Melia the Magnificent

Mornings in Whispershade were fascinating to Melia. She woke up early and refreshed after her seafood feast last night, but seeing the stars in the sky gave her a hankering for seconds. Despite not typically being considered a breakfast food by…anybody, Melia decided to take another crack at the [Kraken]. She pulled out a single tentacle, which was good for a bite in her real form but could feed a whole host of gnomes. She didn’t want anything too fancy, so she cut it up into tiny strips and fried them with rice and egg. The rest of the camp stirred as she sat around a well-tended fire and a sizzling frying pan.

“Ugh,” Brandy said, emerging from the tent with a miraculous case of bed hair. “What time is it?”

“According to the sky?” Melia giggled. “About 12:30 am.”

Brandy froze mid-yawn, craned her neck upward to stare at the stars, but quickly shook her head.

“Nice. You got me,” she chuckled. “Any idea what time it really is?”

“Eh, maybe 7? 7:30? Not too sure.”

“Close enough,” Brandy said, lowering herself to sit on a nearby log. “What’s for breakfast? Something smells amazing.”

“Just some leftovers,” Melia said with a cheesy grin. “[Krak-lin’ Fried Rice]!”

​

“That sounds like a trap,” Brandy sighed, but she shamelessly accepted a plate. “Mmmmohhhh god, that’s delicious,” she moaned, taking a huge bite. “Melia, nobody’s ever allowed to cook ever again, ever. You just keep making food and I’ll eat it.”

“Yeah, and then you’ll be the [Saint Who’s Too Fat To Move],” Jessica sassed, taking a seat next to Brandy. She reached forward without asking, but Melia already had a plate ready for her. She spared the small chunks of [Kraken Meat] a tiny glance before shoveling a forkful into her face.

“Mph,” she agreed, nodding her head while pointing her fork at her plate. “I’m with you. I don't care if you have to roll me away; this is too good.”

“What else do you expect from a dish using legendary ingredients from a [World Boss]?” Ellesea asked with a sigh. She received her plate with thanks, but stared at it with a face full of mixed emotions. “I almost wish I didn’t know what I was eating.”

“I can make you something else if you want?” Melia asked timidly. She never considered how her friends might feel, eating a [Kraken]. To her, it was just another mark on an ever-growing list of ingredients. Sure, it was rare, and her friends would never be able to kill one on their own, but after the fact, it was simply tasty food, right?

With a penchant for adding special effects to her dishes?

Not something to have an existential crisis over.

In fact, Melia did the world a service! It would take at least a few weeks for the monster to respawn, so shipping lanes and fishing spots would be clear! No need to worry about sailing out into the blue and getting owned by a squid! People should be happy to eat her [Kalamari] and [Krak-lin’ Fried Rice]!

Except for Al.

“Morning,” the [Paladin] said, emerging from his tent. “Do we have any coffee?”

Turns out, he was very mildly allergic. Not life-threatening in any way, but enough to give him a sore throat and a smoker’s cough. He also simply didn’t like the texture.

Melia never considered allergies in her fantasy game, and she was incredibly embarrassed when he declined to eat her dinner last night. Of course, she instantly made it up to him by cooking something else, and she had a classic plate of [Bacon and Eggs] ready for him by the time he sat down.

“Thank you,” he said with a grateful smile, taking a plate and a mug that was offered to him. Al raised the cup to his mouth, but he didn’t take a sip. Instead, he was content to close his eyes and inhale deeply, letting the aroma of the coffee infuse his spirit.

Y’cennia was the last one out, stumbling from her tent like an overworked office lady two weeks deep into crunch time. Since she hadn’t been ultra-focused on her [Alchemy] as much in the last week or so, she decided to study last night’s feast. Melia made plenty of it, and when she saw Y’cennia trying to deconstruct it, she left the catgirl with plenty of additional ingredients to mess with.

The poor thing must have stayed up too late.

“Fooooood,” she groaned like a far-too-articulate zombie, shuffling her way toward the campfire. Alastair helped her onto the log and prevented her from faceplanting into the firepit, while Melia slid breakfast in front of her. Y’cennia’s nose twitched and her ears shot up straight, even if her eyes didn’t look completely focused. Her head tilted instinctively down…and she flopped forward, landing face-first into her dish with a wet plop.

Her friends all gave her curious looks and raised eyebrows, but nobody moved to help her. Not even Al, who chuckled and patted her on the back before taking a swig of his coffee and returning to his eggs. After several seconds of inactivity, Y’cennia’s mouth began moving and a snuffling sort of sound worked its way through the food, suggesting she was eating.

Or suffocating.

But if it was the latter, Melia was certain the catgirl was going out in a blissful high.

The group ate in silence for a while, and after Y’cennia resurfaced and started waking up, it finally dawned on her what she’d done. She went bright pink, but before she could scurry away to clean the rice from her face, L’menia swooped in with a towel and cleaned her up, all while cooing over her.

Mortified, Y’cennia was only free from her frozen state when Melia handed her a second plate. The girl’s love of seafood was second to none, and her stomach would not allow a second plate to go to waste.

A fact Y’cennia was clearly torn in two about.

She cleaned her second plate, not letting a single grain of rice escape her keen sight, and groaned audibly as she rubbed her swollen belly. Her simpering, purr-like noises betrayed her happiness, but her face spoke of vexation.

“Ughh,” she complained loudly. “Why does seafood have to taste so yarrr?”

Her eyes went wide as she slapped a hand over her mouth, Al spit out a little bit of coffee, and Jessica fell off the log laughing. Ellesea groaned and said it best.

“Oh no,” she wailed. “It’s starting.”

That effect [Kraken Meat] liked to add to Melia’s cooked dishes?

​

[Plundarrrr of the Depths]

​

Talk like a Pirate. Duration: 6hrs.

​

Yarrrr, get yer hands off me booty or ye’ll be walkin’ the plank.

​

Last night, the first thing everyone did was inspect the dishes as Melia cooked them. To nobody’s surprise, they were all 5-star quality, but it was unusual to see a dish reach legendary status. Most of Melia’s food was epic, or in the case of the holy avocado, divine. They were also slightly concerned that it came packaged with an effect, but since Melia didn’t think it was dangerous, nobody said anything.

Which was why it took until halfway through dinner for them to find out what it did.

As [Sunrise] began offering up their thanks and asking for seconds, they instantly keyed into a new, bizarre speech pattern. Every time they spoke, one of their words had a chance to come out…changed. Seemingly at random and smoothed over to flow naturally out of their mouths without even realizing they were doing it, every now and again, somebody would say the word: yarrr.

Their voice would change pitch and cadence slightly to take on the comical, classic piratey tone, but it wasn’t forced or unnatural. It was as if the speakers themselves had chosen to replace that word with yarrr all along.

It wasn’t every sentence, or even every time they opened their mouths. But it happened often enough to become noticeable, even if the person talking wasn’t the one to spot it. And it also didn’t necessarily choose a particular word to replace, either: it could be the first word of a sentence, an adjective, or a verb. It might not technically be a word at all, as Ellesea found when she lay down with a sigh.

Except, instead of a content “ahhhh,” what escaped her lips was a soothing “yarrr.”

Though it did have a penchant for replacing swear words, Melia observed, after Jessica noticed a trend. Whatever governed the speech change had a slightly higher chance of yarrr-ing a swear than anything else. Jessica spent the rest of the evening cussing Al out.

​

“Oh, this is rich!” Jessica cackled. “We’ve got 6 whole hours yarrr this buff, and the day’s barely started! This is going to be awesome!”

“Is that what you call it?” Al asked with a slightly bemused grin. Melia could see through his stoicism; she knew he had been laughing last night, too.

“Yup!” Melia cheered. “And with that, I think it’s time we tackled the valley!”

“You still haven’t told us what’s in store for us,” Ellesea said. “Don’t you think we ought to know?”

“Oh, definitely,” Melia said, becoming more serious. She turned and stared waaay up at her [Retainers]. “But first…Lethia? Layalee? Can you guys make sure the camp gets taken down?”

“Yarrr, Mistress,” Lethia said primly, earning a bubbly chuckle from Layalee.

“So,” Melia turned back to the group as the [Retainers] got to work in the background, “We’re about to enter the Screeching Hollow. Have you ever heard of it?”

Jessica merely shrugged and Alastair frowned. As the main navigator, he had all the maps memorized. He shook his head.

“I thought not,” Melia said. “It isn’t a place most people would travel to. If I remember correctly, the valley snakes its way through the mountains in a winding route. I think it’s about 20 miles long.”

“Huh,” Alastair nodded. “And you said this was a shortcut? To make it easier for the kingdom to access the beastkin lands? That’s not too much for a cart to make it through in a day.”

“Maybe,” Melia shrugged.

“What do you mean?” Jessica asked. “Why else would they build a shortcut?”

“I’m not sure ‘they’ built it,” Melia frowned, shaking her head. “It’s possible nobody built it.”

“If people didn’t yarrr it, how’d it get there?”

Melia stared up at the [Hunter] and worked her jaw.

“[Burrowers],” she said grimly. “Giant yarrr worms.”

​

It didn’t take long for the 3 [Retainers] to clean up camp. They rolled up the tents, stored the sleeping mats, and made sure the fire was thoroughly out. Everyone mounted back up, and like the echoes of a whispered yarrr, they were off. After less than an hour of riding, climbing steadily higher and higher in elevation, weaving through increasingly dense thickets that tried to overrun the road, [Sunrise] finally came across a break in the treeline…and the end of the zone.

Unlike Whispershade, which was plunged into supernatural darkness, the Screeching Hollow didn’t suffer from the malady of a goddess scorned or any other hoodoo-voodoo. The valley was perpetually plunged into shadow because it was so narrow and the cliff walls were so high. Looking straight up, the sky was like a river slicing through the mountaintops, and unless the sun was at its absolute peak, it wasn’t possible to see.

“Yarrr,” Jessica muttered. “They drove carriages through here?”

The road through Whispershade could take a single carriage traveling each way. While it wasn’t exactly a two-lane highway from Melia’s old world, it served its purpose. As it reached the foot of the valley and cut into the mountain, that path suddenly felt much more claustrophobic. Without the gaps in the trees to give the illusion of endless space just outside of their reach, the sheer cliff walls felt more like a prison or a cage. The road was maybe 20 feet wide, 30 at best, but with limited vision as the path wove around a bend, it felt like moving forward would only get them stuck.

“Again, I’m not sure they did,” Melia said. “Unless they had a constant guard of rank 8 adventurers, taking a carriage down this road would probably be suicidal.”

“And…,” Ellesea gave Melia a worried look, “You yarrr we’ll do better?”

She seemed to realize what she’d said, closed her eyes, and sighed.

“Apologies. You think we’ll do better?”

“Of course,” Melia agreed with an earnest nod. “This time, you have me.”

​

The group made their way into the valley and the change in scenery was immediate. Whispershade, while dark and gloomy, retained a certain amount of warmth due to color. There were greens, blues, earthy browns, and the occasional patch of red.

The Screeching Hollows were dead.

No question about it.

The land itself turned grey as if the lifeblood of the zone had been sucked out, the ground shifting from mossy, rotted undergrowth to cracked and shattered desolation in a harsh and drastic line at the forest’s edge. Bushes withered into thorny bramble and tumbleweeds; grass was nowhere to be seen, and every one of the blackened, withered trees was barren of bark and leaves. Unlike the dense forest, they were scattered sparsely through the valley, like sentinels of deadwood cursed to stand a silent vigil over an unholy place. The canyon was eerily quiet, as if the wind itself didn’t dare to howl, while the faintest movement seemed magnified. The tiniest step, the faintest disturbance of a pebble, sent echoes crashing off the canyon walls, like titans thundering across the land. And yet, the noise seemed strangely strangled, like it got sucked up and eaten prematurely before it could run its course.

“Eesh,” Y’cennia said. “I can yarrr why nobody comes this way.”

She gently closed her eyes while Ellesea let out a tired sigh. Melia still found it hilarious, and she caught Jessica laughing too.

“Which is a real shame,” Y’cennia pressed on, “Because, in theory, a road through this mountain would cut off so much time. I could have been in Horizon in a single month instead of two.”

“I find this place to be quite sad,” Melia admitted. When the others peered at her, expecting a story, she shrugged. “I don’t know who was the first to come this way, if they built the pass or if they discovered it. But somebody did explore it, once upon a time. The road’s narrow here, but it widens out. There’s a ravine that runs halfway through the canyon, like a bottomless pit to the void. I don’t know if anybody’s ever climbed down to the bottom of it, but if they have, they likely didn't make it back up. In the middle, the road forks. If we were to follow it, which I recommend we don’t, we’d come across some ruins.”

“What?” Alastair asked. “Somebody tried to live out here?”

“Maybe?” Melia said. “Who knows. They were ruins back in my day, and I can only imagine they’re worse now.”

​

In fact, Melia didn’t know what the developers planned to do with the Screeching Hollows in the first place. It was…something of an unfinished zone. All things considered, a 20-mile road was quite short, and in the game a player could breeze through it on a mount in a matter of minutes…so long as they ignored the monsters. Unlike every other zone, it didn’t have a single occupied settlement, no flight path or fast travel, not even a way to repair broken armor or sell random junk. There weren’t any NPCs at all, and the valley had precisely two variations of monsters: [Burrowers] and [Dire Vultures]. The birds were always perched upon the cliffs, leaning over jagged rocks that jutted from the cliff face and staring at everything that passed below. They weren’t hostile mobs; in fact, they couldn’t be aggro’d at all, since they sat far outside any attack’s reach. In fact, originally, their level was unknown. When the first players stumbled across the valley, completely by accident, all they saw was skulls. Throughout the original game, that never changed. The monsters in this valley were designed to be too high; unkillable and unapproachable. Perhaps that was part of the lore behind the failed, ruined settlement at the dead end of the valley. But unlike the Obsidian Mansion, which was a full-sized building that had fallen into disrepair and could be seen from gryphonback, the ruins inside the Screeching Hollows were barely more than burnt-out foundations and cellars. In total, it looked like a stock baseplate for many of E-vale’s settlements, with the remnants of an inn, three houses, a blacksmith, and a well…but nothing was ever added to it.

No hidden secrets, no quests.

No obscure NPCs in faraway lands bemoaning their lost fortunes and cursing the gods, alluding to the possibility of an unfinished storyline or fetch-chain.

As expansions released and the level cap rose, Melia returned often. She always found these abandoned areas morbidly fascinating, like the life and death of somebody else’s story. What could have been, she often wondered? But she never found out.

She did discover what level the vultures and the worms were, though. Once the level cap reached 70, everything was close enough in level to finally see, ranging from 73-75. People couldn’t easily kill the monsters, and they didn’t drop any loot even if they did. But players were never meant to kill them. They were meant to lure them out…and go around.

That might have been the strangest about this abandoned zone to Melia. For all that it screamed “unfinished business,” players could traverse the valley. Even in the base game, the developers made a way to avoid the unkillable enemies safely. A quite novel trick in the game, even if it would be rather terrifying in real life. And the group was just coming up to the first one.

As [Sunrise] made their way through the valley, about an hour after entering, Melia had them stop.

“Yarrr,” she said, holding up her fist.

Behind her, Brandy chuckled, but the point was clear: stop.

Melia waited for the others to pull up beside her so she wouldn’t have to yell, and after they did, she looked at everybody seriously.

“[Burrowers],” she said without preamble. “They’re giant worms. Y’cennia, have you ever heard of [Sand Worms]?”

The catkin shuddered, revealing that yes, she had.

“For the rest of us who haven’t?” Jessica asked.

“Giant is an understatement,” Y’cennia mewled. “They can grow large enough to swallow a horse whole.”

Jessica’s mouth slowly fell open and Ellesea clutched her staff tightly.

“They swim through sand like birds fly through the air,” Y’cennia continued. “And unless you’re paying attention, you’ll never know they’re near. They live entirely yarrr.”

The group waited.

“Yarrr?” Jessica prodded. The catgirl blushed.

“Underground.”

“Ahh,” she nodded.

“Well, think of those, but 10 times worse,” Melia said grimly. “A [Burrower] could eat a [Sand Worm] whole. When I say giant, I yarrr giant.”

Melia nodded hugely, like she was stating a basic fact of truth. The others had no choice but to agree.

“So, are we sure we should be here?” Alastair asked nervously. “If these things are as dangerous as you say….”

Then why were they taking the risk? Was the unasked question.

“They’re dangerous, yes,” Melia said with a twinkle in her eye, “But so am I. So long as you stay back and let me handle them, you’ll be just yarrr.”

“Great,” Jessica grinned. “I always wanted to be yarrr.”

Melia rolled her eyes and hopped off Midna. The whole reason she had stopped was that, around the bend they had just turned, the canyon opened up into the first clearing, like a circular room leading toward another hall. There, sticking out of the middle of the wall on the side of the clearing, was a massive crystal structure.

“[Yarrr]?” Brandy asked. Everybody looked at her. Her knife-like ears twitched. “[Cerulean]?”

“Not quite,” Melia said. “Though I can see the resemblance.”

The Whispershade export was a bluish-white stone that shone brightly. This had a distinctly purple hue, and it was nowhere near as bright.

“These are [Resonating Crystals],” Melia said. She looked at the elf curiously. “I’m surprised you don’t recognize them.”

“I didn’t travel this way much,” Brandy admitted. “And when I did…why bother? I can cast [Levitate] on myself.”

Melia gave her a dumbfounded look.

“That works?”

“Yarrr.”

“Strangely, so did that,” Jessica muttered. “Does that mean you can [Levitate] all of us?”

“Hmm,” Brandy frowned, but Melia shook her head.

“Even if she could, I’d feel a lot better if we killed them. I know everybody would feel safer knowing death isn’t lurking underneath our feet.”

“Wait,” Y’cennia panicked. “They’re beneath us right yarrr?!”

“Yes,” Melia sighed. “But don’t worry about it!”

Melia trotted down the road to the dwindling sounds of an irate catkin.

“Don’t worry, she says! Oh, that blasted gnome….”

Melia spared her friend a chuckle, but there was some hidden truth to her words. The [Burrowers] inhabited the whole valley, but they weren’t flagged to aggro at the entrance or the exit. It wasn’t until this point- the first of three giant clusters of crystals -that they could randomly attack. A player moving through the Screeching Hollows would have to watch their HUD for a debuff called [Tracked], which meant they were being trailed by a [Burrower]. The more they moved, the stronger the debuff got, until eventually the giant worm would spawn directly underneath them, lunge out of the earth with its gaping mouth wide open, and swallow them whole. It was an instant-death mechanic that could even pierce invulnerability effects, and there were only two ways to make the debuff go down.

One: the player could stop moving. It would take a while, but supposedly the worms, which were sensing the tremors the players made, eventually lost track of them and gave up the hunt.

Or two, the intended solution: ring the [Resonating Crystal]. Attacking the crystals wouldn’t shatter them, but would instead send out a harmonious note like a tuning fork being struck, driving the worms into a frenzy. Any worm in the area would be drawn to the crystal, leaping out of the ground like a shark breaching the surface of the water, only to slam harmlessly back down. The player would then become immune to [Tracked] for 30 seconds, long enough to make it to the next cluster.

30 seconds wasn’t going to help [Sunrise] at all, since it would take them closer to 30 minutes to reach the next “safe zone” if they pushed for it.

Taking one last look back at her crew, safely on the other side of this little clearing, Melia walked confidently up to the crystal cluster. She spared a moment to marvel at its beauty and its size. It reminded her of the inside of a geode cluster, only on an entirely different scale. The base rock the cluster formed in had to be at least 10 feet wide, and the smallest crystal shard was at least 6 feet long. The longest was double that, and wider than she was tall. Melia pulled out her trusty [Executioners] and clinked the tips together excitedly. She was eager and impatient. Being mindful of her real strength, Melia reared back and let loose a resounding blow.

​

Rrrrrrhhhhhuuuuuuuuuuu!!!

​

A deafening chord, like the key of a piano, was struck. Melia felt a huge grin spread over her face, even as the first subtle tremors started rippling. She skipped into the middle of the clearing and began stomping around, causing as much vibrational disturbance as she could. [Leaping], [Thunderstomping], anything to shake the earth. [Burrowers] were blind. They had no eyes or ears. Tunneling through solid rock like swimming through water left them with a very peculiar anatomy. It didn’t matter how much noise Melia made, which was a fascinating component to the [Resonating Crystals]; the beauty of their tones was merely a side effect. But ever since Melia struck them, they hadn’t stopped trembling. In fact, the vibrations had only grown stronger.

“What’s that?!” Melia heard Ellesea scream, feeling the world beneath her move.

“Oh, we’re yarrr,” Jessica groaned. But neither of them tried to flee, and obeyed Melia’s instructions. Either they trusted her completely, or else they’d already given up. Melia hoped it was the former.

A subtle, whining pitch could be heard, screaming up from the depths, like a grinder shaving down some metal. The walls of the canyon began to shake. Overhead, a few vultures flapped their wings in agitation as they secured their roosts.

Melia didn’t have long before the ground in the middle of the clearing was shaking like a budget laundromat washing machine, overfilled and poorly balanced. Or, perhaps more relatable, like a 5-point-something earthquake.

She hopped back, just as the rock beneath her feet split open. A horrifying screech pierced her ears.

In front of her, blocking out the sun, was a [Burrower]. A body 20 feet long with a mouth 10 feet wide, a giant, razor-filled maw of saw-like teeth filled her vision. It was headed straight at her, and all she could see was the back of its throat as it sought to devour her.

Melia grinned.

She activated a skill.

“[Blaaade yaaaaarrrrrrrr]!!!!”

And everything went black.

​

“We’re gonna yarrr,” Jessica said calmly, like she was in shock or disbelief. “We’re actually gonna die.”

Brandy found their reactions appropriate. Perfectly reasonable, even. And if she were anybody else, in anybody else’s shoes, she’d be right there with them.

But she wasn’t, and she knew the idiot who used herself as live bait to go worm fishing.

As scary (and frankly disgusting) as that [Burrower] was, it wouldn’t do a thing to Melia.

“In case you’ve forgotten, that’s a dragon,” Brandy said. “She only got eaten because she wanted to. You’ve seen her wander into heated ovens and sit in boiling water. There’s nothing that worm can do to her, relax.”

As if to prove her point, the [Burrower] floundered on the ground. It didn’t tunnel into the rock or frenzy around the crystals, which were still ringing in her sensitive ears. It flopped around like a fish caught out of water, emitting a high-pitched whine like a million mice trapped by the tail, and after half a second, it exploded. Chunks of worm splattered around the clearing, thankfully staying very far away from Brandy, and Melia was left twirling in the middle, spinning like a top that was wound too tight. In fact, even after all the remnants of the worm hit the ground and settled in place, Melia still spun around.

“Melia!” Brandy called. “Don’t you yarrr that’s enough?”

“I think this buff is enough,” Ellesea muttered, making Jessica yarrr at her some more.

The gnome spun around a few more times before pirouetting like a ballet dancer and coming to a stop, balanced perfectly on the point of her toes. She was covered in juices and grossness, smiling ear to ear as she pranced over.

“No,” Brandy instantly denied as the gnome got close to Midna. The giant cat was on the same wavelength, giving out a growl of disgust at her tiny owner. “You are far too grody. You lose riding privileges.”

Melia stared at Brandy, and the elf reveled in the look of dumbfounded surprise.

“This was your half-baked plan, and yarrr you have to live with the consequences.”

Melia lowered her head to beseech Midna, to try and get back in her good graces. But the cat stuck her head in the air and stood up taller.

…Not that Melia couldn’t leap up to the saddle on her own, but the gesture spoke volumes on its own.

“You’re gonna make me walk?” Melia pouted. Seeing those huge, expressive eyes well up with the hint of tears almost broke Brandy, but she held her resolve.

“You could fly,” Y’cennia tried to offer diplomatically. While Brandy appreciated the assist, she shook her head.

“You think a dragon of Meliastraza’s size would fit in this tiny crack?”

The group looked around. In the regular part of the canyon? Absolutely not. In this small clearing?

…maybe.

But even if she did, could she stretch her wings to take off? Not a chance.

“Don’t worry, Mistress,” Layalee said. “We’ll get you cleaned right up once we leave the valley.”

The other [Retainers] nodded in agreement. Melia’s face fell.

“How many more crystals like these are there?” Jessica asked. Melia’s face fell further, like a kicked puppy.

“Two,” Melia sighed. “One in the middle, and one at the other end.”

“Well, that’s great, isn’t it?” Brandy said sweetly. “If I recall, there’s a town on the other side. Maybe we can stop there for the night and you can get a bath?”

The [Retainers] chuckled ruthlessly at Melia’s expense, but she did bring this upon herself. There were a million ways they could have traveled to the desert…and this was the one she chose.

Brandy looked around, listening to the others joke amongst themselves. She found it interesting, but uplifting, that they had the capacity to laugh right now, where moments before, they were mortally afraid. Maybe it was Melia’s whimsical influence, or maybe they were really growing stronger. Either way, Brandy would call this a win.

Judging from the look of sadness on Melia’s face, she obviously didn’t agree.

Brandy was about to buckle. She didn’t want a sad gnome. Maybe she could find something to wrap the little ball of filth in to keep the mess contained…when Melia took a deep breath and sighed. She forced a smile on her face, which looked a tiny bit brittle, but it quickly became genuine. She pinched her clothes in her fingers, watched Midna back slowly away from her, and stared up at the sky.

Brandy could hear the liveliness return to the gnome’s voice, even if she couldn’t understand the words.

“Oh, yarrr.”

¹

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