We ate dinner with the druids on the outskirts of Bredon. Empty fields and rotting buildings surrounded us. Swapping stories and enjoying good food, it was like eating with my family. I played more music for them as the night went on, which they seemed to enjoy. For the first time in a long time, I felt happy to perform in front of a crowd.

Having only spent time with Greenspring, I hadn’t realized how different druids could be. Some wore clothes made of leaves, twigs, and moss, like Greenspring. Others wore animal furs and leather like the bandits Greenspring hired. Some didn’t wear more than rags that covered the bare minimum.

Even ignoring their choice of clothing, the group was incredibly varied. Humans, elves, dwarves, and other rare folks conversed freely with each other. I could hear different languages and accents. Some used sign language to speak, and others wrote down their words on paper. Each of them relaxed and enjoyed the good company.

“Most of them haven’t seen each other in years,” said Khristi, mixing the contents of her soup together with her spoon. “All of them are prepared to do anything to save Greenspring.”

“Isn’t this a lot for one man? I mean, don’t get me wrong, but why? Why all of this for Greenspring?”

Khristi shook her head. “This isn’t just for Greenspring. Most of them haven’t even met him in person. By capturing Greenspring and forcing him to work, Gunner has become a threat to nature. Any druid would take such a threat seriously.”

“So you plan to kill him?” asked Bagheera.

“If it comes to that. We would rather not get too involved,” she said, before taking a sip from her spoon.

“What about our friends and family?” I asked.

“If they stay out of the way, they will be fine. Our goal is to deal with Gunner and release Greenspring. Anything that stands in the way of that will be eliminated.” She glanced at Bagheera. “Anything.”

“Did Greenspring tell you about the bandits Gunner hired?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

Khristi picked a square-shaped cut of meat out of her soup and chewed it for a while. “He did. I don’t see them being a problem.”

“How so?” asked Bagheera.

“Most bandits I’ve met are cowardly, they only care about making money. Why would they risk their lives for someone they don’t care about? Once we show them what we can do, they’ll run.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. The issue with the bandits had been weighing on me heavily since we left the fortress. Part of me had hoped they would run and not be an issue, but I couldn’t plan on it. Hearing it from another person made me start to relax. Why would they stay and fight for Gunner? Dealing with the remaining harska would still be hard, but it was an expected difficulty. Nothing that we hadn’t planned for.

However, something still weighed on my mind. “Khristi, I’m a bit worried that some of the people around here don’t look battle ready. No offense.”

She shrugged. “None taken. For many, this will be their first battle.”

“Their first!” I stared out at the crowd of druids. Now that I was looking at them closely, I realized how few of them wore armor. Even fewer held any kind of weapon. I wondered if they even knew defensive spells, let alone offensive spells.

“Some of them aren’t fighters, but they’re brave,” said Khristi. “All of them answered my call, they’ll see this through to the end.”

I hoped she was right.

Khristi stood up, wiping her hands on her pants. “We’ll leave at first light. Goodnight, Norman, Bagra.”

“Bagheera,” muttered Bagheera, watching her walk away. Since the two had met, Khristi seemed to keep her distance from the harska.

I patted my harska companion on the back. “We only need to deal with them for a few more days. Then everything will be as it should.” That was what I hoped.

Bagheera and I slept on the first floor of the least decayed building I could find. Rolling out our blankets, we laid on the floor next to a couple of elvish druids. They slept upright against the wall, their animal companions laying down next to them. One had a small songbird, and another a snake wrapped around their arm. The last animal looked like a small furry creature with spikes instead of fur. It rolled into a ball, its tiny nose poking out from the bottom.

They weren’t the army of wolves I had secretly been hoping for, but if Khristi trusted them then I would too. Thinking any other way only made my stomach hurt.

The cool night air blew in through cracks in the walls creating an ambient whistling sound. In the distance, I could hear snoring coming from another building, but that wasn’t enough to keep me awake. I hadn’t realized how tired I was until I laid down. Keeping my eyes open was too great a task, so I didn’t bother. Like my new companions, I was fast asleep.

I awoke from a dreamless sleep hours later. Something cold and sharp had touched my neck, cutting slightly into the skin. My arms were bound against my back. On my legs, I could feel something heavy pushing them down. The smell of something rancid hit me before I felt heavy breathing against my face. Opening my eyes didn’t help. It was too dark to see anything beyond a human-shaped face in front of me.

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“Shhh…” whispered the figure. “If you speak I’ll ruin that pretty little voice of yours.” I recognized the heavy accent. Once my eyes adjusted to the dark, I could see the missing teeth and the wide grin. The bandit from the fortress had followed me to Bredon.

“Damian told me you were a snake. He said I would find you here. What would King Gunner think if he knew you were a traitor? What would he think about one of his own betraying him? Course, he did that too, didn’t he?”

“What do you want?” I whispered, trying to buy time to think.

He pushed his dagger deeper into my throat. “I said quiet!” he hissed. “None of your bardic tricks. I’m sure King Gunner wouldn’t care if I brought you back dead.”

He froze as the snoring in the distance stopped for a second. While he listened for anyone approaching, I looked around the room. Everyone was still asleep, though I didn’t see the animals in the room. Bagheera was turned on his side, facing away from me.

The snoring continued. Turning back toward me, the bandit quietly laughed. “I bet King Gunner will reward me heavily for bringing you in.”

“Why would Gunner reward you for killing me? He needs me to lead his armies.”

“Then maybe he’ll give that job to me,” he said, running the knife along my neck. I remembered the feeling of Louis Korpi’s fingers: cold

“You aren’t a leader, you can’t even kill someone properly.”

He pressed the knife into my neck, drawing blood. “When did I say you could talk?”

“Why are you even serving Gunner? Steal from him and leave. I know that’s what you really want to do.”

The bandit smiled. “I’ve been paid to do a job. Unlike you, I do what I’ve been told.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see movement. Camouflaged in darkness, a snake slithered toward us. It climbed up my leg, coiling its body like a spring. The feel of its rough scales against my bare skin almost made it shiver. I looked up at the bandit and grinned. His smile dropped, his eyes widening.

Before he could slice my throat, the snake jumped toward his neck. Baring its fangs, it latched onto the bare skin. The bandit’s hand grabbed the snake’s neck, trying to pull it off. From the rafters, the songbird flew down. It scratched the bandit’s hand with its claws. Falling off me, the bandit writhed on the ground. Unfortunately for him, that’s where the spiked creature was laying.

He screamed. Needles stuck out of his face, one of them in his eye. Everyone in the room jumped to attention, grabbing the bandit and holding him down. But it was too late. His erratic movements only made the snake venom flow through his blood faster. Within seconds, he was dead.

The snake unlatched itself. It slithered toward its master, curling around the druid’s arm. Like the snake, the other animals returned to their druids. My fingers traced the cut on my neck, blood pooling in small droplets along the cut. Everyone rushed to make sure I was okay, but I waved away their kindness. A small cut like that was nothing.

Damian.

I stared at the lifeless body of the bandit. ‘I’ve been paid to do a job,’ the words echoed in my head. How much did Damian know? If he knew I was in Bredon, and he knew I was a traitor, did any others? He wasn’t the only harska who had his eyes on me, that I was sure. My thoughts turned toward Nia, Greenspring, Henry, Arienne, and Tamara. Hopefully, they were safe.

Bagheera and another druid worked together to remove the body from the room. That did nothing to stop the smell. We slept outside instead. The cold night air wasn’t ideal, but it was clean. Every time the wind picked up, I could feel the knife pressing against my neck. Another feeling I was sure I could never forget.

Bagheera sat down next to me. “Can’t sleep?” he asked.

I shook my head.

“Me neither,” he said, looking up at the stars.

“He said Damian told him we were here, does he know?” I asked.

Bagheera shrugged. “I don’t know. All we can do is prepare for the worst.” He laid down, his eyes still staring upwards. I fell asleep sometime later, still wracked with worry.

The next morning we packed up and left Bredon. Instead of walking in a large group toward the fortress. We split up into teams of five, each group leaving on the hour. It would take an extra day or two before we all gathered again, but it was worth it to keep our plans secret. Or as secret as we could keep them.

Bagheera, Khristi, two other druids named Deja and Kadir, and I left first. Deja and Kadir were masters at illusion magic, so we planned to arrive first and set up camp. Ideally, Gunner wouldn’t see us before it was too late. As we walked, we talked about our lives. Deja and Kadir made better company than Bagheera and Khristi, who walked silently in the back.

“I don’t think I’ll ever forget my ordination ritual,” said Deja, petting an owl sitting on her shoulder. “I had to make nests in cacti during the heat of the day. I can still feel the pain from all the spikes. And the heat, how unbearable!”

Kadir laughed. “I wish my ritual had been hot.” His animal companion was a flightless bird colored black and white called a penguin. I had never seen such a creature. It walked funny, waddling from side to side like it didn’t have knees. “Try jumping into ice-cold water and catching fish.”

“Sounds tough,” I said, happy to have grown up in a temperate climate. “Greenspring never talked about his ordination ritual.”

“He didn’t?” asked Deja, raising an eyebrow. “That’s weird. He loves to tell that story during the gatherings.”

“Gatherings?”

“Druids gather every year when the moon crosses over the sun,” said Kadir. “We celebrate the celestial event and share information gathered during our travels. Some don’t make every gathering, but we try to make as many as we can.”

“A few gatherings ago, Greenspring made this most fantastic cake. It was bigger than me!” exclaimed Deja, gesturing with her hands how tall she was.

“You like Greenspring’s cooking?” I asked, thinking about the last meal he tried to cook for me and Nia. We could barely stomach it. My stomach growled painfully as I remembered the horrid smell.

“It’s an acquired taste,” said Kadir, smiling. “I always look forward to his cooking every gathering.”

Deja frowned. “Yeah, too bad he wasn’t at the last gathering.”

“Why?”

“He was looking for his father.”

The druids were silent for the rest of the trip. I tried at first to ask them more questions, but they only gave quick one-word answers. Whatever happened with Greenspring’s father seemed to weigh on them. Instead of bothering them, I walked silently as well.

The air was clean and the breeze pleasant. It brought the sweet smell of flowers. Bees buzzed around the growing number of trees. I thought about the honey sold at the Xalir market. Ma used to make the sweetest treats with that honey. Arienne had only tasted them once. I vowed to make her one when we got back.

“We’re here,” said Khristi as the mountain appeared over the horizon.

Unlike before, when I had first seen the mountain, I didn’t feel fear. I felt hope. Hope that my friends, family, and I would get home. As Deja and Kadir started to set up camp, I strummed the strings on my mandolin. Instead of playing a particular song, I played notes aimlessly.

“Henry, Arienne. I will get you home.”