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Compared to the Temple of Loreas, The Northern Path was dingy. The red dust that its patrons tracked in clung to the wooden floor, which looked like it hadn't been waxed or even washed in months, if not years. The tables looked clean, at least for a given value of clean, though she doubted this place would ever pass a health and safety inspection from home — the fat black cat napping on one of the empty tables probably would have failed them on the spot.

To the right was a bar, where a girl was drying mugs after scrubbing them in a questionable bucket of water, and behind it was a propped-open door that led to a kitchen, from which the scents of bacon and something sweeter, some sort of baked goods, was coming from. Against the far wall was a staircase that led up to the second level, presumably where the guest rooms were. The decor on the walls didn't seem suitable for such a hot climate; old-fashioned snow shoes, mittens, and a few other pieces of cold weather gear were hung between animal pelts and a few taxidermized heads of creatures that looked like deer, but with the broad antlers of a moose.

She took all of this in over the course of a few moments, before her gaze focused on a table in the corner where three men were eating breakfast, all seated on the same side of a long table. Their big black dog lay quietly in the corner, its eyes already fixed on her even though she hadn't made a move toward them yet. Two of the men she recognized; Erik and Milo. They had looked up when she and Kel came in, but had ducked their heads to murmur a quiet conversation between themselves. The third man looked younger, more a teenager than a man. His face was dotted with an unfortunate amount of acne, and he had the hunched-over, surly body language of a teen who was being roped into doing something he'd rather not. He had odd leather bracelets on his wrist, but other than that, he was wearing clothes that, though well-worn, were clearly from home.

Was he their translator? She wondered if he was from her world too. How many of them were here? Why were they here?

Glancing at Kel for reassurance — not because she was scared of Erik and Milo, but because she felt nervous and unsure of what she might be about to learn — she took another deep breath and began to make her way across the room. He trailed behind her, his presence familiar and comforting after these weeks of travel. It was still early enough that there were only a few other guests in the dining area, and other than a few glances at her tunic or Kel's armor, they were largely ignored.

When they drew closer, Milo gave her a tight smile and gestured at the seats across the table from him and the others. Erik just glowered; she had no idea why, but she got the feeling he didn't like her very much. Wasn't he excited to find someone else from home? His reticence only served to make her more nervous.

Kel pulled a chair out for her first before pulling one out for himself. She sat, smoothing the wrinkles out of her tunic anxiously. There was an odd silence as the three men on the other side of the table just stared at her, then Milo spoke.

"Ich bin froh, dass du das Gasthaus gefunden hast. Ich bin sicher, du hast Fragen. Sind wir die ersten Menschen von der Erde, denen du begegnet bist?"

She moved her lips as she tried to figure out what he was saying. She got as far as froh which she thought meant happy or glad when he elbowed the teen who was sitting next to him. The teen jumped and flushed.

"Sorry. He said, 'I'm glad you found the inn. I'm sure you have questions. Are we the first people from Earth you've met?' I'm Luke, by the way."

"I'm Lyra," she said, giving him a tight smile which was all she could manage with how jittery she felt. She nodded at Kel, who was sitting silently beside her like… well, like a sentinel. "And this is Kel, my traveling companion. He's from here, not from home. To answer Milo's question, yes. I thought I was the only one until I ran into him and Erik a few miles outside of Ersgath."

Luke repeated what she said, but he said it in Moldaran, not in German. She opened her mouth to ask what he was doing, when Milo responded in his own language. This time, Luke didn't need to be prodded to translate.

"How long have you been here? Where did you arrive in this world? Um, that's what he said. I guess that's obvious. Sorry, I'm still new to this."

"I don't understand. You didn't say anything in German."

"Right, I guess I should explain that. I, uh, prayed to a god when I first got here and he gave me a blessing that lets me understand everyone, no matter what language they're speaking, and they can understand me. So, when I talk you hear Moldaran and Milo and Erik hear the same thing, but in German."

Well, that sounded one hell of a lot more convenient than the deal she had made with Towr. She wasted a moment to glower at the table, wondering why she hadn't thought of that. Kel interrupted her brief pity party with a low sound of distaste.

"What did that cost you? The gods always take more than they give, and that is a powerful blessing."

Luke wouldn't meet their eyes. "I don't want to talk about it."

Erik cut in with something short and sharp, and Luke translated, "He wants you to answer the question."

"I've been here for about two weeks," she said after giving Kel a short shake of her head. He looked like he was about to press the issue, but she didn't want to, but because this was more important, and because she could understand not wanting to talk about something like that. Losing her own language had been painful enough.

Whatever Luke offered to the god in exchange for his blessing must have been even harder to lose.

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"I appeared in a small village to the east called Kyokami. There was no warning, nothing." Her voice cracked, and she swallowed against the sudden surge of emotion. "I was just grocery shopping, then I was here. I couldn't understand anyone, and I had no idea what was going on. I still don't, but apparently, the fact that I can see and talk to the gods is important, so people have been a lot more helpful than they might have been otherwise."

Luke repeated what she said for the benefit of the others, then added, "We're all priests t—" He broke off mid-sentence when Erik reached around behind Milo to cuff him on the head. Milo turned to Erik with a frown on his face and said something in rapid German Lyra didn't have a hope of catching. Erik grimaced, then spoke to Lyra.

"He says sorry," Luke said, glaring at him as he rubbed the back of his head. "We agreed not to tell people what we are. If we aren't wearing those tunics, there's no way for them to know, not unless a god says something to another member of the clergy. But this is different. You're in this mess too. It's only fair that you know."

"I don't understand. Why wouldn't you want people to know you're priests?" she asked, keeping her voice low. "I don't think I would have gotten this far if people didn't know I was a priestess. It's like a magic charm that makes everyone want to help."

"Things are different in the north," Milo explained through Luke once the younger man translated. "Have you heard about the war that's going on overseas?"

"I have," she said, exchanging a glance with Kel. He was wearing a slight frown that deepened the crease between his brows, probably wondering, like her, where this was going. "What does that have to do with this?"

Milo opened his mouth, but hesitated, glancing first at Kel, then around the room. It wasn't crowded, but his gaze lingered on the other patrons. Erik looked around too, his expression dark and brooding. He spoke to Lyra, and Luke translated.

"We have things to tell you, things you should know, but not here and not around anyone from this world." Luke hesitated. "He wants to know if you can meet us tonight, outside of town. Far enough away from the temples that none of the gods will be able to overhear us. They say not to bring your manservant."

Kel leaned forward, his armor clanking as he rested his forearms on the table. "No. Where the priestess goes, I go."

"Stop it," Lyra said before Luke could translate for the others. "I'm going." As far as she was concerned, there was hardly even a choice to be made. Of course she was going. Whatever they wanted to tell her that they didn't want to risk the gods or even Kel overhearing had to be important. "I'll be fine. I trust them. They're from home."

"That makes them less trustworthy, not more," Kel retorted, his voice low and urgent. "If they are anything like you, they don't understand the rules the rest of us grew up learning form before we could walk. Every man from our world knows that if he harms someone with the holy blood in any way, the gods, both great and small, would punish him for committing such a sin. Do they? I don't trust them. It would be foolish for you to meet them alone."

Luke opened his mouth as if he was going to translate, but Lyra kicked him under the table—not hard, just hard enough to make him shut up. Milo and Erik—Erik especially—already seemed cautious of her and Kel. Any friction with Kel would just make things worse.

"I'm going to meet them," she said, holding his gaze, her voice even. "Thank you for all of your help, Kel. I know I wouldn't have made it this far without you. Heck, I probably wouldn't have even tried to get this far on my own. But I don't need you to protect me from my own people. I'm going to meet them, and I'm going to do it alone."

His lips thinned with disapproval, but he didn't argue. He just said, reluctantly, "As you wish, priestess."

They were back to that now, apparently, but she couldn't be bothered to correct him. She got the feeling he was just doing it because he knew it annoyed her when people called her 'priestess' instead of by her name.

Sighing, she turned back to the others. "Sorry about that. Of course, I'll meet you tonight, and I'll come alone. Just tell me where."

Erik and Milo conversed for a moment, then, with Luke translating, Milo said, "Where are you staying?" She told him, and he responded with, "Very well. We'll scout out a good location and send a note to the temple telling you where to meet us."

"Is there anything you can tell me in the meantime? Why are we here? How long have you been here?"

"We don't know why we're here, but we can share some theories tonight," Milo said. "To answer your second question… it's been close to a year. Maybe a little more, by now."

"Only about eight months for me," Luke added when he was done translating for Milo. "It feels like forever, though."

That was much longer than she had been here. Trying to ignore the sick feeling of dread that she felt at the thought that she might not be able to get home for a year or more, she said, "And where did you appear? Were you all in the same spot?"

"We were all brought to the Northern Kingdom," Milo said. "Different parts of it, though. I arrived in the capital city, Kiviä Lumessa, and Erik was brought to a small village a day's travel from where I appeared. Some of the Northerners are nomadic, like the Mongols from Earth, or the Aketians from here, and Luke appeared in one of their camps on the border of the kingdom."

Lyra committed the name of her home to memory. Something occurred to her and she frowned. "It sounds like we're always brought to places with people around. No one was dropped off in middle of nowhere, in the wilderness or on a mountainside."

"Because that's where the gods are," Erik said, cutting into the conversation. Luke translated for him as he spoke. "They're where the people are, mostly. We're here because of literal divine intervention. But the thing is, once we're here, they can't control what we do. Not unless we let them. And Milo and I, we aren't going to let anyone, human or god, control us. Will you?"

She shook her head, her heart in her throat as a spark of anger ignited in her chest. Whoever brought her here had thrown her entire life off course. If she was here for a reason, the violation of being plucked from her home without her consent or even knowing what was going on didn't exactly make her eager to help her kidnappers out. Erik held her gaze for a moment, then gave her a tight nod.

"Then meet us tonight, alone, and we'll tell you what we know. From there, you can decide if you want to work with us or go our separate ways." He pushed away from the table, his chair scraping across the floor, then paused and leaned forward, looming over the table. "One more thing. I don't know if you pray or talk to the gods, but if you do, stop. They are not what you think they are. Giving them any sort of attention just gives them more power. Don't stay in temples in the future, better to sleep outside if you have to. And don't tell anyone where we're meeting tonight." His eyes fixed on Kel. "Anyone. What we have to say is for our ears only. Understood?"

She nodded, her eyes wide. He barked, "Auf geht's!" which Luke didn't bother to translate, and Milo got up with a sigh, shooting her an apologetic grimace. Luke hesitated, like he wanted to say more, but when Erik called his name, he got up too and followed them away, his shoulders hunched and his head ducked as if he didn't want anyone to notice him. Lyra watched as they put some coins down on the bar, then walked out the door, the big black dog following behind them obediently.

Whatever was going on was bigger than she had thought.