Heicata was putting me in a tough spot. Technically, the Healing Water spell hadn’t been approved by the Hunter’s Lodge yet, so the lodge’s rules didn’t apply—I should be able to share it with anyone, and there’d be nothing they could do—except the situation was more complicated than that.

First, she had to get Ikfael’s permission, which actually was simple—all it required was making a deal with the otter, and she happened to be with me, occupying the stone sculpture in my backpack. The second, and substantially harder part, was that the spell was currently being contested by the Healer’s Lodge in Albei. They’d claimed it infringed on their rights and responsibilities, and all the lodges took serious issue with anyone who practiced in their field without their permission.

Well, not all and not to the same degree. For example, the Hunter’s Lodge didn’t begrudge a little hunting, fishing, or trapping to support your family. However, if you tried to sell any of the hides, meat, and bones to anyone but them, you faced confiscation of the proceeds, along with a fine.

The healers took things a step further: access to the specialized skills, tools, and magics of the profession were totally restricted, and if you were caught using them, you risked being permanently cut off from their services, in addition to any fines and penalties, which included things like being flogged and branded—hot irons and all—as a false healer.

Obviously, things like simple first aid and home remedies were impossible to restrict, but heavens forbid you tried either outside your family or your lodge.

Also obviously, no one would tolerate this situation, which was why a bunch of the other lodges fought for shared access to Nature’s Spring, since the spell was useful for treating minor wounds and keeping people alive. Injuries happened all the time in places like the Hunter and Soldier Lodges, and even farmers got into accidents. There wasn’t always time or the resources to call a healer.

Viewed cynically, that still made money for the Healer’s Lodge, since they got to treat patients who would otherwise have died and the amount earned for treating the near-mortal wounds more than made up for missing out on the small stuff—injuries that they likely wouldn’t have been called for anyway.

Plus, the healers couldn’t push too hard, or else they’d lose business to the Alchemist’s Lodge. The alchemists did a lot more than provide healing salves and elixirs, but they produced enough to help keep the Healer’s Lodge in check. Which, as you might guess, the healers didn’t like—not one bit.

The whole situation exemplified the power of monopolies, especially when they could literally decide who lived and who died.

Yeah, the healers had a sweet deal going, and I had two spells that threatened it. That was how I knew what I did about how the lodges operated—I had a vested interest. Well, I was probably overstating the impact of my Anesthetic spell—it was useful, not lifesaving—but Healing Water had already saved multiple lives by neutralizing poisons and closing up mortal wounds.

Voorhei was lucky enough to have a handful of people—me, Mumu, Haol, Sheedi, and a couple of farmers—who could use mana magic, and they’d all learned the spell when it became available. That was two seasons ago, and in the time since, Healing Water had become a staple of the village’s daily life.

It didn’t take a genius to forecast the potential impact on the Healer Lodge’s bottom line.

“I know this is a difficult request,” Heicata said. She knelt down, her eyes never leaving mine. “I know, but I’m willing to accept the consequences.” She then snorted in bitter amusement. “It’s not like I’d be the first to leave my village to set up a mender’s hut. At least, I’ll have the skills to protect myself.”

“Mender’s hut?”

“Lucky Voorhei, of course you wouldn’t know... you have no need of one. A mender’s hut is a place of exile for those with healing talents who refuse to join the Healer’s Lodge. To avoid the lodge’s wrath, the hut must be built outside the village’s boundary, in the forest but close enough for villagers to visit when they need help.”

“And you’d give up your position in the Hunter’s Lodge?” I asked, surprised.

Heicata said. “I would save so many—the hunters, yes, but also think of all the mothers and their newly-born children, the young people who fall when breaking in the horses, and the militia who fight during the Long Dark. My responsibility is to protect and nourish the people of this village. I would do that much more effectively with your spell.”

I felt moved by Heicata’s plea... Ugh, I’m such a sucker for self-sacrifice. Still, Inleio and the others had cautioned me to tread lightly when dealing with the Healer’s Lodge. We’d already pushed at the boundaries of what they’d tolerate by spreading the Healing Water spell around Voorhei. “Let me think about it,” I said.

Her spirit tinted a drab gray in disappointment, but a kernel of not-giving-up burned at the core of her. “I understand. I was told you were wise, and patience is a stepping stone along wisdom’s path. Yet, do not delay too long. When the healers convince Albei’s leadership that the Healing Water spell should belong to their lodge, it will become a crime to share it with anyone but them.”

I frowned. “You make it sound like they’ll get their way, no matter what.”

Heicata reached over, and gently turned me so that I faced the room. Teila was casting Nature’s Spring on the horse that wasn’t Belteir. Miri must’ve been out of qi, because she was supporting her daughter’s efforts with first aid. The old man Andrassotei looked on with bitter eyes—he must’ve been out of gas too.

Beyond them, the courtyard was full of people tending to the other wounded animals—the stink of bloody meat and excrement blowing in with the breeze. I should get out there. We’ve talked long enough.

“You have good eyes. I can see your desire to help in them, and there are healers who are the same, but not all. Many among them would use the kind of suffering in front of you to get what they want. And who can refuse when it’s their loved ones at stake?” Heicata sighed. “Your spell threatens the Healer’s Lodge. What would they do when it’s their livelihood at stake? They will get their way eventually. I’m sure of it.”

I felt my frown deepen, but didn't say anything in response. Given what I knew about the lodges, she was probably right. Besides, we’d both already said what we’d needed to say. Our positions were clear.

“Go,” Heicata said, “You are needed, and I will not keep you longer.”

I nodded to acknowledge her words, my mind moving to the task ahead. I counted eleven animals in the courtyard still living. There were also the two inside, but Belteir was stable thanks to Andrassotei, and Teila was taking care of the other.

Of the ones outside, the spirit of a llama with a coat matted with blood, looked the dimmest. I started moving toward him.

Behind me, Heicata muttered, “Lucky, lucky Voorhei...”

###

When night fell, the villagers brought torches and candle stones to light the courtyard. They replaced bandages, and gave those of us casting the healing spells clean, cool water to drink. My vision narrowed so that I only saw whatever horse or llama was in front of me. Eventually, even that went away, as I was forced to close my eyes to hold onto my focus.

At some point, I was spoon-fed a stew that tasted of chicken and pumpkin. The person who fed me smelled like Ahlrein, but I didn’t open my eyes to look—all my attention was on moving my qi through the patterns required for Nature’s Spring, while in the background, Yuki sped up my mana recovery so that I could use Healing Water.

The hours stretched out, and by the time we were done, we’d only lost one horse—a mare. I wasn’t sure how it happened, either. One moment, her spirit was dim-but-holding, enough so that she could wait while we treated others in more urgent need, but then her spirit came free. I felt it brush past me, as she walked out the courtyard.

All that was done now, though. The rest of the animals were on their feet, and cleansed of Borba’s qi too. As for me, I sat leaning against the courtyard wall with Teila asleep, propped up beside me. We were both wiped. How could we not be given the intensity of events over the past twenty-four hours?

Was it really only yesterday when we’d hunted the giant owl? This afternoon when we’d fought the cutter hawks? The time felt so much longer, like it’d been weeks. All I can think about is how tired I am.

I felt beat up and sore from two life-and-death fights, and my meridians ached from the stresses I’d put them under. They were tender and inflamed, like a sunburn but on the inside.

My magical energies were mostly spent, but I had enough to run a tiny bit of air-aspected mana through my meridians in an attempt to cool them. The result was better than expected, and I almost groaned aloud at the relief flowing through me.

“It was her heart.”

Startled, I opened my eyes, and saw Andrassotei standing close by.

“About the mare,” he said, “I thought you’d want to know. Her heart gave out.”

“Ah, yes, I’d wondered what had happened.”

Andrassotei stood there a moment, looking awkward. He seemed to want to say something else, but then he turned and left instead.

I shook my head, which was a mistake because it woke up Teila. She rubbed her eyes. “What’s happening?”

“Nothing. Just someone coming by to say thank you.”

“Mmm. That’s nice.” Teila sat up to look around. She watched as the people of the Rancher’s Lodge cared for the animals. A handful of their apprentices mopped up the blood and swept the courtyard clean. “I think I prefer being a hunter.”

“It’s more dangerous though.”

“I wouldn’t like the waiting,” she said.

“The waiting?”

“For something to happen. Like a beast to come out of the forest or a disease to sweep through the herd—things like that. As a hunter, I’m the one who moves, who acts.”

“But we still wait a lot,” I said. “Just think of how long we sat in the meadow for the giant owl.”

“We did, that’s true,” Teila said, “but it’s different. As hunters, we have more control over our fate. We decide when and where to fight.”

“Unless we’re ambushed,” I said.

Teila quirked her head, thinking. “Even then, we’re the ones who’ve decided to go into the forest in the first place. We’re not stuck to a piece of land—”

“—wondering when we might be attacked or when our herd will get sick,” I said, finishing the thought.

Teila smiled. “Yes, that’s it.”

"For me," I said, “it feels good to provide for my family, to know I’ve protected them from the dangers hiding in the woods. It’s exciting too, and there’s satisfaction in a good hunt, in seeing the planning and skills involved go well.”

Teila’s giggle surprised me—it seemed to slip out from a slight fold in her spirit. “You’re so funny, Eight. Everyone knows how much you love to hunt.”

“Well, it’s not like I try to hide it.”

“I wasn’t there to see it, but Inleio told me about the day when you first showed up at the Hunter’s Lodge. He said—” Teila straightened her spine and deepened her voice in an impression of the former lodge master “—there was never a boy so determined to win at everything.” She outright laughed, and wiped tears from the corners of her eyes. “I wish I’d been there to see it.”

At that moment, it occurred to me that I didn’t know if the other apprentices had gone through the same testing as I had. “What about you? What was your experience like?”

She waved her hand as if dismissing the question. “My parents are hunters; they made sure I was prepared. And with my talent, there was no way the lodge would turn me away.”

“They would’ve been fools to do so,” I said.

When she and I had first met, I’d checked her out with my Status camera, and saw that she was Wood-Wise. I didn’t think too much of it at the time, noting only that Inleio also possessed the same talent.

It wasn’t until much, much later—when I’d gotten frustrated with the way my camera named talents—that I’d started asking people directly about them, trying to match up the descriptions to what my camera showed me. That was when I’d learned what being Wood-Wise truly meant and why Teila had been made an apprentice early.

It was to keep her from being snatched by the land soldiers.

Normally, a person’s qi recovered through their body’s and spirit’s natural processes. There were things that improved the recovery rate, like meditation. The land and environment also contributed, but it wasn’t by a lot, unless it was something like a thunderstorm.

In general, though, it was safe to say that qi recovery depended almost exclusively on a person’s attributes and facility with qi. Unless you happened to be Wood-Wise, in which case you were able to tap into the qi of ‘natural’ places, improving the rate of your qi recovery.

More importantly, as Wood-Wise, you had the ability to ‘hook’ certain spells into the ambient qi, so that once you paid the spell’s initial cost, the land maintained them. In other words, in the right setting, Teila could maintain an infinite Camouflage, assuming she didn’t waste qi by moving around too much. Or an infinite Nature’s Spring, like she’d done twice today.

Alas, the talent didn’t work well with Spiral Pierce—the spell consumed qi too quickly to benefit—but it still helped with recovering the expended qi more quickly afterward.

The kicker on all this was that the talent continued to work even during the Long Dark, which was why the land soldiers had wanted her, and why Miri and Ahlrein made sure she was initiated into the lodge early. There, she could be protected by Inleio, Mumu, Haol, and Tegen—the four best hunters in Voorhei.

Given her dedication and abilities, I wouldn’t be surprised if Teila became lodge master after Mumu. At the very least, she’ll likely one day lead her own team.

She poked me in the arm. “Do you know if there’ll be more food? I’m hungry.”

The day she became lodge master was a long way off though; she was still only nine-years old—dedicated and talented for her age, but still a child.

“I’m sure we can dig up something—” Oh, no. I forgot about Ikfael.

In the rush of the evening’s events, making dinner for the otter had slipped my mind. I scrambled to stand, and apologized to Teila. “I have to go.”

She looked concerned. “What? What’s happening? Is something wrong?”

“No, no, I’m just late is all. Don’t worry, I’ll be back later. And I’ll try to bring leftovers.”

Her face confused, Teila watched me run out of the courtyard. I needed a private place to make dinner, and quickly.

###

Finding that out-of-the-way place turned out to be as easy as asking Heicata, since the Hunter’s Lodge in Voorsowen had a ritual room underneath its main room just like in Voorhei, although smaller and more cramped, with boxes stacked in the corners. Still, I didn’t complain. The space was clean and looked like it was dusted regularly. There was even a magical firestarter and collection of tinder and firewood ready to go.

Best of all, Heicata hadn’t needed a ton of explanation to let me use it, as she knew about my job as the keeper of Ikfael’s shrine. All I had to say was that I needed to perform a daily ritual to appease the spirit, and that was enough. Frankly, after the difficulties of the last couple of days, having at least one thing come easily was a relief.

I got the fire going, and then brought out Ikfael’s sculpture.

“It’s all right. You can come out now; we’re alone.”

Ikfael’s spirit spilled out of the sculpture, materializing as she fell forward, landing on the floor with a thump.

I quickly put down the sculpture, and ran to her side. When I went to help her, though, she waved me off, just flipping over onto her back instead.

“Are you all right?”

She looked at me like an idiot, but before she could sign a response, her back twitched and made an alarmingly loud crack. Her face scrunched up, and the twitching rolled through the rest of her, cracking all along the length of her spine.

Afterward, she sighed in relief, laying there for a moment, before she dredged up the willpower to prop herself up and face me to sign, “I’m going home.” She looked serious too, her eyes a touch wide and manic.

“Let me at least get some food into you first,” I said.

That was all it took for Ikfael to start pulling ingredients from her pocket. She hadn’t been kidding when she’d said that she brought everything with her, either. There was the backstrap from a deer I’d shot a week ago, a squash in the shape of a bell from Bihei’s garden, a handful of greens... the pile grew larger and larger as I watched. Gods, she even brought a cutting board and our pots and pans.

“Um, that’s a lot.”

“It’s not all for tonight. I’ll save most for when I’m back at the Glen and you’re still out here.” Ikfael looked around. “Where are we anyway?”

“Voorsowen. In the ritual room under their Hunter’s Lodge.”

Her eyebrows rose in surprise. “The village with the horses?”

“That’s right. Borba came through here and injured a bunch of their animals. We’ve been healing them, and now it’s too late to follow his trail, so we’re staying the night—” I shook my head, and stopped talking to collect my thoughts. “I’m making a mess of telling the story. Here, let me start at the beginning.”

And so, I told Ikfael about the day: starting from our discovery of Borba feeding on the tree, moving on to the teams splitting up, detouring into the encounter with the cutter hawks, and ending in the conversation with Heicata about the Healing Water spell.

She sat in thought for a long time afterward, which was fine with me, since I had a ton of ingredients to prepare. It'd be a crime to do anything but grill the backstrap, but maybe I could make a couple of stews with the rest? That would cut down on the work I'd need to do, and I really was so very tired.

I was still staring at the pile of food, thinking about a menu, when Ikfael placed a paw on my arm. She looked concerned and conflicted, her signs reluctant. “Don’t make it all. I’ve changed my mind.”

“Are you sure?” I asked. “It’s no trouble; I can make several dinners in one go.”

The look in her eyes firmed, and she nodded. “I am. I won’t let a hunk of rock defeat me.”

“It was that bad in there?”

She shuddered, but the determination in her eyes held. “It feels like being buried.”

My heart sank knowing Ikfael was putting herself through this experience on my behalf. It filled with affection for the very same reason. “Is... is there anything we can do to make it better?”

She shrugged. “Stone is stone; it doesn’t flow like water does. That is its nature.”

“Well, lava—” I started, but Ikfael looked at me like I was being ridiculous, so I stopped.

About that time, the fire looked ready, so I started to prepare the backstrap. My plan was to grill it with just a little salt and a handful of herbs—easy enough. The room got quiet as I worked, the only sound that of my knife on the cutting board as I chopped the herbs. It occurred to me, then, that maybe we were missing something obvious.

“What if the statue was outside my backpack?”

Ikfael shook her head. “No matter where it is, the feeling is the same.”

“But you’d at least be able to see the outside world, right?”

Ikfael tentatively nodded her head.

I put the backstrap by the fire to start grilling, and wiped my hands clean before walking over to where I’d set my backpack down. I examined the arrangement of pockets and straps, looking for the best way to secure Ikfael’s statue. “That way you’d know—the evidence right in front of your eyes—that you’re not buried.”

“I’m not sure it would help, but we could try it.”

Sandstone was pretty easy to damage, so I didn’t like the idea of the statue fully exposed, but maybe we could have her head poking out one of the pockets. As long as she could see...

“I think we can make it work,” I said.

“Then we will try it, but not now, and not tonight.” Ikfael lay down by the fire and stretched, holding the pose until her paws quivered. With a sigh, she let it go, and said, “Tomorrow. That’s when I’ll go back into the stone.”

“Fair enough. The other hunters will be staying in the lodge above overnight, and I can pick you up just before we leave.”

Ikfael shook her head, like what I’d said was completely unacceptable. “You will sleep down here, so you can tend the fire and make me breakfast in the morning.”

“I will?”

“Yes. And in return, I will look favorably on sharing the Healing Water spell with this Heicata you talked about. She will need to make her own exchange with me, but if she does, then that keeps you out of trouble with the lodges.” Ikfael nodded to herself. “Yes, I like this idea... but she will need to come to the shrine to petition me.”

“I won’t be targeted because of my job as the keeper of the shrine?”

Ikfael hesitated, and looked away, her gestures small. “I don’t know.”

Her story, Yuki said, softly inserting themselves into my thoughts so as to not startle me.

That’s right. Ikiira wouldn’t have had a lot of experience with the world before she’d died. Or more accurately... sacrificed.

Inleio had told me the story, once, of a master of the Hunter’s Lodge, a talented youngster, who had been chosen to entreat the spirits of the land to remove a curse upon Voorhei. A well-deserved one, mind you, since the lodge had been experimenting with and abusing darklight. Anyway, the story’s details were hazy, but a couple of things were clear: one, the youngster named Ikiira made a deal with the spirits that involved exchanging her life, and two, the cursed water afflicting the village was forever clean afterward. Enough so, that the Voorhei was famous for it.

That Ikiira eventually became Ikfael was obvious to me, and I strongly suspected that the stonewater serpent sleeping under the Glen had been involved somehow, but the exact mechanisms for how it all happened was a complete mystery.

“It’s okay,” I said, patting Ikfael on the shoulder. “We’ll find out together. I’ll ask Heicata her opinion, and when we get back, we can talk to Kesa too. We can even send a message to Uncle Kila... actually, that’s probably the best idea of all. He’ll likely know what to do.”

Ikfael took a breath and nodded. “Thank you.”

I shook my head. “No, thank you. It’s your spell, after all, and I can’t tell you the number of people whose lives have been saved with it, including mine.”

After that, the rest of the evening passed uneventfully. I got permission from Ikfael to take some of the grilled meat up to Teila, but otherwise not much else happened. I talked a little with the other hunters, I connected with the portion of Yuki back in Voorhei to chat with my family, and then settled down for a quiet night in the ritual room with Ikfael.

It was like a little bit of home, away from home.