Five dozen souls passed from the endless seaside to the long canal. It continued upwards at a slow meandering pace. The river flowed slow enough for enormous logs to move downstream to the lodge. Above it all, Freya flew, catching thermal after thermal. Muk once again ride on Outrider as he ranged ahead of the line and she was keeping pace with him.

On one side of the river, amber stalks twice the height of her chickens covered the ground.

Every so often she would find a large beast sleeping in between the flora, but it was never close enough to warrant an intervention. They all seemed to be herbivores as well to her relief. At least their particular look made her think so.

Ahead of her River and two birds flew with the advance. Far in the rear their last companion advanced only as fast as the creatures on the ground did.

Right in the center, Freya could see Elizardbeth riding Gear. She could imagine the beast just grooving along with only a faint hope of lapis in the near future. Freya mourned the loss of her Kali as only the barest quarter ration had been left after the first day.

She was saving some for a special occasion.

Elizardbeth on the other hand seemed straightforward. The lizard looked at every ranger candidate like a trinket she wanted to add to her collection. River had explained how the draw of a bonded ranger was different for the druids that couldn't bond on their own. They had to ask a druid of the red house to bond them together and then it was something that took energy from oth druids involved. Freya wondered if that was why most of the other druids only stuck with one ranger.

One was enough for her, at the very least. One with five chickens.

She reached out to Gear with her temporary bond to see how the hen was faring and keep her in line as she was straying slightly off course. Far ahead in the distance, Freya could see what she only imagined was their next stop. As the endless day dragged onwards and she got more and more proficient at flying, she could see how the druids that were able to travel to this warren would want to make shelter just for the darkness. The ever present light made it feel like it was still summer but she knew it wasn't the same outside of the warrens.

She wondered too at the limits of the warrens and why only a few creatures has chosen to live there. It seemed lovely in her experience, but she hadn't seen any of the wild sea creatures that came upon land from time to time. It would not do to have to fight a war against beasts from a warren when blood and tears had been shed to build up the walls of Yellowrock and similar nations. True, they had their arguments, but bears tended to stay well clear of the large outer walls.

The walls had been a project of generations if what her elders had said was true.

Generations of mice, rabbits and foxes built tunnels underground to move soil and claim more land topside. Then their descendents pushed the walls even further out. Working in tandem with druids, the wall workers were kept more and more safe. Their families were far away from the prying eyes of predation and could live an easier life.

There was only the beaver lodge behind them, and the marked circle nearby where they arrived to tell Freya that this trail was marked. The rangers knew the way of course but Freya found their countenance unwilling to give up trade secrets. She would put Muk on the duty of figuring out their system the next day.

It wasn't until they got close enough to fly within reach of a large pond that Freya began to think that something was wrong. One of the birds flitted down to tell Spring something then back up to the sky. She wondered what he saw and caught a thermal to see what she could see.

There, far off in the distance, a clearing in the savannah broke into a large watering hole. The pond had water leading both into and away from it moving to join a larger stream that they had been following for most of their trip.

From the briefing that they had been given in the morning, that was their goal and there was a series of tunnels nearby that they used. Freya flapped her wings excitedly, then picked up speed as she traded it for height. She directed herself a bit off her course to hit another thermal, so she could complete the addictive process again. Before long she was right behind the vanguard with a clear view of the area.

She didn't know what she was looking for. Or rather she didn't have the right frame of mind to understand what she was seeing as some instinct she was unfamiliar with stopped her dead in the air.

"It's a similar climate to Yellowrock itself. I found the humidity a bit much though. There's something about just lounging in the dry heat and getting warmed that just isn't the same here where it rains far more often it seems," Elizardbeth said to Muk as they drove ever onwards.

"And the people? I don't know how in touch with the politics of the place you were but did you feel politically connected? We only hear what the envoys tell us except for the part of the apparatus that makes contact. I suppose we'll be making contact on behalf of the circle now."

"Yellowrock did seem different to me, but perhaps it was because I wasn't so connected. I only ever wanted to work with the sick or infirm as a youth which kept me with apart from Lizard society, but mother did drag me around."

"There's a king or queen, though?"

"More like hundreds of princes," she replied, looking up, "that bluejay is speeding up."

Muk and Elizardbeth watched as the bird flew with a purpose. Their chickens slowed as well. Muk gently encouraged them to keep moving.

"She's found something," he remarked.

"It feels like it's almost time for us to rest, so I hope so."

It was then that their chickens shuddered and whined. Above them Freya flapped uncontrollably and the rangers in the vanguard held for a halt. Their clear muddy path in the center of the stalks of yellow was gripped with uncertainty, as rangers sent commands down the line.

Muk nearly threw up when he felt Freyas distress as she fought to turn back and get a clear picture of what was going on.

He only caught snatches of her jumbled thoughts but that was enough to get him moving. He readied his sword and drew his bow.

He got the sense that this was going to be a long evening. Without thinking he drank the last little bit of water he had been saving and motioned for Elizardbeth to stick to him.