Jadu arrived early the next morning on horseback after traveling through the night and was immediately brought to King Hospes to treat his poisoning. Jadu recognized the type of poison by the king’s symptoms almost instantly. It made the poison easy to treat, but it also sent up red flags.

“Standig,” Jadu pulled him aside, “King Hospes has been administered a poison called ‘The King’s Snare’. It’s made from a flower that is only known to exist in the high mountains of the Dragon Tribe.”

“Can it be treated?”

“Yes. But more importantly, how did Evinco get her hands on this?”

“You think the Dragon Tribe might have been her backers?”

Jadu nodded.

“Treat the king. I’ll inform the others.”

***

Fortus woke up to find that Lolo had collected him a clean set of clothes and drawn him a bath. The blankets and sheets on the bed were stained with the blood that had soaked into their clothes. He mindlessly obeyed the unspoken instructions, and the bath water turned a sickening color.

“Fortus?” Lolo called from the front door. “Are you awake? Am I ok to come in?”

“One minute.” He got out to wrap a bathrobe around him. “Ok.”

Lolo came in with some food, but Fortus didn’t feel hungry. “You’re probably going to need to rinse off one more time before you get dressed,” Lolo noted, observing the rusty water. “Give me a minute.” She got to work emptying the bath water, rinsing out the tub, and refilling it with clean water. “Try to eat something if you can.” She hugged him and left.

Fortus ignored the food and got back in the bath, feeling numb and exhausted. This time, the water only turned slightly pinkish when he washed his hair out. He sat there for a long time, getting out to dress only when his fingers started hurting from how pruney they’d become.

As though she knew he was done, Lolo materialized at the door as he finished buttoning up his shirt. “Are you dressed?” Fortus opened the door, and Lolo walked in with lunch, replacing his uneaten breakfast. Then she changed the bloodied bedding. “Come sit down,” she beckoned him onto the bed.

Fortus didn’t have the energy to argue with her. As he sat, Lolo propped him up against the headboard with a pile of pillows and sat down next to him.

“Open,” she said, holding up a loaded fork.

Fortus shook his head.

“That’s an order, soldier.”

Fortus looked at his friend, and his eyes welled up. But he complied again and again until Huo Lohse was satisfied. Lolo handed him a drink to swallow while she removed some of the excess pillows.

“Lie down.”

“Lolo, how did he die?”

She stopped fussing to sit back down and look Fortus in the eyes. “He was killed protecting the king. He’d been disarmed and used his body as a shield.” Lolo started crying silently. “I held his hand.”

“You were with him?” Fortus joined her in crying.

Lolo nodded. “He asked me to tell you some things. He said he’s proud of you-- that he wants you to find your own path. The last thing he said before he died was that he loves you.”

Fortus broke into sobs, and Lolo leaned down to hold him until his tears abated.

“Fortus, do you want to come home with me to the Wolf Tribe?”

He was surprised by this invitation, but it occurred to him that he didn’t know what else he was supposed to do with himself now that his father was gone. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t have to decide right now, but you would be welcome.”

Fortus pulled her back into a hug and rolled her onto the bed so he could hold her better. “Thank you, Lolo.” The friends cried together until they both fell asleep.

***

Neither Scandunt nor Captain Artibus were particularly inclined to continue lessons after the tragedy of the coup and the subsequent executions (much to Huo Lohse’s horror). The trainees were all in a bit of a daze anyway, and Ingenex had completely disappeared along with his mother and brother.

With Jadu’s treatment, King Hospes was quickly on the mend, and to reward the trainees for their critical roles in thwarting the coup, he arranged to send them on a hunting trip (because they adamantly refused more elaborate gifts) along with Jadu and Artibus and a few of his men during their last week. No one really felt like going, but they also didn’t want to further snub the king. Fortus in particular barely made it out of bed these days, and even that he probably wouldn’t bother with if Lolo hadn’t been coaxing him.

Captain Artibus selected a patch of wilderness northwest of the Lion Tribe territory toward the northern mountains for the trip. Getting there took several hours, so between that and setting up camp, most of the first day was gone.

Lolo took Fortus fishing in a river near the campsite to catch dinner, and the rest of the trainees eventually ended up fishing the river with them. No one knew what to say, so no one said anything. Lolo was disturbed by how quiet and somber everyone was. She had been working so hard to help Fortus through his grief while dealing with her own that she hadn’t noticed how despondent the rest of the trainees were feeling.

When they had caught enough fish to feed everyone, Lolo stood up and removed her sword belt.

“Lolo, what are you doing?” Haowan asked.

Lolo just grinned and yanked her brother into the river with her.

“Lolo!” Haowan hollered, “I still have my belt on!”

“Don’t be a baby,” Lolo helped him take his sword belt off and tossed it ashore. “It will dry.” She looked up to see her friends all staring at her. “What? You wanna join us?”

Standig grinned and shoved Begrent, Ernkit and Zhongyan in with one giant shove as they had made the mistake of clustering up together. He then caught Fengli and tossed him in.

Ulana put her hands up as Standig moved to catch her next. “Give me just a moment.” She took off her belt and her sheer red top before surrendering herself to Standig by extending both of her arms while bowing her head in dramatic submission.

Jadu and Captain Artibus made the mistake of coming to check in on everyone’s progress and ended up getting tossed into the river as well.

“Fortus?” Lolo sloshed out of the river to invite him in.

“I’m not in the mood, Lolo.”

“Aww, but you will be!” she wrapped him in a squelchy hug despite his protests. He eventually broke into a small smile and took off his belt.

Fortus hoisted Lolo up over his shoulder to take her down with him and jumped in while she shrieked.

Lolo came up spluttering. “Standig, you’re the only one left!”

He grinned and took his own belt off before taking a spectacular plunge that drenched everyone within a fifteen foot radius, which was just about everyone.

“Show off,” Lolo smirked when he came back up.

***

“Do you want to split into groups?” Captain Artibus asked the next morning. “There are fifteen of us. Three groups of five? Meet back here by sunset?”

Everyone grouped up readily. Lolo assumed she would stick with Fortus, Standig and Ulana were quick to join them, and Jadu added himself to the group because, of everyone there, he was most familiar with Standig. The remaining Wolf and Bear Tribe boys formed the second group, leaving Artibus and his men to make up the third.

“Hey! Our group has one person from each main tribe,” Lolo observed. “How cool is that?!” No one else seemed to find that fact as interesting as Lolo did. “Tough crowd. Ok then. How do we want to do this today?” Again, Lolo was met with apathy, and she sighed. “Fine. Does anybody know this area?”

“I saw a map once,” Fortus finally contributed.

“That’s more than I’ve seen,” Lolo said. “Fortus, you just volunteered as our team captain.”

“Oh, goody,” Fortus rolled his eyes.

“Where to, captain?” Lolo prompted.

“North to the mountain foothills. We’ll follow them west toward a meadow I’m remembering is supposed to be that direction. It should be as good of a place as any to hunt.”

The friends moved out quietly, armed with their usual swords plus bows and arrows, except for Huo Lohse who had brought a collection of throwing knives tucked into a crossbody equipment belt. Jadu brought along his obligatory medkit.

The cliff face reminded Lolo and Fortus eerily of the cliff they had to climb to escape the Dragon Tribe exchange. There was even a foreboding-looking cave that the trainees felt compelled to give a wide berth.

“Do you think that cave was made naturally? Or do you think some kind of animal made it?” Ulana asked.

Fortus took a moment to look more carefully. “Do you see that pattern in those marks around the edges?” Everyone looked to see what he was talking about. “Those are claw marks, but they aren’t visible around the entire edge. My guess is that there was a natural cave there that something has made bigger.”

“Any idea what kind of animal lives there?” Ulana looked to Fortus.

“I’ve heard that dragon moles live out this direction. Seems as good of a guess as any.”

“What are dragon moles?” Lolo had never heard of such a thing.

“Bad news,” Ulana replied. “They are rumored to grow larger than bears, but most people who see them that size don’t live to talk about it.”

“You’ve seen a little star-nosed mole before, right?” Fortus added.

“Yeah,” Lolo confirmed. “They’re fat, ugly, and practically blind with huge paws and claws relative to the rest of them.”

“Right. Now imagine one of those except longer than Standig and capable of breathing fire from its snout,” Fortus described.

Lolo involuntarily shuddered. “And you think that’s what lives in there?”

“Possibly,” Fortus nodded. “I don’t intend to get close enough to find out. Dragon moles, especially full-sized ones, can take out a small army. They’re too fat for conventional weapons to have much effect, supposedly their underbellies are vulnerable, but flipping a dragon mole is nearly impossible.”

“That sounds disgusting,” Lolo’s nose scrunched up.

“Let’s keep moving then, shall we?” Fortus indicated westward.

“What kind of prey do we want to hunt for?” Standig asked. “Remember, we have to carry whatever we kill back to camp.”

“I guess we just hunt whatever we are willing to carry back,” Lolo shrugged.

“Helpful, you are not,” Standig chuckled.

“Well, I’d imagine you might be willing to carry home something a bit bigger than I would. So what type of prey you’re willing to carry home should be left to you,” Lolo protested.

“Hey guys, hush,” Ulana warned. “I think we are here.”

Fortus nodded. “Let’s climb this hill. It should give us a pretty good view of the meadow, and if we are quiet enough and stay low, ahem, Standig, we might even get off a few shots before any animals notice us.”

The group climbed the hill as silently as the swishy grass would allow, crouching down as the peak approached to land on their stomachs in a row next to each other. Fortus took one look into the valley below and brought his arm up to pull down Lolo’s head. The rest of the group saw this exchange and gave Fortus a funny look. Fortus put a finger to his lips before pointing into the meadow.

With heads down as low to the ground as possible, the trainees peered below them. What they saw made Lolo’s stomach twist unpleasantly. Evinco Felis and her two sons were in the middle of a meeting with Dragon Tribe soldiers. Ingenex and Insaltus both looked extremely uncomfortable if not outright fearful.

“What makes you think that we would forgive your failure?” the commanding officer was saying.

“I’m not looking for forgiveness,” Evinco spat. “I can be useful to you in other ways. Take me to see the Dragon General.”

“What do you think you can do for us that we can’t already do for ourselves?” the soldier sneered.

“I am intimately familiar with the Lion Tribe military, culture, strengths and weaknesses. I can make life much easier for you.”

“You assume that we don’t already have this information. Or that if we don’t, that we need it. We aren’t in the habit of taking in strays, Evinco Felis. We supported you only with the promise of an alliance, and we hedged our bets that, even if you failed, you would weaken the Lion Tribe military significantly-- which you did beautifully, by the way. Without the Lion General, the military will struggle until a new leader rises. And all the men you bribed are now dead along with the men who died defending the king, decreasing the numbers of your military by nearly a third. Seeking power comes with a heavy cost, doesn’t it?”

Evinco was left speechless.

“What? Nothing to say?”

“You knew I’d fail?” Evinco faltered.

“Well, I wouldn't say that. But your little take-over attempt was always going to be a win-win for the Dragon Tribe. And now you are no longer useful to us.” The soldier turned around to face his men and gave a slight nod.

“No!” Lolo was on her feet before she even realized she had said anything. The Felis family was dead. Fortus yanked Lolo back to the ground too late. They’d been seen.

“Get them!”

The trainees took off down the hill at a dead run.

“How many of them?” Standig shouted.

“Too many!” Fortus declared.

“We can’t lead them back to camp,” Ulana said.

“Fortus, the cave,” Jadu suggested.

“The dragon mole?”

“They’d be fools to follow us in,” Jadu nodded.

“With just the few of us, we might sneak through,” Ulana agreed.

Fortus looked briefly at Lolo who was in tears. “I don’t have a better plan.”

They didn’t stop running until they were inside the cave and found a small corner to catch their breath and listen for the soldiers.

“What’s wrong with you! Go after them!” the commanding officer was shouting.

“Sir! Permission to speak?”

“What is it?"

“This is a dragon mole cave. They’re already dead.”

“Fine. Then make sure they don’t make it out alive. Seal the cave!”

The trainees listened as the soldiers worked to create a cave-in. They heard large rocks tumbling to the ground. It went pitch black. Then, all was silent.

Lolo slumped to the ground crying. “I’m so sorry, you guys. This is all my fault.”

Fortus and Standig bumped heads in the dark as they both crouched down following Lolo’s voice to try and comfort her. Fortus got there first and pulled Lolo into a hug.

“It’s not your fault, Lolo. We’ll get out of here.”

“How?” Lolo seemed determined to wallow. “We can’t even see!”

“Here,” Jadu said, pulling out a pair of vials from his medkit. “Everyone, give me your hands.” Jadu knelt down to painstakingly brush some of the contents of each vial onto their hands and then around the edges of their faces. Once both chemicals were applied, they started glowing green.

“Jadu, what is this?” Ulana asked.

“Bioluminescent ink. It only lasts for a few days.”

“Is this what Shanti used last year to get a map to us?” Fortus asked.

Jadu nodded and then realized that no one could see him nod. “Yes.”

“Where does it come from?”

“Certain plants and animals.”

“We’d better get moving,” Fortus stood up and, out of habit, turned to pull Lolo up behind him.