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Indel watched the Leveler army disappear from view. They marched nearly every month, returning each time with more and more Summoners, but only children.

Five seasons had come and gone since Boon’s rein began, and the Leveler’s numbers failed to grow. Indel supposed the mating spells were coming to them regularly. Even he’d felt them now and then, though they rarely bothered Nala anymore.

Life was sometimes lonely but with just the two of them, it was all right.

He’d watch for the army each time, hoping to catch sight of Boon passing by on his way to the caves. Today was the first time he’d spotted Boon. It had to be Boon. A medium sized Leveler with blue on his brow.

From this distance it was hard to make out, but he looked healthy and strong. Indel felt at ease. He listened for the signal and slid down into the brush.

“Come! Hurry!” he called in a whisper. The Summoners, males and females alike, running two by two out of the forest, rushed past him. “There is room enough for ten. We cannot take more!” Indel raised his hand when the limited number of Summoners raced past. “You must move on to the next safe haven. You cannot tarry here.”

“Please! Please, if they find us,” someone whispered. “Leveler-da, won’t you take even me? Just the one extra?”

Indel rested his weary eyes on a familiar face.

“Plesket?”

The Summoner’s color darkened. “I suppose you have no reason to help me....”

At least fifteen more Summoners remained but how could he take one?

Letting out a sigh, Indel waved them to him against his better judgment.

A sea of red bodies broke through the brush, snatching each and every Summoner up.

One Leveler moved slower as he stepped past the catch. He nodded and they took everyone away.

Indel swallowed hard, his only thoughts resting on Nala who was back at the barn.

“How are you, Azal?” a voice said from behind the all-red faceplate.

The Leveler took it off with a snap and smiled.

“Boon.” Indel gasped. He stared past him to the marching Levelers, confusion making his eyes wide.

“That is a decoy. Come, rest with me for a spell.”

As Boon walked by him, Indel stared at the Leveler’s back, considering this his chance to make things right. He could try to convince Boon to stop the attacks, to leave the Summoners in peace.... At the very least, make an attempt to kill Boon, his own son.

They reached the farm in no time and Boon sat upon their stone fence. He appeared at ease.

Indel was slow to sit beside him, well aware that there were no less than ten refugees holed up in his barn.

He decided to try his luck.

“Will you come in?”

Boon shook his head, “No. That is all right.” He took off the helmet, revealing his own which was nearly blue entirely. Turning it around in his hand, he said, “I always took Crane’s things. I suppose this helmet was the last.”

Though he made no motion to approach the barn, he stared at it.

“How are you, Azal? You look healthy.” He met Indel’s gaze finally.

Indel nodded. “I am well.”

“And Aza?”

That was a harder question to answer. In time, he settled for the truth.

“We are old now. Sometimes she wakes up and sets out food for all four of us. Sometimes she cannot remember my name, but most days she’s fit and strong.” He chuckled and gestured back to the brush. “Drags me out into the woods where we lay now and then.”

Boon’s chuckle was hardy. “A lay? Still? At your age?”

Indel chuckled as well. “Of course. Last night, even.”

The rumble of Boon’s laughter died away in time.

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As they sat there, Indel asked, “And you, Daga? What of you? I do not think you are well.”

Boon stared at the field as he nodded.

“This is true. I cannot produce, not that I’ve tried. I just fight the shifts. In all this time, I just knew anger. We are in constant battle.”

“Battles you wage against Summoners, battles against Levelers who protect those Summoners,” Indel said. “Battles I cannot understand. You level structures. I cannot believe the stories I’ve heard.”

“And what have you heard, Azal?” Boon asked him. “That we slaughter Summoners with no tails?”

Indel’s body stiffened. That thought had occurred to him but he’d held out hope that there was another motivation behind Boon’s need for constant war.

“That is not what I am doing. I’m doing something else.”

“Then what are you doing?” Indel asked.

Boon waited before saying. “I have a problem, Azal...our numbers dwindle. The others mate. They mate furiously but our numbers cannot rise.”

Indel held his peace, unwilling to give Boon more information to continue his terror.

“And I’ve...I’ve met someone. Someone I wish to end these struggles for.”

Calming, Indel asked. “You’ve chosen a mate?”

“Chosen?” Boon sat up. “She has chosen me! And I cannot rid myself of her. She’s pigheaded and impulsive. Always jumping in headfirst without looking back. And she cannot resist a fight.” His tone softened as he said. “But she’s gentle in her own way. With me at least. And she angers me by always causing trouble and by giving in and allowing me my selfishness.”

Indel smiled. “She sounds uneducated. But she has qualities like someone you held dear. That is the attraction, perhaps.”

Boon took his time in nodding. “I have noticed. She is very much like Crane. And if you see her, you would think me mad. She is a Summoner.”

Indel sat up. “A Summoner? A cantankerous Summoner?”

“To match the whining Leveler. Yes. But she is also without yield. Summoner clutches reside in Leveler roosts. As was the old ways. I took her to my roost and I know she’s seen the mating spells each season but never bears.”

With that, Indel understood Boon’s hesitation. “And you are fixated.”

“I am. The spells do not reach me. Only when I look at her I consider even the idea. So I thought to make her my preferred but how can I? How can I take a barren Summoner female to my nest as our numbers drop and she will not help our brood? And why mate if nothing comes of it?”

Cracking a smile, Indel shook his head. “You speak not of mating, but rather...a lay.” Their eyes met as he explained. “It’s when you join physically but not for a yield. It’s not to bear young, it’s for yourselves.”

“I follow the old laws as well as I can. My Viceroy is one of the last Levelers who speaks my tongue—the Earther’s tongue. My favored Summoner is the very last Summoner in my roost to speak it as well. It’s why I encountered her. And it’s also why I must make a decision. So tell me, Azal, what should I do? What does tradition say?”

In this, Indel felt unafraid to speak freely. “Tradition? You take her as a preferred and you mate with someone strong. Do it as quickly as you can. Make yourself a new king. Follow the old ways and make enough batches, never choose from the first. Once you are done, you bring your woman back into your nest and put the mated one out. That is tradition.”

“And if we cannot bear...?”

“You cannot bear even now because you refuse to try,” Indel told him. “Is that not so?”

Boon sat up, nodding. “That is true. She will not like it.”

“Good. That means she’ll forgive it.” When they fell silent, Indel asked. “Boon, what are you doing?”

“I should ask you the same,” Boon said, turning his gaze to the barn. “You house runners and we always have to wait until you let them try to move on before we snatch them back up.”

At Indel’s surprise, Boon chuckled.

“Azal. Your area is the only part not touched by us. Of course they run to you. But eventually they must run away. All that I do, I do for Aza,” he said, gesturing to the barn. “After you left, I tried to think what could fix it all, what caused it all, and you were right; it was Earther ways. They came, ripped everything apart and left us a bleeding mess. Summoners shifting to the third stage, cutting their tails to appear more like Earthers. They were the first ones I sought out. Then I had Levelers dismantle all Earther structure. They had no place to live so they huddled together. Then I went after all who spoke the Earther tongue.”

“What?” Indel gasped. “But even Levelers speak the Earther tongue.”

“Not anymore,” Boon said, smiling. “Other than me and a few others, I’ve wiped them clean and when I am done, and I no longer need them, I’ll dispose of them, too.”

“But your woman....” Indel paused, leaning away. “Oh Boon.”

“This is the only way. We will never go back to all that we were, but we’ll be close, as close as anyone can come. Eventually, I will be the last and Aurette, my Summoner queen-to-be and I will meet our ends.” He nodded toward the barn. “I think you should get Aza. We will take the refugees and I do not want her badly hurt.”

Indel opened and closed his mouth but instead of arguing, he decided to take this one favor. Better to die with Nala at his side then never know.

He hurried to the barn, Boon at his back.

“Please hurry, Azal. The ones in the forest mean to take your barn as well.”

Indel reached the door just as one stage-one Leveler rammed the structure. The roof vibrated.

Hushed screams came from within.

“Na’am!” Indel called. “Na’am. Open the door!”

Summoner after Summoner spilled out, scrambling for cover. Each one shrieked when a Leveler jumped on their backs then jumped away, dragging them along.

Indel looked over his shoulder to see Boon put on Crane’s helmet as he rose from the wall.

One hand grabbed Indel’s and he turned to see Nala’s all but white eyes.

“Mana?”

“I am here. I am here, Na’am. Come. Come with me. Come.” Bringing Nala behind him, Indel waited for Boon’s approach. “Kill me second. Do not leave her to flounder alone.”

“Best to move,” Boon said as he walked past.

Indel stumbled back but found his footing and led Nala away just as Boon kicked at the door, sending it flying.

A flood of Levelers poured into the clearing, all blue from the Summoners faded, leaving the two of them there.

“Mana? What is happening? What is happening?”

“Nothing,” Indel answered. “Nothing, my Summoner. That noise is only a flood,” he lied.

“I do not feel the rain,” Nala said.

“I know.” Turning to face her, Indel held her close. “Come with me, Summoner. Come with me.”

“Come with you where?”

“Shift. We must shift. We must change.”

“I cannot.” Nala struggled to pull away.

“You can. You can. Come with me.” Indel’s body warmed and his skin filled yet again. “We should end as we began. This will make you whole.”