Fortus decided that it would be best to get Huo Loshe cleaned up before returning to the bunker. He grabbed her discarded, ripped shirt and picked her up off the rock floor. Injured himself, carrying her proved difficult. He managed to get her to the river bank where he began to rinse the blood off her neck and face using her trashed shirt like a washcloth. She started to stir.

"Lolo?"

She didn't respond.

"Lolo, hey. Can you wake up?" Fortus shook her shoulder gently.

She groaned but worked to open her eyes for him.

"Hey. Are you ok? We need to get back to the bunker, but I don't think I can carry you anymore. Lolo?"

"Fortus?"

"Yeah?"

"What's going on?"

"I'm just trying to get you cleaned up."

"Oh. Thank you." She struggled into a sitting position and took her shirt from Fortus to continue the cleaning up process.

Fortus seemed lost in thought. "Lolo, can I ask you something?"

"Hmm?"

He hesitated. "I was wondering. Why didn't you fight back against Sattal? Was it because of me?"

Her eyes instantly welled up. "I was trying to fight, Fortus."

"You were? Then how come-"

"Because of a sedation needle."

"They drugged you?!" Fortus was suddenly so angry, he had to stand up and pace just to keep his temper in check.

"... For fighting with the guards."

"They took away your ability to resist so Sattal could assault you?!"

"Well, that's not why-"

"BUT IT DOESN'T CHANGE THE RESULT," Fortus roared. Lolo looked up and saw a rage in Fortus's expression that she had never seen before. He was livid.

She struggled to her feet and pulled him into a hug. "I'm sorry you had to watch that."

Fortus's anger softened a little hearing the tremor in her voice. "Lolo, it wasn't your fault."

"But it doesn't change the result," she said tearfully, using his own words back at him. She pulled away to wipe her eyes and saw her blood dried onto his shoulders and chest where he'd held her. "Let's get you cleaned up too."

Splashing her face in the cool water helped clear Huo Lohse's system of the sedative. With the blood washed off of him and the return of Lolo's strength, Fortus calmed down too.

"We should get back now that I can walk," Lolo said. "Fortus, there's something else. I think Tamkhee-" She choked and had to take a few deep breaths to keep herself from crying. "Tamkhee stopped him at the end."

Fortus had to think about it. "I couldn't hear what they were saying, but, yes, Tamkhee said something to Sattal right before he got off of you."

Lolo looked around to make sure that they were alone and lowered her voice. "He told Sattal that I'm not worth starting a war over because they're not ready yet."

"You're sure?" Fortus moved closer to her to read her face.

"Pretty sure. But I was drifting in and out by that point, so it's all a little fuzzy," she admitted.

"Lolo, you realize what this means, don't you?"

"Yes. It means that your hunch was right; the dragons are planning for a war."

Arriving back at the bunker soggy with Lolo wearing Fortus's shirt, Standig and Ulana had a lot of questions. Fortus had promised not to talk about Sattal's assault, so he let Lolo construct her own narrative to explain their injuries and choice of wardrobe.

"As you probably expected, they made it a point to teach us a lesson. I resisted, and a guard got hold of the front of my shirt. It ripped, and Fortus was a gentleman and gave me his shirt."

"What did they do to you?" Standig asked.

"Beat us up. Fortus said they beat him with a rod. I took a kick to the ribs and hit my head."

"What happened to your neck, Lolo?" Ulana asked.

"Uh, hot rocks." Fortus was impressed by how believable her lie was.

"It looks more like bruising," Ulana pressed.

"They're burns."

Ulana frowned at her. "So then what about here." She pointed to the oozing wound on her collarbone.

"I'm not sure what caused that," Lolo replied. "I couldn't see what they were doing."

"Whatever it was, it looks like they took a chunk of flesh out, almost like something bit you."

"I wouldn't put it past them to have some sort of tool that mimics an animal bite." This, at least, was true. "Whatever it was, it really hurt."

"But we got some information," Fortus volunteered before their friends could cross examine them. "Tamkhee let slip that they are not yet ready for a war, which means-"

"Which means they are planning for one," Standig finished for him.

Fortus nodded.

"It looks like your suspicions have been confirmed, Fortus," Ulana said, not sure if she was glad that they had been justified in risking staying or terrified by the prospect of a war.

"We actually have some news too," Standig said. "After the fight this morning, medics were called in from Pahaad to treat the soldiers. One of the medics bumped into Ulana, literally, and passed her a note."

"From whom?" Fortus asked.

"You can read it yourself," Ulana said, pulling out a slip of paper from inside her shirt to hand to Fortus. "Tell us what you think."

Fortus read it, shrugged, and passed it to Lolo.

The note was unsigned, but Lolo recognized the handwriting instantly. "Shanti."

Standig nodded. "Read it. It's addressed to you, anyway. See if anything stands out."

Lolo,

When life gets darkest, I hope you know that you always have friends.

"That's it?"

"That's it," Ulana confirmed.

Lolo' eyebrows knit together. "This is from Shanti. Maybe there's a hidden message."

"That's what I was thinking too," Standig said. "But nothing stands out to me."

Lolo read through the note again. "'When life gets darkest' is such a hackneyed phrase. It doesn't sound like Shanti."

"Maybe she means it literally," Ulana pondered out loud.

"Like, at night?" Fortus suggested.

"Yeah. Maybe she has something planned," Ulana added.

"Unlikely. I mean, coming here on the slim chance that we decifer her note is just stupid," Standig said.

"Hey! I'm just spitballing!" Ulana snapped at Standig; their emotions were all running extra high.

"Guys," Lolo tried to get their attention.

"I didn't hear you coming up with any ideas!" Ulana said accusingly.

"Guys," Lolo tried again.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Standig said, offended.

"HEY, GUYS!!" She finally caught their attention. "Help me block out the light from the windows, will you?"

"Did you find something?" Standig asked.

"I don't know yet," Lolo replied.

With the windows blocked as best they could manage, Lolo found a blanket to throw over her head and look over the note again.

"Find anything?" Standig asked.

"Shanti is a genius," Lolo confirmed.

The four trainees crowded under the blanket to look at the note together. The side with the note was nothing special. The back side, however, glowed in the dark.

"Fortus, what does this look like to you?" Lolo handed him the paper.

"It's a map!"

"... to Pahaad," Lolo added. "Shanti has offered us an escape route."

They pulled the blanket off, and Fortus folded the note back up to return to Lolo.

"Fortus, having grown up studying military deployments, you have the most experience with maps. Hang onto this?" Lolo suggested.

He nodded and hid it in a small crack in the bunker wall near the ground.

"Well, so when do we leave?" Standig asked.

"Are we ready to leave?" Ulana backtracked.

“I think the question is should we leave?” Lolo brought up a good point. “We only have two and a half weeks of the exchange left at this point. Going to Pahaad puts the village at risk.”

“Two and a half weeks is a long time here, Lolo,” Ulana said. “Just look at you and Fortus! In just a week and a half under Sattal’s rule, you’ve been taken captive and beaten twice. I’d hate to see what they do to you next. Fortus, you’ve been beaten too. What’s your opinion?”

Everyone turned to look at Fortus who in turn looked at Lolo. "I think," he started carefully, "we've done what we stayed to do. We've confirmed that the dragons are planning to start a war. Staying puts us at unnecessary risk for a slim chance of collecting tactical information. But you’re right, Lolo. There could be repercussions for Pahaad that we need to consider."

"And what about Durfein?" Lolo reminded them. "He has to complete the armor first. We can't leave him here alone, so we can’t leave until then at least."

"Good point," Standig said. "Lolo, do you know how much he has left to do?"

"I'm not sure. Last I talked to him, he said he was getting close. I'll ask him again when I see him. Fortus, do your best to memorize the map before then," Lolo said. "If we do take Shanti up on her offer, we might have soldiers on our tail, and I don't fancy reading a map in the dark on the run."

Fortus nodded.

While her friends continued to talk quietly about a potential escape to Pahaad, Lolo found sleep irresistible, and she drifted off while no one was looking.

"How important would it be for us to recover our swords from the registration room?" Fortus asked.

"I guess it depends if we want to be able to defend ourselves and if they have any sentimental value. I don't know about you guys, but I kind of like my sword," Ulana contributed.

"But is it worth the added risk of breaking into the registration room? It might be easier to pick up different swords for defense elsewhere," Standig contributed.

Fortus nodded. "Even if we have sentimental attachments to the swords they confiscated, I think Standig's probably right. A heist adds too much unnecessary risk."

Ulana agreed somewhat sadly. "Lolo, what do you think?"

The group turned to discover Lolo out cold.

"Let her sleep. She's had a rough day," Fortus said.

"What really happened today at the cave?" Ulana asked Fortus. "I know you two didn't tell us everything."

“It's not really a subject for polite conversation. Both of us would rather just forget the whole experience," Fortus said, avoiding eye contact.

Ulana looked to Standig for backup; Standig merely shrugged. "Fine," Ulana huffed. "Keep it to yourselves. It would just help our risk assessment as we decide whether or not to try to escape to Pahaad." She glared at Standig as if to say, "you're no help."

"We need to get Lolo out of here," Fortus said quietly, catching both Ulana and Standig off-guard.

"Why do you say that?" Standig asked, suddenly anxious.

"Just, believe me. We need to get her out of here. The sooner, the better."

Ulana and Standig stared at Fortus, trying to unlock the hidden meaning behind his words.

From the corner, the three heard a small gasp, as though someone was in pain. They turned to see Huo Lohse begin to fit in her sleep. She was sweating profusely and breathing heavily. Her forehead was furrowed, her neck and back arched as though straining against something. Crying out in distress, her fingers twisted in the sheets beneath her.

Fortus ran to try to wake her up. "Lolo, Lolo!" He tried to grab her hand, but she jerked it away. Even though she was asleep, she seemed terrified.

Standig tried to help by pinning her arms down. This just seemed to distress her further. She cried harder and struggled against Standig's grip.

"Let go, Standig!" Fortus nearly shouted. "That won't help."

Ulana watched horrified as Standig let go, and Lolo rolled violently away from him, crashing into Fortus. Fortus caught her as she fell out of the bed and woke up in a terrible panic. She stood up as if to fight, still crying and struggling against Fortus.

"Lolo! Lolo, it's me. It's ok. You're safe." Fortus held her shoulders until she recognized him.

"Fortus?"

He nodded, concern in his eyes.

There was a brief pause during which everyone held their breath.

Lolo collapsed into Fortus, sobbing harder still and clinging to his shirt.

Fortus sank to his knees to follow her down and hold her tight. He looked up to see Ulana and Standig exchange rattled glances and waited for them to look back at him so he could communicate a silent "see what I mean?"

Durfein got back from the armory in time to watch Fortus gather an hysterical Lolo into his lap so he could hold her better. Sensing that he shouldn't interrupt them, Dufein pulled Standig aside. "What happened?"

"Only Fortus knows," Standig said. "They were taken to the cave today, but they don't want to talk about it."

Durfein looked extremely concerned. "I've been hearing rumors from the armorer about the cave. It's supposed to be a torture chamber. Did she come back like this?"

"A torture chamber?! They made it sound more like a prison…. And no. She fell asleep, and I think she must have had a nightmare. She woke up like this. Do you think they were tortured?"

"All I know is that I've heard some of Sattal's soldiers brag about the efficiency of their torture methods. Apparently, they have a guy whose only job is to invent new tortures."

"What are you guys talking about?" Ulana joined their hushed conversation.

"Torture," Standig said grimly. “We’re wondering if….” He couldn’t finish.

"You’re wondering if they were tortured today? That would explain her terror," Ulana shuddered. "Torture is as much psychological as it is physical."

"Lolo had a brush with torture last year, though, and she didn't have nightmares like this," Standig said.

"I didn't know that she was tortured last year!" Durfein felt sick.

"My uncle locked her up in an isolation room last summer," Standig said. "It's not torture to just anyone, but Lolo is a wolf."

Durfein nodded his understanding. "You know, torture has a cumulative effect. The first time might affect a person minimally while a second or third time can break them. This is the second time that the dragons have taken her to the cave."

"Yeah, but she told us what happened the last time," Ulana reminded them. "Tamkhee beat her."

"Does a brutal beating not count as torture? Besides, according to Tamkhee, his beating was the lightest punishment she could get away with," Standig said. "Today was her second offense. She probably didn't get off so 'easily' this time."

The friends turned to look at Huo Lohse, still inconsolable in Fortus's arms.

"Something happened," Ulana said. "For Fortus, of all people, to be this involved…." Ulana didn't complete her thought.

The friends waited until Lolo cried herself back to sleep on Fortus's shoulder before catching Durfein up on everything.

"Assuming nothing major happens, I'm on track to get the armor completed here within the next couple of days," Durfein told them. "I had planned on stretching the process out so I could stay with you guys until the end, but if you have an early escape, I will hurry it up. I have to admit, though, I'm not sure how I feel about preparing armor for the general of an army that's about to wage war on the rest of the world."

"One suit of armor in exchange for your own tribe's safety, even if it’s only temporary, is worth it, Durfein," Fortus assured him.

"There's something else you should know,” Durfein said. “Once I'm done with the armor, I'm supposed to pack up and walk out the front door, so to speak."

"They plan to just let you go?” Ulana asked.

“I guess. At least, that’s what they told me,” Durfein said.

“That feels fishy to me,” Ulana scowled.

“Why?” Standig asked. “They let the other trainees leave after the first week.”

“I don’t know,” Ulana replied. “Doesn’t it just feel like getting out of here will be, or at least should be, harder than simply walking away?”

“Well, we are planning an escape,” Fortus said. “Maybe it feels that way because of that?”

“Maybe,” Ulana conceded. “It’s just that, they obviously have no problem hurting the only princess of the great Wolf Tribe. Someone like Durfein from the small Badger Tribe or me, the daughter of a random councilor, would be even more expendable to them. Once we’re no longer useful or interesting, do you really believe that they will just let us go?”

“I think we’ve all been here too long,” Fortus said. “Our judgement has been impaired and our ability to evaluate the current threat has been compromised.”

“Fortus, were you and Lolo tortured today?” Standig blurted out the question that everyone had been wondering.

Fortus sighed heavily and looked down at the tear-stained face resting on his chest. “If you must know, yes.”

Everybody froze.

Ulana dared to speak first. “What did they do-”

“I already told you, Ulana, I don’t want to talk about it. And I’ll ask you to please not ask Lolo about it either.”

“But-” the look on Fortus’s face made her stop.

“She took the worst of it to protect me. That’s all you need to know,” Fortus said. He looked down at Lolo again and added quietly, “the stupid little fool.”