To Alfric’s dismay, the other three raised their hands too. Eventually, he did as well, just so that it would be unanimous. He wanted them happy more than he wanted things fair.
“Wait,” said Mizuki. “Do I get the spoon?”
“Fine by me,” said Hannah.
“I’d like the flute,” said Verity. “I don’t think it’s very good, but we’ll see if I can get a hang of six-fingered playing.”
“This is throwing everything into disarray,” said Alfric. “There’s no way that the flute, spoon, and bow are worth the same amount to each of us.”
“Well, you’re outvoted,” said Hannah, nodding as though the matter was settled. Unfortunately for Alfric, it seemed like she was right, because no one wanted to go through the time and effort to make sure things were actually fair.
“Then we sell the rag, the small book, and all the materials?” asked Alfric. “And hang on to the storage book, because we don’t really have any other option.”
“Sounds good to me,” said Verity. “Can we get moving though? I’d like to get back in time for dinner, and we spent longer there than I’d planned. I eat almost all my meals at the Fig and Gristle, and Cynthia closes down the kitchen earlier than I would like.”
The light was already fading, and they hadn’t left the entry into the dungeon. Alfric quickly replaced the lock and locked it tight, then gave it a tug to test it. The lock was a simple thing, really just meant to ensure that kids wouldn’t wander into a dungeon, but there was also some ceremony and importance to it, especially when locking it up.
They began moving down the path back to Pucklechurch. Alfric was feeling good about how the dungeon had gone, overall. Hannah was an ally, in a sense, and it seemed as though Isra could be counted on to do some traveling and dungeoneering, especially because she seemed less tied to Pucklechurch. That she’d lucked out with the bow was unfortunate, in some respects, but helped prove the value of a dungeon. Verity, on the other hand, seemed a bit put off by the violence, though perhaps less than Alfric had thought. With Mizuki, it was hard to tell.
Not too long into their trip back, Verity began to sing a victory song, keeping her lute stored and using just her voice. There was no trace of magic. The song was long and involved, and recounted a story of animals fighting a dread menace. She was halfway through when Alfric realized that they were the five animals, at least if he understood right.
“A bear is not a healing animal,” said Hannah once Verity was finished and the brief applause had concluded.
“Which animal is a healing animal?” asked Verity. She looked around at them. “Sorry if the choices were offensive.”
“Well, there’s no proper healing animal,” said Hannah. “But a lizard can regrow its arms.”
“Legs, right?” asked Mizuki.
“They have arms and legs,” said Hannah.
“And a tail,” said Isra. “Which is what they most commonly regrow.”
“You’d prefer a lizard over a bear?” asked Mizuki. “Blegh. I mean, I wouldn’t want to be compared to a bear at all, too hairy.”
“Well, I’ve got hair to spare, as my ma always said,” laughed Hannah. This wasn’t at all in dispute; Hannah’s hair went down to the small of her back when unfurled, but it was also very voluminous, making her head appear larger than it really was. “And a bear’s a fine creature, but they’re not healers by any stretch.”
“Why was I a cat?” asked Isra, who had been fairly quiet. She now carried two bows on her back. Her pack was full, mostly with whatever pipes were too long to fit within the book.
“I was thinking you were a silent, slinking creature,” said Verity. “A diamond-eyed stalker in the night waiting to pounce at exactly the right moment.”
Isra nodded. She looked lost in thought. Alfric had been pleased that she’d joined the applause.
“What was I?” asked Mizuki. “A dog, a cat, a rabbit, a bear, and a songbird? And I was… the songbird?”
Verity gave a high, delighted giggle, and Mizuki grinned at her.
“Wait,” said Alfric. “I think I actually have matching keys.” He went into a pocket, where he’d put the keys, and pulled them out, handing them to Verity.
She looked through them one by one. “The bird isn’t a songbird, the dog is a wolf, and there’s no bear.”
“What are these?” asked Hannah, coming over to look at the keys. “These were in the dungeon?”
“Henlings,” said Alfric, though he assumed Hannah already knew the term. “There would have been more, but a lot of it was destroyed in the battle, which is a shame. Technically, a henling is anything that’s distinctive enough that it seems like it’s got a story behind it, though of course it doesn’t. Sometimes people use the term broadly, to mean anything mundane you pull out, even something like rope.” He felt a bit of ire toward people who used the broad definition, as they were ruining a perfectly good word.
“I could be a raccoon instead of a bear,” said Hannah, taking one of the keys for herself and passing the rest off to Mizuki.
“Raccoons are noted healers, are they?” asked Verity. “Also, I’d have to completely rework the song.”
“I know nothing about raccoons,” said Hannah. “But if no one tells me otherwise, I’m going to assume they’re masters of the healin’ arts.”
“A raccoon is a clever beast,” said Isra. “More clever than a fox. They’re adaptable and fastidiously clean.”
“Weren’t we just comparing those monsters to raccoons?” asked Mizuki. “And also, they were very much not raccoons.”
“I’d prefer to keep my mind off it, frankly,” said Verity.
“Better not to dwell on the battle,” added Alfric, though it was going to be hard to avoid, especially if he wanted to interest them in a second dungeon.
“Well,” said Hannah. “I suppose that’ll do.” She took her own key and distributed the rest to the others. “Makes me feel bad about the raccoon comparison.”
“What are these keys to, then?” asked Mizuki, looking over her key, which was a rabbit, just as in the song.
“They’re not ‘to’ anything, they’re just… pulled from the aether,” said Alfric. “That was how it was always described to me, at least. Some people have a fascination with henlings and with things pulled from the dungeons. The books we have might be translated with enough time, attention, and magic, and sometimes there’s readable stuff in them. But they’re not ‘from’ anywhere, they’re just a product of the hex, the conditions, the magic, and the people entering the dungeon, along with other stuff we know nothing about.”
“Kind of creepy, when you think about it,” said Mizuki.
Alfric tightened. “I suppose we don’t need to think about it, then,” he said.
“What do we do with the other two?” asked Hannah, holding the two spare keys, one of a snake, the other of a bee.
“I wasn’t going to do anything with them,” said Alfric. “They’re not really valuable.”
“Well they are now, right?” asked Hannah. “They’re mementos. I say we hold on to the keys, and if we ever have a sixth, or someone who’s a support member, we can give them one.”
“Parties only go to five,” said Verity, frowning. Alfric was watching her the most closely, because she was the most on the fence, aside from Mizuki. She was also the entire reason he’d come to Pucklechurch.
“Well, I didn’t mean to put a damper on things, but accidents happen, ay?” asked Hannah, being a little too flippant for Alfric’s tastes. “We went through that nicely, if I do say so myself, quick and clean with not too much to patch up after, but it could have been different, ay? We could have lost one. That’s something to keep in mind, when you’re doin’ a thing like this.”