"Concentrate!"

The tiny bit of magic between her hands snapped and broke, the pieces fading away. Danine thumped her tail on the floor in annoyance, "I can't do that if you shout at me. "

They were in one of the spare houses in the new village. The wood of the forest near to Wendy's Fort made for good building material, but not good arrows, so there had been talk of building one house for every couple like they used to have before everyone packed into the walls. Eventually though, it turned out that some families wanted to remain together and the few extra houses were being used for council business.

How teaching Danine magic counted as council business was beyond her, but she had no objections of course. It was slightly frustrating that Cato's influence was what had gotten her this lesson but the thought that she might be able to throw magic bolts like the Inaths was too good to quibble over minor problems like that.

"It was not forming correctly," the knight said, "you need to give it structure. Feel it!"

The knight held out her hand and showed Danine the six primary magics again. But there was no structure to see, just like all the other times. There were just four green blobs, and one red and one blue.

"But there's nothing to feel!" Danine complained, "it just looks like magic. "

"You were the one who begged Cato to teach you magic," the knight said.

"Now now," Cato said as he got up from his own, even more futile, practice. "Tori, perhaps it might be better to listen to what she's saying," he said, "it might be good for me too, since I seem to be making no progress. "

For once, Danine was doing significantly better than the human boy. Despite all his concentration and effort, not a speck of magic had appeared. The knight shrugged, "we'll take a short break then. "

Cato turned to Danine, "Can you describe the magic she uses?"

Danine sighed, "I do feel it, it glows. Slightly. But I don't feel any structure like she says. "

"You said it 'just looks like magic'. What did you mean?"

She frowned at the human boy, "it looks like magic. What else? There was four green blobs, one blue and one red. "

Cato raised an eyebrow, "that's not what I see. In fact I don't see anything. "

Danine could only frown. What could that mean? She was sure those blobs were there when Tori was using magic.

Cato rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "let me try something. "

He bent over and picked up one of those arrow shooters. What were they called again? Ah, yes, bowguns. He put it on the table and asked Danine, pointing at the block of wood near the back of the weapon, "And what do you see here?"

She looked closely. "It's green," she said finally, "maybe. " Whatever magic was on the bowgun, it was faint.

"Hm," Cato said cryptically.

"All right, let's try that again," Tori said as she came back in with a mug of tea. The fragrant minty leaf was quite a hit among the Fukas, Danine loved the smell but hated the way the adults seemed to drink their tea boiling hot and insisted that she do the same.

"I want to try it another way," Cato interrupted the knight, "Danine says she sees the bowgun's magic as green and sees three colours when you demonstrated it for us just now, but we don't see anything. Maybe she senses magic differently?"

Tori raised an eyebrow, "possible. She's a Fuka after all. Danine," the knight turned to her, "pick a colour and try to make it. "

Danine frowned, despite being told to do that, she was still unclear about what to do. Well, might as well give it a go.

The magic spun between her hands chaotically again but she now paid attention to the muddy mess of colours, trying to make it appear differently. The swirling increased but... was the blue getting stronger? She concentrated harder, trying to push at it. Yes, definitely stronger. A wave of chilly air emanated from the space between her hands.

"Oh, that's close," Tori said, "try to copy this," she said and held out a hand with a fuzzy blue ball radiating magic above it.

Danine tried to copy the blue hue but the other colours kept muddying her tiny spark. Still, it was magic. Real magic now. Just one more push...

A bead of sweat dripping onto her hand from her chin broke her concentration. The dirty blue glow between her hands faded slowly but she couldn't connect to it anymore.

"That's good," Tori nodded, "very good indeed. I think the conclusion is obvious Cato, the Fukas can learn to use magic just like humans and they do learn just as fast. I think they just aren't trained. "

Cato nodded in agreement, "yes, but I haven't managed anything at all. "

Danine clasped her cold hands to her body, the bloom of delight washing away her tiredness. It worked! Tori said she could learn magic!

She got up from the crudely cut stool and poured a clay cup of water for herself. Magic! She held the cup tightly and made the blue glow appear inside the water. Yes! It was slightly colder! It really worked!

Barely able to contain her glee, Danine felt the cup grow colder and colder. Mmm! Cold water was so refreshing! She poured some more magic into the cup, watching the glow get brighter...

Cato nudged Danine lightly but she didn't stir. Tori had let her practice by herself, focusing on Cato but they had been interrupted by Danine's cup cracking on the floor. The Fuka girl blinked at them sleepily and then abruptly curled up on the floor and simply went to sleep!

"What happened?" he asked the knight.

Tori bent over the girl and jumped slightly when Danine's tail sleepily coiled around her ankle. She suppressed an amused snort and held a hand over the Fuka's arm. "I think she's just drained. She has been channelling quite a lot of magic for a beginner," Tori said, "strange that she should go to sleep though. Humans just get tired instead, I suppose that's another difference between Fukas and us. "

Cato nodded, picking up her cup curiously. The ice inside sparkled back up at him. He sighed heavily.

"Do you think that perhaps there's something wrong with me?" Cato said, "no matter how I try, even you must admit that no magic happened for me. "

Tori snorted, "nonsense, even the most untalented peasant can learn some magic. Even the birds and bees use magic, of a limited sort. There's no way you can't. We just haven't figured how. "

Wait, even the birds used magic? "What about the trees?" Cato asked.

Tori shrugged, "of course. Most plants only have passive lifeforce magic, though there is a tree that 'sweats' Water. It's quite famous for being a species of tree that eats birds by dissolving their feet. "

Cato blinked. What. A tree that dissolved the feet of birds? That was rather unexpected. No, don't get distracted. Lifeforce magic huh? True, if magic did exist, it stood to reason that evolution would make use of it. But what of Cato who came from Earth where there was most assuredly no magic? Would he have a lifeforce?

"How do you sense magic?" Cato asked.

Tori shrugged, "how do you see? You use your eyes. You sense magic with your lifeforce. Strong magic like the ones on the walls you can feel. They radiate power. With practice, you can even almost tell what sort of spell it is. At least if you've seen an example work a few times. "

That was indeed a good description. So Cato could sense magic which would point to him having a lifeforce. Made of magic presumably. But how? Or did magic sense not operate through the lifeforce unlike what she said?

"Do I have a lifeforce?" Cato asked again.

Tori stared. "You are alive, yes?" she pinched his wrist, "yep, not a zombie. Of course you do. Even the grass has lifeforce. "

"How do you know that?"

Tori frowned, "well, if you destroy someone's lifeforce, they die. Same with grass or birds or anything alive. It's lifeforce. Without it, you're just a squishy rock. "

"And how do you destroy lifeforce?"

"Any basic bolt of raw magic can do it. If it's strong enough," Tori explained, "it's an inefficient method to kill large creatures like humans, but during a battle, even stray bolts will kill the grass. And in some battles, simple brute power works best. "

Ah, so that explained the streaks of decomposing grass around the section of wall that the fighting took place at. Hm. "So are you sure I have a lifeforce?" he asked again, "can you try it just a little?"

Tori shrugged and took his hand. A tiny stream of magic passed from hers to his. "It should feel a little tingly or numb. "

Cato shook his head.

Tori frowned and the stream got a little bigger.

Nope, still nothing. He was going to tell her to stop but she took her hand away. "Strange, anyone should be able to feel that," she said, "normally disruptive magic will eat away at the surface of your lifeforce, but I have not seen anyone's lifeforce behave like yours. The magic almost went through your hand. "

Stranger and stranger. "Do you know why?" Cato asked.

"No idea. I don't know anything like this could even be possible," Tori said, "Maybe that's why you can't use magic. The Order of Pastora might know more, if you can find them. They're traveling healers. "

The reason why his lifeforce was weird might be connected to how he arrived in this world. And the fact that Earth didn't have any such thing as magic. Cato might be the only living thing on this planet for whom magic was optional. Cato didn't say anything about that of course. He wasn't quite sure how they would react if they knew he wasn't from this world.

He wondered if bacteria needed magic to grow...

The next few days came and went without apparent incident. The Fukas continued to build their village and after a solemn funeral, the knights had gone back to their usual practice schedules. The most exciting thing was the accounting of the zombie bounty. Cato could only shake his head sadly at the idea of an army where every soldier got paid on kill count. Amid the arguments and inevitable disputes, Cato had been called to Michi's office.

Cato looked back at the fort at the top of the hill and sighed.

That... meeting had not gone well.

"Bad news?" Banage said as Cato entered the room. The village council had shrunk of late. Only Tharoden, Banage and Tulore attended, despite three others being on the list. Cato suspected some sort of political upheaval had happened but he didn't want to pry.

Cato nodded, "I have to leave. Michi said, clearly, that he would only agree to our terms if I left Wendy's Fort. "

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"But he has agreed to the terms?" Banage leaned forward.

Cato nodded again, "There are some modifications but essentially yes. "

Cato unrolled the paper scroll on the wooden table at the center of the room and read it to them, "He will permit traders, with a tax of a twentieth of the trade. Michi will soon disallow the knights from trading arrows, but Wendy's Fort will sell them directly in exchange for grain. He will tax a tenth of the grain you grow and expects a minimum trade of piyo fur and meat for paka meat and milk. Knights will be permitted to teach anyone how to use magic, but only if you can convince them to, Wendy's Fort will not encourage or discourage it. If Tulore will permit," Cato nodded at the woman, "one dose of curse-breaker can substitute for ten sacks of grain or six piyos. I think he's expecting some of that too, but it's not stated in the agreement. "

Cato let the scroll roll back up and regarded the council with a smile, "It's better than the terms of the initial discussion before the zombies arrived. The trade tax is lower and you are explicitly allowed to learn magic. I suspect he's taken a liking for your flatbread too, I saw some crumbs in his office. " He let the smile fade, "on the other hand, the Elkas have agreed to stay at Wendy's Fort rather than ask you build another tower for them. He has agreed to ask for no more than one scouting per day so they can still aid your hunts. "

He saw the fierce look of triumph on Banage's face. "Most favourable indeed," the Fuka said, his twitching tail giving away his excitement, "I don't like the tax on our grain but we can manage with a tenth. The Wind Eyes will grow fast in this soil. The Elkas are also no great loss, especially since Wendy's Fort will feed them, not us. "

Tharoden looked at him levelly, "But Cato will have to leave us. Without a human to talk to them, will future terms be as good? How long can we trust them to keep their side of the bargain?"

Cato looked at Tulore, "It can last for some time. Michi's not as angry any more. And once the first of the tax is collected, I suspect he will be too busy counting the profit. With easily three hundred Fukas here, a tenth of the grain will add up to a lot of food. I also think he's hoping to gain some curse-breaker potions to study, he may hope to have one of the fort's knights learn how to make them. "

Tulore snorted, "he has no idea how difficult it is to make. I am still trying to replace the tools we couldn't save and the a type of rock dye I need is missing from this region. You did request for it in the letters you sent, yes?"

Cato nodded, "a town in the furthest of the three counties replied that they can obtain supplies of such. It will be expensive but I suspect curse-breaker will be far more valuable. Michi's rate of ten sacks of grain is far too low. "

Banage added, "I've continued to send Char clan to trade and talk with the knights. The wives might be wishing for a second romance to gossip about but I'm not sure how possible that is. No disrespect, but you tailless humans aren't exactly attractive. "

Cato smiled, "That's good to hear. Romances aside, the more the knights who like you, the less Michi can do to threaten this village. "

"I still don't like our chances," Tharoden said.

Cato looked at the big Fuka. While he knew the man had looked on Cato more favourably the last few days, hearing him worry about Cato leaving was still surprising.

"Whether I liked it or not," Tharoden explained as they regarded him, "you demonstrated that you only intended to help us. We would have no chance of surviving the army of zombies that attacked the fort. I admit that leaving was the right choice. "

Tharoden admitting he had been wrong? Was the sky falling down now? Cato could only nod cautiously.

"It would be foolish of me to turn away an ally like you. Please accept my apologies, I was only being cautious. "

Cato gulped and nodded. The relief on the big Fuka's face was gratifying but it only made leaving harder. "I accept of course," Cato said, "I wish we could have understood each other before I had to leave. "

"When?" Banage asked.

"I leave with the next supply cart coming to Wendy's Fort," Cato said, "in two days. "

"Are you really leaving?"

Cato's jaw dropped. "I walked straight here from the council meeting! How did you..."

Toal grinned and winked at Danine. She grinned at Cato instead, "news travels fast. "

That was not an explanation. "But I walked here as fast as I could!"

"Fukas run faster than you walk," Danine said, "it's all over the village already. "

Cato sighed, well so much for his worry over how to explain that. At least the hard bit was over. "So, I suppose you two wanted to talk to me about that. "

"Do you have to go?" Danine began to plead but Cato cut her off.

"Yes, I do. Michi was very clear about that. "

"But your magic lessons-"

"I haven't been able to learn it," Cato said, "you've almost mastered the cooling magic already but Tori hasn't been able to teach me to conjure even the slightest bit. "

Danine looked downcast.

"I'm not going to leave forever," he said, "I'll come back to visit. Someday. "

"And when will that be?!" Danine asked loudly, "After the war is over? How many years? Or Wendy's Fort could be overrun and we'd be dead. "

"I can't promise anything," Cato tried to explain, "but your village needs me to leave, so I have to. One day, I'll be free to come back. " And if he had any say in that, it might not be all that long either. Not that he could tell her and get her hopes up.

Danine's lips trembled and she looked like she was about to cry. Then she frowned and looked at him sharply, "you can take me with you. "

Er. What.

"Where do you think you're going, young lady?"

The voice sent Danine hopping almost a foot into the air. They looked at her mother standing at the door to the kitchen.

"Mama, but Cato's going to leave!" Danine said.

"And what makes you think you can go with him?" her mother snapped.

"I can take care of myself! It's not like you need me here. "

Cato put a hand to his forehead. Well, that was an unexpected headache he didn't want to deal with.

Toal sighed as the mother and daughter began to argue. "Will you be fine?" the blacksmith asked, looking Cato over.

Cato nodded, "yes. I'm heading to Corbin, it's only five days on the cart from here. If you need to find me, you can start looking there. "

"Will you need any help?" Toal asked, "I could follow. I might even learn something from the Inaths. Landar isn't a very good smith. "

Cato shook his head. He appreciated it, but... "It's not a good idea. Your village needs you more than ever, a new village will need all sorts of tools. "

"True, my hands are full" Toal smiled, "All the more reason to-" he caught Irld's glare, "all right, all right, you take care of yourself then. "

"You too. "

Danine dashed out of the kitchen, tears on her face. Cato and Toal looked at her mother.

"I'm really sorry," Irld sighed, "she won't take no for an answer once she's gotten an idea into her head. "

Cato bowed, "Thank you for taking me in. It has been a pleasure to stay with you. "

"Same to you," Irld nodded back, "your stories of your world were fascinating. Let me pack you some food to take with you. "

Cato refused it, "Keep it, the knights are arranging that. Besides, I can take care of myself. You don't need to worry too much. "

Sheesh, all of them trying to give him things. Cato was starting to feel like a child to be coddled.

Irld nodded and put down the pot of flatbread, "You helped... no, saved our village. If you ever need one, there will always be a place for you here. "

The supply cart arrived on schedule two days later, trundling through the gate. The two large Rekis pulling it were fed and watered while the cart was unloaded of foodstuffs and items the knights had ordered. The driver had even yawned and went off to find a meal at the dining hall. Just a normal mail run.

Cato put down his small bag of belongings beside the pile of firewood left on the cart. The clothing from Earth and a set of notes he had taken. There wasn't much else that was his.

Seeing him off was the Fuka village council and Michi with some knights. Michi still looked angry but at least it was only directed at Cato, not the Fukas. The Elkas were perched on the gate and walls too. Cato glanced around, nodding to Toal and Ka. Hmm, Danine wasn't here.

He hoped she wasn't hiding somewhere crying. Her mother wouldn't like that.

The cart rocked under him as a knight place a large wooden crate on it. Tori patted the heavy crate full of bread and winked at him. Then she stepped out of the way of another knight who placed another crate on the cart.

Cato put away idle thoughts and looked at the procession.

What was happening here? The knights were loading the cart with crates of... hey, those were Landar's items! He could feel the magic from them right through the crates and... and...

Landar was there right behind them.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I'm coming along," Landar smirked.

"Surely you're joking!" Cato exclaimed, "Can you just leave Wendy's Fort like that?"

Landar sighed and took out a letter, "I've been recalled by my father. Well, the order of knights has, but my father's probably the one putting on the pressure. I knew revealing Tempest Bolt wasn't going to be a good idea. "

Cato blinked for a moment then realized it was the name of that Ritual class summoning stone. Landar had adamantly refused to explain how she got it, despite Tori's questioning.

"I... sort of... stole it," Landar smiled wryly, "so they want it back. "

"Are they going to punish you?" Cato asked.

"You think I'd be going back if they were going to?" Landar shook her head sadly, "They wouldn't dare. "

Who was the 'they' Landar spoke of? And what was the relation between her father and the stone? Aware that he knew virtually nothing about Landar, Cato sighed and looked at the laden cart. There would be time enough to talk during the journey he supposed.

"And someone has to take care of you after all," Landar quipped, a smile creeping back onto her face.

Cato could only roll his eyes. So much for getting people not to baby him.