Chapter 7: Surprise Buyers
Cora sat down on the ground, wiping the sweat from her brow. The sweat surprised her. She didn't think it was possible in a game, despite all the advertisements about realism and second lives. As far as she was concerned, that was all so much bunk as her Great-Aunt Addy had liked to say.
"What do I do with all this corn again?" Cora asked Blue who was sleeping in the branches of the nearby oak tree.
Blue had decamped when she returned with the baskets and gunny sacks, claiming that now Cora was making too much noise to remain sleeping under the oak. Cora had the sneaking suspicion that Blue just wanted to climb the tree. There were well-worn claw marks all over its poor trunk.
"You can give it to the herd to dispose of," Blue replied with a teeth-revealing yawn. "They might even trade you or something." The blue leopard eyed the field with its remaining denuded stalks with disfavor. "It's worthless plants otherwise. Can't even hide in there." Blue closed her eyes, letting one paw dangle down.
Cora stopped herself from rolling her eyes. Harvesting all that corn was only enough to get her to level 2. Unfortunately, to get to the next level, the required experience had doubled. That meant two harvests, perhaps? She was planning on planting the red clover next, hoping to extend the fertility of the field. If the quick research she'd done while resting between harvesting ears of corn was correct, then rotating the corn with the red clover or the sorghum seeds still in the storage shed would result in a more fertile field.
The information had been more than welcomed. She had no idea where to go to get fertilizer for the field otherwise. The suggestions she'd read online hadn't been helpful. Despite how realistic things seemed, leopards in the real world weren't blue and most definitely didn't speak.
"And where is this herd, exactly?" Cora asked, standing up.
She brushed off the seat of her pants and looked at them with disfavor. She was still in the basic linen wear all beginners wound up with, having preferred to buy a couple of stamina and health potions in the beginning village instead of new armor. It had seemed like a much better idea at the time. The only tradeoff was that her beginner wear was a plain off-white. There had been a choice of off-white, yellow, mint and blue.
Cora hadn't been planning on wearing the clothes for quite this long. Now they were dirt stained and a bit stiff from dried sweat. She had been meaning to finish a couple of gathering quests and at least buy a sturdier pair of pants. At least the corn didn't need to be harvested while kneeling, or she'd be in worst straits.
She picked up the three full gunny sacks. The two smaller ones held fifty ears a piece while the medium sized one held a hundred. Cora would have put all the corn into the larger sack, but the notation that floated above the sacks when she examined them had made her change her mind.
[Child Sack (25/8475 - 1/10) - "I'm so hungry!" cried the child, "please feed me!"]
[Teen Sack (50/9550 - 1/10) - "I just need a snack," the teen said.]
Cora was interested in what happened if she put enough items into the sacks to reach that 10/10 mark. It would give her an answer to her own (0/2/10) mystery beside her own title. It hadn't taken much thought to realize that it was just a different expression of the sacks' experience counters. Perhaps living and nonliving items had different notations of a similar tack. Cora was looking forward to finding out. She was planning on planting and harvesting a lot of crops. She was also a bit unsure if putting other things would generate more experience than the corn's pitiful half a point per ear.
"The herd is more than likely on the south side of the barriers," Blue answered with a yawn. "You won't be able to miss them."
Cora nodded and started walking, using the compass function on her minimap to orient herself. She felt a faint blush of shame, memories of long ago childhood lessons from her great-aunt echoing in her head. Her Great-Aunt Addy had been happy to impart all sorts of esoteric information to her two charges.
She sighed as she walked. She still missed her Great-Aunt. She had been a great woman who did everything she could to keep the final two sprigs of her family tree safe from their parents. Neither her nor Nate's parents could be considered good role models. Nate's weren't even safe to be around at times, though both Nate and her Great-Aunt had tried to keep that information under wraps.
Her parents weren't exactly parent material, either. They were a pair of ne'er-do-well spendthrifts who routinely burned through their monthly allowances. If not for her Great-Aunt Addy changing the stipulations of their trust funds, they'd be broke by now. As it stood, they were destined to just get allowances until the day they died. Cora couldn't see her mother ever developing any sense of decorum or restraint.
She finally reached the southern edge of the ruined town. Cora glanced around. The buildings here little more than white stone squares with gaps for doorways. They were also a little further apart than they were closer to the mayor's office. She supposed that it was for herders or farmers and that the rolling expanse of meadow she was now looking at were the fields and lost paddocks that they would have worked in.
The thundering of hooves caught her attention. She turned from her study of the shimmering barrier that covered the area between the ruins and the rolling sheet of green grass. It was coming from closer to the forest that bordered the fields. A dark blot appeared and swelled into a mass of animals, ranging in color from brown to tan. There were also random dots of paler colors mixed in.
Cora blinked as they came closer, individual animals becoming clearer. At the lead was a stallion that was at least nineteen hands with a haughty, devilish look in his eyes. He came almost to the barrier and reared, hooves striking sparks off of it.
"So I take it this is the herd Blue was talking about," Cora muttered. "Should I be surprised is the question I should be asking myself."
The herd leader landed on its legs, blowing hard. It tossed a lock of silky black mane out of its way, glittering blue eyes staring at Cora. A sharp, wicked horn jutted from its forehead, curling edges jagged with bits of bloodied flesh caught there.
"Is this your first time seeing a Horned One," the herd leader intoned, his voice deep and bassy.
"I would say yes, yes, it is," Cora managed. Her eyes were stuck on the horn. Unlike the stories, it held a slight curve like an exposed fang.
The unicorn snorted, turning its head towards the rest of the herd. There were three stallions behind him, watching Cora with unblinking intensity. The mares, colts and fillies milled behind them, spreading out in a semicircle and sniffing the air. Heads turned her way and then back after a long minute as if disdaining the barrier she stood behind.
"So, young mayor of Wildeven, what would you have of the Warcorn herd?" The herd leader snorted as it pawed the grass beneath its feet.
"I was told that you might be interested in my corn," Cora said, noting in sick fascination that their hooves were barbed as well.
"I would ask why you've never seen even the Low Ones, but you're so obviously level deficient. My youngest could eat you for a snack without effort." There was amusement laced in his tone this time. "So, what kind of corn is Blue trying to pass off to us? We might be interested."
Cora reached into one of the small gunny sacks and pulled out an ear of corn. She wondered what the developers had been thinking because it didn't resemble the ears she'd seen while researching. While it was enveloped in green husks, the green was closer to emerald than simple green, and the silk that trailed from it wasn't yellow or brown but instead a brilliant red. It reminded her more of Christmas than corn. Indian corn didn't even compare to it.
"Blood corn? You actually have blood corn seeds?" The herd leader asked, perking up. Behind him, the stallions also stopped their constant surveillance and focused on Cora.
"Well, this is the only corn I have," Cora said uncertainly. "If it's called blood corn, then that would explain a lot, at least to me," she added in a mutter.
"Wildeven had a variety of crops once upon a time," the herd leader said. He blew out a long, carrion-laden breath. "I am called Fralen, leader of this small Warcorn herd. Once, we were the battle steeds of the knights of the Wildlands, but now we are simple animals, content to patrol the wilds."
"My name's Cora, and how did you know I was the new mayor?" Cora asked as she held the ear towards the barrier. To her surprise, it passed through easily.
"What other human would be there? There aren't any anywhere else for at least a hundred miles," Fralen said before gently lipping the ear free of Cora's grasp. He tossed it behind him to one of the stallions.
The stallion let it fall and pinned it under one hoof. With delicate moves, it peeled back the green husk to reveal a cob studded with bloody red and golden red kernels. The stallion looked at one of the ones next to it who huffed and snuffled it up. A few crunches and the cob was devoured.
"The sweetness is good, and it is very fulfilling. A good substitute for the breeders and foals about to graduate," the stallion informed the rest. "I thank you Fralen for the food."
Fralen nodded his head once. He turned his attention back to Cora.
"How many ears are you willing to part with?" He glanced back to his experimenter. "Mools, come."
Mools paced forward, licking the remnants of the corn cob from its lips. Its eyes scanned Cora for a quick second before checking behind her. The disdain grew.
"I have another one hundred ninety-nine to give," Cora said.
"We don't take charity. Mools?" Fralen said.
With a sigh, Mools struck his horn against the barrier. A few strikes later, a significant chunk fell off, the point still sharp.
"We will trade this horn for the corn this time. We will find something else for the next time." Fralen tossed his head. As if it was a signal, a mare hurriedly paced forward, packs on its back. "Fill these."
Cora paused for a second before grabbing up the sacks and stepping through the barrier. Once through, the smell hit her in the face. It was old blood, rotted meat and a fresher fragrance that danced through it, slowly eroding the other two. The mare eyed her warily as Cora flipped open one of the packs. A quick scan had shown it was an [Old Woman's Pack (max)]. She opened the medium sack and poured the corn ears in.
The pack took both sacks without hesitation. She wondered just how much it would hold as she gathered up the sacks and the broken horn. Cora walked back through the barrier as the mare trotted away.
"I will also have red clover, though I don't know how to harvest it." Cora told Fralen.
Fralen's eyes lit up.
"Red clover, is it? Come back when it is ready and blow through the horn. It will summon the herd," Fralen told her. "I will have someone come to do your harvest."
"Okay," Cora said, nodding.
She watched as the herd wheeled in place, waiting only for Fralen to trot through the bulk before moving off, the three stallions following behind.
"I don't know if this is the best or worst game I've ever played," Cora muttered to herself as she walked back towards her field.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Tashady
Tashady Sorry for the delay. My sleep schedule is off lately... Insomnia sux!
Have you seen the M&M brownie commercial? Makes me laugh every time! Brings back memories of creating bear claws, only without the tasty 'mistakes' to deal with. ^_^
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