Walk to the mine

On the way to the mine, I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to find Nia, who had ran up to join Esther and me. She was grinning, clearly amused.

“Hey, Jasper,” she asked, fighting back a giggle, “what was up with the face you made earlier when you bit into that toast? I thought you were going to keel over!”

Her laughter brought back the memory of my conversation with Esther just last night. After taking a breath, I decided to share my salty experience with the two of them.

“I don't know what yours tasted like, but my toast was loaded with salt,” The memory was still fresh, the taste of an uppercut lingering on my tongue.

Nia burst into even louder laughter. “No way, that sounds like a prank I would pull!” she said, clutching her stomach.

Esther, however, was not amused. She looked concerned, her forehead wrinkling. “Jasper, did you unintentionally upset Raven?” she asked.

“I honestly don't remember,” I responded, feeling puzzled. I racked my brains, but couldn't come up with anything that would have warranted such an odd retaliation.

My empty stomach growled, reminding me of the breakfast I had barely touched. Rummaging through my rations, I took out some chunks of meat and bread, munching on them as we continued our journey to Oman's checkpoint spell.