Travel over the brushland between the swamp and the planted fields was more pleasant than the trip through the swamp, especially for Andarit. During the time in the swamp, she was inundated by various insects, mostly mosquitos, that simply couldn’t penetrate Serenity’s armor’s scales. He had a couple of bites on the back of his hands, but she was covered by mosquito bites.

Serenity wasn’t certain they were actually mosquitos, technically, but “small bloodsucking insect that lays its eggs in water” was close enough to “mosquito” for how much he cared about it. They were found on a number of planets and were one of the few positives about becoming undead in the first place: undead didn’t attract mosquitos. Apparently he was still alive enough to attract them now; that was in some ways reassuring, even as it was also itchy.

The brush was all short, generally no more than a foot to a foot and a half tall. “Why are all of the bushes about the same height? I’d have expected some short trees, too? Is the edge maintained?”

Serenity had seen that before, where an area was kept clear of trees to prevent an enemy from having cover. It worked well against monsters, the same way it did against men.

Andarit chuckled. “The Harvest Festival ends with the adults coming out and burning the deadland, the border between the swamp and the fields. If the fire escapes into the swamp, no one cares; it’ll burn itself out, but everyone has to watch the fields’ edge to make sure it doesn’t take off up the mountain.”

Andarit paused and chuckled. “I remember the first time I was part of the firewatch. I was going to stay up all night and make sure nothing caught that shouldn’t. I think I made it two hours past sunset. Maybe three.” She shook her head and sighed. “I was still such a child. So proud of making it to Tier One and being counted an adult, even seeing my first Harvest Fire. It was only a few years ago but it seems like such a long time.”

Serenity grinned and was about to tease her about her still being barely out of childhood when a flash of light in the distance caught his attention. “What was that? It can’t be water, can it?”

“What?” Andarit looked around, confused. “We shouldn’t be close to the river yet, the crops change to rice in the flooded fields and that’s not rice.”

Serenity had no idea what the crop currently growing in the field was. It was green and looked sort of like wheat to him, but was wheat really fifteen feet tall? He was pretty sure it wasn’t. Whatever it was, it wasn’t rice, that was for sure, and neither were any of the plants

Serenity frowned and paid attention to what was ahead of them instead of to the side. “Ahead of us. I saw a bright flash of light. And there’s another. I think it’s sunlight reflecting off metal.”

“Metal? What metal would be there?” Andarit frowned. “It’s on the cleared area, isn’t it? I think I see what you mean.”

Serenity nodded but didn’t say anything. He had a bad feeling about what he was seeing; he’d seen it before. He strained his eyes, trying to confirm his suspicions before voicing them. It didn’t take long. “It’s armor. Armor and weapons. There’s a group of warriors headed our way; I can’t tell if they have any backup but I’d bet on it.”

They must have been noticed somehow, and whoever had noticed them knew they came out of the Dead Swamp. The one good thing about that was that it should be quickly obvious that they weren’t undead; none of the undead in the Dead Swamp had anything like a flyer. With any luck at all, that would give Andarit enough time to talk them out of fighting.

“Warriors? That doesn’t …oh. Oh shit.” Andarit brought the flyer to a halt. “I should have realized, we came out of the Dead Swamp and Father wasn’t expecting us.” She frowned and looked puzzled. “It’s odd though. Why would they be coming after us? There are only two of us.”

“What are you talking about?” The distant warriors were still approaching; Serenity was starting to get a better picture of what he was looking at. “I’m seeing about half a dozen in armor, but so far there seem to be only two following them.”

“Eight? I thought the River Team had more than that.” Andarit shaded her eyes with a hand and squinted off into the distance.

Serenity scoured the area for more people. He chuckled when he found them; one was about halfway between them and the approaching warriors, while the other was making her way along the edge of the field. They were both invisible but solid; whatever invisibility they were using was quite good, as they didn’t shimmer even when they moved. He took a moment to check for anyone along the side of the Dead Swamp or behind them, but there wasn’t anyone there.

“They do; I also see two scouts getting closer to us.” He didn’t bother to keep his voice down; it might be just as well if the people approaching knew he could see them. They weren’t enemies, after all; it was simply a matter of convincing them of that fact, and the first step was to get them talking.

That step could be hard, but avoiding a fight was far better than the alternatives.

Serenity took another look at the scouts; one seemed to have heard Serenity’s statement, the one between them and the warriors. He’d turned around and was walking openly back towards his allies. The scout near the field stayed put, watching but not interfering.

If he really wanted to avoid a fight, Serenity needed to avoid doing anything offensive, but that didn’t mean he wanted to just sit there. A moment’s thought brought an idea: why didn’t he build a shield? He knew how; he could even build a very good shield spellform that would cover both him and Andarit. It wouldn’t be able to stay up all day but he didn’t need that right now.

It would take time Serenity wasn’t sure he’d have, but it wasn’t like there was anything better to do while he waited.

“They’ve stopped moving forward,” Andarit whispered. “What do you think they’ll do next?”

Serenity forced himself not to reply in a whisper. A normal calm time of voice was best. “You know them better than I do. What do they normally do when they see someone they’re not expecting?”

“I don’t know.” Andarit’s voice sounded strained but at least she wasn’t whispering. “I’ve only been with them when they go after undead.”

Serenity smiled, trying to reassure her. He was probably doing a terrible job. “Then they’re probably trying to figure it out too. Wondering who we are and how they should deal with us.” He raised his voice enough that he was certain the scout near the some-kind-of-giant-grass field could hear them. “Personally, I’m hoping they’ll come talk to us so we can handle things peacefully. I’d rather not fight, especially not here.”

The armored warriors of the River Team were close enough for Serenity to make out their gear. Five of the six were dressed in fairly simple chainmail, including a chainmail coif, while the sixth seemed to also have some armor plates in strategic areas and definitely had a more imposing helmet. All six of them carried swords; it made sense for a group used to fighting humanoid undead. They wanted full coverage that was hard for someone without a weapon to get through while leaving themselves free to move. The one in heavier armor was either higher ranking or had a Path that specifically took advantage of his armor; without fighting them, Serenity couldn’t be certain which it was.

Serenity was well into making the spellform when Andarit started tapping the side of the flyer. Serenity wasn’t sure if she was impatient or anxious, but he wouldn’t be surprised if she was both. She’d never had the need to really learn patience, after all. “Just wait, Andarit. The longer it takes, the more likely it is that we’ll get a better response. If they’d acted immediately it would have been an attack. Right now they’re thinking and that’s what we want.”

Andarit frowned. “Are you sure? I just want to get home.”

Serenity smiled. “It’s been almost a month since we left Zenith. A few more hours isn’t much.”

Andarit leaned back and crossed her arms. “You just don’t understand.”

Ah, the complaint of teenagers everywhere. Serenity’s smile softened. “You’re right. I’m not getting to go home any time soon.”

“That’s not what I meant!” Andarit protested.

Serenity nodded. “I know. It’s still true; I’m not sure when I’ll get to go home.” The smile had completely fallen off his face and his voice dropped to just above a whisper by the time he finished the thought. “I’m just glad to know I’ll have a home to go to. That’s what matters in the end.”

For some reason, Andarit patted Serenity on his back. He wasn’t quite sure what that was about. At least Andarit seemed to be feeling less impatient. That was something.

Even after that pause, it was still several more minutes before the River Team did anything. It was plenty of time for Serenity to finish the spellform for a shield even with the distraction.

It was also plenty of time for Andarit to get antsy again. This time, Serenity didn’t talk her into calming down, because the armored warriors were moving. They’d been talking to each other for a while, but Serenity didn’t know what they’d been saying. When three of them started walking forward, led by the scout who’d returned to them earlier, Serenity knew the long wait was over.

Andarit’s tapping also stopped.

As they grew close, Serenity looked over at Andarit. “Do you recognize any of them?”

If she did, there was a good chance they might recognize her as well.

Andarit shook her head. “I probably met some of them once? None of them look familiar.”

The three armored warriors walked up to about ten feet from the flyer and stopped. The one in the heaviest armor coughed slightly before he spoke. “Who are you and why are you here?”

Serenity let Andarit handle the talking while he watched the soldiers. These were her people and he wasn’t good with people anyway.

“I’m Andarit; this is Serenity. I’m from Lowpeak, I just want to go home.”

Serenity noticed that she didn’t entirely clarify who she was. Perhaps she didn’t think she would be believed?

“Did you come through the Dead Swamp?” The two soldiers who weren’t speaking had their hands drift towards their swords. Serenity watched them carefully; he didn’t want to cast the shield unless he had to, but if either of them drew, he would.

Andarit nodded. “It was faster than waiting at Mountain’s Crest.”

The armored warrior sighed. “You should have waited anyway. Cutting through the Dead Swamp is a good way to die young. You’re lucky the Duke is in residence and can deal with Swamp Rot.”

He turned to one of the others. “Take these two back to the station and report to the Duke. Don’t leave anything out. We’ll finish the search and join you there; I’m not convinced this is what we’re looking for.”

The warrior in chainmail had a high, clear soprano voice. “Follow me. Stay well behind me; I don’t want to end up in quarantine with you.”

As Andarit directed the flyer after the woman, Serenity watched behind them. One of the scouts followed them, still invisible. Serenity had to approve their paranoia; they clearly didn’t trust that there wasn’t more to the story, even if they weren’t going to ask immediately.