After a fine meal, Aleyda and I retired to my room, or I guess our room for the next couple of days. I couldn’t sleep although Aleyda didn’t seem to have much of a problem. Things were too safe, too secure, too comfortable. I had lived in a state of constant vigilance for the last couple of months and I couldn’t relax. Finally, after I tossed and turned for a couple of hours, Aleyda got up and went back to her old room. That was not an auspicious start to our relationship at home. People would wonder if we had already gotten into a fight. There was so much on my mind, though. Depending on how much the orcs blabbered when they got back, either of a couple of governmental groups could be out looking for me. And I didn’t know how I was going to convince my friends to come along. I really wanted them to join us, especially Goulug and his family. Outside of the people I lived with, Goulug was my best friend. Having just found him, I didn’t feel like giving him up forever.

Finally, in the middle of the night I fell into a fitful doze. I had strange, vivid nightmares that were a mishmash of my old life and my new one. In one, I was back in that parking lot being emotionally destroyed by Sara, but instead of wearing her own face she wore Aleyda’s. Another put me back on the island, but instead of being surrounded by the orcs from our company, I was there with my family and my old group of friends from Earth. My heart broke as they were winnowed by the monstrous wildlife one by one until only I was left.

After getting maybe three hours of sleep, I decided to get up. It was still very early in the morning, right around dawn, but I couldn’t take it anymore. I was sleep deprived, exhausted and likely very grumpy, but I didn’t care. It was time to get on with it. I could sleep when I was dead, which would be soon if we didn’t get packed up and out of here.

Patrick was already up when I made my way down to the living area.

“Couldn’t sleep?” he asked.

“Not really,” I answered. “Things were just too comfortable and there are too many things on my mind right now.”

“You have a lot on your plate,” he said. “I used to get that way sometimes as well, back when I was in the army. It usually happened when things were going a little too well for me. You live in a state of near panic for so long that you can’t adjust when you make it back to safety. I’m here to talk if you need me.”

“Thanks, man,” I replied. “I didn’t think it would be this way at all.”

“PTSD is real, James.”

“Well, I need to get going,” I said. “I need to catch Goulug before he goes up to the hills with his herd. You don’t think that the dog is going to give me trouble when I try to leave, do you? How did we end up with a dog, anyway?”

“Traders came through with dogs for sale,” Patrick replied. “Mero wanted one, and since we got the dog, he mopes around a little less.”

“It’s a poor replacement for his family. There were kids on that island as well. My heart broke every time I interacted with them. People like you and me, we have at least lived some life before we got here. I can’t imagine what it is like to be a child here.”

“Unfortunately, I can,” he replied. “And what I imagine is not comforting at all.”

“Well, I need to get going,” I said, standing and walking out into the faint morning light.

Kadar the dog did come over to see me but he didn’t give me any trouble. In fact, it looked like he expected me to play with him or feed him or something. Instead, all I could offer was a couple of pets and scratches behind his ears. He seemed to enjoy them. When I headed towards Goulug’s place, he tried to follow me but I told him he needed to stay and wonder of wonders he did.

The trip to Goulug’s ranch took very little time. As I walked, I started to relax a little bit. There was only so much I could control and the times when I ended up the most stressed were the times when I tried to control everything around me.

When I got there, he was already out in the yard getting ready to head up into the hills with his herd for the day. He did a double take when he saw me.

“You’re back!” he cried out, rushing over to me. “I didn’t expect to see you so soon.”

“It’s good to see you, my friend,” I said, rushing over to meet him. “I have news, not all of it good.”

“You didn’t lose anyone on the island, did you?” he asked.

“No, Aleyda and Bowen are fine. But we are going to have to move again because of some things that happened on the island.” I went on to give him a condensed version of what happened during the expedition. “The good news is that we are fairly rich again. The bad news is we have to move somewhere else to spend it. I was hoping I could convince you and your family to come with us.”

“I don’t know, James,” he said. “This is where I am from, where my family and my wife’s family has lived for generations. I know who I can rely on here and who to distrust. Things are not great in some of the other countries for orcs from what I’ve heard. There are very few of us there, and the few that exist are looked down upon by others. I am so grateful for everything that you have done for me and my family. We would likely be dead if it wasn’t for you. I am just not certain that I can ask my children to move somewhere they will be treated as lesser for their entire lives.”

My heart fell as he talked but what he was saying made a great deal of sense. Here, they were a part of the majority. Elsewhere, they would be the other and being the other is so hard. I tried to put myself in his shoes. He didn’t have to just look after himself, he had a family as well. If I had children, I wouldn’t want to take them to a place where they would be met with derision for what they were instead of who they were. I understood his decision and the more I thought about it the easier it was for me to accept the decision as well.

“Alright, then,” I said. “Your reasons are good and I understand them. Today, you need to come with me to town. I am transferring my property to you. And you have to promise to come and visit us some time. I’ll even pay for the trip.”

“What?” he said. “I can’t afford to pay you for your property!”

“I don’t care,” I said. “It is a gift to you and your family. We won’t need it anymore. It is better for it to go to you, a genuine friend, than someone else. We don’t have time to sell it. You can keep it or sell it, I don’t care.”

“Yes, we will come visit you,” he said. I think both he and I knew it was an empty promise. The life of a rancher was a tough one. There was daily responsibility for the herds and there was always work to be done. Unless he hired someone to take care of his place, there was no way the visit would ever happen. Even if he hired someone, he would be fraught with worry, wondering whether they were doing things the way he wanted them done.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

He trotted over into his house to have a quick conversation with his wife, Ugor, and his children. Ugor walked up to me.

“I hear you are leaving us already,” Ugor said.

“We ran into some trouble on the island,” I replied. “It is not the kind of trouble we can afford to face head on.”

“I understand,” she said. “But Goulug says you are gifting us your property?”

“Yes, and don’t be too proud to accept it. You deserve it. You have all been true friends to us.”

“Goodbye, James,” she said, stepping over and hugging me. “If we have another son, we will name him after you.”

“Please don’t,” I said with a laugh. “One of me is enough.”

Goulug directed his older children to tend to his herd and we headed into town. Since we were on foot, we had plenty of time to catch up on all the local gossip and there was lots of local gossip. Even though I ached at our inevitable parting, he had me laughing before half an hour was up. Some of the things these people got themselves into truly boggled the mind. Such is life in small towns anywhere, I suppose. I also took the time to get good directions from him to Bralgren. He admitted he had been there a couple of times so he knew how to get there.

Finally, we reached Greynard. Our journey was interrupted several times by others. We had the innocuous little conversations that friends and neighbors often do. I would miss those conversations. I hoped we could make more friends wherever we ended up, but nothing was ever certain. I noticed at least one family was still avoiding me. That was alright, they had their reasons. It took us half an hour to make it to the town hall. Filling out the paperwork to transfer my property including most of my livestock to Goulug took just a few minutes. Of course, there was a recording fee, and I had left the house without grabbing any money. Goulug paid it, and then paid for our lunch. He said it was the least he could do for my generosity.

After we got things settled, Goulug took his leave. He had work to do back at home. He promised to stop by the next day to see us off. Deep in my heart, I believed that was the last time I would ever see him.

After Goulug departed, I went to see Sathebeena. Her forge was busy so I had to wait a little while for her to have time to talk to me. When she did, though, she greeted me warmly and ushered me off to the side so that nobody could overhear our conversation.

“It is good to see you,” she proclaimed. “How was your trip to the island.”

Once again, it was story time. I told her about the many trials and tribulations on the island, leaving nothing out. Then, I asked if she would consider relocating with us to start a new life. I let her know about my plans to bring new inventions to market and how she could be a partner in the enterprise. I emphasized how important having a smith we could trust was. She surprised with her answer.

“When do we leave?” she asked.

“Tomorrow, I think,” I responded. “Don’t you have more questions, though?”

“As you have probably noticed,” she said, “I am the only dwarf here. I feel starved for the companionship of my people. I have been trying to save up enough money to get a new start somewhere else for awhile now. Somewhere there are more people like me. And you come in here and offer me what I have dreamed of for a long time. Of course I am going with you. Even if we can’t find a lot of other dwarves, the work sounds interesting enough. And if we are successful, we will be rich. I could even send back to the clan for a husband. I have an apprentice who is about ready for his own forge. Maybe his family will buy him mine.”

Sometimes, I get too wrapped up in my own drama and forget that I am not the only one who is stressed or lonely. Although I had noticed her isolation, I had never broached the subject with her. I guess she had been a better friend to me than I had to her.

“Can you get everything wrapped up by late afternoon and come out to Goulug’s new property with me tonight? I’d like to avoid town when we depart, if possible.”

“You gave your property to Goulug?” she asked.

“I did. He has been a good friend.”

“I am sure his family will enjoy their new house,” she said.

“I certainly hope so,” I replied. “I will come back by to collect you late this afternoon. I need to go offer Anxo a similar invitation.”

With a nod to her, I turned and headed off into town. As soon as I started moving off, she dashed back into the forge like her feet were on fire. She had a lot to do and little time to accomplish it.

I headed to Anxo’s house. On the way, I seriously wondered whether I should even waste my breath asking him to go. He seemed to be such a vital part of the community. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, I mused to myself.

He was where I nearly always found him, sitting on his front porch and watching the world go by. He no longer went out hunting every day. He was getting too old for that. Instead, he only went hunting when he felt like it or when he was low on food.

He saw me approach. “Well, look who made it back,” he said.

“Good to see you, you old fart,” I replied, sitting down next to him on the single chair he kept for guests.

“Old fart, am I?” he replied with a laugh. “I guess that’s as good a description as any. How was the island? Did you come back rich? Got any new slaves?”

For the third time that day, I told my story. He sat silently for a few moments after hearing it. Then, he spoke.

“You need to get the fuck out of here,” he said. “They will come for you. You left too many loose ends alive.”

“I know,” I said. “We are hoping to leave tomorrow. The reason I am visiting here today is not just to say goodbye. I was hoping you would come with us. We could use you. I know in the past you told me its getting harder and harder to survive the winters as you slow down a little. Come with us to where the weather will be more temperate and you will not have to worry about where your next meal is coming from. Having another six fingered human with us will help keep my people safe and if we are successful, you will be fairly rich as well. That sounds better than scraping to survive to me or dying of exposure if you take a bad tumble in the hills when you are out trying to hunt something to eat. I value your counsel.”

“Well, I always wanted to know what it felt like to be rich,” he said. “And frankly, I don’t have much of anything left here anymore. A lot of the families, they still blame me for what happened. I think they blame me more than they blame you. My brother’s son still lives here but he doesn’t make much time for me in his life. Everybody else is moved off or dead. I spend my days sitting on this porch waiting for the inevitable day that they put me in the ground. I think I still have one more adventure left in me, and I have never sailed anywhere before. I guess it is time to live a little.”

“Damn, Anxo,” I said. “You are an old fart but not that old. You’re way too young to be giving up.”

“I know,” he said. “But I guess I just needed a kick in the ass to see that. Thanks for the kick. When do we leave?”

“We’ll head back to the ranch late this afternoon. Sathebeena is joining us as well. Hopefully, we’ll be ready to go tomorrow morning. We’re headed to Bralgren where the ship will be waiting for us.”

“I’ll be ready,” he said. “I’ll meet you over at the forge. Maybe I can get the house sold this afternoon. I doubt it though. I probably will have to deed it to my nephew. And if nothing else, if someone chases us I may be able to dissuade them with an arrow or three.”

“I’m glad you’re joining us,” I said.