Fortus took it upon himself to move into the bed next to Lolo’s, so he could be right there in case her nightmares struck again. And strike they did, multiple times. When Durfein, Standig, and Ulana woke up then next morning, they found an exhausted Fortus asleep on Lolo’s bed, still holding her after her last night terror.

“Should we just leave them be?” Durfein asked.

“Is that even an option?” Standig countered.

“What do you think Sattal would do if they didn’t show up for training?” Ulana wondered.

In the end, they decided that they had better wake them up for breakfast. Fortus startled awake, but he could barely keep his eyes open. Lolo just wouldn’t wake up.

“You guys head to breakfast,” Fortus said sleepily. “I’ll wake her up, and we’ll join you in a bit.”

About ten minutes into breakfast, two very haggard zombies slouched into the seats next to Standig. Lolo wasn’t even interested in her breakfast. She immediately set her arms on the table to bury her face into them.

“Lolo,” Standig tried to coax her, “you really should try to eat something.”

Too late. She was already asleep again.

Ulana took up Lolo’s volunteer duties and brought the dishes back to the kitchen to wash them. She returned a few minutes later looking cranky. “I really don’t know how Lolo does it,” she was saying. “The cook is the most cantankerous human being I’ve ever met!”

Sattal sauntered into the mess hall with his usual entourage looking especially pleased with himself. “Everyone out to the field,” he ordered.

Lolo woke up to Sattal’s voice with a start, her heart racing, her face pale, and her hands clammy.

“Lolo, are you ok?” Standig asked, seeing her apparent distress.

She took a few deep breaths to calm herself and nodded. “I’m fine. Let’s go.”

Sattal took immense pleasure in tormenting Lolo during the run. After a few laps, he ordered her to stop and stand with him on the sidelines to watch the others. For once, Standig had to restrain Fortus instead of the other way around. While standing next to Sattal, Lolo felt her heart rate and breathing accelerate way beyond what they would have been had she simply continued to run. Sattal kept walking behind her, brushing past her, getting uncomfortably close, even by his standards. He laughed at how visibly tense she was, and something about his laugh made her nauseous.

After watching for a while, Lolo was allowed to rejoin her friends. She barely made it half a lap before she collapsed, hyperventilating, retching and dizzy.

“Lolo, come on. You’ve got to keep moving,” Fortus said, stopping to help her.

“Fortus… go on without me…. You’ll get into trouble…. Please.”

“No. I’m going to wait right here until you are ready.”

“Then... help me up.”

Fortus stood up and pulled her to her feet. She barely made it a dozen steps before she collapsed again onto her hands and knees.

“I can’t, Fortus…. I can’t... breathe.” Lolo realized she was panicking; the amount of fear she felt did not correlate with her current situation. She curled up in the fetal position on the patchy grass, trying to calm down and take control of her breath.

“What’s going on?” Standig stopped on his next lap.

“She’s struggling to breathe,” Fortus answered in a low, anxious voice.

Standig dropped to his hands and knees, creating a protective shield over Lolo with his body. “Lolo, do you think you can match my breathing?”

“I don’t… know…. I’ll try,” she gasped as Ulana and Durfein joined the group.

“Close your eyes, Lolo.” Working his way down gradually from her current respiratory rate, Standig slowed his breath, and, to everyone’s relief, Lolo’s breathing slowed with him.

“What do you think you all are doing?!” Sattal’s voice sounded from right behind them, and all that effort to help Lolo was instantly undermined.

“Watch out, guys,” Standig said, now at least partially understanding the source of Lolo’s distress. He picked her up effortlessly and started walking her off the field.

Fortus whispered something in Durfein’s ear, and Durfein nodded.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Sattal hissed.

Standig paused just long enough to look down his nose at Sattal and hoist Lolo up a little higher in his arms. Durfein took advantage of the disruption to leave for the armory and Fortus and Ulana followed Standig to make sure he got Lolo back to the bunker safely. Behind them, they could hear Sattal threatening and cursing them.

“You know,” Ulana said to Fortus as Sattal’s raging became more distant, “Lolo was right. Sattal is pathetic.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Fortus thought.

Halfway back to the bunker, Lolo registered her surroundings and started freaking out all over again. “We have to go back. Sattal will punish all of you!”

“We’re not going to give him the chance to punish us,” Fortus stated.

“You mean… but then…. Fortus, we can’t!”

“We’ll talk about this at the bunker, Lolo.”

As soon as they got there, Standig set Lolo down on her bed, and everyone gathered around her.

“Guys, we have to go back,” Lolo repeated herself, fighting tears. “Sattal… he’ll….”

“What do you think he’ll do, Lolo?” Standig asked.

“What can he do?” Ulana interjected. “He lost control of our entire group, literally. All five of us walked out.”

“Like I said earlier, we’re not going to give that conscienceless monster the opportunity to punish us.” Fortus was adamant. “Pack light. We leave tonight.”

“Whoa, wait! Shouldn’t we talk about this first?” Ulana asked.

“No. Tonight, Ulana,” Fortus dug his heels in.

“What about Durfein?”

“Don’t worry. He knows.”

“He’ll complete the armor today?”

“He said that he would.”

“But guys, you’re forgetting about Pahaad,” Lolo choked. “Sattal will find someone to punish. If it’s not us, then it will be Jadu and Shanti and their village!”

“Lolo,” Ulana sat on the bed next to her, “I don’t know what happened yesterday or why you were struggling to breathe on the field today, but I’ve seen enough to know that you can’t stay here.”

“I’ve actually given this some thought, Lolo,” Standig addressed her concerns. “I’m going to invite the people of Pahaad to the Bear Tribe. They are at the mercy of the dragon military here, and the Bear Tribe can offer them safety. Plus, we still need a new lodge physician, and I’m sure Philige wouldn’t mind.” This seemed to calm Lolo, at least for the moment, and everyone breathed easier for it.

“In the meantime, I’ve got a map to study,” Fortus smiled reassuringly. Fortus found the crack in the wall where Shanti’s map was hidden. “Can you guys help me block the windows again?” Ulana and Standig busied themselves hanging blankets in the windows.

Fortus spent the next hour under a quilt in the corner studying Shanti’s map. Once he was satisfied that he’d memorized it, Fortus returned the map to its hiding place.

And not a moment too soon. A dozen of Sattal’s men barged into the bunker. Standig and Fortus positioned themselves between the soldiers and Huo Lohse. Ulana moved to the side to flank them.

“So, you decided to take the day off,” Sattal began, entering behind his men.

The trainees knew better than to respond and simply waited for Sattal to make his point.

“Captain Ajigar!” Tamkhee entered behind him.

“This had better be important, Captain Yudha,” Sattal spat.

“The general is asking for your report from last week.”

“What report?” Sattal asked suspiciously.

“On the training,” Tamkhee said as though it should be obvious. “The general is missing your progress and incident reports from last week. He sent me to collect them.”

Sattal was angry. "I'll send them after we've finished here."

Tamkhee moved in close to whisper something in Sattal's ear. Sattal appeared agitated by whatever he said.

"Here?"

"The badger is finishing it now."

"When?"

"Before sundown."

Sattal seemed to forget about bullying the trainees for the moment and left without another word. His confused men followed him out, leaving Tamkhee alone with the trainees.

"Cadets," Tamkhee addressed the room, "the Dragon General will be arriving in the next few hours for your companion to deliver some armor. Make sure you are presentable."

"Captain Yudha," Huo Lohse pushed through the two boys in front of her to face Tamkhee, "thank you... for everything."

He narrowed his eyes at her and got right up in her face. Lolo felt Standig and Fortus simultaneously tense behind her. "Don't misunderstand me, Huo Lohse Lang," he whispered so only she could hear. "I haven't done anything for you. We are not friends. My loyalty is to the Dragon Tribe alone." He turned to leave.

"Captain," she said, and he stopped in the doorway. "I won't forget it."

He left without looking back. As soon as he was gone, Standig went to close the door and Ulana rushed to Lolo to ask her about what Tamkhee had said.

"He rejected my gratitude and told me he was only loyal to the Dragon Tribe," Lolo shrugged.

"He probably just wanted to make sure that Sattal couldn't do something stupid and start a war before they were ready," Fortus said, giving Lolo a meaningful look.

"Perhaps."

"Perhaps?" Fortus snapped.

"Fine. Probably," Lolo corrected herself.

Fortus seemed appeased and dropped it.

"I guess we'd better get ready then," Ulana suggested. "I don't have any 'presentable' training clothes left."

"I don't know about you guys, but I kind of want to make sure the dragons never forget us," Lolo said.

"What do you mean by that?" Standig asked.

Lolo went to her drawers and pulled out a rich green dress. "It's our last opportunity to leave an impression. So let's leave one."

About an hour until sundown, the trainees were summoned to a corner courtyard near the armory. Huo Lohse had made sure that everyone was dressed to kill. Ulana wore Lolo's fiery red dress with gold accents, drawing the red out of her wavy auburn hair. Lolo had done Ulana's make-up to give a sharpness to her grey eyes. The combined effect epitomized the appearance of a Phoenix. Standig wore the formal blue and black robes from his tribe, bringing out his blue eyes and accentuating his tall, broad stature. All cleaned up, he was an imposing presence. Fortus dressed in black and gold, the formal uniform of the lion military, and Lolo fixed his hair to look effortlessly tousled. He looked sharp, regal even, and powerful, and the gold in his uniform brought out the gold in his hair and the warmth in his eyes. Lolo's green dress made her eyes look green. She had to tighten the silver and black belt on her dress considerably because of all the weight she'd lost over the summer, but a smaller waist worked in her favor by exaggerating her feminine curves. With her hair done and some dramatic make-up, she was ready to make a silent statement.

Durfein watched them approach the courtyard with his jaw on the floor. "I almost didn't recognize you guys," he whispered to Huo Lohse, still staring.

Lolo found it hard to keep a straight face watching the soldiers react to their appearance. Gone were the dehumanized trainees they'd been kicking around all summer. Before them instead were four intimidating forces to be reckoned with.

General Yudha arrived as the sun started setting, giving the clouds an orange glow and adding to his own threatening ambiance. Durfein presented the armor to him and helped him put it on. The armor was a masterful piece of work combining the best armor with Durfein's particular brand of artistry. The black metal plating had been hammered to create the illusion of dragon scales. The chainmail at the general's midriff was made with multiple colors of rings, organized to give the illusion of flames. If it hadn't been so terrifying to see the Dragon General wearing it, it would have been beautiful.

General Yudha seemed satisfied with Durfein's work. At a minimum, he didn't find anything to complain about.

"How is the fit?" Durfein asked.

General Yudha didn’t respond.

"Are you satisfied with the artistry?" Durfein tried again.

Without any feedback from the general one way or the other, Durfein resorted to thanking him for the honor of his apprenticeship.

The general merely glanced at Durfein before leaving the courtyard. The soldiers followed him out.

“Well, I'm not sure what I expected, but I think that went ok," Lolo whispered to Durfein when he rejoined them. "The armor is really beautiful, Durfein."

Sattal seemed distracted by following the general out with the rest of the soldiers, so it was left to Tamkhee to dismiss the trainees back to the bunker.

He looked each of the trainees up and down, stopping in front of Lolo. "There was no need to dress quite so formally."

"You did say 'presentable', did you not?"

"I'll be more specific in the future," he said, just the slightest twinkle of amusement showing behind his otherwise cold, narrowed eyes. "Dismissed."

Huo Lohse took a moment to make eye contact with Tamkhee, forcing him to acknowledge her before leaving. "Captain," she nodded without looking away.

Force of habit made Tamkhee nod back at her, and Lolo could have sworn that she saw the corners of his mouth twitch. Lolo smiled at him and followed her friends out of the courtyard.

Once out of Tamkhee's sight, Fortus pulled everyone into the trees along the path. "Does anyone need to return to the bunker for anything? No incriminating notes left behind? Nothing important you forgot?"

They looked around at each other. Lolo had already burned Shanti's old note, and Fortus had brought her map with him. Their abandoned belongings were all ragged training clothes and a handful of small personal items like hair brushes for the girls and razors for the boys. They were already wearing everything of value; and Lolo had gone through Durfein's things to bring anything important looking from his stuff tucked carefully under her skirt.

Fortus waited for Tamkhee to pass them on the path before continuing. "This is actually a pretty good place to start our hike tonight, and the soldiers are already distracted by the general's presence. No one will look for us for a while."

“Where do we start?” Ulana asked.

“Durfein, can you take us to the armory?” Fortus asked.

“It’s back that way,” Durfein said, pointing toward the courtyard they’d just left.

The trainees stuck to the trees as Durfein led them back to the courtyard and around to the west. Lolo and Ulana found it necessary to tie giant knots in their skirts to keep them from snagging on the under brush of the forest.

“Just through there,” Durfein pointed through the trees to a large building with a blacksmith’s station to the side.

“Excellent.” Fortus looked around to orient himself. “This way.” He led the group north, away from the armory and toward the mountains.

“Fortus,” Lolo whispered sharply, “this is where the cave is.”

Fortus stopped to take a moment to reassure her. “The path to Pahaad begins near the cave, Lolo, but we won’t get too close.”

She nodded, and Fortus held her hand as they pressed forward.

To their right, they could see the slightest flickering of light from the torches mounted outside the cave, and Fortus led the group directly to the same cliff face. However, much to Lolo’s relief, they followed the cliff to the left, away from the torchlight.

Fortus suddenly stopped and exhaled through pursed lips. “This is the tricky bit,” he said, pointing to an easily overlooked, narrow ledge of rock carved steeply upward along the cliffside. “This ledge right here turns into a series of switchbacks up the mountain, but this first little bit is going to leave us exposed as we climb above the height of the trees. We’re going to have to be quick to not be seen but careful so we don’t fall.”

Everyone nodded and lined up to follow Fortus up the path. Standig took up the rear so he could make sure they weren’t being followed. The path felt like it climbed forever, and the ascent was extra daunting in the dark. Just as Fortus had said, the trainees climbed above the height of the trees and then tripled that height before the path finally changed directions and led them away from the edge of the cliff.

“Standig, any signs that we’ve been spotted?” Fortus asked.

“Not that I’ve detected.”

Fortus nodded and smiled cautiously. “We should be good then, but for safety, let’s keep to the woods along the edge of the path.”

They followed the switchbacks all the way to the mountain peak, keeping to the trees for cover where possible. Fortus pointed down the other side of the mountain toward the east. There in the distance, was a small light.

“That’s Pahaad,” Fortus said.

The light grew bigger as they got closer, then became multiple little lights stationed around a collection of small homes. In the center of the village was a beautiful, aromatic garden with a firepit glowing at its center. Not knowing where else to go and not wanting to wake anyone, the trainees added some wood to the fire and sat down around it.

Fortus finally seemed to relax a little. “Try to get some sleep while you can,” he whispered. Everyone picked a patch of ground to curl up on, and, one-by-one, they drifted off.

Huo Lohse dreamed of being hunted. Nameless, faceless men chased her and her friends through the trees, burning the forest as they went. Somehow, Lolo was separated from everyone, and she ran into a large creature that trapped her and knocked her down. As she fell, the creature turned into a man who pinned her, laughing as she struggled futilely to get away. The men that had been chasing her circled around them to point and laugh as the man on top of her bit her neck and started drinking her blood.

“Wake up! You’re ok.” It was Fortus.

Huo Lohse was shaking. Fortus was sitting on the ground next to her, holding her hand and rubbing her shoulder. She sat up to catch her breath.

“You were having another nightmare.”

Lolo looked around. Ulana, Standig, and Durfein were all still asleep. “Did I wake you?”

Fortus smiled. “I’ve been keeping watch.”

“You haven’t slept?!”

Fortus shook his head.

“Let me take a turn then. You were up with me most of last night, and I don’t think I’ll be getting back to sleep anyway.”

“Want to talk about it?” he asked.

“About what? My nightmare?”

He nodded.

“Not particularly.”

“Was it about the cave?”

“Not exactly, but some of the elements were similar.”

Fortus looked at the fire. He appeared tired and miserable.

“Are you ok?”

“I’m just worried about you is all.”

“Fortus, you’re not the type to worry about other people.... It’s not that I don’t appreciate your concern. I’m just curious about what’s changed.”

Fortus looked down at his lap. “You were assaulted because of me.”

“No, I wasn’t. You don’t really believe that do you? I was assaulted because of Sattal.”

“But you never would have kissed him if it wasn’t for me.”

“No, Fortus, I never would have kissed him if it wasn’t for him. If it had been Ulana or Standig or Durfein or anyone else in your position, I’d have made the same choice. You don’t owe me anything.” Lolo turned to stare at the fire.

Fortus looked up to study her face. “Why would you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Put yourself in jeopardy for someone else, someone like me that’s not even your friend?”

“Yeah, why aren’t we friends, Fortus?” Lolo tried to change the subject.

“Lions don’t have friends.”

“Why not?”

“It’s just not how we do things.”

“Well, you have a friend now.”

Fortus had to stop and process what she said. “We’re friends?”

“Like it or not,” she nodded.

Fortus returned to staring at the fire. “Lolo, you didn’t answer my question.”

“What question?”

“Why would you put yourself in jeopardy for someone else?”

Lolo started twisting the fabric of her skirt around her fingers.

“Well?” Fortus prodded.

“Because that’s my weakness.”

“What is?”

“People, Fortus. I care too much about people. It might have something to do with being a wolf spirit host. I'm wired to protect my pack, protect people, but I know I take things to an abnormal extreme. Sattal must have figured that out.”

“What about people you’re not friends with? Do you feel compelled to protect them too?”

She nodded.

Surprised, Fortus wondered how far this weakness extended. “What about your enemies?”

“I guess it would depend on the circumstances.”

“Ok, hypothetically, same situation. Some jerk is demanding that you kiss him or Sattal gets tortured.”

“I can’t really imagine someone other than Sattal being that jerk right now. So I’m not sure.”

“Ok. Same situation except Tamkhee’s being tortured. Would you kiss the jerk to save Tamkhee?”

Lolo looked down at her hands and nodded.

Fortus had to stand up and pace for a minute. When he got himself back under control, he knelt down to grab Lolo by the shoulders. “So, you’re telling me, you would go through all that for someone like Tamkhee? Are you out of your mind?!”

Lolo couldn’t answer him.

“Why?!”

“I can’t watch someone suffer needlessly if I can do something about it.”

Fortus had to pace again. “What are you going to do when a war breaks out, huh? You have to hurt people in war. Heck! You have to kill them!”

She nodded. “War is kind of like this summer’s training. I hurt Sattal’s men to protect myself, you, and the others. Their pain protected us. It wasn’t needless, but I still hated doing it.”

“That seems like a convenient distinction.”

“Perhaps,” Lolo admitted, “but the winner of a fight is the one who survives or protects the ones they want to protect.”

“Is that some sort of Wolf Tribe saying?”

“No. That’s a Huo Lohse Lang original.”

“Or protects the ones they want to protect? So you’re not even really concerned with your own survival?”

“Obviously I want to survive. You know that I'm not afraid to defend myself, but, yes, that’s secondary to protecting others.”

“I have never met anyone like you before, Huo Lohse, and I don’t think I’m capable of understanding you,” Fortus said. "I mean, I understand what you are saying, I just can’t wrap my head around how you can actually live like that. Maybe that's the difference between wolves and lions.”

“You don’t have to agree with me or anything,” Lolo’s laugh sounded hollow. “Like I said, it’s my weakness, and I know it's a bit extreme. I don’t exactly recommend it, but that’s who I am.”

“So, who is allowed to protect you then?” Fortus asked.

“What do you mean?”

Fortus sat down in front of her to look her in the eyes. “While you're prepared to make the sacrificial play to protect the whole world, who is allowed to get hurt to protect you?”

“I don’t want anyone to get hurt for me.”

Fortus was grave. “Then can you understand how I feel right now?”

Huo Lohse didn’t even notice the tears roll down her cheeks as she studied Fortus’s face. “I-I didn’t realize…. Fortus…. I’m sorry.” She started to sob. “I’m so, so sorry!”

Fortus pulled her into a hug and sighed. “It’s ok, Lolo. It’s ok.”