He woke to a wet, warm streak across his face. The sticky sensation of a wide tongue lapping at his cheek followed by a guttural grunt. With a disgusted moan, Wrynn brushed aside the furry face of Asha Ishavera’ai who stood and sauntered away as he wiped his face. The wolrung seemed to have taken a liking to him after the midnight encounter and had laid down next to him like a friendly dog. In truth, he was happy for the warmth; it was not unlike passing out on the giant, bear-skin rug in Grellin’s chambers aboard the Starslip. Not long ago, he might have been contracted to hunt a creature like this, but everything on this planet so far seemed eager to be fast friends.

It was early dawn as he rolled out of his makeshift bed. The fire had gone out last night since Asha had kicked up dirt to put out the embers, and he stoked a new one amid the protesting grunts of the forest guardian.

“Stop that,” he said, trying to calm the beast. “I need it to make breakfast. Food, see?” Wrynn waved a packet of jerky in front of the wolrung who sat, mesmerized by the potential treat.

He added water to two copper tins and started to cook a vegetable stew. His emergency rations were all single serving so sharing between four (now five) mouths meant he would have to dip deeper. With half his pack full of supplies, he should be able to make it stretch for another three days. And it seemed the Ufuli were ready and willing to provide for his basic needs so he could restock when they returned to the village. He would just have to make sure they packed better for the next trip.

Binar Valley was only another half’s day journey according to the Darkal. If they went fast they might be able to return to the forest by nightfall.

Wrynn shook the two Ufuli awake while Asha kept a careful watch on the bubbling stew and the fire. The Darkal was hanging upside down from a tree a little ways deeper into the forest. Nerbo had not been fond of the previous night’s light show and had quickly sought a place to hide, covering their face with their wings.

“Breakfast, Nerbo,” said Wrynn, tapping his foot against the tree trunk. The rustling branches roused the black, winged fluffball who spread their wings and let out a big yawn before fluttering down to land on Wrynn’s shoulder.

“Your food is strange, large one,” said Nerbo with another yawn. “I desire bloodfruit.”

“I don’t know what that is.” Wrynn started back to tend to the fire. “Where do you find these bloodfruit? Are they tasty?”

The Darkal chuckled. “Bloodfruit is grown at the top of the tallest trees. Only Darkal can reach them that high. They are very sweet and juice spills out when you bite into them — it is the only fitting meal for a mighty Darkal.”

“You know eating only sweets will rot your teeth.” Wrynn shooed the winged fluffball off his shoulder to stoop by the fire. “And you’re getting a little chummy for a prisoner. You couldn’t possibly be enjoying your stay here, could you?”

Nerbo hissed and landed on the head of the nearby Asha. “Do not be mistaken, giant. I am simply held by the bond of civility and must make the most of my situation.”

“You keep talking about this bond,” said Wrynn. “Is it really that strong?”

“Certainly it is,” said Chief, joining them by the fire. “It is the agreement that all civilized people on Home live by in order to maintain order.”

Wrynn thought on this as he stirred the soup. “Where I’m from, words are just a way to get what you want. Is there some magic force holding you to your bond here?”

Vessa joined them but their face scrunched into a look of concern as Wrynn spoke. “Do you mean to say that your kind of people tell… Lies?” They whispered this last word as if it were particularly heinous.

“I’d wager that makes up more than half of what my people tell.”

The three residents of Home gawked up at him in disbelief. Nerbo was first to voice their opinion, “I warned you it was only a matter of time until his true nature was revealed. This outsider cannot be trusted.”

“Then how can anyone know if what you are saying is the truth?” asked Chief. “A Lie is a great shame for any good Ufuli. Please, Wrynn, you must not reveal this to anyone else on Home.”

“Is it so bad?” Wrynn looked at the faces of his traveling companions and knew he was losing them if even the Darkal whom he had met during the invasion of the Ufuli village thought what he said was outrageous. “I mean, of course it’s bad. But it’s a cruel world up there. I don’t mean any harm to you. I just want to get back home.”

“Back to where they tell Lies,” muttered Vessa, still in shock.

“I understand, Wrynn,” said Chief. “Of course there must be differences in our ways of life. I just ask that you do your best to fight your nature and do not tell a Lie here. If anyone discovers you have broken your bond, we cannot accept you back into our village.”

They ate in silence, giving Wrynn time to ponder how to proceed from here. He fed the patient Asha Ishavera’ai a few strips of jerky and some soup from his bowl and watched the massive bear-like wolrung slurp his leftovers through sharp teeth. The great beast could neither tell a lie nor understand one and somewhere in that was the pure way of life. So how was it that a world without deceit could sound so unnatural to him?