"Did you have to give him the coin?" They were walking through the forest. "The best, most valuable thing we found in that place?"

"What do you think, Kai?" Hina moved around a spiny bush. The trees were thinner here, the spaces between them filled by other plants. "What would you have done?"

"You couldn't give him silver?"

"Like the bell?" Hina hadn't thought of offering that. "Do you think he'd have taken it?"

"Coins, Hina."

"You think I should have stood there, digging around in my coin purse for my seven silver coins to pay the werewolf? Do you think that would have worked?"

Kai groaned. "No." A pause, and then, "Werewolf?"

"Bunch of wolves chase us, then a wolf-like-man shows up with a bunch of wolves, starts talking about them like they were his—I dunno, maybe they were his pets."

"Werewolves aren't real."

Hina looked at Kai, who had hint of a smile on his face. "What do you think they were?"

"Vampires."

"The wolf man and his pet wolves were vampires?"

"Yup. Everyone knows vampires can turn into wolves."

"When the moon is full, right?"

"Throne has been full for like... three nights? You didn't notice? From after we saw that woman. It is a full moon. So. Vampires."

"Don't werewolves have something to do with the full moon too?" Hina glanced at him. "Wait, you think vampires are real? Really?"

"Everybody knows that." There was a hint of a smile in his voice.

"Okay, well. Whatever it was, that guy was fucking terrifying."

"Don't swear, Hina." Kai paused. "What was that about 'the old man'? Did he mean Alik? Did you make a deal?"

"I think he was talking about the thing we heard on the stairs. The footsteps. I don't know. I was just making things up, Kai. Whatever it took to get us away from them."

"So if we see those things again?"

"You heard what he said: they don't go inside the tower. So we're fine for now. And we'll probably never see them again." Hina glanced left and right. The foliage twisted and moved in the breeze. No wolves in sight. "If we do see them again, same plan as last time, yeah?"

"Yeah, I guess." He sighed. "I'm just sad about the gold. It was so heavy..."

A bird squawked over the sounds of the forest.

Hina held up a finger to her lips and started moving in the direction of the angry cawing and squalling. Around the base of a broad and twisted trunk, the battle came into view. A red and black bundle of clawing and pecking and squawking fluttered and rolled in the leaf litter.

A black bird swooped down from the canopy into the tangle then flew up and away. It turned around to come back for another pass.

As Hina stepped forward, the bird in the air gave a shrill call and curved past her into the trees.

The bigger of the two birds on the ground disengaged; its wings beat loud as it flapped up into the canopy and out of sight.

The bird on the ground croaked. It lay on its side, black and red feathers splayed out in a depression in the leaf-litter. It fluttered its wings as it hopped up to its feet. Dragging one wing behind it, it limped away along the ground.

Hina dropped her bag to the ground and rooted through her belongings. She pulled out the empty flour sack from near the bottom. A little ashy, but servicable. Moving carefully and quietly, she followed the limping bird.

It squawked, hopping and fluttering towards the base of a tree.

Hina took two quick steps forward and dropped the open flour sack on top of the the bird. The sack landed a little to the side, one black and red wingtip stood out against the brown of the sack.

The bird pulled its wing in under the edge of the bag.

"Hey, hey, little bird," Hina said softly. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you." She reached out and put a hand on the bird through the sack. It squirmed and then went still. Moving quickly, she lifted the bird up and pulled the mouth of the sack closed around it, supporting the bottom of the sack with one hand.

She carried the bird back to where she'd left her backpack, and stashed it in the top of the bag on top of her dirty work dress, tying the sack closed with a length of the left-over string.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"Dinner? Or test subject?" asked Kai, when she was done.

"Not dinner." Hina frowned. "Maybe a test subject. Maybe a friend."

Hina's backpack croaked occasionally throughout the rest of the day as they walked on.

* * *

Hina took the glass shaker out of her pocket, and looked at it by the flickering light of the fire. The beans they'd eaten for dinner had been warm and filling, but bland.

Salt would be one thing, and welcome, but who knew? Maybe it was something better. She imagined new and exciting flavours bursting onto her tongue. Roast beef with gravy, and applecakes for dessert. Or those little berry pastries. Hina shook her head. Better not to think about it.

But she was looking forward to Blandmanch. They were far enough from Grambe that it was probably safe to go shopping, maybe they could even sleep in an inn, with a real bed. Somewhere safe.

Beyond the fire, the night was still and quiet. But the wolves were out there, somewhere. And even if they weren't following, there would be other things.

Yes. It was time.

Hina crossed her legs and took out the branch-wand that was tied to her bag. She settled it across her lap, and stilled her mind, focusing on the sensation of the world beyond her skin, that hidden energy.

She breathed in potentia.

The crackling power was calmer here. It came at her call, and fled when she released it. With every out-breath, it left behind a little piece of power within her chest, a building, buzzing hum.

Gradually, her inner pool of power filled. She could feel it, warm and tingling, like a fire in her chest. And ever so slightly bigger now, than she remembered from within the tower. Fuller and deeper.

Maybe this time, it would be enough to keep them safe. For a barrier big enough for them to sleep inside.

She'd planned out the campsite with that in mind. A tiny fire, blankets set up side by side, and their bags piled at the end, all on a clear patch of soft earth. Kai sat by the fire, reading one of his battered books by the firelight. She could walk around all of it within a handful of steps. Hopefully, that would be small enough.

Hina stood and extended her branch-wand. She summoned the patterns, one after another after another, and then empowered them, holding the images firm. The pressure within the working began to build—within a handful of moments building to a level where she could barely hold it, while continuing the juggle the signs. She projected her intent out through the branch into the ground, releasing the pressure. The working shifted, but she was ready for it, holding the cycle steady as the power within her begin to move out, into the world.

She took a hurried step forward, dragging the tip of the branch along the ground beside her and paced out the circle. Every step was a challenge, the balance of the working shifting and changing as she moved her body. The patterns shifted and tugged at the flow of power if she grew distracted even for a moment, and she couldn't afford to waste even a drop.

The circle snapped together while Hina was on her last dregs of power. The wave of exhaustion took her by surprise; the ground rose up to meet her and she thudded down.

"Hey!" Kai said, looking up from his book. "Are you okay?"

Her bag squawked grumpily.

"Phew." Hina said. She gave Kai a tired smile. "Did it." Something glowed in her chest, a warmth that spread through her body. She'd done it. Her knee was uncomfortably close to Kai's, but she didn't care. Nothing would be able to sneak up on them tonight.

And she'd only get better with time.

She shuffled back to lie on her blanket next to Kai. Just for a moment.

Her bag gave a grumpy croak.

"Fine, fine," she said. "I'll get up." She didn't. She just lay there, staring up at the canopy for a few minutes. Until her arms and legs stopped tingling.

The bag croaked again.

Pulling herself up, she shuffled over to her bag and picked the wriggling sack out of it. "Hey, hey," she said softly. "Nobody's going to hurt you." She carried the bag over to the fire where the pot with the leftover beans sat. "I'm going to let you out, okay? Give me a minute."

She scraped together a spoonful of beans, and took the shaker out of her pocket. Holding it up towards the fire, she shook the white powder around inside the glass. Hopefully, it was something good. Carefully, she shook a tiny amount out onto the beans on the carved silver spoon.

After setting the spoon down on the ground, she poured water from her water bottle into Kai's bowl, and set the bowl down too. "Here you go," she said. "Food and water, just for you little bird. I'm letting you out now." She held her breath while she tugged at the string tying the bag closed.

The squirming in the bag continued until a black feathered head poked through the opening and peered up at Hina. The bird hopped clear of the sack, dragging a limp wing.

"Pretty girl, aren't you? Or a pretty boy, I suppose."

The bird had deep red tips at the end of its feathers. Its short, slightly curved beak opened and closed slowly. Its black beedy eye watched her closely.

"Would you like something to eat?" Hina said softly. "I've got some tasty beans right here. But I won't rush you."

The bird croaked. Flecks of blood and ash clung to its feathers. The bird cocked its head to the side, and hopped towards the spoonful of beans. One eye watched Hina as it bent its head down and dipped its beak into the food. It cocked its head back to swallow. It made something like a cackling noise from deep within its throat, and ate another bite.

One head-cocking swallow at a time, the bird ate all of the beans that Hina had set out for it. When there was no more, it looked at Hina and cawed.

"Hungry bird," Kai said.

The bird hopped back, and cawed again.

"Would you like more?" Hina asked. "There's more in the pot."

The bird cawed and cackled. It dipped its beak into the bowl of water and drank.

"Is that my bowl?" Kai asked.

"I'll need to take that, okay?" Hina moved her hand forward slowly to take the spoon.

The bird hopped back with a caw, watching her.

Hina lifted the lid from the pot and took out another spoonful of leftover beans as the bird watched. She put the lid back onto the pot, and set the spoon down in front of the bird. "Here you go, enjoy."

The bird cackled and began to eat again. When it was done, it cawed for more, and Hina fed it.

"How much can you eat, little bird?" she said to it softly. "More than I'd have thought, that's for sure."

After the fifth spoonful of beans, the bird seemed to be done. It let out a two toned croak, and took a hop away from her. Hina held her breath, hoping. The bird hopped again, one wing fluttering. It hopped up onto Hina's water bottle and began to preen, beak running through its feathers, apparently ignoring her now that it was fed.

Good enough. "We'll have more food for you in the morning." The bird looked up, and then returned to its grooming.

There was something joyful about its twitchy little movements, its fluttering wings and its splash of colour. It was fascinating in a way that the wild birds of Grambe had never been.

She watched it out of the corner of her eye as she lay down on her blanket beside Kai. On the ground that she had claimed as her own, if only for a little while. Ground that normally belonged to creatures like this bird. Creatures that were wild and free.

Hina hoped that the bird would stay. Almost as much as she hoped that she hadn't poisoned it.