Kiao rose at the blue light of morning. She needed to get up early for burial preparations, however the smell of smoke and a crackling of a fire called to her. She dressed and scooted out of the cart and found Soletus preparing breakfast. He was dressed with boots on, as if he had the intentions of doing something. However, his hair flowed down his back instead of woven into the tight braid he usually wore it in.

She settled down next to him in hopes he would help block the cool breeze.

“Good morning,” he said. “You’re up a little early.”

“I wanted to get out and find some burning ash leaves before the burial this afternoon,” she said. “You know, since they aren’t burying them around a burning ash. I looked at the chapel and there wasn’t one there.”

She never come across a fen elf, Fenndish or not, who didn’t follow the tradition because it was one the followed. For their culture it was because the prophet and first monk Stephern died, it was said they buried him with the earth, the litter of a burning ash tree, along with his staff made from a branch of one.

“I can scout out one,” he said. “There’s probably one in the wood or one along that whirlwinds path. It’ll be easy to get leaves from one of them.”

“Good,” she said, watching him toss some chopped dried fish into the pot followed by a line of other dried vegetables. And then something stuck her as funny and she looked in the waking morning light at the chapel. “It’s strange.”

“Hmm?”

“That the chapel doesn’t have a burning ash planted near it.”

He took a piece of spiced bark and started rolling his hands above the pot. “I reckon the town cut it down. Probably after the priest that was stationed here left. Certainly, it could’ve easily died and had to be chopped down. But given this town, I doubt it.”

“And you noticed this when?”

“Within the day we arrived. Before you ask, why didn’t I say anything because it wasn’t worth mentioning to you at the time. I mean, their blatant lack of respect for the chapel was enough,” he said and started to stir the pot more quickly than necessary.

“You really don’t like these people.”

“Don’t get me wrong, there are some kind-hearted folks here, but–” he paused and sat back with his hands on the tops of his legs, thinking. Likely trying to find words that were more tactful than what he was planning to say. “You’ve shown more kindness towards a disgruntled bunch than they have you. Now I can see that their entire lives have been uprooted, however the blame seeking and murmuring, for example, on how you’re an ugly priestess doesn’t encourage me to have a favorable opinion of them.”

Kiao let her mouth twitch a little. She heard it before. Priestess were supposed to be fair-haired, fertile looking beings. That wasn’t her. “I mean, I would argue if it wasn’t true. I have a large nose and when dressed appropriately I can still pull off young man.”

“A big nose and the ability to camouflage doesn’t mean ugly,” returned Soletus, and he started stirring the pot again.

Kiao giggled. “The ability to camouflage? I never heard it put like that.”

“I think it’s a good natural born-trait. It’s helped you a great deal. Furthermore, to Mien, you’re his precious gem to be cherished. So their opinions are irrelevant.”

Kiao contained the comment about him sounding like his father. Maybe for another time. Instead, she wrapped an arm around his back and squeezed. “Your loyalty is greatly appreciated.”

Briar then flopped down and looked into the pot. “We’ve discussed this. Don’t spoil him with too many hugs.”

“Why, my hug quota hasn’t been filled,” returned Soletus.

She took the spoon from Soletus’s hands. “So what are we doing this morning?”

“You are taking over cooking,” he said. “I am going out to find a burning ash tree for Kiao.”

“Okay,” said Briar, tasting the soup and made a face. She started looking at the collection of spices they had left in the small satchels that Soletus had brought out. “Not going to eat your own slop?”

“I shouldn’t be gone long. By the time it’s done. I should be back.”

He wasn’t. Breakfast was served and was about to be eaten, and he hadn’t come back. Kiao decided she was going to check on everyone in the chapel. She slung her satchel over her should and grabbed her staff when a young tod come running up to them.

“Priestess, priestess,” he said breathlessly. “Your monk, he fell and hurt himself.”

“How did he fall,” asked Kiao.

Briar looked at him. “What did he do, trip over a log?”

He shook his head. “No, he fell down an embankment. He’s hurt and said to bring you,” and he took Kiao’s hand. “Come, he’s bleeding real good.”

“Okay,” said Kiao.

“I’ll come with you,” said Briar.

“No,” exclaimed the tod. “We uh… no he just needs the priestess. Come on hurry,” he said, tugging at her hand again.

Kiao felt uneasy and looked at Briar. “She’s coming.”

Uncertainty crossed the boy’s face like he didn’t know what to do. “Really, we just need you,” he said and pulled her again. Kiao snatched her hand from his.

“I’ll come, but she’s going with me. And I don’t need to be pulled along. Lead the way,” she said.

The tod gulped and jogged off. The two young women followed her. There was no one around save the elder she saw watching her the previous day. He stood on a hill and watched them follow the path of destruction towards the tree line and then veered off to the side. On their way, Kiao saw three flattened burning ashes. The leaves were wilting but Soletus would have taken her to them. The boy went further into the trees and in to the shape of a forest.

“He’s right through here, down there,” he said, pointing into a gloomy part of the wood where a creek run down an embankment. Kiao went over to the edge and instead of seeing Soletus, she saw four men sprawled out in the shallow water. They looked like they were in a fight. Clothing ruffled and torn but placed so that they were laying on their backs.

The tod beside her gasped, and then he backed up away and started to run away.

Briar leaped to grab the tod, but he was too fast. He tried to make for the opening. Then a massive brown bear burst come out of nowhere and blocked his path. If not for the round moon marking on his shoulder, Kiao would’ve been afraid of the creature. However, she was more concerned about the one who summoned it. The boy cried out and stumbled backwards, frantically looking around. Briar took hold of him by his collar as Soletus stepped out from behind a tree with an arm around his torso. His left eye was swollen and blood was trailing down his nose. He was covered in mud with it sticking in his hair and clothing with leaves and sticks as accents. He didn’t appear to be thrilled about it. His consort Khodi snorted and growl and lumbered right in front of the tod. Soletus came to a stop by his side.

“Why don’t you tell the priestess here what happened,” he said. His hoarse, passionless voice caused Kiao to shiver. She didn’t like it. She almost preferred him shouting at someone than that. He was a warm individual, and it was disturbing when his eyes became a grim winter’s lake.

“But they stuck you good and knocked you out.”

Kiao then realized that Soletus was clutching his side because he was stabbed.

“I’m a monk, a field warden. Compared to a drass beast bite, they might as well hit me with a bee stinger,” he said.

Kiao rushed forward. Soletus held her off.

“Tell her what you and your kin been doing, because if you don’t, my wrath is far worse than a little priestess,” he growled.

“Soletus, no wrath. Briar let him go,” ordered Kiao.

She did, and the tod tried to make a run for it and the bear swiped his feet from under him with one massive claw and dropped the tod. He hit the ground hard and Khodi then planted a paw on his back. If the boy didn’t soil himself before, he did it then.

“Sol,” warned Kiao. “Are you in control?”

“I am, but that doesn’t mean I have to be cheery. They tried to kill me,” he said.

She marched by the tods head. “What’s going on here?”

The tod looked terrified. “Don’t kill me!”

“I’m not going to kill you. I want to know why your fellow men tried to kill my friend.”

“We needed to get you here. The elders said we need to get rid of you because you called the wind. We needed him out of the way and you here.”

Kiao mind went into a flurry. The girl inside of her panicked. But she turned to her friends and hissed, “We need to think of something fast.”

Soletus focused his attention on Briar, “Get to the huntresses without being seen and move out as quickly as you can meet us where we discussed. If we don’t make it there, move on to the outpost and get help.”

The young woman nodded. “You better not get Ko-ko killed.”

Kiao the focused on her friend. “And what are we doing?”

“Leaving through the woods,” he said. “We need to start moving because Briar will soon move quicker than we can on foot.

“What about him,” she said, pointing at the tod.

Khodi removed his paw off of him. Soletus then planted his foot on his back. “If you have a drop of common sense, you’ll tend to the men in the creek. I didn’t kill them, but they are going to have some nasty headaches.”

The tod asked in a small uncertain voice. “So you aren’t going to kill me?”

“Why,” said Kiao. “We don’t kill people.”

Soletus took her hand and said to the boy. “And killing you would be pointless. My advice to you, learn the truth and stop listening to lies of old fools.”

With that, Soletus dragged Kiao off toward a path that was parallel to the whirlwind path. He trudged, walking at a pace she didn’t think he could as his breathing was loud and strained.

“Soletus, stop so I can at least heal and patch something.”

“Khodi’s keeping down the pain,” he told her, and focused ahead of them.

“Khodi can mitigate pain not bleeding,” she told him and stopped walking. That forced him to stop. He could have lifted her up and carried her even injured if he wanted. He could have just yanked her further.

“If I stop too long, I don’t know if I can continue on,” he said. “I can’t feel the pain, but I can feel the ribs that are broken.”

“I’m worried about the stab wound.”

“Oh that, I stuffed it with moss and secured my sash around it. I just holding it.”

She lifted his hand. He did indeed to that. He swallowed. She was certain it might’ve been blood.

“Well, let me make sure you abdomen isn’t filling with bile or something.” She pressed her hand to his chest and chanted to see the injuries to his body. She didn’t sense any significant amounts of blood flowing to that area of his body. In fact, the knife missed everything and was stabbed into his skin layers like a giant splinter going underneath his skin. It probably hurt more than bled. But it was still a nasty. She then went back up to his ribs. They were indeed broken and bruising. She mended his ribs because she didn’t want him to fall and somehow manage to puncture a lung.

“Okay, okay, you’re taking too long,” he said swatting her hands.

She pulled out of his body and glared at him. “Quit being a child. I mended your ribs, couldn’t heal your stab wound. It’s dirty. And everything is going to be painful when Khodi will be unsummoned,” she told him.

“Oh Dias have mercy when that happens. I’m going wish they did end me.”

They moved on again and she asked him, “So you just let them beat you?”

“It wasn’t my intention,” he said, embarrassed. “They surprised me. All of them had knives, and it surprised me I didn’t get stabbed more than once. It took me a while to get them and toss them in the woods. Then one of them hit me in the back with something very hard. Then they just started kicking me. It was easier to act like I was knocked out than and drowned because they held my head underwater. I did blackout but came back too when they had their backs turned. After they gave that boy instructions, I waited and pulled the first one down with me. And the fight anewed. I won that time, though.”

They trudged on and she caught sight of the road. And she saw the huntress speed off with the cart and horseback. They didn’t look like they were being pursued. However, there was a lot of rustling in the distance behind them. She could see two men some distance away behind them and then they shouted and whistled for someone else attention.

Soletus pulled her and hurried away at a run. She didn’t know how Soletus ran, other than taking advantage of the ability that Khodi had given him. He didn’t like using his consort to ignore pain. Ignoring pain made you stupid in his opinion. Though he wasn’t running as fast as he could. She didn’t know how they were going to catch up to Briar and the huntresses on foot as they were well ahead of them at the speed they were going.

Kiao looked behind her and saw the men were joined by others and were getting closer.

“Sol,” she cried out.

He looked over his shoulder and growled something unintelligible. She assumed it was supposed to be a curse.

“Why bother chasing us,” she thought aloud.

Soletus didn’t give her reply, but the suddenly veered going deeper into the woods. And then the trees thinned the growth became thick and looked as if was full of ticks or a well-placed hole to twist one’s ankle. And then her foot sunk into the ground. Everything in front of them was sucking mud. Soletus had boots on and he walked better. Kiao didn’t, water and mud filled the inside of her shoes causing her to squirm.

“This isn’t what I thought,” he huffed.

Kiao then stopped and plucked her shoes off her feet so she could move better. It helped, but Soletus was slowed by the mud as it was taking effort for him to move. However, he kept trudging. The thicket grew above their heads. Kiao’s skirt kept getting snagged and branches kept whipping her in the face and arms before the thicket was replaced with grass that rose above Soletus’s head. It seemed like they were in a tunnel forever, and then the land opened up to nothing but mud and water.

Soletus gaze darted from tree to tree in confusion what was in front of them.

“The map didn’t show this,” he said.

“Aren’t you familiar with this area,” asked Kiao.

“Somewhat. I’ve been in this area a handful of times in Kellas’s band. I don’t remember this marsh,” he stated, and they started following Khodi again. They splashed through the water. There was a bar of land in the distance that neighbored an embankment. It was also across a wide expanse of water. She didn’t know how deep it was, but their pursuers would catch up before they could even reach it. Instead, Soletus had Khodi lead them towards an island that was held together by a tall and wide cypress tree. The moment they stepped on it and hide behind it, Khodi vanished and Soletus’s legs buckled.

All the blood in his face looked to have pooled to his feet. He clenched his jaws from crying it out loudly but he still let out a muffled cry. Kiao pushed his back against the tree by his sternum.

“Shhhh,” she soothed.

He leaned his head on her shoulders while his nails dug into the bark of the tree. Once the sudden pain was gone, she knew he could manage himself better. He gasped for breath and then forced himself to stop. He looked to be listening. Kiao then heard it too, splashing and shouting. She huddled closer to him as he wrapped an arm around her. The other remained free. It got louder and louder until it halted.

“Oy, where they go?”

“They come through here and managed to get away that’s what.”

“They couldn’t’ve gotten very far. But Nigma’s teeth this mud. ’Bout need a boat to navigate this.”

“They could be hiding.”

Kiao’s blood run cold. She listened very hard for anymore splashing. She didn’t hear them move.

“Are you certain they stabbed that monk?”

“They said so. He can play dead, but a stab is a stab. So he ain’t gone very far. Come on. Were better off taking the hunter’s path. That’s probably where they are headed.”

Soletus grimaced and mouthed, “Damn.”

Kiao figured that was where they intended to go.

They sounded like they were walking away from them. She could hear canes and sedge rustsling getting softer.

“Summon Emmery and spy around this tree,” he whispered.

She did as she was told and the ermine left her shoulders and to the ground where she spied around the tree. She gave Kiao the impression of her seen seeing nothing there.

“It’s clear,” she stated.

Soletus then slid to the ground and landed with a moan.

“We can’t stay here,” said Kiao reaching for his side. “Also, I don’t want your wound to get wet with marsh water. There are things in it that can cause infections and fevers.”

He nodded and closed his eyes. She was going to ask if he was alright as he drew in several deep breaths and then stood to his feet.

“I’m fine. We can get moving again. I told Briar if she didn’t see us along the hunter road to go to the outpost,” he then pointed in the distance across the water. “Up that embankment is the hunter’s road. We can’t go there.”

“Then where are we going?”

“I don’t know.”