After her talk with Zileek, Isa felt as twitchy as a cat. It was early, but she wanted to be back someplace safe and familiar, so she headed to Lund’s. What would the other Lund’s be like, she wondered. And was there actually a Lund’s in Portland? Maybe she’d already hit the rift the moment she opened the door.

From what everyone here had told her, she either passed through a permanent portal - which meant that people from Foster-Powell were constantly stumbling into Varana, or someone had cast a transport spell that brought her here.

Both possibilities seemed far fetched, and she had to all but rule out the first one. If there was a permanent portal between the worlds, she would have seen at least one or two other Portlanders come through. Which left the possibility that she’d been brought here on purpose.

For what purpose? To get a pair of old running shoes? Well, that failed because they were back on her feet. Although running shoes and leather pants was not a great look.

What else had she left here? A lot of blood, and not much else. If this were a movie she’d have unwittingly delivered some sacred trinket to the hero or the villain by now, but that hadn’t happened.

“Not everything has to mean something,” she muttered as she approached the main road. Accidents happen. This was just an accident, a twist of fate. But through her own actions, she was going home.

The sun was starting its descent when she arrived at Lund’s. She’d have an early dinner, maybe a few beers and then a good, deep sleep. For the last time she opened the door of the tavern.

A few tables were occupied, plus a few people at the bar. She was just about to say hello to Lund when a figure approached from the side. “Isa Chamberlin. I was hoping I’d see you.”

Isa cut her eyes to Lund as if to say Why is Fedru here? The half orc gave a small shrug, but his eyes stayed on the wizard. “Oh?” she said, trying to keep her voice even. “And why is that, Fedru?”

“I owe you a reward. You completed a quest that I offered.” He held out a small bag. “100 gold.”

She didn’t take the money. “That wasn’t necessary. I was happy to help. Besides, it’s really Mery’s quest. Mery Braydon.” She felt a moment’s pang as if she was literally shoving Mery into harm’s way, but it was the truth.

“Ah yes.” He dropped the bag on the table. “I have her reward as well. Would you sit for a moment?”

He stared at her much as he had the first time they’d met. Thinking of that reminded Isa of something, so she nodded. They were in a populated place, and Lund was literally at her back. She felt herself begin to relax by tiny increments.

In the light of Lund’s Tavern, the pentagram on Fedru’s forehead seemed more quaint then foreboding. But then Isa was not the same person she’d been when she first met him. She shrugged and slid into the booth. She didn’t touch the bag of gold.

“I have,” he said as he sat down, “a follow up quest. Are you familiar with the concept?”

“It’s a follow up to the first one?” She couldn’t keep a hint of sarcasm from her tone.

“Exactly.” He folded his hands. “The children. They do not all have homes to return to, and I wish to ensure that they are looked after. Please. You earned this.” He pushed the coin bag toward Isa. As he did so, the sleeve of his robe bunched up, and Isa saw a band of leather around one wrist. A silver medallion sat in the center of the band. Etched on the surface was an image of a tree with a key tangled in its roots.

“I don’t know if Joth told you,” Fedru went on, “but I was an orphan, too. The druids took me in.”

Isa nodded. Maybe it was a religious thing - the bracelet. Trees and keys and roots. Seemed pretty druid-ey.

“So what do you say?” Fedru was looking at her with his dark, piercing eyes again.

“About what?” Isa cupped the bag of gold in her hands, more for something to do than to claim ownership. As she did so, she felt an intense heat at her side. Her notebook felt like a burning ember. She’d leveled!

Fedru said, “About running the orphanage. You’d have help, of course.”

Lund placed two pints of beer on the table and left. Isa took a sip and said, “When we met the first time, you asked me if I believed in prophecy. Why?”

“I did?” Fedru seemed genuinely surprised.

“Yes. You made me tea, told me you don’t like coffee, asked me about believing in prophecy, and then made a prediction. All in the span of like 40 seconds.”

He nodded. “The deer. I remember now.” He took a drink from his glass. “Always a treat, coming here.”

Isa waited for him to go on. After a long moment’s wait she said, “I’d like to know what you meant about the prophecy.”

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“Do you have many prophets in the land of Foster?”

He remembered where she was from but not that he’d brought up prophecy? Not possible. And yet, he was a wizard, so she didn’t want to make an enemy. “They are known for their volume, not their accuracy. In my land.”

“Which is why….”

Isa nodded. “I wanted to know more.”

“My mind would be clearer, my memory sharper, if I knew that I had someone to run the children’s home.”

“Haha, no.” Isa admired his persistence. Obviously he wanted to make sure the children got the same chances he had. She pushed the 100 gold toward him. “Here’s a donation - to help with the setup or expenses.”

He didn’t touch the bag. “You must have great plans in mind. I can appreciate that.”

“Honestly,” Isa sighed, “I wanna go home, and that’s what I’m doing.”

Fedru gave a solemn nod. “You have your own battles to fight in your own lands.”

“Something like that. So take the money. Use it for the kids.”

Fedru leaned back. “What I saw in my vision was a left handed woman who would change the fate of many people. That you have done. Or, perhaps that is what you will do when you return to Foster. I cannot say. Prophecy is more an art than a science.” He picked up the bag of gold and slipped it into his pocket.

With his hands flat on the table Fedru said, “Tell me of your lands. I have traveled to many planes but not Foster.”

“It’s… It’s very different than here. Loud, crowded - more crowded than Deney. We have machines instead of magic.”

“Gnomes and dwarves are fond of machines.”

“We don’t have those. It’s humans.” Isa paused. “As far as I know.”

“It is loud and crowded, and you wish to return. Perhaps I am still too much a druid.”

“There are really wonderful parts, too. Many, many places are sort of like Bywater, and there are forests, rivers, oceans. The mountains…. They stick up like the teeth of the world. And any time of year they are covered in snow.” Isa smiled to herself. “I miss it.”

“‘The teeth of the world.’ I should like to see that.” Fedru finished his beer. “I can see that your mind is fixed.”

“It is.”

“Then I shall put your donation,” he bowed, “to good use. And take my leave of you.” He pushed himself out of the booth.

“I’m-- I’m glad we got to talk,” said Isa.

Fedru bowed again, fully this time. “Agreed. Safe travels to you, Isa Chamberlin.”

When he’d gone Isa moved to the bar. She said, “That was weird.”

“Fedru does not often come to town.” Lund leaned on the bar and looked at the door. “I don’t remember the last time I saw him in here.”

“Well, he lives in the middle of nowhere; I can tell you that!”

Lund pulled another beer for her. “I’ve gotten kinda used to seeing you here.”

“Me too, Lund. I’m going to miss you.” She laid the druid’s masterwork quarterstaff on the bar. “This is a going away present for you.”

“This isn’t a tradition we have here.”

Isa shrugged. “Us either - or rather, the person going away gets the gifts. But I won’t need this back home.”

“You hope!” Lund took the staff in hand. “It is well made.”

“Yeah, got it off a druid. It’s a masterwork - extra accurate, extra damaging.”

“Isa…” Lund shook his head and put the staff back on the bar. “Sell it.”

“I already told Gimble it’s not for sale. You have to keep it.” She paused. “At least say that you’ll store it for me, should I find myself back here sometime. And in the meantime, if you need it, you have it.”

“Alright,” he said. “But what a strange land is yours if you don’t need weapons.”

“Everything is kinda specialized there. We have people to fight for us, protect us, grow food for us….. It’s great!”

“But then what do you do?” Lund reached for Isa’s pint glass. “Wait, have you eaten? You need to eat.” He was back a minute later with a slab of bread and 2 small pieces of cheese. “Eat this.” He pointed at the cheese. “It’s good, trust me. My people call it--”

“Cheese! Oh my God.” She put her hand to her chest. “Cheeeese.”

“You’ve had it before? Where?”

Isa stopped halfway to putting a piece in her mouth. “Is it not a thing here?”

“It is a thing. You are eating it, but most humans, they don’t like it.”

“Not where I’m from. This is good.” She broke off a piece of bread and folded it around the other piece of cheese. “It’s like a blue cheddar.” She saw that Lund was about to comment, so she added, “That’s an expression. It means the cheese has a combination of flavors.”

“I’m still just very surprised. I thought that you should have something good and filling before your journey, and I also thought that you, of all humans, might enjoy an exotic food, but I didn’t think….”

“If I could figure out a way to make a door between our worlds, people would flock here for your beer and this cheese.” Isa took another bite of her makeshift sandwich.

“Oh, I don’t sell it.”

Isa’s mouth dropped open. “The cheese? You’re kidding. People really don’t like it?” She finished the last bite.

“They think it’s odd to eat milk.” He shrugged.

“Is this goat’s milk? It’s got a kind of a grainy texture that--”

“Goats?” A look of disgust crossed his face.

“Cows, then?” Isa’s stomach took a tumble as she considered the other possible milks besides cow’s milk. “Tell me this is made from cow’s milk.”

“This is orc’s milk, of course. Well, and some half-orc, too probably. I don’t remember where I got this. Mother’s milk cheese is a cure-all for orcish peoples everywhere. A food to give comfort.”

Isa swallowed and ran her tongue along the inside of her mouth. “I’ll take that beer now.”

As he poured it, Lund said, “You don’t really use cow’s milk, right?”

“Oh yeah, we do.” Isa gulped down some beer. “Although not sure I’ll ever eat cheese again.”

She saw a flicker in Lund’s eyes and put down her beer. “The cheese was fantastic. It really tasted out of this world.” Lund opened his mouth, no doubt to say something literal about worlds, so Isa held a finger up. “So thank you for sharing it with me. I’m glad I got to try it. And I really do wish there was a door between our worlds because this is my favorite bar.”