Ridahne didn’t take the wineskin so Darin shoved it into her pack. It seemed like a good place as any. The second knife went in there as well. She supposed that was as hidden as it was going to get at the moment. She didn’t know how to use either of her knives to fight so keeping them out of the way seemed like the best think she could do with them for the moment. The human was starting to think that she would never learn to use her knife. Ridahne and her couldn’t seem to stay in one place together for very long.

Darin found that getting back on Talbot was getting easier each time she did it. She supposed she should start learning to get off gracefully. She tended to either fall off of or get bucked off. It didn’t help that Talbot was so big. As soon as she was settled Talbot took off at an easy pace. Darin hoped they arrived at The Tree soon. She couldn’t wait to see it. She had this picture in her mind of The Tree standing proudly in the middle of an empty field. It was a fruit tree that’s fruit resembled apples. She wondered if The Apples were green or red. Perhaps they were yellow. Regular apples came in so many different colors. Darin thought they might be red. She imagined The Apples as red. 

Which is why, as the two traveling companions crested a ridge the human was caught completely off guard. It wasn’t an empty field at all. It was a farm! Granted it was about twice the size of the entirety of Darin’s village, but she still knew a farm when she saw one. There were wheat fields and rye fields and what looked to be like a barely field. There was a garden field that included peas, tomatoes, and beans. Darin identify what had to be a potato field and what looked like they could be carrots. There was a patch of grape vines and what looked like an orchard of all types of fruit trees. She spotted countless hives of bees scattered about to pollinate the plants, a sheep pen, a chicken coop, and a lake that looked like it could house all type of waterfowl. There were barns all over and Darin knew that they were countless horses, pigs, cows, and other animals. She was even willing to bet there were mouser cats and sheepdogs. She could even spot farm workers moving about even thought they looked like specks from where she had stopped Talbot to just stare. She had never imagined anything like this.

And there! In the middle of the massive farm; was The Tree. It was far bigger than the biggest apple tree that Darin had ever seen. It didn’t look like it was dying from up here. In, fact to Darin’s eye it looked perfectly healthy. The human stared in awe as she watched the branches of The Tree contrary to the wind. People were tending The Tree. She was willing to bet that they were picking The Apples. It was apple season so that made perfect sense. She wondered if all The Apples had Seeds like hers, and if not, how did hers become The Seed. Suddenly Darin was overcome with a sudden desire to be down in the farm that looked like home even though it was so much bigger. The problem with that was that the path curled away from the over loos. The human imagined that they had to follow the path to go down to the level the farm was on. That would take far too long! She needed to be there now!

Without really thinking Darin fell off Talbot and started heading down the gentle incline. She ignored Talbot’s shiny of protest as she suddenly tripping and went head over heels towards the bottom. She didn’t pause for even a minute. She was up running towards The Tree the moment she had regained her footing. Years of practice had her ducking and weaving though the crops without hurting a single one. She was taking the most direct path to her destination. She ignored the shout of the workers trying to stop her as she ran and ran and ran. Then, just as suddenly as she started, she was stopped by a massive being wrapping his arms around her form behind. She immediately began to struggle. Another being came up in front of her and pressed a knife to her neck. Darin stopped protesting immediately.

The female holding the blade hissed, “Who are you? How dare you think you can just enter The Farm without permission! Speak boy!”

Darin looked the person straight in the eye. She noticed a collection of workers gathering around her. They were all dressed in simple brown pants and tan shirts. Their boots looked impossibly sturdy. It was the uniform of the workers. Darin could figure that part out. She wanted one of their wide brim hats. She noticed that there were Elves, Sirens, and humans. She had never seen such a diverse collection of people. Darin was in pure awe. She had snapped out of her desperate daze. Okay, rushing towards The Tree was not her brightest idea. She was now in a huge mess and didn’t know how to get out of it. Ridahne and Talbot were too far away to help. Maybe she should just answer the questions. That seemed like the best course of action.

It didn’t even occur to her to lie, “I’m Darin. I just wanted to see The Tree.”

The man behind her let go of her like she had burned him. The woman with the knife jerked it back so quickly it did nick Darin’s skin. All of the workers were looking at her with wide eyes; like they had seen a ghost or couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Darin didn’t understand why. She wasn’t telling anyone that she was The Seed-Bearer. She wasn’t even going to tell them.

The woman with the knife whispered, “Get Ravi.” When no one moved she all but shouted, “Get Ravi!”

A handful of people turned and ran at that. Darin knew that Ravi was the guiding star in Astra. Following it would take you south. Having it at you back took you north. She imagined that whoever this Ravi was they had been named for the guiding star. She looked around at the people gathered to see if she could learn more about the people who worked this farm. They were all covered in dirt. Some were more covered than others. They all seemed tense. Darin wasn’t sure she could blame them. If a stranger had raced across her farm without heading instructions to stop, she would be tense as well. She supposed all she could do was wait for this Ravi to show up. Maybe Ridahne or Talbot would get here first.