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Alna and I picked that fruit up and put it in our baskets, and Aymer hopped around like a real pro helping out too. We all proceeded deeper into the forest like that, and eventually we reached an area that was fenced off. It was a much sturdier looking fence than it had been last year, and I realized that Klaus and the border station guards must have done some work on it.
Behind the fence were the mushrooms that the whole village loved, and the twins were trembling with excitement. We all hopped over the fence and I wondered how many there’d be for us to gather. Sunlight streamed down from between the trees, and boy was it bright.
“The soil here is just right,” said Senai, pointing. “They’ll grow really well here!”
“The ground has to be warm enough!” explained Ayhan.
It was then that I realized there weren’t any especially thick trees in this area, just thin ones. On top of that, most of the leaves had fallen from them all.
I wonder if this is how it has to be for the mushrooms to grow in abundance?
Aymer and our dogkin guards started sniffing the air and running all over the mushroom field. Soon enough they pointed to parts of the ground using tree branches they’d picked up.
Senai and Ayhan immediately dug into the ground with branches of their own, and there they were—the mushrooms we’d picked the previous year. They were dark and round, and the unique smell was unmistakable. The girls didn’t put these in their baskets, though—they put them in pouches they carried at their waists.
That must be because of how much they treasure those mushrooms. And given how much everybody just loves the smell of them, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.
“Need some help?” I said.
Alna and I helped the twins dig up the soil, and honestly, we were looking at a real impressive mushroom haul. We filled four big sacks with mushrooms, and we gave one to Klaus and all the station staff. Then we headed back to Iluk with the rest.
It was only our second day of winter prep, but because the forest was so full, the twins told me that I still hadn’t even seen half of it. They said we’d be busy gathering for at least the next few days. In the end, we spent five days in the forest gathering for winter!
But the day after that brought a new surprise...
“Dias!” cried Sahhi. “The goblins are back! I saw them pulling a boat upstream!”
We couldn’t quite believe what the falconkin was saying, and I wondered if maybe something had happened to them. I readied Balers as fast as I could and galloped off for the wasteland.