Howard ended up taking them back to the Ceremony Hall where Denewulf proudly declared his new name.

Selina looked at Howard in surprise. {You named him?}

{It sort of happened on its own,} Howard replied, {The name came to me while I was with him and it just happened. He said something about me overwriting his old name.}

{So you accidentally overwrote his name?} Selina asked, {That must have been cool. I wish I could do that.} She looked at the twins with an intensity that made them hide behind Howard.

{I don’t think that’s how it works,} Howard told her, {I think you just need to get to know them, whether on accident or one purpose.}

{There is no way you got to know him in that small amount of time,} Selina argued.

{I got to know him enough and the magic filled in the rest,} Howard sighed, {At least that is how I think it works. I need to prepare so I can finish the wall tomorrow night. I should have enough time to try out some basic structures tonight.}

{You still haven’t figured it out?} Selina asked, {I thought you went to see Jonathan because you knew what you wanted.}

{I know basically what I want, but it’s not like I have a plan drawn up. I need to try some things to see what works best.}

{I’ll help,} Denewulf offered immediately.

The twins simply clutched Howard’s clothing. Howard had a soft spot for children despite most people’s impression of him so he did not remove them. He spent the rest of the night trying out various formations, types, and thickness of stone to see which one was the most practical. Denewulf helped him come up with a couple more he hadn’t thought of, and the twins watched them work happily.

The children stayed in the giant redwood during the day, and when night fell again, Howard when to look at his wall and talk to James. The animals had seemed interested in some types of stone, and others were already falling apart. After some consideration, Howard found the portion of the wall he had modeled after the cliff was the best, and it would probably support the vines better anyway.

Next, Howard had to go pick up the first seedling from Jonathan and figure out how to harvest more.

{Oh? Howard? You are here earlier than I expected,} Jonathan said when they arrived, {Still with the entourage?}

{It’s a little different from before, but yes,} Howard replied.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

This time the twins were staying outside of the secret passage and only Denewulf had followed him inside.

{I still think you are suspicious,} Denewulf informed Jonathan.

{Good,} Jonathan hummed, {You came here for the grapes of death, right?}

{The exploding vines,}

{I have the grapes of death right here. Azul’s wyvern brought me some more this morning, or should I say this night? I am still not used to terms here.}

{Wyverns?} Denewulf asked, seeming to get the image but was unfamiliar with them, {Are they some kind of bird?}

{This is your world, you don’t know?} Howard asked.

{Just because we traveled a lot doesn’t mean that we saw everything,} Denewulf scowled, {but I am surprised they can get near the exploding vines safely.}

{I have mastered Azul’s method of communication and it seems they like some of the food there. Wyverns are carnivorous, by the way, so the food is an animal.}

Jonathan handed over the vines and Howard accepted them gingerly. It seemed like it was fine as long as you did not pick any of the grape-like bombs. After carefully taking them to the wall, Howard carefully inserted them into the soil he had prepared in the planter section at the top of the wall.

There had only been six altogether, so they looked fairly sparse along the long stretch of wall. This would have to do for now.

{Do you know of any plants that have thorns?} Howard asked Denewulf.

{I know lots. Do you want to plant some with the vines?}

{No. I want to plant them in front of the wall to discourage anything from approaching.}

Denewulf nodded. {I can take care of that part,} he promised, {Now that you have some roots to grow off of, you should easily be able to spread the exploding vines along the wall so it is more effective.}

Howard had been planning on leaving it alone for a while since it had just been transplanted, but then again, he did have Wisdom. He closed his eyes and felt for the roots of exploding vines. They were pulsing with life. Once he could feel that life it was easy for Howard to provide some of his own energy to help extend that life. First, the roots spread, and then other vines sprouted from those roots.

When Howard opened his eyes the vines covered the entire wall on the outside and they were full and healthy. He climbed up to see bushes, brambles, and all sorts of thorny plants twisted together just beyond the exploding vines.

{That should help discourage everything,} Howard approved.

Denewulf smiled with pride. {Just wait until I show you all of the secret passages I made.}

He began to show Howard around. There was one main opening in the wall that allowed the stream and a fair amount of walkway beside it. There were also three very small passages that would only allow the water to travel through. It would have been impossible to get through those with a gondola or any other type of boat anyway because of the little waterfalls that tumbled down step by step.

What Denewulf showed Howard were hidden doors in some unexpected places. There was one inside the main entrance where the wall had been hollowed out to create a secret passageway. The secret passageway led to an underground tunnel that would safely get them a safe distance away from the colony.

The second hidden door was near the edge where the wall met the cliff. It led up a stairway that would reach the top of the cliff. The third was somewhat like a cat door. That one was in the section of the wall that could be considered closest to the Redwood of Concordia.

{This is impressive,} Howard admitted, {How did you have time to make all of these?}

{Experience,} Denewulf replied, {I had to make escape routes in every colony I visited if I ever wanted to leave. This is the first time I have shown any of them to a Sage.}

That made it sound like there were probably more of them, but Howard wasn’t that concerned about it. He had no interest in keeping Denewulf prisoner there.

{We should rest and eat,} he told them, {We have been working for a good portion of the night.}

{I can cook,} Denewulf’s little brother offered.

Howard glanced at Denewulf to confirm and he nodded.

{Nova couldn’t even tell what was safe to eat so we had to help her and cook ourselves,} he explained, {He doesn’t mind and he is the best at it.}

{If he wants to cook then he can,} Howard agreed.

The boy smiled and they headed back to the redwood.