TWENTY: Farm Boy

"HIYAH!"

Kel grunted as she thrusted an old wobbly rake into a giant thorn bush. With a satisfying crackle, the gray bramble slowly turned brown.

"Nice," Kel congratulated herself as she tore the now-crispy weed out of the ground.

It had been more than four months since she'd first arrived in the obscure village called Tael. The scraggly group of huts and withered people marked the farthest north and west point of Mevani, sandwiched perfectly in between Serin's border and the desolate North.

She'd been skeptical as Dash led her through the snow-packed hills above Serin's capital, but Tael had proved to be the perfect hiding place--a place completely forgotten by the rest of the bustling continent.

Settling into the village had also gone more smoothly than Kel could have ever anticipated. Apparently, Dash had been in contact with some elderly residents of the village and convinced them to take Kel in as their long lost grandson.