The ceremony of the Jungle Mother began later that evening and was a time honored tradition to celebrate those that had passed on.

Drums rhythmically played an infectious beat as a dancer leapt over his partner spitting a long string of fire from his mouth. He landed in a crouch as his partner pushed herself off the ground rising over him. Flames came off her feet kicking up tiny sparks and creating a perfect ark of fire; Sofia was mesmerized by the display. “This dance is about the Jungle Mother’s final gift to the departed. She uses everything they have left behind to create and sustain all things.” Saba whispered to Kaden while they watched the pair of dancers.

The ceremony was spectacular. It consisted of several different dances, followed by a feast, ending with Rakhail reciting a blessing from the Jungle Mother and the cremation of those that had recently departed. The atmosphere was bitter-sweet, they were sad to see their loved ones go, but were happy that they rejoined the Jungle Mother.

“They will now help protect the Jungle and guide us for all of time”, Saba finally breaking down; she did her best to smile as water streamed down her face. “I know they are happy with Mother now, but it is still hard.”

It was past midnight when the ceremony ended. Kaden went to the store house where the Spine-back bodies were being kept for the next few days. Some of them had already been skinned, their meat smoked, salted and dried. Kaden looked around for one that was mostly intact, “here we go, found one”. Examining it closely he couldn’t help but chuckle. He had stumbled on the Spine-back responsible for commanding the pack. It was in perfect condition with the exception of the hole through its head. “The irony of all things… You wanted to eat me and now I get to eat you instead.” Sofia slightly amused at Kaden’s words absorbed the Spine-back. The grimoire changed again as it was now bound in a thicker, tougher leather, interlaced with shiny reflective green scales and metallic corners to protect the edges and spine.

“You used the entire Spine-back for a leather cover”, Kaden grimaced at the waste of an entire resource. “Waste!? Feel the leather, it is so soft yet extremely tough and look at the colour.” Sofia responded sounding shocked. “With the embedded Phinsis scales a normal weapon can’t break through the cover and I can now also defend myself.” Kaden dropped the grimoire as something sharp sprang up from its cover. Bending down to pick the book back up, he noticed a row of the Spine-back’s teeth protruding out. “Ouch, you could have just told me you know”, his voice almost scolding Sofia.

“But then you wouldn’t get the point; get it?” She spoke with an amused tone.

Kaden groaned, “So you can bite someone a little, it isn’t much of a defense. I think you’re better off using those jokes. That way everyone will cover their ears while they run from you screaming in terror.”

“HAHAH very funny, see I’m laughing. No really” responding sarcastically she retracted the teeth back into the book’s cover; not a trace of them could be found. “I also added the Phinsis sting into the teeth. If I want to I can release the toxin that it uses to weakens and kills its prey very quickly”, she added.

Kaden less amused this time examining his fingers, “I uh… will have to be careful”. He was debating if he really wanted to pick the book back up.

Reading his mind, “We are bound, I cannot hurt you even if I wanted to, believe me sometimes I really do. And what would be the point? I am sure if you die I will no longer have a consciousness. As I said we are partners.” She added.

“I don’t know, those bad jokes of yours already hurt my brain.” Kaden relieved and placed the book back in his pocket. “Let’s go get some rest.”

“Kaden” She paused as he responded.

“Yes?”

“I had a lot of fun today despite the circumstances. I wanted to say. Thanks. Thanks for everything.” If Kaden could see her, he would have noticed her cheeks had a red tint to them.

A slight smile curving upwards on his face, “Sofia, I’m happy. It’s been a long time since I have felt this way. Thank you.”

The next week flew by quickly. With Sofia’s help he learnt a variety of useful skills at an alarming rate. He had skinned Spine-backs, salted meat and smoked for preservation. Kaden even learnt how to sew, work leather and successfully made several arrow heads on the forge. Kaden had also started to teach the entire Village how to use magic, or at least the only two spells he knew.

Kaden felt energetic as he left his home the next day. It would still be a day or two more before he fully recovered but he felt good. Padvor greeted him this morning. He was going to teach Kaden about being a healer after breakfast. “Good morning Padvor. What time did you finally go to bed?” Padvor and Gion were up late the previous night practicing the magic Kaden taught them.

“Not very late although my wife will only arrive halfway through breakfast as usual.” Padvor smiled thinking of Gion. “I was giving further thought to the amount of stamina it takes to keep magic active as well as the stress it places on the body. Recoberrys are a good instant burst of energy but are no longer effective after five berries or so until your body finished digesting them.

Recoberry Juice is not as concentrated and returns less energy but has the same problem even if we can consume more of it. Carrying and drinking a lot of it during battle isn’t practical beyond a single water skin.”

“How do High-born deal with this problem?” Interrupted Kaden.

“High-born are taught magic from a young age so their bodies develop differently as they grow and don’t have to worry about the stress that spells place on them. Because of their training, their energy consumption I suspect is much less than ours. In essence when we use magic it will be more stressful on our bodies and cost us more stamina.”

“So compared to a High-born we can use fewer spells simultaneously, the duration will be shorter because of the stamina cost and stress on our bodies.” Kaden clarified as Padvor nodded. “What about the tribes?”

“The tribes follow a different path young Kaden. They are barbarians and use barbaric methods”, Rakhail waving them over to sit with him for the morning meal. “You have my thanks for teaching me the magic of the Jungle. The High-born aren’t the only ones the Mother favors, all should be free to learn her gifts”

Gion strolled in taking the seat next to Padvor. She was half asleep as usual and didn’t acknowledge anyone, at least not until she was a little more awake. The four of them got their morning meal as Rakhail continued, “I am convinced that only a person of selectively inbreeding could conceive the method they have all adopted. The tribes use Saint-mothers venom.”

Excerpt Korin’s Jungle Survival Guide: The Saint-mothers Spider is perhaps one of the most unique predators in the Jungle. These two-foot terrors will not attack unless defending their cave nests. Those tiny bodies conceal a monstrous amount of strength and their venom will leave prey paralyzed slowly shutting down their internal organs. Saint-mothers typically set up several webs near their cave homes in-order to trap and catch any prey that accidently stumbles into them. They then inject venom directly into their prey eventually bringing them back to their next for consumption.

Saint-mothers also have the ability to change colour. This ability is triggered by the Saint-mothers breeding cycle. Saint-mothers store some of the nutrients they consume for their young. When a Saint-mother has turned a bright shade of red from its typical black and grey, it is ready to lay eggs. Saint-mothers during this stage will not eat prey brought back to its nest but instead inject prey with nutrient rich substance along with a weaker version of its venom. The Saint-mother will keep injecting nutrients into the prey until the venom finally shuts down their internal organs. This is done to ensure the next hatched batch of its hungry young are as healthy as possible. The Saint-mother then lays its eggs on the remains of the prey waiting for them to hatch and devour their prepared meal.

“They will feed a Saint-mother until she is good and fat. Then the fools let themselves get caught by the red bitch. She will bring them into her nest and inject them with her venom. Her venom is different when she is in heat, it is much weaker and makes those bitten stronger although they are still paralyzed and dying. The fool from the tribe usually has an antidote hidden in his mouth and has to escape the nest after her first bite. Since she bites her prey every fifteen minutes that is how long they have to escape. Two out of every five of them die but those who do survive are much stronger.” Rakhail finished taking a bite out of his meal.

“Can’t we just catch one of these spiders, feed her and drain her venom”, Kaden asked.

Rakhail poured himself some water. “The Legion tried but the Saint-mothers are not easy to catch and even then they do not lay eggs when threatened. What the tribes do is the best method, if you can call it that. Even if we were stupid enough to do it we do not know how to make the antidote.”

“Are there any nearby?” Kaden asked

“There is one to the north, what are you planning boy?” Gion finally chimed in.

“Nothing yet, but I may have an Idea.” He smiled.

“Leave it boy, what you have taught us is more than enough. Do not take un-necessary risks. We will make do.” A stern tone in her voice.

Kaden smiled thinking out loud, hey Sofia I have an idea.