The Alarming Scent of Cinnamon

XIII

Hansel awoke as the house sat down again, not remembering falling asleep. He yawned and looked around, noticing that he was still holding the dragon scale and the box was lying open on his lap. He quickly wrapped up the dragon scale and set it back in the box, stowing it in a cabinet.

"So, any mountains nearby?" he said, stretching as he donned his bag.

"There's a few good ones," Baba Yaga replied, gathering up a few components and stuffing them into her traveling cloak.

"Let's hurry up," Gretel, who was already ready and standing by the door, said. Hansel walked past her and headed outside to survey his surroundings. The house had settled in a lush clearing. He could see mountains in the distance.

Yaga and Gretel followed Hansel outside.

"Let's get going," Yaga said. "There's not much daylight left,"

"Gretel," Hansel said, turning around, "Do you have the components for a light spell?"

"A light spell?" Gretel said. "You mean a luminary,"

"Yeah, that," he said. "Do you?"

"Of course I do," she said.

"Then let's go."

Hansel transformed into a deer, using his antlers to bushwhack his way through the woods. He used this form a lot, but it was always exciting to see blues and yellows more vividly. Gretel and Baba Yaga followed behind him, discussing magic in hushed tones.

Hansel led them through the woods, using all six of his senses to avoid danger and find the quickest route possible. It was dark as pitch outside when they emerged from the woods, and both Gretel and Baba Yaga had conjured luminaries to light the way.

A small town perched on a hill ahead of them, a few of its windows glowing dimly from candles and oil lamps.

"Baba Yaga and I will go around it," Gretel whispered, "You get changed and find the nearest tavern."

Hansel changed back into a boy as Gretel and Yaga headed towards the mountains to find a good cave. He pulled a pair of unusually tall clogs and a neatly folded cloak out of his bag and stuffed the clog's toes with moss to make them less painful, then put them on. Hansel shook the cloak out and slipped into it, pulling the cowl over his head to obscure his face.

Walking up a hill in high heels can be both difficult and painful, and I can tell you that walking in tall clogs is much the same. Hansel winced as his foot slipped slightly, then slid his shoes off and carried them up the rest of the way. After all, he only needed them to look more intimidating, and that was only necessary in the tavern.

Once he had crested the hill, Hansel leaned against a house and put his shoes back on, then stepped onto the street and listened for any drunken laughter or shouting. He heard some noise from the west and walked towards it, finding its source to be an average looking building, with a sign over its door that read, "The Dying Hog".

"The Dying Hog?" Hansel said. "Lousy name for a pub," he muttered as he pushed the door open. 

Hansel walked up to the counter and waited for the bartender to turn towards him.

"What'll you have?" he said, glancing nervously at Hansel.

"Just water," Hansel said, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. The tall clogs were working!

"Water?" the bartender's brow furrowed. "We serve a nice toddy, if you'd like to try it,"

"Is there a problem with water?" Hansel said coldly. He didn't have enough money to buy a drink, and he also wasn't allowed to have alcohol.