"Jadu, Durfein left something for you and your sister that you’re going to want to see." Standig found Jadu puzzling over the corpses he was dissecting.

"Standig, look at this."

Standig recoiled. "If it's all the same to you, Jadu, I'd rather not."

Jadu looked up, mildly irritated. "I need a second opinion. Tell me what you see."

"How is my opinion helpful?"

"Because it is untrained. State the obvious. What do you see?"

"Ok. I see dead bodies that you've cut open."

Jadu gave Standig a stern look, communicating his lack of amusement.

"Fine." Standig looked more closely at the first body. "I really don't know what I'm looking at." He looked at the second body. "Hm."

"What do you see?"

"Well, on the first body, this pattern of dark patches is in a different spot."

"Point."

Standig pointed to two different organs in each body, each with dark markings webbing across them.

"Do you see anything similar in the other bodies?" Jadu prompted.

Standig looked around. "Yes. All except this one."

Jadu looked down at the body Standig was pointing to and shifted some of the entrails around until he found an organ deeper in the abdomen with more of the same markings. "Thank you, Standig." Jadu proceeded to collect tissue samples from all of the affected organs into small vials.

"What is it?"

"Not sure yet."

"Is it what killed them?"

"Most likely."

"Is it some sort of poison?"

"I believe so. I need to run some tests."

"How was it delivered?"

"I can tell you how it wasn't delivered. It was not ingested or inhaled."

"So drinking the water is safe?" Standig was hopeful.

Jadu paused to think. "I still wouldn't risk it."

"Why not?"

"Did you notice that the bodies looked like they just dropped where they stood?"

"Yeah. I thought that was strange. You have a theory?"

Jadu nodded. "My theory is that two poisons were used. One put them to sleep, maybe anesthetized their pain. The second killed them, shutting down various organs."

"Not ingested or inhaled…. Do you think Lolo's needle theory has merit?"

"Yes. It's almost impossible to locate pinpricks on a body, but it fits. The needles were likely inserted in different locations on each body, resulting in different organs being affected."

"So, your theory is that, somehow, everyone was simultaneously knocked out by something, and then someone went around stabbing deadly needles into each unconscious body to finish them off?" Standig felt like this theory was a bit of a stretch.

"It's a wild theory, but yeah."

"Why not just poison them with the deadly stuff?"

"Deadly poisons are painful. The victims would have caught on, sought help, put up a fight. And knocking people out first leaves a tidy scene. To an untrained eye, these people might have died in their sleep."

"But you think it was poison?"

"Almost certainly."

“How would the first sleeping poison be administered?”

“I haven’t figured that out. That’s why I wouldn’t risk drinking the water.” Standig and Jadu passed a few moments thinking. “Standig, you were saying something when you walked in.”

“I was?” Standig had to stop and think about it. “Oh! Right. Durfein left a surprise for you and Shanti. You should come take a look.”

“I’ll wash my hands.”

***

Fortus and Ulana were busy bringing Durfein’s art collection up the stairs to his bedroom. All cried out, Lolo sat in a corner flipping drowsily through some of the sketchbooks. Fortus had found the important sketchbook with the schematics in it, but the rest of the books were full of imaginative, whimsical drawings that celebrated the beauty of the world and captured a small part of Durfein’s creative genius.

“What’s all this?” Jadu asked when Standig led him into the room.

“Durfein’s art collection,” Ulana explained as she and Fortus brought up the last handful of items, and Fortus closed the hole in the floor.

“I see. What did you want to show me, Standig?”

Standig pointed across the room to where the armored mannequins had been placed.

“The armor?” Jadu was stunned. “Durfein made these?!”

Standig nodded. “There’s a suit for each of us and one for Shanti too.”

Lolo looked up. She hadn’t actually inspected the armor yet. Durfein had been so excited to show her this surprise.

“Do we know whose is whose?” Jadu asked.

The answer to Jadu’s question seemed obvious to Lolo. The first suit was a combination of black plate armor, detailed with blue accents, over a cleverly designed, silver-colored riveted mail with carefully placed seams where additional segments could be added to make it bigger. A black metal helmet protected the head, and Durfein had taken great care to craft extra armor pieces to protect the wearer from the waist down over the legs. The suit conveyed a sense of raw strength and dignity. “This one is Standig’s.”

The next suit was a vibrant shimmery red scalemail armor that progressed into a gold color as it moved down the body, but the scales had been carefully cut and detailed to look like feathers. With a red helmet and red leather covered plate arm bracers, the overall shape and design seemed to embody a flirty femininity and an affinity for drama. “Ulana, Durfein had you pegged.”

The third and fourth suits were also scalemail armor. The steel scales had somehow been colored blue in a way that gave them an oil-slick quality. As a result, the scales shifted hues as they caught different angles of light and gave the armor a striking but softer, almost gentle appearance. One suit had a masculine, angular shape; one had more feminine curves. Both had silver helmets and arm bracers etched with a flame pattern. “These are for Jadu and Shanti.”

The next suit was gold-colored mail with a broad, black breastplate designed at the collar to give the impression of a lion’s mane. Gold-colored pauldrons and vambraces with black detailing protected the arms while a black helmet continuing the lion's mane look protected the head. The suit communicated intelligence and power. “Fortus, this one is yours.”

The last suit was a deep green, tunic-length brigandine armor for optimal maneuverability over black mail with leather detailing and silver embroidery snaking and swirling in beautiful, fluid vines up the green cloth. At the chest center, Durfein had embroidered a silver crescent that at once reminded Lolo of the lake near her home and the moon. A pair of arm bracers, pauldrons, and a silver helmet completed the ensemble. This armor had been carefully crafted just for her.

“Should we try them on?” Ulana asked.

“Lolo?” Fortus sought her permission.

Huo Lohse nodded, and the friends helped each other into their suits. Durfein had the foresight to provide padded shirts to wear between their clothes and armor, and almost magically, everyone’s armor fit perfectly, even Standig’s.

“Now I know why Durfein kept asking me for updates on how tall you’d gotten, Standig,” Lolo smiled sadly. “I guess it’s lucky that you stopped growing when you did.”

“This is some of the most incredible armor I’ve ever seen,” Fortus said, admiring how well the suits fit everyone. “I mean, not only is Durfein’s work beautiful, but it’s practical, sturdy, fits perfectly, and I’d be willing to bet that he used only the best materials. He really did his research.”

“I wish I could thank him, but it’s awfully heavy,” Ulana laughed.

“And hot,” Standig agreed.

“It’s nickel-plated steel,” Lolo said.

“How could you possibly know that?” Standig asked what everyone was thinking.

“Durfein wrote to me a few times about how he had been working with steel. He told me he’d gotten really good at making it, and plating it with nickel keeps the armor in good condition longer.” Lolo looked more closely at Shanti’s armor. “I think this was probably heat-colored. I’m not sure exactly what that entails, but Durfein said that heat-coloring steel creates an unpredictable pattern of colors. I’ll bet he colored a bunch of enormous steel sheets to get enough sections of this blue color to make these scales from. Ulana, I think your feathers are likely heat-colored steel too.”

Ulana looked at her feathery scalemail with a new appreciation. “That is so cool! Look how pretty these feathers are!”

Lolo smiled as she ran her fingers down the back of Ulana’s armor. “They really do look like feathers.”

“Hey guys, did you see my lion mane?” Fortus grinned. Everyone laughed softly, but it was impossible to deny how epic Fortus looked with a black metal mane.

“Durfein had an eye for detail,” Jadu nodded approvingly.

“And a flare for the dramatic!” Ulana added with a twirl.

“However, I don’t think he intended for us to wear these suits all the time,” Standig mused. “This is definitely battle armor.”

Fortus nodded. “It’s too hot and too heavy to wear everyday, but we should probably practice in the armor occasionally so we can get used to fighting in it.”

“How are we going to get these suits home?” Jadu asked.

“Actually, we need to talk about what our plan is from here first,” Fortus said. “With the Dragon Tribe getting more aggressive, we may need to consider accelerating our timeline for seeking out the Great Owl. If we are hosts to ancient primordials, I’m not saying that we are, Ulana,” Fortus cut off her protests before they could start, “but if we are, we need to know it and start figuring out what that entails.”

“Fortus, when were you thinking we should start our search?” Jadu asked.

“Unless there are objections, I was thinking as soon as we finish up here in the Badger Tribe.” Lolo bit her lip. “What is it, Lolo?”

“It’s just that I haven’t finished training General Baatar.”

Fortus frowned. “Well, what do you have left?”

“Mostly just making sure that he has everything that he needs to be successful. The right connections, research materials, personnel, armorers, and such. I was going to draft a training schedule for the phoenix military for him to follow in order to optimize their training quickly.”

“Could someone else do all of that?”

“Did you have anyone in mind? The top military trainers from the main tribes are all in this room or generals themselves.”

Fortus couldn’t argue with that. “What about one of your brothers? Or Fengli even? You wolves don’t exactly have a general with your council of captains, but that means that any of your tribe’s captains would have top commanding officer training and experience.”

“Actually, Fengli would be a really good choice! I'm not sure why I didn’t think of him myself. He’s been training longer than even me in military leadership and training techniques, and I think he and Baatar would hit it off,” Lolo nodded. “I’ll have to get approval from King Ukhaan and get a letter sent out.”

“Excellent,” Fortus smiled. “Does anyone else have objections?”

“I’ll need to write a letter to Philige to inform him of our change in plans, but I imagine that Ernkit and Begrent will manage the bear military training ok without me for a little while at least,” Standig said.

“If it would help, I could ask Fengli to go help them after he’s finished working with Baatar,” Lolo offered.

“I don’t know that they would need him to be in charge, but they might appreciate another competent leader to help them run the camp,” Standig nodded.

“Ulana, Jadu, anything you need to take care of?” Fortus asked.

“I’m as free as a bird!” Ulana grinned, raising her shimmery, feathered arms up for effect.

“Shanti will manage things while I’m away,” Jadu shook his head.

“Then it’s settled,” Fortus declared.

“Let’s maybe leave our armor and Durfein’s artwork in the care of King Ukhaan?” Lolo suggested. “We have to stop by anyway, and I’m sure he wouldn’t mind keeping it somewhere until we come to collect it or send for it.”

Everyone agreed.

“We should probably check on Captain Dulaan,” Ulana said.

“What kind of armor is that?” Captain Dulaan asked curiously as he watched the group approach. “I’ve never seen armor quite like it before.”

“One of our good friends made it for us,” Ulana smiled sadly.

“The badger prince?” The captain saw the surprise on their faces and continued. “I pieced it together after princess Lang collapsed in his room.”

“What is your status, captain?” Ulana asked.

“We’ve collected all the bodies and are almost finished placing them in the graves now,” the Captain reported. “I estimate that we will need another hour, maybe two to cover them all. We should get back to the Phoenix Tribe sometime late this evening.”

“Did you count them?” Lolo asked, not really wanting the answer.

The captain nodded and swallowed the lump forming in his throat. “Five thousand one hundred and eighteen. No one was spared. The elderly, women, children, even babies.”

Lolo suddenly felt dizzy again, and Fortus stepped behind her to place a sturdy hand against her back. The gravity of Captain Dulaan’s report hit Huo Lohse hard. She felt the resurgence of grief begin to drown her.

“Lolo?” Fortus helped her turn around to face him. She was pale and tense and trying not to cry again.

Jadu took Lolo’s hand from Fortus to lead her away to a quiet place to sit. "Don't faint again.”

Huo Lohse was shaking. “Jadu, what’s wrong with me?”

Jadu frowned. "Nothing.”

“Then why does everything affect me so strongly?”

“You’re sensitive.”

Lolo tried to laugh and failed. “Sensitive? I wish I wasn’t.”

“Don’t say that.”

“Why not? It causes so many problems.”

“Because you wouldn’t be you.”

“Maybe that would be a good thing.”

Jadu shook his head. “It wouldn’t.”

“It wouldn’t?”

“No.”

“I don’t understand.”

Jadu sighed and sat down next to her. “Feeling things deeply is a gift.”

“How do you mean?”

“You understand people. That’s how the refugee alliance was created.”

“That was Philige’s idea.”

“... that he had because you saw a need and told him about it.”

Lolo shook her head.

“It’s the reason we’re friends,” Jadu gestured back toward Standig, Fortus, and Ulana.

“No, it’s not.”

“Yes, it is. You found friends among misfits, made us feel wanted, and let us be authentic.”

“How have I ever done that for you, Jadu? I feel like I barely know you.”

“You love my sister.”

“But you are not Shanti,” Lolo was confused.

Jadu smiled. “How do you feel about your brothers' friends?”

“I suppose I like them by default,” Lolo shrugged.

“And you feel safe and accepted, right?”

“I suppose….”

He smiled again. “Shanti trusts you, I trust you. And no one else could befriend Standig or Fortus.”

Lolo laughed despite herself and, for the first time ever, felt close enough to Jadu to give him a hug. “Thanks, Jadu.”

A little surprised, Jadu hugged her back.