Hyacinth (Tamlin's Healing Arc)

Chapter Nineteen

Cin strode through the streets of Calla with a vague idea of her destination in mind. She kept the vegetation fields in her sight and followed the path that would lead her there. It took nearly half an hour before she arrived at the wooden fencing, making her realize that this task would take longer than the few minutes she had promised Tamlin.

Scaling the fencing, Cin hopped off on the other side and entered the field. To her dismay, there was no produce at all. She dropped to her knees, pressing her palm against the loose sand and realizing that the soil lacked fertility to support enough food for Calla. Nearby, she spotted a borehole and a pipe used to channel water, but it was insufficient to cover the entire field.

Standing up, Cin walked down one of the empty rows, feeling the stones poking through her thin-soled shoes.

Just then, a voice called out, "Hey! Get away from there!"

Cin noticed a small box-like post further along the fence. An elderly woman hobbled out of it, displaying a noticeable limp. Cin was about to explain herself when a wall of gelatinous air swept her off her feet—a diluted version of the hardened air wall Tamlin could summon at will.

"I'm here to help!" Cin yelled, rolling over onto her stomach to face the woman.

"Yeah? How?" the woman asked, rushing over to Cin. "Also, could you step away from the livestock while you explain what you're here to do?"

Cin hadn't even noticed the small animal paddock, which housed three sheep and two cows. She assumed there were more animals somewhere else in Calla. To comply with the woman's request, Cin pushed herself back up and moved away from the paddock.

"What kind of help do you need?" the woman inquired, now close enough to converse without yelling.

Cin waved her hand over the ground between them, and a row of carrots grew to maturity before their eyes. "I can do this, and much more. But my magic isn't strong enough to tend to the entire field from outside the fence. I need to be closer."

The woman breathed heavily as she crouched down to pluck a carrot. Breaking it in half, she sniffed and tasted the juicy stump before her gaze shot to Cin. "This is your magic?"

Cin nodded, observing the exposed root where she had plucked the carrot. Focusing her attention, she caused two more carrots to grow in its place. The woman stumbled back a step, gaping at Cin in astonishment.

"With your permission, I can cultivate the entire field. Will one field be sufficient to sustain you until it yields on its own?" Cin asked.

"We haven't had a full harvest in years," the woman whispered. Then she asked, "Do you need a list of what to grow, or is it just a select few vegetables within the scope of your magic?"

"If you have a list, I'd appreciate it. I can grow whatever you need; I just need to know the specific crops," Cin replied, laughing, and followed the woman back to the post.

Over the next hour, Cin walked down every row, cultivating each vegetable on the list. She wished she possessed deeper magical abilities that would allow her to blanket the field with vegetation in seconds, but she didn't. Cin needed to be patient and give her magic the time it required. Once she had covered the field, she grew an apple tree next to the post, providing shade, drink, and food for the old woman who sat there daily.

With the woman gone to the village to seek help with collecting the vegetation, Cin found a sandy patch of shade under the apple tree and collapsed onto the ground. Sweat covered her entire body, and beneath the perspiration, she felt like a pile of aching muscles in a drenched meat suit.

Every breath scorched her throat, and for a few heartbeats, she wondered if she had overexerted herself. What if she had used more magic than she was allotted?