanial waved back.

"This is quite the place!" Nathanial whistled as he dropped down to land in the slush. Jason took the reins of the horse and began disconnecting it from the carriage, and Lacy began scrambling down. "I remember hearing about this place from Dad, once. It looks a lot better than he made it sound!"

"I've done a lot of work on it," Jason emphasized. Soon, he had the mare disconnected from the carriage. He started leading her toward the stable, and he glanced over his shoulders. "Go ahead and head on inside. I was about to get myself some breakfast. I'll whip up some for you as well."

"That would be wonderful," Lacy muttered. "That inn has dreadful service. I'd report her to the Innkeepers' Guild, but I'm not sure if there even is such a thing."

By this point, Jason was convinced that there was a guild for just about everything, but he didn't dare say so. He quickly took the mare into his stable and set her up right next to Lady, then followed his family into the house. Nathanial and Killian stood just next to the doorway politely, only coming out of the snow and ice, but Lacy had already made her way into the home and was poking about.

"The kitchen is that way." Jason gestured at the open door. "I do technically have a dining room, but since I haven't really had occasion to use it, it's pretty dusty."

"Then perhaps you shouldn't be living here, if you can't take care of everything." Lacy sniffed. "This furniture. It all has a rather feminine touch, don't you think?"

"I am getting married, mom." Jason kicked off his boots and made his way into the kitchen. "Tess has been helping me get the place together. It has been kinda hard to get it all put together while also taking care of the farm.

Winter has been about the only time I've had to really spend much time on housework."

"Well, that will have to change once you get married," Lacy declared. She walked into the kitchen and sat down at the small table. "You can't expect housework to only get done over the winter, unless you expect your new wife to give up her job."

"She's already planning on doing so," Jason explained. "She's not going to be just lounging around the house, she has too strong of a work ethic for that, but I'm too far away from town for her to effectively keep performing her current job."

"Oh really? And what would that be?"

Jason raised an eyebrow. "She's the Guildmaster for the Warriors' Guild."

Lacy's eyes popped open wide, and then she scowled darkly once again. "And she seemed like such a nice little thing. A warrior? Jason, pardon me for saying so, but that's no way to go. She'll be out of here and off with a far handsomer young lad just as soon as you start to settle down."

"You're just a proper beam of sunshine this morning." Jason scowled at her, then turned to the stove. "We need pancakes and bacon, lots of it." He glanced at Lacy. "You guys do still like that, right?"

"We've been trying to eat healthier, actually." Lacy cut off Nathanial and Killian, who had both begun nodded enthusiastically.

"All right. Add a bit of eggs and something green along with it." Jason sat down at the table, with Killian and Nathanial doing the same. All four barely fit, but they made it work well enough.

"Well?" Lacy looked at him incredulously. "Aren't you going to get to it?"

In response, the cookbook began to flap its pages back and forth. With a flash, the full array of food appeared

on the table, and Lacy screamed.

"What in this wide, wide world is that?"

Jason rolled his eyes. "It's a magic cookbook, mom.

Come on, you can't tell me that you haven't seen these things up in Illumitir. Our neighbors used to have one that I would play with all the time."

"Light works makes for a lazy boy."

"Is there nothing I can do that will make you happy?" Jason moped. "Ever since you've arrived, and admittedly that hasn't been long, all you've done is complain."

"After you left us like that-"

"I didn't get any of your letters," Jason snapped. "Tess has been checking into that. Constable Hank isn't exactly the best person to-"

"I don't care about the letters," Lacy cut him off and started stabbing at the food on her plate. "You got a letter from a random uncle you don't know, and all of a sudden, you're leaving the big city and trying your hand at farming. You left us high and dry. What if we had needed an extra set of hands working for us?"

"Mom, I'm twenty-six years old. Almost twenty- seven." Jason rolled his eyes. "I was twenty-four when I left home, which was two years older than Frank, if you'll remember. You only have two kids left at home, both old enough to be working, themselves. If I had stayed, it would have been stranger."

"Still," Lacy grumbled. "You didn't even ask if we wanted to come along."

"You laughed at me and told me to stay in Illumitir," Jason pointed out. "I didn't exactly have any reason to suspect that you might want to come along."

"I didn't want to come along," Lacy confessed. "This place is dreadful, and I hope to leave it just as soon as possible."

"Then leave." Jason shrugged, gesturing at the door. "I don't really understand what your problem is."

"And I don't understand why you can't understand!" Lacy stood up and marched from the room, leaving Jason rather flabbergasted. He heard her sobbing from the other room, and Nathanial sighed and got up to follow. Killian looked after his brother, then shrugged and tucked into the plate of bacon on the table.

"Do you know what's going on?" Jason inquired softly. He heard his mother moving toward the door, and a moment later, she and Nathanial stepped out onto the porch. "What's got her so wound up?"

Killian didn't answer for several long seconds as he chewed, then admitted, "I dunno, honestly. Ever since you left, she's been like this, in one way or another. It gets better, and then it gets worse, but it never quite goes away. I personally think that's why dad chose to go back to work in the mines. He enjoys being underground, and the hours are super long, so he doesn't have to deal with her."

Jason raised his eyebrow. "That's kinda awful."

"Yeah, but I also can't say that I blame him," Killian admitted in a lowered voice. "If you really want my opinion, I think she wanted this farm. You remember when she would take us to the zoo as kids, and she'd always stay in the petting part of the zoo way longer than we ever wanted to do?"

At that, Jason laughed. "I do! You practically had to tie a rope around her and drag her away if there were any sheep, I remember that much."

. "Yeah. She might have just been hurt or frustrated that you got the gig instead of herself, and now she's trying to find fault with everything to convince herself that it's okay that you won out instead of her. I don't know that for sure, of course, but it makes as much sense as anything else."

"Yeah." Jason stroked his chin for a few moments. "Do you think she'd like it better if I asked her to help? I don't have a lot going on during the winter, but I know Jeremiah

does a lot of cattle drives and that sort of thing. I could probably get her some time with animals, you know?"

"Maybe. It also might make her feel like you're pandering to her," Killian cautioned. "Honestly, I think she'd like it best if you let all of us move in with you."

"I'm getting married. I am not letting my mother move into the same house for anything longer than a single weekend."

Killian chuckled softly. "That sounds like a solid plan to me. I do wish you the best."

"How long are you guys here for?" Jason asked as he rose from the table. Killian matched him, and the two of them started walking toward the door.

"Honestly? Couldn't tell you." Killian shrugged. "We're here until mom decides that it's time to move on. That's really all I know. I think we'll be heading back by the end of the season, but again, your guess is as good as mine."

The two of them went walking out onto the front porch, where Lacy stood with a silk handkerchief pressed up against her nose. She took one look at Jason and sniffed, and he crossed his arms.

"What do you want from me, mom?" Jason asked earnestly. "I'm willing to do pretty much anything, but you have to make it clear to me what that is. I have a successful business and a town that I love. I'm getting married. Most mothers would be thrilled with that sort of a thing."

Lacy gave no answer but turned and nodded at the carriage. "Could you get that hooked back up? I'd like to leave the first moment that I can."

Jason inclined his head, stepped back in the house to put on his boots, and then strode out into the snow. In short order, he had hitched the horse back up to the carriage, and Lacy came and climbed into the back. His brothers took the front seat, and Nathanial gave a snap of the reins. The carriage lurched into motion as the horse started pulling

them back toward Summer Shandy, and Jason sighed as he watched them go.

Suddenly, though, he caught sight of something in the ditch by the roadside. It was small and brown, and as he watched, it lumbered up onto the road. The spinning wheels of the carriage splashed through the slush, dumping a large amount of half-melted snow across the creature. Lacy let out some sort of a horrified scream, and with that, the carriage plunged onward toward the city.

Jason broke and raced toward the road, uncertain what had just happened. As he came racing up to the mound of snow, it began to quake violently. A small black dot appeared, and then a snout pushed out just behind the small nose. Within a few seconds, two warm, brown eyes appeared as well, set just in front of two floppy, brown ears. A shivering hound stepped out of the slush pile an instant later, and Jason scooped the creature up in his arms. It was so light that he could hold it easily, and the ribs stood out upon the dog's chest.

"Now, who are you?" Jason asked as he spun back toward the house. "Something tells me that you won't mind coming inside. Want some breakfast? I think I have plenty that my family didn't eat."

The dog trembled, then slowly opened its jaws. A cold tongue slipped along his cheek in a feeble lick, and he smiled. He didn't know where the dog had come from, but he knew that he had a duty to nurse him back to health. Anything less would have been inhumane. He did, though, need to refrain from any form of attachment to the creature until he could determine if its old owners would come back.

"Chance," he whispered, utterly ignoring his own advice mere instants after it had been given. "I think I'll call you Chance.

Chapter Twenty-Three - Old Things

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 6th day of Winter! 85 days until the Winter Festival. Looks like the snow is still coming down today, folks! No blizzard, though, so you should still be clear to travel!]

Jason awoke to a soft whimpering rolling through the house. It took him a moment to figure out what it was, and when the realization hit him, a smile flickered across his face. He rose quickly from his bed, dressed with only a cursory glance out the window (yep, it was still snowing), and ran down the stairs as fast as he could.

Chance stood in the kitchen, inside the small bed of blankets that Jason had made for him. He was still shivering and looked more than a little worse for wear, but all told, was still alive. Jason smiled, then ran to the front door and opened it up. Chance bolted out onto the front porch, shivered as he saw the snow still coming down, but apparently couldn't wait any longer and did his business right on the wooden boards of the porch. Jason winced a bit at the mess, but as Chance turned and made his way back into the house, Jason supposed that cleaning up after another animal companion would be worth it in the end, like it always had been for Lady. He took the dog back to the kitchen, where he set about preparing a breakfast for both himself and the small dog. Eggs sufficed for both, and they soon set about eating.

As he munched on the light meal, Jason gazed down at the small animal. It was a hound, that much was for

certain, with a brownish-red coat that was quite short. Open sores stood out upon the coat, largely on its back and feet, though Jason didn't quite know what might have caused them. Still, though, in many ways, Chance looked healthy. His teeth were all gleaming white, and none seemed to be missing, which was always a good sign from what little Jason knew about dogs.

The moment that Chance finished eating, he curled up on the small bed and closed his eyes. Jason couldn't really blame him. Wherever the pup had come from, it had certainly been a long walk, and he would undoubtably spend a good deal of time resting and recovering until he was back to health. Jason looked down at the creature for a while, then shrugged and rose. He had little else to do that day, and he knew someone who knew a great deal more about animals than himself.

It didn't take long for him to make his way outside and feed Lady, though slogging through the slush and snow was growing increasingly difficult. By now, the snow was piled up to a height of between two and three feet, and it didn't show any signs of stopping. The lower layer was still the slush that had fallen the day before, except for the fact that it had since begun to freeze, creating a layer of soft-packed ice just below the snow. If Jason stepped on it wrong, it would cling to his boots as he tried to pick his feet back up. He scowled but forced himself onward.

When Lady was fed and ready to go, he slogged back to his house and made sure all the doors were locked, then mounted up and rode off for Jeremiah's place. She was able to handle the snow much easier than himself, and he soon found himself approaching the entrance of the Lazy-H. A few farmhands bustled about, out amidst the pens, but it looked to Jason as if they were mostly just feeding the animals instead of really working with them at all. One of them caught sight of Jason as he rode up and came jogging through the thick snow to take hold of Lady's reins.

"Much obliged." Jason swung down out of the saddle and flashed a small smile. "Is Jeremiah around?"

"He's up in the house, doing paperwork or something. The ranchers' guild is getting on him about something or another. You'd have to ask him, though. I just take care of the animals. Paperwork is a step above me!"

He guffawed as he led off Lady, and Jason turned and crunched through the snow to the house. He knocked on the door, and a moment later, Delilah swung it open.

"Jason! Why, you look colder than a popsicle. Come on inside, and I'll get you some hot chocolate."

"Thank you." Jason inclined his head as he stepped onto the welcome mat, and Delilah closed the door behind him.

"I assume you're here to see Jeremiah?"

"If he's around and available."

"He's in his study. Jeremiah! Company!"

"Patience!" Jeremiah called back. "I've got ears, I can

hear."

Delilah rolled her eyes and lowered her voice. "You

sure wouldn't know it when I ask him to help with the chores. That dog-like hearing of his is quite selective, mind you."

She bustled off toward the kitchen, and Jeremiah emerged from his office with a grin on his face.

"It's called focusing," he called after Delilah. "I get in the zone, and I don't hear a thing, whether it's you or a cannon."

"Trust me, if a cannon went off right next to the house, you'd be running out to help them shoot whatever it is they're shooting at."

Jeremiah chuckled and admitted, "Yeah, probably." He turned to Jason. "What can I help you with today? I'm afraid I don't have a ton of time to talk. Livestock guild and all that."

Jason grimaced in sympathy. "Anything I can help with?"

"Not unless you know a better way to treat wyrms than the stuff I've been using." Jeremiah scowled. "They're nasty little fire-breathing parasites. They can eat up a full- grown bull in an hour if you let 'em unchecked. Anyway, there's this handy little medicine that'll kill them as soon as they take a bite out of a treated animal - Well, as you probably guessed, it's made by the same company that produced that handy monstertrap spray!"

"Which means it's now been made illegal." Jason nodded in understanding.

"And nothing else I can buy works half as well." Jeremiah scowled. "You get docked pay if they find out you're treating with the stuff, but the payment they take away is less than the money I lose when my cattle are getting eaten. The guild hasn't particularly jived with that logic, though, so we've been working on alternate solutions."

"What's the best one you've come up with?"

Jeremiah glanced sideways at Delilah as she came walking back into the main room with a steaming mug of milk-brown liquid. "I personally have been advocating for leading a rebellion against Illumitir and declaring Summer Shandy its own province, which would let us make our own laws, but someone told me that if I value anything about our relationship, I'd give up the idea."

"You sound like you're still considering it." Delilah raised an eyebrow.

"'Cause I suspect you'd change your tune if you were a queen." Jeremiah crossed his arms, then glanced back at Jason. "Now, what can I do for you?"

Jason flashed a small smile, then explained about the dog. When he finished, a grin stretched across Jeremiah's face from ear to ear.

"Ah, now that sounds like a fun way to spend your winter!"

"He's adorable, that's for sure," Jason giggled gleefully. "Anyway, I was just coming to you to check on... Oh, I don't know. What to do for a dog? There was a stray cat around our house up in Illumitir, but as you'll likely remember from a couple years ago, I'm not exactly an animal person."

"You can say that again." Jeremiah laughed. He stroked his chin for a few moments, then offered, "Well, the first thing to do, and probably the thing you least want to do, is to make sure that you look around for the hound's old owners. Most likely you won't find them, and the description you gave doesn't sound like any of the farm dogs I know from the farms in this area, but it would sure be better to put up a few fliers than to get accused of stealing a dog a few months down the line."

Jason's heart sank slightly, but he nodded. "Just put up some posters in Summer Shandy?"

"Yeah, I reckon," Jeremiah concurred. "Check with Constable Hank. He's got connections with the constables in the other neighboring cities. He might be able to send word out to them, just in case someone from another area lost their dog. Like I said, I doubt you find anything, it sounds like he's been walking for quite some distance, but you never know."

Jason nodded slowly. "What do you think I should do to take care of it until then?"

"You'll want to get it checked out, of course." Jeremiah stroked his chin for a moment. "We don't really have a veterinarian in Summer Shandy, of course. I hire the vet to come out from Deepforge every now and again when I feel the need, but for emergencies I honestly just grab Theresa half the time. I'm sure she'd love the chance; she's fond of cute little animals like that. I'm sure she could give you a balm or something for the wounds."

"I'll do that." Jason flashed a smile. "Thanks."

"Oh, and don't give it too much human food," Jeremiah called out as Jason started to turn to leave. "You can do a little every now and again, but a lot of human food is potentially deadly for dogs. Stick to the store-bought dog food or train it to hunt monsters. I've heard of some good hounds that can kill twice their weight in monsters every day, though you have to teach them which ones they can eat, and which ones will eat them. I've seen a few dogs that tangled with razorgrasses, and it wasn't a pretty sight."

Jason shuddered but nodded. "I'll do that. Thanks."

"Oh! One more thing," Jeremiah called out again as Jason once more turned to leave. "Make sure not to keep it inside too much. If you're wanting a good farm helper, it's going to need to be out with you working. Obviously, you're not working too much over the winter, but you know what I mean. Don't be afraid to take it out with you. If it loves you, even if it might momentarily dart off into the grass, it'll come back."

"You sure have a lot of these last-minute tips," Jason remarked as he paused near the door, sipping on the hot chocolate. "You sure you're not wanting this dog?"

At that, Jeremiah chuckled. "I do miss having a dog around the farm. We used to have a whole pack of them to chase off monsters, actually. That was a time." He sighed deeply in remembrance. "'Course, they all got eaten when we got enough of them to hit a summons condition for a pack of dire wolves, and Delilah hasn't let me get any more of them since then because she doesn't want me getting 'attached' to them anymore or something."

"You bawled for a week after they all got eaten!" Delilah called from the other room. "I am not dealing with that again, and I don't want you going through it either."

"That's fair." Jeremiah sighed, then winked at Jason. "Still, I don't suppose you'd mind a visit every now and again?"

"Have at it!" Jason laughed, then turned toward the door, placing the hot chocolate on a small table nearby. "Well, that's what I needed to know. I'll see you around, Jeremiah."

Jeremiah bade him farewell, then went stomping back to his office muttering about regulations and government overreach. Jason just laughed, then made his way out into the cold. He stomped through the snow over to the stable, where he chatted with some of the farm hands for a few minutes before mounting Lady and riding back toward home.

It hadn't been a lot, but it had been what he needed. He would head into town the following day, post the notifications about the missing dog... and then hope and pray that no one came forward to claim the small beast.

Chapter Twenty-Four - A Mix

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 7th day of Winter! 84 days until the Winter Festival. The snow's finally stopped, but it's still going to be a while before travel gets easier. We won't see temperatures above freezing for a few more days, though once that happens, expect snowball fights and an influx of snowmen foreigners.]

Jason rolled out of bed, hearing the same telltale whimper that he was already growing used to. He quickly dressed, then bolted down the stairs to the kitchen. Chance was already standing and looking up at Jason with his big, brown eyes, and Jason flashed a small smile. He once again led Chance out onto the front porch and waited while the dog relieved himself and then trotted back inside. Jason pulled the door shut behind the dog, then made his way back to the kitchen where he made them a small breakfast.

"All right, Chance." He looked down at the hound. "Let's think about this for a minute. I don't suppose you're ready for a trip into town?"

Wag, wag!

"Hmm." Jason stroked his chin. "After I say that, though... There's no way I can take out the carriage in this weather. The snow's still too deep. Angus might be able to do it, and I'm sure that Daniel's horse could manage it, but Lady's not going to be able to pull the carriage through snow this deep, and I'm not going to try to balance you on the back of a horse. You know?"

Whimper.

"I'll try to bring someone back with me, though." Jason flashed a small smile. "Theresa can look you over and

make sure you're healthy, or at least figure out how to get you healthy again, and I'm sure that Tess will want to come out for a visit."

Wag!

Jason chuckled and patted Chance's head. "You just stay here. Lay down by the fire, and I'll try to be back to lunchtime. Deal?"

Wag, wag.

I'll take that as a yes." Jason nodded firmly, then finished up his breakfast. He cleaned the dishes, then went back upstairs and changed into a warm, insulated tunic. Over top of that, he threw a thick cloak, then made his way downstairs and out into the frigid weather. He locked everything up tightly, then stomped through the snow to Lady's stable.

Overnight, the snow had drifted in so deeply that the door was hard to get open, but he managed it after a few minutes of digging. Lady nickered happily to see him, and he quickly poured her some oats and fluffed her hay.

"Hey, there," he whispered softly, patting her neck. "You want to go into town today?"

Lady just snorted and shook her head. Jason flashed a smile and rubbed the bottom of her chin. "Well, I'm just going to assume that that meant yes, since you're such a good horse." He pulled a sugar cube out of his inventory, which Lady happily ate, and then he sighed. "I'm becoming one of those crazy people who talk to their animals. Probably a good thing my family isn't around right at this moment."

Lady gave no answer. A few minutes later, she finished eating, and Jason mounted up in her saddle. They struck out as quickly as possible, tramping through the thickly fallen snow. By now, it was so deep that even Lady had problems in some parts, particularly at the bottom of hills where the snow had really had the chance to pile up.

Overall, though, she pushed on just fine and soon came to the town square.

Here, a few of the men of the town were forging their way back and forth, clearing off the cobblestone for travelers and such. The women of the town seemed to be trying to get water out of the well, though the rope to raise the bucket had frozen into a long strand of ice. Jason waved at a few people he recognized, then paused. He had a handful of places he needed to visit but decided to head over to the Guild Hall first.

When he poked his head through the door, Tess's face lit up like a beacon.

"Jason!" She rose from her desk and raced up to him, giving him a quick kiss. "What brings you here?"

He smiled, relishing the warm glow of her office. The far wall of the room shared a wall with the backside of the enormous hearth of the Guild Hall, which, while making the room rather sweltering in the middle of summer, was quite pleasant in winter.

"I just came into town for some supplies, and to check with Theresa about some medical care."

Tess's eyes immediately snapped open wide. "Are you okay? What's wrong? Did you fall off the roof?"

"I'm fine!" Jason flashed a reassuring smile. "No, I didn't... Why would you assume I fell off the roof? When have I ever climbed on the roof? In the three years I've been in Summer Shandy now, I have never once climbed on the roof of my house, or any roof, really. I wouldn't do it right after a storm when there's ice covering everything!"

Tess shrugged. "I dunno. Jeremiah was in town last night and mentioned that you'd been over to his place, and the two of you can get a little... ahh... wild? When you're around one another. You might have had a race to the top of the chimney or something, I don't know."

Jason replied mockingly, "Well, now I know how much confidence you have in me." After a moment, he flashed a

smile at her. "Anyway, no, it's not for me. I assume Jeremiah didn't mention why I came by?"

Tess shook her head. "No."

"Well, then..." Jason bit his lip. "I found a dog the other day."

"You found a dog?" Tess squealed, her face lighting up. "Are you keeping it?"

"I'm going to put up some posters just to make sure that no one steps forward to claim it, but... That's my plan." Jason flashed a crooked smile.

Tess squealed again and began to dance in a circle, then beamed up at him. "Can we go see it?"

"I need to buy some food for him first," Jason explained. "Then, yeah, I'd love to have you out."

"You go buy food, let me finish up some of this paperwork." Tess glanced back at her desk. "It's nothing terribly important, but we just got a few underage adventurers come through last night, so I have to process some of their waivers and such before they can enter the dungeon."

"I'll catch you on the flip side." Jason gave a small wave, then left the office and made his way across the town square. He pushed through the door into Paulina's store, where a small bell jingled throughout the building. Paulina looked up from the counter and flashed a smile at him.

"Hey, Jason! Jeremiah told me you might be coming by today."

"Jeremiah sure likes poking his nose in everyone's business," Jason observed.

"Not as bad as Constable Hank."

"That's a very fair point." Jason guffawed as he walked up to the counter. The store was largely abandoned, but on such a cold day, he could hardly blame people for staying away and at home. "I actually have two things I need to bounce off you. First, I need some dog food. Second, I need to put up some posters for a lost dog."

Paulina's face lit up just like Tess's had done. "Ooh! Is it cute?"

"Pretty cute, yeah." Jason chuckled softly. "You know, if I had known how much attention all this got me, I would have tried to find a stray dog three years ago when I first came here. Would have made trying to get a date a lot easier."

"Now that, I really can't argue with you about." Paulina laughed, then pulled out a catalogue and started flipping through it. "Let's see... What kind of dog is it?"

"Hound of some sort." Jason did his best to describe the creature. When he finished, Paulina nodded and flipped around the large tome of paper.

"I'd suggest one of these mixes, which are designed for mid-sized dogs." She paused for a moment as Jason read the descriptions of the different mixes, then put a hand next to her mouth and lowered her voice as if conveying a secret. "Each mix sounds like it does something revolutionary, but they're all like ninety percent identical."

Jason nodded, the pointed at the bottom entry. "This one. For the active farm hound."

"And what's his name?"

"Chance."

"Yeah, you're going to be devastated if anyone turns

up." Paulina made a few marks on the catalogue and tore off an order form. "I don't have any of this in stock, since no one in Summer Shandy owns a dog, but I'll have it shipped to your farm as soon as it arrives. Should come by tomorrow, I'd guess. I'll also get those posters put up, like you asked. I have a few contacts with some other shopkeepers. I can check if anyone else has been purchasing one of these mixes. That might give us an indication of who may have lost it."

"Much appreciated." Jason inclined his head.

That done, he marched again out into the cold and plodded his way over to Theresa's healing den. When he

knocked, a cheery "Come in!" echoed through the air, and he entered the warm interior.

Theresa sat next to a cauldron, which she was stirring as she added ingredients. The smell was vile, and Jason nearly gagged, but Theresa seemed hardly to notice it.

"What can I do for you?" She looked up at him with a smile.

"You mean Jeremiah didn't already show up and tell you I'd be along?" Jason raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, he did, but he didn't say why."

Jason shook his head, tittering. "I'm going to go steal one of his cannons and set it off outside his house at midnight."

"He'd just think it was funny." Theresa snorted. "Now, what's up?"

For the third time that morning, Jason explained about the dog. When he finished, Theresa nodded slowly.

"I've seen similar sores like that on other strays. Most likely, it's nothing serious and they'll clear up on their own, but it's always possible that they've gotten infected on his journey. Wait a week, then come back to me if they're still there. Until that time, there's really nothing I can do," Theresa apologized. "Road sores are just like scrapes or cuts, at least in principle. It sounds like you're already taking good care of him, and since I can't really leave my current patients for anything less than an emergency, I think that's your best course of action."

"Thanks. I'll keep an eye on it." Jason flashed a smile, then left again out into the frigid town square.

As he walked back out into the thick snow, he found a small posse that had formed to accompany him back to his home. Tess sat high on Angus, Daniel sat on his own steed just next to her, and Viola sat on a far smaller mare just to the side. Jason raised an eyebrow as he climbed up onto Lady and they set off back for his farm.

"I knew Chance was making me more popular. I didn't realize I would get this much attention."

"I... Need to get out of the inn for a while." Viola muttered. "I have a few guests, whose names I won't mention, that I'm considering kicking out into the snow."

"If they're who I think they are, I'll beg you not to, but only because I don't want them coming to try to live with me." Jason laughed slightly. "My apologies."

"None necessary." Viola sighed, then glanced at Daniel. "Now him, I'm not sure why he's along."

Daniel shrugged his enormous shoulders. "Tess is always super cute to watch when she's oohing and awing over animals. I personally don't really see the draw to it, dogs don't even taste good, but-"

"And how would you know what dogs taste like?" Viola's head snapped around.

"He's never eaten real dogs." Tess held up a hand, cutting off whatever Daniel had been about to say. "The guilds sometimes have dares and challenges to eat monsters, and dire wolves are a common choice."

Daniel merely nodded, and Jason cringed. The small group of horses plodded through the snow, largely using the same tracks that Jason had made earlier that day. Soon enough, they came riding up to the farm, and all of them hitched up their horses outside the house. Jason made a mental note to install a larger hitching rail once spring came, and the four of them made their way inside.

Chance was already standing by the door, albeit with more than a bit of a wobble in his walk. He looked up and panted at the newcomers, and Tess and Viola both knelt and began to pet the small creature. Daniel laughed and patted Tess on the head, then strode over to a nearby chair.

"She's so adorable, isn't she?" Daniel chuckled, then started to lower himself.

"Inertia." Jason held up a finger.

"Oh. Right." Daniel paused for a moment, then nodded. "Done. Your chair should be safe!"

Jason was unsurprised when the chair was subsequently crushed into splinters, and he sighed, making another mental note to build a chair out of solid concrete that could support Daniel's weight. Tess and Viola continued to pet the creature, and Jason slowly walked over to sit down next to Daniel as the great warrior took his seat on the floor.

"Did you guys ever have any pets growing up?" Jason glanced at Daniel.

"Nah." Daniel shook his head. "Tess tried to keep a few monsters from time to time, but they'd always get bigger and try to eat us... You remember the story about the dragon egg, right? Yeah, she tried that a few other times, too. Kept thinking that she could tame the instincts of a wild beast. To that, I say ha! As a bit of a wild beast myself, there's no taming these killer instincts." He put on a face that Jason supposed was meant to imply power, but he rather thought it made Daniel look as though he had a terrible itch that he couldn't reach.

"What all did she try to keep?" Jason asked. "Did you have to kill any of the others?"

"Almost all of them!" Daniel chuckled. "Oh, I remember this one time..." He doubled over laughing, then straightened up, and then started laughing again.

"Don't tell this story, please." Tess glanced at him, though she had a smile on her face.

"Why not?" Daniel howled with laughter. "It's a good one!"

"That may be, but..." She groaned. "I like Jason thinking of me as a warrior."

Daniel laughed again, then glanced at Jason. "So anyway, one day, Tess is out in the woods tracking something, I think it was a rabid squirrel, and she came

across..." He started laughing again. "She came across a baby phoenix!"

Jason nodded slowly, not really understanding what was so funny.

"Well, she brings this phoenix back home, and starts taking care of it in secret. Both my mother and I knew she had it, phoenixes make a terrible racket when they're hungry, but Tess thought she was being stealthy; and since they're not horribly dangerous, we decided to let her. After about a month, it gets old and dies, and... well... You know what happens when phoenixes die, of course."

Jason gave a small shake of his head.

"Oh! That's right, you're a farmer. I suppose it shouldn't shock me, but sometimes I still get struck by the things you don't know." Daniel chuckled softly and crossed his arms. "Well, phoenixes have a lifespan of about a month. When they get old, they turn a deep, dark red, then black, and then they explode! It caught the house on fire and burned down half the nearby forest. Everyone came after us with pitchforks, of course, since they already thought we were a little off our rockers, and but Tess just came out to face them all with a little phoenix chick that had emerged from the ashes."

Jason chuckled slightly at the image of a young Tess facing down a bunch of angry villagers with nothing but a phoenix chick. "What happened then?"

Daniel started laughing even harder. "Well... You see... They didn't know what a phoenix was either, so they thought she was threatening them with a bomb of some sort! It scared them all into a retreat, though they did present us with a formal request to leave town. We did, of course, but Tess left an impression on them."

"And yes, that's the story of how I scared an entire town speechless with nothing more than a little bird." Tess rolled her eyes, though she was laughing, too. By now, Jason

was beginning to suspect that he just didn't get the humor of warriors.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm hungry." Jason rose from his chair and started walking toward the kitchen. "Anyone else want some food?"

"Me!" Daniel leapt to his feet, shaking the house with the impact of his boots. "I mean... If you're offering. That's manners, right? Do you have anything that would suit a hungry warrior's stomach? I like things a bit stronger than most farmers, I suspect. My stomach likes to slay the same monsters that I do, you know?"

"Well, I've got plenty of crabgrass meat." Jason shrugged as he walked into the kitchen. "I personally can't stand the stuff, but... Maybe my stomach is just too weak."

"Then I shall take that as a challenge! Bring forth the crabgrass meat, and I will show you the stomach of a warrior!"

Jason rolled his eyes as he entered the kitchen. Tess and Viola were still petting Chance, and he suspected that they would be doing so for quite some time. It was... It was nice to have another creature sharing the house with him. Not quite the same as it would be with Tess, of course, but... It was nice.

And it made him long for when the house would become even more full.

Chapter Twenty-Five - Two Lives

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 30th day of Winter! 61 days until the Winter Festival. Looks like a warmer one today, folks, at least for winter! Expect more snow sometime in the next week, though it's hard to know exactly when. We've dodged a lot of the harsher weather for the time being, but I wouldn't be shocked if a blizzard manages to make its way in our direction by the end of the season. Stay vigilant until that time!]

Jason opened his eyes, where he found a pair of soft, brown eyes gazing back into his own. A moment later, Chance began licking him up one side and down the other, and he laughed and shoved the dog to the side. Chance bounced on the bed and sprang back upon him, and Jason rolled out onto the floor as quickly as possible.

Chance leapt onto the floor as well and began to pant, and Jason rubbed his head.

"You're really turning into quite the good ol' boy, aren't you?" He laughed slightly, then walked up to the window and wiped away a bit of the frost. Only a small bit of the snow remained; the rest had long since melted away, leaving the simple, brown expanse. It looked like what little snow was left was rapidly melting away as the sun started to rise, and Jason flashed a smile.

"You know, Tess is coming over here today," he remarked as he changed clothes and started down the stairs. "Does that make you excited, boy?"

Bark!

Jason laughed, and they soon came down into the kitchen. Chance ran over to his bowl and eagerly licked the

metal, and Jason stepped into the back room to grab a few scoops of food. He dumped this out into the bowl, and Chance eagerly started crunching on the kibble as Jason sat down and began to contemplate his own meal.

"All right, cookbook." He folded his hands. "I want something... with sausage."

There was a flash, and a link of sausage surrounded by eggs and spinach appeared. Jason tucked into the meal, pleasantly surprised to find himself getting used to the leafy diet that Tess seemed to favor. When he finished, he and Chance both rose and set out onto the farm.

That particular day, it was actually warm enough that a few lone crabgrasses started skittering across the drive. Chance started barking and began to chase them, and the monsters turned and fled. His red coat gleamed in the sun, already healed quite a lot from the time when Jason had first found him. There were still a few patches of fur that hadn't quite grown all the way back in, but those spots were rapidly shrinking. All told, Chance was turning into a wonderful farm dog, and Jason couldn't wait for him to continue to stay with him.

Chance continued to race about the farm as Jason opened the stable and led Lady out to her hitching post. It wasn't often that it was warm enough over winter for Lady to just be allowed to play, and she seemed to enjoy the freedom, kicking up her heels and rolling about in the dead grass. Chance came up and sniffed her, but a small kick from her hooves sent him running. From then on, every now and again he would dart up and take a quick sniff, but always turned and ran again before she could react.

Jason laughed softly as his two animals played. He then turned and walked over to the field and leaned upon the fence as he gazed out across the dead expanse. As soon as spring came, he would start planting again. He only hoped that the Juun bugs would be a bit more manageable this time around. He really had to come up with some sort of

a solution for that, but he didn't really feel like thinking about it at that moment.

He was still standing there, gazing in melancholy across the field, when hoofbeats echoed in the drive. He turned to find Tess sitting on Angus, a smile on her face. She jumped down and came walking up to him, and he gave her a hug before heading to take Angus's reins and leading him to the hitching post.

"You know, one of the first things I'll do after we're married is build a corral." He gestured at the open space. "If we connect it to the back of the stable, we should be able to give them plenty of room to run about during the day, you know?"

Tess beamed. "I like that idea, actually." She crossed her arms. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Jason raised an eyebrow. "What's up?"

Tess shrugged. "I was just hoping we could start getting some more of the wedding plans together. As soon as spring comes, I'm going to be spending every spare moment actually pulling things together, which means we need to get the last of everything solidified now." She paused for a moment. "I... was also hoping that I could help train Chance."

Jason smiled broadly. "Of course! Let me go get the treats. You can set up on the porch. It's a calm-enough day I think we can work outside."

Tess nodded and dashed up onto the porch, where she set up a small folding table and began to set several clipboards across it. Jason went to the storage shed and took out a bag of treats, which he then brought up next to the table. Chance, sensing the treats, came running eagerly, and Tess quickly grabbed out one of the biscuits.

"All right, boy!" She held the treat high. "Sit!"

Chance obediently sat down, and Tess tossed the morsel to him.

"That much, at least, we've pretty much gotten down." Jason chuckled softly. "It's stay that we're working on now."

"All right, then." Tess flashed a small smile and held up the treat. "Sit."

Chance plopped down on the ground, and Tess raised a hand. "Stay."

She took a step back, and Chance immediately jumped up and raced after her. Jason sighed, but Tess only laughed, returned him to his starting position, and started again. After a few moments, it became obvious that Jason was the one who would be doing most of the paperwork while Tess played with the dog, and he sat down to look over the documents that she had brought with her.

"All right, now," he mused, looking over the writing. "What do we have here today?"

"Nothing too bad," Tess answered quickly. "Just a few minor details that, like I said, I'll need to start getting together once spring starts."

Jason nodded and started looking down the list. "Let's see... Flower types? I thought we decided on those."

"Stay," Tess ordered Chance, then turned back to Jason. "We decided on flower color, but now we have to actually decide which flowers we want to use."

"Right." Jason frowned, then checked the first three boxes on the list of yellow flowers. He was getting ready to do the same with the blue, but Tess caught his arm.

"Not so fast! We have to actually think about it!"

He rolled his eyes but nodded. They subsequently spent the next half-hour talking about different types of flowers, comparing and contrasting a number of different details, and, in the end, Jason also checked the top three boxes on the blue list as well.

"See? I could have just saved us a ton of time."

"Yes, but now we can be confident in our choice," Tess explained.

"I was confident," Jason muttered, then flipped to the next page. "Streamers?"

"Yeah! What streamers do we want?"

"Is there more than one type?" Jason blinked.

"Of course, there is!" Tess looked at him as if he had

just grown an extra head. "There are thick streamers and thin streamers, and some have decorations, and some are made from silk and others from lace, and-"

She launched into a great description of the different types of streamers, then the different types of bows that could be tied with each type of streamer. Jason's head was spinning by the time she got to the end of the list, and once again, he largely check-marked whatever he thought that Tess was indicating that she wanted.

The next section, though, was table decorations. Here, part of it was already locked into place, as they would be put together from the flowers that they had decided earlier. Part of it, though, was still to be decided, as Tess wanted to have some sort of decoration that went along with the flowers that spoke to each of the two of them.

"This is the part where I need you to get creative." Tess smiled as she threw another treat for Chance. "What do you think best expresses me?"

"The skull of a defeated enemy," Jason remarked without nearly as much thought as Tess likely would have wanted him to include. Even as he said it, though, a smile flickered across his face. If Tess went into the dungeons and pulled out a whole bunch of troll skulls, Lacy would be livid. Plus, it would just look really cool.

"Jason, I'm serious."

"So am I!" Jason flashed a grin. "Can you imagine how cool it would look to have a... Oh, I don't know, a minotaur skull on each table, with flowers coming out the top?"

"That... That legitimately does sound pretty cool," Tess admitted. "Let me think... We don't have any minotaurs

in our dungeon here in Summer Shandy. No trolls either, for that matter. Or dragons..."

"What sorts of monsters do you have?" Jason asked. "Come to think of it, I don't know if I even know what the inside of that dungeon is like."

"I'm not surprised," Tess sighed. "Since you can't go in, I always get kinda disappointed when I think about it." Jason felt a small pang shoot through his heart, and Tess stroked her chin. "The old dungeon, the one that was around when you first got here, was mostly zombies and draugr and stuff. It was an old crypt, so you got a lot of those creepy-crawly-type things. This new one is a lair, the lair of a small wyrm aspiring to become a planet-eating dragon. It doesn't succeed, of course." She nodded at Jason's concerned face. "It turns out it drops a mighty cool skull, but I'd have to kill it like a hundred times in order to put one in the center of every table. The other monsters are mostly lizard-things that work for it, though there's a side chamber with a spider if you know where to look."

Jason blinked at the number of tables. "How many guests are coming?"

Tess pulled a list out of her inventory and handed it to him. It was rolled up, and as he let the page unravel, it spilled off the edge of the table and ran down across the porch. Chance subsequently ran across it as he once again failed to physically stay for Tess, and he scooped it up as quickly as possible.

"How difficult would that be?" He asked. "To kill it a hundred times?"

"Pretty hard. It respawns once for every visit, but the team coming inside has to be unique. I'm classified as a guide, so I don't count in that regard, but it also won't respawn just for me. To repeat the dungeon with the same team, you have to wait at least twenty-four hours."

"Hmm." Jason stroked his chin. "And the other lizard skulls won't work?"

"They're so small I doubt they would hold very many flowers." Tess shrugged. "In any event, that's a place to start from. What do you want your table decorations to be?"

Jason thought for a moment, then grinned. "Cannonballs."

"No."

"Miniature cannons?"

"No."

"Medium-sized cannons?"

"Jason, cannons are Jeremiah's thing." Tess crossed

her arms. "When you see a wyrm skull, you'll think of me. If you were to see a cannon, everyone would think of Jeremiah, and that isn't the look I want to give."

"That's fair." Jason frowned, then brightened. "A sprig of wheat."

"Too cliche."

"A sprig of sorghum."

"Possible, but still pretty cliche."

"Umm..." Jason stroked his chin for a few moments. "A

pot of dirt taken from my field."

There was a long pause, during which Tess stroked her

chin. After a moment, she nodded slowly. "That could actually work."

"I wasn't being serious." Jason rolled his eyes.

"No, but dirt is your thing!" Tess grinned. "Think of it! Maybe not a pot of dirt, but I bet we can come up with something. We could do vases... Or maybe fuse it into glass..."

"Glass with dirt infused into it?" Jason raised an eyebrow.

"I've seen it done before," Tess countered. "Admittedly, it's mostly done with cremated ashes for pets and stuff-"

"Gross."

"But it could be done here, too!" Tess grinned. "Jason, you're a genius!"

Jason didn't feel particularly like a genius, but as Tess was the one telling him so, he didn't dare argue. Instead, he sat back in his chair and sighed as Tess continued to throw treats for Chance.

Maybe he had stumbled upon something, and maybe he hadn't, but... He had to admit, however it turned out, he was excited that the wedding was coming together. He couldn't yet picture it in his head the way that Tess could, but he was certain that it would be beautiful.

He just couldn't wait to see it in person.

Chapter Twenty-Six - Good Thoughts

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 45th day of Winter! 46 days until the Winter Festival. Yet another cold one, but not as cold as it'll be tomorrow! If you're planning on getting outside and doing anything, do it today, because when the sun sets, the temperature's gonna drop for about twenty-four hours straight!]

"That's a pleasant thought," Jason groaned, and he rolled out of bed. At least, he tried to. Chance was laying across him and didn't seem to have any particular inclination to move. Jason pushed the dog to the end of the bed, though he did so gently and light-heartedly. "You know, Chance, I let you sleep on my bed once. One time, just because you were new and wanted some comfort. This is not going to continue to be a thing by the time that Tess and I are married."

Chance simply raced up to him and licked his hand, and Jason sighed. He wasn't concerned at all about Tess wanting to kick the dog out of the bed... No, he was worried about the prospect of Tess rather enjoying the dog in the bed and never letting him sleep anywhere else ever again, and Jason did not want to share his bed with both Tess and Chance at the same time.

In any event, he slowly walked up to the window and gazed out across the landscape, which had been dusted by a light covering of snow several days earlier that hadn't yet faded away. He gazed in contentment at the white landscape, marred only by footprints of himself, Chance,

and Lady. After a few minutes of contemplating what to do for the day, he changed clothes, went downstairs, and prepared breakfast for both himself and Chance.

"Sit, boy."

Without a treat in sight, Chance sat down wonderfully. Jason smiled, then held up a hand. "Stay."

With that, Jason walked into the living room, sat down on the couch, and waited for almost thirty seconds.

"Come!"

Chance bolted into the room and leapt up onto his master's lap, and Jason began to pet him up and down both sides. They then walked back into the kitchen and finished their breakfast, then made their way outside.

Out in the cold weather, Jason shivered, looking up at the sky. It was a light grey, with a thin layer of clouds stretching from horizon to horizon. It wasn't bitter cold, but the air certainly had a bite to it, and it felt as though the temperature could plummet at any moment. And, if Tess's almanac was to be believed, it soon would. He let Lady out of her stable and hitched her up to her post, then glanced at Chance with a bit of a mischievous eye.

"All right, boy." He clapped his hands softly. "What do you say to having a bit of fun today?"

Chance ran in circles, chasing his tail and sending up a small plume of frosty snow. Jason grinned, then nodded and walked up to Lady. As soon as she finished eating, he saddled her up, then climbed up and started riding off toward the wilderness. Chance came right after him, sniffing the ground, and occasionally darting off into the grass, but otherwise sticking close beside. Jason smiled broadly as he watched his dog's progress. Chance was doing wonderfully, that was for certain. The sores could only be noticed if you knew what to look for, as they were almost fully healed. He was a delightful hound, though he was still struggling a bit with some of the more complicated commands. Jason wanted to train him how to hunt, and Jeremiah had

promised to teach him how, but they hadn't been able to meet up yet. Jeremiah was apparently still in a bit of a war with the Livestock Guild and was even threatening to start selling his beef directly to consumers. The Livestock Guild had apparently been quite flabbergasted by this threat, Considering that the report came from Jeremiah, Jason wasn't quite sure how seriously they were taking it; but it seemed Jeremiah had catalyzed the Guild into working on a solution.

In any event, Jason was there, riding out toward the mysterious patch of trees. He hadn't been there since his visit to the old dungeon with Tess, and he had been rather eager to return ever since. As they came over the last hill and into view of the trees, a smile split his face, and he urged Lady onward. They soon r reached the trees, and Jason hitched his mount to the same tree where he always left her. With that, he and Chance set off into the thick forest.

Truth be told, he wasn't exactly sure what he hoped to find, but something seemed to have been calling him there ever since the last time he had left. Maybe it was just the fact that it was the only real glimpse he had been given into Tess's line of work (excepting, of course, the time that the Summer Shandy dungeon had overflowed). Their shared exploration had made him feel as though there was some part of the farm that she would be able to connect with.

As he made his way through the trees this time, he found the going to be much easier. There was almost no snow on the ground, as the tree branches overhead seemed to have caught it all. The limbs were all bare, the vines were leafless, and the shrubs seemed to have shrunk back into the ground. All things considered, it gave him a lot more visibility, and in no time at all, he came up to the immense monolith. He sighed and tilted his head back, taking it all in, and crossed his arms as he tried to imagine what it might have been like to see it back in its heyday. Hundreds of

warriors, marching across the land in an endless trek, camping out in the shadow of the monolith as they prepared to dive into its depths. He whistled softly, then sat down on the ground. Chance looped around him time and time again, sniffing at various animal trails, and once broke into a run as he chased a squirrel up a nearby tree.

When Jason had sat there for the better part of fifteen minutes, he rose and walked to the entrance of the dungeon itself. The floor had sealed itself again, and he briefly considered walking down and trying to enter the dungeon again. It might have been fun to go through it with Chance, just to see if he could find anything that he and Tess had missed. As he stood there, though, Chance started barking at the small tree-root cave, and though it may have been his imagination, he was certain that he heard a grumble from beneath the ground. It made him quite certain that he didn't want to enter the location without Tess, and he sighed and returned to the monolith.

Suddenly, something caught his eye. It was on the far side of the monolith, between the enormous stone structure and the river. He pushed past the monolith and made his way to the strange object, which stood just about as high as himself. There were many words he could think of to describe it, but the best one he could imagine was a pillar. It was made from black stone and covered in vines, vines that were now withered just enough that he could tell that something was there. He tore the vines away, finding the small column of stone just... standing there. It was plain and straight... No. No, it wasn't quite plain. There, at the top, was a small metal ring that had been hooked into the stone. It was so rusty now that it certainly no longer served its intended purpose, but there it was. Jason slowly reached up and fiddled with the ring, then glanced at a second ring nearby. For that matter, all around the top of the pillar were half a dozen of the metal rings. It was a hitching post! It must have been for very large horses, but it must have been

a hitching post, nonetheless. He frowned, then glanced around the area. Another pillar caught his eye just a few feet away, and he quickly moved to tear the withered vines away from it as well. As he did so, exposing the black stone, he whistled softly. It was another hitching post, and at its base was a stone trough, though it was hard to know if it was for water or for feed.

"Would you look at this, Chance?" Jason whispered and knelt. Chance came running up, and Jason flashed a small smile. "I'd recognize one of these anywhere. The only question is why it's here."

Chance gave no answer but went running off after a mouse. On a whim, Jason grabbed a nearby stick and started to dig, and within just a few inches, struck a black cobblestone. He scraped away enough dirt to find a second cobble just next to it, and he stood up and stretched with a grin.

A thought struck his mind, and he started to turn. If there were cobbles, there likely wouldn't be trees. Indeed, there were no trees terribly close to the area, though they started to grow about twenty feet away. He walked over and dug next to the tree, finding, as he expected, nothing. Moving about five feet closer, though, he struck cobbles again. Wonderful. Without testing, he was fairly certain that the clearing just in front of the monolith would be covered in cobblestone as well. The only question was why. Cobblestone meant that there was some sort of infrastructure that needed protecting. He slowly stood and looked around the area, and his eyes lit upon a gap in the trees that stretched out toward the riverbank. It wasn't much of a gap; truth be told, he had noticed it before, but simply hadn't thought anything about it. Now, though, he set off down the small gap, walking down what was presumably an ancient road. He could have stopped to check, but by that point, he was confident enough that he didn't really feel the need.

Only a few minutes later, he came up to the edge of the riverbank. Gazing across, he noticed that the gap continued on the far side, though it didn't seem to penetrate much further. The river was frozen over, but he knew better than to try and attempt a crossing in such a manner. Instead, he turned and started walking along the bank, looking for anything that might help him get across. In the end, he had to walk for nearly half a mile before he found a fallen log, and in truth, it was so slippery with ice that by the time he got across, he rather wondered if just walking across the frozen stream below would have been easier. That was the method that Chance wound up using, though admittedly, Jason hadn't noticed that his faithful companion had done so until after he showed up on the far bank waiting for Jason to hurry up and get there.

From that point, they walked back to the old road, turned, and kept following it into the trees. Soon enough, they came to a second clearing, perhaps fifty feet across, that stood there amidst the forest. Jason let out a long breath as he took it all in, wondering what it might be. A large mound of vines stood in the exact center, while all around appeared to just be... trees. Nothing extraordinary, nothing that leapt out at him. After a moment, though, he strode up to the pile of vines, grabbed hold of the withered ropes, and gave a tug. They took a moment to dislodge, and then, with a crackle, all came loose.

As the vines fell to the side, Jason's eyes popped open wide. A small ring of cobblestone rose out of the ground just a couple of feet, with a few rotten bits of wood poking up from the ring here and there. As he leaned over the edge of the ring and looked down, he found himself staring into a pit that seemed to fall for hundreds of feet. He gave a yelp and jumped backward, then forced himself to laugh and put a hand over his heart.

"Wow! Okay, so that's... That's the town well." He shook his head and took more than a few steps back.

"Which means that we're looking at a town. What do you think, Chance?"

Chance didn't answer, largely because he was no longer standing next to Jason. Jason's blood froze for a moment, and he had the irrational fear that Chance had somehow leapt into the well when he wasn't looking. Instead, something rustled from the side, and he turned just in time to see Chance vanishing into the underbrush. Jason let out a sigh of relief, then jogged after his dog. He pushed through the brush and into the trees, and his eyes once more opened wide in wonder.

Sitting there amidst the trees was a large hole in the ground, lined with thick, black stones that looked nearly identical to the cobblestones that seemed to make up everything else, only larger. A set of stairs led down into the pit, which, presumably, had been a basement at some point. Chance stood at the top of the stairs, sniffing and pointing his nose down inside. Jason chuckled and stepped up to the top of the stairs, and with a rustle, two rabbits burst through the brush and went racing off into the woods. Chance moved to chase after them, but Jason held up his hand.

"Stay!"

Chance froze, and Jason turned and walked down into the basement. It wasn't large, maybe thirty feet on each side, and had a few rather rotten shelves scattered around the outer walls of it. The floor was covered in a layer of dirt, though a few tools poked up through this layer of soil. Jason bent down and pulled up a rusty iron spade, then the remains of a pitchfork. Something caught his eye, and he walked over to the ruins of one of the sets of shelves. Lying just underneath the shelves, having long ago fallen through, was a small pile of glass jars. Most of them had broken open and had long since been emptied, but one of the jars had been sealed with a metal lid. Jason picked it up and peered inside, noticing some sort of fruit floating in a cloudy syrup.

"If you're still edible, you'll be the most fermented fruit this side of Illumitir." Jason chuckled softly. "I bet that's illegal, too."

He put the jar and the tools into his inventory, then shivered as a gust of wind cut through the area. He had been gone for quite a while by this point, and he knew that he needed to get back home before the really cold weather hit. As he climbed back up out of the basement, Chance licked his face, and he smiled.

The mystery of the monolith was growing ever-more. It still wasn't a terribly important mystery, but it was quite fun to think about. Now, he would have yet another place to take Tess, and more to explore with her and Chance.

He couldn't wait for the next chance he had to get out and about yet again.

Chapter Twenty-Seven - Healer

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 51st day of Winter! 40 days until the Winter Festival! Looking like light snow today! Nothing that should keep you home, but the roads will be plenty slick, so stay careful!]

Jason rolled out of bed as Chance leapt eagerly upon him. He gazed lovingly at the dog. He was fairly certain that he had left Chance down in the living room next to the fireplace, and that he had locked the door to his room. How the dog always managed to get in to join him was a mystery, though he suspected that the answer would be relatively simple once he parsed it out. In any event, he had a busy day that day and needed to get moving. He nudged Chance to the side and gave him plenty of pets, then changed clothes and scampered downstairs.

Of course... He did have a busy day ahead of him, but he still wasn't sure exactly what that day would entail. He had received a letter from Tess the night before, saying that his family wanted to talk about one thing or another, and thus, he'd blocked off the whole day for the visit. He had hardly seen his family since they showed up, but when he did, it was often less than pleasant. He just couldn't quite figure out why they were there in the first place, or why they kept hanging around if they hated it so much.

Down in the kitchen, Jason pushed the thoughts aside and prepared some breakfast for himself and for Chance. When they both finished eating, he pulled on his cloak and boots and crunched out into the bitter weather. The snow was coming down quickly, and it wasn't the light and fluffy stuff that he was used to seeing. Instead, it was a coarse

sort of snow, bordering on sleet or ice pellets, that stung his cheeks as they lashed against him. Chance whimpered and stayed on the porch while Jason went down to the stables, though loyalty eventually got the best of the dog, and Chance came scampering after him.

Lady was no happier than Chance to be out in the cold, and the mare stayed in the stable while Jason poured her some oats and brushed out her coat. When he finished, though, he was forced to climb up onto her back and give her neck a pat.

"I'm sorry, girl," he whispered. "We've got to get into town. Angus will be there, though. I'll see if you can get the stall right next to his own, how does that sound?"

Lady stamped her feet, and he coaxed her slowly out into the swirling snow. With that, he set off for Summer Shandy. Chance trotted along in his stead, and Jason smiled. The ice lashed against his face and began to build up on his cloak, but as he went along, he began to adjust to the frigid temperatures. He felt almost as if he were trailblazing through the frozen lands of the north, as if he were one of those brave explorers who first charted the monoliths and fought through those ancient dungeons.

When he came fully up to Summer Shandy, he found the place nearly deserted, though he could hardly blame people for staying inside. Thick smoke curled from every chimney, and he glanced longingly at the warm homes. Still, though, he couldn't complain, and he soon rode Lady around to the Guild stables, where a stablehand was already taking care of all the animals. The budding warrior took the reins from Jason's hand, and he quickly walked up to Tess's office and rapped on the door.

"Come in!" she called out cheerily, though he could sense exhaustion in her voice. He frowned as he pushed the door open and stepped inside. She looked up from her desk and grimaced, and he raised an eyebrow.

"You know, most of the time, when you see me, you say something like 'Hey, it's nice to see you!'" Jason chuckled. "You look like the boogeyman himself just stepped into your office."

At that, Tess laughed softly, though Jason could tell that it was forced. "Sorry. I'm just a little on-edge, I suppose. Last night was long, and I haven't woken up yet."

Jason raised an eyebrow. "Nightmares?"

"Of a sort." Tess sighed and yawned before pushing herself upright. "A bunch of newbies wanted to go on a dungeon camping trip. I agreed, I established base rules, and we all went inside. Of course, one of them decided to break the rule about staying in the safe zone and went out to do some midnight leveling, and I had to save his sorry hindquarters from a firewyrm."

Jason grimaced. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Just part of the job, I suppose." Tess yawned. "In any case, his warrior's license has been temporarily suspended until he pays the fine, so it should keep him from making the same mistake again. Now, what can I do for you?"

Jason raised his eyebrow a second time. "You're the one who called me to come in."

Tess blinked, then groaned. "Oh, that. I'd forgotten about it with everything else going on. Yes, your mother... She's... Oh, you'll just have to see for yourself. She's scheduled a meeting with Constable Hank that you're expected to attend."

"When?"

"Right now, I think." Tess grimaced in sympathy, then grinned as Chance darted through the door and raced over to curl up at her feet. "You brought Chance! I didn't think you were ready to try taking him into town yet!"

"Figured it was worth a shot. Plus... He didn't want to stay home. I think he gets lonely in that big house without everyone else."

"Well, he's such a cutie, I can't blame him for that!" Tess stroked him for a few moments, then flashed a grin up at Jason. "You know, I can keep him here if you'd like."

"You'd be willing to make that sacrifice?" Jason chuckled sarcastically. He turned and walked up to the door, but as he did so, Chance bolted to his side. He opened the door. "I guess he's coming with me after all."

"Then maybe I'll come along, too," Tess replied nonchalantly. "Just... You know... For moral support."

Jason laughed, though inwardly he was quite happy with Tess's inclusion in the trip. He didn't really know what the meeting would entail, but he was certain that he would want backup if things went south. Constable Hank was a lot of things, but reliable usually wasn't one of them.

They made their way through the increasing snow and ice to Hank's office, where Jason knocked on the door. There was a pause, and Hank cleared his voice from within.

"Come in! Come in!"

Jason pushed the door open, and he stepped inside to find Hank already sitting behind his desk. Lacy and Nathanial sat just opposite of Hank, but Killian was nowhere to be seen. Nathanial, for his part, winced in sympathy as Jason came walking up and crossed his arms.

"What's going on?" He glanced between Hank and his mother, trying to fathom what the cause of the problem might have been. "Is there an issue?"

"There may be!" Lacy snapped. "Are you aware- AHH!"

Her cry was piercing and left Jason's ears ringing. He rather suspected that it would have broken all the windows in Summer Shandy if it had only been a tiny bit louder or shriller, and he winced. Uncertain of what the commotion was, he glanced back and forth frantically until he followed his mother's horrified gaze. It was fixed cleanly on Chance, and Tess bent down and started stroking the hound's silky ears.

"Mom?" Jason raised an eyebrow. "I didn't realize you were the type to... Ahh..."

"That creature should not be allowed inside," Lacy insisted. "That's all there is to it."

"It's raining ice outside," Jason countered, nodding at the door. "I'm not making him stand outside in those conditions."

"I do hate to be a downer, but as the proprietor of this office, I am the one who has the say over who or what gets to be allowed in my office, not you." Constable Hank puffed up his chest, though at a glare from Tess, he deflated once again. "And... Ahh... As proprietor, I declare that the hound may stay."

"Little more than a giant rat," Lacy muttered under her breath. "Anyway, Constable, you know the reason why we're here. Perhaps you could explain."

"I told you, ma'am, call me Hank." Hank flashed a small smile, though it didn't seem to ease Lacy's frustration in the slightest. When she continued to stare at him, he turned to Jason and folded his hands. "Well... Jason... The reason you're here... There's been a discovery of sorts. A small loophole in the laws of Illumitir that we forgot to close when you arrived."

"What's that?" Jason raised an eyebrow.

"Well... Do you remember back when you arrived, and I told you that my office logged all real estate transfers?"

Jason nodded his head slowly. "Yes, I do. What about it?"

"Well..." Hank scratched the back of his neck. "As it turns out, you were actually supposed to sign a whole bunch of paperwork that solidified your claim on the property."

"Then let's sign it right now." Jason shrugged. After a moment, he scowled. "And that doesn't sound like just a tiny loophole. Hank..."

He scowled at the constable, who just rubbed the back of his neck. When Tess started glaring at him, too, he

rose and scampered over to a large filing cabinet, which he began to dig through just as quickly as he could. HIs fingers flew through the folders, and Jason crossed his arms. Before anyone could say anything, though, Chance walked up to Lacy and gave her hand a giant lick.

"Ahh!" Lacy screamed again, having apparently forgotten about the dog. "It licked me! I'll probably develop rabies and die! I have to go get medicine! Quick, Nathanial, come with me! We must go to the healer at once!"

With that, she stood up and rushed out of the room, letting the door fall shut with a crash. Nathanial flashed an apologetic smile as he left, and Tess rolled her eyes.

"If I was faster, I'd run over there and tell Theresa to give her some sleeping potion or something."

"Theresa will figure out something herself." Jason shook his head. "I've heard enough of her stories of clients who were convinced that that were sick when they really weren't. They'll come up with something."

"Thankfully, that gives me time to come up with something, too!" Constable Hank slammed the filing cabinet shut. "Saved by the bell! Or the dog. Do you have any treats you can give him for me?"

Jason scowled at him. "What do you mean? Do you not have the paperwork?"

"I mean, I'm sure I have it, in the strictest sense of the word." Constable Hank rubbed the back of his neck. "It's all in order, I can tell you that much. The clerks up in Illumitir know how to do their job. The only thing it needs is a signature from you, so as soon as it turns up, we can get it signed and all squared away before anyone can do anything about it. No worries."

"And it doesn't have an expiration date? It didn't need to be signed within... Oh, I don't know... Ninety days or something?"

Hank's face went somewhat white, and he coughed. "Well, in any event, I haven't been able to find anything in

that cabinet for years, so the likelihood that someone else can manage it is pretty slim, you know what I mean?" He chuckled softly. "As long as no one can dredge it up, common law states that you've had possession of the property for long enough that I think you'll be fine."

Jason inhaled sharply, exhaled to calm himself, then started to turn away. "You'd better be right, Hank."

"I know I'm right!" Hank affirmed softly, then waved as Jason and Tess started toward the door. "You know, my filing system is such a good hiding system, you could probably just give me all the wills that were put together, and no one would ever see them again!"

At that, the door burst open, and Lacy came stumbling back inside. The left side of her head was covered in icy snow, while the right side was far cleaner, suggesting that she had only stepped outside to press her ear up against the door.

"Other wills?" She raised her eyebrows. "There are other wills?"

Constable Hank froze and turned rather red, then opened his eyes wide and put on the most innocent face he could manage. Given that he was well over fifty years old, the effect was far from convincing.

"Umm... No?"

Jason sighed. "Mom, we're trying to sort all of this out, too, and-"

"You will get nothing sorted out." Lacy snapped. "I don't know what kind of game you're playing, Jason, but you utterly infuriate me right now. You left us alone in Illumitir and gave us no word of our whereabouts. Now I find out that there are other wills? That tells me that the farm wasn't intended for you, and you're simply trying to take advantage of it!"

Jason sighed and lowered his head. "Mom, please, you have to understand-"

"I understand plenty," she snarled. "You're a disrespectful boy who'd rather run away from his family while you enjoy riches and wealth and we starve. Well, this family doesn't take kindly to that!"

She spun and marched away, and Jason tried to center himself. Nathanial stepped through the doorway and put a hand on Jason's shoulders.

"I... umm... I'm just gonna go," he whispered softly. "Don't worry, most of us don't blame you."

With that, he turned and marched away. Jason watched him go, then turned and glared at Hank.

"When will you learn to keep that trap of yours shut?" Jason snapped.

"If you had just destroyed the wills like I'd asked, this wouldn't be an issue." Hank crossed his arms.

"They're legal documents! That's a felony!" Jason held his hands up in the air. "You're the one who signed them all in the first place! This does not fall on me."

Tess stepped between the two of them, holding up her hands. "All right, boys. We've..." She sighed and glanced down at Chance, who had his tongue hanging happily out of his mouth. "No one but Chance is happy right now, but we'll make it through this all right. One way or another, it will all work out in the end. Getting frustrated will only make it worse."

Jason inclined his head, then nodded at Hank. He held out a hand, which Hank slowly and reluctantly shook. With that, Jason turned around and walked out into the cold, icy snow with Tess. The door fell shut, and he felt his world spinning just like the whirling frost around him. Tess was right, though. Things would work out in the end... He only wished he had the barest inkling of how that would happen.

Chapter Twenty-Eight - Protective

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 70th day of Winter! 21 days until the Winter Festival! Looking like heavy snow today, and bitterly cold weather. The perfect day for... Another set of tryouts! Anyone who attempted to complete the previous course is more than welcome to come try again, though be advised that a handful of out-of-towners will also be competing for the prize!]

Jason chuckled as he rolled out of bed. Chance jumped up and licked his face, and he frowned down at the dog. This time, he was sure that he had locked the door to his bedroom before laying down. Oh, well. Not that he minded the dog, but how did it keep getting inside? Unfortunately, there was no time to figure that out, as Tess had once again requested that he be present for the tryouts for the position of Guildmaster. He walked up to the window and gazed out at the snowy landscape, shivering as he watched the thick snow falling.

The air of the house was warmed by the fire below, but even still, he could feel the chill as he approached the window. It almost hurt to touch the glass, and he winced slightly.

"I'm sorry, boy." He petted Chance's head. "You're going to have to stay home today, I'm afraid. Too cold even for you, and I don't think the warriors would appreciate you slinking around the Guild Hall eating all their meat."

Chance whimpered and put his ears flat against his head, and Jason gave him a few more pats. "I'll fix up your

bed right in front of the fireplace, though, and maybe give you a few treats to hold you over?"

Chance yelped at the word "treat," and Jason giggled. He quickly dressed in a tunic and bundled himself up, then made his way down to the kitchen. The cookbook flapped it pages expectantly, and he dropped into the chair.

"Make me something warm," he ordered. "Something that'll stick with me for a while."

There was a pause as the cookbook flipped its pages back and forth, and then an omelet appeared in front of him. It wasn't exactly what he had been hoping for, but then, he supposed that if he'd had his heart set on something specific, he should have asked for it. He ate quickly, then rose, prepared Chance's bed and food for the day, and strode out into the weather.

The snow was falling so heavily that he could hardly see more than a hundred feet in front of himself. It wasn't a warm snow, either. The wind wasn't blowing too hard, but it was cold. His face began to sting, even more than from the ice several weeks earlier, and he blew out a puff of fog. Pulling his cloak a bit tighter around himself, he ran across the drive, got Lady ready, and set off.

Along the way into town, he thought he caught a glimpse of Jeremiah making his way as well, but the distant carriage was too far in front of him to tell for sure. He shivered, then tapped his feet lightly against Lady's flanks. She pushed onward a bit faster, but still didn't move too hard. He imagined that she didn't want to be out in the cold weather any more than he did, though he had to admit that he was excited to see Tess.

When he came into town, a thick layer of snow lay across the ground, though it was churned up quite a great deal from the intense foot traffic moving back and forth across it. Villagers bustled about, several of which were dressed in makeshift armor and strapping rusty swords to their sides. Jason chuckled at the effort, as well as the effort

that all the town mothers were making to try to dissuade their children from entering such a dangerous competition.

Jason soon rode up to the stable, where he allowed Lady to be taken into the warm building, and he started walking around to the course. As he came within sight of it, his eyes opened wide in surprise. It had been changed up quite a lot, and he marveled at just what Tess had dreamed up.

The starting and ending platform were in the same place as before. Stretching out from the starting line was a slick pool of ice, standing where the mud pit had been before. The barbed wire had been removed, thankfully, while a small wall had been built at the far end.

On the other side of the ice pit was a trellis that stretched about fifty feet, with rings dangling on the end of ropes that hung from the wooden frame. The rings were spaced further and further out, until there was almost a 15- foot gap between the last two.

Beyond the rings was a climbing wall, though this one seemed to have handholds that were spaced much closer together than the previous time. At the top of the wall, a tightrope had been stretched between that small platform and the ending platform, where a small, white flag was barely visible through the snow. Tess paced back and forth in front of it, a feigned smile upon her face.

Meanwhile, sitting between the course and the buildings, Jeremiah and his hired hands had kindled a large fire, which now roared up into the sky with a ferocity that made Jason wince. Delilah had set up a table nearby that was covered in hot dogs and marshmallows, while a cauldron of hot chocolate bubbled on the edge of the bonfire. Jason giggled when he saw the setup, and he walked over to stand next to Jeremiah.

"Like it?" Jeremiah gestured proudly at the fire. "Figured we'd get a few more people to show up if they could stay warm."

"You're going to make the budding guildmasters soft." Jason nodded at several of the armored youth, who were warming themselves by the fire and gazing in apprehension at the obstacles. A handful of warriors that Jason didn't recognize walked around the course, studying it intently, seeming to ignore the frigid weather.

"Let's be real, no one here is getting that position." Jeremiah took a sip of his chocolate. "I'm not saying that one or two of them couldn't do a good job, but Tess is too extreme. She's not going to settle for anything less than the best."

"You think she'll go with one of the out-of-towners?"

Jeremiah shook his head. "She's too protective for that, too. No, she's got a very specific kind of person in mind, and I don't think she's likely to find it here."

"Then what do you think will happen?" Jason glanced at him with growing concern. "Do you think-"

"Oh, don't worry your head. She isn't going to call off the wedding or anything." Jeremiah waved his hand, dismissing Jason's concerns. "I do think she'll get a lot more desperate as spring sets in, though, but we'll just have to see."

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Tess called out, interrupting their conversation. "Thank you for coming out here today!"

Everyone turned to face her, and the prospective guildmasters made their way forward to stand just in front of her in the thick snow. Daniel stepped up just next to her, crossing his enormous arms and making pretty much all of them flinched back.

"By now, I'm sure everyone knows the name of the game. This time, your performance will be evaluated based on how far you get, not simply if you succeed. My brother, Daniel, will now demonstrate."

Daniel flexed his arms, then turned and marched up onto the platform.

"You know, these guns once harvested an entire eighty acres in a single swing of a scythe!" He grinned at the newcomers. "This shouldn't be a problem to handle!"

Jason rolled his eyes but gave a nod of approval towards him none the less.

Daniel launched himself forward, using a flash of magic to create a pair of skates made of ice. He sailed across the frozen pool, hopped the wall at the far end as if it were a molehill, and launched into the rings. Jason rather thought that he looked a bit like a monkey as he sailed across the ropes, though he was so tall that his feet nearly touched the ground. He leapt off the final ring and landed on the climbing wall, clinging like a gecko, and quickly launched himself to the top.

"All right, now." He paused for a moment. "Gotta turn off my inertia skills. Wouldn't do to snap this halfway across!"

Jason rolled his eyes again and watched as Daniel rather delicately tottered across the rope and leapt nimbly onto the final platform. He plucked the flag and held it high above his head, and Jeremiah glanced at Delilah, who had just walked up next to him.

"There are no rocks this time."

"No."

"They're not even throwing snowballs!" Jeremiah

protested. "Please? Just one try, after everyone else has gone through."

Delilah whacked him with the spoon she had been using to stir the chocolate, then went back to her work. Jason chuckled, and Jeremiah crossed his arms and pouted good-naturedly.

Jason's attention was drawn back to the course, though, as the first of the local farmhands stepped up to the starting platform. Two of them stood there, shivering in the cold, and boldly leapt out onto the ice. Both slipped and landed flat on their backs, and Jason groaned in sympathy.

It was several minutes of frantic slipping and sliding before the two of them made it to the wall, as Tess called out informing them that they could not touch the edges for support. As they climbed up and flopped over the wall, one of them took a deep breath, then launched himself into the air at the closest ring. His hand closed over the metal ring, his body swung forward, and his hand slipped free. He fell flat on his back in the powdery snow and sat up groaning. He quickly slipped off the course, and the second man launched himself at the rings as well. The result was nearly identical, and he too slunk off and out of the way, rubbing the back of his head.

The next three contestants were quite similar. Finally, a particularly tall lad, the brother to the shepherdess who had done so well on the previous course, came up and rubbed his hands together. Mimicking Daniel, though without the magic skate, he launched himself across the ice, leapt nimbly over the wall, and made it all the way across the loops before he slipped on the climbing wall and came crashing down. Tess nodded thoughtfully as he smiled and walked off to the side, and she nodded at the warriors who were still standing at the ready.

Jason winced slightly as they climbed the platform and took their stand. They were all heavily armored and didn't look as though the cold bothered them one single bit. First one, then the next launched themselves across the ice and dove into the obstacles. Only one of them, a particularly heavyset man who looked more like a mountain than a human, was unable to complete the obstacles. One by one, they snatched the flag and dropped back down to Tess, who continued to nod and think to herself. At least, Jason could tell that she was thinking, by the way her face was puckered. Most people wouldn't have thought anything of it, but he was getting to know more than a few of her gestures, which made him feel rather good about himself.

When the last contestant made it through, most of the farmers had slunk back to their homes, but a few of them remained. Tess clapped her hands to draw attention to herself again, then smiled and crossed her arms.

"Thank you, everyone, for coming out! Would everyone who feels themselves to be in the running for the position please head over to my office?"

The warriors, save the one who had fallen, all turned and marched toward the Guild Hall. The lone shepherd followed, but the rest of the farmers turned and walked away. Tess sighed, then walked up to Jason and Jeremiah.

"Thanks for coming," she muttered as she helped herself to a cup of hot chocolate. "At least one ray of light in the midst of this storm."

"Someone's poetic," Jeremiah quipped. "Didn't like any of them? Those warriors looked plenty good."

"They made it through the course," Tess acknowledged. "But their technique was sloppier than you could imagine."

"Did you see him trying out the course last time?" Delilah jabbed a spoon at Jeremiah. "After that, I can imagine techniques that are pretty sloppy."

Tess laughed, and for a moment, color came back to her cheeks. It faded away, though, as a gust of wind swept across the area.

"You know what I mean. They only decided to try out because they were already here. No one has responded to the summons I hung up in the Guild Hall after the last contest. Being Guildmaster here in Summer Shandy just doesn't really seem to be a high priority for most people."

Jason flashed her a reassuring smile. "If there's anyone who can find the right person, it'll be you."

Tess puffed out her cheeks, then nodded. "I hope you're right."

"Of course, I am!" Jason grinned. "You're doing a great job."

She exchanged a few more pleasantries with Jeremiah and Jason, then turned and walked back through the snow toward the Guild Hall. Jason watched after her, then exhaled and crossed his arms.

"You think she'll be okay?" He glanced at Jeremiah.

"If there's anyone in this town who could land on her feet no matter the situation, it would be Tess. She'll be fine. That said, if you hopped over to Paulina's store and had a fine lunch ready for when she rejects everyone and is super bummed-out, it might just help things."

Jason nodded thoughtfully. "I'll do that. Thanks."

"Any time." Jeremiah grinned as Jason started to walk away. "Just know that I expect your help in return if Delilah ever locks me up!"

Jason waved over his shoulder, and Delilah whacked him on the head with a spoon. He turned and tackled her into the snow, and a moment later, they were engaged in a hearty snowball fight. After a moment, the hired men started to join in as well, with Jeremiah forming an army on one side and Delilah leading troops on the other side. Jason watched it for a moment, laughing softly at their antics.

In so many ways, Jeremiah and Delilah seemed to have the perfect relationship, handling strife with the easy care that came from years of time spent together. He sighed deeply, then turned away and started marching after Tess. He only hoped that, as time progressed, he and Tess could wind up with a fraction of that same ease with each other.

Chapter Twenty-Nine - A Good Fire

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 75th day of Winter! 16 days until the Winter Festival! Looks like we're starting to look at warmer weather, folks! Expect temperatures to start to improve, and likely to keep warming up until spring comes!]

Jason felt a smile break across his face as he rolled out of bed. The air was indeed warmer, a far cry from the freezing air that he had become used to. For that matter, it was almost hot, as the fire was still heating the house even though it was far warmer than the night before. Jason made a mental note to let the fire burn down a bit over the day, then slowly walked up to his window.

Outside, all traces of snow were gone, leaving the simple, brown expanse that he had become used to. White snow, or brown grass, those were the two options that he had been given for the previous months. He was more than ready for spring, that was for sure. The grass would be green, he could get out into his field again, Chance would have untold amounts of fun chasing monsters...

Chase. Chase wasn't hopping on him. His eyes opened wide, and he spun to look around the room. The faithful dog wasn't anywhere in sight, which was... odd. Several days earlier, Jason had discovered that the reason that Chance could always get into the bedroom was due to the simple fact that the bedroom lock didn't work. He had continued to lock it, just for fun, but Chance had continued to find ways around it.

So... Where was he now?

Jason slowly walked to the wardrobe and dressed, a terrible feeling falling across him. He grabbed his sword next to the bed and belted it to his waist, and though he hoped not to use it, it was always best to be prepared. Keeping his hand on the hilt, he slowly stepped up to the door and pulled it open.

A soft squeak echoed through the hallway as he did so, reminding him that he really needed to get the hinges oiled. Distantly, he heard a soft whimper from Chance, though not one that he thought came from simply needing to do his business. Jason's heart began to pound, and he bolted down the stairs.

"Whoever's there, give it up!" Jason called out. "I'm armed, and I won't hesitate to attack!"

There was no response, and Jason burst into the living room and looked around wildly. Chance lay on his bed before the fire, a net thrown squarely across him. On top of that, his muzzle had been tied shut, and Chance's eyes were wide. His tail began to wag as Jason ran up to him, though, displaying his never-faltering good spirits.

Jason knelt and pulled out a knife, slitting the ropes as quickly as he could. The moment that he was free, Chance bolted for the stairs and raced upward, barking as loudly as he could manage. The noise echoed up and down the corridors, and Jason felt his blood turning to ice. Still, he came running after Chance, and came up to the door of his study a moment later. Chance scratched at the door, and Jason caught sight of scuff marks on the wood around the doorknob.

"It was unlocked," he muttered and threw the door open. "You're going to break into my house and aren't even going to do me the courtesy of not breaking everything I own?"

As the door swung open, though, his jaw dropped. The office was in shambles; there was simply no other word for

it. Books lay scattered across the floor, his desk lay overturned, and the safe was cracked open.

"Note to self, get a better safe." Jason muttered as he started tiptoeing through the desolation. He didn't mind stepping on most of the books, and he decided to take the opportunity to finally clear out some of the less useful texts, but still found it annoying, nonetheless. As he came to the desk, though, his heart sank.

"And you found what you were looking for," He whispered as he found the bottom desk drawer sitting on the ground. It was the neatest part of his office, and as he rifled through it quickly, it was easy to find what was missing. He scowled darkly, then rose and tapped the hilt of the sword.

"All right, Chance. Are they still here?"

Chance barked and rushed out of the room, where he began racing through the house. The faithful dog sniffed doorways and windows, then led him down to the front door. It was unlocked and hung ever so slightly open, and Jason sighed. He stepped out onto the front porch and strode to the edge, where he looked over into the yard and found telltale footprints pressed into the soft soil. One set came in, one set went out. Not being a particularly skilled tracker, Jason had absolutely no idea how old the tracks were, but a quick glance toward Summer Shandy revealed no one along the road. They were well and truly gone, and Chance rushed off the porch and began to bark as he pointed toward Summer Shandy.

"No reason to go running off right this second, Chance." Jason sighed and pushed himself upright. "We know where they are, and I have a feeling they'll be waiting for us."

He turned and walked back into the house, quickly gathering up breakfast for himself and Chance. When they finished eating, he checked his sword once more, then strode out to Lady's stable. A moment later, they were on

the road toward Summer Shandy, fury bubbling up in Jason's chest.

He hadn't known such anger in years, certainly not since coming to the pristine land of Summer Shandy. There had been days when he had been devastated, of course, and even a few days when he had become quite frustrated. This anger, though, threatened to consume him as he rode hard for town. His mind became focused on exactly one thing: His family. After all, what can stir up feelings of hatred more than one's own kin?

When he came charging into town, he found a small crowd clustered around the inn. Tess stood near the doorway trying to hold people back, and she looked up in equal parts relief and horror as Jason rode up to the back of the pack. He swung down out of the saddle and forced his way through the crowd, pulling Lady along behind him. That got people to scamper away quickly enough, and he soon hitched Lady to the post next to the door.

"Jason, I-" Tess began, but Jason cut her off.

"Are they in there?"

Tess inclined her head. "Jason, what exactly

happened?"

"Come on in, and you'll find out soon enough," Jason

muttered. He forced his way through the door and looked around as quickly as he could. The place was largely empty, save Lacy sitting just in front of the hearth, with a smug look on her face and a crackling fire behind her. Constable Hank stood just across the table from her, a rather awkward look on his face, and Jason rushed forward.

"How dare you-" He began, placing his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Jason, I wouldn't advise that." Hank held up a hand. "I'll admit that I don't have these sorts of situations a lot, but I know enough to know that any reaction you make, here and now, will be held against you."

"And what about them?" Jason hissed. "They broke into my house. I don't know which one did it, but they broke into my house and tied up my dog."

"My dearest Killian paid a visit to his brother. Perhaps he came a little early in the morning, but you can hardly blame him for panicking and running for safety when that filthy beast came after him," Lacy sniffed.

Rage again flared through Jason, and before he knew quite what he was doing, he'd drawn his sword and had it pointed at the woman claiming to be his mother. A faint smile played across her lips, and Hank groaned.

"Jason. There are witnesses at the window."

"She admits that she broke into my house," Jason snapped. "Arrest her. We can deal with everything else later."

"That's not going to work, dear," Lacy's voice dripped with venom. "If you arrest me, I'll make the documents public, and... now... That wouldn't work out well for you, would it?"

"They have to be in here." Jason turned toward the stairs, but Hank just sighed.

"Your brothers have already left." Hank shrugged. "Presumably, they took the documents with them."

Jason ground his teeth together so loudly that he was certain that everyone could hear him. "Then let's go after them."

"On what grounds?" Hank shrugged.

"Breaking and entering."

"Do you have any proof of that?"

Jason froze, then slowly crossed his arms. "Not

exactly."

"Right." Constable Hank sighed. "Up in Illumitir and

some other big cities, people have found ways to test for... What part of the body is it? Toeprints? Skin... No... I don't know, but there are tests you can do, except for the fact that they don't like sending those test kits down this far

south." Hank sounded as though he was growing just as annoyed as Jason. "It would be your word against hers, and with those... Ahh..."

He paused, and Jason turned to Hank. "Those documents that you never should have put together in the first place?"

Hank sighed deeply and nodded. "Yeah. Those would be the ones."

"Then this is all your fault." Jason snapped, turning the blade toward Hank.

"Jason!" Tess stepped in between Hank and the tip of the sword. "Not the time."

Jason ground his teeth together again, then sheathed the sword violently and turned to march out. He pushed through the crowds of people and marched aimlessly across the square, circled the well a few times, then climbed up on Lady and started riding back toward his home. he was about halfway there when Tess came riding up next to him on Angus, and he turned and snapped at her.

"What do you want?"

"To help comfort you. I... I know what you're going through."

"How?"

"Because that's the same thing that happened to me last year."

Jason froze, then nodded slowly.

Tess continued to speak after a few more moments."Blacksuit came after me with loads of paperwork and legal clauses, and I was barely able to keep ahead of them. A lot of my work this year has been trying to untangle everything that he did. That's just what's going to happen here."

Jason shook his head. "They have wills that clearly show the farm going to someone else. I could lose everything."

"And if you do, we'll make it work," Tess soothed him. "When you first arrived in town, you had what, fifty shandys?"

Jason blinked and smiled softly at the memory. "I think it was forty."

"Then it makes my point even better." Tess sighed. "Let's say that they do get the farm. First off, your eighty acres off in no-man's land isn't part of that deal, so we're guaranteed to have that much, at least. If they empty your bank account, I have enough money to buy us a house and a few starting crops. With two of us, we'll be able to make a good go at things, and that's a worst-case scenario. We'll come out of this just fine."

Jason sighed deeply, then flashed a smile and nodded slowly. "I... Thanks, Tess. I appreciate it."

"You know I'm here for you." Tess reached across the distance between their horses and patted him on the arm, then shrugged and kept moving forward. "Now, what say you and I go back to the house and have a nice, relaxing sort of a day, and then we get back to the real world tomorrow?"

"That sounds lovely." Jason flashed a small smile. "Whatever happens, Tess... Know that I love you."

"I love you, too."

With that, they rode off down the hill toward the farm, not really knowing what would come next... but ready to face it together.

Chapter Thirty - Winter Festival

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 91st day of Winter! It's the day of the Winter Festival! It's a lovely day for a festival, folks! Not too cold, but still chilly enough to be called winter! We'll be getting a light dusting of snow later this evening that will turn into rain as soon as midnight hits, so come with both snowshoes and umbrellas!]

Jason's eyes flickered open, and he found himself again staring into the soft, warm face of Chance. The dog began to eagerly lick his face, and he coughed and rolled out of bed, waving the canine away lovingly.

"Bleh! You're getting more and more slobbery, you know that?" He climbed to his feet as Chance lay across the bed, panting. He had grown several inches since arriving at Jason's farm, and Jason whistled softly. "You're part Dane, I'd bet a great deal of money on it."

Chance just gave a soft bark, and Jason quickly changed and started making his way downstairs. Chance bolted past him, then sat down next to the kitchen table and began eagerly awaiting his breakfast. Jason smiled and poured it out for the dog, then sat down and ordered a plate of pancakes. It was the day of the Festival, after all, and he had little desire to eat healthy.

He sighed deeply as he sat there. Killian and Nathanial had made no further appearance after slipping out of town, but Lacy had stuck around to plague Constable Hank like a... well... a plague. Every day or so, she barged into his office with some sort of a technicality that she planned on bringing against him, to the point where Jason thought that Hank might have wound up pulling a sword on the woman.

He just couldn't understand what was driving her that way. She had never been cruel or bitter up until the moment he had left. Tess was convinced that something must have happened during Jason's absence, but Jason didn't have the faintest idea what it might have been.

Suddenly, as he sat there, an idea struck him. Hank. Somewhere, buried deep within the clutter of Hank's office, was a large pile of letters that Lacy had sent to him. He needed to find those letters, that was for sure. He rose eagerly, then jogged to the front door. Chance padded after him, but Jason sighed.

"I'm sorry, boy, but you'll have to stay here today. Lots of people and lots of food that probably wouldn't be the best for you to eat."

Chance whimpered and lay down, putting a paw over his eyes. Jason groaned, then scowled at him. "Tess taught you how to do that, didn't she?"

Chance gave no answer, but at Tess's name, he sat bolt upright. Jason rolled his eyes, then shrugged.

"All right, fine, but you're going to have to stay in the Guild Hall once the party starts."

Chance began running in circles, and Jason opened the door and let the dog shoot off into the cold air. Sure enough, a light snow was falling from the sky, and Jason stuck out his tongue as he made his way to Lady's stable. As a few of the flakes lighted upon his warm flesh, he smiled. Soon, he had mounted up on Lady and was riding steadily for town. The miles flew by quickly beneath Lady's hooves, and he took a deep breath. He didn't have a clue what he would find, but he knew that he had to check.

Along the road, he saw a few of the other farmers of the area making their way up toward Summer Shandy, but most seemed to still be working on chores and that sort of thing. Jeremiah was certainly nowhere to be seen, though that wasn't the most surprising thing in the world. When he came up into the town square, townsfolk rushed back and

forth, beaming to one another and carrying dishes heaped with enormous piles of food. Cooking aromas and warmth already floated through the air amidst the snow, and Jason felt content. There truly was nothing quite like the Festivals; they were easily the best thing about living in Summer Shandy.

That day, though, he was forced to ignore most of it, and he came riding up to Hank's office. As he swung down, he caught sight of someone already inside, and he felt a stab of fear. Was it his mother? What would she say this time? As he knocked on the door and peeked inside, though, he simply found a young couple preparing what looked like a marriage registration. Hank looked up from the desk and smiled nervously.

"Jason! Good to see you here. What... ahh... What can I do for you today?"

"I..." Jason glanced at the young couple. "I'll wait."

Hank looked worried but inclined his head. Jason stepped back into the cold and closed the door, leaning against the stone wall. Paulina and Theresa swept through the square and waved at him, and he did his best to wave back, but he knew that he was too distracted for a proper conversation. Lacy poked her head out of the inn and stared at him for a few seconds before ducking back inside, and Jason groaned.

Nearly five minutes passed before the couple came walking out, smiles on their faces. Jason pushed the door aside and walked in, where he was given the rather annoying view of Hank simply tossing all the carefully prepared documents into a large filing cabinet without a second look. He slammed the door shut and spun to face Jason, and Jason raised an eyebrow.

"Do I need to be concerned about the marriage paperwork that Tess and I filed with you?"

"Oh, no." Hank snorted and waved his hand dismissively. "You two aren't going to file for divorce

anytime soon, and there's not really any good reason for needing to look at the paperwork, and the marriage becomes common-law after five years anyway, so-"

"Hank." Jason took a step closer to the desk. He took a deep breath and placed a hand on the hilt of his sword. "I am only going to say this once. Figure out how to organize your paperwork. I don't care how long it takes you, or if I have to come up here and organize it myself."

"Ooh, I'm afraid I can't allow that." Hank winced. "Half of this stuff is classified and can only be viewed by a certified individual, so..."

"Then figure it out." Jason snapped, then forced himself to calm down once again. It was far from the easiest job, and Hank shifted uneasily in his chair. "Anyway, the reason I came in here is because I need the letters that my mother sent me."

Hank laughed and dismissed Jason with a wave. "Those wouldn't come through me!"

"She didn't know my address, so she just addressed them to Jason of Summer Shandy."

Hank bit his lip for a moment, then nodded slowly. "Those might have come through me."

"You think?" Jason raised an eyebrow. "Now where's your mail pile from the last two years?"

Hank blinked, then winced. "You know, that's technically classified too, and-"

"Hank, I don't think you understand," Jason insisted. "I need those letters, and if you don't give them to me right now, I will tear this place apart until I find them."

While they both knew that it was likely an empty threat, Jason's heart was beginning to thump quite loudly within his chest, and he felt a pure and utter frustration with the aging constable building up. "Hank? Most of the time, your antics are funny. Not right now."

Hank sighed, then slowly rose and walked to a cabinet near the back of the room. "You're welcome to look through

here, I guess, and-"

Jason bolted to the cabinet and pulled it open. His jaw

dropped as he took in the sight of hundreds of parcels, packages, letters, and envelopes stuffed inside the small cabinet with hardly enough room to squeeze in a nail file. He blinked, and Hank rubbed the back of his neck.

"It just sorta piles up on you."

Jason felt exasperated, but he started sorting through the cabinet. His fingers skittered across hundreds of items, and it didn't take him long to start seeing his name appearing among the letters. Most of them were indeed from his mother, but as he dug deeper, he began finding letters from some of his aunts and uncles, as well. His curiosity grew, though, at the same time, his anger abated. Hank, for whatever reason, just wasn't wired quite the same way as everyone else. It was frustrating, to be certain; but getting angry wasn't going to accomplish anything. He forced himself to calm down, at least enough to talk, then glanced over his shoulder. Hank was standing by his desk, a nervous sort of look on his face.

"So, tell me, Hank," Jason spoke up as he worked. "How do you decide what to care about and what not to care about? When I bought that new piece of land last year, you had the paperwork whipped up within just a few seconds. I mean, I suppose it's possible that your copy of the deed is floating around one of these filing cabinets, too, but it seems odd to me, you know?"

Hank just shrugged. "I mean... There are some things that..." He puffed out his cheeks. "I don't know. People ask about some things. Other things, they don't ask about. You know how stressful it is being a constable?"

"Any day that it's warm enough, you're sitting at the town well chatting with anyone who walks past," Jason countered. "Seems like a real tough position."

"Yeah, and I'm sure that farming is easy. You just wave a hand, and everything gets planted and harvested," Hank

retorted. "You have prompts and actions, just like anyone else. I have to log so many hours on the streets of town every day. Well, there's only one street in town, so that's where I stay. By the time it's done, since I don't have a secretary, I don't really have time to process all this stuff. I do the best I can."

Jason sighed and allowed the last of his anger to flow away. "I suppose... I wouldn't have gotten anywhere without the help of Jeremiah... and Tess... and Paulina... and-"

"You can stop now, you know." Hank crossed his arms and snorted, then sighed. "I really am sorry. I do my best to stay on top of things, but some things I just don't have the time for."

"Then why not ask for help?" Jason raised an eyebrow.

"Because... Oh, I don't know!" Exasperated, Hank ordered, "You know what? Finish your search and get out of here."

He sat down on the desk, but even as he did so, a flicker of a smile returned. Jason sighed and turned back to sorting the mail. He didn't exactly feel as though Hank was let off the hook by the confession, but it did make a bit more sense why he was so scattered. He hadn't even considered what limitations he might have been given as a constable. For that matter, he really didn't know what limitations Paulina had as a shopkeeper, or what Tess's prompts looked like. He mused over it for a few minutes, then finally got to the back of the mail pile. It wasn't everything, but it would give him a starting place.

"Thanks, Hank." He scooped up the mail, then turned around and started to walk toward the door. As he reached it, though, he paused. "You mind if I ask you one more question?"

"Are you sure you want my scatterbrained help?"

"Well, you're good with maps." Jason flashed a small smile. "Out in the woods by the place I just bought, I found

the ruins of an old town. I was wondering if you could tell me anything about it."

Hank just snorted. "Maybe. I'll have to check my terrible records."

Jason rolled his eyes. He felt more than a little ashamed for his outburst, but he also thought that Hank was taking it a little personally given that his records were so terrible. Jason stepped out through the door and into the hustle and bustle of the Winter Festival.

By that time, things were rapidly whirling into full swing. A cold lunch was brought out for those helping set up, as tables were placed across the town square and small tents were erected over top of them. Jason pitched in where he could, but he found himself so distracted that it proved difficult. Eventually, Tess found him and pulled him aside, and they embraced.

"How's it going?" Tess asked softly. "I heard what happened with Hank."

Jason felt another flash of annoyance, but he forced it down as best he could. "Yeah. I just... I don't know." He sighed deeply. "I don't know! That's really it. I'm angry, and I'm frustrated, but also Hank is my friend, and I hate to pick at him when I'm sure his life is hard too, and..."

Tess flashed a small smile at him. "Let me talk to him. I'll see if I can smooth things over, and we can work on getting a solution to his filing problem together. I'm sure one of the villagers could be enticed into getting his paperwork in order."

Jason puffed out his cheeks, then nodded. "Thanks. I appreciate that."

Tess nodded at the Guild Hall. "Do you want to go read the letters now?"

Jason stared longingly at the buildings, then shook his head. "I don't know what I'm going to find in them, and my mother doesn't seem to be going anywhere. Today is a celebration, and that's what it's going to be. The rest of this,

I can deal with tomorrow. Or, realistically, a few days from now, once I finish planting and all of that."

Tess put a hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "We'll get through this."

With that, she turned and walked away, vanishing into Hank's office. She came out again a few minutes later with a somewhat pacified Hank, and they both set into getting the party ready without another word.

Still distracted, but feeling a tiny bit better, Jason threw himself into the work with more than a little more gusto. They soon had everything ready, and as the snow spiraled down and the sky began to grow dark, torches were lit and hung around the edge of the square, and the party began.

Jason soon lost himself amid the feast. He sat next to Tess, of course, though this time, Jeremiah and his hired men all came walking over to join them. It was a wonderful, warm sort of a meal, and when the tables were cleared away and the band struck up a tune, the townsfolk skipped across the cobbles as if the world was ending and they were trying to get in one last bit of joy. Tess tugged him out onto the dance floor, where they stayed for nearly the rest of the night. Jason suspected that she was just trying to distract him, but as it was mostly working, he didn't mind too much.

Night soon fell, but the festivities continued. Suddenly, in the flickering firelight, Jason caught sight of Lacy standing on the edge of the square, watching him with an odd look on her face. Jason stared back at her for a moment, until he registered the dark shape of a carriage just behind her. In a moment, he was struck with horror as a single thought flashed through his mind.

His mother was going somewhere... And he didn't know when she would be back.

He broke from the dance floor and raced toward her, but by then, she'd already swung up into the carriage. The vehicle rumbled off into the night, and Jason soon found

himself simply gazing out into the darkness. He sighed and stared after the wagon, wishing that he had taken up Tess's offer to read the letters before the Festival after all.

A moment later, a bell rang out through the air, and the snow, just as predicted, turned to a pouring rain. Townsfolk yelped in excitement and raced back inside, but Jason couldn't move. Water flowed across the cobbles, soaking his boots and tunic, but still, he didn't budge.

Why hadn't he thought about the letters earlier? Why hadn't he gone ahead and opened them? What could possibly be inside that would reveal why his mother was so angry?

And, most importantly... Would there be anything he could do about it once the answer was

Chapter Thirty-One - Into Mystery

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 1st day of Spring! 90 days until the Spring Festival! We're in the final stretch, folks! Not that most of you care, of course, at least not more than the usual amount you care about a festival. I'm excited, though! Not that you care about that, either. Hmm. Ahh... Rain today, likely continuing into tomorrow. If you were planning on getting any farm work done, you'll likely have to do something different.]

Jason groaned and rolled out of bed. Chance was already bouncing on him, unhappy after being cooped up in the Guild Hall for the entire second half of the night. Jason groaned and pushed him away, blinking sleep out of his eyes.

"I have to start getting to bed earlier on Festival nights," He muttered as he slowly walked up to the window. The air was far warmer than it had been all winter, and a smile flickered across his face. Outside, though rain was pouring down, life had indeed returned to Summer Shandy. Crabgrasses skittered through mud puddles in wet mats, while histles and razorgrasses snapped at one another. Jason pulled the window open and inhaled deeply, relishing the feeling of the warmer air and the smell that the rain created. It was the same every spring, but he never grew tired of that first rain after a long winter. Green sprigs of grass poked up through the dead layer from the year before, even as rivers of water traced their way back and forth across the landscape.

"Alright, Chance." Jason shrugged and dressed, then started down the stairs. "Let's get some breakfast, and then dive into this mystery. Shall we?"

Chance gave an excited yip and bolted down the stairs past Jason, coming up to the kitchen in a great rush. Jason laughed and prepared their breakfasts, then sat down at the kitchen table to eat a slow meal. He sighed as he contemplated the work for the day, and he drummed his fingers against the table.

Before he could dive into anything, though, a sharp knock came on the door. He rose, but by the time he made it to the kitchen, Tess was already making her way inside. Chance raced up and jumped up into her arms, and she smiled as she stroked his silky fur.

"Ooh, even if I'm only gone for a day, you act like you haven't seen me for years!" She cooed down at the pup. "Yes, you do! Yes, you do!"

Jason giggled, then waved his hand at the cookbook. It quickly created a small egg salad, and Tess dropped into the chair opposite of him. Chance sat down next to Tess, and Jason flashed a small smile as Tess clandestinely flicked him a few bits of egg.

"Thanks for coming. You really didn't have to, you know."

"Well, you can't really be in the field, so I figured it was as good a plan as any," Tess shrugged and expressed as she started eating. "For what it's worth, I chased your mother for almost an hour. They had a fast horse, and she wasn't stopping. If they can keep it up, they'll be back in Illumitir within just a couple days."

Jason cringed and nodded. "And no idea why she left?"

"None." Tess shrugged. "I spoke to Hank, but he didn't seem to have a clue."

"Well, then, let's get started." Jason let out a long breath, then rose. Tess finished eating while he made his

way outside and took care of Lady, then the two of them made their way into his rather dusty dining room.

Jason chuckled and cleared away many cobwebs from the long, wooden table. A bit of light filtered in through the dusty windows, and Tess grimaced as she turned on the gaslights. The bulbs were old and faded, and she glanced at Jason.

"Do we really need to be in here?"

"I think it'll be easier in the long run." Jason reached into his inventory and pulled out the letters that he had been sent by his mother and other relatives. A large mound almost three feet tall appeared on the table, and Tess whistled.

"Are these organized?"

"Not in the slightest." Jason took a few deep breaths to steady himself, and he crossed his arms. "Well... Pick one, and let's dive in."

Tess walked forward and picked up a small envelope, tearing it open and letting the envelope itself drop to the floor while she unfolded the letter within. Jason did the same, grabbing one that was hardly larger than a postcard. When he tore it open, he found a single sheet of paper, dated about six months prior to his engagement.

"Jason, why won't you write me back? Please, answer me. Lacy."

Jason frowned, then walked over and set it down near the far end of the table. He planned to arrange the letters chronologically, at least as best he could manage, to better get the full picture. The next envelope he chose was a good deal larger, and when he tore it open, he found it postmarked a mere month after he had moved down to Summer Shandy.

"Oh, Jason, I do hope you'll write to me soon, but I also understand that you're busy, what with the new farm and all. Let me see... There's been so much happening since you left, and it's only been a month! Samantha just got

engaged - You remember her, right, the girl down the block that you had a crush on when you were younger? Anyway, she just got engaged to her sweetheart, Bo Longshadow, and they're planning a wedding for this winter. Your brother, Nathanial, won a prize at school, too, and not just a participation trophy. He was first in his class in academics, won a bunch of awards for the school, too! There's a big ceremony here in a few weeks, but we understand if you can't make it back for that. He's going to be honored by the mayor of Illumitir! It's big business, and it might even let him get into a proper university. Can you imagine that? One of my boys, going to one of the big universities! Oh, wouldn't that be a dream? Hmm... It feels like I'm forgetting something... Yes! That's it! Your father got a promotion at work! He's being moved up to the position of Supervisor, which is a few ticks about Manager. I don't understand it all, really, but he loves it. If he keeps on this track, he'll be set to reach the upper levels of management within just a few years! Love, Mom."

Jason frowned and lowered the letter, trying to mull it over in his head. Slowly, he placed it at the other end of the table, then glanced at Tess, who had placed two letters near the center of the table. She sighed and shook her head.

"Both contain news, but only a little. She's getting annoyed that you're still not responding, but she's trying to stay cheery about it."

Jason bit his lip, then grabbed an envelope from one of his uncles. When he slit it open and pulled it out, he found only a single line of text.

"Jason, you ought to be ashamed of yourself!"

It was dated a mere month before his engagement, and he felt a stab of pain. Slowly, he walked over and placed it near the end of the table as well, then sighed and continued to dive into things. Letters soon piled up across the table left and right, and a good number of them often fell to the floor with great, crackling whooshes. Jason did his

best to pick them up and keep them organized, but it was getting harder and harder the more they opened. That said, he was starting to get a clearer picture of what had gone down. Something had happened to his father, though he still wasn't sure quite what it was. Somewhere, there would be a letter when his mother sent the horrible news, but he hadn't yet found it.

Finally, well into the afternoon and long after they had taken their break for lunch, Jason pulled a particularly thick envelope out of the pile. When he slit it open, he had the odd feeling that he had hit pay dirt... And as he started to read, he waved Tess over to himself. She peered over his shoulder, and he started to read out loud.

"Jason, please write back to me. I know you're alive, but I don't understand why you don't respond to us. Was I cruel to you as a child? I don't have any memory of such a thing, but you know how mothers can be. Sometimes, we have the best of intentions, but it doesn't quite land right. Oh, I don't know... But Jason, I beg of you, please answer this letter, even if you don't respond to any of the others. Your father... There's been a terrible accident. Actually, several of them, all at once. We still don't know all the details, but there was a construction project under the supervision of your father's division. The people below him were cutting corners but were passing along falsified reports to him so that everything looked good. Well, about a week ago, your father was touring the site, and there was a collapse. Three people were killed, and your father's legs were crushed. To make matters worse, the mis-management underneath of him already had paperwork ready to place all the blame on his shoulders. Now, he's out of a job, we have medical bills piling up left and right, and he can't get an ordinary job. I've taken a job down the street at a fruit market to help pay some of our food and housing bills, but I don't have a clue how we're going to make it through. All our relatives have helped a little, here and there as they can

manage, but none of them are exactly wealthy either. They've been stretched about as thin as they can manage, which is... Oh, I don't know where it's going to leave us. Your father keeps talking about going down into the mines again, but I keep telling him to give up the idea. Yes, they have some jobs that can be performed by disabled workers, but... Oh, Jason, I just can't imagine him going back into that horrid place. Anyway, if you could write back to me, I'd appreciate it. Love, Mom."

Jason sighed and put down the letter, then stepped down the table and read one of the other letters with a bit more context.

"Jason, I just wanted to give you an update, in case you still do care even the slightest amount about our lives here. Your father went back to work in the mines. His reputation has been destroyed, of course, so they only hired him for three-quarters of a living wage, but the remaining quarter is being covered by my own work and occasional help from relatives. Since he can't walk, they put him on pulling the levers for the mine carts. He just sits in a chair and flips the switch back and forth to make sure that everyone gets where they need to be without crashing. It's dull work. He has to work twelve-hour shifts, and by the end of the day, he can barely get himself out of the mine and back home. It's a miserable life, but we're making it work for now, I suppose. Jason, please come home, or even send me a single letter saying that you're alive and care. Lacy."

Jason sat down at the table, shaking his head in dismay. Tess started massaging his shoulders, and he shook his head.

"I have to go to Illumitir," he declared. "I have to-"

"Jason, do you really think that will do any good?" Tess cautioned him. "They all hate you. Your mother came down here hoping to find that you actually did care, and the only thing you got upset about was when the wills were stolen. As near as they can tell, you care about this farm, and that's

it. You have a life of relative luxury here, and they believe that you don't care anymore about helping those unlucky enough to still be stuck in Illumitir."

"That's not true, though!" Jason spun and looked up at her. "You know that!"

"I do, yes," Tess conceded. "I just... Like it or not, you're going to have to prove yourself to them. I'm not saying that it'll be easy, or that you deserve to be placed in such a position, but that's the reality you're facing. You have to come up with a way to show them that you still care. That's the only way I see that this can be fixed." After a moment, she grimaced. "And... If you could do it before the Spring Festival so they can be at our wedding, that would be great."

Jason sighed and looked down at the table, then closed his eyes. A tear trickled down his face.

"I'll certainly do my best," he finally answered. "I just can't think of a thing that would help."

"I'm sure you'll come up with something." Tess rubbed his shoulders. "Now, come on. Let's get out of this dusty, old room and go sit by the fire. Maybe with a good cup of tea, or something. That's always good for thinking."

Jason nodded and allowed himself to be led away. As he walked through the home and sat down, he sighed deeply. His thoughts indeed came easily, but none of them provided any answers that he believed would help him in the slightest. He didn't hate his family in the slightest, and he was desperate to prove to them that he still loved them just as much as always. Still, though... Tess was right. He had to come up with a way to solve the problem before he just showed up at his door.

He knew, in that moment, that he wasn't going to rest easy until that solution presented itself.

Chapter Thirty-Two - Work Done

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 6th day of Spring! 86 days until the Spring Festival! The sun is finally shining, and the ground is dry! Ahh... Other than that, nothing too interesting is happening today.]

Jason rolled out of bed, fending off a flurry of licks from Chance as he did so. He laughed and pushed away the dog, then slowly walked up to the window and gazed out across the land. Sure enough, everything was ready to go. Lady had her head sticking out of the stable and was looking eagerly at the fresh grass. Monsters swarmed across the ground, looking rather like a living carpet in some areas. The sun was just cresting the horizon, casting golden beams across the landscape. Jason opened the window and drank it all in, and Chance stuck his head out as well. The rain, strictly speaking, had stopped two days earlier, but the sky had stayed cloudy and overcast, making it impossible for the ground to dry out. All things considered, it was a much later start to the season than Jason had been anticipating, but such things couldn't be helped, he supposed.

He dressed quickly in his overalls, then made his way downstairs and prepared a breakfast for Chance and himself. They ate quickly, then rose and were soon walking outside into the fresh, spring air.

The problem of what to do about his family hadn't sat idle in Jason's mind for the previous several days, that was for sure. He hadn't come up with any good solutions, to be sure, save for one that was a bit of a cop-out. His farm was producing a great deal of income, or at least it would produce a great deal of income when it wasn't being eaten

by Juun Bugs. Now that the bugs were out of the way, presumably killed by the winter, he would be able to save up his money for a season and then donate it all to help his parents. With luck, it would be enough to pay off the medical bills, and maybe even be enough to help his father walk again. If he could accomplish that much, his father could start moving up in the workforce again... The possibilities were endless, at least in theory. He just had to start turning a profit first.

Lady nickered happily as he led her out to the hitching post. She lay down in the grass and started rolling back and forth, squashing a number of the crabgrasses underneath her body. Chance, for his part, gave several excited barks and started rushing back and forth snapping at the monsters. Most of them fled before him, but Jason had to call him back from attacking an aggressive-looking razorgrass. There was no telling what kind of damage such a monster could do to a dog, and Jason didn't want to find out firsthand. As Chance went back to simply chasing the smaller monsters, Jason walked into his lean-to and started servicing his planter. It had gotten more rusty than usual over the winter, and it took him nearly ten actions to squirt oil across all the affected joints.

"I hope I have enough to finish the field." He glanced nervously at the eighty-acre expanse. [Remaining Actions: 29] It would be close, and he supposed that it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if he had to leave a small section of bare ground, but it wasn't ideal, either.

"Hey, look at the bright side!" He flashed a small grin. "No Juun Bugs. Only simple, exciting farming to look forward to!"

Even as he said it, though, he heard a familiar and quite annoying buzzing in his ears. He spun as a two-inch- long bug with a blue abdomen flashed past his eyes and landed on his arm. It gave off a small buzz, looked up at him, and then flew away. Jason wasn't the type to swear, but

in that moment, was more tempted to do so than he thought he had ever been before. He slapped at the insect, but by that time, it had already flown away. He glared up at the sky as it vanished into the blue, and he slowly crossed his arms.

"Not this season," he whispered softly. "I have a family to help. You are not getting in my way!"

He walked over to the planter, loaded it with seed, and then went and retrieved Lady. He hitched her up just a few minutes later, and off they lumbered. The sharp disks of the planter sliced through dozens of monsters on the way, and Jason ground his teeth together. Oh, how he wished that he could be stomping Juun bugs, rather than simple crabgrasses!

When he and Lady pulled into the field, he lowered the disks, and off they set. The planter rumbled through the soft ground, made lush and ready for seed by the soft rains of the previous week, and he felt a smile creeping across his face. The eternal torches were still flickering on the fences, and he grimaced a bit as he realized he would have to start running the smokers soon. Oh, well. If that was what he had to do to help his family, then so be it.

The Juun bugs began to fly thicker across the field by the time that lunch came around. Seemingly, they too had been hiding out because of the rain and the clouds. Now, they were coming out in force. While there still weren't as many as he had seen by the ends of summer and fall, there were still more than enough to make him nervous. Even in that short of a time, the prairie was looking a good bit browner, and his yard was rapidly being chewed into oblivion. Lady gnashed her teeth and snapped at the insects anytime they came close, and Jason sighed deeply. Chance, though, was having a blast. He raced alongside the planter, leaping up in the air as he tried to snatch the bugs from the sky. He succeeded more than a few times, though he always just spat them out on the ground, looked at them in disgust,

and then ran to catch others. Jason laughed at the dog, grateful for at least that small moment of joy amidst the chaos of the returning pests.

When Jason stopped for lunch, he went inside and grabbed a sandwich, then came out onto the porch to eat it. He wasn't exactly sure why. Perhaps it was simply the wonderful spring air that he was now able to fully enjoy without the rain. In any case, he was still sitting there, munching away, when Jeremiah came riding up and gave a friendly wave.

"Howdy, neighbor!"

"Howdy!" Jason called out in return, trying to sound cheerful as Chance raced back and forth, not pausing in his crusade for more than a few seconds at a time.

"Now, there's someone who knows how to get the job done." Jeremiah chucked as he rode up to Jason's porch. "Let him loose, and these bugs will be taken care of in no time at all."

"I sure wish that were true," Jason said wistfully. After another bite of his sandwich, he asked, "Anything I can do for you?"

"Oh, I don't know. I just... I..."

Jason raised an eyebrow. "You came by to check on me?"

Jeremiah flashed a guilty smile. "I talked to Tess a few days ago when I was in town. She didn't give me many details, but I know you're in a heap of trouble with your family, and you're trying to find a way to fix things. Then, come this morning when a herd of those Juun bugs came swarming through my open window and started devouring Delilah's shoo-fly pies... I was gonna bring one of them to you, but those critters ate them down by the time I could... well... shoo them away."

Jason raised an eyebrow. "Shoo-fly pies? I cannot think of a single thing that sounds more like you than the name of that pie."

"Hey, they're good! And trust me, they've got enough sugar in them, if you try eating them on a hot summer day, shooing away flies is all you're going to be doing." Jeremiah guffawed, then returned to the subject at hand., "In any case, I just... I know what it feels like when one thing starts piling up on top of another."

Jason grimaced. "I just don't know what to do. That smoke tactic I used last year worked well enough, but it was such an eyesore, and it just hurts to breathe any of it in."

"And you had better crops than any of the other farmers in the area because of it." Jeremiah pointed out. "No one else managed to get a single harvest out of their fields. You were at least able to scrape out a little bit."

"Yeah, but..." Jason sighed. He didn't feel like telling Jeremiah about his plan to help his family, though that was largely because he knew that Jeremiah would take pity on him and donate extraordinary amounts of money to the cause. "I just wanted to get back into the swing of things."

"Take the advice of someone who's been in this business for a while." Jeremiah flashed a crooked grin. "There's no such thing as the swing of things. As soon as you find a rhythm, something will come along and mess it up. That's a guarantee, I can tell you that much."

"It's a frustrating guarantee."

"That much, I can't argue with in the slightest." Jeremiah laughed as he started to turn away. "Well, if there's anything else I can do for you, don't hesitate to let me know. You know I'm here for you. Oh, by the way!" He turned back slightly. "My kids will be getting into town in just a few days. They decided to come early and help me out on the old ranch, but they'll also be available if you want any help."

"Thanks," Jason murmured. "I appreciate it."

Jeremiah gave one more wave, then turned and rode off down the road back toward the Lazy-H. Jason watched him go, then walked back to the planter. He hitched Lady back up, and off they went again.

By the time they'd finished that evening, both man and beast were utterly exhausted. Jason unhitched the planter and put Lady back in her stable, where she lay down and snuggled into her bed of straw. Jason watched her for a moment, then slowly walked back into his house. As he got inside and shut the door, he felt a bit overwhelmed.

The wheat would be sprouting soon, and that meant that he had to get back to work. As much as he wanted to just lay down and fall asleep, he needed to start up the smokers the very next day, and that meant that he had to start preparing the spray. Dreading the stench that he was about to unleash, he placed the pot on the stove, then started tossing ingredients into the mixture.

As he did so, his mind turned back to the mysterious Juun bugs and their possible origin. What were they doing here, where had they come from, and where could he find this mysterious rose that would repel them? It all made his head swim.

All he could do, at least for that moment, was to press onward. It felt as if he were being faced with threats from all sides, and he didn't have a clue how to face all of them - or even any of them - at once. He just had to keep working onward and praying for a miracle.

Maybe, if he was lucky, he could find a solution even amid the chaos.

Chapter Thirty-Three - Bare Ground

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 8th day of Spring! 83 days until the Spring Festival! More dry weather today, though there will be storms rolling in by the end of the week. They look to be nasty ones, too, so be prepared to batten down the hatches!]

Jason rolled out of bed, largely evading Chance's cheerful licks. He climbed back to his feet and strode up to the window, where he gazed out across the springtime ground. Or... At least what should have been the springtime ground.

The yard, the prairie, everything was bare. The Juun bugs had been doing their work, all right, and were in the process of chewing away even the dead grass that had remained from the previous year. Jason felt dejected as he watched it all, then slowly turned his gaze to the field.

Smoke rippled upward from the eternal torches, but... well... It didn't seem to be doing a great deal of good. The field was just as bare as everything else. The Juun bugs had utterly ignored the putrid fumes and had gobbled up all his fresh sprigs of spring wheat the moment that it had appeared. He had lost the entire crop; at least, it seemed that way. Despair clawed at the edges of his consciousness. Still, there wasn't much that could be done about it. He dressed slowly, headed downstairs, and made himself and Chance some breakfast. Chance lapped up the bowl as quickly as he could, then bolted to the front door and waited eagerly for Jason to set him loose on the Juun bugs. Jason

did have to crack a smile at that. If there was one thing that the dog loved, it was chasing the deadly insects, and Jason didn't feel an ounce of pity when they were struck down.

He ate his own meal largely in silence, then rose and followed Chance outside. As they stepped into the springtime air, Chance bolted across the yard, leaping and snapping at the insects to his heart's content. Jason watched him for a few minutes, then walked over to Lady's stable. He led her out to the hitching post and poured out her feed but was forced to stand there and shoo away the hungry Juun bugs that came crawling up the edge of the feeder in an attempt to gobble up her food before she could eat it herself. He scowled fiercely at the insects, his hatred of them growing stronger and stronger. After a moment, though, he forced himself to calm down. Exploding into a rage wasn't going to do anything positive, that was for sure. Besides, he had other things to take care of that day.

When Lady had finished eating, he saddled her up, then rode off toward Summer Shandy. Chance raced along in his stead, and they soon came trotting up and into the town square. There were a handful of townsfolk about, but as the Juun bugs buzzed through the area, most of them seemed to be inside, doors tightly shut and windows barred. Jason couldn't blame them for that in the slightest. Hank sat at the town well, shooing the bugs away from the women who came to draw water for their housework. He smiled and waved at Jason, and Jason waved back, though he wasn't exactly sure why Hank was being so cheerful. Oh, well. He would find out soon enough, in any case.

Within just a few minutes, he had Lady stabled in the Guild stables, and he came walking up to the door of Tess's office. He knocked smartly on the wood, and there was a muffled clatter from inside.

"Come in!" Tess called after a moment. "Pardon the mess!"

Jason cracked the door open and peered into what could only be described as something of a disaster area. Papers lay scattered across the desk and the floor in an arrangement that might have been seen as organized, in a strange sense of the word. Tess sat at her desk, looking over as many of them as she could reach. She looked up and flashed a small smile at Jason, then rose.

"Busy?" Jason nodded at the chaos.

"Something like that," replied, gazing at the assorted paperwork. "I sent an ad up to the Guild in Illumitir asking for applicants. I'd been kinda dreading doing so, and... This is the result."

Jason blinked and looked down at the papers a bit more closely. "Are these all applicants?"

"Yup," Tess affirmed. "One hundred fifty-seven of them, if I counted correctly. I'm trying to sort the serious requests from the ridiculous ones at this point, and it's taking me way too long."

Jason asked with concern, "Are there that many that are so ridiculous?"

Tess looked visibly vexed. "I mean, I'm sure there are a lot of well-meaning people here, but a lot of people applied who have absolutely no qualifications for the job. One here... I think the guy must speak a different language, because he keeps talking about grilling different types of meat. Not a word about his skill with a weapon."

Jason just chuckled and shook his head. "Well, best of luck."

"Thanks." Tess puffed out her cheeks. "Well, are you ready? To put the last of the work behind us?"

"The last of the preparatory work," Jason countered. "After today, we have to actually start getting it all together."

"That's a very fair point." Tess flashed a small smile. "Well, let's get to it!"

She rose and strode out of the office, though as she did so, the air currents caused a small stack of papers to blow over and fall across the floor. She winced but said nothing. They pulled the door shut, and a moment later, they stood in front of Hank's office. Hank rose from the well, whacked a Juun bug as hard as he could, and came striding over with a broad grin on his face.

"Tess, Jason! You didn't forget about the meeting!"

"Historically, we're not usually the ones who forget." Tess raised an eyebrow. "You're the one who didn't show up two days ago when I-"

"In due fairness, I was rather busy," Hank countered. He pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked the door, swung it open, and stepped inside. Jason followed him, and his jaw dropped as he took in the sight.

"Wow." He breathed softly. "You've really done a number on this!"

All around the inside of the office, everything was... orderly. It was a mess, to be sure, as all the filing cabinets had been emptied, the cabinets hung open, and a closet at the back of the room hung ajar. All across the floor were piles of paperwork and letters and packages, and Hank's desk was nearly invisible beneath different assortments of paperwork. But it was clearly an improvement.

"Tess has been helping me." Hank sat down behind his desk, then, after a moment, stood and walked around to the other side. After all, there was so much paperwork that two people sitting on either side of the desk certainly wouldn't have been able to see one another. "We hired one of the villagers to come here, too, and she's been helping, as well. We think that we'll have it all sorted out in another week."

"That's great!" Jason beamed. "I'm happy for you!"

"Everyone else will be happy for me, too, once I get everything sorted!" Hank chuckled softly. "Now, let's see. You came to talk about the ceremony?"

"Yes." Tess pulled a clipboard with a leaf of paperwork from her inventory. "Here. This is the order of things, and the exact words you'll need to say."

Hank took the clipboard and gazed down at it for a few long minutes. He stroked his chin, then frowned.

"Exact?"

"I included a spot for improvisation." Tess flipped to the second page. "Right... There."

"At the reception?" Hank asked.

"In the section for speeches," Tess clarified. "For all I know, you'll be the only one who wants to say anything, but I'm sure you'll be itching to say something, so there you go."

"I wish it were during the actual ceremony," Hank grumbled.

"Hank? Be glad you're getting this much," Tess countered.

"Oh... Fine." Hank started reading down the list, nodding slowly at the different items. "This all looks pretty standard."

"That's the way we want it," Tess agreed. "No surprises. No gimmicks. Nothing that will distract from Jason and myself. We are the center of this wedding, not you."

"You know, I'm putting a lot of work into cleaning this place up," Hank pouted. "You'd think that would count for something."

"We're letting you do the wedding. That's reward enough," Tess retorted. "Now look it all the way over. If you have any questions, I want to know about them now."

After a brief review, Hank replied, "That all looks in order to me. Have you selected your wedding parties?"

"My bridesmaids will be Paulina, Theresa, and Violet," Tess answered. "Paulina will be the maid of honor."

"And Jeremiah has already agreed to be my best man. He confirmed it on the first day of summer last year!".

"That's great, dear! And who did you pick for your groomsmen?" asked an excited Tess.

Jason's mind began to race.

Gingerly, he confessed, "Honestly, I don't know what I going to do about groomsmen. I don't exactly have a lot of... People in my life right now. I would have asked Hank, but he wants to officiate. That leaves your brother, I guess, and maybe one of my brothers? Except for the fact that they, you know, lied to me, and two of them broke into my house and stole from me, so I don't know that I really want any of them being my groomsmen, and-"

"Jason." Tess put a hand on his shoulder. "Maybe you should reconcile with them first, and then start deciding which ones you should select."

The air was thick with tension around that suggestion.

"Well, in that case, I suppose I don't have any more questions." Hank flashed a small smile. "I... I really do appreciate all you're doing. Jason, I... Tess told me about the letters. I had no idea, and I'm going to do better about it in the future."

"I appreciate that." Jason felt a small flash of hope within him.

"This is all coming together," Jason affirmed, trying to build some optimism in himself. "I still don't know what I'm going to do, especially now that my crops are failing yet again, but I suppose that's all part of life."

"You could always try planting flowers." Hank suggested.

"First off, my mom is allergic to flowers." Jason raised a finger, then continued to do so as he ticked off points. "Secondly, that's the most cop-out apology ever. Third, they'd all just get eaten, anyway!"

Hank bit his lip as he thought. Suddenly, he perked up. "Oh! This has absolutely nothing to do with weddings, but as I was looking through my files, I did come across something that I thought you'd find interesting."

He stepped around to the back of the desk again. There was the sound of shuffling papers, and one of the enormous piles slid off the desk with a crash. Tess leapt up and helped pick up the lost pages, while Hank handed a small folder over to Jason.

"Here. Take a look at this, I think this should answer at least some of your questions."

Jason frowned in confusion, then took the folder and flipped it open. Inside were aged documents, yellow and crinkly, written in a flowing, fancy script that looked to be from a previous era. He could read it, to be sure, but it was a form of calligraphy that he had never seen before.

"A description of the town of Winter Shandy." He frowned as he read the words. "Located outside the Darkforge Dungeon, a twenty-level minor dungeon on the open plains of Southern Illis. Population: Five hundred, with fifteen to twenty adventurers at any time."

His jaw dropped slowly as he took it in. "You mean... This is a description of the old town I found!"

Tess's head swiveled. "You found an old town?"

Jason blinked, and he turned a bit red. "Oh! Yeah. Just outside that old dungeon. I may have forgotten to mention that in all the chaos. Come look at it!"

Tess scampered over to peer over his shoulder, and he started flipping through the pages of the folder. As he did so, Hank started narrating.

"I have to say, I started getting a bit interested, too, once you brought it up. I checked the local land survey charts, and I found that the chunk of forest you were talking about doesn't rightly belong to any of the cities around here. There's about two hundred acres altogether that are undeeded and unclaimed, and that seem to be under some sort of system protection. Almost like they're a national park that the system doesn't want people to mess with. I can't tell exactly when that status arose, as some of the older land surveys from about a hundred years ago indicate that

the land was once Summer Shandy territory, but you know how that sort of thing goes."

"I don't. But go on," Jason encouraged Hank as he continued to scan.

"Oh! Land surveys are always a bit janky," Hank explained. "You basically just have people walking along, checking their prompts to see which town they're located in. Then they make a map of it. You often have multiple towns claiming the same area, even if the system itself doesn't acknowledge it, just to try and make themselves look better on paper. Then, of course, you run into the strange situations where the system does cede a single territory to multiple towns, and then that really creates a problem, and-"

Hank paused for breath, then continued. "Anyway, that place there lies at the intersection of four different townships. It would be easy to get mixed up, especially if it's registering as a neutral territory. Whatever the case, I started digging a bit more-"

"Literal digging, I can assume, given how many papers are scattered around this office." Tess flashed an ornery sort of smile at him.

"Hardy-har." Hank put his hands on his hips. "I wound up finding that document, which I'm now giving to you. It's a report from about a hundred years ago, and it seems to suggest that the town was abandoned about a hundred years before that. All told, it makes the settlement about two hundred years old, for whatever that's worth."

Jason stroked his chin and nodded slowly. The report was quite detailed, going over different archeological finds that they had dredged up. There was a note about some pottery they had found indicative of that era, along with a report on the graveyard and the percentage of warriors who died going inside. Jason's eyebrows rose at the number of twenty percent. He glanced at Tess, who seemed equally horrified at the number.

"I told you; older dungeons were intense." Tess moved on after a moment. "Still, though, that's high."

"Could it have been a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy?" Jason glanced at Tess. "Since it was super dangerous, warriors came flocking to it to give it a try? You warriors do like your danger."

Tess shook her head. "Some warriors do, but really, the majority only like the illusion of danger. I'm sure that was a little different back in the olden days, but by and large, I'd say that the more likely answer is that this place was just so far out the way that warriors assumed it would be a pushover. Inexperienced warriors probably came to wet their swords, and more experienced warriors failed to equip themselves properly before heading inside. In nine out of ten dungeon injuries, warriors simply underestimate the scope of the dungeon and don't prepare themselves well enough."

Jason nodded slowly, then continued to flip through the document. The rest of it was largely unimportant, talking about some of the different businesses that had sprung up, as well as an evaluation of what role the town of Winter Shandy had likely played in the overall economy of the region, based on the distribution of artifacts in Winter Shandy and other nearby cities.

As Jason finished reading and closed the document, he glanced again at the cover and re-read the title. His eyes open wide as the words registered in his mind, and he glanced at Tess in surprise. She frowned in confusion.

"What is it?"

"Look at this." He pushed the folder toward her. "The title!"

"Winter Shandy? I don't-"

"Located in Southern Illis!" Jason exclaimed. "That's the same old province that these Juun bugs are coming from! Remember Paulina, back at the beginning of this mess?"

Tess frowned softly. "Vaguely, but I wasn't nearly as involved in all of that as you were."

"I wonder if there's a connection." Jason's head spun, and a smile began to grow across his face. He wasn't sure if he would be able to solve the mystery or not, but it was the first potential clue he had received to the origin of the mysterious insects.

He only hoped that, if there was a connection, he would be able to exploit it to his benefit instead of his detriment.

Chapter Thirty-Four - Big One

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 10th day of Spring! 81 days until the Spring Festival! There's a big storm coming in tonight, folks, and I mean a big one! We're looking at possible tornado weather, maybe even some hail. The wind will certainly be strong enough that you'll have to work on repairs tomorrow, so keep your schedule free for that!]

Jason sighed as he rolled out of bed... Or, at the least, he tried to roll out of bed. Chance jumped up and blocked him, anticipating the standard move. Jason flashed a smile and tried to roll the other way, but Chance leapt over him, stopping him from rolling out the other side of the bed, as well. Finally, Jason just sat up in the middle, but Chance merely pounced on him and drove him back to lying on the bed. Jason laughed and petted the dog until the canine was pacified, then rose and walked up to the window.

His good spirits fell as he gazed out across the barren landscape. Juun bugs buzzed everywhere, eating up everything that was good and green. He had been forced to close Lady's stall, as the insects had started crawling inside to eat her hay. In a strange way, he actually began to miss the monstertrap infestation from the year earlier. That influx hadn't been fun, but at least he had been able to keep farming through it. That said, he knew that he would never have wanted both infestations to come at the same time. There was a chance that the Juun bugs would have eaten the monstertraps, but there was just as good a chance that the monstertraps would have eaten the Juun bugs, and as the monstertraps had a nasty habit of taking on the

characteristics of the things they ate... well... Jason didn't at all want to see a flying monstertrap, that was for sure.

Jason sighed, then dressed and made his way downstairs. When he arrived in the kitchen, the cookbook flapped its pages in excitement, and he slowly sat down and nodded at it.

"Make me some... sausage."

With a flash, a link of sausage appeared on his plate. Before he could take it, though, Chance leapt up and gobbled up the sausage in the blink of an eye. The dog then sat down on the floor and looked up at him with wide, soft brown eyes that just couldn't have belonged to a troublemaker, and Jason giggled.

"You do know how to work the system, don't you, boy?"

Wag, wag!

Jason rolled his eyes, then poured Chance some dog food and made himself a second breakfast. When they'd both finished eating, Jason rose and walked outside. Chance began to amuse himself by chasing monsters, as usual, and Jason walked down to Lady's stable. He slipped inside as quickly as he could and poured her feed into the trough there, trying to allow her a bit of peace and quiet without all the obnoxious bugs. She nickered softly and began to eat, but several small Juun bugs soon slipped in around the corners of the door and began munching at the oats as well. Jason scowled at them, then turned and made his way back out into the yard.

For a long time, he just stood there. Finally, he walked up to the fence of his field and leaned against the railing, staring off across the wide expanse of brown dirt. Without any way of effectively driving back the Juun bugs, now that they had seemingly adapted to every form of repellant except for the mysterious, extinct rose, what could he do? Was it even worth it to plant the field at all? He could put the seed in the ground, but until he could guarantee that it

wasn't going to get eaten the moment it sprouted, he would only be wasting money. Thankfully, he still had enough seed stored away that all he had to do was plant it once the time came, but...

A strange noise began to echo through the air, and he frowned as he tried to place it. It was the sound of munching, the same noise that he always heard when swarms of Juun bugs all were eating at the same time, but... There was no more food for them, was there? All the grass was gone, the prairie had been chewed nearly to oblivion, he kept all his feed locked up-

His feed! Rather, his seeds! He spun toward the storage shed, which, to his horror, had hundreds of Juun bugs buzzing about it. He had seen them earlier, of course, but he hadn't really thought anything of it. Now, horror flooded his body, and he raced toward the shed. Throwing the door open, hundreds more Juun bugs poured out, and he gazed in horror at his depleted grain stores.

[Spring Wheat - 102,512 seeds]

[Summer Wheat - 32,142 seeds]

[Sorghum - 1,281 seeds]

"I didn't even know they could eat seeds straight from

the inventory," he sputtered. "I guess maybe if they can somehow get into the storage shed. Transfer all seeds into the basement."

[Query - Are you certain? The basement of your house is damper, and being stored there may result in some of the seeds going bad]

"At this point, even a single seed surviving is better than none," He muttered.

There was a flash of light, and the door of the shed swung shut.

[Transfer complete.]

"Good." Jason crumbled down onto the grass. He felt like crying. He was angry, he was sad, he was frustrated, he was...

A flash of anger overcame him, and he leapt to his feet, grabbed a broom out of the storage shed, and rushed at a nearby swarm of the bugs. He swung it with all his might, and he succeeded in whacking several of the Juun bugs that couldn't quite get out of the way fast enough. It was surprisingly satisfying, and he spun and lashed out at another swarm that was closing fast on him. They were getting riled up now, which, of course, put him at a rather immense risk of being bitten. Still, though, that didn't deter him as he rushed off into battle against the pesky little insects.

He was still swinging his broom wildly when hoofbeats echoed in the drive, and he looked up to see a wagon pulling up to his farm. Jeremiah sat in the driver's seat, and he had a grin across his face that made it look like he had just blown up something on his farm and managed to get away with it. He hopped down from the wagon, and behind him came a strapping young lad (who, in all reality, was probably a few years older than Jason), who just had to be Jeremiah's son. He had the same grizzled jawline, the same muscle structure, and the same off-handed gait. About the only thing that was different was the wear and tear that the years hadn't yet had a chance to inflict upon him. Jeremiah waved broadly to Jason, and Jason waved back.

"Howdy, neighbor!" Jason and Jeremiah called out at the same time, and Jeremiah started laughing. Jason nearly did the same, but as he had stopped swinging his broom, one of the Juun bugs flashed up and bit him on the arm, and he yelped in pain and started to dance in a circle.

"I see my father has taught you his dance moves along with everything else he claims to have endowed you with," the man spoke up, his voice deep and resonant. "You're Jason?"

"That's me." Jason whacked away the bug, then came walking up to the man. He held out his hand, which the man

shook. His grip was strong, almost as much as that of some of the warriors from Tess's guild. "You're Jeremiah's son?"

"Obadiah." The man flashed a crooked grin that reminded Jason altogether too much of his father. "That's me. My other siblings are all tied up and can't come down quite so early. They'll be here for the wedding, of course, but they have families and obligations and that sort of thing."

"Where are you- Ouch!" Jason spun and whacked another Juun bug. "Where are you from?"

"There's a little town about half a day's travel west of Illumitir, called Lambspoint." Obadiah answered. "I work on a ranch there, mostly with hogs, but also sometimes with their bulls. Nasty creatures, all of them."

Jeremiah chuckled. "Their operation up there puts my little ranch down here to shame. 'Course, I own my own ranch, and he's stuck working for a boss, but you know how that is."

"Ownership isn't everything," Obadiah countered. "I'm doing what I love, and I don't have to deal with paperwork."

At the mention of paperwork, Jeremiah's face turned down into a scowl. "That does sound quite nice, now that you mention it. Livestock guild, pah!"

"For what it's worth, I'll fight for you if you decide to revolt."

Jeremiah chuckled, then yelped as a Juun bug came over and bit him. "What's got these things so all-fired riled up today?"

"That would be me," Jason confessed, wincing. "I just... I don't know. Lost my temper."

"Well, if you ask me, running around swinging brooms at invasive insects sounds like a wonderful way to spend an afternoon." Jeremiah reached into his inventory and pulled out a broom. "I'll join you if you want."

Jason raised an eyebrow. "You carry around a broom with you?"

"Trust me, it's more useful than you'd think on a ranch." Jeremiah shrugged, then swung it at a nearby cluster of Juun bugs. He succeeded in whacking several of them, and Jason laughed.

"Well, don't let me out of the fun." Obadiah held out his hand. "I, for what it's worth, don't carry one around with me."

Jason handed his broom to Obadiah, then walked to the tool shed and grabbed a second broom. With that, the three of them charged out, swinging their brooms wildly at the swarming Juun bugs. Jason felt a smile stretching across his face as they did so. It was a bit silly, perhaps, but it was fun. With every single strike, he struck more of the insects from the sky, reducing their numbers by a small amount.

"You know, it makes you wonder where these things come from." Jeremiah spoke up after a moment. "I've checked, and Summer Shandy is the only township in the area that's dealing with anything like this. No one's ever seen them spawning here, which means they have to be coming from somewhere. Maybe it's just a hidden spawn zone, but-"

"I declare a war to find it!" Jason brandished his broom like a sword. "Who comes with me!"

"I do!" Jeremiah rushed forward, and they charged out into the prairie. Obadiah followed as well, but Jason had the distinct feeling that he was only doing so out of respect for his father. In any case, the three of them went forth, looking more than a little ridiculous. Jason did his best to travel in the exact opposite direction as the Juun bugs, noticing for the first time that all of them, indeed, seemed to be coming from the north. Meanwhile, when he had gone up to visit Summer Shandy, it seemed that the insects had all been coming from the south. The theory of a hidden spawn point seemed as good as any, and he was determined to find it.

They charged over hills and through ravines. They grew tired rather quickly, but Jason wasn't going to stop

until he found an answer to his problem. Jeremiah stuck with him, probably just because that was the sort of thing that Jeremiah always did to make people feel better. Finally, after running for the better part of half an hour, Jason came to the top of a large rise and drew to a halt, gasping for breath. Juun bugs still buzzed over his head, flying across the desolate prairie, and Jeremiah and Obadiah came up next to him. Neither of them appeared nearly as winded as Jason. For that matter, Obadiah wasn't even really breathing hard, though Jeremiah looked a bit more wearied.

"I hate to be the one to cut this off, but mom is expecting us back for lunch." Obadiah spoke softly. "You know how she gets if you're not exactly on time."

"Oh, Delilah will be fine." Jeremiah waved his hand dismissively. "She would understand."

"Yeah, from what I've been hearing, you've really been pushing the envelope of what she will and won't understand."

Jason sighed deeply, then turned and glanced at his friend. He knew that Jeremiah would follow him to the ends of the world, but he didn't want to make him do so. He started to sigh and turn away, then paused. Something caught his eye, out across the prairie. A hint of familiar black stone, and his heart gave a leap.

"You guys see that?" He pointed. "About two hills further on."

Jeremiah frowned and cupped his hands around his eyes, then nodded. "I can't tell what it is, but I see it, all right."

"Come on!" Jason grinned and started running forward. "Race you there!"

"You're on!" Jeremiah burst into motion, racing after Jason. His long legs loped across the ground, and he soon slowed, likely to keep from overtaking Jason. "Come on, Obadiah!"

"All right, but I'm not taking it easy!"

Jason rolled his eyes. Given what he had already seen of Obadiah, he was certain that the man could easily outpace him. That said, even he was surprised when Obadiah blew past him a mere instant later, leaving him in a cloud of dust. Obadiah's long legs quickly carried him up and over the next hill, and by the time that Jason came up to the strange object, Obadiah was already leaning against it, a broad smile on his face.

"Well, Jason, it looks like you found it!"

Jason nodded slowly, taking it all in. Beside him, Jeremiah whistled, and the three of them just stared. A small structure made of stone rose from the prairie, rising to a height of about three feet. It was open on one side, leaving a gaping hole that seemed to open into the depths of the earth. Juun bugs came roaring out of the hole, buzzing about fiercely. Jason leaned against his broomstick, then slid forward and tried to peer inside. He couldn't tell how deep the hole went, and he wasn't sure that he wanted to try to find out unless he could come up with a way to keep away all the Juun bugs.

"What is it?" He finally breathed after a few seconds. "It looks almost like a dungeon."

"I think it is." Obadiah nodded. "Specifically, I think it's called a micro-dungeon. I've heard of a few of them up by Illumitir that spawn small wyrms and things that we're always having to fight off. I don't know many people who have physically found them, but there are enough stories to deem them real enough."

"What do you know?" Jason shook his head. "A micro- dungeon."

Even as he said it, he gazed at the black stone. It was the same stone that the monolith was made from, and that the cobbles of the ancient road had been put together from as well. There was little doubt in his mind that all these things were connected, at least in some fashion. As he turned and looked to the south, he could just see the forest

growing a few miles away, visible through a large ravine that seemed to run most of the distance between the two locations. Along the path, several other black stones popped up out of the ground, looking like scattered boulders that he might have overlooked in any other situation.

"Do you know how to close up micro-dungeons?" Jeremiah glanced at Obadiah.

"I don't." Obadiah sighed. "I can write to one of my friends up there, though. I doubt he would know either, but he could head into the city and ask around. I'm sure someone does."

"Then it's settled!" Jeremiah clapped Jason on the shoulder. "We have a solution! Not a quick one, but a solution nonetheless! How's that sound?"

Jason let out a long breath, and he felt a smile rising to his face. It was the first real smile, the first time that true joy had come to him, in what felt like a very long time.

"That sounds wonderful. Let's get this shut

Chapter Thirty-Five - Rain

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 25th day of Spring! 66 days until the Spring Festival! It's looking plenty rainy today, folks. Nothing like that last storm, though. Whew! That was a horrid one! Definitely a record-breaker, for sure! I don't think any of us will forget it anytime soon. Sorry, got sidetracked, I suppose. Anyway, take an umbrella if you go outside today!]

Jason's eyes flickered open as Chance bounded up on top of him and began to lick his face. Jason shoved the dog away, but Chance was undeterred. Jason laughed and began to wrestle with him, only breaking free and standing up after several minutes. Finally, he rose and walked up to the window, where rain indeed drummed against the glass panes. He whistled softly as he watched a handful of Juun bugs still buzzing around, darting between raindrops. Most of them, though, seemed to have landed on the ground, allowing crabgrasses to chase after them. Apparently Juun bugs, or at least the spring variety, made good crabgrass food. Who knew!

Jason watched the chaos down below for a few minutes, then chuckled and turned away. He dressed in a tunic and made his way downstairs, not really planning for much to happen that day. With the rain, he couldn't really do much work outside, and until Obadiah heard back from his friend, there wasn't a lot he could do with the mini- dungeon. He had asked Tess about it, of course, and had even taken her out to the location, but she hadn't even heard of such a thing before, and she had been unable to enter when she tried. It left Jason more than a little

confused, but such was life, he supposed. In any event, they had a better plan than anything they had come up with since the Juun bugs first appeared, and that was the important part for Jason.

He soon arrived in the kitchen and fixed himself and Chance some breakfast, though he made extra sure not to allow Chance to get anywhere near the human food. Chance was a bit upset by the fact, but Jason was adamant. When they finished eating, Jason let Chance outside to do his business and chase crabgrasses. As he stood there by the front door, watching the small dog, something rattled in the mailbox. Curious, Jason lifted the flap and peered inside. It was a small envelope from Tess, and as he pulled it open, horror began to creep through him.

"Jason, come quick. Your family just got back into town. Tess."

Jason groaned softly, then leaned again against the doorframe. He didn't want to go deal with his family any more than he wanted to get bitten by a Juun bug. Sure, he wanted to patch things up with them, but without anything to offer, what hope did he have? He braced himself, then pushed himself away from the wall and strode out into the rain. Chance continued to play while he fed and prepared Lady, though he started to whimper as Jason took him back into the house.

"I know, you just want to come play," Jason apologized. "I just don't think it would be the wisest thing for you to come along today. Don't worry. I ought to be back soon."

Steeling himself against the whines, Jason turned and walked back to Lady. A few moments later, he had mounted up on her and was riding off down the road toward Summer Shandy. His mind swirled as he approached, and he began to think through the different things he could say; the different apologies he could make, the different tactics he could use. None of them sounded particularly wonderful in

his mind, and he knew that they wouldn't sound any better when he broached them in person. Still, though, he didn't have anything else with which to occupy his mind, so that was what he pondered as he made his way onward.

When he came riding up to Summer Shandy, he found Tess already waiting for him. She was back in her standard combat armor, which glinted slightly in the rain. A stablehand stood next to her, who took Lady's reins as Jason swung down from the saddle.

"They're in the inn right now." Tess spoke softly, as though they could hear from inside the thick buildings. "I... I haven't spoken to them yet, but they look plenty angry."

"Then why are they here?" Jason hissed. "How many of them?"

"I don't know why they're here," Tess answered softly. "There were four. Your mother, your two brothers, and someone I can only assume is your father."

"Great," Jason muttered softly. "This isn't going to go well."

Still, there was nothing to be done about it, except face the situation. He squared his shoulders, and Tess stood tall next to him. With that, they marched up to the door of the inn, paused, and then opened the door and went inside.

The interior of the inn was much like it had always been. Viola stood behind the counter, a rather nervous look on her face. She nodded at the tables, where Lacy, Killian, Nathanial, and Jason's father sat near the hearth. Jason's father, for his part, was in a wheelchair, his withered legs dangling uselessly below him. Jason inhaled to center himself, then slowly started walking over toward them. Killian looked up and made eye contact, then nudged Lacy under the table.

"Word apparently travels fast in small towns." Lacy's voice was sharp. "We've hardly been here an hour, and you're already here. Quite a stark change from the previous two years."

Jason sighed and glanced over at his father. The man looked worn, much more beaten-down than Jason remembered him. Much of the joy had gone from his brilliant eyes, though a twinkle seemed to remain far below the surface. His father gestured at two empty chairs, and he and Tess both sat down.

"So, this is the lucky bride." His father extended his hand, which Tess shook firmly. "You seem like a strong sort of a girl."

"Thank you, I think." Tess inclined her head. "It's an honor to meet the man who raised such a lovely suitor."

"You didn't say that to me." Lacy snapped.

"In fairness, mom, you did kinda come out of the gate swinging," Jason reminded her.

"I still haven't heard a good explanation for your behavior," Lacy snapped. "I came into town, I waited for you, and you didn't care about me until your precious property was threatened."

Jason sighed and lowered his head. "You know that's not true."

"What I know is that you've cut this family deeper than you could possibly imagine!" Lacy spat. "Wounds like that don't heal easily."

"What would help heal it?"

"You farm," Lacy answered. She nodded to Nathanial, who hesitated. After a few more prods, he sighed and put a small folder on the table.

"What's that?" Jason asked, even though he had a pretty solid idea of what exactly it contained.

"This is a set of legal paperwork," Lacy answered. "With the way that all these wills were mismanaged, legally speaking, the property comes up for open inheritance. That means that it goes to the next-of-kin, and so on."

"Wouldn't that be his wife?" Jason raised an eyebrow.

"And since we don't know where she is, it reverts to us siblings," Lacy countered. "Just look it over. The moment

that your wedding is over, I'll be filing this with the local court. Everything is in place, and we'll take possession."

"Why?" Jason asked softly. "What's the point of that?"

"We have to pay the bills somehow." Lacy crossed her arms. "Given that you don't seem willing to share the funds willingly, we'll just have to sort it out this way. I don't want to do this, Jason, but you leave me no choice."

"And if I help pay for things now?" Jason held up his hands.

"Too little, too late," Lacy insisted, even as his father started to incline his head. "Jason, this whole business has me so upset, that I'm going to retire to my room. Goodbye."

With that, she rose and marched past Viola and up the stairs. Jason watched her go, then shrugged and looked down at the table. As he did so, his father reached out and put a hand on his arm.

"I'm sorry, son," he whispered softly. "I don't know what happened down here, but I'm sure there was a reason for why you never responded."

"I didn't respond because I never got the letters in the first place," Jason explained. "They all got held up at Constable Hank's office. He can attest to that fact himself, if you ask him."

His father nodded wearily, then shrugged. "Well, I forgive you, if that's any consolation."

"At least somewhat." Jason nodded. "I just... I didn't mean to cause any harm. I didn't want anything like this to happen. I didn't even know something like this was happening. I'll admit, I probably should have written some letters just to keep you guys updated, but you know how life can get."

"Aye, I do at that." His father chuckled. "Life's a good deal different when you're suddenly taking care of yourself. I went through that, back when I was your age and started working in the mine."

Jason nodded and sighed. "Well... How are things?"

"Not good," his father confessed. "I'd be lying if I said that there was anything pleasant about the mine these days, but we make it work. All told, though, I think it's a lot harder on your mother. When you go off to work, boring as it may be, your mind and body are occupied. Your mother, though, she just stays at home. She's the one going out and paying all our creditors, trying to figure out how to pinch enough copper coins to make everything fit together. She's the one trying to make sure that there's some sort of a meal on the table when I get home, and something else for breakfast in the morning when I leave. It's put a weight on her that she never should have had to shoulder."

He looked downcast, but he continued. "I think a lot of it has been made even worse by the fact that most of this stuff used to all be my domain. I was the one who figured out how to manage money, I was the one who... Oh, you know how it was. She's been put under an extraordinary amount of pressure, and she has been looking for a scapegoat to take it out on. You were a handy target."

Jason grimaced and nodded. "I only wish I hadn't made myself such a target. I can be the punching bag, if necessary, I just wish I hadn't hurt her in the process, you know."

"Yeah." His father sighed. "I'm sure we'll figure something out, though. Life always seems to work out in the end, you know?" He clapped Jason on the shoulder. "Just keep going, and we'll make it come together."

He nodded to Nathanial, who rose and came around to push his wheelchair away.

"I really am sorry to cut this short. Honestly, son, I'd love nothing more than to sit by the fire and discuss our lives for the next several hours, but I'm so exhausted from the trip I can hardly think. That's been another thing. I just get... I get tired so easily..." He yawned. "I'll come out to your farm one of these days, if I can slip past your mother. We'll talk, man-to-man. How's that sound?"

Jason inclined his head, and a moment later, his father had been wheeled away. Jason watched him go, then finally felt like he could breathe again.

His mother wasn't leaving him with many options, that was for sure. On the bright side, it seemed to really only be her that was angry. On the less-bright side, she certainly had enough power to wrench him from the farm. He just had to find a way to reconcile with her... Within the next sixty-six days.

Chapter Thirty-Six - Breakfast

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 30th day of Spring! 61 days until the Spring Festival! It's a bright and beautiful day out there, folks! A perfect day to get out and smell the wildflowers, and maybe plant a few if you haven't done so yet this season!]

Jason awoke to a strange silence. His eyes blinked open, and he glanced back and forth around the room as he tried to figure out exactly what was wrong. Suddenly, it struck him: Chance was missing. Again. Once again, he had the odd temptation to swear, and leapt out of his bed as fast as he could. Without bothering to change out of his night robes, he bolted through the house and tore down the stairs, looking every which way for Chance. A sharp whine echoed through the air, and he flashed to the living room, where he found Chance scratching at the front door, barring his teeth and whimpering as if he were ready to take a bite out of something... Or someone. Jason squared his shoulder as he caught sight of a shadow under the door, and he quickly grabbed the handle, unlocked the bolt, and threw the door open.

"Who do you think-"

He froze mid-sentence as he took in the sight of Constable Hank standing on the porch, looking up at a hornet's nest with a distracted look on his face. He turned to face Jason a moment later, and his face turned rather red as he caught sight of Jason in nothing but his thin night- clothes.

"Ahh... My apologies," he sputtered and turned away. "I didn't mean to catch you at such a bad time. Just

happened to be up early, so I figured I'd... I'd come by and..."

Jason nodded. "Yeah! Sure. Umm... Come inside! I'll just go get ready, and... Yeah."

He took a step back, and Hank awkwardly stepped into the living room. With that, Jason closed the door, then bolted upstairs and quickly changed into a tunic. As he came back down the stairs, he found Hank idly wandering around the living room, looking more and more like he didn't belong. He turned to Jason and dipped his head, a bit of relief flashing over his features.

"Jason! You look... better."

"Sorry." Jason rubbed the back of his neck. "I wasn't exactly expecting... When Chance was off trying to get at someone, I just assumed..."

"I completely understand." Hank inclined his head. "Well, near as I can tell, there was no harm done." He clapped his hands, resuming his usual posture of not really being concerned about anything. "Do you suppose we can have some breakfast? I don't mean to be a bother, but I'm a bit peckish, and I think we have a long conversation ahead of us."

Jason winced a bit at that but inclined his head. "It won't be anything fancy, but I can get something whipped up."

He walked into the kitchen and went to the stove, then nodded at the bag of dog food in the corner. "Can you feed Chance for me? Three scoops."

Hank nodded and slipped past Jason, pouring the requisite amount of food into the small dog bowl. After thinking about it for a minute, Jason had the cookbook make them several omelets, which appeared on the table with the standard flickers of light. The cookbook flapped its pages in confusion, but Jason simply flashed it a smile and sat down across from Hank. Hank began picking at the eggs, though he didn't eat a lot of them. Jason devoured his breakfast,

doing his best to avoid eye contact with Hank. What was he doing here? Hank wasn't exactly the type of person to just give a social call. It had to be something about all the legal stuff going on, but... What, exactly?

When they finished eating, having only made a bit of small talk about the weather, Jason rose and nodded at the door.

"If you'll excuse me, I just have to go feed Lady, and then we can sit down and get to business."

"Oh, I already did that." Hank waved his hand dismissively. "I even made sure to do it in the pen, and kept the door closed so the Juun bugs wouldn't get at the feed. I also added a scoop of molasses that I brought from Paulina's store. Horses love it, and Paulina said it can help with their digestion or... Something."

Jason blinked for a moment. "Hank? How long have you been awake?"

As he asked it, he finally made eye contact with the constable. Deep bags hung underneath his eyes, and Jason winced.

"Quite a while." Hank finally admitted. "I've been... well... I've been trying to find a way around this problem, and I'm just not seeing anything, Jason." He walked into the living room, and without being invited to do so, he dropped down onto the couch. He rather sprawled across it, for that matter, and Jason raised an eyebrow. He took a slightly more dignified seat on a chair across from Hank, and Hank slowly sat back up.

"Just talk to me, Hank." Jason spoke softly. "I'm not upset with you, or anything. What's done is done, we just have to find a way out of it. No use getting angry over past events."

Hank flashed a soft smile. "I appreciate you saying that, though... You may change your mind by the time this is all done." He puffed out his cheeks, then took a thick folder

out of his inventory. With a flick of his hand, he tossed it across the way to Jason, who caught it nimbly.

"What's this?" Jason opened the folder, revealing a title page. "A Comprehensive Investigation on the matter of the Estate of Alfradus Hunter."

"This is what those lawyers up in Illumitir cooked up with the documents that your mother brought them." Hank sighed. "It's a pretty comprehensive document, I'll give them that. For that matter, the majority of it is pretty standard. About three-quarters is just a block of papers that they include in all estate cases, to cover all the various loopholes that people have found over the years. I'm not saying that you couldn't find another loophole that's been missed, but they file dozens of these things per month, and the last addition to that document is dated almost twenty years ago, so the likelihood that you find something new is pretty slim."

"I don't want to do anything like that." Jason shook his head. "I need to patch things up with my mother, not beat her in court."

"Good! Because you won't win." Hank shook his head ruefully.

Jason nodded slowly. "On the bright side, it sounds like she went ahead and gave you the document early so you can study it. She wasn't going to do that until after the wedding."

"Oh, she didn't, but I was able to request a copy from a friend of mine up in Illumitir." Hank shrugged. "You can read it for yourself if you want, or I can just summarize it for you. Looking through it was the first half of my night, so I'm fairly confident I understand what's going on with it."

Jason flipped through a handful of the pages and read only a hodgepodge of legalese that he didn't even remotely understand. "If you could summarize it, that would be helpful. I mean, I'm not planning on fighting it anyway, but it

would be nice to understand exactly what she's planning on bringing against me."

Hank inclined his head. "In short, per current law in Illumitir, if an individual makes a new will that replaces an old will, the older will must be rendered void. You can't destroy the voided will. You have to file it in a very specific manner and send the appropriate paperwork to the right department in the Illumitir statehouse to ensure that it stays on record, but it isn't totally wiped from the books. If, for some reason, two wills are found to exist for the same person, and neither has been registered as void, then, strictly speaking, both carry full legal value."

Jason held up a hand. "Let me get this straight. You have to file paperwork to make a will void, but not to make it legally binding?"

Hank inclined his head. "It allows peasants to make legally binding wills much easier, in the event of sudden illnesses, and that sort of thing. I can remember when that law was changed, and when you were required to file, a lot of rich landlords were delaying the processing of the wills of their workers so they could just absorb all the assets."

Jason winced. "That makes sense, I suppose."

Hank nodded, then continued. "So, anyway, since none of these extra wills were declared void, all of them are considered binding. The way that the court is interpreting this is that everyone listed has an equal claim to the ground. Thus, essentially, the whole property is to be divided up among everyone listed. All told, with your own stake in it, it divides the estate eleven different ways. Now, there are two different ways that can be done. First, the whole property can be physically divided into eleven different portions, each consisting of about seven and a half acres. The second way is for one person to remain on as a landlord, then sending the profits out eleven different ways. The only possible way to nullify such a decree would be for one of the undersigned to sign a disposition declaring that

they have no interest in the property, and that they are waiving their right to the estate."

Jason inclined his head slowly. "How does it all shake out?"

"The arrangement requested is profit-sharing. After expenses, of course, all net profit is to be divided eleven ways, with ten of those shares going to your family, and one of those shares remaining with you."

Jason leapt to his feet. Numbers spiraled through his head, and his jaw dropped. "That hardly gives me enough to live on!"

"You could probably scrape by, but especially with a new family, it would be tight." Hank inclined his head. "Anyway, at the end of all of this, it's been fully investigated, signed, and stamped. What that means is that when your mother submits it to court, they won't need to hold a trial or perform any investigations of their own. The court will simply need to sign off on it, and all the judgements will be put into force. All told, the process will take about three days."

"Is the court your office?" Jason asked, rather dreading the answer.

"No, but I will be legally obligated to enforce the judgement when it comes through." Hank sighed. "It's been assigned to a local, slightly higher court in Deep Farrow, about fifteen miles east of here."

Jason nodded, then sat back down and sank into his chair. In some ways, it was better than he had hoped. In some ways, it was worse. A part of him had already been planning to just get a new farm and start from scratch all over again. Finding out that they could keep the farm, but that they would be drained dry by it... Options began swirling through his mind, but he forced them down even as they started to crop up.

"I just have to find a way to fix things." He finally shrugged and crossed his arms. "She wants my money, so if

I just give her lots of it, that won't do anything to show how sorry I am. Flowers won't work, because she wants something tangible. I need... Oh, I don't know!" He buried his head in his hands. "I wish I could just get my dad's old job back."

At that, Hank's eyebrows twitched. "What exactly did happen with him? I've gathered some of the story, but I'm still mostly in the dark. No one wants to talk about it around me."

"That's because you'll talk about it around everyone else." Jason snapped, then sighed and forced himself to relax. "Essentially, someone faked some paperwork, and my dad got dually injured in a collapse and blamed for the collapse at the same time."

"It's always paperwork, isn't it?" Hank scowled and crossed his arms. "You know, it used to just be that when people wanted to do something, they'd draw their swords and go at it. Now, you have to make sure you have your sword permit filed with the proper department before you can risk drawing it, and if someone draws a sword on you, you'd best be sure that you're registered to carry a shield before you bother defending yourself!"

Jason nodded and scowled down at the floor. Suddenly, though, Hank began to sit up a bit straighter.

"It's always paperwork, isn't it?" He repeated, though his voice had a note of hope that hadn't been there before. For that matter, it was just about the only time that Jason had ever heard Hank speaking in a way that sounded hopeful. Usually, he was either cracking a joke, moping, or being cranky.

"What are you thinking?" Jason looked up slowly, hardly daring to breathe.

"Paperwork always leaves a trail, especially in Illumitir where everything has to be filed." Hank clapped his hands. "Even mismanaged paperwork. For that matter, mismanaged paperwork sometimes leaves the clearest trail

of all, if you know what you're looking for, and I feel that I can say fairly confidently that no one knows mismanaged paperwork better than I do."

"Are you-"

Hank slowly stood up and puffed out his chest. "I have a bit of vacation time saved up. One of the perks of my job, with all its demands, is that you can request vacations every now and again. I'll put in an application, and the Constables' Guild should send out a replacement for me while I head up to Illumitir to poke my nose around a bit."

"You'd spend your vacation time for... Me?" Jason asked softly.

Hank shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean, for your father and your family, not just for you... And for Tess, since I'd rather hate to see her have to leave town... And you have kinda saved the town from getting squashed into a pile of goop on more than a couple occasions, and if you hadn't sacrificed your livelihood at that time, I'd be out of a job anyway... And I have been saving up the time for a while and had no plans on using it anytime soon, so it's not like I'm really wasting it, and-"

Jason felt a flash of emotion come over him, and he rushed forward and threw his arms around Hank. Hank froze, then slowly patted Jason on the back.

"Easy, now. I'm doing you a favor, not getting familiar with you."

Jason coughed and pulled back, then straightened himself and nodded. He held out his hand, which Hank shook firmly. "In any case, thank you."

"And I can't promise anything." Hank held up his hands defensively. "I might get up there and not be able to find a trail at all. All I'm saying is that-"

"Hank." Jason took a deep breath. "Whatever happens, whatever comes, I appreciate it. You're doing me a favor, and I'll be in your debt."

"Ahh, we're all already in your debt, so don't try and pull that." Hank turned and started walking toward the front of the house. "Catch you around, Jason!"

With that, he was gone, and Jason slowly sat back down again.

Was it even possible that Hank could succeed? Could they get to the root of why his father had been fired? Could they fix it in time?

Jason didn't have a clue... But he did know that, if they could pull it off, it would be just what was needed to heal the rift in his family. For that reason, far more than any of the monetary concerns, he desperately hoped that they would be able to succeed.

Chapter Thirty-Seven - Picnic

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 47th day of Spring! 44 days until the Spring Festival! It's a Sunday, folks, so get outside and enjoy the wonderful weather! Spend your time relaxing, visit your family, you know the drill!]

This day, when Jason awoke, he was bombarded by Chance's licks and yips. He laughed and pushed the dog to the side, but only managed to get halfway out of bed before Chance leapt on him yet again. It took him almost a full two minutes before he was able to stand up, at which point he was covered in dog slobber. He laughed and wiped himself off as best he could, then slowly walked up to the window.

"You look happy today."

The voice came from behind him, and Jason nearly jumped through the ceiling. He spun to see Tess leaning against his wardrobe, a smirk on her face.

"Chance!" Jason whined at his faithful hound. "You're supposed to prevent people from getting inside!"

"Oh, this little boy couldn't hurt a fly!" Tess knelt, Chance came bounding over to her, and she took off one of her armored gauntlets and began to stroke his ears. He flopped down on the ground, Tess started to rub his belly, and he started scratching at the air. "Could you? No, you sure couldn't!"

"I wish he could hurt a few more of those Juun bugs." Jason turned back to the window and gazed out across the barren and desolate land. "We even know where they're coming from now, and we can't do a thing about it. I don't suppose you've heard anything from Obadiah? I haven't talked to him in... Oh, must be a few weeks now."

Tess shook her head. "I haven't seen him, no, but I don't think he comes into town much. I saw Jeremiah a few days ago, and he made the comment that Obadiah was worth five of his hired men, so I assume he's just spending all his time out there working, but I couldn't tell you for sure."

Suddenly, from downstairs, something crashed quite loudly.

"Jason! I broke your couch!"

Jason groaned and put his head in his hands. "Daniel. Why is Daniel here?"

"It's a Sunday, so why not?"

As if in response, another crash echoed through the halls.

"Jason! I broke your kitchen table!"

"That. That is why not." Jason sighed, then waved at the door. "Go downstairs and supervise your brother. I'll be down in a minute."

Tess smiled at him, then slowly walked forward and put her arms around his neck. She turned him to face the window again, and together, they stared out across the landscape.

"It won't be much longer before we can do this every morning."

Jason sighed deeply in contentment. "I can't wait." "Neither can I."

They stood there for a few moments longer. Crash!

"Jason, I broke-"

"All right, I'm going." Tess turned and bolted down the stairs. The door fell shut behind her, and Jason rolled his eyes. He walked over to the wardrobe and changed quickly, then slowly made his way downstairs. There, he found a rather awkward-looking Daniel doing his best to sweep up the shards of a number of plates, but as he did so, the handle of the broom swung around wildly, poking several

holes in the walls. Jason took the broom from his hands and started working on the mess himself, and Daniel flashed him a smile.

"Thanks for understanding, Jason. I guess these arms just aren't suited to this sort of housework. Now harvesting, that I can do. One swing, eighty acres! Whew!"

He chuckled to himself as he walked into the other room, and Jason rolled his eyes. Tess winced and mouthed an apology, and he just shrugged. He didn't have any particular ill feelings toward Daniel. The warrior certainly tried to be helpful enough, and he didn't seem to have a mean bone in his body, he was just so... Big. And strong. And forgetful.

Tess and Daniel settled into the living room while Jason finished cleaning. He then stepped up to the stove and prepared to start making a proper breakfast for the three of them when a sharp knock came on the door. Daniel rose from the floor and started walking to the front of the house.

"I'll get it!"

"Wait!" Jason called after Daniel, not particularly wanting to replace his front door on a Sunday. "Why don't you let Tess answer it. She..." He fumbled for an excuse. "Can practice for when she lives here."

"Mmm, solid idea." Daniel turned around and sat back down on the floor with a particularly loud thump. Something fell off a wall upstairs with a loud crash, and Jason winced. A moment later, though, a cheery "Howdy, neighbor!" echoed through the house, and Jeremiah, Delilah, and Obadiah came walking inside.

"Howdy!" Jason called back. "What brings... Everyone here this morning?"

"Oh, I do hope we're not a bother, but it's been a few weeks since we've seen everyone, so we just figured we'd go ahead and drop by." Jeremiah tipped his hat to Tess. "Obadiah heard back from his friend up in Illumitir, and...

Well, it just sorta seemed the day to drop by. Delilah brought a proper breakfast if you all haven't eaten yet."

"We have not!" Jason stepped away from the stove, and his cookbook began flapping its pages in indignation. "What do you have?"

"Oh, I've got plenty." Delilah bustled into the kitchen, then paused when she saw the splintered remains of Jason's kitchen table. "Do you have a dining room?"

"Not one that I'd be willing to eat in." Jason laughed. "I haven't exactly had a lot of guests here, you know."

"Then we'll just have to picnic in the living room." Delilah declared. "Come on!"

A proper spread was soon placed upon the various tables and empty seats, consisting of several shoo-fly pies (they had made sure to keep the windows shut this time), eggs, sausage, biscuits, gravy, pancakes, scones, syrup, and, in general, more food than a small army could have eaten in a month's time. They all settled in as best they could, and Jason had to admit that it was easily one of the highlights of the year. He also had to admit that Obadiah's appetite was... extraordinary. For that matter, Obadiah and Daniel easily ate as much as the rest of them combined, though as they were also by far the most active, he supposed that it made sense. When they finished eating, Delilah gathered up all the dishes and re-packed the leftovers, then bustled into the kitchen to start cleaning things up. As everyone sat back, Obadiah clapped his hands.

"Well, I know it's a Sunday, and I don't like to bring up business on such a day, but I thought you'd be excited to hear about the micro-dungeon."

"Yes, absolutely!" Jason nodded. "What did you learn?"

"Several things, some good, and some bad." Obadiah nodded. "The first thing I learned is that micro-dungeons don't have nearly the same regulations as ordinary

dungeons. They can kinda just crop up, so there's a lot more variation among them. Most of the time, though, they're used to introduce hostile, but non-life-threatening species into areas that haven't been designated as 'wild areas.'"

"There are a lot of qualifiers in that sentence, but I think I understand." Jason blinked. "Continue."

Obadiah nodded. "These days, they're pretty rare, but back when everything was all wilderness, they cropped up everywhere. As a result, modern micro-dungeons tend to be immortal objects, immune to everything except for things like dynamite. Even if you do manage to destroy one, it'll typically just pop up again within a few hundred feet of the original location. They're intended to put things in a location for a purpose, and whatever regulates them doesn't tend to like them being shut down."

Jason stroked his chin. "You keep using the word modern."

"Yes." Obadiah agreed. "Obviously, when we went out to look at the thing, you could see it was part of an ancient ruin. I mentioned it to Tess and Constable Hank when I went into town, and they both brought up the old stuff you'd been digging up in the woods. I mentioned the same to my friend, so he did some research specifically on older micro- dungeons. As it turns out, back before Illumitir was founded, micro-dungeons could be closed. They were usually connected to larger dungeons, normally by tunnels and passages that humans weren't allowed to enter, and would have common, outer-world monsters related to the monsters that you'd find inside."

Jason thought for a moment. "We did find a giant spider husk down inside the dungeon. It might have been some sort of insect hive, at least in part."

"I think that's a reasonable assumption." Obadiah shrugged. "Now comes the part about closing the things. There were a few ways to do it, depending largely on the dungeon itself. The first way, naturally, was to come to the

location within the dungeon where the micro-dungeon connected to the main passages. Here, you could seal it up, thus cutting off the source of evil, and the micro-dungeon would dry up for a time."

Jason grimaced. "I didn't see anything like that when I was inside, and we could only make it down to the fifth level."

"Most likely, there are more levels below that have stayed open, if you could dig past the collapsed level. That, though, seems like a lot of extra work." Obadiah crossed his arms. "The second way, which seems equally implausible, was to take whatever the monster being spewed from the dungeon happened to be repelled by and throw enough of it into the entrance. This only worked on monsters that had a repulsion condition, of course."

"The Juun bugs are repulsed by a type of rose, but none that aren't extinct," Jason lamented.

"Then that leaves us with the third option." Obadiah shrugged. "Every now and then, a mini-boss will emerge from the dungeon. Kill it, and the micro-dungeon will close permanently."

"Is there any way to track when that will happen?"

"With the right skills, yes." Obadiah nodded. "Of course, those skills have mostly been taken off the books since, you know, no one needs them anymore, but there are archaic skill shops in Illumitir that sell that sort of thing. At the time of the letter, my friend hadn't had a chance to look around for one, but he's planning on doing so within the next week. He'll buy something that will work and will transfer it to me, and then I'll reimburse him."

"I'll do it." Jason shook his head. "Enough people have been sacrificing themselves for me this year, and I'm certainly in your father's debt enough as it is."

"If members of a community keep track of who owes them what, that community is likely as not to collapse." Obadiah flashed an ornery sort of smile. "Besides, you can't

pay him back if you don't know who he is, and you can't pay me back if I don't tell you how much it was. Not to mention that it'll help everyone else in the area as well."

Jason raised his eyebrows at Obadiah. "You're just as bad as your father, you know that?"

"I taught him well!" Jeremiah grinned and climbed to his feet, patting his son on the shoulder. "In any case, I do hope that makes you feel a bit better, Jason."

"It does." Jason let out a long breath. "I just hope it works out."

"It will." Jeremiah sighed. "Don't you worry about a thing."

They sat there in silence for a few moments, and then Jeremiah clapped his hands. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm in the mood for a game. I brought a croquet set, as well as some beanbags. Anyone who wants to play, meet me out on the front lawn. We'll have fun in spite of these Juun bugs."

Jason grinned broadly, and the group of them moved out onto the front lawn, or at least what was left of it, and spent the rest of the day laughing and playing various forms of games. Chance had the most fun of all of them, though he mostly just prevented them from determining who won. Finally, everyone called it quits, and Jeremiah and his family set off back toward the Lazy-H. Daniel rode off toward Summer Shandy, leaving Jason and Tess alone. They walked back into the house, and Jason beamed.

"Today was... Nice, I think." He flashed a smile at her. "Not what I was expecting, but nice."

"Isn't that pretty much the definition of life?" Tess raised an eyebrow. "You know?"

"I suppose." Jason chuckled softly. "Thanks for coming out, in any case."

"Thanks for having me." She gave him a kiss, then started walking toward the door. As she reached it, she paused. "Besides, that new constable who's filling in for

Hank is... ahh... I now realize why none of us have ever bothered challenging Hank on his ways."

At that, Jason laughed. "I haven't been into town since he left."

"I suggest avoiding it as long as possible," Tess called over her shoulder. "See you later! Forty-four more days!"

With that, she was gone, and the door fell shut. Jason stared after her for a long while, sighing deeply. Indeed, it had been a good day, and he couldn't wait for many more like it to come.

Chapter Thirty-Eight - Sun

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 61st day of Spring! 30 days until the Spring Festival! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!! One month left to go!!! Umm... Right. Weather is clear, you should spend it outside if you can. Paulina told me to include something about a party out behind her store that you all should come to. She's not the type to try and trick people, but she had a smile on her face when she handed me the note, so I can't tell if it's actually a party or a trap, but I'm trying to be a good friend.]

Jason laughed as he read the note. Paulina had given him the same message the day before, except for the fact that it had included a bit more of an explanation. Paulina, Viola, and Theresa, over the previous several months of spring, had been preparing a bachelorette party for Tess. Jason had only been told a few of the details, and from the little he knew, Tess was going to love it. It was a far cry from any bachelorette parties that he had heard stories about, but... In his opinion, that wasn't exactly a bad thing, and it was certainly the most Tess-esque party that he could possibly have imagined.

He hustled out of bed before Chance had an opportunity to slather him with licks, then changed and bolted down the stairs as quickly as he could. His cookbook waved its pages in protest as he gulped down a bit of breakfast, but he gave it no response. With that, he hurried to the front door, threw on his boots, and dashed out into the sunlight.

The sun was just cresting over the horizon as he jogged up to Lady's stable. She nickered from within the

building, and he opened the door and slipped inside. Juun bugs buzzed and snapped at him, but he managed to keep them locked out. Lady looked at him as he quickly poured her some feed, and she slowly began to eat.

"Better hurry, girl," he whispered softly. "We've got to get moving." Hoofbeats echoed in the drive, and he patted her neck. "See you soon."

With that, he slipped back out into the drive, where Jeremiah and Obadiah were just riding up. They flashed broad smiles down at him, and Jason waved.

"Howdy, neighbor! You about ready?"

Jason nodded and grinned back. "Lady's eating her breakfast, and then I'll be there. How are things on your end?"

As if in reply, the first of Jeremiah's wagons began rumbling past, heading up toward Summer Shandy. Nearly all of Jeremiah's hired hands were involved and would be ferrying the citizens down to his ranch for the day. It was another Sunday, so few people were going to bother with doing any work, and most of the mothers and fathers were more than happy to have a day where they didn't have to worry about children or cooking or other types of housework. Jason waved at a few of them, and Jeremiah just beamed.

"They're going plenty fine," Jeremiah answered as the caravan rumbled on past. "Delilah is whipping up a storm. Mostly meat, of course, since the Juun bugs don't really seem to have a taste for the stuff, but I don't think too many people are going to complain about that. We'll have a proper feast, and there are plenty of games and stuff to keep people entertained all afternoon."

"She's going to be walking on clouds." Jason sighed in anticipation, then straightened. "Well, you should probably head on back. I'll be along just as soon as I can be."

"Ahh, we'll wait. It'll be fun to ride with you." Obadiah shrugged, then chuckled. "You know, what with everything

we've set up, I think I'd like to take a try after Tess, you know?"

"I think a lot of people will!" Jeremiah hooted. "And, since Delilah approved all of it, she can't stop us!"

Jason laughed at that last part, then stepped back into the stable. Lady had almost finished eating, and he began saddling her as she finished. The moment she was ready, he led her outside, locked the door, and mounted up. With that, the trio rode off down the road toward the Lazy-H.

When they arrived, they found Delilah and a handful of the hired hands setting out a long array of tables. They were laying out tablecloths, taping and pinning the cloths down, and setting out chairs as well. All throughout the yard, games were being set up. There was a game of ladder- toss, more than a few corn-hole courses, a croquet green, an axe-throwing range, an archery range, and even a giant catapult set up with a large barrel of gourds and small pumpkins. There was a tight lid on this latter container, of course, but it still looked like an enormous amount of fun. There were other forms of entertainment as well, but Jason could hardly take it all in as the trio dismounted, and Jeremiah's hands came and led them away.

As they stood there, Theresa came running out of the house and beamed at Jason. "Do you think she'll like it?"

"So far, yes." Jason nodded slowly, then flashed a small grin. "This isn't the main course, is it, though?"

"Not by a long shot." Theresa's smile nearly split her face, and she waved at him. "Come here!"

With that, she bolted off toward Jeremiah's working chutes. She climbed up a ladder onto the catwalks, and Jason climbed after her. As they stood on top, his jaw dropped, and he felt himself laughing out of sheer amazement.

It was an obstacle course, the likes of which had never been seen in Summer Shandy. Just below them was a winding series of pens and corridors usually used for

directing and herding cattle. Now, the usually dry ground had been soaked with water to turn it into a slimy sort of mud pit, while spring-loaded doors and pop-ups had been placed at strategic positions along the path to make it harder to traverse. On top of that, there were buckets filled with water balloons along the catwalks, for eager townsfolk to make use of.

Out the far side of the chutes, the structure opened into a large sorting pen. Here, a large jungle-gym had been set up, covered with monkey bars, rings on ropes, and a few interspersed poles, that rose to a height of nearly thirty feet. Out the other side of the jungle-gym was a sideways climbing wall that ran for another thirty or forty feet, with the handholds increasingly spread out. Near the end, the wall physically tilted over backward, so that anyone climbing along would be forced to cling upside-down. Out the other side of that was a net strung horizontally about ten feet off the ground, and on the other side of that was a small pen.

A pen that contained one of Jeremiah's bulls.

In that moment, given that Jeremiah had boasted about how the course had been approved by Delilah, he really wasn't sure if that final addition had been a late, clandestine addition, or if the farm wife had truly approved the use of an angry bull in a family obstacle course. Whatever the case, his eyes drank it all in, and Theresa squealed.

"Oh, she's going to love it, won't she?"

Jason could only nod and grin along with her. "Oh, she most certainly will."

It wasn't much longer before the wagons began to arrive. In the lead was Jeremiah's carriage, which had Paulina sitting in the front, with Tess sitting just next to her. She looked rather in shock, though she had a grin that spread from ear to ear, broadly proclaiming that she was

pleased. She lit up even more when she saw Jason, and he hopped down and ran over to her.

"Now, now!" Paulina stepped in between the two of them. "This is a bachelorette party, not just another date. Jason, you can go up to the grandstands. You can talk to her after the main event."

Jason pouted, but he nodded and slunk back to the catwalks. Tess was blindfolded and led to the start of the course, where Paulina and Viola stood next to her, preventing anyone from talking to her. Meanwhile, the excited townsfolk quickly ran over and climbed up on the catwalks, where they armed themselves with as many water balloons as they could hold. Finally, the time came ready, and Paulina whisked the blindfold off.

"All right, everyone!" Paulina called out. "You know your duty! Tess, go forth! Whatever you do, don't die!"

Tess laughed, grinning from ear-to-ear. She knelt, then at a nod from Paulina, she burst down the alley. The course was on, and it was down to see who would win: Tess, or the crowd.

Jason was amazed at just how fast Tess was, especially when she had no previous knowledge of the course. Her feet slipped through the mud, but she managed to keep her balance even as she went crashing around corners and past the spring-loaded doors. More than once she was knocked backward, her feet sliding through the slippery muck, but she never once fell. Water balloons came crashing down, but she shrugged it all off and kept pushing forward. Thirty seconds later, she made it through and leapt up onto the jungle gym, and with that, she was off. She looked almost like a monkey, leaping from point to point without ever coming near the ground, and she came crashing into the climbing wall with immense force. Still, though, she managed to catch hold, and she went swinging across as fast as she could go, though perhaps a bit slower than before. As she reached the end and swung up onto the

net, the bull at the end began to snort, and she let out a yell of excitement.

"A boss battle!"

"Just don't kill it!" Jeremiah called out. "I've got a herd of forty cows I need that thing to breed here in about a month!"

"Jeremiah!" Delilah's voice rang out above the crowd. "You did not-"

Jason nodded. Jeremiah hadn't asked permission. That didn't shock him, and it did seem to make Tess happy. She loped across the net, dancing as if she were a spider on a web, and she leapt down into the pen. For a moment, she stood before the creature, and it snorted and pawed the ground. Jason's heart froze, then, for just a moment. It had to be at least two thousand pounds of solid muscle, and without hesitating an instant, it came charging straight at Tess.

Tess didn't hesitate, either. Instead, she nimbly stepped to the side, caught hold of one of its horns, and swung up onto its back. There, she straddled the beast and began to ride it as it leapt and bucked, trying to dislodge her. She let out a whoop of excitement, then threw herself forward as it tried to get rid of her. Using the momentum of the bull, she was launched up into the air and came sailing over the edge of the pen, where she landed firmly and took a deep bow. Jason jumped off the catwalk and went running over to her. He arrived at the same time as Paulina, and Tess simply beamed.

"That... That was wonderful." She wrapped Jason and Paulina in a muddy hug, then turned to Paulina. "You know me so well."

"Just know that when it comes my turn, I do not want anything even remotely like this."

"Trust me, I know." Tess laughed, then sighed as someone else began to try the course. Jason could only assume that it was Jeremiah, though he couldn't quite see

at that point. "This is just so incredible. Obstacles, danger, the town... It's everyone and everything I love. I can't imagine anything better." After a moment, though, she frowned. "That said, it does remind me that I still haven't found anyone to replace me as Guildmaster. I've asked my brother, but he's already more than ready to head back south, and no one else has made it through-"

"Well, you are not using today as a workday." Paulina chided. "You are going to sit back, have fun, and-"

An excited gasp came from the crowd. Jason turned to see Obadiah, not Jeremiah, winging his way through the jungle-gym. He wasn't quite as nimble as Tess, but he wasn't half-bad, either. When he reached the end, he jumped onto the climbing wall and skittered along just as well as Tess had done. Tess's jaw dropped, and Jason felt a grin spreading across his face.

When Obadiah reached the end of the climbing wall, instead of climbing up on top of the net, he began to swing like a monkey along underneath of it. By this time, his legs hadn't been used for support since leaving the mud, and Jason imagined that they had to be burning like crazy. Still, though, on he went. A moment later, he reached the end of the net and swung himself into the pen.

The bull, obviously recognizing the young man, launched itself at him with a fury. Obadiah just laughed and danced out of the way, then grabbed a rope that had been hanging on the fence. He tied a lasso even as the bull snorted and charged him again, then sidestepped the beast and roped one of the bull's hind legs. It snorted and lurched away, but, apparently, Obadiah's impossibly fast hands had also tied the other end of the rope to one of the posts of the pen. It held it fast, and as the bull struggled to escape, Obadiah leapt around to the other side and grabbed hold of the bull's horns. Off-balance, he was able to slam it to the ground a moment later, then leapt back and climbed over the fence in a rush before the bull could recover and gore

him. The crowd cheered, and Jason, Tess, and Paulina stared at him, rather awestruck.

"Ahh... Obadiah?" Tess crossed her arms. "Any chance you want to stick around Summer Shandy? No family, wife or kids or anything that you'd be leaving up in Illumitir?"

Obadiah just shook his head. "No family up there, nope. I've honestly been considering coming back down here for a while, but Dad doesn't want to spend the money on stronger fences to raise the really fun animals."

"So, you're concerned about the challenge?"

Obadiah shrugged. "I guess."

"Want to be Guildmaster of the Warriors' Guild here in

Summer Shandy?"

Obadiah blinked and thought about it for a moment.

"How long do I have to think about it?"

"How about this? If you don't want the job, you have

to find someone better by the time I get married."

"That sounds like a deal." Obadiah held out his hand,

which Tess shook. "Now let's party!"

Tess glanced at Paulina, who rolled her eyes. "Yes, you

can go off with Jason."

Tess grabbed Jason's hand, and they raced off to enjoy

the day. Jason had to admit that as far as parties went, it was one of the best he had ever had the privilege of joining. There was a nearly endless supply of food, there were more games than he could count, and the company was impeccable. He even tried the obstacle course himself, though he only succeeded in falling flat on his face. Jeremiah didn't do a lot better, though he seemed to consider the success of his son to be his own success, for whatever that was worth.

By the end of the day, they were all exhausted and slowly rode home as wagons bussed everyone back into Summer Shandy. Tess sighed deeply as they reached Jason's farm, and she turned to gaze at him longingly.

"I know you weren't the one who put it all together, but thank you," she sighed. "I won't soon forget this day."

Jason gave her a wave, and she turned and rode off toward Summer Shandy. He watched her receding into the distance, then took a deep breath and turned toward his own farm. The house was so dark, so empty... But even as that thought slipped through his head, a smile rose to counter it.

That wasn't going to be the case for long.

One more month.

And then... And then, everything would come

together.

Chapter Thirty-Nine - Changes

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 76th day of Spring! 15 days until the Spring Festival! It's looking to be a clear day today, though there's a storm on the horizon. That said, all the booming you'll be hearing today isn't from the storm! All questions may be addressed to Tess. I suggest not asking the constable. He doesn't exactly approve of what we're doing, but he also doesn't get these messages, so... I don't know that that changes anything, but at least he won't see this!]

Jason chuckled and rolled out of bed, then slowly rose. Chance was nowhere to be seen, but at least today, that was to be expected. There were two things happening that day, either of which could have easily taken up all his time, and he would have been shocked if someone involved in one or the other wasn't waiting for him at his front door. He changed quickly into a tunic, then bolted down the stairs and into the living room. Sure enough, Chance was already scratching at the door, and he pulled it open to allow Constable Hank to step inside.

"You're back!" Jason flashed a grin, even though he had known for some time that it was Hank's plan to return that day. "How was your trip?"

"Long," Hank muttered. Still, though, he had a smile on his face, and if it wasn't Jason's imagination, he was more than a little tanner than he had been when he left. "To be fair, I took a little time to myself."

"Did you figure everything out?" Jason asked, hoping beyond hope that he knew what the answer would be.

"You just wait." Hank crossed his arms. "Go get some-"

"Howdy, neighbor!" Jeremiah's voice boomed through the air, and Chance nearly went wild as Jeremiah came stomping inside. Obadiah followed him, and behind him came Weatherhand, along with a handful of Jeremiah's other hired hands. They carried baskets of food, and Hank looked at them in confusion. "Hope we have enough food! Ahh, who am I kidding? Delilah always sends way too much food. We'll be fine. Hank, you want something to eat? If it's healthy, I probably didn't bring it."

"Then, yes, I'm starving," Hank answered. "However-"

"Jason!" Lacy's shrill voice tore through the room as she came stomping inside, followed by Nathanial, Killian, and his father. His father's wheelchair was being pushed by Killian, who looked more than a little winded by the walk. "You'd better have a good reason for calling us out here this early!"

"I didn't- Oh, never mind." Jason sighed and glanced at Hank. "Is everything in order?"

Jeremiah, in the other room, misunderstood who Jason was speaking to. "It will be in just a minute! Everyone, sit down!"

"Jason, why are there a dozen cannons sitting outside your house?" Lacy demanded. "You aren't planning a rebellion, are you?"

"No, ma'am, that's me!" Jeremiah answered again.

"Jason! Not only do you do everything else, but you're joining a militia? Oh, I knew we never should have let you go!"

"Not a militia!" Jeremiah called out again. Jason breathed a sigh of relief, but only for a moment. "Call it a peasant army; that sounds a bit more rustic and justifiable."

"Dad, you are never going to convince mom to let you lead a rebellion against Illumitir." Obadiah sighed.

"You're rebelling against Illumitir?" Lacy squeaked. "So that's your angle? Make sure that the laws don't apply to you? Why, I never-"

"Everybody, quiet!" Jason hollered.

The house fell silent, and Jason took a deep breath. "Mom, the cannons are for my bachelor party. We're

combining a bit of a work project with the party, partly because we're running out of time before the wedding, and partly because it's just going to be a ton of fun."

Lacy sniffed. "You need cannons to farm?"

"Loads of them!" Jeremiah answered.

Lacy sniffed again and sat back a bit, and for the first

time that conversation, Jason appreciated Jeremiah's input. He waited a moment, then continued.

"Now, the reason that you're here is because Hank has just got back into town from Illumitir, and I think he has good news. That's not to say that you can't come join the party, but..." Jason looked to his friend for help. "Hank?"

Hank inclined his head and stepped forward, then rubbed his palms together.

"Well, I... I know Jason's talked to you, but I also know that not a whole lot of that has been happening. The long and the short of it is that the miscommunication was not his fault; it was my fault. You know that already, but I hope that hearing it from my own lips will help. That said, since it was my doing that caused the strife, I've done what I can to end it." He turned to Jason's father, then pulled a folder from his inventory and passed it to him. "Here. It's long, and it's largely all written in legalese, but I can translate if you want."

"Please do," Lacy snapped. "I suppose this is a counter-claim that-"

"A Settlement in the Hunter Case!" Jason's father gasped as he flipped open the folder. "This... This is a re- evaluation of my employment termination!"

Lacy's jaw dropped, and Hank nodded.

"As a constable, I have full jurisdiction in all territories under the control of Illumitir, if the case has already been opened. I started poking my nose around a bit, and it wasn't

hard to uncover the paper trail that had been left by those folks forging all the safety documents," Hank revealed. "Now, what even you didn't know was that it wasn't just the people underneath you who were doing it. A good portion of the upper management was involved, as well. You were promoted with the sole intention of making you a 'fall guy,' so to speak. According to some internal letters I found, they didn't expect you to actually be half-decent at the job, so when you started to excel and move toward the next rung of the ladder, they... Well, they made you literally fall. I don't know if it'll make you feel better or worse, but they intended to kill you."

"It certainly makes me feel luckier," Jason's father muttered.

"Well, you can now count yourself among the luckiest." Hank grinned. "Following a successful investigation, you were given your old position back, all corrupt position-holders were purged, and then the empty positions were filled. You are now..." He stepped forward and flipped to the final page of the document. "Second in command of the entire company. Your wage should be something like twenty times your previous salary, though in fairness, that may drop a bit. They're still investigating other parts of the company, so if any wage-skimming is detected, they'll be docking your salary to send back to wherever it was originally supposed to be."

"I... I think I can live with that." Jason's father stammered. "You did all of this for us?"

"Jason prodded me a bit." Hank shrugged.

Jason sighed. "I just... Mom, I really didn't mean to upset you. I know the whole story now, and I know how much stress must have been put on you. Are... Are we good now?"

Lacy looked down, then burst out sobbing. Jason walked up and put his arms around her. Neither of them spoke, and indeed, no one spoke again in the house for

quite some time. Much passed between Jason and his mother during that time, emotions and understandings that words can't possibly capture. Finally, though, they pulled apart, and his mother nodded.

"Yeah. We're good."

"Great!" Jeremiah clapped his hands, shattering the peace. "In that case, let's get this party started! I'm hungry, and we still have a dungeon to attack!"

At that, Jason's mother sat bolt upright. "A dungeon?"

"Yeah!" Jeremiah grinned. "Oh, it's been quite the problem this last year. Hey, everyone else is showing up, too!"

Jason glanced at the door, where Tess and Daniel were just walking inside. Daniel bumped the wall and knocked down a picture frame, and Jason groaned.

"Sorry, Daniel! I'll get that-"

"We can do it later." Jason waved his hands. "Let's just eat and get on with it!"

"That's my boy!" Jeremiah called out, then glanced at Jason's father. "Well, your boy. I'm just the best man, so... I don't know. Let's eat!"

A late breakfast was quickly distributed, which everyone ate in joy and excitement. When they finished, everyone made their way outside, and Jason found himself gazing upon no fewer than two dozen cannons, all so brilliantly polished that he could see himself in them.

"You'll never forget this, Jason!" Jeremiah grinned as his horde of hired men began hitching their horses back up to the cannons. "All units, charge when ready!"

Jason was soon mounted up on Lady, and two dozen cannons and almost a dozen more mounted individuals set out across the prairie. Jason's family rode in a wagon provided by Jeremiah. His mother in particular had her hand over her mouth the whole time, but his father had a grin wider than anything Jason had seen from him in quite a long time. Soon enough, they came rumbling over the final hill

and within sight of the mini-dungeon, and the whole company came to a halt.

"All right, men!" Jeremiah called out. "We don't exactly know what the mini-boss will look like, or how big it will actually be, so let's make sure we're ready! I want a dozen of the cannons on this side of the slope, and a dozen more on the other side! Two men per cannon! If you're not on a cannon, take a rifle and get ready to shoot! If your name is Tess or Daniel, you're our backup in case things go horribly wrong. If your name is Obadiah, pay close attention to Tess and Daniel so you can learn how to do warrior things for your new job."

"I haven't decided to take it yet, Dad!"

"Yeah, but we all know you will." Jeremiah snorted. "Everyone, in position!"

The cannons were quickly wheeled into place. Jason stood by, watching. After a moment, though, Jeremiah took one of the cannons down into the ravine and set it up below the mini-dungeon (down far enough not to be downrange of any of the other cannons). It was by far the shiniest of all, as if it had just come off the line. Jeremiah himself stood behind that one and waved for Jason to come over. Confused, Jason did so.

"This is your bachelor party. There's not a chance in Summer Shandy that I'm not letting you fire the first shot." Jeremiah grinned. "For that matter, say hello to your new cannon. Your first piece of heavy ordinance!"

Jason's eyes grew wide. "You mean-"

"Call it an early wedding present!"

Jason's grin grew as wide as his eyes, and high up on

the slope, Tess let out a whoop of excitement.

"Now that attitude is going to serve you well on the

farm." Jeremiah chuckled. "For that matter, you'll probably have to be the one holding her back. Ahh, you'll figure it out. Obadiah! Let 'er rip!"

Jason didn't have a chance to look at his family to see how they were enjoying things, as Obadiah went jogging down the slope and stood before the gaping hole. Juun bugs buzzed forth, whirring around him, and Obadiah held out his hands.

"Activate Skill: Unveil Mini-Boss!"

There was a flash of light from within the mini- dungeon, as if a bomb had gone off deep within the ground, and Obadiah turned and raced past Jason as fast as his legs would carry him. There was a pause, and the earth began to rumble. The stone rattled and shook, and Jason's legs began to quake. He had seen what a horde of monsters could do outside a dungeon once before, and it had not been pretty. What, then, would this look like? What would he be facing? What-

His questions were all answered as a thick plume of black smoke poured out of the mini-dungeon. There came one final rumble, and a large Juun bug, bigger than any he had seen before, came flying out. Of course... That really wasn't saying much, given that the largest Juun bug he had yet to see on his farm was about three inches long. This one was a full two feet long, and it came to rest on top of the mini-dungeon, where it started cleaning its enormous, multi- faceted eyes with its forearms.

[Arch-Juun Bug. Health: 10]

Jason glanced at Tess. "How much is 10 health?"

Tess shrugged. "I think most crabgrasses have about

5."

Jeremiah laughed. "Well, then, Jason, I guess this is

the most overkill this country has ever seen. Fire at will!" Jason laughed, then looked down the barrel of the cannon, shifting it slightly to the side. There was a small hiss

as the fuse burned down, and Jason plugged his ears. KA-BOOM!!!

The blast shook the air, and smoke poured from the barrel of his new weapon. The tiny Juun bug vanished in a

splatter of green bug juice, and the sound of the shot slowly resounded away, allowing the prairie to fall silent.

[Mini-boss defeated!]

[Mini-Dungeon closed!]

[Reward: 300 Winter Shandy Script, 30 Lonesome

Rose seeds, 3 emeralds, 1 breastplate, 1 Winter Shandy sword, and a simple ring]

Jason blinked in surprise. For a moment, no one spoke. Finally, Jeremiah cupped his hands around his mouth.

"Well, that was easy! I'm happy it's done, but I didn't come out here with twenty-four cannons just to let twenty- three of them sit around useless. Besides, everyone knows that it's dangerous to haul around a loaded cannon! Everyone, set your sights on that thing, and reduce it to rubble! Fire at will!"

His hired men needed no encouragement. Twenty- three fuses were lit, and within the span of about five seconds, all twenty-three of them exploded with just as much force as the original. The noise was thunderously loud, and Jason clapped his hands over his ears. After the initial blast, a second, more concussive blast thunked him in the chest, and he grimaced. Smoke rolled down from the hilltop, and the small opening was blasted into slivers of stone. The whole thing crumbled into the pit, and the landscape again fell silent.

Jason stared at it for a moment, then let out a whoop. "That was... amazing!"

"I'll say!" Jeremiah grinned and punched the air. "And Delilah says that cannons aren't fun."

Jason laughed, then slowly marched up the hill to where his family was standing. His father had a grin like a cat, as did his brother, though his mother had a somewhat more disapproving smile.

"It seems like you have quite a community here." She nodded at him.

Jason sighed. "I... I really do."

"I'm truly sorry, Jason. For everything." She let out a long breath. "You do have a lovely town here." Slowly, she turned back to look off toward the distant Summer Shandy. "Now... Now, I think I'm going to go try and enjoy it for the few days left until your wedding.

Chapter Forty - End of Volume 3

[The alarm went off, it was 6 AM. Jason was ready to get to work around the farm. He had 39 starting actions.]

[Tess's Almanac: 91st day of Spring! 0 days until the Spring Festival! Umm... Seriously, if any of you guys don't know how serious of a day this is, you don't really pay attention to anything happening in this town. Be at Paulina's warehouse at eleven o'clock precisely!]

Jason turned off his alarm, though by that point, he was already awake. For that matter, he had been awake for no little time. His house was a hubbub of activity, that was for certain. He was still in his room, standing before a mirror, as he tried again and again to straighten his tie. Jeremiah stepped up beside him, wearing a matching suit, and gave it a sharp twist.

"There you go." Jeremiah flashed him a knowing smile. "Oh, Jason, you look so wonderful."

Jason took a long, deep breath, and let it out slowly. "I can't believe it's actually here. The day of the wedding. You know?"

"Yeah." Jeremiah chuckled. "Seems like only yesterday you were first riding into town."

"Tomorrow, it will have been three years."

"How the time flies." Jeremiah shook his head. "Well, come on. Time's running short, whether you think it is or not."

Jason nodded as Jeremiah started walking toward the door. He found his own feet unable to move, though, and a strange knot worked itself up inside his stomach.

"Jeremiah?" He looked up at his friend. "I... I've been looking forward to this for so long, I... What if I'm not ready?

What if I can't be a proper husband to Tess, or a good father, or-"

"You just let time worry about that." Jeremiah turned and put a hand on Jason's shoulder. "You're a good man, Jason. Better than most, and I'm not just trying to flatter you. Now, we need to-"

A crash echoed from down below.

"Jason, I just broke your fireplace!"

Jason blinked. "How do you break a fireplace?" he

called back down.

"See, I have this skill called [Automatic Kindling] that

makes piles of tinder burst into flame when I-"

"Stop wasting time worrying about damage and get

moving." Jeremiah started to pull Jason down the stairs. "We've got plenty to do!"

Jason allowed himself to be pulled along, even as a grin split his face from ear to ear. His wedding party filled the house, getting themselves ready: Jeremiah, his best man, followed by Daniel, Killian, and Nathanial. It was an odd assortment, to be sure, but Jason could hardly complain. They were all nearly ready (though Daniel seemed to be struggling a bit with the concept of a tie - he wasn't used to something being placed around the neck of someone that wasn't being used to strangle them), and soon enough, they swept out the door. Though they hadn't yet put on their jackets, they all had on their dress shirts, each of which was a deep blue. Jeremiah had a carriage ready, and they soon climbed aboard and rode off toward Summer Shandy.

It was around 7:30 when they drove up to the town square. Paulina and Theresa rushed in and out of the Guild Hall, dressed in their yellow bridesmaid outfits, but neither of them allowed Jason anywhere close. He waved at them, and they at least waved back, but otherwise, they were quite focused. Soon enough, Jason was taken into the

warehouse, where he gaped in awe at the work that had been done.

Pews filled the room, with a single aisle down the center. Streamers of blue and yellow hung from the walls, forming elaborate flower petal designs. At the far end, there was a small stage, with a podium for Hank's notes. Hank already stood there, dressed in a dapper suit that looked more than a little out-of-place on him. He scratched at his neck, tugging at the collar, but made no move to actually take it off. He beamed as Jason walked up, and Jason quickly mounted the stage and turned to look at the entrance. In just a few short hours, the place would be full. His heart gave a flutter, and he took a deep breath.

"You're gonna do great." Hank glanced at him. "I, on the other hand, am going to struggle a good deal. All you have to do is stand there and repeat after me."

Jason chuckled and shook his head, then let out a puff of air. "What do I do now?"

"Absolutely nothing." Jeremiah grinned. "You've got the easy job."

Jason raised his eyebrows at him. "I thought you said there was lots to do!"

"There is! For Tess," Jeremiah clarified. "That said, if you weren't here, she'd be terrified that some horrible accident had befallen you. You being here is doing something, and since you have a long time to be here, there is a lot for you to do, so... really..."

Jason tittered at him, and Jeremiah laughed and walked back out the door. "See you in a few hours!"

Jason sighed, and Hank nodded at a chair near the back of the stage. "I suggest you wait. This could take a while."

There was nothing Jason could do but sit down and wait. Within an hour, people started coming inside and taking their places. A number of very tall individuals who looked distinctly like Jeremiah all filed inside, presumably

the rest of his family. More of Jason's family, his aunts and uncles and other relatives, all came inside as well. Others filed in alongside them, mostly townsfolk, but also a handful of warriors from Tess's guild. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Hank motioned for Jason to stand. He did so, and as he walked to stand next to Hank, a blast of music echoed through the room.

He wasn't quite sure what the tune was, though in retrospect, it could have been his favorite song in the world, and he wouldn't have given the music a single thought. The doors at the back opened, and Jeremiah came striding inside, leading Jason's mother by the arm. He seated her in the front row, then came up to stand next to Jason, giving him a wide grin as he did so. Next came Paulina, pushing Jason's father's wheelchair. She came up to stand on the opposite side of Hank, her dress gleaming in the light. Nathanial was led in next by Theresa, who took his place next to his two parents. After that came Daniel, who was followed by Viola and Killian marching arm-in arm. As the last of the wedding party took their places, the music switched to the familiar tune that everyone knew, and it grew to a resounding level.

Tess appeared at the back of the hall, all by herself, and Jason's jaw dropped. He had seen her in some stunning outfits before, but never something so magnificent. A dress made of white gold hung down from her shoulders, plaited around her torso but falling into chainmail as it hung down to the floor. It was studded with diamonds, emeralds, and sapphires, and it gleamed in the sunlight. Not a single part of it didn't shimmer, and beams of light were cast all around, dappling the ceiling. Her hair was plaited behind her head and was adorned in a long braid, which itself was studded with silver hairpins and precious gemstones. All of it, though, paled in comparison with her face.

A veil made of impossibly thin silver mesh hung down over her face, as if made by the hands of fairies instead of

men. Still, though, her face shone through it. Not a single line of worry, not a single stroke of anger, not a single ounce of anything except pure happiness radiated from her face. Her eyes were wide and bright, and her smile inviting. She blushed crimson as Jason looked down upon her, and he felt a tear trickling down his face. Of course, he did his best to stop crying, but that only made his tears come harder. Jeremiah, always at the ready, quickly passed him a handkerchief, and he quickly mopped his eyes before stuffing the cloth into his pocket.

Tess moved forward, slowly but surely, and soon stood before Hank. The music came to a stop, and the officiant leaned over the podium.

"Who gives this woman to be married to this man?"

There was a sharp intake of breath across the audience, but Jason didn't flinch. It was, after all, one of the many things that he and Tess had talked through.

"I have no parents, living or dead, who willingly hold a claim over me," Tess answered. "That said, I have a brother, who, for all else he may be, has watched over me as best he possibly could. Daniel, do you lend your permission to this union?"

This was the one wild card in the whole ordeal. It hadn't taken Jason and Tess long to realize that trying to make Daniel stick to a script was a futile gesture. Daniel stepped forward, and as Jason glanced at him, he saw tears trickling down his face.

"Sis, I... Oh, this isn't the place for speeches, but you know I do!"

With that, Daniel stepped back into line, and Tess slowly mounted the stage. She soon stood beside Hank, and he coughed.

"Welcome, one and all, to the marriage of Jason Hunter and Tess of the Warriors' Guild. Some of you know them well, and some of you are just now meeting them

together. As the constable here for the past... Oh, Tess, you know I've been around here longer than that."

"Stick to the script," Tess hissed.

"Then give me a script that's accurate," Hank hissed back, then sighed and started reading again. "As the constable here for the past seven years, I've known Tess and Jason both since they got here. I've seen a lot of people get married, and I've known a lot of couples, and I can say that I'm just as happy to see these two married as-"

Hank froze again, and Jason glared at him. "What now?"

"I haven't been as close to anyone else, same as you two. You know I'm more excited to see you guys married than anyone else!"

"Okay, but you can't say that!" Tess snapped. "At least not loud enough for people to hear!"

Jason was beginning to understand why Tess had protested so much at having Hank officiate. Still, though, it was sweet, and Hank soon pulled himself together. He made it through the rest of the introduction with only two more deviations from the main script, then slowly turned to Jason and Tess.

"Now comes the declaration of intent." Hank took a shuddering breath. "Jason, do you take Tess to be your lawfully wedded wife? Do you promise to be faithful to her in good times and bad, in sickness and in health, to love and to honor her all the days of your life?"

Jason's voice barely emerged as a whisper. As he looked across at Tess, their eyes locked, and he knew that he would never again be able to look away from them.

"I do."

Hank then turned to Tess.

"Tess, do you take Jason to be your lawfully wedded

husband? Do you promise to be faithful to him in good times and bad, in sickness and in health, to love and to honor him all the days of your life?"

A tear trickled down Tess's face. "Yes."

"Then it now stands as time for the exchange of rings."

Tess turned to Paulina, her dress clinking a bit, and Jason felt a flash of excitement. A moment later, she turned back, holding out a small metal band. Jason extended his hand, and Tess slipped it onto his left ring finger. It was a silver-red color, and he glanced up at her.

"It's made from rust that I scraped off your planter, plow, and harvester," she whispered. "I had a friend who smelted it down for me. He had to use a bit of gold, too, just to stick it together."

Jason couldn't keep a smile from his face. He turned to Jeremiah, who dutifully presented him with the small ring for Tess. Jason took it out, whistling softly at its beauty.

It was made from two components: the simple band that he had gotten out of the micro-dungeon, and the diamond that he had collected while exploring the older dungeon with Tess. He held it out and placed it on her finger, and her eyes sparkled. She seemed to already know what it was, and he beamed with excitement.

"If that's all said and done, by the power invested in me by the Constables' Guild in Illumitir, I pronounce you husband and wife! You may now kiss the bride!"

Jason reached out and pushed back the veil from Tess's face, then leaned in and kissed her passionately. The crowd exploded into riotous cheers, and Jason pulled her into an embrace. After a moment, they pulled apart, and Hank clapped his hands to calm the crowd down.

"All right, all right! All of you from town, you know how festival days work! All of you from out of town, you're in for a treat!" He lowered his voice for a moment. "Oh, and you newlyweds, don't forget to come back here after the chaos dies down a bit. We do have a good bit of paperwork to get signed. Witnesses, and all that. Just don't want you to miss

it." With that, he raised his voice once more. "May I present to you, Mister and Missus Jason Hunter!"

The music boomed through the room, even louder than before, and Jason and Tess rushed forward, leaping off the edge of the stage. As soon as they landed, they ran out, racing down the aisle and out into the sunlight. The room exploded into applause, and Jason grinned and glanced at Tess.

"Well, that didn't work out quite as badly as we thought it might. Hank actually turned out-"

"Jason, we just walked out the door three seconds ago," Tess shushed him. "Enjoy the moment. We'll talk about it tomorrow."

Jason inclined his head. "Tomorrow, then."

They soon drew to a stop and turned to face the crowd as everyone poured out to enjoy the day. Jason's head whirled in the chaos, but still, he couldn't stop smiling.

It felt as if so much of his life had come together, as if everything that he had been working toward since he arrived in Summer Shandy had fulfilled itself. Sure, there were still problems to face. Daniel still hadn't told Tess about her father, and the farm was going to take a hot minute to recover from the year of Juun bug desolation. That said... well... All told, all of that, he was certain enough could wait for the next day. Maybe for a few days down the line.

He was home.

He was married!

Everything beyond that, as important as it may or

may not have seemed at any other point, just didn't hold the same weight anymore. Maybe, in some strange way, now that he was married... It never would, again. After all, what could marriage be but unending bliss and perfect harmony?