The starship touched down in a dusty field on the edge of Maple Hollow as the afternoon sun began to dip. Unlike Willow Hamlet's lush greenery, this village was parched—brown grass crunched underfoot, the maple trees that gave the hollow its name had wilted leaves, and a group of villagers stood clustered around a stone well in the square, their faces grim.
Lin Che, Su Qing, Mo Ying, and Xiao Ya walked toward the square, the sack of grain from Willow Hamlet slung over Lin Che's shoulder. A woman with sun-bleached hair and calloused hands stepped forward—her apron was stained with dust, and her eyes were red-rimmed.
"You're the travelers Elder Gao sent?" she asked, her voice hoarse. "I'm Elara, the village elder's wife. The elder—he's been trying to fix the well for days, but..." She gestured to the well, where an old man with a gnarled staff knelt, peering into the dark stone opening.
The elder looked up, his beard gray and unkempt. "No water," he said, shaking his head. "Not a drop. We've dug deeper, cleared the stones—nothing. The river's a mile away, but it's running dry too. If we don't get water soon…." He trailed off, staring at the wilted crops in the distance.
Xiao Ya knelt beside the well, pressing her hand to the stone. Her fingers glowed green, and her brow furrowed. "The earth here is thirsty," she said, her voice soft. "But there's water—deep down. It's just… blocked. By something old. Something made of stone."
Su Qing pulled out her Arcane Manual, flipping to a page with sketches of underground tunnels. "Elder Gao's note mentioned Maple Hollow was built on an old Guardian storage site," she said, tracing a line on the page. "Maybe there's a hidden chamber or a stone barrier blocking the water flow."
Mo Ying slung her toolbox off her shoulder, cracking her knuckles. "Then we'll dig it out. Or break through the stone—whichever's easier."
The elder nodded, relief washing over his face. "We have shovels, picks—whatever you need. The boys can help carry supplies."
By dusk, they'd set up a camp near the well. Xiao Ya sat cross-legged on the ground, her hands pressed to the earth, communicating with the few remaining plants in the village. Lin Che and Mo Ying sharpened picks and shovels, while Su Qing studied her manual, marking spots where the underground barrier might be.
"The plants say the stone is ten feet below the well," Xiao Ya said, opening her eyes. "It's a big slab—carved with runes, like the ones on the Guardian seals. It's holding back a spring."
Lin Che nodded. "We'll start digging at dawn. If it's a Guardian barrier, Su Qing can use Arcane magic to weaken it—Mo Ying and I can break through the rest."
That night, they ate a simple meal of dried meat and bread from the Willow Hamlet grain sack. Elara brought them mugs of weak herbal tea, and the elder told them stories of Maple Hollow's past—how his grandfather had told him the village was once a thriving hub, with a river that never ran dry and crops that grew year-round.
"The well never failed before," he said, staring into the fire. "Not even in the worst droughts. This… this is different. Like the earth itself has forgotten how to give water."
Xiao Ya placed a hand on his arm, her eyes gentle. "It hasn't forgotten," she said. "It's just waiting. For us to clear the way."
At dawn, they began digging. The elder's two sons—Jake, 16, and Theo, 14—helped, hauling buckets of dirt away from the well. The earth was hard and dry, and their hands ached by midmorning, but none of them stopped. Xiao Ya checked the progress every hour, her green glow guiding them to the stone slab.
"We're close," she said at noon, pressing her hand to the dirt. "Three more feet."
An hour later, Mo Ying's pick hit something hard. She grinned, scraping away the dirt—there it was: a smooth stone slab, etched with faint green runes, just like Xiao Ya had described.
Su Qing knelt beside it, her hands glowing green. She traced the runes with her finger, chanting a soft Arcane spell. The runes flickered to life, matching her glow. "It's a Guardian seal," she said. "Designed to protect the spring, not block it. Maybe it shifted over time—with earthquakes, or erosion. Now it's covering the spring's opening."
Lin Che and Mo Ying grabbed their picks, positioning themselves on either side of the slab. "On three," Lin Che said. "One… two… three!"
They swung their picks, hitting the slab with all their strength. The runes dimmed, and a crack spiderwebbed across the stone. They swung again—another crack. Xiao Ya joined in, her hands glowing brighter, sending plant roots into the cracks to pry the slab apart.
With a loud crack, the slab split in two. Water gushed up from the well, spraying into the air. The villagers cheered—Jake and Theo whooped, Elara cried, and the elder fell to his knees, cupping his hands to drink the water.
Xiao Ya laughed, her face wet with spray. "The spring's free," she said. "The earth's happy again."
They spent the rest of the day repairing the well—reinforcing the stone walls, clearing away debris, and building a wooden cover to keep dirt out. By evening, the well was full of clear, cold water, and the villagers were carrying buckets of it to their crops and homes.
Elara cooked a feast to thank them—roast chicken (the first they'd had in weeks, she said), fresh bread (baked with water from the well), and a berry tart made from wild berries Theo had picked. They ate in the square, by the now-full well, as the sun set.
Jake and Theo sat beside Mo Ying, asking her questions about the starship and her tools. "Can you really fix anything?" Theo asked, wide-eyed.
Mo Ying winked. "Almost anything. Except maybe a broken heart—but I hear Xiao Ya's plants are good for that."
Xiao Ya giggled, tossing a berry at her.
As they prepared to leave the next morning, the elder handed Lin Che a small leather pouch. "It's not much—some dried herbs, a few coins," he said. "But it's our thanks. For giving us back our water. Our hope."
Lin Che took it, smiling. "We didn't do it alone. You and your sons—you worked just as hard."
They climbed aboard the starship, waving goodbye. The villagers stood in the square, watching them go—Jake and Theo waving wildly, Elara holding the well's wooden cover, the elder with his hand on his heart.
Su Qing flipped through Elder Gao's map, pointing to a small village in the east. "Hazelton," she said. "Elder Gao says their blacksmith's forge broke—they can't make tools for the harvest. We could help."
Mo Ying nodded, starting the engine. "Forge repair? I've fixed starship engines—forges are easy."
Lin Che looked out the window, watching Maple Hollow shrink below them. The maple trees already looked greener, their leaves perking up in the evening breeze. The well's water glinted in the sun, a small but bright spot in the dry landscape.
The Star Marrow on his wrist glowed faintly, warm and steady. This was their journey now—not grand battles against darkness, but small, meaningful acts of help. Acts that made a village's crops grow, a well flow, a family smile.
"Let's go to Hazelton," he said.
The starship turned east, toward the horizon. The sun was setting, painting the sky orange and pink, and ahead—another village, another problem, another chance to bring hope.
Their journey continued. And it was brighter than ever.