Rebel Fay

They are of no concern.

"Our welcome here… was worse than I anticipated. The presence of the humans… or even human blood did not sit well. And another matter that worsened the-"

That is of no consequence. Bring Leshil to me. But perhaps keep clear of our people when possible. Yes?

"Yes, Father."

Sgaile hesitated, wondering if he should say more…

The short human female understood all their words. The white-ski

"Soon, Father," he said.

He hesitated once more. He would not call it doubt, as there was no place for such in anything that he did.

"In silence and in shadows," he added respectfully, and lifted the word-wood from the pine, stood up, and turned back toward the village.

Chap's restlessness grew with the dusk. Time spent with Glea

Glea

"No, it is a natural hot spring guided through earth cha

Makers.It can be closed off, like this. When finished, lift the center stone in the bottom. The water will drain slowly away and nourish our oak."

"Makers?" Magiere asked, with her usual bite of suspicion.

A moment followed before Glea

Chap worried Magiere might aggravate their unusually friendly host. He trotted over and poked his head through the shimmering wool curtain.

He had seen bathing rooms before. Not all domicile trees had such. The enclave where he was born had warm springs nearby in the forest. Raspberry and ivy vines were nurtured into dividers, providinga half dozen private spaces there.

In this small room was something akin to a tub hollowed out of the moss and earth floor. It was lined in polished black stones tightly fitted together. Sunk into the mossy floor next to the tub was a helmet-sized metal basin. Its lip met with the tub's edge via a shallow trough the width of a paw.

Wy

"A miracle," she said smiling.

"It may be too hot," Glea

At the far wall sat several cask-sized containers. But these were solid wood, with smooth grain and round edges, not slats held together with iron bands. Each appeared molded from one piece of wood.

Glea

He headed for the doorway, glancing at Chap as he passed through the curtain.

Magiere inspected the clothing with uncertainty, but Wy

"Magiere… what did Urhkar say before he released you?"

"It was in Droevinkan," she answered. "He said stop resisting… that I had to help Sgaile with Leesil."

"Urhkar speaks Droevinkan?"

"Too well," Magiere added, "for what's happening in my homeland."

Wy

In the Warlands, two Anmaglahk-Brot'an'duive and the deceased Groyt'ashia-had come to assassinate Darmouth in a time of unrest.Before this, in Soladran, he and Wy

But it was impossible that Urhkar had gone there and returned before Chap and his charges found their way here. Still, there were other Anmaglahk to consider.

Wy

"Get out," she said.

Chap backed out with a snort. She had little left to hide after this long journey together.

In the outer room, Glea

The outer door's curtain lifted, and Sgaile entered. He paused, looking at Chap.

Chap twitched his jowl, though he tried to remain the courteous guest in this home. Sgaile dropped to one knee, giving Chap a start.

The man's eyes held quiet sadness.

Chap had tried in the passing days to catch any memory surfacing within Sgaile, but he had gleaned little. This one did not dwell often on even the very recent past, but an image flashed briefly before Chap's awareness. As if Chap himself reached out with a "hand" to the trunk of a young pine tree. He heard the word "Father."

Chap tried to grasp Sgaile's passing memory for more of the conversation, but it faded.

"Your companions should stay inside," Sgaile said to him, and it was easier to understand than the dialect that Wy

Sgaile stood up and pulled back the doorway's wool curtain. Chap looked uncertainly to Leesil.

"They will be safe here," Sgaile said.

A part of Chap wanted to go, to lope through the forest of his youth and all it offered to soothe his senses.

"Don't be long," Leesil said.

Chap trusted Sgaile's word, but not his purpose. He crept past the an-maglahk with a low rumble, and loped outside among the elven dwellings.

Most of the people had retired and only a thin line of smoke drifted up from the communal oven. A howl drifted in from a distance. Chap gazed out into the forest beyond the domicile trees.

He hungered for soft earth beneath his paws and wild grass whipping his legs as he ran.

All of Leesil's grief, Magiere's anger and doubt, and even little Wy

Where were his kin? Why so silent? Why not chide him again, if he acted now in spite of their disapproval?

Memory of existence among the Fay had faded over the years. Perhaps it had never been complete at all. The flesh he wore could not house the wide awareness he had shared with them. But flesh had its advantages, or so he believed.

Chap's instinct cried out that Most Aged Father was poisonous, and Leesil should not be allowed anywhere near him. And yet… how else could they find and free Nein'a?

Leesil would not turn from this purpose. And if truth be told, neither could Chap.

He stepped between the house trees, hearing voices within, and cleared the last one to stand upon the fringe of the wild. The eerie cry came again, closer this time. A shimmer darted through the trees. And then another.

Two majay-hi burst from the brush and stopped at the sight of him. Both were dark steel gray with crystalline eyes, so alike in look they were nearly twins. One whined and then both darted back into the underbrush.

Chap took a few steps.

They spoke in memories. He had caught such the first day the pack circled in at the silver deer's call.