Em'brel watched the blazing inferno with a feeling somewhere between glee and terror. Looking over at Jack, he seemed to feel something similar, though his gaze kept creeping to the other side of the forest, keeping an eye out for any stray smoke that would indicate the fire had somehow leaped the break. It wasn't easy to see from their position, but the young female knew there was a small army of workers and warriors spread throughout the forest with buckets of water and strict orders to shout in alarm if they saw any smoldering, but so far, everything seems to be going as Jack had predicted.

Smiling over at Jack, Em'brel tried projecting only confidence in his endeavor. "Of all the wonders I witnessed in my time with you, taming a forest fire like this might be one of the most incredible!"

Jack's returning smile was half-hearted, and his attention only wavered from the forest momentarily. "I wouldn't call this fire tame by a long shot. While it might not happen too often, think of all the times you've heard of someone's personal fire going out of control and burning down their tent and how easy it is for such a fire to leap to their neighbors' tents. Now imagine what could happen if this fire were to break its confinement. We could set the whole mountain range on fire! And that's not even a worst-case scenario for us..."

Looking back at the fire, Em'brel could easily imagine what Jack was describing. She shook her head, banishing her fears, and returned her attention to the second thing he'd said. "If setting the mountains on fire isn't your worst-case scenario, what is?"

Jack sighed. "That's easy. The worst-case scenario would be if A'ngles' force arrives before the fire burns itself out. Even if we can get our people formed up, our entire plan depends on clear lines of vision and plenty of maneuvering space. Having a fire burning right in the center of everything would foul up both aspects of the plan, leaving us at a severe disadvantage." He stopped and thought a moment. "Though in all fairness, I consider that possibility even less likely than the fire spreading."

Em'brel looked up at the solum of smoke soaring into the sky with a puzzled frown. "Oh, why's that? Lon'thul said they were four days away at their current pace, two if they did a forced march. What makes you think they won't rush here as soon as they see the smoke?"

Jack shrugged, but this time his smile seemed more genuine. "Simple, after the number of times we've slipped through their fingers, they won't be willing to risk losing us again. They'll be double-checking every rock and bush between there and here. I wouldn't be surprised if they slow down because they suspect the smoke might be a distraction of some kind!"

That made sense. Though thinking back, Em'brel could remember tales of fires that had lasted much longer than a few days. Looking at this fire, though, most of the underbrush seemed to already be burning. "How long do you think this fire will last?"

Jack sighed and shrugged. "Hard to say with certainty, but I'd guess a day and a half, maybe two. Of course, we'll want most of the ash well-cooled before we set foot anywhere near there. And even then, we'll need to go through with sticks, looking for smoldering coals and poor water on them so they can't reignite. The last thing we need is a surprise fire in the middle of battle. Also, we'll need the workers wearing a cloth over their mouth and nose to keep them from breathing in ash."

Em'brel nodded, making a mental note to speak to To'brel about that later since he had a handle on those supplies. Then, thinking back to Jack's earlier concern, she voiced another thought. "But what if the fire did jump the break? If the fire spread south, wouldn't that do our job for us?"

Jack made an ugly face at the thought. "Well, setting aside the fact that that would be a horrible death I wouldn't wish on my enemies, it would also be extremely hazardous to us. A fire that big burning that long would fill the air with dangerous chemicals and smoke. There's a good chance many of us would die of asphyxiation, and the rest would have severe health issues for quite a while. Not to mention, who's to say such a large-scale fire would stay confined to the mountains. With some bad luck, it could keep going south and burn out some of the villages before it went out on its own. It's not too likely, but it's also not something I'd want to be responsible for."

Em'brel hadn't thought of the fire burning that far or long. Then, with a slight tilt of her head, she asked the first question that came to mind. "How long can a fire burn for?"

Jack chuckled, keeping his eyes on the forest. "Most likely, a couple of weeks, though it's not unheard of for a fire to last a dozen or more. Then there is the rare fire that hits some natural gas or a coal vein. While unlikely in the extreme, there are cases of fires lasting for dozens or even hundreds of years. Some lasted so long and were so consistent that they were used as navigational beacons in our early history. I think the record holder back on Earth is a coal fire ignited by a lightning strike on Mount Wingen in Australia. If I remember correctly, that fire has been burning for a little over seven thousand years now."

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

With that final thought, Em'brel turned back to the fire, feeling the last of her glee fade away, leaving only the terror in its wake. She found herself staring a little more closely at the forest beyond their fire, keeping her eyes peeled for any tell-tale smoke that might indicate a problem.

-

Sare'en looked over the herd. They were more than a little restless, sniffing the air in their agitation. But, of course, that was to be expected. Most animals reacted to fire with fear and for a good reason. Admittedly, the arlack were more used to the smell of fire, having grown up around the village where cooking fires and forges were common, but there was something different about those and a fire of this size, and they could tell something was off.

At least Grim didn't seem like he was about to spook. Kunes and Kunshee were huddled up against their smaller "big" brother, taking comfort in his stalwart presence, while the older wolgen looked to Sare'en, who made sure to stop and give the three wolgen snacks as she made her rounds with the arlack.

Sare'en wished she was as calm as she felt, but to keep the animals as far away from the fire as possible, she was at the furthest edge of the encampment, meaning there were only a few scouts between her and the enemy. Of course, she knew there was little chance that any of them would sneak past Lon'thul or Chal'ac without word reaching the encampment, but that didn't stop her mind from running away with thoughts of hundreds of warriors suddenly clearing the tree line.

She was so worked up that when an argu'n did walk out of the forest, she almost shouted for help. Thankfully she recognized Lon'thul quickly enough, and her heart rate calmed down. But that was before several other argu'n cleared the tree line right behind him, trailed by a string of arlack pulling large sleds. Since the hill people didn't have domesticated arlack herds that she was aware of, that meant this was someone from the villages down below. For a moment, she considered that maybe Lon'thul had betrayed them, but she shook her head vehemently at the notion's absurdity before looking more closely at the new argu'n.

She found that she recognized a few of the faces. They were hunters from the outpost, the ones that had returned to the village after the conclusion of the siege at Dragon's Outpost. Sare'en wrinkled her brow in thought before the last person she expected also cleared the treeline...

There, bringing up the end of the arlack herd, was Sare'en's old mentor, Lady Ta'miel. The older argu'n had her customary calming smile, which grew wider at the sight of Sare'en as the Lady waved in greeting.

Sare'en's mind was a whirl of confusion and chaos. What could she be doing here? How did she get here? Well, that was obvious. The hunters had escorted her. But why? Lady Ta'miel was the most gentle argu'n Sare'en ever know. What could be so important that she'd brave the wilds to come all this way? And what could be loaded on all those sleds the arlack were pulling behind them?

Sare'en was so shocked she didn't even realize she was waving back until Lon'thul walked up with his customary overconfident grin. "You know, if you just keep waving in a haze like that, Lady Ta'miel will think we've traumatized you even worse than we have!"

With an audible "meep," Sare'en allowed her hand to suddenly drop as Lady Ta'miel walked forward and embraced the younger female in a firm embrace before grabbing her by the shoulder and extending Sare'en to arm's length so the older herd master could look her up and down. "You look wonderful, Sare'en. Stronger and standing taller than anytime I can remember. It looks like your time away from the village has done you much good, despite all the hardships you must have faced."

Sare'en couldn't help it. All the questions from moments ago faded from her mind as she pulled Lady Ta'miel into another embrace, holding firmly enough to prevent the older female from escaping, even if this was just some odd hallucination or dream.

For her part, Lady Ta'miel merely chuckled and returned the hug once more, and Sare'en was returned to her childhood and all the times she'd found comfort in the older female's arms. For just a moment, all the worries and concerns flooding her mind faded away like nothing more than a bad dream.

-

As Dek'thul crept for the underbrush, he couldn't help but be annoyed at the state of his legs. Even with the treatment Lady Angela had given him, the time he'd spent resting, and the odd hardened boots they'd given him, which he'd only recently removed, he could tell they weren't fully healed, so the hunter was going much slower than he was used to. But, of course, that was to be expected. He'd stubbornly removed the boots more than a month earlier than Lady Angela recommended, so a little extra pain and attentiveness were to be expected and required.

He would have left them on, as advised, but the Dragon, as well as S'haar and Jack, had made one major miscalculation. They assumed that as a master hunter, the use of Dek'thul's legs was of paramount importance to him. Of course, they were right, but there was one thing even more important to him than his future as a hunter. Even with the complications of his legs betraying him like this, with his skills, he could still potentially impact the outcome of the coming conflict in a way that was worth any price he had to pay.

Still, if he pushed things too hard too fast, he wouldn't be able to impact anything, and he'd pay this high price for nothing. So with a huff born of annoyance, pain, and impatience, he sat down to rest again, his gaze returning to the now shrining smoke trail he'd been following for a little over a day, leading him to his goal.