“You’re howling for them?” Fortus was annoyed at best.

“Philige has every reason to be skeptical, Fortus. Showing them a little lights display is an easy way to give our story minimal credibility.”

“How many people are going to be there?”

“Philige said that he’d be discreet, but I’m not sure. 'Want to come with me tonight?”

Fortus gave her a look of pure exasperation.

“For moral support?” Lolo fluttered her eyelashes at him.

He sighed. “Fine.”

She wrapped her arms around his waist in a big hug. “You’re the best, Fortus!”

“I know,” he grinned reluctantly. “Is the rest of the group coming too?”

“Standig and Ulana are, and Jadu… Jadu is Jadu. I couldn’t get a clear answer from him.”

“I should take lessons,” Fortus smirked, and Lolo laughed. “So where are we meeting?”

“At The Great Hall at dusk, then we’ll probably move to one of the gardens.”

“When are you guys going to show us the courtyard we’re going to be training in?”

“Whenever you’d like. I figured we could all use a day or two to process everything, but if you’d like to see it, I’ll show you. Although, it’s been awhile since I was there. Standig might have to come with us.”

“Standig is helping Ernkit and Begrent get the training camp affairs in order today to officially turn command over to them.”

“Oh. I forgot,” Lolo’s face fell. “Well, I could try to show you. But if we get horribly lost, you can’t say that I didn’t warn you.”

“It’s alright, Lolo. I can just wait until everyone is ready.” Lolo could see the disappointment on Fortus’s face.

“Sorry, Fortus. It’s been three years, and I’ve only been there twice.”

"It's fine, Lolo. I'm just anxious to get started. The Great Owl seemed to think that we were late. I'm worried that getting a late start will have consequences down the road, and then we have the disadvantage of not remembering anything about what being a primordial even means. We're going in blind and late, and somehow it's down to us ultimately to end this war."

Lolo frowned, feeling anxious. "I know this probably isn't very comforting to you, but at least we have each other-- the team, I mean."

Fortus laughed half-heartedly. "Yeah. The team. We've got a long way to go before we can really be counted as a team."

"What do you mean?"

"Each of us come with our own strengths and weaknesses. We need to learn how to best use our strengths to benefit the greater whole while compensating for each others' weaknesses."

“You’ve clearly given this a lot of thought, Fortus,” Lolo smirked. “What’s your tactical report on our group at the moment?”

Fortus shook his head. “Are you sure that you want to know?”

“I asked, didn’t I?”

“Ok. Let’s go person by person. We’ll start with me. My strengths are in military tactics, strategy, planning, observation, and assessment. My biggest weakness is you, Lolo, specifically my emotional attachment to you.”

“How is that a weakness?”

“If someone wanted to get to me, all they’d have to do is mess with you.”

Lolo blushed. “That’s kind of how I feel about everybody.”

“Well, let’s get into that. Your strengths include natural leadership, the ability to unite very different individuals, general social savviness, and creative and quick thinking. Your strong protective instincts could also be considered an incredible strength, but it is also your greatest weakness because you are predisposed to protect everybody-- it almost doesn't even matter who. If you see that someone (anyone) is in trouble, you will break yourself to help them.”

“I can’t deny that.”

“Next there’s Ulana. She is perhaps the most naturally talented swordsperson that I’ve ever met. Her aerials are incredible and wildly inventive, and, as obnoxious as she can be sometimes, she is undeniably forthright. She also seems to have an endless supply of stubbornness and energy that a good leader would figure out how to harness, and she is open to being taught which is a plus. Her biggest weakness: she’s undisciplined and unpredictable, and I think she enjoys being that way.”

Lolo laughed. “Sounds about right.”

“Jadu is difficult for me to assess at this point because I don’t know him super well. He is a first-rate doctor, inventive, resourceful, and extremely intelligent, and he knows how to take charge in a pinch, though he prefers to sit on the sidelines and not get involved in most things. I’m remembering that he’s actually a decent fighter, but he is probably the weakest out of all of us with a sword. I’d guess that his sister is probably his greatest weakness.”

“I know that he and Shanti are really close,” Lolo agreed.

“And then there’s Standig. His size and strength make him formidable, and he is a skilled swordsman. He is also fairly intelligent, but he tends to keep that to himself. Standig is emotionally volatile beneath his calm. He’s not unlike me in the sense that he doesn’t have many emotional attachments, but the ones he does have are extremely intense. If I had to guess, I’d say that you are probably Standig’s greatest weakness, though his brother is a close second.”

“What makes you think that I’m Standig’s greatest weakness?”

“For the same reason that you are my greatest weakness, Lolo. He’s protective of you, and he tends to lose all sense and self-control whenever he perceives you to be threatened,” Fortus said with a matter-of-fact tone that made Lolo feel supremely uncomfortable.

She cleared her throat. “Well, knowing all of this, what do we do about it?”

“Train together. A lot. The more time we spend together, the more naturally we will work together. We need to learn how our individual fighting styles can blend, and we need to learn how to read each other so we don’t have to depend so heavily on verbal communication while fighting and working with each other.”

“Makes sense. On that note, would you like to spar with me for a while? It’s been over a week since I picked up my sword.”

Fortus nodded with a small smile.

“Huo Lohse Lang!”

“Oof!” Lolo was nearly barreled over by the force of someone’s hug. “Shanti?!”

“I’ve missed you, Lolo!”

“I’ve missed you too! How are you? How are you liking New Pahaad?"

"Well, actually, I came to ask you if you'd like to come to the village for a quick visit. I want to show you my garden and catch up."

“I have time! I was just going to snag some lunch.”

“Come have lunch with me in the village, then.”

“Lead the way.”

The girls chatted merrily as Shanti led Lolo west, past the Leader’s Lodge and then north and over a col to the other side of the mountain where a great mountain shelf had been further terraced to accommodate a little village.

“Wow! This isn’t far from the Leader’s Lodge at all,” Lolo noted. “How long was the walk? Fifteen minutes?”

“Give or take, Shanti laughed. “At a run, for a medical emergency or something, it’s more like seven minutes.”

“Have you had many medical emergencies?”

“Not especially. The closest we had was a soldier that took a nasty blow to the head in a training accident. It knocked him unconscious and freaked Ernkit out because there was so much blood, but that’s just how head injuries are. A few stitches, and a few days to rest and hydrate, and he was good to go. Well,” Shanti thought, “I guess we’ve also had a few geriatric emergencies too. Being this close to the council of elders, we kind of expect that, though.”

Lolo smiled. She enjoyed listening to Shanti talk about medical emergencies with such a composed tone. “So, how are you liking the Bear Tribe?”

“After the Dragon Tribe, it’s been a dream!” Shanti laughed. “We definitely feel safe and appreciated here. I know it might sound silly, but after being taken advantage of and abused by the dragon military, feeling valued has been really nice.”

“Anything you miss about the Dragon Tribe?”

“Oh, if I had to find something to complain about, it would be the lack of variety in the natural vegetation of these mountains. Maybe it’s the proximity to the South Waters, but the mountains that surround old Pahaad have such a huge range of wild vegetation to study and produce medicines with. I’ve been able to improve some of the variety here by growing from seed, but it’s been a lot of work to produce plants that grew spontaneously there.”

“Jadu said something similar about missing his mature plants from the old village.”

“There’s that too. Some of the main medical plants we got used to using regularly in the Dragon Tribe aren’t available here yet because they haven’t grown enough to be sustainable as a resource.”

“Makes sense,” Lolo nodded. “But you’re safe.”

“Yeah, like I said, if I had to complain, that’s it,” Shanti laughed. “Generally, we are just grateful. Our village is thriving, and our people are happy here. The Bear Tribe leader has been extremely gracious and kind. We really couldn’t ask for more.”

“I’m so glad to hear that, Shanti!”

“Speaking of plants and such, my garden is just around the corner.”

And it was magnificent! Rows upon rows of raised garden beds held hundreds of the most unusual plants Lolo had ever seen. Some of the plants had a heavy fragrance, others had wild textures, all were beautiful in their own strange way.

“Here, Lolo,” Shanti said, pulling a small knife from a pocket in her skirt and slicing off a stem of purple flowers. “This is columbine. It’s actually quite common. The flowers are sweet, but the rest of the plant is poisonous without proper handling.” Shanti threaded the stem through Lolo’s hair and smiled. “Let’s get some lunch.”

“Hi, Philige! You’re early,” Lolo observed as she and her team arrived at The Great Hall. “Where are the council elders?”

“I didn’t invite them. I gave it some thought and decided that it was probably wise for now not to tell too many people about all of this.”

“That was the conclusion we came to as well,” Lolo nodded appreciatively. “Well, should we find a quiet garden somewhere to do this, then?”

“Actually, just north of the guest houses would be quite private,” Philige suggested. “There’s a slightly wooded area up there that could conceal a lot.”

“I know the spot,” Lolo agreed.

It was quite dark by the time they’d hiked back up to the guest houses. Huo Lohse was suddenly feeling shy about howling, though she wasn’t sure why. She looked around and spotted a reasonable climbing tree.

“Lolo?” Standig observed her hesitation.

“I’m going to climb that tree,” Lolo blurted.

“Ok? Be safe up there.”

It was a far cry from the towering tree that she was used to climbing back home, but it gave her a clear view of the moon and she could see all the way down the mountain to the lights of the trading post from her perch. “Ok. How do I do this at home?” She looked up at the night sky and breathed in the fresh air. A stiff mountain breeze kicked up to play with her hair and ripple her clothing. Something about the sensation of the wind swept away her nerves, and Lolo felt her wolf spirit wake up. Another strong gust threatened to knock Lolo out of the tree, but instead of feeling fearful, Lolo was energized.

From below, her friends watched apprehensively as the tree Huo Lohse had climbed swayed and creaked in the wind. Standig was mere seconds from climbing up after her to pull her down when the group saw her eyes glow green.

She howled. Clear and crisp, the sound carried through the night air all the way down the mountain. Her voice was quickly joined by other wolves across the mountains all around them, and the mountains were dusted with silvery light that caught in the wind and cascaded down the slopes. However, instead of the lights fading when Lolo had finished her howl as they normally did, they seemed to gain momentum as long as the mountain wolves continued the call, spilling beyond the Bear Tribe territory and into the forests of the valley below. From her tree, Lolo watched the flood of light spread. Her wolf spirit seemed unusually serene for all the excitement, and, for a moment, Lolo felt powerful.

The lights faded as the wolves silenced. Lolo’s eyes returned to their normal brown color, and she climbed back down. On the ground, everyone was stunned and lost in thought.

“So much for keeping this to ourselves,” Ulana broke the contemplative silence with a small snort.

“Did I do something wrong?” Lolo asked.

Fortus shook his head. “Your wolf spirit got a little carried away is all. Either that, or the rest of the wolves did.”

“Meaning?”

“You lit up most of the Bear Tribe just now… and beyond,” Fortus explained.

“People are bound to notice something like that and come asking questions,” Standig added.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t exactly have much control over how far it spread.”

“We’re not blaming you, Lolo,” Ulana clarified. “We’re just recognizing that things are maybe not going to go according to plan now.”

Huo Lohse looked around apologetically.

“Don’t worry about it, Lolo,” Fortus laughed unconvincingly and pulled her into a hug. “We’ll figure it out. And no one can deny that that was an impressive display.”

“Philige, you’ve been awfully quiet,” Ulana nudged the Bear Tribe leader's shoulder. He was still trying to wrap his head around the whole experience.

“Sorry. Just, I’ve never seen anything like that before. What was that?”

Lolo smiled. “According to the Great Owl, those lights are spiritual energy. Apparently, back during the era of sentient animals, that’s how they, or rather our primordial animal spirits, communicated with each other.”

Philige was dumbfounded, and Lolo grinned at the expression in his face.

“Philige, you’re going to want to prepare for an influx of visitors with lots of questions,” Fortus said. “There’s no way of telling exactly how far away people could see Lolo’s lights, but, apart from your tribe, I wouldn’t be surprised if people saw it in the Wolf Tribe and several other smaller tribes. It got some distance.”

Philige had to shake himself out of his stupor. “Right. What should I tell the people that come asking?”

“The truth, I guess,” Lolo shrugged.

“That the primordial animal spirits have returned? I doubt that most people will accept that explanation. They’ll want proof,” Philige countered.

“I’m not sure what else you could tell them though,” Fortus scowled.

“The reason she showed you the lights at all was to give our story some credibility,” Standig added. “If the lights had any other explanation, it would defeat the point of showing them to you in the first place.”

Philige nodded. “That’s true, but we are going to have a lot of curious and skeptical people to deal with. We could go with an ‘I don’t know’ answer?”

“Do you think people will buy that?” Ulana asked.

“I’m getting the feeling that I will need to be prepared for a repeat performance of tonight for a much bigger audience tomorrow,” Lolo cringed.

Fortus nodded. “Philige, you can try to get away with telling people that you don’t know what happened here if you want. If not, Lolo, we might have to declare ourselves sooner than anticipated.”

“I’ll keep you guys posted,” Philige said noncommittally.