August dragged himself back to his feet, using what little energy he’d managed to regenerate in the few minutes of rest. Once he was there, he pulled the [Bone Axe] out of the ground where he’d left it and then blew a breath out of his nose in an attempt to bring himself all the way back to level.

“Alright, if you could drag one of these trees over,” August said, rubbing at his face. “We’ll drop it off and then head over to the summoning pit—just in case Boko pulls a Kalter on me.”

“I will do my best to ensure that doesn’t happen,” Rittan said without. “Although Boko had a reputation for being quite friendly with the Children of Gaia—your startling similarities to our creator should work to your advantage here.”

“Not sure if I’m happy about that or annoyed,” August admitted. “Leaning towards annoying thought.”

The two of them dragged the tree over to lay next to the furthermost corner, or rather, Rittan dragged it, and August considered an attempt to catch a ride across to the other side of the camp to avoid walking. He managed to restrain himself and maintain some of his dignity in the process.

“We weren’t sure how deep, so they all look like this,” Kalter said, waving her digging stick at the hole. “To shallow?”

“Slightly, but thank you both for your hard work,” Rittan said, smiling. “There is a marker on each of the trees that depicts how deep we need to go to ensure they will remain solidly in place.”

“I’ll redo them,” Kalter said, brushing her hair out of her eyes. “You finished with the trees?”

“It was a systematic tree beheading,” August said when she glanced down at him. “Rittan was the executioner, and I was a well-intentioned bystander trying to get him to see reason.”

Rittan let out an amused puff of air, probably remembering how I’d barely managed a single beheading myself.

“Positively gruesome,” Haiko said with far too much cheer.

“We’ve taken a brief interlude to attempt the next summoning,” Rittan said, smiling. “If you’d like to come to watch?”

“I most certainly do,” Haiko said, visibly interested. “I’m afraid I couldn’t see much of anything when I woke up with my face in the dirt—I’m interested in a less underground perspective.”

“Sorry about that,” August offered, taking a step around them in the direction of the pit. “Safety precaution to avoid any panic-induced violence.”

I’d kept it untargeted enough to be undirected, but Kalter still shifted at the words, folding her arms across her chest. The three of them turned to follow me, Kalter brushing against the edge of my range and sending a burst of startling movement into my head.

“Yes, well,” Haiko said, thinking about it. “I can see how that would be something to avoid—it was a rather startling transition.”

August stopped beside the [Summon Pit], wondering what they could make that might work better. The best he could think of off the top of his head was a cage, and he very much doubted that any of them would appreciate something like that.

“Ladybug?” August said, turning to get eyes on the monster at their feet. “We’re bringing someone new here again, don’t attack them, okay?”

Ladybug trilled out a possible affirmation of his request and then trilled a second time when Haiko bent down to pick her up, carefully sliding her fingers over the fur and around the spikes. The monster’s stubby legs swung around in the air for a moment before Haiko put one of her hands underneath her, catching the weight, and then she settled down.

Kalter stared at Haiko like she was the stupidest person on the entire planet, and even August found himself a bit unsettled by the risk she’d just taken. Rittan was the only one of them that had really interacted with Ladybug on that level, and even he hadn’t just picked her up without any kind of buildup. August kept half an eye on the pair as he dropped down to one knee next to the pit.

“Alright,” August said, looking up as Rittan came to kneel beside him. “Tell me what he looks like.”

“He’s taller than I am but shorter than Rittan, slimmer around the shoulders and lithe,” Haiko said, closing her eyes. “He has short blue-black hair, and he had a braided bang on the left side of his face.”

I started building a model of him, using the mental render of Rittan’s presence as a base.

“What was he like?” August prompted.

“Energetic, friendly,” Haiko said, tilting her head. “I was only in his presence for perhaps fifteen minutes, but he had a smile on his face the entire time. He made a lot of gestures when he spoke, and he gave off a sense of complete self-assuredness.”

“Clothing?” August asked.

“He was wearing the runic mesh bodysuit that cleaners wear while they are working,” Haiko said, opening her eyes. “Although I’m sure he wore other things as well, and he may have changed his hair at some point afterwards.”

The blank-faced model developed a mouth with a wide smile and found itself wrapped in a featureless black bodysuit. I had no idea how close of an approximation it was, but it helped focus me.

“Confident, energetic, friendly, always smiling, gestures a lot,” August said, listing it off to reinforce the image within his mind. “A monster hunter with a braided bang. Taller than Haiko, shorter than Rittan. Boko the dancer.”

August slipped his hand down into the pit, touching it against the crumbling dirt walls.

“[Summon],” August said.

Mana traced its way down his arm, through his fingertips, before washing down over the walls of the pit, regenerating the broken patterns until they were pristine once more. Ladybug trilled as the mana filled the air for a moment of bright light, heavy air, and then there was a Voithos lying on the bottom of the pit.

August pulled his hand back and got up, moving back as the person began to sir. Kalter took a step forward into the space he’d just vacated, coming to stand between him and the pit. August stared at her back for a moment, unsure how to view the action.