When Jeb forced his eyes open, he spent a long moment wondering if he had been put into another Trial. Daggers bored into his forehead, and the last few rays of sunset felt more intense than any sunshine he had ever seen before. Sitting up, the world spun around him, and Jeb felt bile rise in his throat.

He quickly lay back down, closing his eyes in hopes that the world would slow down, even if it wasn’t going to stop moving. Jeb Conjured some Water directly over his head and let it fall. The cold liquid relieved a small portion of the nausea, but it was still a long few minutes before he was able to remain upright for more than a few seconds.

Now that he was awake, Jeb noticed the awful taste in his mouth. It tasted as though a small creature had died inside of his mouth, been pureed, fermented, and then aged in his mouth. Rinsing his mouth with more Conjured Water, Jeb spat repeatedly. When he managed to get the flavor out of his mouth, Jeb finally looked around at his surroundings. He wasn’t entirely sure where he was.

Jeb was in a small clearing surrounded by trees, not that the fact really narrowed it down too much. His bees came by just as full night rose, and Jeb clamped his hands over his ears. The quiet sound of his Swarm, which was normally so soothing, brought back all of the head pain and nausea that he had managed to recover from. His bees did not seem to understand what Jeb was doing, so they began to buzz more insistently in concern.

Realization finally struck. Jeb was hungover.

As he tried to remember what he had drunk the night before, Jeb started to understand where the flavors in his mouth had come from. There were a few young Druids who had made animal based liquors or beers. Even through the warm haze of inebriation, he remembered thinking that they tasted awful. Of course, no one wanted to discourage a young Classholder, so he and the rest of the Druids all grit their teeth and drank the dozen Brews on offer.

Somehow that wasn’t the end of the night, even though it was certainly the low point. Jeb couldn’t remember more than the vague impression of drinking liquid fire. One of the Circles had demanded that everyone toast the rising sun, and that signaled the end of the party. Jeb had wandered away from the rest of the group in search of a good place to sleep. For whatever reason, his drunken mind thought that the grass in this clearing was the perfect place to rest, and had done something with his lute before lying down to sleep.

Panic suddenly overwhelmed the physical consequences of his drinking, and Jeb turned quickly, ignoring the nausea as he searched for his lute. It wasn’t anywhere immediately obvious, and Jeb started pacing around the edges of the clearing. He finally found it.

Jeb knew that it had been an intentional choice to carefully loop the strap of the lute around a number of small branches fifteen feet in the air. What, exactly, the logic had been, he had no idea. How, exactly, he had managed the feat when the path into the clearing showed the nearly constant trips and falls that had accompanied his movement was equally opaque. Still, it only took him a moment to ask the bees to pull the lute free.

“Thank you!” Jeb said to his Swarm, and tried to explain what a hangover was. The bees were unable to understand, which Jeb supposed was reasonable enough. He wasn’t entirely sure what the feeling was himself.

“Well, I don’t suppose that there’s too much point in starting anything right now,” Jeb commented to himself, looking around at the pitch black clearing. Lying back down in the grass, Jeb found that it was far less comfortable when sober. With a small force of effort, he used his Druidic Magic to make a more comfortable bed to lie in. He slept until the dawn painted the sky bright colors.

Waking again, Jeb found that his hangover had receded significantly. The hunger that had taken its place led him to return to the large central tree in the Enclave. Jeb had gathered a new sense that led him unerringly to the space. A number of other Druids were gathered there and eating when he arrived. The younger Druids all showed signs of recovering, but the older Druids were clearly made of stronger stuff.

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

Or, at least, Jeb thought that until he saw one of the Circle’s leaders quietly shudder when he thought that no one was looking. The fact that no one had escaped the party unscathed made Jeb feel much better. He suddenly felt a large weight press into his shoulder.

“Jeb!” Arthur called loudly, smiling at the many winces in the crowd. “What did you think of your first Intercircle Celebration?”

“I enjoyed the portions of the party that I remember.”

“I can assure you that you enjoyed the other portions just as much.”

The two stood in silence before the bear cleared his throat. Jeb almost thought that the Druid seemed sheepish when he continued, “I was hoping to ask a favor from you.”

“What is it?” Jeb asked.

“I think that you may have met my son during the Celebration. He,” the bear coughed again, “is the one that looks like me.”

Jeb nodded, thinking about the young Druid that had accompanied the Circle of Swarms’ Brewer. “I’m pretty sure that I remember him.”

“Even though he did not end up joining my Circle, I do still feel paternal responsibility to him. He has been struggling to find his Swarm, even though his Fundamental Understanding so clearly ties himself to them. Given that you have your own Swarm,” he gestured to the honor guard of bees that had stayed around Jeb since being returned to him, “I was wondering if you might be willing to help him find his own.”

“Oh,” Jeb replied, taken aback for a long moment. Blinking, he finally recovered from the shock, “I haven’t really ever taught someone, outside of the mandatory assisting I did during my time as a Candidate.”

The bear’s eyes widened in clear surprise. “Truly? I had no idea that the Republic trained its citizens so differently. In the Enclave, no one raises past the Sixth Tier without taking on a younger student as mentor, even if only briefly. Given that you are at the peak of your Eighth Tier, I think that we all assumed that you would have been well versed with the topic.”

“I’m still happy to try my best,” Jeb said, recovering from the embarrassment. “Can I ask a favor of you in return, though?”

“Absolutely,” the Bear said.

“I know that Fundamental Understandings are apparently important to Druidic Magic, but what exactly are they?”

The bear chuckled, clearly surprised. “How did you gain Druidic Magic without finding your Fundamental Understanding?” he asked somewhat rhetorically.

Jeb shrugged. “I don’t remember much after I was dropped in the well,” he replied honestly, pushing down the uncontrollable flash of rage that boiled up.

“Interesting. Are you familiar with the idea that each School of Magic fundamentally requires a different worldview?”

Jeb grimaced and nodded. “That is the leading belief in the Academy, but I have not always found it to be true.” He stopped himself from delivering a version of the lecture he had presented on the topic.

“Fundamental Understandings, as you might expect, are the core of the Druidic worldview. Understanding a piece of the world gives you deeper insight into the world as a whole.”

“I’m not totally sure that I follow,” Jeb replied.

“I’ll give you a less abstract answer. As you have hopefully gathered, I am the Radius for the Circle of the Wild. To me, the microcosm that explains reality is the delicate balance between the flora and fauna found in nature. At the smallest level, organisms too small to see with our own eyes battle for resources, which is true even into the interaction between different biomes. The universe as a whole is likewise a balance between the many forces which each pull in their own direction.”

“I hope that this isn’t an inappropriate question, but why is your son not in the Circle of the Wild?” Jeb asked, noting that a number of Druids were clearly parent and child.

“He does not see the world as a Wild Druid does. If we were in a country other than the Enclave, it is likely that I still would have been responsible for nurturing his understanding. Thankfully, however, there are many here who can do so far more effectively.”

“Just to confirm,” Jeb said, hoping that he would not look like a fool, “Fundamental Understandings are what separate the different Circles. As a member of the Circle of the Wild, you find that reality is best understood as a macrocosm of any biome?”

“Not quite. The Circle of the Wild generally takes that belief. My own Fundamental Understanding is far more limited. I see the River Delta as the microcosm of the world. Given that I felt no resonance with your own Magic at that idea, I will not trouble you with any further details.”

“Thank you for answering my question,” Jeb replied, even though he was left with far more questions than before they had been answered.

“When would you be free to help my son?” Arthur asked.

“I don’t think that I have anything pressing right now, so whenever he is free, I suppose.”

The Bear nodded and let out a primal roar. His son ran up, rolling his eyes as he drew near.