FANN

There weren't a lot of tall buildings in town, but Fann sat on the rooftop of one of the taller ones looking up at the stars. J'vann walked up on the roof behind him, carrying two bowls of the stew that was being passed around camp.

“There you are,” the towering knight said. “I wondered where you'd gotten to.”

“I like the sky at night,” Fann said. “I like the way light peaks out in the darkness. There's so many wonderful things to see in this world.”

“It's beautiful,” J'vann said. “But it makes me wonder. There was something I heard about the Bat Regalia....”

“It's true,” Fann said. “But I plan on getting by without it.”

“I see,” J'vann said. “Well fair enough. I brought you some food.”

“Thanks,” Fann said. “I wish they'd show up already. And I kind of wish they wouldn't show up at all.”

“There is very little we can do about that,” J'vann shrugged.

“Are all devotees of Yggdrasyl like this?” Fann asked.

“Like what?”

“I dunno all...” Fann fumbled for the words. “All like, super calm. And the way you talk makes you sound like you're dispensing cosmic wisdom all the time.”

“I posses no cosmic wisdom,” J'vann said, sitting down beside Fann. “Most of what I do is quote the Book of Yggdrasil, and I tryto live by what it teaches. We are meant to emulate the tree.”

“Ah yes,” Fann nodded sagely. “The blessed sacrament of having a bunch of squirrels live in your head. Well that's most religions honestly...”

“To weather the storm,” J'vann corrected with a smile. “To give shade and comfort to any and all, without reservation. And to harm no one who does not harm you.”

“Can trees harm people?” Fann asked. “They always seemed kind of wooden for that to me.”

“Some can,” J'vann said. “And Yggdrasil is all trees.”

“All tree of what? Okay okay,” Fann sighed. “I'll stop making jokes.”

“It is alright,” J'vann told him. “You are nervous.”

“Who says?” Fann huffed. “I'll have you know I am the greatest knight in the entire universe! And beyond! Why my bravery is legendary!”

“As in it may have never truly existed at all?” J'vann said innocently.

“Hah!” Fan slapped his thigh. “If I didn't know better I'd say you just made a joke.”

“I can make jokes,” J'vann said. “Spend much time in my company and you will hear more. I am just...well, my master said I was naturally serious. She may have had a point.”

“Yeah I can see that,” Fann said, looking back up at the twinkling starscape. “I still say I'm not nervous. But...I wouldn't mind some company.”

“I did not plan on going elsewhere,” J'vann said placidly.

AURINA

Hours passed. The enemy chose not to appear. The camp was tense, but they had scouts out looking. When the call came everyone would be as ready as they were going to get. When the gathering of knights around the campfire broke up Aurina went to look for her brother. She didn't think anything of the difficulty she had finding him at first. The whole village was in chaos after all. It wasn't until she'd been looking for over an hour that she started to get worried, and her search brought her around in a circle back near the fire where Tyram was still sitting, still staring at Jarlo's regalia turning in his fingers.

“Have you seen Andry?” she asked him.

“Not since the last time he called me an idiot and stormed off,” Tyram said. “You were there. Is something wrong?”

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“I just can't find him,” Aurina said. “And I know there's a lot of extra people crammed in town, but we're walled up. I should be able to find him eventually.”

“What the hell I'll help you look,” Tyram pulled himself up off the ground. “I'm not doing myself much good sitting here brooding anyway.”

Two people didn't make the search much easier, at least it didn't until Tyram decided to ask someone Aurina had never considered.

“Oh sure!” the lookout called down from his tower. “Andry headed out about three hours ago, on foot. He said he was popping over to one of the outlying farms for some more supplies.”

“Oh,” Aurina said. “Thanks.”

“Does that make sense?” Tyram asked.

“No,” Aurina shook her head. “Not really it doesn't. It's a decent enough excuse if you don't think about it, and the guard has a lot on his mind. But if you do think about it, there's nothing out there worth risking the run out before the battle. But if I say that, people will think...”

“They'll think he's selling us out,” Tyram said. “Or at least running away.”

“Listen,” Aurina said urgently. “I know you two don't get along, but he wouldn't do that!”

“I know,” Tyram said. “I can tell he's not that kind of guy. But is he the kind of guy to try and stop the whole bandit army by himself?”

“Once upon a time he was,” Aurina said sadly. “Since grandpa died...I don't know, he's been different. But he wouldn't run away! I want to go after him, but...”

“You're not a fighter and it's too dangerous to go alone,” Tyram said. “I know. Why do you think I was leading you this way?”

They walked into the building that used to be the Miller's house, until the millers had both been killed in the bandit raids. Sasha was sitting at the kitchen table with Verro.

“What is it?” Sasha said as she saw their worried expressions.

“Andry went out a little while ago,” Tyram said. “Nobody knows why. I'm taking Aurina out to look for him. I figured somebody should know why I was gone.”

“What is that jerk doing now?” Verro grumbled sourly. “Oh crap. Sorry Aurina. He just gets on my nerves is all.”

“It's okay,” Aurina smiled. “He gets on my nerves too. But we'd better hurry, he's got a couple hours head start on us and we can't spare a vehicle.”

“Most of them have been taken apart to make weapons anyway,” Sasha said. “Oh Tyram, you dropped something. It's been knocking around town all day.”

She pulled his duffel bag out from under the table and threw it to him. Tyram zipped it open and pulled out long, two edged sword with a triangular blade inside a leather scabbard. Aurina could only see the hilt and handle of the sword but they were simple and beautiful, crossbars of embossed metal, the handle wrapped in some kind of thick rope, and a single jewel on the pommel.

“Oh yeah,” Tyram said. “So much has been going on, and I mostly fight with my fists, I just forgot about it.”

“You could have used that against Jarlo,” Aurina said.

“No,” Tyram shook his head. “Too crowded in town.”

“And about that lead he's got,” Verro cut in before Tyram could explain further, “I've got an answer for that, too. There's a mount for you to use right here. And it fits in a pocket.”

RIMNI

Rimni was scampering around camp, keeping people's spirits up.

Well that's what he called it anyway. They certainly seemed pretty spirited when they chased him away with whatever blunt objects they had to hand. Besides, waiting for a battle was boring and he didn't feel sleepy. At least back when he was training with J'vann there'd always been someplace for him to go and something to do.

So he darted around town, causing mischief. Careful not to actually undermine the defense in any way. He was a knight, a knight wouldn't do something like that. He just had to do something to relieve the boredom, and....

Wait.

One, two, three....

Three. Three people in the room.

That couldn't be right.

He looked around. He'd found himself in an old living room now being used as a bedroom. By, apparently, three people, all dead asleep. So why was he feeling four?

No, there were definitely four. It was less definable than Verro's eyesight or Fann's hearing, but it wasn't any less strong. Everything of the Rat inside him, a creature built to both sense a predator swooping silently in a moonless night and to keep its equilibrium in a stinking tunnel filled with thousands of others, told him there were four people in the room. Four.

So why could he only see three? The fourth presence was quiet and calm, but it did not feel friendly. It scraped against his mind at the edge of scent and hearing, a quiver in the rat's whiskers. It was stalking. Someone in the room? The whole town?

His first instinct was to shout a warning, but he stopped himself. For one thing everyone else was busy getting ready for the big battle. He was the one who'd found this problem, he would handle it. He was a knight too, right? Besides, he had a great idea. He reached into a pocket and pulled out a bunch of old candy wrappers. He made a big show about slapping them into his other hand and pulling at them, making an odd crinkling noise. Then he let them drop to the ground.

“This'll be good!” he giggled to himself. “By the time they wake up, they'll have breathed in the gas and they'll be covered in welts. Oops! Better get out of here quick!”

He turned and hurried out of the room. Then, with the full speed of his Rat Regalia, he darted to a rooftop to watch the room he'd just left. Sure enough, a few moments after he was gone something invisible pushed open a door and kicked over a flowerpot in its haste to flee the “gas” he'd let loose in the room.

“Gotcha!” he said. As soon as the flowerpot fell over he'd focused all his senses on the invisible villain, and he was sure he could track him now. “Let's see what you're doing...”

The other strengths of the Rat were speed and stealth. So quickly, quietly, he tracked his transparent quarry through the village.