Following Crenshaw and Woda into the fray, Stone reflected on his life as it had existed before. He had a great family and for all his bluster he hadn’t really needed much of anything. The company provided and everything else, from his sons playing at being a ranger and forming his own raft was just icing on the fish cake.

It was right before they reached the clearing for the bridges that he realized that he needed to pay attention to everything that was going on in front of him as well.

Stone smacked into a large apothecary sign, knocking himself off his mount.

In the haste and chaos of the day, his mount didn't realize what had happened until it was face to face with a ragamuffin.

Stone himself was knocked out cold for long enough to realize that he was missing out.

"Well that’s a problem, innit."

The elder otter shook off his headache and took stock of his situation. He didn't have the swimming speed to catch up, and he wasn't going to go on his own, but he needed to do something. He wanted to do something.

Then he remembered the trip they had made to the docks to discuss strategy. The restaurant had been next to a ship foundry. He should be able to get in there and secure some boats for the coalition's use in case they needed them.

Had he thought about the problem a bit more he might think that such a place would be an excellent target. Stone in fact had guarded several similar locations.

So it was with complete surprise that he found himself surrounded by five ragamuffins who were attempting to make off with everything they could find. Stone drew his swords.

“Stabitha, Slashley, time to go to work.”

The otter pushed off the ground, launching himself into the fray, meeting the constructs with one, slashing with the other.

Stone made q uick work of the first two, both of which collapsed to stabithas long reach, then the three others tried to circle the experienced elder mercenary.

Stone took one look at their coordinated movement.

“Oh sweet Miru.”

Then he bravely turned his tiny otter tail and fled, right before they were able to encircle him.

The confused ragamuffins looked at each other quizzically for a second before following.

This proved to be all the time he needed.

Stone juked left out of the door, and then one by one the mouse sized creatures fell to slashley. The last one saw him approach and for the first time, the otter could saee fear in it’s otherworldly eyes.

Stone stabbing it directly through the throat was the last thing he saw.

When he secured the foundry, he began getting volunteers to help with the next part of his mad plan.

The otter grabbed every able bodied badger he convince to get into a boat to stave off the invasion that he felt was coming.

It wasn’t until the wyvern popped up over the top of the furrows that he realized how off his assumptions had been.

That and the explosions had him and about twenty badgers in small river rafts, fighting the currents around the boats using long rowing oars as well as the bridge supports.

“That Stone?” Freya said, nodding to the clutch of badgers and exactly one otter in rafts underneath the remnants of the five bridges.

“Yep. That’s the one. I swear that his timing is completely off or he is shirking his duties, or maybe I’m just jealous that he didn’t joint my suicide squad. Either way I’m happy to see him. Sela seems ecstatic.”

The ranger had tromped over immediately and leaned over the edge of the bridge to see his father in law.

“How are things going down there?”

“Swimmingly.”

Freya retired to the little breakfast nook at The Otter and his D’Otter. After eating everything she could find, and sharing the meal with River they all joined Sergeant Yates back by the now empty supply trains.

The tired fox looked convinced that he would never sleep again, and that by necessity, he would need to immediately make haste back to Yellowrock proper.

He also looked dead tired.

“When we’ve all rested, we’ll be taking the wounded back home,” he told the party.

That had to be acceptable because as soon as they were all able to unload their cloaks, they all quickly fell asleep in between the wagons, cockroaches and chickens.

Only River stayed awake long enough to sneak back to the frontlines.

No one noticed the giant portal opening to the burrows, but everyone noticed the conspicuous absence of a wyvern atop the Furrows. It was this strange occurrence that caused the regiment to send a flight of sparra out scouting only to find Alexas band routed, and only a smoldering campfire left.

Whomever had survived the meeting with the beast had either not lived to tell the tale or had escaped along a well trodden path back to land controlled by the marquisate.

Marwei stayed on edge for hours, and it wasn’t until the land became dark again that the supply trains began to move back towards Yellowrock.

Freya and her companions ended up walking alongside the caravan.

Due to the large amount of wounded that River was working to heal, Freya spent the evening learning how to use her own red mist to rejuvenate the skin and fur of a burnt mouse. It was in the sheer amount of patients that she saw until the night fell that caused her to look forward to walking more.

After each creature was healed, Freya told them to eat up as the healing would make them hungry for days. It wasn’t only them that were hungry, and as the night turned back into day, a rejuvenated Sergeant Yates thanked her and made her sleep.

Freya reluctantly listened, only waking up for breakfast and lunch.

Freya checked in on the baby with Layla at the midpoint sometime that evening. For a brief time she gave respite to mom and dad, and then made sure to glare sideways at dad to make him act right. They returned the blue jay cloaks as well, giving the babe a momento that Layla said would warm her heart. Layla accepted Rivers cloak readily but told Freya to keep hers. One never knew when a cloak would become handy, of course.

Before she knew it, they were on the road again, and the even pacing of the caravan left her drowsy. Either it was that or her overall excitement from seeing something nice happening in the world with the little one. She was coming down from a large high.

Before long she was asleep again, dreaming happy dreams of reuniting with her mother and grandmother. She would be chasing a small Kayli as soon as she returned, then she would get to the business of settling her affairs.

A druid couldn’t have things hanging over her head while in training.

But for now? She would rest.

Freya, the initiate, liked cozy shops. Fortunately, the town inside the wall had many of them. She was happy to remember the simpler times when she hadn’t been taken under the wing of so many mentors in a row. Before she’d awakened her powers.

The stretching between two different worlds, her homeworld and then those burrows. The new clan leading her away from and bringing her back to the old.

It was all such a strange new world that she’d arrived in. This new world had shown her giant beasts, things that would crush her in their grip without a second thought. She had fought against and even brought to bear one of those.

She didn’t see the world the way that she had anymore either. Now, she had her feelings wrapped against her red mist, pushing it down so it was visible. Sensing the world through her bond as well was not only a welcome feeling, it felt like second nature. Her bones had changed many times, wild shaping her over and over again, distorting herself as she changed reality.

Now she saw things the way that River did. The way that Lady Raina had taught her. She still needed to talk to her friends, but the arguments that she’d held with Holly seemed naked and without form. It just didn’t seem to matter anymore, like someone trying to whistle across a crowded bazaar.

Freya had weathered the storm, coming through in full view of what it meant to be a debutante, and now a druid.

But what she got out of her experience? She was a bit hesitant to say. She was looking forward to the rest of the season, and especially after all of the time she’d spent away- ages it felt like- just being with her friends for the rest of her season.

Muk could wait.

Freya would not.

The shops on the inside of the wall? If their signs were any indication? They couldn’t wait either.

And Freya would oblige them.

THE END of Volume One of Red Mist