44 Family Trip (6)

Aethisia and I continued making our way around the mountain, searching for a large quarry of rocks for me to harvest.

I didn't want to just gather one boulder worth of materials; I wanted a LOT of materials.

I needed to have enough to build a better house for us, expand a little, create new tools and appliances for us, and so much more.

There was a lot of things available to me when I added a large supply of stone to the mix; so many upgrades, so many new things to craft.

The thought of all these improvements and new items excited me, as the thought of providing a better living space for my family, better weapons for them to protect themselves, and just the various quality of life improvements made my heart warm.

So, Aethisia and I were searching for something I deemed as large enough to warrant a 'quarry', which took us around twenty to thirty minutes.

During that time, not a single word escaped my youngest daughters lips; whenever I asked her something, tried to strike up any kind of conversation, she simply grunted or remained entirely silent.

It was a little hurtful, as every non answer she gave me felt like a small splinter entering my heart.

However, whenever I turned to stare at her she wore a slightly conflicted expression, her eyes unfocused as she mulled over whatever problem assaulted her young mind.

Which made me decide that, for now, my best course of action was to simply remain silent.

I didn't want to add onto her problems, distract her, or upset her.

She was my daughter, and I wanted her to feel comfortable around me.

Of course, as we walked I couldn't help but recall how utterly adorable she had been as a baby, what with how clingy she had been without any of us realizing; she used to always remain in my arms, and I thought nothing of it.

Though I certainly couldn't hold her in my arms currently; she's way to tall for that.

A small smile spread on my face, and I continued glancing around the barren mountain, humming to myself.

When we finally found a suitable area for me to harvest from, I grinned as we approached it, Aethisia slowing me down as her crimson eyes flickered over the space, sweeping it for any potential dangers.

Not finding any, she gestured for me to follow behind her, and I kept my hand on my axe as we walked.

My eyes were rather distorted though, as I looked over her broad, muscled back and chiseled arms, easily holding a spear that weighed way to much for me to casually swing around like she did.

I think she's almost as muscular as Rhefia...

Shaking my head, I turned to observe all the boulders laying inside the small 'clearing' that they formed, and I tilted my head as I saw one that was a darker gray than the others.

Approaching it, I took out my club and set to work, wondering if there was any difference between it and the others, besides the obvious difference in coloration.

{4x Dark Aoak Stone Added}

{5x Dark Aoak Stone Added}

{1x Aoak Ore Added}

{7x Dark Aoak Stone Added}

I paused as I read over the scrolling notifications, my eyes stopping on the singular different line of text.

1x Aoak Ore...

Lowering my club, I grabbed the Aoak Ore from my inventory, wondering just what it was.

In my hand was a dark grey stone, which was this variation of the normal Aoak Stone, but inside were thin strips of a pale brown, flaky metal.

Running my finger gently over it, I grinned as I felt the difference between the stone and the metal, before showing Aethisia.

"Look! Metal! There really is metal here!"

My youngest tilted her head slightly, her eyes confused as she asked "Metal?"

Letting out an 'ah!', I started to explain the difference between metal and stone; how one was much more malleable and could be heated up to be worked with, while stone was more... fixed, with the only work one could do to it was chipping, smoothing, or other really basic things.

She nodded as I explained, before turning rapidly as we heard a loud shriek echo around the mountain.

Placing the ore back in my inventory, I equipped my spear and started scanning the area around us, my lips pulled into a frown as my heart rate sped up.

Considering where we were, I couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of monster awaited us up here.

Shivering as I recalled the wolves I encountered on my first night, I gulped as my heart started speeding up, my palms growing sweaty as those memories of near death flickered before my eyes.

Taking shuddering breaths, I tried to calm myself; Aethisia was here, so I needed to protect her!

It was my duty as her mother to protect her!

With that thought pushing the others from my mind, I took another deep breath and steadied my stance, continuing to search for the thing that made that noise.

Not seeing anything on the ground, I started searching the skies; we were in an area that could have that noise coming from above, below, or level, and we wouldn't know.

My eyes scanned the cloudy skies around us, only to gasp as I saw something dive through one of those clouds.

It was as long as Aethisia was, it's grey scaled snake-like body hurtling towards us like an arrow shot from a bow.

Two pairs of wings adorned it's upper back, and they were pulled tightly to its body, the feathers a strikingly bright scarlet.

Those same scarlet feathers adorned various parts of its long slender body, and it opened its hooked beak to reveal a long, forked tongue.

As it drew near a pale red glimmer appeared in it's throat, and I widened my eyes as I saw it staring directly at Aethisia.