Lund was crouched near the fire. “What do you make of this?” He asked Isa and held out a few stubby pine needles in the palm of his hand.

“Have you seen Alice and Mery? They’re not on the road.”

“They’ll show up soon. You know they can take care of themselves.”

Isa chewed her lip. “Not if, like, a gang of people jumped them.”

Lund brushed the pine needles from his hands and stood. “We would have seen a gang of people.”

“Would we? They could have crawled out of the earth like, like pod people or something.” Isa knew she was working herself into a worry.

“Pod people? Isa, I don’t--”

Lund’s response was cut short by a shout from beyond the back wall. Through the crack in the corner Isa suddenly saw a short shadow. She immediately snapped her right hand on her staff and brought it almost horizontal. “Wrath,” she whispered.

Lund silently pulled his greatsword from its sheath, but before either of them could move a round, bearded face thrust through the opening. The head of a male dwarf with shaggy red hair and a thick brown beard took up a good part of the upper half of the opening. “They’re in here,” he said over his shoulder.

“Isa? You and Lund OK?” Alice’s voice came from somewhere beyond the dwarf. Then Mery’s voice said, “Get in, already! We’ll make this a cozy affair, and why not?”

The dwarf pushed himself through the opening and sat down at the fire. He held his hands out to warm them. Isa realized he wasn’t even wearing a jacket. “Put your weapons down. I’m no foe. Caught me napping you did.”

To Isa’s ears he sounded just like Zileek, the dwarf in Bywater. He had the same tilted accent that made napping sound like nipping.

He rubbed his hands together and squinted up at Isa and her glowing staff. “Druid, eh? That’s a nice staff. Me? I thought about using meld to stone. Why fight if I don’t have to? But that would have left me deaf, blind, and dumb. And 8 hours later I’d have to come out, company or no.”

“Why did you hide?” asked Alice.

Mery busied herself with getting water boiling in a pan by the fire.

“I’m not a druid.” Isa felt the need to interject that.

The dwarf didn’t seem to hear. “Wouldn’t you hide? 4 strangers coming up, armed for battle. How am I know your intent?”

“That’s actually what I said to them,” Alice replied. “Can’t be too careful. I’m Alice Fondel by the way. That’s Isa, Lund, and that’s Mery. She’s the one who figured out you were there.”

“Detect magic,” Mery grinned. “The old ways are the best, don’t you think?”

“I knew it was magic!” Lund clenched his fist.

“You knew what was magic?” asked Mery.

“The pine needles! Why are there pine needles at the edge of the desert?”

“Nicely reasoned, Lund, was it?” The dwarf touched his chest. “I am Dulrak of clan Gingerfist.” He turned to Isa. “Not a druid, huh? Cleric, maybe? Nature?” He leaned forward. “What’s your symbol? Who do you worship?”

Isa touched her necklace. “Lockwood. The Lady of Lockwood.” She was waiting for him to ask who that was - no one else seemed to know the elven deity - but Lund said, “What’s a dwarf doing out here on the edge of the world?” He reached into his pack and held out a piece of bread.

Dulrak took it, ripped it in half, and put one piece in his mouth. Around his food he said, “If the pay is right, a dwarf will go even to the ends of the world, right enough.”

“I can agree with that,” said Mery. “We’re on a job ourselves. Have you been out into the wastes much? We’re traveling right to the edge, we are.”

“This Lady’s sending you to the wastes, then? Interesting.”

“What’s your line?” Isa asked Dulrak. “Meld to stone…. Is that a wizard spell? Sounds familiar.”

“I’m a druid. Pine needles didn’t give that away?” He cocked his head. “You’re new to all this, yes?” His eyes seemed to travel from Isa’s boots all the way to her hair. “That’s Her symbol? The tree?” Dulrak put his hand to his throat to indicate Isa’s necklace.

Unconsciously Isa mimicked his movement. “Yes,” she said, and touching the tree and key symbol made her suddenly think of Vernal Fedru, the strange wizard. He’d once been part of Ysel’s tribe and still wore the symbol for some reason.

“It’s funny to see it again and so soon.” Dulrak’s voice was thoughtful but clear, still Isa almost missed it, lost in her own thoughts. Once the words sunk in, she took a step toward the dwarf. “You’ve seen this? Here? When? Where?”

Dulrak shrank back at Isa’s movement, and Mery stepped between them. “Not trying to cause trouble, friend.” She gave the dwarf a smile and angled herself directly in front of him. “New convert, right? Always trying to please. What say we stoke up this fire and get fed and settled for the night?”

“This place,” Dulrak said slowly, “it is a haven, a waypoint, for many people but especially for druids.” He paused and looked directly at Isa as if to make sure she was listening. “People - groups or single travelers like myself - when they add to the store, they leave a sign to say, ‘This group left this firewood’ or ‘A druid of this god or goddess planted this herb.’ Do you understand?”

He held her gaze, seeming to want an answer from her, and it seemed to Isa as if she and Dulrak were the only people in room. Until she answered him, they would stand as they were, in the dying light.

Isa blinked. “Yes. Yes, of course I understand!” Whatever had passed between them seemed overwrought for the subject matter; Dulrak acted as if this mundane point needed to be spoken aloud and acknowledged. “Yes,” she said again. “That seems like common courtesy. And so Lockwood druids probably stayed here at some point.” She waved her hand in the air. “They came here, stayed a night and left it better than when they arrived.”

In the silence that followed Alice said, “We should all sit and eat. We have plenty. There’s plenty.”

Dulrak stood. “I, too, have plenty, and it is the dwarven way to lay on a feast for new friends.” He dusted his hands and went to the corner of the room nearest the opening. He pulled up his pack and jacket. “Glad you didn’t try to rifle my things.”

“We didn’t even see them,” said Lund.

“We didn’t really have time to--” Isa began.

“That’s the point! Move quietly. Leave no trace, eh?” Dulrak chuckled and walked back to the fire. Through the corner opening, the sun was now dipping to the horizon. He pulled on his jacket. “And make use of what the Mother gives you - be it sun or shadow or storm.”