Hello Yeld fans! Each month we'll be releasing a new short story set in the magical land of Yeld. You can read these stories for free, right here on YeldStuff.com! Each of these stories originally appeared on the Yeld Patreon, and you can find more stories and Yeld content there. Becoming a patron supports our game and helps us create more stuff like this!
This month's story is about a young pig on a big adventure!
The Root Of It
by J. Richmond
Pie sat in the alley between the potion shop and the carpenter’s workshop, protected from the rain by the tiny shelter she had built with her friend, Gini. The girls had used scrap wood, canvas, and bent nails to build their temporary home between the two buildings when they first came to Billow’s Hill last season. Those final days of Summer were still warm. Now cold rain dripped onto Pie’s head, running between her ears and down the little pig’s back. She wanted to go home. Back to her tribe, or at least back to Gini’s village, where the girl’s family had a cozy cottage with a warm hearth. Maybe today would finally be the day that they could leave Billow’s Hill behind.
Pie heard the heavy door of the potion shop slam shut, and a moment later Gini came around the corner into the alley. Pie could tell that the girl hadn’t been able to sell their mushrooms; they had spent all day gathering for as much as they hoped. They wouldn’t be leaving Billow’s Hill on the morning supply wagon after all.
The little pig shifted over, making room for her friend in their shelter. Gini sat next to her on their only blanket. The 12-year-old girl was mud-caked and sweaty from a long day of mushroom foraging and now looked on the verge of tears. Pie nestled close to her.
“We still don’t have enough coins for the potion, do we?”
Gini shook her head. Not enough. It had been a season since they’d set out from Gini’s little village to buy the potion that would cure her brother’s Root infliction. They had planned to be gone and back in days! Pie knew if they didn’t return soon, it might be too late. In fact, the little pig worried it was already too late.
---
They had met the Summer before. Gini was the second child of a family of King’s People, living on the edge of the great dark Ghost Oak Woods in a tiny village named Culbrook. The girl’s family kept chickens and cows and sold their milk and eggs. Gini spent her days (after her chores) exploring the edges of the Ghost Oak, gathering nuts and berries, and collecting the most interesting stones. The woods are where she met Pie. Pie was a pig from a tribe far south of the great dark woods. She had just turned 6 and decided to set out on a journey to explore the Magical Land. In truth, Pie’s tribe were mushroom hunters, and the little pig just never appreciated the taste of mushrooms. So far her travels had taken her across a great river, and she had met other Animal tribes she’d never even heard of and visited the villages of fairies, mermaids, and King’s People. For a pig her age, Pie was well traveled and worldly, and Gini loved her stories of discovery and adventure. The two were soon fast friends.
Gini and Pie spent the summer days exploring the Ghost Oak, returning to Gini’s comfortable little family cottage each night to enjoy a good meal and warm bed. The family loved the little pig, whom they nicknamed Cutie-Pie (although Pie was really short for Pyewacket). All through that Summer and Fall, Pie and Gini were inseparable, and the little pig was practically part of the family. So when Winter came and Pie decided to travel South to spend Keymas with her tribe, their separation was tearful. Pie promised to return the next Summer.
And she did! Winter came and went, and by Spring Pie was more than a little finished with her visit (and the mushroom heavy meals) and ready to leave her tribe again. She said goodbye to her family and friends and set out on the road back to the tiny village where her best friend lived. A place she was starting to think of as her real home.
Change had come to the village of Culbrook in the seasons Pie had been away. The people, all of whom she had met before, seemed wary and peered out from their windows and doorways with worried looks as she trotted into town. The orchards and gardens were untended, and there was a sickening sweet scent in the air that the little pig couldn’t quite place but knew she had smelled before.
Pie found her friend at one of their favorite spots, a well-worn bench near the center of town, under a sprawling oak tree. The tree provided shelter from the sun and rain for the bench and the worn cobblestones around it, making it a perfect spot for a midday meal. Today, the little pig found Gini staring off into space, an uneaten jam sandwich in her hands. The girl looked on the verge of tears but lit up when she saw her friend.
They sat for hours under the oak tree, catching up as they shared the sticky sandwich. Pie told stories of her long journey back to her tribe, the Winter holidays, and all the gross mushrooms her father tried to feed her. Gini talked about the new chickens her family had adopted, the Fairy soldiers who had garrisoned in the village over the Winter, and the new dress her mother had made for her. Pie agreed, it was a handsome dress.
There was something more, and although at first Gini didn’t want to talk about it, the truth eventually came spilling out. The Root had come to Culbrook.
Pie knew of the Root, of course. Everyone did. Root Gods lurked in the deep woods across the Magical Land. Hungry monsters of living wood that could tear even a Fairy apart with their tendrils and eat them whole. Their seeds were highly coveted and could be used in many medicines, including ones that relieved pain and helped mend wounds. They were also pleasant to eat. Sweet and crunchy, and mildly intoxicating. The more you ate, the more you wanted to eat, and this was a problem because the seeds carried the gift (or curse) of the Root. If you ate too many, the Root would take hold inside you and start to change your mind and body. First, your scent would change, growing thick and woody. This was the stage where many people gave up the seeds and medicines. Next, your skin or fur would take on a greenish tint. Your desire for root seeds would grow, even as your care for anything else slipped away. Creeping tendrils of root sprouted from your mouth, or the corners of your eyes, or between your fingers, and slowly wrapped around your body. Eventually, they would encase you entirely, trapping you inside a prison of living wood, the gooey living center that would nourish a new Root God.
There were always rumors of towns infested by Root or of lonely Rooters traveling from village to village, offering seeds or potions, or even cookies and bread baked with the seeds inside. Pie remembered a traveler who came to her tribe when she was young. An enormous boar from a far off land. His hide was as green as moss, and both of his front legs were encased in bark as thick as armor. One eye was blind from the stalk growing out of it, wrapping around the boar’s thick neck. The old traveler was kind and had many stories to tell. The tribe allowed him to stay and share their food, but would accept none in return. And when the traveler moved on after a few days, they made sure to burn the den he had slept in. Her father said that they should have burned the traveler as well. After all, everyone knew the dangers of the Root.
Gini knew too. But her brother had fallen from the roof of their cottage that Winter while clearing the snow and broke his leg badly. No one in the village had been able to set it correctly, and while the injury had healed, the pain was fierce. There was no local White Mage to cast healing magic, and no Witch to brew a potion to relieve the pain. However, a stranger arrived in town, offering syrupy sweet potions made from Root seed. The stranger’s skin was as green as a leaf, and roots tangled into their long hair. The people of Culbrook knew a Rooter when they saw one, but they also knew that potions made from Root seed were powerful and could be safely used in moderation.
It all went downhill quickly, so fast that Gini could barely believe it. Within days, her brother was on his feet again, barely limping as he went about his chores. But he was drinking a potion with every meal and spending more and more time with the Rooter stranger. Soon, the cottage was filled with a thick woody smell, and her brother’s skin was growing green. He wasn’t the only one. Many people in the village were eating Root seed. First in secret, then more openly. The stranger moved from home to home, offering seeds and tonics to anyone who wanted them. The people of Culbrook seemed like they were under a spell, slowly turning green and sporting rooty tendrils. To Gini’s growing horror, it felt like she was the only person she knew who wasn’t becoming a Rooter.
Pie saw the awful truth herself as she returned home with Gini. The family cottage looked shabby and unkept. Chickens wandered the yard, wary of the house. The cows kept to themselves. Gini led her inside, where the little pig was immediately scooped up into a loving hug by the girl’s mother. Gini’s mom was a large, warm woman, and Pie had loved her from the moment she met her. But now the King’s Woman smelled like the deep forest, and thin tendrils of root crawled from her pointed ears into her graying hair. Pie pulled away from her moss green hands and kept her distance.
There was no sign of the brother, which normally wouldn’t have bothered Pie at all. The teen had nicknamed her “Pork Pie”, and the little pig had secretly hoped he might fall into a well or be bitten by a snake. Now, Pie wondered if all her ill wishes had been a sign of things to come. Gini’s brother had apparently taken to the cottage’s bedroom and had not come out in days. As Pie listened at the door, she could hear sounds of wood scraping against wood and soft whimpers. She didn’t want to imagine what was happening to her friend’s brother inside; How the Root was changing him.
Gini’s mother broke down in tears. The Root had taken her son, and so much of the village too. Was it too late to help them? She had heard that there was a potion shop in Cutter’s Ridge, a town not so far away. Pie watched as the woman emptied her purse onto their kitchen table. 14 tarnished coins. Every bit of wealth the family had. Gini’s mother turned her eyes to the little pig.
“I know you’ve traveled far, and seen more of this land than anyone I’ve met. I also know you love Gini like a sister, and she loves you. Will you take our last coins to Cutter’s Ridge, and buy medicine to save my son. To save our village?”
Of course, she would. What kind of pig could say no?
---
The town of Cutter’s Cove was a five day’s walk, and so the girls planned to be back in ten. They packed a blanket, even though the days were warm, a change of clothes for Gini and all the food they could manage to carry. They were careful to only take cheese and eggs, and pickled eel and onions from a neighbor’s pantry. They couldn’t trust any of the baked goods made in the town. Root seeds were everywhere.
They set out in the morning, Gini carrying the small pouch of coins and her little hunting knife at her waist, and the blanket in a pack on her back. The girls split the weight of their travel rations between them, with Pie carrying hers in a clever little backpack Gini’s mother had made for her the Summer before. Gini was nearly bursting with energy, and felt an overwhelming sense of relief. Finally, she was able to do something! She was going to save her brother! Her family! The whole village! Those first days went by fast, and Pie was happy to be traveling with her best friend again.
However, Cutter’s Cove was not what they hoped it would be. Pie had never been to the town before, but Gini had, once before her father died. Cutter’s Cove was a large town of hundreds, mostly King’s People and members of the Serpent Tribe. Traders came from all throughout the Forest Region to sell their wares or buy goods from the bustling markets. When her father was young, his family made the trip every season to sell apples and cheese. But that was long ago.
Cutter’s Cove was in ruins. The buildings were smoldering heaps. Soldiers flying the banner of the Prince made camp in the fields that once fed the town. There was no sign of the potion shop they had been sent to find. No sign of the market at all. The girls were afraid to get too close to the town, and spent the night huddled in the woods. In the morning Pie worked up the courage to approach a soldier. The enormous Fairy stared down at the little pig, as he told her that the town had been harboring Oathbreakers. The Prince would not tolerate that kind of betrayal. Cutter’s Cove had burned. It was as simple as that.
The girls didn’t know what they would do. Without the potion, how could they save Gini’s family? Luckily, the Fairy soldier overheard them, and decided to show them kindness. A supply wagon was being sent to a village called Billow’s Hill, far on the other side of the Ghost Oak Woods. If the girls promised to not cause trouble they could ride along, and even come back when the wagon returned.
Neither girl had ever been to Billow’s Hill, but Pie had heard of it. She knew it was far, at least five days by wagon. Even if they left that day, it would be fifteen more days till they returned to Culbrook with the medicine for Gini’s family. If they could even find a potion seller! Summer would be nearly over, and it might be too late to save anyone! But Gini would not give up. And of course, Pie didn’t suggest they should.
The soldiers were crude and rough, but treated the girls kindly as they traveled, and shared their food with them. Which was good, because otherwise their little packs would have been empty by the time they reached their destination. As they traveled, the soldiers pointed to sites where recent battles had taken place, and other towns that had been burned. According to them, Oathbreakers had tried to seize the Forest Region, infiltrating towns and villages to sew rebellion. Gini whispered to Pie, wondering if any rebellion had been sewn in her little village. She hoped not. They had enough problems to deal with!
Billow’s Hill was set on top of a crumbling cliff, overlooking the far reaches of the Ghost Oak Woods. The village was surrounded by a tall timber wall, and the wind whipped through it with a sharp whistle. The girl’s left the Fairy soldiers and hurried to the market, where they quickly spotted an old but well maintained building with the placard of a potion shop above the door. Inside the air was thick with smells, and Pie wrinkled her snout to keep from sneezing. The walls of the shop were lined with bins and shelves of jars. Light reflected off glass and glazed clay. An old looking Toothfacer, whose sack had grown sun-bleached and threadbare, sat behind the counter. Gini approached, full of confidence and purpose, her little purse in her hand as she explained what she wanted. The girl told the shopkeeper that her village had been afflicted by Root, and she needed a potion to save her family. The old Toothfacer had just the thing, but frowned when she saw Gini’s coins.
Fourteen coins wasn’t enough. The price was forty. And according to the Toothfacer, forty was a steal.
Gini broke into tears, and couldn’t be consoled. She ran from the shop to sit crying on its stoop. But Pie wouldn’t have it. The little pig faced the shopkeeper, climbing up on her crowded counter to look at her face to face.
“Now look here! We’ve traveled so far, and seen so much, all to save her family. We may not have enough coins, but what we’ve got is more than nothing! There must be something we can do to earn the rest!”
And there was. The shopkeeper used mushrooms in many of her potions, and everyone knew that the pig tribe were the very best mushroom hunters. The old Toothfacer would buy any mushrooms Pie brought her, and there were plenty to find in the Ghost Oak Woods beneath the village, if you knew where to look. It wouldn’t be easy, but the girls could earn the money they needed in no time.
Pie told her friend their plan, and that was enough for Gini. She needed hope, and if her best friend believed in this plan, Gini knew it could work. Secretly, Pie wasn’t so optimistic. Hunting mushrooms was hard work, and her tribe never made many coins from the ones they sold. She wondered how long it would take them to earn the coins they needed.
The girls spent the night in the alley between the potion shop and the carpenter’s workshop, a spot that would end up being their home for the rest of Summer and Fall. They spent those first days exploring the woods, searching for the damp dark places where mushrooms grew. It only took them a few days to find their first haul, and they returned to Billow’s Hill with full bags, ready to get their hands on the potion and get back on the road. But the shopkeeper only offered them a few coins for their harvest, and when the girls tried to sell the mushrooms at market they were offered even less. Gini quickly realized what Pie had feared. It might take them all season to earn enough coins to buy their potion.
And it very nearly did. The friends spent every day traveling down to the woods, crawling through hollows and searching in caves and under logs for the best mushrooms. Pie had a nose for it, and plenty of experience with her family. And Gini could get to spots the little pig couldn’t. But it was exhausting work, and as Summer turned to Fall the days grew colder and wetter, and the girls returned to their little shelter covered in mud and wet from rain. They quickly ran out of the food they had brought with them on their trip, and decided to eat mushrooms to save coins. Pie did her best not to complain, even though she often thought she’d rather eat anything else at all (and sometimes ate worms when her friend wasn’t looking). They roasted mushrooms over their little fire at night, or stewed them with rabbit when they were lucky enough to catch one in the woods. Each day they brought their haul to the shopkeeper, and each day the old Toothfacer gave them a few more coins. Soon they would have enough. Soon they could leave Billow’s Hill behind.
---
Pie heard the heavy door of the potion shop slam shut, and a moment later Gini came around the corner into the alley. Pie could tell that the girl hadn’t been able to sell their mushrooms they had spent all day gathering for as much as they hoped. Even though it had been their biggest haul yet.
Gini was angry. The girl had tears in her eyes, and her face was flushed with rage.
“She RAISED the price!!!”
Pie cocked her head, not understanding. Could you raise prices? Was that possible? Was that fair? The little pig didn’t have much experience with shops and coins, but she thought prices were set.
Gini fumed as she sat next to her friend. The shopkeeper had told her that demand had gone up. There had been a Root outbreak in several villages around the Ghost Oak Woods, and now the price was sixty coins. That was a ton! Who had ever had so many coins to spend? Gini wrapped her arms around her knees and sobbed. They were never going to sell enough mushrooms to buy the potion they needed before Winter. And the dumb Toothfacer would probably just raise the price again!
Pie had a plan. One she had thought up shortly after they first came to the village. The little pig waited until the alley grew dark and her friend had fallen asleep. Quietly, she worked her way deeper into the alley between the buildings, behind their little shelter. There was a backdoor to the potion shop, and the boards at its base were loose. Pie had discovered this on the very first day as they set up their little shelter, and since then had spent a little time every evening prying at the board, creating a hole that was pig enough to wiggle her little body through. Which is exactly what she did that night.
The backrooms of the potion shop were dark. Pie stepped as quietly she she could, knowing the old Toothfacer slept in the room upstairs.The potion was not hard to find, but was stored in a high cupboard, and it took longer than the inexperienced thief would have preferred to push a chair over to it and climb up to secure her prize. With the potion between her lips, Pie hurried back the way she came and quickly woke Gini from her sleep with a frantic whisper.
“We have to go! I did what needed to be done, but if we’re caught we’ll never make it back to Culbrook!”
The friends left through the village gate in the dead of night, and traveled on the road in the cold moonlight. Pie wondered if she had done the right thing. Not because stealing was wrong. The old Toothfacer should have let them pay for the potion! But Pie was worried that the shopkeeper might tell the town’s sheriff, who might send a warrant all the way to Culbrook. As far as the little pig knew she had never committed a crime before!
The sun rose and the girls trudge wearily along the road. It had taken them five days to reach Billow’s Hill by wagon and it would take much longer to get back on foot. Luckily they wouldn’t have to! A familiar wagon caught up to them on the road, the very same Fairy supply wagon that had brought them to Billow’s Hill last season. The soldier driver remembered the girls, and offered them a ride. And so in just a few days the friends were back at the Fairy camp surrounding Cutter’s Cove. The Fairy soldiers were busy packing up their tents, getting ready to march toward new enemies. Pie asked if they had heard anything about Culbrook or other villages nearby. But no news had come from the North all season. Gini wanted to believe this was a good sign, but Pie was worried. They had been away for so long. All of Summer, and nearly all of Fall. What could have happened during all of that time?
They ate the very last of their mushrooms as they walked the last few days home. The road was familiar, and even though they were both exhausted, Gini was bursting with excitement. They had the potion, and they could save her brother and her mom. And then together they could help the rest of the village. Pie kept quiet, She remembered the old boar with green fur, and the stalk of root growing from his eye socket. After he had left the tribe had burned everything he touched.
---
Culbrook was dark, even though it was afternoon. There were no workers in the gardens, and the inn was closed. A sickeningly sweet smell thickened the air, and twisted roots covered the village’s buildings like overgrown vines. Pie knew it was too late. They had been gone too long. But Gini hurried toward her family’s cottage. The worried pig had to trot to keep up.
The cottage was overgrown with creeping roots, which Pie was sure twisted and pulsed as they grew closer. There was no sign of the family’s chickens and cows. She watched as her friend opened the front door, calling out for her mother. There was no response, except for a sound that could have been a raspy moan or could have been the wind. Pie stood in the doorway, unwilling to enter the house. What had once been a warm and friendly home was now dark and dusty, crusted with roots. She thought she could feel the building shudder under her feet. Gini raced forward across the root-covered floor, potion in hand, calling for her mother. There was a sound from the bedroom—the room her brother had locked himself inside. The wooden door was riddled with root, tendrils seeping from the gap near the floor. There was a scratching noise on the other side, and Pie’s little body tensed. She knew this was wrong. They were too late.
Gini called out again. Hopeful. Desperate. She knocked on the door.
“Mom? Mom, I’m back. Pie and I found the potion! I know it took so long, but everything is going to be okay! Everything is okay!”
Gini turned to look back at her friend and smiled. The girl had traveled halfway across the region and back, further than anyone from her village had ever gone. But it had all been worth it.
She didn’t see the door open, but Pie did. The pig took a breath to warn her friend, but it all happened too fast. The wood of the door split like a mouth, and knotty root tendrils sprang out to ensnare the girl. Before Gini could blink, before she realized what was happening, she was pulled past the door’s threshold. Pie caught a glimpse of a hungry wooden maw, and beyond that, the entombed body of Gini’s brother, who had birthed a ravenous Root God. With a snap, the door closed behind Gini, boards closing shut like teeth. The girl hadn’t even had time to cry out.
Pie backed away from the cottage. It was a dead place now and belonged to the Root. There was nothing the little pig could do. Her friend was gone.
---
Winter came and went, then Spring. Pie traveled North to the city of Madris, where she worked delivering meals to guards at their posts on the city’s walls. After a time, she moved on, traveling along the great Dusk Road that once connected all the cities of the Forest and Tundra Regions. Summer brought her through the fishing village of Shellshore. She remembered catching fish with Gini when they first met. The girl knew how to tie a line and bait a hook, and they grilled their catch over an open fire along a forest stream. It was one of the little pig’s favorite memories.
That Fall she met a traveler on the road. He was friendly and offered to share his meal with her. But his heavy cloak couldn’t hide the green of his skin or the roots that crawled from the corner of his mouth and sprawled across his cheek. Pie declined the offer but sat on the far side of his campfire and listened as he told her of all the towns he had visited that year. After the traveler fell asleep, the little pig quietly pushed the burning logs and hot embers of the campfire into his bedroll, where he slept. Pie watched as the Rooter caught fire, twisting and howling as he burned. The little pig remembered the traveler that had come to her village long ago, with his moss green fur and ruined eye. She remembered what her father had said after the Rooter left, when the villagers set fire to everything he had touched.
They should have burned him.
About the Author
J. Richmond is the co-creator of The Magical Land of Yeld as well as the long running webcomic Modest Medusa.