Fiadh and Saul were slow walking back, and it was only partly Saul's fault. He noticed her glancing at him more than once, but he was too tired to care; his heart was still beating, and he could still move, if only at a crawl. That was all he wanted after the battle, honestly.

Although, "battle" was a bit of a stretch; to the solders standing below him, Saul may well have been a god, pouring golden, smokeless flames upon the unworthy, casting them into sleep. Even to Fiadh, who had worked with another shaman, the way his memory's flames moved was unnatural.

Fiadh broke the silence.

"...Saul?"

"Yes, Fiadh? Ask your question."

"What was that?"

"Memories are a fickle thing; memories that are weapons are even more fragile, and more dangerous. Would you believe me if I told you I haven't called upon that memory in many years?"

"But, you called down a pillar of fire, like a priest of the Gods!"

"What holy flames feel like fear? Even then, what flames from the heavens leave its user in such a state? I've not heard of a priest with my kind of post-cast affliction."

"...Even then, what memory gives such a wild, ruthless strength?"

"The ones that hurt the most, Fiadh. There's a give and take in all things."

Fiadh was silent for a moment, chewing on his words. She looked at him. "Were the flames that golden in your memory?"

Saul's hand clenched around the marble in his pocket. He shook his head. "They were a sickly grey-yellow; there was smoke and ash, and a lot of it... Please, no more questions. I must recover."

Fiadh didn't mind the silence. She had a lot to dwell on.

One of her advisors approached the pair on their way back, giving a nervous glance at Saul before asking Ser Crowley a question that was on the minds of the soldiers.

"What are we to do with the prisoners?"

Ser Crowley responded succinctly, adjusting Saul on her shoulder. "They are to return to their camp."

"But, respectfully,-"

"Spare me your complaints. They have nothing; they're barely better than human refugees. We will seek recompense through labor, if nothing else. They'll be allowed a portion of our rations; speak with the quartermaster on what can be safely allocated. We'll have a meeting discussing the details later today, but first, I need a drink."

As the advisor left, Saul chuckled. "You know, I think I could do with a drink as well."

"It's too early for old men to drink; leave it to us young-uns, yeah? Speaking of young ones, what's the story with the kid who follows you around?"

"With Anna? I found her in Chaidon forest, three days from the nearest village. She was hurt, so I nursed her to health. She's been by my side since then."

"Three days? How'd she manage that?"

"Well, she was travelling with her family."

Fiadh gave him a look. "You know what I'm gonna ask. She's not human, is she? There's only two races I recall that were ever found crossing the forest that I know of, and one attacked our fort."

Saul was silent in response.

"...I knew you had a bleeding heart, but them?"

"Look at her, and talk to me again after you do. I will not explain myself, nor will I justify it. She, however, is why I'm standing here today. Think on that before you say such thoughtless things, Ser."

Saul excused himself, glancing ahead, and gingerly stepping away from her. Fiadh, to her credit, didn't push the issue, and Saul was thankful for that. Granted, she didn't really have time to, because immediately after Saul stepped away, a miniature missile threw herself into him, knocking him to the floor, winded.

Anna clung to him for a while, sobbing with relief. The hood of her cloak was knocked loose in the run, but she couldn't care less. Soldiers tried to come to his aid, seeing the horns on her head, but Ser Crowley gave them a look and a shake of the head, and they gave the unlikely pair some space.

Saul knew that there would be consequences for this, but he didn't particularly mind that at the moment. He stroked Anna's black hair, murmuring soft words as she calmed down. She looked up at him and smiled.

"You came back."

"I told you I would, didn't I? Why the surprise?"

"All ħadar are liars." She said with such confidence.

"Not this ħadar, Anna. I have a secret weapon, after all."

Anna's eyes widened. "You do? Is it the feather, or the ice?"

Saul smiled. "No, silly child. It's you."

Anna cocked her head. "Silly?"

Saul hid a grin. "Like fun-foolish."

"Hey!"

Saul laughed with her as she helped him up. He patted her head and leaned down. "I have some good news."

"What?"

Saul leaned in. "I found another demon from your village."

Anna froze. She looked across the emptying battlefield, where the demons were moving out of the fort toward a spot beside the encampment.

"My... ħar?"

Saul nodded. "He called it that too. I didn't get his name, though. He called you 'little ʡal.' You said that meant mouse?"

Anna nodded. "I was so timid around our ʕarčaban. He used to make fun of me for it."

"He sounds like a good man. He acted like one, too." Saul patted her head. "Come, let's get some food, yeah? We can see them tomorrow, when they're settled and the encampment is cleared."

Anna finally turned away. "Alright. "

Saul and Anna walked back hand in hand, and the soldiers let them through the gate with a nod and a willful glance away from Anna. It was like that all over the camp, as well; they treated Saul like a tyrant and ignored his charge. Anna thought the whole thing was strange, but didn't comment on it.

What was even more noticeable was the looks of fear they shot Saul. He heard murmurings of "Gods-touched" and "Visionary," but he pretended to ignore them. Superstitions would always appear whenever shamans plied their magic, Saul knew. How else was one to respond when experiencing something so seemingly miraculous? He had his own experience with shamans, when he was a child; however, Saul knew, too, the cost of using such a spell. Every flame summoned by a demon he touched with that memory would be tinged yellow, if not wholly golden, and an aura of fear would be present around those golden flames; that's the power and the danger of such a strong memory.

Saul was startled out of his musings by a child pulling his hand. "We haven't even started eating soup and you're thinking. What's on your mind?"

"Nothing you should be worried about yet, Anna."

Anna pouted as they grabbed a bowl of stew each, heading to an empty table "Come on! You said you'd let me ask questions."

"... Alright. You know how you share experiences with others?"

"Like the hug in the marble?"

Saul smiled. "Yes, just like that. I was thinking about how useful that could be for learning things."

Anna gave him a sideways look. "Liar."

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Saul smiled sheepishly, then let the smile fade "I'm just thinking, Anna. There's so much to do, and not enough time to do it."

Anna turned to face him. "Well, you said we can see them tomorrow, right?"

"As soon as possible. it might take longer, because we need to move into the fort, and move the demons into the encampment for a little while. Or it might be this afternoon. It's all up in the air, as the saying goes."

"Well... why don't we help?"

Saul scratched his chin. "You know, that would go quite a long way toward keeping the peace. Although I won't find much support from the soldiers or others."

Anna shrugged. "So? Show your support! This is no easy thing, ħadar, but nothing is."

Saul gave her a long look. "Quite wise words, for one so young."

"I have a good teacher. If only he answered my questions…"

Saul chuckled. "Ask away, Anna. I promised to give you answers."

"Why do humans smile?"

Saul blinked. "We smile to show that we are happy. What did your old village do?"

"When something was funny, we'd laugh, but we didn't smile. Our parents didn't like us baring fangs. Instead, we'd raise our brow, like this." Anna raised her both eyebrows in a pantomime of surprise.

Saul didn't get it, but he wasn't born with it, so he gave her the benefit of the doubt.

They spent most of lunch with Anna asking questions about many small things like that. Anna decided to stay by Saul's side for the rest of the day, regardless of the rules, so when a soldier asked Saul to come to the strategy tent, Anna followed behind. Saul took her hand and walked in with her, and despite looks from the Crowley's advisors, nobody commented on it. Ser Crowley just gave him a look and a roll of her eyes.

Ser Crowley took control. "Now that everybody's here, I'll list out our goals: first, we need to move into fort Linwood by the end of the week; second, we need to relocate the demons to somewhere they won't be messed with or persecuted; thirdly, this needs to be done before I have a talk with Viscount Langley about 200 demons in his land, so I'd put our time limit at four days or less. Any suggestions?"

Saul raised his hand. "I volunteer to liaison between our groups."

"I'm not against it, but give us your reasoning."

"Because I have something no other human on this side of the border has: a connection to them." Saul rested his hand on Anna's head. "Their envoy was from the village that this demon, Anna, is from. Odds are good that we can use that to foster a positive relationship with them, and establish some form of trust."

Ser Crowley nodded. "Then I have no problem giving you the reins there. What's important is that this transfer is as expedient as possible. My coordinator will get with you after this meeting to make sure you know what goes where."

Saul nodded an affirmative, and Ser Crowley looked to the others. "One more question that's been in the back of my mind: These 200 demons were ran out of their homes. We have a name for the group, but no location. I want scouting positions set up along the border; I'll petition a fort to be built along the mountain pass, but that's long term. It's more important that we aren't surprised by a larger force."

One of her advisors, a grizzled soldier with mutton chops, nodded. "I'll have my rangers pull straws. We can set up around the mountain pass, but I can't recommend spreading out any wider; we lack the manpower."

"It will have to do. Thank you, Nolan." Ser Crowley looked to the others. "Everyone else coordinate with the support staff on moving goods; if I see one soldier not pulling his weight I will be cross. That's all."

Saul patted Anna's head as they were approached by the coordinator, a small, trim man named Mr. Bell. He had a kind of no-nonsense attitude, curtly gesturing for the pair to follow him as he stepped out of the tent.

He looked like he had gotten no sleep- indeed, he probably didn't; between him and the quartermaster, with this campaign being thrown together last-minute and the demons raiding in the night, Saul would be surprised if he managed to get a whole night's sleep.

Mr. Bell was short and concise, handing out a diagram, and giving them a three step process, with the soldier's leaving base, the support/ supply train moving into the town on the southern side of the fort, and the demons moving in last.

The sun was halfway past center when they started, the soldiers pouring out of the encampment like ants, holding their tents and belongings. Everything that couldn't be carried was instead carried by cart. The entire process, between 200 soldiers, support staff, and their carts, took less than four hours, which surprised him- then again, as a veteran of his old Viscount's military, he should've expected efficiency like that.

Anna took this time to meet with the demons, and Saul decided to come with her (for protection, of course). There were quite a few tearful reunions, and, remembering Anna's comments about not smiling, Saul saw a lot of raised eyebrows. It was jarring at first, but he got used to it quickly.

Throughout the transfer, Anna was everywhere in the demon encampment, helping sort small things, giving encouragement, carrying things (and making Saul carry larger things).

It was well into the afternoon when both groups were situated in their proper places: the soldiers in the fort, and the demons in the encampment.

At the end of the transfer, the last refugees to leave were already coming back to their old homes, complaining about the inconvenience. Saul overheard one civilian loudly whine about the military's slow response, as if having a standing army in two days wasn't miraculous enough!

Anna decided to to linger in the demon encampment after they finished all their work, and Saul stayed with her, of course.

This time, it was Anna's turn to teach Saul new words and phrases, and introduce him to new people: Əhməd, a boy who wanted to touch Saul's fangs (Anna was aghast); Könül, a girl, ever the shy one; and Hidayət, the envoy they met with after the battle, who was their ʕarčaban.

Anna was a bright ball of energy the whole time. Her people, all in the same place! She took the role of translator with light steps. "You have to let Saul show you his magic! It's so cool!"

Əhməd and Könül were all for it, while Hidayət was reluctant; he was beginning to realize the old man that was happily showing them a small flame in the shape of a rabbit was the same one that cast that golden pillar of fire that ended the battle not five hours ago.

If Saul noticed Hidayət's reaction, he didn't comment on it. It was hard to tell if the demons were excited, anyways, with their eyebrows wiggling like caterpillars.

The rest of the afternoon was spent with Anna telling stories of their travels, with a few choice embellishments. When would they see a bison, anyways?