"That dark place, it felt wholly unnatural. The light… the trees? The place felt far away, but…"

"It felt like home in retrospect," River said, the otter pausing to sip her tea.

They had taken some tea to the yard and made a picnic of it. One look at Freya and the druid had called off the day's training, or at least the portion where she was in charge of anything.

The Soldiers that had shown up afterwards had been delighted to be sent home. Freya didn't feel up to making a bond today, and River had said that they would talk about druid business.

"There are four houses. They are supposed to represent your character, but more often than not, it's a simple question of what you were born with. Each of the druid houses teaches this a different way, but for our house? The one you would be a part of, when you joined us? Our house is the house of change."

Freya set her tea cup down.

"What does that mean? That's like saying the house of movement?"

"Our powers tap into a certain burrow, and…"

Freya's head was spinning. A burrow was a house was-

"There is another kind of burrow. The valley of Red Mist is far from here."

Freya nodded. River had often told her that the special home and training grounds for the druids was far to the north and a long walk away. She hadn’t been too specific, but it was close enough to other nations to have some trade with them, while still being an independent city state.

"When you say Burrow here, what do you mean?"

River smiled.

"Travel there would take up to a month if we went over land. A bit less if we went by a sea route. The burrows cut that time down to five to six days."

Freya's mind tried to calculate what the druid was saying but came up short.

If it took four weeks to travel by land, and less by sea, then the burrows must mean that some magical way of getting there was easier. Her brain failed to connect the meaning.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"I consider myself a mouse that tries to understand the world, but that makes about zero sense to me. Care to elaborate, if possible?"

"There is another realm, the burrows, where the distance between places is not the same as it is here. For example the distance between the same place on our world and say, the other side of the city… how long does it take you to walk to the river from here?"

Freya thought about it for a moment. If she walked straight over, directly and without stopping, which she never did-

"One hour?"

"That river in particular would take you five minutes if you use the burrows."

Freya gasped. Her tea cup was long forgotten now as it rolled down and away from her.

"That would revolutionize travel! If I could be there so quickly?"

River held up a hand.

"Oh there's more than that, isn't there."

"Those eyes? They are real beasts. Often you'll be alone, but we Druids bond rangers for a reason, this being one of them. They keep us safe in the burrows."

The red eyes from her dreams returned to her. A chill went down the mouse's spine as she raised her hackles.

"They… there is something dangerous in the burrows, isn’t there. Something so dangerous that… this is why last year all of the druid initiates left in a group isn't it?"

River paused to adjust her skirts. She looked off to the east. Freya tracked her gaze and the two were looking at the top of the Yellowrock mesa together.

A group of aviary youths were flying in formation, performing some battle drills. As they watched, several dove off the edge, catching themselves two stories below before darting out.

"It's safe if you go with a group. Safer still with a properly trained ranger. The group that left last year had several, and Spring was with them. A powerful druid can turn the tide against some of these beasts."

They watched the birds fly around, and after a minute they started dropping nets to capture what looked like training dummies.

"Any other special skills that I should know about? Maybe you can teach me to fly or something?"

With her eyes still locked on the dummies, Freya didn't notice the change in her mentor. A black feather floated down in between the two of them.

"Oh! A raven feather! That's good luck!"

Where before a black otter sat, now Freya saw a dark bird. The fact that the bird was wearing the same exact dress that River had been wearing gave credence to the notion that Freya had still been sleeping and that this was part of her dream.

"About those flight lessons, first my young friend-"

Freya screamed, getting up to run.

"Aaaaaaa!"

"I really should have explained this part first then. Damn. One point to spring."

Freya ran about ten feet before turning around to look again. The raven in Rivers' clothing was still there. It hadn’t followed her.

It was sipping Rivers tea!

"You know my ranger had a similar response when he found out about my wild shape ability!" The bird spread her wings, "Oh it feels good to stretch my wings again. Otter arms, they are just not the same, you know?"