Sofi sprang over a fallen tree, and Hanshin braced a hand on the trunk to vault himself over it. His hand sank into a sticky muck that left a black stain on his palm that he wiped on his shirt. He hadn’t noticed it at first, but now he saw a slick shine over the base of the trunk. Even the discs of fungus growing over the exposed roots were shriveled and black as night.

The air was still and quiet, and had been so for the last mile of ground they had covered. No birds sang, no wind rustled the leaves overhead, and no beasts hounded them on their way. Yet Sofi looked more and more troubled as they progressed. Even now as she waited for him to get moving again her face looked worried, her nose scrunched and wrinkled as if something foul were stuck at the very end of it, and what he could see of her mouth was no more than a tight line.

He could smell it too. It wasn’t the rich, earthy soil that came to his nose, but something more like a dust filled home that had been abandoned and left to wither. Musty. Stagnant.

No words had passed between them since the bridge collapsed, but none were needed. She had kept a steady, brisk pace that had started to taper down, and now that they set out again, she moved slowly, deliberately, picking her way through the low hanging limbs around them. They were getting closer.

But where they were, Hanshin couldn’t tell. He had come this far into the forest before, but sparingly. Even so, the malaise he could sense had settled in and weighed down everything around them. Everything below the canopy was bare, bare as if winter had already swept through, leaving the leaves under their feet withered and decayed. Nothing looked familiar, and so he trusted Sofi’s senses to lead them through.

All too soon, that was no longer necessary. He knew the smell of death. He knew the smell of blood, the smell of skin and flesh being cut from bone. And each step brought them closer to it.

The first thing he saw was something familiar: a shelter among the trees. It looked to be no more than a strip of cloth tied between two trunks, but it would be enough to survive. They crept forward slowly, quietly, both of them understanding the simple truth that a shelter needed an occupant. A step ahead, he saw Sofi’s hand start to tremble. He grit his teeth and tightened his grip. Whatever waited in the camp, it was their target.

He saw no signs of life, no movement and no shape resting under the shelter. Nor did he see a fire, or a pit for a fire, or even a pot for cooking or even a scrap of wood to cook with. He saw no clothes laying about or hanging to dry. But then, after a few more steps brought them around another tree, he saw the stag.

It dangled from a high branch by its two forelimbs, each one bound in rope and each one spread wide, far wider than its body allowed. Two cuts had been made at the shoulders, perhaps down to the bone, but the wounds had festered and were now filled with pus and the flies feasting on it. The eyes were glassy and lifeless, staring down at them with another length of rope lashed around the stag’s throat. It was not a noose to hang or strangle it, but to keep it steady when it had been alive. The hind legs had been butchered, mercilessly and carelessly slashed and torn open. A reeking salve of some kind had been slathered over the wounds and smeared into the thin coat to mingle with the streams of blood that trailed for the ground.

Sofi staggered back, her hands covering her mouth. “By all the Heavens. Who did this?”

Hanshin had no answer for her. He had stripped meat from an animal before, but this was different. Savage. He could not guess how long it had been strung up and left to suffer, and so he turned away. And he spotted the knife on the ground, rusted with dried blood, and saw a patch of ground beside it absolutely stained through in deep, dark red. The grass was dead or dying, a horrific mark of cruelty on the forest floor.

To the side, Hanshin saw a stained cloth lying over a pile of some sort. It was tall, nearly stacked as high as his chest, and its shape was lumped and irregular. He reached out and grabbed the cloth. But then his stomach churned as he looked down and saw the small leg jutting out by his foot. It was decayed and hairless, the animal it belonged to likely no bigger than a rodent. He looked over the pile before him and tried not to count the bulges in the cloth, some large, some small, and his grip tightened.

Sofi put her hand on his. “Leave it be, Hanshin. That won’t help us. We need to focus on stopping this.”

“The wisdom of the Heavens is boundless,” a voice said from behind them.

Whirling about, Hanshin stepped in front of Sofi and pointed his spear at the man standing behind them. He was bare chested, his skin darkened both by the sun and by the streaks of dirt and grime across his body. Black trousers covered his legs, and while he was not a massive man, he looked toned and strong.

His face was framed by strands of crusted, unkempt black hair, and it seemed to glisten with the dried salt of his sweat. A slight smile pulled at his mouth, but the small, narrow eyes set above it showed nothing but contempt as he looked over the both of them. The man offered a short bow that shook loose some kind of pendant around his neck, the only piece of vanity to be found on him. “Welcome, Celestial. I believe I am the one you are searching for.”

Sofi put a hand on Hanshin’s back, a touch he didn’t know how to interpret. Reassuring him, he guessed. “You know who I am?”

“No, but your ignorance could not last forever. I know who you serve. I know why you are here. But I am disappointed you made it this far.” His eyes flicked over, and Hanshin felt his skin crawl at the focus they gave him. The man’s smile dropped down to an outright sneer. “If this is your champion, then I am doubly so. My work remains a failure.”

Hanshin blinked, and he mouthed the words silently. “Your what? Do you mean…” He looked to the tortured stag, looking back at him helplessly, and he understood. The cuts at the shoulders were meant to spread the forelegs wide, perhaps wide enough for them to hang like arms. The hind legs looked skinny compared to the beast at the bridge, and the conclusion he came to seemed impossible, but it also was the only thought he came back to. “You did this? Are you creating these monsters? You--!”

Sofi dug her claws into his back. “Sorcerer,” she whispered in his ear.

His blood chilled in his veins, and the man smirked as he watched Hanshin’s reaction. “Months of trapping and breaking these animals, and still the first intruder I set them against comes right to my door.” He shook his head and turned to the hanging stag. “There is such untapped strength in these beasts. The survivors showed such potential, yet here you are. I still have so far, far left to go.”

Sofi leapt to the side, clenching down on Hanshin’s shirt to yank him along with her, just as the sorcerer turned back to them and thrust out his hands. Green tendrils of light snaked out of his palms and whipped the ground where they had been. She grunted as the dust from their strike kicked up. “We can do this, Hanshin. Just circle around him when he attacks next. We can overwhelm him.”

Gone before he could respond, Hanshin followed her charge. They were closing fast, but Hanshin saw the sorcerer clutch at the pendant he wore, and his lips moved faster than their feet. The ground erupted before them, and Sofi was thrown back to slam into him, sending them both crumpling down.

A pool of light formed from the explosion, and he caught a glimpse of some other place, some large and richly decorated room, before a shadowed figure stepped into view and--impossibly--stepped through the light to stand before them. A stench of rotting eggs filled his nose, and as the light faded away, Hanshin was left staring up at a monstrous, flaming horse. There was no other way to describe it other than blackened skin from the flame of its mane.

He scrambled to his feet and braced himself to attack, but Sofi jerked on his elbow with a sharp cry of, “Run!”

She did not wait for him before turning to flee herself, and Hanshin had no choice but to follow her. They did not get far before the ground erupted in front of them once more, this time in green jets of flame shooting up to block their way out. Hanshin turned just in time to see the horse monster throw something towards them. He tackled Sofi behind the nearest tree, the missile exploding against the wall of fire behind him.

“They both have magic?” Hanshin pulled Sofi up to sit against the trunk. “What is that thing? The others couldn’t use magic!”

“He’s a Celestial. Like me.”

“Like you? You can stop him, right?”

She almost laughed and shook her head. “We have to get out of--” An explosion rocked the tree, showering them both with embers that billowed around the trunk. Hanshin threw himself over her, but Sofi shoved against him. “No, get up! Get up! We have to move!”

They got to their feet, but barely made a step before the towering black shape of the horse rounded the corner and snatched each of them by the neck in its powerful hands. Pain seared into Hanshin’s skin at its touch, and it dragged them out from their cover with a deep snarl, kicking the spear out of Hanshin’s grip in the process. It bared its flat teeth and looked between the two of them. “A fox? You’re nothing but one of Shaxi’s pets. A witless human following a worthless fox.”

“Fool!” the sorcerer’s gruff voice barked. “If you bring the whole forest down, we lose everything! Just kill him already, but we need the Celestial alive.”

“I thought I was summoned for a challenge! He’s not worth killing.” The horse snorted a blast of heat into Hanshin’s face before shoving him away. It followed with a swift kick he barely saw coming, and while Hanshin managed to twist his chest and ribs away, the powerful hoof slashed into his flank and drove the wind out of him.

Hanshin fell to his knees gasping for air, and the hand he clutched at his side felt wet and slick with blood. He saw Sofi twist her way out of the grip around her throat while the horse was distracted. Though, he thought he heard a deep, rumbling laugh over his gasps. His eyes landed on his spear, and he started to crawl for it. There was no choice. He couldn’t match that strength. If Sofi could just hold on a few moments, he would be back on his feet to help.

Something grabbed him by the hair, and a sharp pull yanked him upright on his knees. The sorcerer leered over him with death in his eyes. He had seen that look on hunters, on his father before as they readied themselves for the kill. The circular amulet around his neck flared with blue light that resembled another enormous eye looking down on him in cold disinterest, and the light was soon blocked by the sorcerer raising his arm in front of it, the rusted knife held high and ready to plunge down.

A burst of sound like he heard at the bridge cracked through the campsite, and a wave of invisible power rocked them both. Hanshin drove his elbow into the sorcerer’s gut and shoved him back before risking a glance to see Sofi twisting and pulling her arm, her hand caught in the horse’s grasp.

It slammed a fist into her head, knocking Sofi to her knees. A vicious kick to her body folded her up and sent her rolling on the ground.

Hanshin swore and lurched for his spear. He grabbed it, stood, and tried to move towards Sofi, but a green tendril wrapped around the shaft and pulled him back. Surprised and off-balance, he stumbled towards the sorcerer, and nearly to his doom. The knife was still in his hand, ready to skewer him, but Hanshin found his footing and swung a wild, reflexive strike that managed to knock the blade to the ground.

The sorcerer snarled and dragged him forward, slapping his now empty hand to Hanshin’s wound. “Suffer,” he hissed.

He suffered. Hanshin felt a thousand stings, a thousand bites into his raw flesh, like a swarm of insects was eating him alive. Crying out, he fell back and collapsed to a knee. He looked, but saw nothing crawling over or inside of him. But the pain did not stop. Again, he lashed out in a wide swing of his spear, but his enemy refused to back away. Hanshin saw the sorcerer’s leg rise up, and his foot slammed into the side of his head.

A voice cried out. He thought it was Sofi, he thought it was his name, but he couldn’t make it out over the ringing between his ears. Hanshin tried to brace himself on the spear to stand, but the sorcerer lashed out again. This time, an invisible fist struck him in the chest and sent him sprawling back. And still he felt the pain in his wound.

Something heavy hit the ground near him, and he opened his eyes to see Sofi shakily push herself up. Their eyes met, and she scrambled to his side. Sofi pressed a hand to his wound and whispered under her breath, and he felt warmth seep into his body, the pain and biting sensation fading as it advanced. She wrapped her other arm around his shoulders. “Can you stand?”

He nodded and let her help him to his feet. He opened his mouth to ask if she was alright, but he felt her trembling against him. “Why do they want you alive?”

“I’d rather not find out.”

The sorcerer snapped at his ally, and Hanshin took advantage of the respite to look behind him. Running was no option however, as the undergrowth was tall and thick with brambles and vines.

Sofi waited for him to look back, a solemn mien for him to see. She must have thought of that already. “We have to kill the sorcerer. The horse isn’t even taking me seriously. He’s too strong unless we can work together.”

And the sorcerer would never let them work together. The flaming monster he had summoned was quite the trap they had stumbled into. He saw it. He saw it as clear and obvious as the sunlight. There was only one way out, but staying in the trap meant death. “I’ll fight the horse.” He clenched his fists around the spear and tried to force a smile to his face. “All I need is an opening.”

He saw that his bravado did not impress her, but when she nodded, he knew that she saw the answer just as he did. “Just stay alive, Hanshin.”

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That seemed an impossible wish. He stepped across her, hearing her footsteps doing the same behind him, and they walked towards their new opponents.

The horse watched him approach, its lips curling over its blunt teeth grinding together. “You’re no warrior. You’ve never seen a battle, human. There’s no honor in crushing ants like you.” It took one step towards him swift as a storm, the flame on its head flaring to life as its eyes hardened against him. “I haven’t killed another Celestial for so long, and that maggot tells me to wait! You won’t stop me any longer!”

He saw Sofi dance away from a knife thrust, and that was all he allowed himself to see before the horse raised its fist, and Hanshin sprang away from the thunderous fall. He stepped in after the missed strike and tried to harry the horse with a thrust, but it just raised its arm and let the spear sink into the bicep. It thrashed the arm and jerked Hanshin off balance, nearly ripping the weapon out his grip, before following with a thrusting kick.

Hanshin just spun away in time, and he retreated several steps. He heard the grunts and sounds of Sofi’s fight to the side but did not dare to look. He had seen enough. He had seen his father’s body, had seen Sofi’s eyes as she fretted over the forest around them, had seen the monsters skulking around his home. He had seen it all, the rot and the root.

Stay alive. That was his role now, and his opponent was helping him do it. The horse shook its massive head and stared him down, but walked towards him almost casually. That was perfect. There was no need for taunts or threats or bravado right now.

Its fist glowed red, and Hanshin held his breath. The fireball streaked towards him like an arrow, and he sprang to the side. Perfect. This was perfect. HIs heart was in his throat as he waited and watched the horse gaze past him to the fight it wanted to have.

But he wasn’t going to give it to him. There was no need to fight right now.

He just needed to stay alive. Just long enough for one good throw.

“Now!” Sofi cried.

Hanshin spun to his left, his head turning away from his opponent to find his target. The spear crossed into his sight for a split second as he raised his right arm, but it soon pulled back into position. He expected to feel the flames at any moment and hoped against hope he had enough nerve to withstand the pain to finish his motion. But they didn’t come. So then all he had to do was let go.

All he had to do was spring their trap.

The spear flew. For a heartbeat, Hanshin thought it had slipped from his fingers, it hung in the air so long. Sofi had gotten out of the way, and the sorcerer was wincing in pain with one of his arms trapped in her grip.

Hanshin stared right into his face. He saw Hanshin first. Then his eyes dropped to the rushing spear.

His free hand rose up.

A small wisp of flame leapt out.

The spear passed through.

Sound returned to the world in an agonized gasp as the sorcerer sucked in air through his gaping mouth. His hands wrapped around the heavy shaft sticking in his chest. He bent forward, staggered back, stumbled from the confused motion, and soon crumpled down on his side.

All was still and silent for a heartbeat of time, and then the horse struck Hanshin from behind. But it was no attack, just a desperate lunge for the fallen body, the blackened skin of its hand reaching down for the fading light clasped around the sorcerer’s neck. But as the amulet grew dim, another light enveloped the creature, and it vanished from sight with one final, defiant roar, its hand just inches away from its goal.

The sorcerer remained, limp as a rag, the spear lodged in his chest opening a near river of blood flowing to the ground. His eyes stared back at Hanshin lifeless as glass.

He swallowed and forced himself to look away, his gaze landing on Sofi as she crept closer to the body. “What... what just happened?”

“You did it,” she said softly. “That’s what happened. You killed the master, and that broke the tether to his servant. Without the summoning spell he was pulled from this world.” She knelt down at the sorcerer’s side, studying his amulet. The light was gone, but the eye remained etched into its surface, large and inhuman. “That was no alliance they had. This amulet was a leash.”

Hanshin followed her and bent down to grab his spear. He eased it out of the wound, but its withdrawal still made a sickening sound that made his shudder. “Do you know who he is?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know how many humans are powerful enough to command any Celestial, much less one of those creatures. I didn’t even know there were any that could do it.” She reached out for the amulet, but Hanshin snatched her arm away by the wrist. “It’s okay,” she said, patting his hand. “I’ve handled magical things before. Shaxi will need to see this.”

Reluctantly, he let go of her arm and watched as she took hold of the amulet. Nothing happened at her touch, no crash of thunder or bolt of lightning or growls of abominations, so he let himself breathe again. Still, he kept a wary eye on their surroundings. Smoke from lingering embers billowed about as a wind swept through the campsite, and it could not take the rotten stench of sulfur away fast enough. But other than those blackened wisps of air and the leaves high on the branches around them, nothing moved that he could see.

Sofi took care to avoid the blood as she slipped the amulet over his head and off his neck. They did it, she said, but it didn’t feel over to him. He wasn’t sure what he had expected to find at the end of their trail together, but he realized he had been hoping she could set things right somehow. Part of him wanted the amulet to flare to life in her hands, and she could undo what had been done. That she could find any abominations they missed, or turn them back to whatever creatures they had been before.

He turned his attention to the makeshift shelter, little more than a stretch of canvas wrapped around a trunk and fastened to a pole. He poked around and found only scraps of meat, shredded cloth, and a tattered sleeping roll. “Who was this man?”

“I don’t know, but I promise you, I will find out.” Sofi tucked the amulet into her skirt. “This was our fault. Mine and my sisters. This... this monster should never have lingered here for so long. We let you down. If I had come sooner--” She twitched, jerking her eyes away from him and swallowing her words. “I’ll tell Shaxi everything that happened here. Whatever he was trying to do, we’ll sniff it out.”

The hair on his neck stood up. “What do you mean by trying to do? Do you think there are more people like him out here?”

“No, I don’t. I just meant that this won’t happen again. I promise you. For what it’s worth, if anything like this happens again, you’ll be the first to know. I’ll come tell you personally. No curse, no waiting, no more wasting time.”

He sighed and shook his head. “You don’t have to do that. I just want things to go back to normal. I don’t want everyone looking over their shoulder, or whispering doom on us all anymore.”

“And you’ll get that. Because of you, Hou Hanshin. I couldn’t have done this without you.” Sofi smiled and stepped to his side, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You’ve done a great service to your village and to the Heavens. I owe you something in return. What reward would you ask for? You deserve that much.”

His breath left him, and he lowered his eyes to her hand on his arm. He wasn’t in much of a celebrating mood. He had never given thought to a reward. He had never given thought to monsters and sorcerers and fighting side by side with a Celestial either, but he had found her all the same. Sofi the One-Tailed, servant of Shaxi, who he had never known even existed until this day, and she had helped him just as much as he helped her.

Perhaps there was his answer. He looked back at her face and thought of their talk on the trail. She knew more--far, far more about the world and the Heavens than he dreamed of knowing himself. All the things she could tell him, if he could just rack his brain enough to think of a good question.

Sofi pulled her hand away and rocked back, her large eyes widening along with her smile. “My word, you’re a bold one. Now why would you look at me so intensely? That wasn’t what I had in mind, but...”

“But what--” He snapped his mouth shut and felt his face burning. Peals of Sofi’s laughter washed over him.

“Oh, I’m sorry! I’m sorry Hanshin, you just--” She slapped a hand over her mouth, her shoulders trembling as the last waves of humor rode their way out of her. “I’m sorry, but a joke is like daily bread to a fox. It’s been too long since I’ve had one. Here, I have something in mind for you.”

She reached behind her back, twirling her tail around her hand before pulling three long strands of brown hair from it. “Tell your village what happened here. Tell them the curse is lifted, if you think that will help, or that there never was any curse if you wish. All the same, I think you’ve earned the right to use this.” Sofi played with the strands, bending and twisting them around each other, and Hanshin thought he saw a faint glimmer of light between her nimble fingers until finally, she held out a thin, braided cord in her hands.

A good length for a bowstring.

Struck dumb, Hanshin could only bow to her. And he bowed low, lower than the cord itself when he raised his hand to take it from her. He tried to thank her but could not find the words. A gift from a Celestial, a relic of herself, it was not supposed to happen to people like him. To villagers and peasants.

Sofi pulled him upright, an exasperated smile on her face. “You earned this, Hanshin. Your father raised a brave man. I don’t know if we’ll meet again, but I hope that will come in handy.”

“I’ll treasure this,” he promised her. No one would believe it. He would tell the story to his children and to his children’s children, but no one would ever believe it. But that didn’t matter. His family would have an heirloom blessed by the Heavens to pass down. Nothing would change that truth.

Sofi backed away, and Hanshin knew it was time to go. He had puzzled over her face before, but as he looked into it now, he saw warm friendship in her expression. Yet it was still time to go. Shaxi would be waiting for her, and he still had a journey ahead of him to return home. He bowed his head once more in respect, smiled, and turned to leave.

“Wait!”

He stopped, stunned, and turned back to her.

She glared at him with her arms crossed over her chest. “I gave you a precious gift, so now what about me? Did you forget I saved your life too today?”

“Um,” was all he could manage to say. She was right, but what in the world was she expecting? He had no magic to craft something for her. He had no idea what she would even need as much as he needed to repair his father’s bow to hunt and feed his family. Yet she stalked over to him, eyes fixed on him sharp as the spear he carried. He stiffened as she drew closer, nearly standing on his toes, Sofi just inches away with her arms still crossed.

She darted forward, her long snout pressing into his cheek for half a heartbeat.

And she was gone, leaving only a blur of motion heading up to the branches above, her laughter echoing back to him as she bounded deeper into the forest.

He decided he liked foxes better before he knew they could talk to him, and Hou Hanshin set out for home.

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Sofi leapt to branch after branch until she was out of breath. She doubled over, her smile still wide on her face as she simultaneously gasped for air and wheezed in dying laughter. The look on that poor human’s face... she was not going to forget that glassy, stonelike expression anytime soon.

She deserved a good laugh after today. Nothing could settle someone down after life-or-death struggles like a good joke. And the stories he spoke of, the tales of Fox Spirits toying with humans brought a fresh round of giggles to steal her breath again. If Hanshin played his part the way she hoped, she could only imagine what the tales of their adventure today would sound like in fifty years.

Assuming she was still here in fifty years. Shaxi still waited for her back home.

The thought sobered her up instantly. She gathered her wits and tried to put on a brave face, knowing she couldn’t delay her return any longer. Whatever Shaxi’s reaction to her outburst this morning would be, her sister needed to know what she found stalking about in their forest. She spoke the words, and the portal home opened before her.

Sofi realized her mistake immediately: the spell she used took her right back to where she had come from. Specifically Shaxi’s study.

Four tails lay on the floor, and no sooner had she laid eyes on them they shot through the portal and snatched her about the waist and arms, dragging her back home.

A book nearly smacked her head as it fell from above. She looked up and only saw a flash of silver before Shaxi collapsed over her in an embrace. “You’re back! You’re safe! The human, is he still alive? What was that thing chasing you?” Shaxi pulled away, her face scrunched, and she wiped her nose. “Did you take a bath in sulfur? What is that?”

Sofi took a sniff of herself and winced. A long soak in their clean streams would do her good, but that would have to wait. “We fought with a War Horse. Couldn’t you see what was happening down there?”

“Something was blocking our vision. I had Ishi try to keep an eye on you, but the deeper you went into the forest, the portal just wouldn’t stay clear.” She blinked, and Sofi saw a connection being made in her eyes. “Wait, you said a War Horse? It wasn’t--”

“No, the one we fought was a bit shorter than our friend this morning.”

“The one we fought? That skinny human stood up to a War Horse?” Shaxi stepped back, shaking her head. “Sofi, tell me everything.”

She told Shaxi about her fall through the canopy, of how the forest felt wrong to her from the start. She told her what the smell of corruption in the air was like, and how it could mask the twisted creatures that hounded her from her senses. They paced together around the study as Sofi relayed the entire story. And Shaxi listened to her--finally--walking with her hands folded behind her back and head bowed in thought.

Shaxi took greater interest in the humans than Sofi had seen before, asking questions about the sorcerer’s magic--what his words or incantations said, if she had smelled or heard anything strange, prying for clues Sofi could not give her and couldn’t guess what they even meant. And most of all, she asked about Hou Hanshin.

The young hunter piqued her curiosity, and Sofi tried to paint him in a good light for her. It was not difficult to do. Sofi didn’t know how many in his village were like him, but Hanshin’s piety, courage, and character spoke for themselves. She was beginning to understand what a boon it was to have even one being outside of their home that they could trust. Though she didn’t tell Shaxi everything. A gift between friends was only between friends.

When it was finished, Shaxi was silent for a time. She poured water for them both and took a long drink before saying, “I don’t buy it. An upstart hermit just picks our forest to set up shop? And he’s powerful enough to control a War Horse? They don’t swear loyalty to anyone who just asks for it.”

“I’m guessing he was following orders. From the same someone who gave our sorcerer orders too.” Sofi fished out the amulet and passed it over.

Shaxi studied it intensely, flipping it back and forth to examine both sides. “That’s a good guess. I haven’t seen this emblem before, but there are ways I can figure out where it came from. For now, you need to rest.” She slipped the amulet into a drawer of her desk and grinned. “You’ll have to repeat every word of that later today. Several times, I believe. Everyone has been buzzing about what you did.”

“Shasha--” She swallowed and felt her ears drop. Was she sorry for storming away the way she had? She had stumbled onto a problem, but did that excuse what she did? If she had paid more attention to her duties, if someone had investigated Hanshin’s father...

“Rest, sister.” Shaxi put a hand on her arm. “Tomorrow I want you to take Zoza and Zizu into the forest with you. We need to make sure this corruption is fading now that the villain responsible for it is dead.” A troubled look crossed her face. “And we need to make sure we can keep an eye on you when you go. We can’t afford to be blind anymore.”

The words were like a weight lifted off Sofi’s shoulders. She was going back, and with her sisters. Maybe they could start doing regular patrols, get their feet on the ground more and more, like in their first days together. She looked down as Shaxi closed the drawer with the amulet shut inside. “And what about that?”

A sly smile answered her. “I’ve done some thinking while you were gone. We’re foxes after all. Maybe we should start acting like it. I think we can come up with some ideas once we figure out who it belongs to.”

Sofi grinned, her voice warm and full of excitement. “Yes, mistress.”