Leland found himself sitting on the wagon with Jude and Gelo. He blinked a few times, reacclimating to the brightness of the sun.

“Where’s Glenny?” he asked.

Jude opened his mouth to answer, but a voice beat him to it.

“Here,” Glenny said, appearing beside them.

The others flinched, Jude staring at his friend with his lips pursed. “How long have you been there?”

“Since we got on?”

“That was hours ago!”

“And I’ve been here the whole time.”

“Dude,” Leland began, “that ring is scary.”

He was referring to Glenny’s birthday present, his mother’s ring. The enchantment was simple but powerful, obscuring the wearer to a degree people hunted and killed the ring maker so he couldn’t create more.

“Yeah,” Glenny replied with a shrug.

“Annnnyway, I found Isobel.”

“What?”

“The Lord of the First Druid was showing me what we are in for at the second Tear. Which is battle, mind you. But that’s not the point. Isobel was there, she assassinated a Witch!”

Jude frowned. As did Glenny.

“Come on guys, she’s not that bad,” Leland huffed.

“Maybe to you… but to us—”

“She treats us like kids,” Glenny interrupted. “Although, she is a good punching bag.”

“Until she punches back,” Jude muttered.

Leland rolled his eyes. “We’ve come to an understanding.”

“You’ve said that before. What does that even mean?”

“It means, I trust her.”

“Yeah I do as well—”

The wagon hit another bump, rousing Gelo from her nap. She blinked, bleary eyed and half asleep. “Are we there yet?” she uttered, daggering her snout into Jude’s knee like it was a fluffy pillow.

“Almost. You should probably get up. We’ll be moving soon.”

“Okay…” With that, the cub roused her tired head, rising like an undead from a shallow grave. “I’m up. What’s new?”

“Found Isobel,” Leland answered. “And a new contract.”

“Isobel? Where’s she?”

“At the Tear.”

“And the contract?”

Leland pulled out his grimoire, reading the new page aloud quietly to his friends.

Cursed contract of the Lord of the First Druid:

Use: Gain access to the Shamanism spell, Wildfire.

Return: Protect the Legacy of the First Druid known as “Elin” until the threat at the Tear has ended.

This contract is renegotiable after one year.

Shamanism Wildfire: Call upon the First Druid to kindle the flames of a disaster in your hands. Do what you will with it.

After finishing reading, Leland got a mixed “eh,” from his friends. He could only roll his eyes. Shamanism spells were unique enough to warrant their own title and field of study. He had to bite at the chance to own one. If it wasn’t good, then there were plenty of other contracts he could make.

And it wasn’t like the spell would take over from Circle of Souls, not unless he could form a particularly powerful script around the spell… which, now that he was thinking about it, may be a route to go…

“Hmm…”

“Hello? Leals, hello?”

He blinked. “Lost my train of thought.”

“Did you finish the Lord of Magic’s contract?”

His eyes snapped open just like the pages of his grimoire.

Cursed contract of the Lord of Magic (Renewed):

Use: Gain access to the spell Dual Mind Resonance.

Dual Mind Resonance: While active, your brain splits in two, offering dual thought processes.

Spell’s duration is limited by proficiency and base contract duration.

A particularly devious chuckle expelled from his lips. “It’s ready now!”

“Eh, don’t do that, Leland. It’s too creepy,” Gelo whined, the fur on the back of her neck sticking up.

“I want to test it. Do I have enough time to test it?”

“Leals, we’re going to—”

“HO!” the voice of the wagon driver called before the ox pulling the cart began to slow. “We’re here!”

“Fancy that timing?” Jude asked, wagging his eyebrow at Leland. “Time to go get a blessing!”

He hopped to his feet, jumping out of the wagon and landing in a patch of mud with an audible splash. He laughed, setting off to speak with the driver.

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“Is he skipping?” Glenny asked, squinting at his friend’s antics.

Leland and Gelo joined in watching the berserker skip through the mud. “What in the world…?”

“Did he get into the wine again?” Gelo asked.

“No. I took all of the bottles he had in his ring.”

“C-could he just be excited?”

“I don’t—”

“Come on guys!” Jude called. “Mr Hugh says the temple is this way!”

“Maybe he is,” Glenny muttered, jumping from the wagon and landing in the mud.

Leland did the same, as well as Gelo, but she froze the watery dirt so that her paws didn’t get caked. Leland cocked an eyebrow, his boots now frozen in icy mud.

“Sorry!” the cub yelped, unfreezing the area directly under his feet. “I’m a bit tired.”

Together they swung around the side of the wagon, finding Jude and Mr. Hugh talking to the ox pulling the wagon. While Jude spoke to the animal like it was an animal, Mr. Hugh talked as if the beast was his best friend.

“Carly says to have fun at the temple. She just knows you four are in for a treat!” the waggoneer said.

“Carly?” Glenny asked.

Mr. Hugh patted the ox. “My pride and joy.”

“Beast companion,” Jude said, receiving a prompt nod from the man.

“Most of the folks in this village are Legacies of Beasts. So don’t be alarmed if animals are in odd places. They are living their best lives here.”

While the group knew this village held a temple to the Lord of Beasts, the connection to the locals had been lost on the three boys. Of course the locals had some relation to the Lord of Beasts, otherwise why house a temple in their village?

Jude produced a few gold coins from his inventory ring, thrusting them at the man.

“No thanks lad. Giving you lot a ride is the most fun I’ve had in weeks!” Carly snorted, her tail flicking Mr. Hugh in the hand. “Okay, okay. Playing you and the cursed Todd in poker was fun as well.”

“Cursed?” Leland asked.

“Ah.” The man chuckled. “A little inside joke around the village. Todd is a nocturnal opossum companion to Mr. Timmy. The two have completely different sleeping schedules, hence the ‘cursed’ aspect.”

“Oh…”

Mr. Hugh laughed again. “Crazy fool won fifty silver from me and Carly even though we were playing together and cheating! I think that beasty can smell lies. Called all of our bluffs!”

Carly punctuated with another powerful snort.

“Try lying more,” Jude suggested. “So when Todd smells a lie, he doesn’t know if it is an actual lie.”

The man snapped. “Good idea!” He and the ox shared a look before turning back to the young man. “Well, you four best be off. Good luck at the temple!”

And with that, the wagon pulled away.

Leland blinked a few times, then yelled, “Oh! Don’t blow out your birthday candles! The Lord of Mending Flames heals people through the flames!”

That got a confused head tilt from the man and ox.

“Well, I tried.”

Glenny snickered at him.

“This better be worth it,” Leland muttered. “Two whole days of detoured travel to get here.”

“Oh it will be,” Jude sang. “I can practically smell the Beast Lord’s blessing!”

“I think that’s ox poop,” Gelo said, sniffing the air.

“Is it? I think it smells like excitement!”

“No, it’s definitely ox poop.”

Jude deflated. “I’m going to go ahead. You three catch up.” And like that, the berserker ran into the village.

It was a small, warm sort of place. It reminded both Glenny and Leland of their home village, the place they left and never looked back. There were some in their home village who were nice and respectable. People like the local Guild Master, Gill. But small villages often held a level of animosity toward the outcasts.

And as they strolled through the wicker and brick houses, that was front and center. Sneers, glares, villagers simply ignoring them. From both the animals and not, these people knew each other and only each other. Strangers were trouble, here or everywhere. Even with Gelo by their side, they were unknown. Were they here to swing by the temple or rob the grain supply?

“Good thing we’re not staying long,” Leland muttered.

“Yeah…” Glenny jerked his head to the side, feeling a pair of burning eyes on him. There, stuck to a wall with its head facing the ground, was a chameleon eyeing him. He gave a short wave. It scurried down the wall, completely ignoring him. “Well then,” he said, a bit miffed. “That was the first chameleon I’ve ever seen, other than the Lord of Chameleons, and it runs from me?”

Leland gave him a sympathetic look. Gelo did not. Instead her head craned from one side to the other, staring at the assortment of beasts lounging around. A monkey over there, a bat hanging from a roof, a dwarf hippo gnawing on a pumpkin.

“What is that thing?” she asked.

The boys glanced back and forth. “A hippo.”

“He’s beautiful.”

Leland coughed. Glenny sputtered.

They had to nearly drag the cub from staring, pulling her onto the main drag of the village. There they found the temple, a mud and brick building three times the size of any other building around. There a statue of a buffalo stood tall and firm, the hardened clay that formed it more akin to brown glass than dirt.

“That’s the Lord of Beasts,” Leland told Gelo. “His presence alone caused rain and life to appear.”

She frowned. “Can my mom do that?”

“Probably not. But she’ll be able to do other things. Ice and space, you know?”

“Yeah,” Glenny said, hopping into the conversation, “she’ll be able to create miniature worlds. Dungeons and stuff.”

“Maybe she’d let us be the first to explore one of her dungeons,” Leland said. “Can you imagine the loot we’d get from a dungeon when your mom is watching? I’d bet she’d give us only the best stuff.”

Gelo snorted. “Nah, she’d give out what we earn. Mom’s not one to give out gifts for those who can’t prove worthy.” She shivered. “I can’t tell you how many treats I missed out on years ago because I couldn’t land a bullseye with an ice bolt.”

“Treats?” Glenny asked.

“There was a special type of fruit inside our dungeon that only grew once a month. Mom stockpiled them as incentive for me to practice harder. They were great!”

“What was it called?”

“Palm granted or something.”

“Pomegranate?” Leland asked.

“Yeah that’s it.”

“We can get you some pomegranates. They sell them in the markets sometimes.”

“Wellllll, mom said these pomegranates were special.”

“Magical?” Glenny asked.

“Not sure. Just that the golden juice could mend wounds.”

“Gold?” both Leland and Glenny asked at the same time.

“Yeah, gold.”

“Pomegranates are reddish pink.”

“Oh. Then it wasn’t a pomegranate.”

“Or” Leland supposed, “it could have been a special pomegranate.”

“Or that.”

“Did it have seed things that you ate? Or was it fleshy like an orange—”

The question died in his mouth as Jude emerged from the temple. He carried a hamster, talking to it as if it was a wise, old man.

“Thank you for the hospitality,” Jude said, tenderly, “that was very enlightening.”

“Yes indeed,” the hamster muttered, its words slow but resolute. “Go forth, young one, and fly!”

At that, the hamster hopped from Jude’s hands, plopping onto the muddy ground without a care in the world. At the same time, a set of hawk wings sprung from Jude’s back, flapping hastily. Feathers and plumage filled the air at the same time gusts of wind shot forward.

Leland, Glenny, and Gelo braced themselves from the sudden assault, their berserker friend laughing like a mad man. He jumped, his new wings beating like a fledgling leaving the nest for the first time. He took to the air! Climbing foot by foot until he was above the nearest roof.

“Catch me if you can Leal—” his words halted as one wing flapped too far, shifting his balance and causing him to spin.

Then, like a sack of bricks, he fell, landing face first in the dirt.

No one made a sound, not even the elder hamster who had walked Jude out of the temple.

Amidst the silence, Leland took three steps forward, placing his hand on the back of Jude’s head. “Caught you.”