“I don’t care who you are, old man, you’re not getting in here, you hear!” This was getting nowhere. “Look, my niece is inside that camp. I know she is, black skin, ashen grey hair, wearing two gauntlets.” The dwarf and the beast-kin exchanged glances with one another.

“I’m tellin’ ye, ye got da wrong camp, now sod-off.” As the dwarf spoke, there was an odd sound emanating from him, like a small ethereal bell. “Oh really, then why is my spell telling me you’re lying out your teeth?” The two guards exchanged glances again. “I don’t give a damn about that spell of yours. You’re not getting through, and that’s final.”

I clicked my tongue in disappointment. “I was trying to be civil about it, but since you insist on making me do this.” Before either of them could respond, I cast my [Restrain] spell, and the two froze. They were now held in place by magic far beyond mere physical strength. “For what it’s worth, I apologize.” With that, the three of us walked past them, with Nari giving them an apologetic look and a quick “Sorry.”

“Moor, this camp is hidden by magic, isn’t it?” I gave a curt nod as I peered further inside. I gave Amber a sideways glance. “It is, are you ok?” She grinned back at me. “After being near those gauntlets, this lil’ spell is nothing.” As we walked inside the camp, we earned guarded gazes from the residents, but none of them were keen on challenging us.

No doubt the only reason we weren’t set upon by them all, was because the guards couldn’t yell out. As we neared the center of camp, we found a rather large make-shift tent on its own. Voices were coming from inside, raised voices.

“-don’t know how.” The moment Amber heard the voice speaking, she rushed into the tent. “Wha- GAH Amber? AMBER!” Both Nari and I pushed inside as well. “Good to see you’re ok, kid.” Keari was sitting on a bed and was hugging Amber. Next to them was a trio of gnomes and an annoyed looking Beast-kin with a bovine heritage, couldn’t for the life of me tell which, though. He looked over at us. “I am pretty certain I told everyone that we were not to be disturbed?”

I ignored him and walked over to Keari and hugged her as well. “Glad you made it out of that pickle on your own. I would like an explanation on how you escaped, though, if you don’t mind.” Keari gave a chuckle. “Anything to get a break from his constant questioning.” The Beast-kin gave an annoyed snort.

“This is my camp, and she’s not leaving until she has explained how she broke loose from those people’s control.” Great, one of those types. I was missing Rael right now. He always knew how to deal with these types of people. Time for plan A. I slowly turned to face the Beast-kin.

“Good sir, my niece has just saved the grand majority of the people in this camp from a fate worse than death. And from what little I heard of your conversation, it’s obvious she doesn’t know how she did it.” I took a step towards him and even though he was far larger than me, he shrunk away from me with a terrified expression.

Because of being a higher level than anyone else, I had this sense of power that could make anyone else feel reassured or threatened by just being near them. Something I was taking full advantage of that right now. “She has had a traumatic night and an exhausting morning, so why don’t you let her rest?”

To his credit, he stood his ground for almost ten seconds before he crumbled and hurried out of the tent. As he did, I sat down on the bed next to Kari, while glancing over at the trio of gnomes on the other side. “Friends of yours?” Keari looked over at them. “I guess you could say that. This Ozweld, Bellina and their daughter Edri. I guess it’s more correct to say we saved each other.”

I looked at the three again and stretched out my hand. “A pleasure to meet you all, pardon the rather… intimidating spectacle earlier. I’m Moor, Keari’s uncle. I was unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, not present when she was abducted.” As I glanced over at Keari, I wouldn’t help but wonder if her abduction had been a blessing in disguise…

“I mean, while it was undoubtedly a horrible and harrowing experience, she could save everyone here.” Keari gave a dry chuckle. “Always look on the bright side, right?” It would seem she understood what I meant. “Exactly so, kiddo.”

Ozweld looked bewildered for a moment after that small exchange, before he grabbed my hand and shook it with great enthusiasm. “Ozweld Fizbottle, traveling Alchemist, and the pleasure is all mine, sir. Your niece is a miracle that arrived in the darkest hour of my family. If there is anything we can do to repay our debt, please, ask.” He seemed quite delighted to meet us.

“I keep telling you, there’s no debt to repay. If it wasn’t for Edri, I wouldn’t have snapped out of the charm. So, you helped guys me as much as I helped you.” Keari sounded rather bemused, though she still seemed content.

“I refuse to allow a life-debt to go unpaid. My ancestors would turn in their graves if I did.” Hmm, maybe there was a simple solution then. “Ozweld, you said you’re an alchemist.” I looked over at Amber. “So is she my young charge here, self-taught. If you had some leftover manuals, I am sure she would be ecstatic. Such things have been difficult to come across back home.”

Ozweld looked at Amber, then nodded slowly. “Hmm, yes, I see. Alchemical texts would be difficult to get out here, not to mention the cost of import these days… Sure! Umm?” “Amber.” Amber looked up from where she was hugging Keari. “Yes?” Ozweld grinned at her. “I hear you’re a self-taught alchemist. How about I share some texts I no longer need to help a fellow practitioner out as a thank you for Ms. Keari helping me earlier? Would that be satisfactory for you both?”

Amber’s expression went from uncertain to ecstatic in a matter of moments, while Keari looked elated to have the matter settled. “Yes, please, I am always eager to learn more!” Ozweld grasped her hand. “Excellent, excellent, well then, just give me a moment to fetch my… oh my.” His merry expression changed as he looked at something behind me.

I turned around. The old Beast-kin from before was back, flanked by the camp guards I had incapacitated earlier. “Don’t the three of you have better things to do than to sour our little reunion?” It would seem the three of them felt braver together because they didn’t move back, but stepped forward. How’d Rael deal with these types of people daily?

“You broke into our camp.” The beast-kin looked rather smug. “They denied me passage, even though I made it clear my niece was in here. So, I made it so that they wouldn’t hurt themselves as I passed by.” He paused, clearly not expecting me to blatantly admit what I had done.

“So you admit that-” That was as far as he got before an angry growl behind me made us both turn around. The smug old Best-kin looked towards Nari, his voice dripping with disdain. “And you are?” Nari stepped forward and now there was a regal air about her, that she had lacked until now. “I am Nari, acting Chieftess of the Nighthunter Tribe. These are our lands your camp is trespassing on.” The old Beast-kin’s voice had been disdainful, but Nari’s bordered on outright hostile, and the shift of the mood was tangible.

Tribal territory was a big deal, and anyone trespassing on another tribe’s territory during the festival could face dire repercussions. And the trio withered in front of her scathing glare. “If it wasn’t for my friends here, I too would have been nothing more than a puppet for those monsters you escaped from. I will not let you, who never asked for refuge on my Tribe’s lands, treat my saviors poorly.” She had walked right up to the old Beast-kin and began poking him as she talked, like a mother scalding a petulant child.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The entire situation had indeed blown up during the next meeting of the chiefs. Every tribe for themselves, with only the Bloodstalker tribe now supporting my push for a united defense. The entire meeting so far had been spent listening to their grandstanding rather than doing anything useful. “Chief, excuse me, but… scouts have returned with a report. They say it’s urgent.” Thank you, mighty Galnir, for sending these scouts to me at this moment.

“Send them in.” I gave a nod to the guard, who hurried back outside. “You can’t just make that-” The old goat didn’t get further. “The Bloodstalker’s support’s the motion of hearing the scouts’ report. It might contain something important, compared to your useless bickering.” The resulting silence was all the agreement we needed.

The flaps opened and two identical Leporidae Beast-kin entered. I couldn’t tell if they had Hare or Rabbit heritage. “Lani and Leni of the Reedrunner Tribe reporting. We’ve found a camp of built by people from the burned intruder camp. It seems to be escaped captives.” That got their attention, finally something more important than their own personal stations.

It took about half an hour to cajole the rest of the chief’s, but I got what I wanted in the end. Behind me was a quintet of shamans, all versed in warding magic, and around fifty warriors from various tribes. Our mission was to contact this camp and find out their stance towards the intruders. “Chief, with hall due respect, you should not be joining us. This is far too risky.” Brunji, an old wizened Cat, was badgering me for the 20th time since our departure.

“I was the one who insisted on this course of action, and so I will be the one to lead others into the potential danger. It is the way of my tribe, Brunji. I know it might be different among the Stargazers, but in the Moonclaw, you never issue an order you’re not willing to go through yourself.” The old cat nodded solemnly. “I see, very well, Chief. Lead the way and may Molian favor us all.” The god of luck’s blessings would certainly be useful about now.

The two scouts that had reported were leading us towards the camp and seemed quite pleased to have been given such an important task. We would get there before nightfall, and if we were lucky, they wouldn’t have moved on.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The sun was setting. I had spent most of the day in a conjured bed with nothing but my thoughts to keep me company. After Nari all but scared the camp leadership into obedience, I had been “Left to recuperate.” I still felt exhausted from whatever I had wrought on the camp, so that was all fine with me.

As I reached out for the waterskin on the chair next to my bed, I fumbled, and it dropped to the floor. Only for someone else to catch it. There next to my bed was a woman, but for the life of me I couldn’t make out any features aside from her long black hair.

“Might want to be a bit more careful in the future.” She handed me the waterskin, and I gulped the content down. “How so?” I handed the skin back to her, and she replaced it on the chair. “I won’t mince words, child. You almost killed yourself with that final spell because of your current condition.”

I looked over at her, now with an uncertain feeling in my stomach. “Why do you care, and who are you, anyway?” She reached out and ruffled my hair. “I guess you could say I am your creator, and it’s the nature of creators to care about their creations.”

I felt conflicted. On one hand, I did not know who this lady was, and that claim was preposterous. On the other, she seemed honest. “Then, can you help me control this power?” The woman looked at me, her eyes suddenly coming into focus. “Controlling it is not what you should be doing. Using that power in your current state is killing you. Hence, why I obfuscated it to begin with.” She reached out and put a hand on my shoulder, and renewed strength flowed through me.

“I can only help you this one time, since I am already skirting the edge of the rules as it is.” She walked over to the tent flap. “There is a way to cure you, but it can’t be done here. Go to the Labyrinth of Dreams…” She exited the tent. “Hey, wait, I still have questions!” I rushed out after her.

“Ashes?” My eyes opened. When had I fallen asleep? Amber was sitting next to me on the bed, looking at me. “You were mumbling in your sleep. Did you have another nightmare?” I sat up, the fatigue that had plagued me since the camp was gone.

“No, I didn’t. In fact, I feel great, better in a long time.” I gave Amber a hug, then swung y legs over the side of the bed.“Where’s uncle?” Amber shrugged.

“He left about an hour ago, said something about discussing what to do now with Nari.” Huh, well, I guess I should leave them to it. I wanted to ask him about the dream I had, but… No better wait, it’s important, sure, but so was this whole mess. Besides, it wasn’t like I could just up and leave these people to the mercy of those... I would call them monsters, but that would be an insult to monsters. “Amber, wake Keari and get out here.” Great, now what?