Verdan woke twice during the night, drenched in sweat and with an offensive word of power on the tip of his tongue. Each time it took him several minutes to calm down enough to go back to sleep, leaving him weary and only slightly rested by the time morning came round.

‘Hyn,’ Verdan muttered, tapping his leg and sending a burst of refreshing Aether through his system. The Aether burnt away the fogginess in Verdan’s thoughts, waking him up properly and leaving him ready for action.

The fwyn gathered together as their small camp woke up, clustering into small groups and sharing what looked like mushrooms and roots they had foraged the day before.

Tim was up and moving already, which was a good sign that the extra healing yesterday had done what Verdan intended. Superficial damage wasn’t really Verdan’s concern or how he’d been taught to treat wounded combatants. Whether apprentice or archmage, every wizard knew basic healing spells and first aid and knew the priority was to keep the subject alive. Cosmetic healing could come later; being able to get the wounded moving and out of danger was far more important.

Verdan took a moment to consider his Aether reserves before giving Tim an additional minor heal, focusing on improving his natural healing once more.

‘Thanks, Verdan,’ Tim said, absently patting the wolf lying by his side. ‘I don’t think I’d have made it without your magic.’

‘Not a problem. You are only out here because of me, after all,’ Verdan said with a slight smile, noting how the wolf was watching him with a cautious look in its eyes.

‘And we’re only here at all because of you,’ Tim said, a serious expression settling on his face as he looked up at Verdan. ‘Tom and I owe you our lives. We won’t forget that.’

‘Just doing what anyone would in my position,’ Verdan said, uncomfortably shifting at the praise.

‘Uh hu,’ Tim said, giving Verdan a pointed look before sighing and gesturing to the collar on the wolf. ‘This fine lady seems to be intent on hanging around with us. Anything you can do about this collar? I’ve seen blood leaking from it a few times; it can’t be good for her.’ Tim told him with a grimace and a concerned look at the wolf.

‘Not yet. Though, if she stays with us back to Hobson’s Point, maybe I can. You are right; nothing about that collar is good for her.’ Verdan told him with a frustrated wave of his hand. It irked him that there was so little he could do about it right now, but he couldn’t change that.

‘We’ll see. I won’t make her do anything, but she saved me from that darjee, so if I can help her, I will,’ Tim said, a touch of resolve firming his voice as the wolf rested her head on his knee.

‘Let’s talk about it more when we get back to Hobson’s Point, nothing to be done until then anyway,’ Verdan said, waiting for Tim to nod before leaving him to his thoughts.

Verdan gave the wolf a last glance as he walked away, meeting its blue-eyed gaze as it watched him leave, head still on Tim’s knee. Seeing it like this made Verdan consider just why the wolf had been captured by the darjee and imprisoned alongside the fwyn and Elliot. The other question was why it was wearing that nasty collar and what the collar actually did because it certainly did something.

Verdan considered talking to Tim about it, but there wasn’t really much to discuss before they got back to Hobson’s Point. He was sure that Tim had considered the implications of the fact that the darjee had captured it.

‘Verdan, do you have a moment?’ Gruthka called out in low imperial, walking out from one of the small clusters of fwyn toward Verdan.

‘Of course,’ Verdan said, pausing to let the fwyn catch up with him. He’d been going over to talk to Tom about his display of magic, but that could wait. ‘What do you need?’

‘I wanted to thank you again for your aid. You’ve been every bit the wizard described in the stories of my people,’ Gruthka said, giving Verdan a respectful bow. The fwyn opened his mouth to continue but paused and looked up at Verdan with uncertainty in his wide eyes.

‘Is there something else?’ Verdan asked softly, seeing now the reluctance in the fwyn’s body language.

‘Yes, but please, take no offence at what I am about to say,’ Gruthka said, eyes still on Verdan as he measured the wizard’s reaction.

‘I will do my best,’ Verdan temporised, wanting to give the fwyn the chance to speak.

‘My people will be leaving us today, I will remain to guide you back to Gwen’s home, but the rest will leave.’

Verdan frowned, unsure of what part of that he should have been offended by. Gruthka was clearly waiting for a response, so Verdan ran the words back through his mind and nodded slightly as he realised what Gruthka was actually saying.

‘You don’t want us to know where you live, do you?’ Verdan said, knowing he’d guessed right when Gruthka cringed slightly.

‘There is too much bad blood with humans for a single action to wash away. Your status as a wizard will help bypass that, but the sachka would be feared by all who saw him.’ Gruthka said, using the fwyn term for sorcerers with a look of distaste.

‘I understand, but I would like a way to find you if I need to,’ Verdan said eventually, not wanting to lose contact with the fwyn altogether. He could create an Aether construct with a message tied to it and send that, but that would be problematic. Messages sent over long distances had a homing function built-in, but the Aether cost was prohibitive for anyone with Verdan’s current gathering spiral.

Verdan heaved an internal sigh as he considered yet another thing he would have been able to do, but not anymore. It would take such a long time for him to rebuild himself to where he had been during the war.

‘If you visit Gwen’s home, I will come to find you,’ Gruthka said after a few moments of thought. ‘A few fwyn live nearby that could pass me a message, but please don’t tell the other humans.’

‘You honour me with your trust and those of the other fwyn,’ Verdan said, touched by the offering.

‘You’ve earned it,’ Gurthka said simply as he gestured to the group he’d come from. ‘The fwyn who would get in touch with you are those that you’ve helped rescue. Dru, in particular, will be living nearby with his newly rescued uncle. Their family will gladly pass word should you arrive.’

‘I see no problem there, and I will try to come back sometime soon to make sure the darjee aren’t being an issue. You needn’t stay to guide us to Gwen’s home either; we can make our way from here,’ Verdan said, not wanting to impose on Gruthka if his people were all leaving.

‘Thank you, Wizard Verdan,’ Gruthka said formally, bowing as he spoke. ‘With that agreed, we will be on our way. It would be best if we returned to our homes as soon as possible.’

Verdan smiled and shifted uncomfortably as Gruthka rose from his bow and made his way back to his people. The other fwyn were seemingly ready to go, and in only a few moments, the fwyn were all on their feet and heading off into the surrounding woods.

‘Is everything okay?’ Gwen called out, rising to her feet with a frown as she saw all the fwyn leaving them. Kai looked equally concerned but relaxed after a glance at Verdan.

‘Everything is fine. The fwyn are heading the rest of the way back themselves. We’ll head for Hobson’s Point instead. At this speed, I think we should be there by tomorrow afternoon,’ Verdan said, making a mental allowance for a slightly slower pace due to Tim’s wounds.

‘We should start now then,’ Kai said, climbing to his feet and shouldering his spear with a final glance at the departing fwyn.

‘I’m ready when you are,’ Tim said, waving away his brother’s help as he got to his feet, the silver-furred wolf pressed up against his leg in support.

‘I don’t know the way to my cabin from here, not confidently anyway,’ Gwen said, looking at the area around them with a slight frown.

‘I was thinking of a more direct landmark to use,’ Verdan said, pointing at the distant mountains that sheltered Hobson’s Point. ‘If we head south towards the mountains, we’ll come across familiar terrain eventually.’

No one had any particular objection to that plan, so the seven of them started walking south, Kai leading the way while Elliot and Tim followed at a slower pace. Elliot had recovered well from the effects of the darjee bone charms and was back to his full strength. The big man kept his pace down to what was comfortable for Tim as they spoke about Hobson’s Point and what sort of things could be found there.

Gwen was walking just behind Tim and Elliot, her hand stroking the sleek feathers of her familiar as it sat on her shoulder. Verdan wanted to discuss how she was feeling now that she’d had a chance to use her magic more, but he had other priorities right now.

‘Tom, how are you feeling?’ Verdan asked as he dropped to the rear of their group to walk with the quiet man.

‘I’m fine,’ Tom said with a shrug. ‘I’ll be happy once we’re back, though.’

‘I will as well,’ Verdan said with a longing thought of the bed that was waiting for him. ‘How do you feel about what happened back there, with the powers you used?’ Verdan cut straight to the heart of the matter, not wanting to dance around the issue.

‘It’s strange,’ Tom said after a few moments of silent thought. ‘I’m not sure how it happened; it just did. You always hear stories of folk being able to wield sorcery in dangerous situations, but I never expected to be one of them,’ Tom said, a frown forming on his face as he spoke.

‘Do you think you could do it again?’ Verdan asked, cocking his head to one side in thought. The way that sorcerers used Aether was increasingly odd to him.

‘Maybe?’ Tom said, his frown developing further as he sighed in frustration. ‘I don’t really know. I asked Kai about it, and he said to meditate on the meaning of stone, but I don’t know what that means?’ Tom looked over to Verdan with a hopeful expression, but this was well outside of Verdan’s experience.

‘Kai knows best for these things, but let me know if anything else occurs to you. Alright?’ Verdan said, reassured by Tom’s nod of assent.

What sort of magic would flare up when the user was in danger but then subside again? Kai seemed to have full control, so why would Tom not? For that matter, why tell Tom to meditate on the meaning of stone?

So many questions, so few answers. The next thing on Verdan’s list was to talk to Kai about all this, that was for certain. For now, however, Verdan would devote a portion of his attention to working on his spiral, keeping just enough awareness to watch where he was walking. The darjee had picked this area clean, so it should be a safe enough use of time.