That night there was wailing from the chief's home. Arlen hurried there to find Voz stone-faced, trying to calm the family of the elderly chief who'd passed away at sunset. She wasn't the only one, either.

Voz muttered, "Everything I could do..."

The five relatives gathered around were in a mix of weeping and silence. One young man said, "The death-bringing outsiders only got here because of Arlen. He somehow made the storm stop."

Voz said, "It was the spirits' will that --"

"The spirits? They had us fight and kill one another!"

"Stop that talk."

"You're no chief! You've got no right to live on this island. Get out, both of you!"

The man's relatives were trying to restrain him, with muted enthusiasm. Arlen said, "We will treat the other sick ones and limit the harm to anyone else."

Voz added, "I've been learning more and more. I will protect the islands from anything worse happening."

"Out!" said the man, reaching for a knife. Voz and Arlen decided to leave the building.

They went back to treating people.

That night, there was another commotion. Arlen ran to the prisoner hut and found the chief's nephew stabbing a spear through the stone bars again and again, while screams came from inside.

Arlen made the ground erupt. Blades of stone slammed the man from below, gashing and bruising him and knocking him backwards. He and an islander subdued the nephew, and then he waved and made several prison bars snap free.

One of the sailors wriggled out, trying to stomp on the fallen assassin. Another native who'd arrived grabbed him, saying, "What is this?"

"You, fetch Voz!" Arlen told him.

Voz was already coming. He hurried to treat Joop and the worst-hurt sailor. The sailor wasn't so lucky; he'd gotten a spear to the throat and chest. With Voz' skill, it looked like he'd survive. Joop had been gashed in the ear and cheek, and had several cuts and punctures where he'd raised his arms.

Captain Joop grimaced through the pain. "Coward! I said, fight me like a man!"

The would-be killer was on his back with a man stepping on his chest. "Did he challenge me? Is that what he said?"

Voz cursed. "We're not doing any duels. There's nothing to prove."

Joop said, "No, I like this. I've had people saying I made all this happen. That I killed people. Fools! Let me fight him."

#

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So the next day, after much clamor for it, Captain Joop fought the chief's nephew. Arlen and Voz watched the two injured men go at it with spears and shields, by traditional rules. It was worth seeing if the outsider could handle it.

Joop acquitted himself well, taking a small wound to one leg and using his final thrown spear for a deliberate missed blow, which only enraged the challenger. The onlookers had to restrain him from jumping in and making things worse. When it was done, Voz and Arlen and the other healers had to tend to both men but the two had at least stopped trying to kill each other.

The next day, sailors came from both Decim and Gull Crater, hours apart. Both times, the locals warned them off at a distance, explaining the situation. Joop was present both times, his mouth a hard line. The second time he said, "I want to visit the Builder ruins. Let me get some good from this mess."

"Is that what you endangered everyone over?" said Meadow.

After a long pause he said, "Yes."

She said to Arlen, "We should send him away and never let him see."

"Tempting," Arlen said.

The island's new chief wasn't of the old one's family. He was a skilled boat-builder by trade, known as a mediator, and he'd been present at the recent battle of Decim. He'd apparently been chosen by agreement among the island's strongest families, who'd dared Voz to countermand them. This new leader was suffering from the plague himself, hobbling with a cane and grumbling about feeling old. He said, "Yes. I forbid it until all the islands have passed through this shadow and lived. When that's done, his hasty curiosity can be satisfied. Is that fair, high chief?"

"Completely," said Voz. He translated for Joop, who fumed.

#

Catacomb's illness spread through the population, only halted by the sea around the island. That kept Arlen and Voz busy. But most of the afflicted began to recover. There was a growing population of people who'd learned the drill of caring for mass casualties and had nothing further to fear from the infection. Arlen wasn't sure whether they were still contagious and the new chief was treating them like they were, which crippled trade but didn't totally prevent it. Visitors from afar could at least drop things off. A few offered to stay as brave guests who wanted to get it over with. No sign of the plague hitting the other isles yet.

Voz told Arlen to head back to Opaline. The latest word there was more squabbling with the outsiders. So Arlen sailed, hoping not to walk in on another disaster. Joop and his men went with him.

Voz warned him on the way out: "By the way, Joop now knows more about your powers."

"True, but the outsiders probably have heard from others by now."

#

Opaline wasn't terrible. The priest Alfons was busy aiding the sick, and the death count was low between magic, quarantine, and the cooperation of the ships' crew.

But something had changed. The chief quietly told Arlen, "They have only a few of those heavy weapons you call cannons, maybe four per ship. We saw them move two off of the ships and into the fort. You gave them a resting spot and they're making a fortress of it."

"I doubt they've checked how thin the walls are." Arlen had left the outer wall hollow in case of such an event. Not something that a bow could shoot through, but it'd be surprisingly quick to collapse. "I'll check on the hidden tunnel too."

"Do you think they mean to attack?"

"No. I'd pretend you don't know, for now."

Captain Huygens summoned Arlen to visit the fort anyway. The oddly curved bronze magical weapons from the ships -- cannons was just how Arlen thought of them -- weren't on display. The crew had made themselves at home with bedding and piles of supplies. Arlen had secretly inspected the hidden tunnel and confirmed it was still there if needed.

Huygens worked with a pair of interpreters to say, "It's been nine days. The worst is over now."

Arlen told him of Catacomb's news. "Voz and I need to gather information. Will you come with me to the Mire? If you want danger, it's a good place."

Arlen had planned this step out with Voz. The captain listened to Arlen's description of isolated villages and hints of Builder ruins, and grew interested. "I'll go there myself."

Singer Alfons said, "I want to see it, but I'm busy treating people."

"Then Joop is in charge. Not you."

"I see."