Chapter 8: Mom's Friends
My mom's friends stayed over for a few days only, but they were really nice people. Olia was an archer. She showed me a few things with her bow, and I was really impressed. She could hit targets very far away, and even shoot a few arrows at the same time. Olia was very talkative, she blabbered on around the clock, and she would talk about anything. Niel used a sword and shield. He explained that blocking enemies was his job. In order for others to have an easier time and hunt, he had to keep their prey at bay. He was a bit impulsive, especially with Olia.
Garond was robust and very muscular. He carried a large axe on his back, and it was his job to deliver deadly strikes. He looked menacing but in reality, he was very warm at heart. He even admired our little garden, and helped us take care of it for a few days. Alrika on the other hand was very quiet, and rarely spoke to anyone. She appeared a bit cold, but she wasn't that cold to her friends. She was an archer too, but mom told me not to pester her about archery. Lares was their leader, and he carried a large sword with him. He was a swordsman responsible for managing the team, but also striking when necessary. He always glanced at mother too. When I asked him about it, he just smiled and said mom was really pretty.
Mom's friends were great, and I had some fun with them. Although they left a few days later, they promised to come back. After all, someone had to escort grandpa back home. I, on the other hand, <msreadoutspan class="msreadout-line-highlight msreadout-inactive-highlight">focused on my <msreadoutspan class="msreadout-word-highlight">training</msreadoutspan> and Rune drawing. Grandpa was really surprised to </msreadoutspan><msreadoutspan class="msreadout-line-highlight msreadout-inactive-highlight">see</msreadoutspan><msreadoutspan class="msreadout-line-highlight msreadout-inactive-highlight"> mom study Runes </msreadoutspan>with me. He was even more surprised that she learned a lot. Although I surpassed my mom's Rune drawing skills, she still tried improving her drawings and knowledge. Grandpa helped out too, but I noticed a large difference between grandpa and Suly or aunt Alicia. It seemed to me they learned completely different sorts of ways to use Formations.
"Mom, why doesn't grandpa use Elements in his Formations? He mostly places his Formation on objects, but Suly and aunt Alicia do that anywhere they want", I asked when we were alone. "That is because our Formations are much more advanced. They don't know about Elements, or rather they use Elements but they don't know that. Humans place their Formations on items mostly… Although, there are a few people who do things in a similar way your aunt and Suly does. Still, our knowledge is much more advanced… Anna, you are not allowed to share that knowledge, alright?", she replied. "Huh? But it's grandpa, why can't we share with him?", I asked. Mom shook her head, "Because we can't. No Human is allowed to learn about that from us, there is no room for debate here. Can you promise me sweetheart?", she asked. I wasn't sure why even grandpa wasn't allowed to learn that, but I promised. Mother must've had her reasons, and that knowledge was given to me by Suly and aunt Alicia. It wouldn't be right to share it without their permission.
A few weeks passed, and I was finally able to draw all the basic Runes perfectly. This was a great day. Grandpa was really impressed, and mom was happy too. "Alright, we will go to the Land of Sands as promised. We are in luck too, a large performance will take place in about two weeks time. There will be singing, the showcasing of all sorts of abilities and even contests for kids", mom said. "Yay! We can finally go and see some performances!", I exclaimed elated. "How are we going to get there in two weeks? It's quite far away, me and Anna are too weak to make such a distance this quickly", grandpa asked concerned.
"Don't worry about it, I already made some arrangements. They should be here soon", mom replied rather mysteriously. I wasn't sure what sort of preparations mom had in mind, but I hoped it wasn't a basket again. No matter what, we would finally go on a trip together. Moreover, Land of Sands was something new to me and I really looked forward to visiting that place. The day quickly passed, but whatever mom arranged didn't arrive. I was getting worried we would be late, and nagged her about it. "Calm down Anna, they will be here, you will see", she told me.
In the evening, I heard some rumble outside. 'Are they finally here?', I asked myself before running outside. "See, I told you they will be here", mom said walking up to me. I wasn't sure who "they" were, but I knew something was moving towards us very quickly. I couldn't make out what it was, but it looked a bit like rocks. "Huh? Rocks are moving around?", I asked out loud. "These are Golems, but not just any Golems… They are in a way dogs, you know?", mom said. I knew who Golems were. They lived in the Land of Sands, but I never heard about Golem dogs.
The Golems finally arrived, and indeed they looked a bit like dogs. One of them approached us, and looked at my mom. 'They don't seem very friendly…', I thought and backed up a few steps. "Don't be afraid Anna, these guys are our friends", she said to me, and walked over to the Golem dog. "Great to see you Slate", she welcomed while petting the dog. The other two approached my mom as well, and demanded to be petted too. "Come over and say hi to them", mom said. I slowly made my way towards the dogs, and extended my hand. The largest dog walked over and moved his head into my hand. "Huh, he's warm?", I said surprised. The dog sniffed me for a while, before burrowing his head into my belly. "Hehe, what a funny guy", I said and petted him a bit. "Your name is Slate, right? I'm Anna, nice to meet you!", I said petting the dog. Although Slate was made from stones and rocks, he was smooth and easy to pet.
The other two approached me to be petted as well. "How about these two guys?", I asked mom. "The one on your left is called Pebble, and the one on your right is called Sandy", mom replied. "Heh? Pebble and Sandy, nice to meet you too. Will you take us to the Land of Sands?", I asked. The dogs nodded in confirmation. "We will leave tomorrow morning. It's already night, and we should let them rest", mom said and took out something from her storage item. 'The dogs eat rocks too?', I asked myself looking at what mom took out.
She fed a few rocks to each dog, before asking me if I wanted to feed them a bit. I took the rocks, but couldn't hide the confusion on my face. "Why are you feeding them rocks, mom?", I asked. "Oh, these are not some random rocks. Golems don't need food, they only need energy to live. These rocks contain that energy. I invited them after all, therefore I prepared these rocks in advance", she explained. "Eeh? So these rocks contain energy? Hey Slate! Catch!", I exclaimed while throwing the rock upwards as hard as I could. Slate just stood there unmoved, while mom laughed. "Anna these are not pets…", just as she was about to finish, Pebble jumped into the air and caught the rock. "...Never mind", she added.
"See Pebble likes it. Hey Pebble, here's one more!", I exclaimed and threw another rock. This time both Pebble and Sandy jumped to get it. "Hehe, see they like it. Come on Slate, don't be so stuck up. Have some fun", I said and prepared two rocks this time. "Hap!", I threw them as hard as I could. Sandy and Pebble were about to jump, but then Slate decided he would join in. "Boom!", the ground shattered a bit due to Slate's strength. He jumped so high, the rocks didn't even have the time to start falling back down. He landed with another "Boom!", and raised a lot of dust. "Cough… Cough… Wow, Slate is so strong", I said. When the dust settled down, I could see mom shaking her head. "I don't believe it. Even Slate fell for that... Alright, you guys can go to sleep now. Tomorrow, we will start our little trip", she said.
"Grandpa, grandpa! You saw them right? Slate jumped so high, and we will get to ride them tomorrow too", I said excitedly. "Yes, I saw. Truthfully, I never saw Golems before, but those dog forms are even more shocking to me. I had no clue such things existed. Alright little Anna, time for you to sleep", he replied. I nodded, "Good night grandpa". I was sure the trip would be loads of fun, <msreadoutspan class="msreadout-line-highlight">especially since we would travel with my new <msreadoutspan class="msreadout-word-highlight">friends</msreadoutspan>.</msreadoutspan>
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