Not long after the first twilight of the second night, they came across a small stream at the bottom of a narrow ravine. The four took the opportunity to clean themselves and their clothes, as well as to fill Leahan and Botaran’s water skins. All jah annan carried them when on duty. It was a shame Sora’s had been taken before they fell through that changeling’s portal.

They spent the second day camped beside the stream, letting their clothing air out before continuing on. Sora wore the skirt and blouse she’d plundered from the woman, grateful for the warmth of the thick clothing, doing her best to forget where they’d found the garb.

The skirt was a bit short for her, the blouse a bit tight, and the heavy shoes blistered her feet, but it was infinitely better than walking through the chill forest with nothing, both a tunic and her cloak. Botaran seemed happy to have his shirt back as well.

As they traveled and rested, Jotaranell taught Sora what little he knew of Mitokar. She’d tried to apply his teachings, but each and every time she reached towards that vast store of starlight inside her, she found herself fleeing from it. It left her feeling frustrated and snappish.

It was as they were traveling through the dense wall woods on the fourth night that they came across the morantai.

Leahan led the way, as usual, his footfall silent despite the detritus of dead foliage. Even Jotaranell had learned to move quieter through the forest. The astrologian tried to get Sora to find that wellspring of mitokar inside herself when Leahan raised a hand, bringing the party to a halt.

His hands flashed in hand talk. “People ahead,” he sent. Sora and Botaran moved to either side of him, all three crouched in the ferns beside a giant tree, Jotaranell standing behind them, back to the tree’s trunk.

Sora glanced around for a moment before she spotted what Leahan had. In the distance between the trees, she could see the flickering of torchlight and campfires illuminating the forest.

“Follow me, little sister. Brother, stay with the astrologian,” Leahan sent with several quick gestures.

Sora felt a twinge of frustration at the use of that nickname but ignored it and followed after the jah annan as he moved forward. The foliage parted around them as they moved quick and quiet, little more than a breeze between the trees.

They stopped behind one of the younger trees, its trunk only half as wide as a carriage. Sora crouched down and peered around the edge of the tree as Leahan stood above her doing likewise.

The camp was a sprawling mess of rough tents, haphazard campfires, and three weather-worn wagons. Figures walked between the campfires and tents while dozens of people ambled around each of the large covered vehicles, and it took a moment for Sora to realize most of the people around the wagons were bound hand and foot.

One of the tall figures walking through the camp was suddenly illuminated by a bright flash of flame as one of the fire’s roared up, lighting a low-hanging branch. The firelight glinted off black chitin, illuminating a tall insectile figure standing erect on two spindled legs, their four arms carrying a variety of food and supplies.

The creature’s head was broad and bulbous, reminding Sora of a pile of dishes in a sink. Its multifaceted eyes stared out beneath a pair of frantically twitching antennae as the thing leaped away from the sudden inferno, its burden dropping to the ground in a loud crash.

Several more ant-like creatures scrambled about the suddenly burning branch, trying to extinguish the fire before it could spread further. A massive figure burst out from one of the tents, the thing four times the bulk of the other things and likely more than half again as tall as them. Its body plan was similar in that a cow’s girth was like a housecat's.

The lumbering mandibled monster grabbed the branch in all four of its thick arms and lowered it to its jaws. It bit the thick limb free with one solid crack, throwing down to the ground where the smaller creatures scrambled forward to smother the flames. The hulk’s antennae flickered madly atop its head as the others raced about.

Sora glanced up at Leahan to find the jah annan frozen stiff above her. Gently she nudged him with her elbow, and he started, then glared down at her. She just rolled her eyes.

“What do we do?” She asked in hand-talk.

He looked away from her towards the human’s bound up behind the wagons. The sight filled her with anger, but she wasn’t sure what they could do. There were at least a hundred of the ant monsters in the camp, and who knew how many of those giant monsters there were.

“Let's go back,” he sent, and she nodded assent. Carefully, they moved away from the camp, making their way back to Botaran and Jotaranell.

“What is it?” Botaran sent as Sora and Leahan Approached. Leahan shook his head and gestured for them to move further into the dark forest. Botaran glanced at Sora, but she only nodded and followed Leahan as he strode away.

Leahan didn’t stop until there wasn’t even a hint of the chaotic clattering noise of the camp lingering in the air. They’d set a quick pace, leaving even the jah annan breathing heavily. Jotaranell leaned bodily against a nearby tree, pressing his stone cuffs to his chest as he gasped for breath.

“What happened?” Botaran asked, gripping the pommel of his sheathed saber.

“Monster,” Leahan said. “It was a camp of insect monsters. At least a hundred of them, maybe more, and they had prisoners.” His voice was grim as he delivered the information.

“Morantai,” Jotaranell said between heavy breaths. “Those sound like morantai. They must be bringing back stock for their hive.”

Leahan gave the stargazer a long look before asking, “you said these were the wall woods, yes?” At Jotaranell’s brief nod, he continued. “How could so many morantai be on this side of the divide? One or two, I might understand, but a whole platoon of the things? That seemed ridiculous.”

“It would,” Jotaranell said, finally catching his breath. “If the wall hadn’t been breached.”

“That was true?” Sora asked, not bothering to hide her incredulity.

“Of course, it was true, girl. We wouldn’t have lied about something that impactful. The council received confirmation of the report that liocinian cultist gave two days after you all returned to the city.”

“What do we do then?” Botaran said, pulling the conversation back.

“There isn’t anything we can do,” Sora said simply. “We’ll just have to go around them.”

Leahan shook his head. “We can’t just leave those people there. We have to get them out of there.”

Sora rolled her eyes at him, “And how do you suggest we do that? There are three of us,”

“Four,” Jotaranell interjected. Sora glared at him, and he shrugged. “I’m not entirely useless.”

“There are only three of us, and we’ve never fought creatures like that before. They’ll cut us down before we even reach the wagons.”

Jotaranell was glaring at her, but Sora ignored him.

“We have silverglass,” Leahan said. “And we have you. I know you’ve been practicing with Jotaranell.”

With a snort, Sora replied, “two silverglass rings won’t make that much of a difference, not when the starborn are you and I. And even if I could use my power, what would I do with it? Summon an army of undead rodents to annoy the giant ants?”

“It would be a good distraction,” Leahan countered easily. “Look, Sora, you can leave and go around them if you want, but I can’t leave those people behind.”

“Then I guess you’re on your own,” Sora said, starting to turn away.

Botaran’s hand blurred up and grabbed her by the elbow before she could leave. “Stay,” he said simply. “The more of us, the better.”

“You’re going to do as he says?” Sora scoffed.

“He is my shield,” Botaran said, voice stern as a steel bar. “It is my duty to do as he commands, as it is yours.”

Sora’s jaw tightened, her eyes flashing hot with anger. “He’s not the shield, brother. He’s just a murderer.” She said the words so flat they could shear through glass. “Besides, I'm not a jah annan anymore, remember?”

“You’re still our sister,” Botaran retorted, his tone just as flat as hers had been.

She looked from him to Leahan and back again. Without a word, she turned and strode away. They were silent as she walked into the dark. She half wanted one of them to call out to her, to stop her, but they didn’t, and so she left.

Anger bubbled inside her like a cauldron of boiling pitch. She stormed through the foliage, silent as a sand cat in the ferns. So what if they got themselves killed rescuing a bunch of strangers? It was their choice, not hers. They didn’t need her, and she didn’t need them. She wasn’t jah annan. She was barely even human anymore.

She gripped the broken haft of her sword staff in one hand as she walked, idly fingering the thick fabric of her black cloak. She had no right to it anymore. She should just leave it behind. Sora shivered and pulled on the edges of the cloak, drawing it tighter around herself to keep out the cold, she told herself. That was all.

After what felt like hours but likely wasn’t, she stopped, suddenly realizing that she had no idea where she’d gone. Looking up, she tried to find a break in the canopy to try and discern which direction she was walking in. She stumbled through the greenery, bare legs beneath her skirt scraping against the undergrowth.

Something caught her ankle, and she fell, the sword staff falling from her hand as she sprawled across the ground. She landed hard on her back, the air rushing from her lungs. She gasped like a choking fish on the butcher’s floor, breath barely a wheeze. Air gradually returned to her lungs, leaving a sharp ache in her back and chest. Sora just laid on the ground, staring up, directing through a gap in the canopy above.

So, she was still moving north. Good. All she had to do now was steer clear of the camp and continue onto the wall.

A twig snapped from somewhere nearby, and Sora jolted upright, then cursed herself for a fool. She’d been trained better than that, stars damn it. She laid back down, rolling over onto her stomach as she looked around. She couldn’t see anything in the dark undergrowth.

Slowly, she moved, searching the ground for her staff with her hands. Her fingers closed around the hardwood haft, and she froze. Gradually, as slow as she could manage, Sora raised the weapon and stood.

She looked around herself, sword staff ready for an attack. Still, she saw nothing. Perhaps it was just an animal, she told herself. Something disturbed a fern behind her, and Sora spun.

The blade of her staff cut the air with a swoosh, meeting nothing but the unfortunate frond of a fern. Her heart raced as she took a step back from the plant, barely managing to maintain the composure of a jah annan.

A crack sounded from above, and a heavy branch crashed to the ground a few feet away, and Sora sprung away, rolling into the ferns, coming up with her weapon still at the ready. She glanced up to just what had happened, but it was a mistake.

Something dark snaked out from the ferns to her left and wrapped itself around Sora’s legs, coiling around and around and around until it was halfway up her body. The thing moved faster than it had a right to, its hundred or so legs digging into the soft flesh of her calves and thighs.

A breath of pain escaped her lips, and Sora turned her blade down, preparing to cut the thing free from her when another creature fell from the tree. It landed across her shoulders and forced her arms to her side, coiling around as the first had done. The two met at her stomach and locked jaws with each other. Sora still managed to keep her grip on her staff, struggling against the insect creature’s terrible strength.

Sora let out a growl of frustration as two of the ant-like figures emerged from the shadows. “Get off!” She shouted. “Don’t touch me!”

The creatures ignored her, one ant thing grabbing her shoulders as the other lifted her up off her feet. Together they began carting her away. Sora shouted wordlessly into the dark, struggling with all she had against the morantai, but it was no use.

“Botaran!” She yelled into the night. She screamed his name, again and again, hoping he could hear her, hoping he would come, but he didn’t.

“Jotaranell?” She tried hesitantly. Tears began to roll down her face as she lost the last of her strength, and, finally giving in to the fear gripping her heart, she tried to shout for Leahan, but his name stuck in her throat. All she could manage was a choked sob in the dark.