“I had not thought to warn you,” Rittan said, “Perhaps I will remember in the future.”

“Perhaps my ass,” August said, attempting to sock him one in the arm and wincing at the unyielding nature of his body. “Ouch—I’m going to get you back, Rittan; just you wait.”

“I’m curious to see how you will go about such a thing,” Rittan said, amused. “It would appear that we’re almost ready—”

The sound of chains caught their attention, and they turned to find Morningstar arcing high in the air, three separate chains smashing into a branch that had been staked into the ground. Kalter burst forward, passing by the chains and catching Morningstar before he could hit the ground a dozen meters past the point of impact. August had almost forgotten just how fast she could move—the blisteringly fast assault she had brought against Rittan back when he’d first summoned her rising up into his mind.

Boko went next, taking two steps forward and launching Ladybug up into the air—she vanished into a red and black blur the moment she left his palm, spinning so quickly that August wondered how she could identify anything about her surroundings. Three spikes burst forth in a staccato of chainlinks, and each one smashed into her own target without fail—the fact that they could be so accurate amidst such rapid movement was kind of baffling. Boko had started moving the moment he’d thrown her, and the arc was higher, with less forward momentum, so he reached her landing zone with an easy jog before she was even close to touching down.

“Seems like it,” August said, “Melon and Haiko?”

“There was a clothing mishap; Haiko was fixing Melon’s belt,” Rittan said, “Will Neptune be remaining here?”

“I considered bringing him along, but it’s probably better for him to keep any Mitikos from taking a shot at our new walls,” August said, glancing over at the lake. “He’s not big enough or fast enough on land to keep up with us, and there’s no way he could fight an Otrogon without getting snatched up.”

Neptune was fearless enough and would be more than enthusiastic about taking a shot at them, considering the size of some of the Mitikos he seemed to be picking fights with, but a land battle just put him at too much of a disadvantage.

“Yes, I suppose that’s for the best,” Rittan said, “August, will you be carrying a weapon?”

“I was going to take that big bone knife with me; I doubt I could kill anything with it, but it’s better than nothing,” August said, reaching up to massage his neck. “I feel bad about not participating in the fighting—I know I’d just get in the way, and it’s a bad long-term strategy, but letting all of you put yourselves in danger on my behalf sucks.”

“I would much prefer to put myself in danger than to see you face it,” Rittan said, voice gentle. “I’m certain that the others feel the same, August.”

“Maybe,” August said before glancing over his should. “But it still sucks—looks like it’s time to go, man.”

Haiko and Melon joined them a moment later, the three renders growing large in his mind. Whatever problem she’d had with her belt, it seemed to have been handled—he spotted the knotted mess of a new piece of twine, now attached where the break had occurred.

“Good morning, Melon,” August said, seeing as she was the only person he hadn’t greeted yet. “All ready to go?”

“I—yes, thank you—I mean good morning,” Melon said, ducking her head down in a failed attempt to match his much lower stature. “I’m very much looking forward to seeing the device you spoke of.”

“So am I,” August admitted, “I wish I figured out the whole analysis thing earlier—not knowing what it is has been kind of bugging me.”

“A mystery to be unravelled; I can hardly bring myself to wait,” Haiko said, tapping a finger against her lip in consideration. “Although, the monsters that await us are certainly concerning.”

“Don’t go near them,” Kalter said as she closed the distance. “We’re leaving now.”

Morningstar, perched on her shoulder like some great, bulbous parrot, trilled at the words, and August wondered if he could somehow trick her into wearing an eyepatch. As the slowest member of the group, he stepped forward, not willing to drag it out and make them wait for him to catch up. Boko, waiting ahead of them, turned, and joined the group as they reached him—Ladybug, standing about three inches higher than Morningstar on account of the height difference in their respective mounts, gave a pleased trill.

They headed north, following the grass between the trees and the lakeside, aiming for the distant and rising flats that preceded the ridge, and August was content to keep his silence—an effort to keep his too-fast pace without wasting his breath on words—and listen to the Voithos talk amongst themselves. August soon learned the mystery of Melon’s destroyed belt; in that, it had gotten caught on the entrance for one of the huts as she stepped outside—she seemed pretty embarrassed about almost taking the entire structure down along with it.

“Don’t laugh at me,” Melon protested, “It’s not funny—Boko.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Boko said, smiling far too wide for it to be the truth. “We’re probably in line to upgrade our sleeping space anyway—especially if we’ve got Melon rampaging through it all.”

Melon gave another protest at the last second addition, but Rittan was the one who spoke up to address it.

“You make a good point, and with the expansion well underway, we will soon have much more space available to us,” Rittan said, “August? Did you have something in mind for such a thing?”

August had been thinking about it, although the reason was far more selfish than he’d have ever admitted out loud—they all needed some kind of privacy, and as it stood, nobody had anything even approaching it.

“I was thinking we could partition off the spaces between the pillars with internal walls and give everyone their own bedroom to sleep in,” August said, “That would probably be easier if we added another expansion to make the whole thing wider, but it’s probably possible with the current setup.”

“A bedroom each, huh?” Boko said, sounding a bit impressed. “Not a fan of communal spaces?”

“I’m a fan of privacy, so making sure everyone has at least one place they can go to be alone is important,” August said, “It’s not quite a house each, but we’ll get there eventually.”

“A whole house,” Melon said, startled. “What would we do with such a thing?”

Haiko gave a hum of amusement at her reaction, perhaps recalling making a similar comment when he’d first mentioned it.

“Whatever you like,” August said, “Fill it with the things you’ve made or been given.”

“You could start making a stockpile of one hundred belts,” Boko said with a laugh. “That way, you’ll have a bunch of backups—just in case.”

“Boko,” Melon said in alarm. “How many do you think I intend to break?”