Idsel shifted his bodyweight, forcing the blasted ino to climb on. Its short legs kept its belly close to the surface, but each sharp claw digging into the wall promised an easy ascent; if only it would move up despite the weather.

The sting of the rain made the journey up the pillars a difficult one, but with this much rain, they had to force the animals to a higher perch. Seven days of storms with no end in sight.

He made the mistake of glancing down at the courtyard. Nala stood watching him, a look of fear on her face.

Against the rain, Idsel smiled. He wasn’t sure when he’d come to enjoy seeing Nala worry for him. It was unnecessary but those times he felt favored instead.

Once his ino and many others found safe purchase in the higher hollows up above, Idsel went about the daunting task of descending. He was fortunate to have chosen this second stage instead of the useless body of his third.

The rocks, though slippery, were easy enough to grip. Though other Levelers simply crawled against the stone wall and made their way down, Idsel had to be more careful in his footing and grip.

He slipped once, an action that brought a cry from the ground.

“Mana!”

The raw fear in Nala’s voice told Idsel to go slower, and he did. His body cried out as soon as he put his feet on the ground and sucked in a deep breath.

An embrace covered his almost instantly.

“You foolish, foolish, Leveler! Let the stronger ones do this. You do not have the body for it!” Nala said.

Despite the venom in her words, she pulled Idsel to her, squeezing him tight.

The hold was lovely. Feeling Nala’s hearts pounding against him was even better, but this was hardly the time.

“We must move the sloths before the water rises,” Idsel said, pushing Nala back. “I would tend to them but they do despise me. They cannot go high so they must go into the structure. We must find room for them. Prepare them and I will look for shelter where another animal won’t have access to perhaps eat one of them.”

Idsel meant to walk away, but Nala held his robe firm, unwilling to let him go.

The strange action caught Idsel off guard. “Na’am. What are you about? I must hurry.”

Gripping the robe in both hands, Nala opened and closed her mouth again and again.

Whatever she had to say, it would have to wait.

“To your job, Summoner lest you lose all of them!” Idsel broke free, slipping along the ground as he hurried toward the main door. The sloths would be filthy, and due to their broad size, there weren’t many rooms they could use.

The nest was packed with Levelers, many unable to return to their own neighboring mountain caves. Idsel searched high and low for room for the sloths but short of putting them in his own private nest, there weren’t many options.

Eight slots inhabited the shed usually. Only four managed to get in, huddling and shivering in the corridor.

Idsel decide the rest would have to fend alone in the impending flood. He stood watching them pile in. Images of Nala’s grim expression when he’d have to tell her the other four may drown came and went.

“No. I cannot allow that. Not when they are so dear to you,” Idsel muttered to himself. He shrieked to the other Leveler’s taking to the walls in an effort to move about freely. “Herd them to the upper corridor! Short of putting them in my nest, get them all in!”

“But the mess, my king,” one Leveler called back.

“And the smell,” another lamented.

Idsel was steadfast. “All of them come in. Now!” It took some effort to get two more to squeeze into the door. These were animals of the wild, however, and the closed-in space was a challenge for them. Some planted their feet, showing the flat teeth of their long snouts, refusing to move forward even when whipped.

“Six...where are the other two?” Idsel squeezed his way through the wet hair of the beasts. “Na’am. The last two will have to fend alone, I think,” he said.

Nala didn’t answer back with a fresh comment. In fact, Nala didn’t answer at all.

“Mana!”

“Curse you, Summoner! We cannot bring all eight,” Idsel insisted. “Six is plenty.”

As he neared the entrance, the rain clapping down hard, giving off a sound so menacing he almost thought someone threw boulders against the wall. He slowed in his stride.

A sloth’s tail flopped into his face and he decided then and there to tell Nala off.

The tail fell away to show Nala standing rigid, the rein of two sloths in hand.

Idsel groaned as he approached.

“No. No! Keep there,” Nala said. “The ground is not steady. This one here is far too low.”

Nala was safe but the beasts at her sides weren’t as fortunate; the more they struggled, the more dirt they took onto their bodies. Their journey from the wet soil would be a cumbersome one.

“What am I to do?” Nala asked him. “I cannot leave them here.”

Idsel didn’t have much experience with sloths, but he decided to judge it as if they were inos.

“You must ride them, Na’am. You get onto one and I will come for the other. But as they already sit low, you’d be best to move them fast.” Ignoring Nala’s look of fear, Idsel lumbered out into the rain. He sunk so low it was well past his knees. If it was looser maybe he could swim in it. He dared not try it now in this stage-two body.

When he reached Nala, the Summoner stared at him with wonderment and relief.

“Will you complain about my carelessness?” Nala asked.

Idsel cut her a glance before mounting the animal on the right. “You and your damn sentiments. They are naught but sloths. We could replace them once the rains stopped.”

Refusing to meet his gaze, Nala mounted the other but muttered, “They were your gifts to me. I only wanted to keep them as such.”

The journey to the entrance took some time. It was slow but, with a lot of cursing on Idsel’s part, they managed to reach. After he dismounted, he used both hands to drag the blasted animal forward despite it thrashing its head all the way.

Nala had more ease with her filthy sloth.

With the beasts safely inside, Idsel stood on the stone entrance, letting the rain wash him, though he knew it would do nothing to ward off the sloths rank smell.

Nala stepped out with him, catching the end of Idsel’s robe, right above the knee. They stood there in the rain, Idsel shaking his head as he watched the storm turn the courtyard to ruin.

“You are so much trouble, Na’am,” he said but smiled at the sight of Nala’s pensive frown. “Your trouble keeps me fit,” he boasted.

“Apologies,” Nala said. “It was foolish.”

“You kept my gifts.” Idsel turned to put his arms around Nala’s waist. The height difference of the second and third stage took some getting used to. Idsel stared down at her and said, “Would you share my sleeping space again?” He chuckled and added, “After we are clean?”

Her wet hair stuck to her, Nala stared at him for some time. Finally, she nodded.. “I’ve missed you, my king.”

“Foolish, Summoner,” Idsel said looking up at the sky. “I am your Mana.”

“The queen will not be pleased with seeing us.”

“Fortunately, what I have planned for us doesn’t involve the queen,” Idsel said.