“Yao, what’s the latest?” Shijen asked dismally.

“What’s got your beard in a knot?”

“You’ve heard, I presume?”

“About the small tribes along the southern road?”

Shijen nodded.

“Unfortunately, that’s what everyone is talking about these days,” Yao nodded.

“I had friends in the Komodo and Snake Tribes,” Shijen said.

“I’m sorry,” Yao said sincerely. “Do you want something a little stronger today?”

Shijen nodded again.

“Coming right up.” Yao left and returned with a spiked spiced cider. “It’s on the house.”

“Thank you, Yao.” Shijen took a long draft from his drink, draining over half of it in one go. “So, what’s the latest?”

Yao took a seat across from his friend. “Well, there’s a rumor going around that the princess left the exchange early to go on some sort of quest. The way my source tells it, the Alpha and Beta were not happy.”

“With everything going on, if I had an eighteen-year-old daughter leave on some wild adventure right now, I wouldn’t be happy either!”

Yao nodded. “It begs the question, why now?”

Shijen shrugged. “With everything the princess gets herself into, who knows?”

“That reminds me! Apparently, she spent her two weeks in the Phoenix Tribe exchange completely overhauling their military.”

“She did what now?” Shijen knew that he shouldn’t be surprised by these sorts of things anymore, but somehow, he still was.

“Yeah. King Ukhaan gave her total authority over the phoenix military while she was there. It would seem that the Old Phoenix was quite taken with her.”

Shijen chuckled and gulped some more cider. “Oh, that girl….”

“One of my merchant friends from the Phoenix Tribe said that he heard it from one of the palace servants that the Old Phoenix tried to persuade his grandson to marry her.”

“The crown prince?” Shijen raised his eyebrows.

Yao nodded enthusiastically.

“Isn’t Prince Ukhaan quite a bit older than our princess?”

Yao shrugged. “There’s about ten years between them. At eighteen, ten years may seem like a lot, but it’s not an outrageous age difference in the long run.”

“I suppose it is all relative,” Shijen shrugged. “Regardless, our little princess is not short on options. Just a few weeks ago, we were discussing, oh, what’s his name? The Lion Tribe kid.”

“Fortus Arum.”

“That was it,” Shijen smiled. “And then there’s that really tall Bear Tribe boy that’s come to visit, and the doctor one from Pahaad.”

“Mn,” Yao nodded. “Huo Lohse Lang could basically choose the tribe she wants to marry into.”

“They’d be lucky to have her,” Shijen said, chugging the last of his cider and releasing a hissed breath as it burned his throat on the way down.

Yao laughed. “Either lucky or cursed. She finds trouble everywhere she goes. Whoever marries her will have to stay on their toes!”

“Ha! That rhymed,” Shijen grinned.

Yao shook his head, amused. “I’m beginning to remember why you don’t drink, Shijen. You can’t hold your liquor.”

“What do you mean? I’m fine!” Shijen laughed harder than the situation called for.

“Sure you are,” Yao chuckled.

***

“Which tribe's territory is this?” Ulana asked as the friends led their horses through a village.

“The Elk Tribe?” Huo Lohse turned to Fortus. “Does that seem right to you?”

He nodded. “Alright, guys, remember, we’re here to look for a map of the northeastern mountains and to ask if anyone around here has heard of the ancient ruins that Ulana heard rumors about.”

Everyone nodded.

“Meet at the village entrance we came through by nightfall,” Lolo said.

They spread out to cover more ground. Jadu went in search of a library or a bookstore. Fortus left to find the military base, Ulana went to talk to the merchants, Standig sought the tribe leader, and Lolo found the tavern to question the locals.

The people of the Elk Tribe were taller on average than those from the Bear Tribe, but they were less bulky. Lolo felt like a dwarf among giants as she swam through the crowded streets to the tavern. She was grateful to have Choloo with her to keep herself from accidentally being mowed over. The elks actually saw the horse. Once at the tavern, Lolo tied Choloo to a post out front and fed her an apple before entering.

“Little miss,” the bar keeper gave her a curious look, “are you old enough to be here?”

“How old is old enough to be here?” Lolo laughed.

“You’re not from around here, are you?” he grinned.

“No. I’m from the Wolf Tribe.”

“The Wolf Tribe?! And what brings a pretty young lady like you all the way out here?”

“Something that perhaps you can help me with,” Lolo leaned in as though telling him a great secret. “I am searching for the Great Owl. I’ve heard rumors that somewhere in the northeastern mountains, an ancient city lies. I wonder if she might be there.”

“Ah! I see,” the bar keeper smiled. “You’ll want to talk with Okhotnik.”

“Who is Okhotnik?”

“Okhotnik is a true survivalist. He takes long trips out into the mountains to hunt and scavenge. No one knows the northeastern mountains better than him.”

“Where can I find him?”

“If he’s in town, he’ll likely be at home.”

“Can you direct me?”

“Certainly! From here, turn right and follow the road to its end and then keep going into the woods. Follow the river bank. Can’t miss it.”

“Thank you!” Lolo smiled and got up to leave.

“Be careful.”

Huo Lohse collected Choloo and began the long walk. The road ended abruptly, and Lolo continued straight into the woods. She heard the river before she saw it. It was fast flowing with white rapids tumbling back the way she’d come. She followed the bank as instructed. The trees got thicker as she went. Choloo was less than impressed and protested loudly enough times that Lolo decided to leave her tied to a tree so she could continue without the ornery mare.

After another twenty minutes, she came to an old, dilapidated hut. She knocked, and the door swung on its hinges, but no one appeared to be home. A little nervously, Lolo poked her head in to check for signs that someone had been there recently. She was in luck. The fireplace was still hot, so someone had to be nearby. The hut was a mess. The windows were filthy, and the laundry probably hadn’t been done in weeks. It smelled like sweat and mold.

With nothing better to do while she waited, Lolo removed her cape and gambeson and found some buckets to collect water with. She came back and scrubbed the piles of laundry and the bedding clean, replacing the water a few times. The clothes line was in bad shape, so Lolo repaired it with a fresh coil of rope that she found on the front porch before hanging the wash out to dry.

Okhotnik still hadn’t returned by the time she’d finished, so she moved on to scrubbing the various, filthy surfaces in the house. It was a small hut, so there weren’t too many surfaces to clean, but they were all caked in a grimy buildup probably acquired over several years.

With Okhotnik still not home by the time she’d finished scrubbing the last section of floor, Lolo looked around for a kitchen to cook some dinner in. It was getting late, and she hadn’t eaten since breakfast. Out back, she found a fire pit and a large cooking pot, which of course needed a good cleaning before it was usable. An old storage shed held some dried herbs, a little salt, and some carrots, onions, and potatoes, and a quick hunting trip with a throwing knife produced a brace of rabbits. She made enough stew to feed herself and someone about Standig’s size.

As the sun started to set, Lolo helped herself to the stew, still waiting. “I hope the others don’t worry too much,” she thought as nightfall approached. Her thoughts were derailed by the sound of large boots on the front porch.

“Show yourself!” a deep, gruff voice shouted.

“Back here!” Lolo responded, suddenly questioning the wisdom of being in the middle of the woods with a man that she didn't know.

The second tallest person she’d ever seen came tromping around the side of the hut. Okhotnik looked Lolo over, irritation and curiosity written all over his face. “What are you doing here?” he demanded.

“You are Okhotnik? I came to talk to you.”

“Who are you?”

“My name is Huo Lohse Lang, but most people call me Lolo. I’m from the Wolf Tribe.”

“The Wolf Tribe?”

She nodded. “I made stew.” She indicated the simmering pot, quite glad that she’d cooked a Standig-sized portion.

He narrowed his eyes at her. “How do I know that you didn’t poison it?”

Lolo laughed. “Poisoning you would be counterproductive.” She scooped out a large spoonful of her peace offering to blow on before eating.

Satisfied, Okhotnik took a seat and accepted a bowlful. Close up, Lolo could tell that beneath the bushy beard and dirty face, Okhotnik wasn’t particularly old. She guessed that he was maybe in his thirties, and despite the rather aggressive tone and posturing, he had kind eyes. “So what are you here to talk about?” He took a bite of the stew and seemed pleased.

“Someone told me that you are the local expert on the northeastern mountains.”

“Who told you that?”

“I don’t know his name. He’s a bar-tender at the local tavern.”

Okhotnik nodded. “I see. What do you want to know?”

“I’m looking for the Great Owl. Last I heard of her, she was spotted entering the northeastern mountains near the Bear Tribe. There are rumors of an ancient city tucked in the mountains and some speculation that the Great Owl may be there.” Lolo waited patiently for Okhotnik to finish his bowl so she could refill it for him.

“The Great Owl. Why are you looking for her?”

“I have some questions that I hope she can answer.”

“You ask a lot of questions, don’t you?”

“So far, you do too.” Lolo’s eyes held a glint of mischief that caused Okhotnik to produce a boisterous, guttural laugh.

“That’s fair enough. Well, miss Lolo, let me see if I can help you with your search.” He stood up with his stew still in hand and walked around the hut, turning momentarily to ask, “are you coming or not?”

Lolo followed him into the hut where he tossed a tattered animal skin map marked in smudgy black ink on the small, freshly cleaned table.

“See here,” he pointed to a small dot, “there are some old ruins here. They are a far cry from an ancient city, but if it’s ruins you are looking for, those are the only ones I know about.”

Lolo scanned the map carefully. “If you were an older, nomadic lady, where would you go?”

Okhotnik chuckled. “You’re guess is as good as mine. I’d probably avoid the cliffs here,” he pointed, “and the caves in this region,” again he pointed. “There are dragon moles in those caves.”

Lolo looked at the map more closely and realized that the caves he had indicated were very near where she and her friends had battled a dragon mole the previous summer. “Would you mind very much if I copied your map?”

“Go right ahead. Do you need ink and a skin?”

“If you had some to spare, yes, please.”

He dug around through an old chest to procure ink and a crumpled feather pen, then he went out back to find a cured pelt in the storage shed.

“Thank you,” Lolo smiled and began copying his map, though it became evident quickly that her drawing skills were preventative.

Okhotnik laughed again. “Let me.” She budged out of his way gratefully, and what would have taken her hours took him fifteen minutes.

“Thank you, Okhotnik. How can I repay you?”

“You cleaned my house, did my laundry, and cooked dinner. Let’s call it even.”

She nodded and collected her cape and gambeson. “In that case, thank you. I need to get back to the village.”

“Good luck with your search.”

Choloo was cranky when Huo Lohse found her. She didn’t like the woods under normal circumstances, but alone and in the dark, Choloo was spooked easily.

“Whoa, Choloo! Hey, girl,” Lolo worked to calm her down. Choloo held still long enough for Lolo to pull a couple of carrots from the saddle bags, and as Choloo munched, Lolo untied her from the tree. “That’s it. Good girl, Choloo.”

Lolo walked her horse out of the woods before climbing into the saddle to ride the rest of the way, arriving at the village entrance three hours after the appointed time.

“Where were you?!” Standig challenged her immediately with unnecessary aggression.

“Sorry, guys. I ended up out in the woods to talk to a local hunter named Okhotnik.”

“Do you have any idea what time it is?!” Standig got right in her face as she dismounted.

“I-I’m sorry.”

“You weren’t in the tavern! The bar-tender told us that you’d left almost as soon as you’d gotten there! And no one besides him had even seen you!”

Fortus cleared his throat. “Did you find anything, Lolo?”

Startled, Lolo had to tear her eyes away from Standig’s glare before she could even process Fortus’s question. “Um, y-yeah. The hunter made me a map, gave me some good pointers.” She pulled the animal skin from her belt and sidled away from Standig to hand it to Fortus.

“Oh, this is great, Lolo,” Fortus nodded approvingly after looking the map over. “This is the single most useful thing we've found today. The maps that the rest of us saw didn’t have nearly this much detail or cover this much ground. I’d say your trip into the woods was well worth it.” Lolo got the sense that Fortus was saying this more for Standig’s benefit than for hers.

“Have you eaten yet, Lolo?” Ulana asked.

“Yeah. I had dinner with Okhotnik.” With Standig’s oppressive mood hanging over their heads, no one had much to say. “Well, so how did the rest of your searches go?” Lolo asked the group generally.

“The Elk Tribe doesn’t have records of the northeastern mountains like we’d thought,” Fortus said. “The captain that I spoke with and the tribe leader that Standig spoke to didn’t have any good information or accurate maps to show us. Ulana had just a bit more luck talking to merchants. There’s an old pass someone told her about, and Jadu found references to the pass in the library, but this map you brought actually has the pass marked.”

“I take it then that you’ve all been waiting for a while,” Lolo observed cautiously. “I’m sorry to worry you.”

Behind her, Standig huffed a little and sat down with his back turned to everyone. Ulana made a face at Lolo intended to communicate a certain helplessness at dealing with Standig.

“Why don’t you guys set up camp?” Lolo suggested. “Ulana, could you look after Choloo for me? I’ll catch up with you in a minute.”

“Come here, Choloo,” Ulana gathered the reins and Fortus, Jadu and Ulana left without another word.

Huo Lohse approached the tetchy bear cautiously. Not really sure what to say, she chose to sit next to him in silence and stare up into the star-lit sky for a while. “Are you alright, Standig?”

He deflated, his shoulders drooping and his head bowing. “Lolo, I really hate worrying about you. It’s been less than a week since we investigated the Badger Tribe, and I’m a little on edge still. What if something had happened to you out in the woods by yourself? What if that hunter guy was a real creep and did something horrible to you? What if you’d met Dragon Tribe soldiers out there?”

“I’m sorry, Standig. I promise that I didn’t do it on purpose.”

“I know. That sort of makes it worse.”

“Do you need a hug?”

The slightest trace of a smile crossed Standig’s face. “Yeah. I’ll take a hug.”