Four beds lined the walls and a window to the right opened onto the stone wall of another building. The room was small, but it was clean and dry.

"Beautiful," said Hina. "This is the nicest place we'll have slept in weeks." She slipped off her backpack and sat down on the closest bed. She sank into the soft bedding, like being hugged by a cloud.

Bean hopped off her shoulder and down off the bed, hopping around the room to explore.

There was a knock on the door.

Hina looked at it. Olivia was already moving, and Hina felt a deep sense of gratitude that she wouldn't have to deal with it.

"Hey there, you folks interested in sharing a drink?" The boy at the door held up a brown bottle.

"I'm Lonnie, and this is Deyn," said the girl standing just behind him. She held up a loaf of bread, "And we brought food, too. Figured ya might be hungry."

Olivia glanced at Hina, who shrugged. "Of course, please come in. I'm Olivia."

"Kai."

"Hina." She gave a little wave.

"Oh, you have a bird!" said Lonnie. She sat down on the floor near the bed that Kai was sitting on, crossing her tanned legs beneath her green dress. "What's his name?"

"That's Bean," Kai said, smiling. "He's a good bird."

Lonnie was breaking off a piece of bread. "Can I feed him?" She looked up at Kai.

Bean chirruped.

"He'd love that," Kai said.

Bean hopped close to accept a piece of bread, then hopped away, dragging his wing.

"Bad wing, huh," Lonnie said. "If you want I could splint that up for ya?"

"Lonnie here looks after all the animals when they get sick," Deyn said. "Rabbits, dogs, even the pack beasts sometimes, though that's supposed ta be Carrie's job."

Kai looked at Hina.

"If it won't hurt him," she said. "That'd be very kind of you."

"Well, I'll be right back," Lonnie said. "Here, you can look after this." She passed the loaf of bread to Kai and left the room.

"Oh, and here. Health." Deyn raised the bottle and then took a sip from it, passed it to Hina. "Where'd ya meet this little fella?"

Hina had a sniff and took a sip. Some kind of grain spirit, rich and strong. Warmth spread through her, right down to her bones.

She passed the bottle on to Olivia. "We met him in the forest, being attacked by two other birds. We chased them off, but his wing was already injured."

"Good bird."

"Oh, he talks!" said Deyn. He took a bite of bread, and tossed a piece towards Bean, who caught it with his beak. "So, travellers then! And through the forest! We hardly ever get travellers come through here." He put his hand in front of his face and lowered his voice. "It's very boring."

Lonnie came back in. "Oh, yes. Very boring. We never get ta meet any interesting birds here on the farm."

"Or people," said Deyn.

"Or people," Lonnie agreed with a smile. "Here, pass me some of that bread. Bean, isn't it?" She crouched down and addressed him where he stood watching on the floor. "Can I have a look at your wing? I think I can help it heal with this." She held up a spooled bandage. "And you should be back in the air in no time at all."

He croaked.

Kai took a sip from the bottle and coughed.

Lonnie stepped closer to Kai. She patted him on the back, taking the bottle which she raised to her lips for a sip. "Ah."

She sat down on the ground and held the roll of bandage out to Bean.

He hopped closer, tilting his head.

"What do you think? Wanna give it a try?"

He hopped closer again, watched her with one eye.

"Alright. I'm gonna take this," she unrolled some of the bandage. "I'll close your wing, and then wrap this round, so it don't move anymore until it's fixed."

She reached out with her left hand, and Bean hopped away. She held it there for a moment, staying still. He hopped back.

Moving slowly, she took hold of the end of Bean's wing. He let out a low croak as she touched him, but didn't move away. She carefully folded the wing. "Okay, gonna hold that there for a moment, and." With her other hand, she moved the bandage into place. "And now I'm gonna wrap you up." She cut the end with a pair of scissors from her pocket and tied it off.

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He croaked.

She turned to look up at Kai. "You can keep the rest of this," she passed him the roll of bandages. "You want ta change that every couple of days, just like I did now."

"Thank you," Kai said, giving her a smile.

"Oh, it's nothing. But you're welcome."

"Lonnie can't help herself," Deyn said, smiling.

Kai took another sip from the bottle and coughed again, spluttering.

"So, where are y'all from?" Lonnie said, "Like I was saying, you're not the usual type we get out here. It's soldiers and traders, mostly."

Hina looked at Olivia. "My brother and I come from Hertley. We met in the forest," she gestured to Olivia. "Me and Kai are visiting family in Blandmanch."

"Oh, interesting. Maybe we'll see each other again," Lonnie said, looking up at Kai from her seat on the floor.

"Maybe we will," Kai said, smiling at her. "I'm sure we'll pass through here again on our way back."

Hina shook her head. They were never coming back here. But she kept her mouth shut.

"What about you?" Deyn said, taking a sip from the bottle. He looked at Olivia.

"I'm from Knaton, I'm heading towards the city. I'm to be a student at the academy."

Deyn gave a low whistle.

"Hump—our brother, he got back from there a few months ago," said Lonnie. "Gone for seven years. Hardly even recognise him now."

"He's strange one. But a good fellow," Deyn added quickly. "Just wouldn't want to get on his bad side." He shook his head. "How'd y'all meet up?"

"Like Hina says, I bumped into these two in the woods and tagged along. It's a good thing I did, too. Not long after we ran into a big group of huld. It was a close thing."

"If we hadn't got through your hedge when we did..." Kai trailed off.

Hina nodded slowly. "It was a close thing."

"Oh boy," said Lonnie.

"Can we meet your brother?" Kai said.

"Hump? Oh, sure thing. I'll have ta go find him, see if he doesn't mind stopping by to say hello." Lonnie said. "Do you wanna come with?"

"Sure!" Kai stood and followed Lonnie out of the room.

"Well, I best leave ya to it." Deyn said. "I've got a few chores to finish up before dark. Maybe I'll see ya in the morning before ya head out?" He looked at Olivia.

"Maybe." She frowned. "We'll be heading into town early, with Lennert?"

"Oh, great. I'll be right there with ya. We'll have time to chat on the way." He stood up. "Have a good rest now."

And then it was just Olivia and Bean, and the quiet. Hina sank into the bedding, her eyes began to close, and she forced them open. This was a rare opportunity to wash up and get clean—the first one in a long time. She had to take it.

"I'll be back." She pushed herself up onto tired legs.

She hadn't been paying much attention earlier, but their door led to a courtyard. Pale orange stone made up the walls of the buildings on all sides and the tiles under her feet. A staircase rose up the outside of the building where they were staying, leading to a second floor. Presumably with another room like the one they were staying in. Temporary accommodation for labourers? In Grambe, the farms were more or less self-sufficient. It must be different here, especially if this farm was so far under the expected population.

And given the proximity to the forest, it wasn't surprising that they had trouble finding enough people to live here.

It was hard to believe that they were safe now, when had only been what felt like minutes ago that they were running from monsters. But this farm had been here for years, apparently without any major problems. And the hedge system was used throughout the valley for a reason. She could trust it, couldn't she?

She had a flash of an enormous huld crawling through one of the gaps in the hedge, and shuddered. But it didn't seem likely.

Hina pulled open the door on the opposite side of the courtyard to reveal the washroom, just like Pettie had said. A long drop behind a wooden door, and a wash bucket big enough to swim in, with an old-fashioned hand pump. No running water here. No matter, Hina could manage. Even this much was luxury after weeks on the road.

She drained and refilled the tub several times before she was clean. And dried herself on the scratchy brown towel that had been left at the foot of her bed.

Lonnie and Kai were back in the room when she returned. An older man with tanned skin and handsome—if weathered—features had joined them. He sat on the floor near Lonnie.

"—it's a hard time, but rewarding, if you can handle it," the man said.

"Hey Hina," Lonnie said. "This is my brother, Humphrey."

"Nice to meet you." Hina waved. "I hear you're back from the academy?" She sat down heavily on the bed she had claimed and hung the towel over the end of it.

"He was just telling us about his military service," Kai said. "Which took four years."

"After studying at the academy?" Hina asked. The recruiter had said nothing about that.

"They make you a citizen when you enrol," Humphrey said. "And all citizens are subject to mandatory service. Practitioners have it easy, in a way." He trailed off.

"Four years?" Hina said. "That's a long time. Were you aware of this, Olivia?"

Olivia nodded. "I knew. It's a fair trade for proper study. The alternatives are... not so good. The survival rate for independent practitioners is very low, even inside the families."

"One in four graduate after three full years of study," Humphrey said, with a flat voice. "Most that don't fail out and go into service early. But around a third are killed practising the art."

"Which is an excellent ratio," Olivia said.

"Really?" Hina wasn't sure. "That's... that's a lot."

"Outside the academy, it's something like three in four that are killed." Humphrey shook his head. "It's worth it, even with mandatory service, if you have the talent and wish to pursue it."

"But you're home now?" Hina said. "You're not going back?"

"I'm done." Humphrey shrugged. "I'm going to be a farmer. There are ways to use my skills here, and I don't have to worry about being killed in some other country's war."

"What did you specialise in? If you don't mine me asking?" Olivia said.

"Fire." Humphrey said. "The Sign of Flame."

"Oh." Olivia said. "That's... interesting. I've never met a practitioner of that sign before."

"It's one of the more common ones," Humphrey said. "They push most of the students towards Heat, Earth, or Force. They're the most useful for the military. I was lucky enough to get a good teacher. If you meet Miss Perry, say hello for me, won't you?"

"Of course," Olivia said. "I'll be sure to do that."

"You heard about the beasts that chased us here, right?" Hina asked.

"Of course. You don't have anything to worry about here. The hedge is well-maintained, and the walls are strong. If anything does get through, I'll be there to help deal with it." Humphrey said. "But ah, I can see that you're tired. It was a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise," Hina said. "I hope we'll see you again."

Lonnie and Humphrey said their goodbyes and filed out of the room.

Hina lay down on the bed and drifted into the dark. Monsters chased her, right behind her at every step. When she turned to look back, every one of them was Lagi, hulking and strong.

She woke to the sound of bells and screaming.