Lolo woke up on the ground, her head spinning. It was dark around her, and she had the sensation that she was trying to remember something that was just out of reach. Fortus was on the ground to her left, and Standig was on the ground to her right. “What just happened? Was it all just a weird dream?” She shook her head to try and clear it. “Oh no! Fortus!” Lolo quickly moved to check that Fortus was ok. She threw open his still unbuttoned shirt to find his ribs miraculously healed and his breathing deep and steady. She checked his head. Not a scratch. “So it wasn’t a dream. What does it all mean?”

Jadu was the next person to wake up. “Lolo? What just happened?”

“I was hoping you’d be able to tell me.”

Jadu looked around at the rest of the group. “Is Fortus ok?”

“Do you happen to remember your hands lighting on fire?” Lolo asked.

“So it wasn’t just me....” Jadu seemed at once relieved and all the more perplexed.

“Well, whatever you did, Fortus appears to be in perfect health now.”

“You howled.”

“I know. Actually, I think I’ve done it before, but it’s like that part of memory only just now woke up.”

Jadu nodded. “I know what you mean.”

“Your eyes glowed blue.”

“And yours glowed green.”

“Ok. So it wasn’t a dream. We both remember it. What does it mean?”

“Did you have a really weird vision just now?” Jadu asked.

“Yeah. It’s kind of like I was trying to remember all of history, but I didn't do a very good job of it, apparently. I can't remember any of it.”

Jadu nodded. “Me too.”

“So, back to my original question, what do you think it means?” Ulana and Standig both started to stir, and Jadu grinned a little as they groggily started asking the same questions. “We’ve already established that it wasn’t a dream. We’re trying to figure out what it all means,” Lolo caught them up to speed. Fortus woke up, and Lolo repeated herself.

“I have a theory,” Standig spouted. “You might think I’m crazy though.”

“After what just happened, I’m not sure how much crazier this can get,” Lolo laughed.

“Ok. Hear me out. I grew up hearing ancient myths about primordial spirits-”

“... And you think we might be hosts to some of those ancient primordial spirits?!” Lolo finished for him. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt. It’s just that I was kind of thinking the same thing.”

“You were?!” Standig was pleasantly surprised.

“Aren’t the primordial spirits just a bedtime story?” Ulana was skeptical at best. “They return when the world is in great peril, to save the race of man they once accepted as their own, and blah, blah, blah....”

“Yeah, but the world kind of is in great peril,” Fortus observed. “We’re facing a war against the Dragon Tribe, and we know that they have been preparing for it for a long time.”

“But primordial spirits?” Ulana pressed. “You have to admit, it is a bit fantastical.”

“What just happened is already fantastical,” Jadu added quietly. “I somehow healed Fortus by an act of will with my hands on fire.”

“And I howled and created a bunch of swirling lights and triggered some really strange dreams for all of us,” Lolo contributed.

“And I could swear I met my animal spirit before it jumped back into my chest,” Fortus laughed. (It was good to hear Fortus's laughter again.)

“Ok. Granted,” Ulana conceded. “It’s all a bit fantastical. I admit, after all of that, primordial spirits actually existing doesn’t seem quite so impossible.”

While the group continued debating the existence of primordial spirits, Standig turned to Lolo. “I told you that you howled up that tree before. I even saw the lights!”

“Standig, you know how our partner meditations are super intense?”

“You think this might explain why?”

Lolo nodded. “Theoretically, our animal spirits are ancient and have millennia of history together.”

“Lolo, remember that old courtyard I showed you?”

“You think that might be related as well?”

Standig smiled. “I kind of wonder if my dad knew about all of this when he took me there. He did tell me that ‘Someday, when you are older, it will be useful to you.’ I wonder if this is what he meant.”

“How would he know about this?”

Standig's face bunched up as he pondered. “My uncle once told me that the Great Owl came to meet me soon after I was born. You know that she likes to bless the babies. According to him, she was quite taken with me. She seemed to recognize something in me, something unique and familiar.”

“You know, it’s rumored that the Great Owl is an ancient primordial spirit.”

“I know. That's why, when he used the term 'familiar' it actually seemed meaningful.”

“Come to think of it, Standig, my dad has told me something similar about the Great Owl meeting me as a baby. He told me that she seemed to be looking for something when she met me, and she ‘left satisfied’. I had no idea what that might even mean until now.”

“Hey guys,” Standig interrupted the group, “have you had any interesting encounters with the Great Owl? Specifically as a baby?”

“Actually, yeah,” Fortus was the first to speak. “My father told me that when she came to bless me, the Great Owl told him that I had a ‘unique and powerful destiny’.”

“My mother told me that the Great Owl actually smiled when she held me,” Ulana laughed. “Apparently, she barely even looked at my sisters.”

“The Great Owl promised my dad that I would be 'the greatest healer to exist in generations and for generations to come'. That seemed absurd at the time, but if I can heal people just by touching them….” Jadu trailed off.

“Yeah, by the way, thanks for that, Jadu,” Fortus said.

“That should have been me, you know.” Lolo was suddenly fighting tears again. “Thank you for saving me back there, Fortus.”

Fortus scooted closer to her so he could give her a hug. “If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather not see you covered in blood again.”

“Aww!” Ulana gushed. “I still don’t understand how you two are not a real couple.” Lolo and Fortus looked at each other and rolled their eyes. “Well, it sounds like we need to talk to the Great Owl,” Ulana surmised. “Maybe she can help us clear some things up.”

“Oh no!” Lolo clapped a hand to her mouth. “We were supposed to meet up with everyone back at camp by sunset! I don’t even know how long ago that was. They must be worried sick!”

“Do we even know where we are or how to get back?” Standig asked.

“The sun set that way,” Fortus pointed to his left. “The cave took us into the mountain which was north of camp, so we need to go that way.” He pointed behind him to the large mountain they had just escaped from.

“Oh, joy, another midnight hiking adventure through the mountains. My favorite,” Ulana grouched.

“Let’s get going!” Lolo was so anxious that she forgot about her hurt ankle and crumpled back to the ground with a sharp hiss through her teeth.

“I don’t suppose you can muster up some more blue fire?” Ulana teased Jadu.

“I’m not sure how I did it in the first place.” Jadu shook his head apologetically.

“It’s ok,” Lolo winced. “I’ve had worse.”

Standig and Fortus once again bumped into each other in their synchronized efforts to help Lolo. This time, Standig won. Grabbing her under both arms, he swung her around onto his shoulders for a piggy-back ride. “Hold on.” Lolo did as she was told and wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist for stability.

It was a long hike back to camp. There weren’t any passes through the mountains, so the group had to take the long way down and around the base of the mountain. By the time they made it back, the sun had started to rise.

“Lolo!” her brothers were quick to pull her off of Standig’s back, and Lolo’s ankle gave out again with another sharp cry of pain from Lolo. Zhongyan picked her up.

“Where are you hurt?”

“Why are you hurt?”

“What happened?”

“Why didn’t you make it back last night?”

“Guys! Do you want answers to your questions or not?” Lolo cut them off irritably. “I’ll tell you what happened, just slow down. Please. I’m really, really tired. We all are.” While the rest of her group found seats by the fire to curl up and zonk out, Lolo was thoroughly debriefed by everyone else.

Captain Artibus had his men on alert within fifteen seconds of her story. “Dragon Tribe soldiers in the forest? And they killed the Felis family?!”

“Unless they’ve moved the bodies, I can tell you where to find them,” Lolo looked like she was about to cry.

She told them about being chased into the cave, Jadu’s genius ink, battling the dragon mole, and escaping the cave.

“Fortus looks perfectly fine,” Haowan argued with the details of her story.

“Well, he is now,” Lolo said sleepily.

“How? You said the dragon mole batted him into the cave wall.”

“Mm-hm,” Lolo was so tired, she was falling asleep where she sat.

“Lolo!” Zhongyan shook her shoulders a little. “How is Fortus ok?”

“Jadu’s blue fire,” she tried to explain, but this only created more confusion. Whether they liked it or not, Lolo was done answering questions. She crashed hard, her head lolling onto Zhongyan’s shoulder.

“Well, at least they’re back in one piece,” Captain Artibus shook his head. “We can ask more questions later. I think we should pack up and head back as soon as they wake up.”

Zhongyan deposited Lolo next to her friends by the fire and worked to help break camp.

“Hey, snore-monster,” Haowan teased. “You’re the last one up.”

“Five more minutes?” Lolo pleaded.

“We’re heading back to the Lion Tribe where there is an actual bed for you to sleep on. And then it will be time to head home to the Wolf Tribe.”

“But I’m comfy here.”

“Come on, Lolo.” Haowan pulled her into a sitting position, and Lolo reluctantly rubbed her eyes.

Once again, Lolo forgot all about her sprain and fell before she could get upright. “Ugh! This stupid ankle!” On the plus side, she was more awake.

Jadu came to inspect her injury and rewrap it. It was a dark purple color, and her ankle had swollen beneath the bandages to create deep divots where the wrap had sat more snugly. “Sorry, Lolo, but you can’t walk on this.”

“Options?”

“Crutches, or someone will have to carry you.”

“What’s going on?” Captain Artibus joined the circle forming around Lolo.

“Lolo can’t walk on her ankle,” Haowan caught him up.

“Can you make me some crutches, Jadu?” Lolo wasn’t particularly thrilled about being carried all the way back.

“It will take a while. Captain, would I have time?”

“Time is the one thing we don’t have right now,” Artibus looked up at the sky. “We need to try to get back before dark. With Dragon Tribe soldiers potentially in the woods, staying here isn't safe."

Lolo hung her head. “So someone has to carry me?”

“I’m afraid so.” Jadu suppressed a smile at her dejection.

“Let me take care of this. I don’t think we’ll be short on volunteers.” Artibus stood up chuckling, and Lolo blushed. “Gentlemen, the wolf princess can’t walk. She’s going to need us to carry her back. Who would be willing to take a turn?”

All four of his soldiers raised their hands enthusiastically.

“I don’t think that will be necessary, captain,” Fortus interjected. “She’s got two brothers and plenty of friends here to help her.”

The captain laughed. “It’s a long walk back. It makes sense to take turns, and Huo Lohse Lang, I don’t think you are short on options.”

Ulana flopped down next to Lolo to nudge shoulders with her and whisper in her ear. “So, who are you going to pick?”

Lolo gave Ulana the most exasperated look that she could muster under such embarrassing circumstances. She really just wanted to cry. She was too tired and overwhelmed for this sort of kerfuffle, and the last twenty-four hours had been an emotional rollercoaster.

Fortus seemed to sense her distress and made the decision for her. “Come here, Lolo.” He helped her up to balance on her one good foot and pulled her onto his back. The group moved out, and Fortus chuckled. “Oh, the woes of being so pretty and popular.”

Lolo pouted and rested her chin on the hand she had sitting on his shoulder. “I’m too tired for that sort of nonsense, Fortus.”

“Not even a little playful banter, huh?”

“Fortus, you almost died yesterday. In fact, you should have died yesterday. It was pure, dumb luck that you didn’t.” Lolo started to cry. “And it would have been all my fault! Thank you for not dying.” Her arms wrapped tightly around his neck and her face buried into his shoulder where his shirt soaked up her tears.

Fortus sighed and, after a while, changed the subject. “Lolo, I’ve been thinking. King Hospes informed me right before this trip that he wants me to take over my father’s position as the Lion General.”

Lolo's head popped up, and she quickly wiped away her tears in an effort to sound excited and supportive. “He does? Wow! That would probably make you one of the youngest military generals in history.”

“Yeah. But I’m not ready for that. You told me that my father wanted me to find my own path, right?”

“Yes. He did.”

“Well, I don’t know what happened last night. Even explaining it to everyone this afternoon sounded insane, but something happened. I intend to find out what exactly.”

“Let me know when you figure that out,” Lolo smiled. "I'd like to know too."

“I was thinking about your offer-- joining you in the Wolf Tribe?”

“Going to take me up on it?”

“Maybe for a little while, if that’s still ok? Just while I sort my head out-- figure out what I want to do with myself.”

Lolo’s arms tightened around his neck again. “Stay as long as you want.”

“Hey, you guys,” Ulana pulled up next to Fortus, “I was just talking with Jadu and Standig. When do we want to seek out the Great Owl? Is this something urgent, or should we try to riddle this out on our own for a while first?”

Fortus craned his neck to look at Lolo who shrugged.

“I mean, whenever is fine with me,” Lolo said. “Do we even know where the Great Owl is these days?”

“That’s a valid point,” Ulana laughed. “Maybe this is something we don’t need to decide right now?”

“I get the feeling that once we seek out the Great Owl, this is going to turn into some kind of long-term commitment,” Fortus posited. “Is there anything you want to do before we make that sort of commitment?”

“Ulana, we only have the Phoenix Tribe exchange left. I was looking forward to visiting your home and getting to experience your culture,” Lolo said.

“So, are you thinking that we put our affairs in order so-to-speak, and then seek out the Great Owl in maybe a year?” Ulana clarified.

Again Fortus turned his head to look at Lolo, and again Lolo shrugged. “That sounds like a solid plan to me,” Fortus said.

“I’ll tell the others then,” Ulana slowed down to allow Jadu and Standig to catch up with her.

“One year,” Fortus mused.

Lolo put on a dramatic voice. “And then, we prepare to meet our destiny….”

“Something like that,” he laughed.