There weren’t as many rough patches as Loch had thought. The elves were settled in relatively quickly. There had been some moments that could have gone really wrong but had been smoothed over. Most of the Clan had not had dealings with the elves. They didn’t see them as enemies. The elves were exotic. They were new and interesting.

Half the prisoners decided to stay, taking the Oath to Clan Brady and joining the guard. The others went back to the Silver Bark Camp, hopefully with a good report of how they were treated. Casian, Sinat and the others all took the Clan Brady Oath. With their additions, the construction speed doubled. More barracks and bunkhouses went up. The elves were happy, they were now staying in structures with walls and roofs. It was better than the tents they’d been in.

It had only been two weeks, but so far Loch was happy with the result of bringing the elves to Clan Brady. Serio had been impressed when he and a contingent of the Silver Bark had come to the Clanhold for the negotiations. Loch had stayed out of it, letting his Council and especially Ed Turner handle them. The border was hashed out, giving Clan Brady most of the land between the Clanhold and the Silver Bark Camp, the territory line being the Bennett Bridge intersection. The Silver Bark would advance more west, curving around the lake and toward the north. That worked for Loch, it really kept the two focused in opposite directions. The elves would go north and west, Clan Brady would go more south and east and west along the Route 4 corridor.

“Now we just want to be left alone,” Serio had said.

The most surprising thing that came out of the negotiations was that the remaining Silver Bark were no longer going to be calling themselves the Silver Bark. There were no family members left in the expedition forces and without the portal, there was no connection to the greater Silver Bark family. They hadn’t broken their Oaths yet, and weren’t sure if they would. That part had been pushed by Glarian, backed by others. Serio, who was in favor of forming a new Clan, thought those elves hoped the Silver Bark back on Tirna would open the portal again.

They wouldn’t waste the Resources, not on what the main branch of the Silver Bark would consider a lost cause. But some of the ones left on Earth were holding out hope.

The elves left with a non-aggression pact in place. It was enforced by the Connection, giving it some actual power. Not that Loch was worried about the remnants of the Silver Bark. Those that hadn’t joined Clan Brady numbered only around a hundred and their Levels were equal to the growing Clan Brady, who had several members higher Leveled. It was an uneven mix of male and females, which would help keep the growth of the elven camp down. And just surviving without any crafters would keep them from their expansionist tendencies.

Loch walked the side yard where the barracks and bunkhouses were built. They had filled up every available inch with structures, more being built down closer to the hill leading to the fields. Wheelbarrows full of cut logs were brought over, the logs being stacked in neat rows next to each of the buildings. Loch wasn’t sure how much wood they’d need over the coming Winter, but the plan was to have a surplus when Spring came. Progress on the wall had stopped, all new lumber going toward the logs for heating. Any surplus furniture was being turned into kindling for burning and heating.

The Hunters were ranging further, bringing back more game but also concentrating on hides. The Clan had gotten a couple Leatherworkers and they were busy turning hides into winter cloaks. They had a large collection of Winter coats, and any that had been ripped or damaged donated the liners and wool to the cloaks.

Vegetables were being canned. Meat was being smoked.

Everyone could feel the air getting colder with each passing day. The wind wasn’t getting any colder, just constant, which would make the Winter even worse. Loch was not looking forward to it.

He passed by the larger collection of shovels. Over a couple dozen. Not enough but it would have to do. Kristin was already working up a rotation for people to shovel paths to all the buildings and off the roof of the school. More board games were being collected. There had been a couple more trips to the Library to get more books to read. Those trips were for the fiction books, stuff to keep people entertained through the Winter. Loch had been surprised how many books could fit into the Spatial Bags.

The Scavengers were going back to the houses they’d already been to, grabbing books and board games. Anything for entertainment. One team had even found a large collection of a couple trading card games and sets of tabletop roleplaying manuals and dice.

Stopping in front of two of the bunkhouses, Loch wished they had put more distance between them. The plan was to pile the snow in the middle and let it fill up to the ends. He had a bad feeling there was going to be a lot of snow and it would rapidly fill the space between the buildings, and they still had to keep a path to the woodpiles.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

There were a couple people working through the problem of snow removal. Kristin was on top of things, wanting every procedure in place before the first snows fell. She was hoping for a couple more Elementalists like Kim Hudson, or people with some kind of fire Ability. She had Lewis Bergmann and Philip Verner, the Artificer, working on ways to get rid of the snow. Philip had managed to convert the school’s heating system to steam, using a wood powered boiler. It wouldn’t be the warmest or most efficient, but it would work.

He was still worried about the food situation. Water wouldn’t be an issue. They could melt the snow as needed. People had ice fished on Harvey Lake, along with Northwood Lake, so they could hopefully still get fish in the winter. Bow Lake was out, as that was considered Silver Bark territory. Loch wondered if they could teach the Silver Bark to icefish. He’d check with one of the elves in the Clan to see if that was something they did.

Loch was satisfied. They were doing everything they could to prepare.

He just hoped the Winter wouldn’t be as brutal as he feared.

***

“What’s that?,” Loch asked, coming up behind Piper.

She sat at one of the tables in the cafeteria, quickly closing her sketchbook so he couldn’t see what it was. She looked over her shoulder, glaring at him.

“A surprise,” she said. “You’ll find out when it’s ready.”

“Okay, okay,” he said, raising his hands. He lowered them, his expression lowering as well. “Come on, it’s time.”

Piper didn’t move, turning away from him. She hunched down, crossing her arms.

“No.”

“Pipes..”

“If I’m not there, she can’t go.”

Loch sighed. They’d had this argument for a couple of days, ever since Kelly had been informed by her Patron that her time in Northwood was up and she had to return to her people. Freyja, who Kelly was not a big fan of, had contacted her in a dream-like state just like how Thor talked to Loch. Instead of a viking village, Freyja was in what Kelly described as a Roman temple. Loch had wondered if the dream setting was a reflection of where the Divine Being’s Earthly avatar existed. Not that he’d ever find out, but it was a curiosity. He wondered why Freyja had chosen a Roman setting.

“I know kiddo,” he said, sitting down next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Piper leaned into him. “It sucks. None of us want this.”

“We just got her back,” Piper said with a little bit of sniffling.

She was trying hard not to cry. She’d already done that and more would most likely come.

“Yeah, but hey,” Loch said, with a bit cheer he really didn’t feel. “At least we’ll get to communicate.”

He held up the notebook he’d been carrying. Piper leaned back, looking at it. There was nothing remarkable about it. Just a notebook, but she was sure she’d seen a similar one before.

“Is that one of Kristins?”

“Yep,” Loch said, smiling. “She gave the paired one to your mom.

Piper wiped at her eyes.

“It’s not the same.”

“No, but at least it’s something.”

Loch stood up, holding out a hand. Reluctantly, Piper took it, standing up. Loch pulled her in for a hug, smoothing down her hair as he leaned down to kiss the top of her head.

“Come on, mom and Harper are waiting.”

Taking her hand, Loch led her out of the cafeteria. It had been a long time since she’d wanted to hold his hand. He squeezed. She looked up and forced a smile.

The lobby was empty. Loch could see Kristin in the office, most likely Ed was in his. Darren would be out working the new guard recruits. About a dozen people had come in from Raymond the day before, most volunteering for the guards. Two guards stood on either side of the doors as they walked out, giving Loch quick salutes. He nodded to them, unsure of their names. They looked new.

Piper let go of his hand, walking a little ahead. He could see some of the Clan’s teenagers hanging out in the yard. Apparently Piper didn’t want to be seen holding her father’s hand. He held in the chuckle. One of the girls waved, Piper waving back. One of the boys watched Piper as she headed for the gate. At least until he noticed Loch staring at him. The boy quickly turned away, pretending to be busy.

Loch sighed. He wasn’t ready for that.

The guards at the gate opened it. Relatively new, the gate was a section of chain link fence attached to the logs on one side, with a locking mechanism on the other. It wouldn’t hold anything back, there was little strength to it. But just having a gate made people feel more secure.

Outside, with the four horses, were Kelly and Harper. Piper ran through, wrapping her mother in a huge hug. She still didn’t cry, proud of herself for holding it in. The gate closed behind them. Kelly looked up at Loch with a sad smile. He returned it.

“We’ve got one more night,” Kelly said, releasing Piper. “Let’s make it a good one.”