The rest of the journey was blissfully uneventful though longer than I expected. We didn’t land until the afternoon when we found ourselves still in the huge forest. I wondered if the whole of the land realm was woods dotted with water and meadows.

However, there were the mountains that towered above us. I guessed they were the same ones I had noticed from afar in the turtle clan area. They now loomed over us in all their craggy glory, monsters of some ancient upheaval that had been going on even before Eastwei had come into existence. Maybe.

We landed in a small clearing at the foothills of those imposing giants where a small cabin lay nestled against the stony toes. The home had been built from local logs and the chimney rocks were the same color as the ones that poked out of the grassy ground around us. Racks sat outside the door, some with drying meat and others with drying furs. The scent of a stream wafted past my nostrils and the pleasant aroma of food twisted my empty stomach into knots. I hadn’t had any food since Lady Fann had tried to stuff a whole fish down my throat. It was raw, of course.

Yushir smiled at the rest of us. “It appears we have arrived just in-a moment, Lord Pampir!” The lord had swayed to one side and nearly lost his balance. Only Yushir’s quick action in propping him up with his body kept the wane god from falling.

“My apologies, Your Highness,” Pampir whispered as he cupped his pale forehead in his hand. “I fear the distance was farther than I remembered.”

“No need to apologize. We have arrived and will not leave till the morrow,” Yushir assured him as he led the weary man to the front door. Eastwei followed them, carrying me along with him.

The entrance swung open just as we reached the cabin and the small figure of an old man. He wore a pair of faded gray sandals and plain tan pants with a white shirt. A few wispy strands of hair time had left to him but a viewer could hardly get past the mischievous eyes to see them.

The man smiled at us and stepped aside. He gestured to the plain but clean interior. “Welcome, great lords, to my humble home. Take a seat or my bed, whichever pleases you.”

“A thousand apologies for intruding on you with no notice,” Yushir apologized as he helped Pampir inside.

“No need for such words. Friends are always welcome in whatever condition they arrive,” Leiren assured the prince as they passed him. Eastwei followed and our host’s gaze fell on him. He bowed his head to the lord. “A good afternoon to you, Lord Eastwei. I hope you are doing well.” His attention turned to me and his bushy eyebrows shot up. “What do you have there?”

“A fellow traveler,” Eastwei replied.

Leiren cocked his head to one side and examined me with keen eyes. His smile widened just slightly. “What a rare and beautiful creature. She has all the glimmer of a majestic goddess packaged into a fine pelt.”

There was something in his look, voice, and words that touched me with a deep sense of apprehension. He knew something about me and the thought of being outed made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. I shrank into Eastwei’s arm as our host gestured to his home.

“But come. Let us inside where I am sure you would like some food.”

We passed him and entered the abode of Leiren. The home was much like that which belonged to Kang but with fewer sharp objects on the wall. Indeed, there were fewer walls period, as the space was about a fraction of the size. There was a great room where the chimney stood and an open door led into a cozy bedroom with a dresser and bed. A small cot sat in front of the fireplace along with a few chairs, none of which matched the others and all appeared to be hand-built.

The place was warmed by a fire that brightly crackled in the hearth. A pot of some boiling soup hung over the flames and the savory scent I had noted earlier wafted out of there. Yushir led Pampir over to one of the chairs situated close to the fire and eased him onto the seat.

Pampir leaned back and closed his eyes before he let out a loud sigh. “My Lords, Emperor Eastwei, if I do not happen to make it back to the heavens-”

“Nonsense,” Yushir scolded him as he folded his arms over his chest and nodded at Leiren. “Lord Leiren will have what remains of your wounds cleaned and bandaged in quick time, and his soup will heal your soul.”

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“You are too kind, Your Highness,” Leiren spoke up as he sauntered over to a low table that stood against the wall opposite the chimney. A dishpan and a large bucket sat nearby. He grabbed a clean place and spoon and moved over to the chimney where he ladled out a healthy dose. Our host held that out to Pampir.

The god, however, still had his eyes closed. “Woe is me! That I should. . .that I should-” His nose twitched and his nostrils flared. He peeked open an eye and his gaze fell on the offered bowl. “By the five realms, that does smell delicious.”

Leiren’s eyes twinkled as he passed the bowl and spoon to the god. “And it tastes even better.” Pampir dug into the soup with the eagerness of a bear given a honeypot.

While Pampir devoured the food our host turned his attention to the others. He grasped his hands behind his back and smiled at the pair. “I would venture to guess you have come to visit me for a greater reason than to feed Lord Pampir.”

“We have a question we would like to ask you about a certain creature,” Yushir told him. He reached into his sleeve and drew out Eastwei’s stained handkerchief which he passed to our host. “Do you recognize the blood on this handkerchief?”

Leiren opened his hand and lay the cloth on his palm. He examined the black blood with a sharp eye and an increasing frown. “I have never seen the like. Are you certain it is blood?”

“This cat tore it from the creature herself,” Eastwei spoke up.

I lifted my chin and meowed. Yep! I did that and please don’t ask me to get another sample!

Leiren lifted his worried eyes to Eastwei. “What sort of creature was it?”

“A plant that grew out of a small pool of bile,” Eastwei explained as he stroked my fur.

A dark cloud settled on our host’s brow as he returned his focus to the cloth. “I have never heard of such a thing. Is this anything to do with the attacks on the villages?”

“The creature was found in a village that had been attacked,” Eastwei confirmed.

“Then you can tell us nothing about such a creature? Not a note about its origins?” Yushir pleaded.

Leiren tightened his grip on the cloth. “There. . .there may be something, but it is only a guess.”

Yushir shrugged. “A guess is better than we have now.”

Our host sighed and his shoulders slumped. “I once ventured into the foreboding shadows of the Songspun Mire.”

Yushir’s eyes widened. Pampir dropped his spoon into his bowl, spilling some of the contents onto himself. He didn’t pay any heed to the specks but gaped up at our host. “The Songspun Mire? But that is a forbidden place!”

Leiren nodded. “I was much younger then and more apt to break the rules-”

“A habit that you have yet to break,” Yushir commented.

Leiren cast a scolding look from beneath his bushy eyebrows before he cleared his throat. “As I was saying, I ventured into those depths once. Even then the mire was a terrible place of rotten bogs and terrible creatures. One of the creatures I encountered was a hideous plant monster that attempted to make me its lunch. I wounded it many times in the ensuing battle and the blood is much like what you have brought me.”

“Was there any life around the creature?” Eastwei questioned him.

A faint smile slipped onto the old man’s lips. “There is not much life at all among those sorrowful winds, but no. I do not recall hearing the faintest of swamp frogs or the dreariest of bugs singing their harsh tunes. The area was devoid of all but that creature.”

“How did you overcome the thing?” Pampir inquired.

Leiren gave a hearty laugh and shook his head. “I did not. I managed to cut off some of its arms and ran. That was the first and only time I ventured into the mire.”

Yushir cupped his chin in his hand and furrowed his brow as he stared hard at the floor. “Interesting. I wonder if someone managed to snare some seeds from that creature and drop them about the land realm, but for what purpose? What do they have to gain from attacking so many clans over such a wide breadth?”

“If you knew the answer to that you would undoubtedly know the villain,” Leiren commented as he strolled over to the rear table and snatched up four more bowls. He turned to us with a smile. “But speculation on an empty stomach is a fruitless endeavor.”