"Anna, your turn is here."

  Anna woke to ?rad? kneeling over her. The fire was out again, and ?rad? was giving her a look with raised brows.

  Anna grumbled herself to a sitting position. "You hate fire almost as much as you hate me, waking me up."

  ?rad? chuckled, but her emotions didn't match it- there was a flicker of something. Was it fear? "I wanted you to see the power of your new eye. Look at me, and what do you see?"

  "I see a fluffed-up ?arc?aban with her fangs out."

  ?rad? nodded. "Now, close your right eye, and what do you see?"

  Anna complied, and the world turned to darkness. "I see nothing but the stars above."

  "That is the power that us demons have. In your hunts, it would be wise to practice ?at?a??as."

  "Cavad would quote a lesson right now, if he was awake."

  "If he sang songs in his past life, it wouldn't surprise me. That man loves the words of others."

  Anna rose her brow. "Did you used to sing, ?rad??"

  She nodded, looking away. "I'd rather not speak on what used to be, Anna. Too many scars."

  "I understand. Rest well, ?rad?."

  "Good hunting, ?arc?aban."

  Anna smiled at that as she moved to rekindle the fire for Saul, who'd be waking up at the morning's eve. She climbed a nearby spruce tree and settled down to wait.

  She didn't know what to think of her two new companions. On one hand, they were bright at times, and at another they would turn in on themselves, like they're licking their wounds. She could understand the resentment, but could not understand why they held onto it so strongly. Were they not heard?

  The rest of the night was quiet, and Anna was alone with her thoughts.

  ---

  Saul woke to a warm fire on his side, and Anna poking it with a stick.

  "Morning, Anna."

  Anna yawned, turning to him. "Morning, ?adar. The night didn't notice us while I watched."

  "How could it? Our strongest protector was guarding us."

  Anna laughed softly. "If speaking things made them true, I'd be unstoppable."

  Saul got into a kneeling position, and started up a round of kindling while Anna turned to face the night. They sat in comfortable silence until dawn.

  Cavad woke first, stretching out to his full length. He glanced at Saul; he still felt uncomfortable with the sensation that kindling brought- it felt too close to a warm-sending that his ?ar would perform before a hunt.

  Anna felt his mana move, and turned to him. "Morning, Cavad."

  "Morning, hunter. How was your watch?"

  "The best kind of watch. Boring."

  Cavad raised his brow. "That is good news. I'll take watch next time; it is not good for one so young to carry our burdens."

  "Ah, but the burden is light when I carry it for my poor, slow elders." Anna yawned.

  "The cheek says one thing but the mouth says another."

  "One of my many talents." Anna stood and stretched. "You spent most of the night chatting with ?rad?. Something wrong?"

  Cavad looked away, his emotions calm, like ripples on a lake. "I reminded her of why she was allowed to come with us."

  "Sounds ominous, but you say things like that a lot."

  "If I'm not serious, then how can I expect others to take me seriously?"

  "Saul does it all the time. The trick is to be old, then people listen. You're a great example of the trick working, actually."

  Cavad chuckled, then sighed. "One of these days, your cheek will get you in trouble."

  "Until that day comes, I'll be sure to pester you."

  ?rad? woke in the middle of their banter, and sat up. "I'll join you in your pestering; Cavad could do to have thicker skin."

  Anna smiled. "What did he say yesterday? 'Preparation is a hunter's greatest weapon?' We do it because we care."

  ?rad? cackled, and Saul opened his eyes and smiled at them. "Everybody's awake, I see. Ready to head out? We have a lot of ground to cover."

  Anna nodded and smiled back. "Ready when you are, ?adar." She turned to the others. "Time to head out."

  And so they broke camp and set out, their steps crunching through the frost.

  Saul set the path after much deliberation, deciding that a quicker approach would be much better in terms of both travel time and risk: the longer they took, the fewer opportunities Saul would have to delay the ?a?s?as-?u?s?.

  That is, if they were even heading in this direction; all the information Saul and Anna knew was from Hiday?t, and he didn't mention anything of the sort; to add to that, there were any number of reasons for subjugating other tribes.

  Definitely something to speak to the others about. Saul bumped shoulders with Anna, who was walking beside him. "Could you ask our companions about the invasion?"

  Anna nodded. "I'm not sure if they'll speak with me, but I'll ask them about it."

  When Anna stepped back from the front and asked them both, ?rad? nodded first. "I was there, yes. It shames me to admit it, but I did more observing than fighting... There were so many, and we were so few. I did what I could, but what could we do?"

  Cavad nodded at that, glancing at Saul's back. "I was the guardian of our old ?adar, so I was there at the beginning, before it all went crazy. One thing I remember clearly: they never killed when they could capture."

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  ?rad? frowned. "I remember the same. I don't think it's strange, though; servants were common in towns we visited."

  Anna tilted her head. "Servants?"

  ?rad? rubbed the back of her head. "Well, that's the term we used for demons without a tribe. They'd commonly end up working under a tribe for food and shelter."

  Anna blinked. "Oh. Why didn't we have any?"

  "Because we were weak."

  Cavad spoke up. "That is a narrow way of looking at it. Is it all about strength with you?"

  ?rad? glanced at him. "It's all about freedom. In order to be free, we need to be strong. You saw what happened when we decided not to draw attention to ourselves: we became a target. That's what I live to avoid. That's what I'm about, Cavad." She looked away and muttered, "I wouldn't expect a fool who chose to be a servant to understand."

  Cavad looked at her sharply, but Anna jumped in. "Please, don't argue. I'd rather us get together while we have peace to spare. Promise me you two will talk on this tonight?"

  ?rad? couldn't meet her eyes. "I'll promise nothing, but I'll think about it."

  Cavad scoffed, seeming to bite his tongue, before eventually relenting. "I'll think about it as well."

  Anna nodded. "That's all I ask. Better to bring problems to light, instead of letting them rot. Saul said that once."

  Anna stepped up to Saul's side. "They said the ?a?s?as-?u?s? were capturing our ?ar."

  Saul nodded, then frowned as a thought came to him. "That would make sense if they had hostage trades, like humans do, but they fight as a whole tribe, correct?"

  Anna shrugged. "How are humans different?"

  "Well, it's common practice for human nobles to facilitate trades-"

  "Facilitate?"

  "Like... allowing something to be more easy. Nobles would buy back their captured people. It's how I made my living while I was in the Viscount's army."

  Anna frowned. "So they just decided to capture a whole tribe? But, that makes no sense."

  "Ah, but not the whole tribe. They were willing to let around one-in-five of you go free."

  "Why would that happen?"

  Saul looked ahead, murmuring, "why, indeed. Maybe they needed the extra hands for some great working?"

  They hiked till the next break in relative silence. As Cavad thought, the trees were beginning to thin as the temperature dropped and the altitude rose.

  The altitude added a whole new host of problems; Saul didn't live in or near the upper portion of the forest, so altitude sickness was starting to hit him. He looked rather pale when they stopped for break, all of them sitting down under a pine tree and pulling out their rations. Anna looked at him with concern, and ?rad? noticed.

  "The mother hen seems to worry. What troubles you so?"

  "Saul seems to be slowing down. Doesn't he look pale?"

  "All humans look pale, no?"

  Anna frowned. "I guess..."

  Cavad motioned to him. "It's a simple question."

  Anna poked Saul. "Hey, ?adar, do you feel alright?"

  Saul turned and smiled at Anna. "I feel a little out of breath, but I'll be alright. Why do you ask?"

  Anna shrugged. "You seem to be taking this the hardest. Could one of us carry your pack?"

  Saul smiled sadly. "I don't think that would help, but I appreciate it. My legs are the best thing about me right now, after my ?at?a??as."

  Anna's eyes widened, and so did ?rad?'s and Cavad's; they knew what that word meant.

  Anna spoke first. "What did you change?"

  "My legs now have wapiti in them. This is probably the best my legs have been in a while."

  ?rad? spoke up. "Anna, what did he say?" She felt worried, for some reason.

  Anna turned to her. "He just said he gained the legs of a wapiti."

  ?rad? frowned. "Humans can't perform ?at?a??as. Only demons can. It is known."

  Cavad shook his head. "Yet here he sits. Do you say that because you've never seen it, or because it's never worked? Here's your proof."

  "I guess I've just never seen it then." ?rad? looked away in thought.

  Anna sat next to Saul. "So you beat me to it. I thought I'd have that on you, but I guess not."

  Saul chuckled. "I'm sure you'll beat me in other ways, Anna. You have plenty of time to learn and grow."

  "There you are again, with your 'learning' and 'growing.' I've grown enough, no?"

  "How's your kindling coming along?"

  "..." Anna looked away. "It's going."

  Saul tsked. "I bother you about it because it's important, Anna. Promise me you'll practice it?"

  "I promise, ?adar, but only if you promise to let us take more breaks."

  Saul looked north, where the tips of mountains loomed in the distance. "I just can't help but worry, Anna."

  "Well, what will happen, will happen. Let's keep stepping forward while we can, and focus on being our best, yeah?"

  Saul nodded, rising to his feet. "Well said."

  They set off again, taking a more sedate path with Anna's insistence. Saul felt marginally better, but still found himself out of breath more often than not, even with channeling mana into his lungs; it was the strangest thing. ?rad? said it was something in the air that caused what Saul was going through, while Cavad argued it was the sky being reluctant to accept him. Regardless, that was another issue.

  They trudged on over frosted lichens, keeping to smooth paths. Anna took to holding Saul's hand while they walked, and the pressure kept him grounded.

  Their second break was close to mid-afternoon, when they decided to rest their feet at the top of a small rise. Saul stretched his legs out while Anna sat beside him.

  ?rad? let out a sigh of relief, plopping down on the grass and massaging her bare feet. Cavad just sat down and pulled out his boots. "The temp will only get colder, ?rad?. It's better to be prepared for when there's more snow than grass."

  ?rad? begrudgingly nodded, then turned to him, murmuring, "Hey, what's with our sorcerer?"

  "What's your question? He seems to tire sooner than us. Isn't that normal?"

  "I mean, how did we end up with a human sorcerer in our group."

  Cavad shrugged. "It matters not. We were told to protect them, and that's our mission."

  ?rad? scoffed. "If I knew we would be escorting an infirm mind-caster and a child, I wouldn't have volunteered."

  Cavad leveled a stare at her. "I don't believe that for a second. His weakness is but one ?at?a??as away from being fixed. You were raring for a chance to leave the, 'human cage,' I believe you called it? I see how you look at our sorcerer, and at Anna, the sorcerer's apprentice. You hunger for what you don't have."

  ?rad? looked away, rubbing the back of her head. "...Maybe I'd have left regardless."

  "Your unwillingness to admit to what you know is true is a weakness."

  "I will not be lectured by a man who lives by the words of others. I would rather bite rocks."

  Cavad didn't rise to the bait, just sighing and leaning back. Anna looked at the pair worriedly.

  Saul sighed. "Our hunters are fighting again."

  "You noticed, ?adar?"

  "How could I not? ?rad? makes her discontent obvious, and Cavad seems to hide his emotions behind a blanket of calm."

  Anna glanced at the pair, who were now sullenly looking away from each other. "How is it obvious?"

  "Her hair rises like a cat's fur."

  Anna giggled at that, and ?rad? looked up to Anna raising her brow. "What is it, child?"

  "Nothing, wise hunter."

  ?rad? tilted her head. "If it was nothing, you would not be so silly."

  "Well... I was thinking how you act sometimes reminds me of a cat."

  ?rad?'s eyes widened, and she guffawed. "Ah, children. May I never have one with thoughts like those."

  The rest of their day's travel was without note. When they made camp in a small cave on the side of a cliff, ?rad? tried to hunt again, and came back with just a snowy owl.

  ?rad? offered it to Saul, her brow raised. "Tell him this will help with his breathing problem."

  Anna nodded. "She says it will help with your breath?"

  Saul blinked, taking the owl in his hands. The black-stippled feathers were soft to the touch, and it was surprisingly light, given its size.

  ?rad? spoke up. "Remember to fill the owl with your mana; it won't have enough essence to cover your whole chest otherwise."

  "Remember to fully cover the owl, is what she said."

  Saul nodded, and put the owl to his chest, pouring his mana into the bird. The sensation was the same as when he performed ?at?a??as on the elk, but he actually had the mana to fully cover the owl- enough so that he still had mana to spare when he fully drenched his mana in the essence of the owl. Pulling his mana back into himself, though, he felt a sharp pain, as feathers sprouted from his chest and other changes started forming under his skin. He felt his lungs firm up, and almost panicked, but he thought to finish the process first before he quit halfway. The 'paint' in his mana moved all the way through his chest, and even out to his fingertips and his neck, before it emptied of the bird's essence.

  The difference was night and day. Breathing felt... different, to put it lightly; exhaling felt like inhaling, for lack of a better way to describe it. He felt lighter, but his back felt the weight of the pack more, and his heart beat like he was feverish. The sickness, though, was almost entirely gone. The wonders of mana never cease to amaze me.

  Saul bowed in thanks to ?rad?, who responded in kind.

  Anna smiled. "Well? How does it feel?"

  "I feel like a new man. I can move!" Saul laughed. Maybe this is the secret to a demon's longevity? "Although, the feathers are poking the inside of my jacket."

  ?rad?'s brow rose at his laugh. "It seems that's one problem solved."

  Cavad nodded. "Let's hope that's the worst to come."

  Their dinner was- again- jerky, with some boiled owl to mix it up. Cavad had managed to find some edible berries early on in their hike that day, which was the highlight of the meal.

  Saul took up first watch, and Cavad took up the second. Anna was out like a light as soon as her head hit her pack.

  ?rad? and Cavad did not speak on their troubles that night.