The bodies stopped falling from the sky a short time after. With no other hint of how to progress to the next level of the totem, Shani, Inferi and the rest continued to traipse across the plain of dark grass. The sky remained a deep orange color, flecked with thin, drifting clouds that almost looked like smoke. Night never fell and the light never changed to reflect a different time of day.

Each time Raiqo and Skystrike took to the air to scout ahead, they came back, shaking their heads. There was no change in the land, they said, nothing as far as the eye could see except the unending flat and the gray-blue grass that waved without a wind.

Occasionally, minor storm mana spirits drifted by, ethereal gray shapes mostly in the form of a dust devil or tiny cloud. Nothing like the great flying lizard they’d faced in the previous plane of the totem. They were always a fair distance away from the travelers and floated away without notice, the only break in their never-ending landscape.

The lonesome prairie demanded silence, which weighed down like a wet blanket draped over them. When anyone spoke, it was in a low voice, hardly above a whisper. Shani lost herself in her thoughts as they walked. Her mind drifted over the past few months, all the things that had happened, all the things she’d done or hadn’t done. All she’d lost and what she’d gained—how what she’d gained was never what she’d expected it to be.

Inferi must have sensed some thoughts through their bond, but she made no mention of them. The hyena walked on at the front of the group, always staring ahead. An unspoken agreement passed between them. There was no love lost, but perhaps each could help the other become stronger. That was all that mattered.

Shani had no idea how much time had passed before she noticed Raiqo and Skystrike lagging in the back. She’d stopped at a word from Kiypu and turned to see Raiqo leaning over, hands on his eyes, gasping for breath. Skystrike’s head drooped and his wings nearly dragged across the ground.

“What is wrong?” Shani asked.

“It is… the totem,” Raiqo said, sucking in a deep breath and standing up straight. “We are in unexplored parts now. It drains our mana until we are no more than Companion strength. The process is… not a comfortable one.”

“Perhaps we should stop and rest?” Kiypu suggested. “Who knows how long our journey ahead may be?”

“No,” Raiqo said, squaring his shoulders. He wasn’t a proud person, but Shani could tell he didn’t like that he and his Mana Beast were slowing them down. “We can continue.”

Shani had half-turned when Kiypu held up a hand. “Shh! Listen!”

At first, Shani heard nothing. Then, she thought she could just make out a faint screaming sound. A moment later, it become more clear and she looked up at the sky.

Not far away, a creature of some kind dropped in a free fall, screaming. At the speed it fell, Shani caught only a gray blur before it crashed into the swaying grass somewhere ahead of them.

“Shani, wait!”

Ignoring Kiypu’s warning, Shani and Inferi took off in the direction of the impact. They soon reached the edge of a circular area where the grass was smashed flat. A large gray fox struggled to its feet in the middle of the impact, his golden markings stuttering and flashing like the embers of a dying fire. Shani gathered wind mana in her hand and Inferi smoked with purple shadows, preparing to attack.

The fox still faced away from them. It let out a gigantic sneeze and shook itself from head to toe. “Why in the name of the Mother couldn’t I have grown wings when I advanced?”

The voice was familiar. “Vex?” Inferi asked, letting her building shadow mana fade away.

The gray fox spun around, golden eyes wide. “Shani? Inferi? Is that really you?”

He bounded toward them then stopped, seeing that Shani still held a storm mana working at the ready. “What’s the big deal? It’s me!”

Inferi sniffed the air, then padded closer to Vex, cautiously examining him. If this was Vex, he’d clearly advanced to Guardian strength. The voice was the same, but his body looked almost entirely different and was close to twice the size he’d been as a Companion strength Mana Beast.

“It’s either him or the best illusion of aura there ever was,” Inferi concluded. She nipped at Vex’s ear, causing the fox to yip and jump back.

“Ow! What was that for?”

“The final test,” Inferi said, mouth widening into a fanged grin.

A rush of emotions filled Shani. If Vex was alive, Kellen had to be as well. At the same time, the fact they’d already reached Guardian strength sat like a ball of hot lead in her stomach. She pushed the envy down. “Where is Kellen?”

Just then, Kiypu and the others arrived. Shakraa let out a caw of delight and perched herself on Vex’s head, running her skeletal beak through his fur.

“Kellen’s not with you?” Vex said. “I don’t know what happened after we fell.” He told them the story of their entry into the totem with the help of Coyote Lady, their encounter with Chirp, their adventure inside the Thunder Beast and the fight with the Frog Priest. As Shani listened, she felt a growing admiration for Kellen. Even after months of hard life among the Storm Band, she wouldn’t have thought him capable of half the things Vex shared about their time in the totem.

“So this spirit traveler friend of yours speaks with the primevals?” Raiqo asked, in shock, rather than disbelief.

“Only Coyote Lady and Raccoon Boy,” Vex said. “And Raccoon Boy mostly just makes fun of us. It’s not as cool as it sounds.”

“Why would it sound cold or hot?” Skystrike asked, puzzled.

“It is a phrasing from the Great Before,” Shani said. “It means impressive.”

Raiqo and Skystrike nodded in understanding. Shani thought they were taking the tale very well, considering Vex had spilled it out with little clarification or background.

“Vex,” Kiypu said suddenly. He had remained silent throughout the recounting, even the part about Kellen recovering some of Kiypu’s lost past from the memory stone. “Reach out to Kellen. Can you feel him? Do you sense his presence on this plane of the totem?”

The gray fox fell silent for a moment, eyes closing and ears dipping as he apparently tried to find any sign of Kellen. When his eyes opened, his ears dropped even lower. “I… don’t think he’s here.”

Kiypu nodded. “It is as I feared. I believe Kellen was sent somewhere else inside the totem. I’m afraid it will do little good to look for him on these plains, Vex.”

“So now what?” Vex asked. “I can’t just leave him out there. He needs me!”

Kiypu placed a mummified hand on Vex’s back and gave it a pat. “I am sure Kellen will be looking for you as hard as you are for him. And I am eager to hear of what you discovered from my mana stone as well.”

“I guess you’re right,” Vex said, dejected. “I… I don’t like being away from him, though. It feels all weird and wrong, like I’m missing an ear or something.”

“We will find him,” Kiypu promised. “Perhaps now is a good time for us to rest, yes?”

Shani and Inferi resisted their impatience as they waited for the rest to recover. Vex had kept his Guardian form after the defeat, though he was clearly still wounded from the fight. Raiqo and Skystrike already looked a little better from the brief rest they’d had while Vex told them about his and Kellen’s journeys, too. A longer break would certainly do them good. Shani bit back a sigh and fought the desire to push on ahead without the others.

“Your ghost memory guy is in Kellen’s head, not mine,” Vex said to Kiypu. “But I still saw the same memories during the visions. Do you want to know about them?”

Kiypu surprised Shani by hesitation. She’d thought after the struggles he’d gone through to restore his memories that he would be eager to learn anything he could. “Yes,” he said at last. “If the others will excuse us, I would like to speak of this in private.”

Shani and Raiqo both nodded and Vex, Kiypu and Shakraa went a short distance away. While they conversed far enough away the others couldn’t overhear, Shani, Raiqo and their Mana Beasts settled down into the grass flattened by Vex’s fall.

“You must be eager to find your friend as well,” Raiqo said.

“He is known for getting himself into trouble,” Shani said, the closest she’d come to admitting she was worried about Kellen now without Vex to watch over him.

“He really is favored by Coyote Lady?” Skystrike asked.

Shani shrugged. “So my grandmother says. Kellen has told me she appeared to him in a dream once and then a second time in the waking world. He does not lie, so I have no reason not to believe him or Vex.”

Raiqo nodded, apparently taking this in and mulling it over. “It sounds as if he is a strange man.”

Inferi let out a barking laugh. “You have no idea.”

Soon enough, Vex and Kiypu returned. Shani tried to read any emotion on Kiypu’s face that might hint at how the conversation had gone. The mummy was quieter than usual, but otherwise gave no sign that Vex’s news had been good or bad. Several mana spirits drifted close by as Kiypu folded his stiff legs with a sigh and sat down across from them.

“I think we should rest here for a time,” Kiypu said.

“Why?” Shani asked, eager to continue onward. “We have no need to sleep in this place. It is dangerous for us to let down our guard,”

“Sometimes the way forward through a fog can be found when one stops walking,” Kiypu said. “Again, I think we should rest here. I will keep watch while you meditate. Perhaps the answers we seek lie in thought, not action.”

Shani had yet to meet problem she couldn’t solve right or wrong with action. Still, they had been going nonstop for what must have been multiple days. Her body might not have been tired but she knew her mind could indeed use a rest. Surprisingly, Inferi had already laid down on all fours, resting her head on her front paws.

Feeling her eyes suddenly grow heavy, Shani folded her legs and made herself comfortable in an upright position. She heard the swaying of the grass around them and could almost feel it, like the plains were rocking her to sleep. A calming weight pulled at her, beckoning her to sleep.

“Just close my eyes…” Raiqo muttered.

Shani’s eyes flickered opened once, long enough for her to see they were encircled by translucent gray mana spirits, hovering around them like a group of ghosts. She blinked once and lost herself to sleep.

Shani opened her eyes and sat up on instinct. At some point, she’d fallen over. She blinked again. No one else was around her, not even Inferi. Instead of dark blue, the waving grass was a deep orange and the sky a brilliant purple.

“Something is playing tricks,” she growled. She’d never experienced a vision like this, but had heard Nokom talk enough about them growing up to know what was going on.

“That’s wise of you.,” a coarse, male voice said in her ear.

Startled, Shani spun around. There was nothing there. Laughter floated on the wind.

“Show yourself!” she snarled. “I am in no mood for games.”

“Oh, but I am.”

She turned again and was greeted by a ravenous wolf, its fur the same red-brown color as the waving grass. Its mouth was filled with fangs and much too long, resembling a painting Shani had once seen from a trader of a crocodile. The rest of its body was gaunt and bony, hips and ribs sticking out. Its tail swished back and forth constantly. Sunken yellow eyes watched her, and she felt a hunger burning in their depths.

“What are you?” Shani asked. Her heart hammered in her chest. Clearly, they had fallen into some trap and been lured to sleep.

“I can’t harm you,” the wolf said in that same rough voice. “I’m a mana spirit. I’ve wandered these plains for centuries but it was only when you humans came that I found true life.”

“What is it you want, then?” Shani asking. The wolf’s answer did nothing to relax her or lower her guard. Given their surroundings, it had to have been speaking with her in a dream, especially given Inferi wasn’t there.

“That was the question I was going to ask you.” The wolf prowled closer and half sat, half collapsed in front of her, just out of arm’s reach. The ribs on its side were visible through its dull, taut hide.

Shani let out a dry laugh. “There is nothing I want that you could give me.”

“Oh, don’t be so sure, cousin,” the wolf said. “In fact, I believe there is a great deal we could do for each other.”

Shani said nothing. She didn’t trust this wolf based on appearance alone. He was also sly and made no effort to hide it.

Still… hadn’t the mana spirit that appeared to Kellen helped him reach Guardian strength? Vex hadn’t said as much, but from what he had told them, it seemed to be the case. Perhaps this was Shani’s chance for the same.

“What help do you want from me?” she asked, still cautious and mistrusting.

“Only to be free of these cursed plains,” the wolf said. “I have wandered the unending grasses for a long, long time and watched many of my fellow mana spirits grow until they could leave at their will to greater parts of the totem. I only want the same chance. Is that not what you wish? For the opportunity to prove yourself?”

“I say we listen to him.”

Shani wasn’t surprised when Inferi appeared next to her. The hyena’s umber eyes started hungrily at the starved wolf, who grinned back, tongue lolling from his too-long, tooth-filled mouth.

“Ah good, you are here,” the wolf said. “For this arrangement to work, it will require both of you.”

“Speak plainly,” Shani said, tired of the wolf’s clever words. “How can we help you escape this place, and why should we? What will we receive in return?”

The wolf nodded. “Direct. I like that. I know your thoughts. I have seen your desire to become more, your frustration at the news of your friend’s advancement. The disrespect the others show you. I can help you reach Guardian and beyond.”

“Yes!” Inferi growled. “Shani, we should accept this deal he offers!”

But Shani wasn’t so certain. “And the cost for us is nothing you say?”

The wolf stared at her with its yellow eyes. “I cannot leave this place without a human attuned to storm mana to take me. That is all I ask.”

“No,” Shani said. She stood and looked around, focusing on ending the vision or dream or whatever it was. “I do not believe you. A Beastcaller cannot advance so simply. You lie.”

The wolf stood as well. Somehow, he’d grown large enough to stand eye to eye with Shani. He flashed her a smile of jagged fangs. “Can’t they? You saw your friend’s Mana Beast. Do you think that is an illusion? You felt it and know it to be real. There are many paths to power and many secrets to strength. All I offer is a different method for what you seek.”

Shani fell silent. She felt Inferi staring at her, felt her Mana Beast’s desire to take this opportunity.

“You agree to this?”

Inferi nodded. “Let me prove myself to you, Shani. I can make us both stronger. They will not call us freaks. This is a chance we many never have again, or have found anywhere else.”

“You don’t have to be jealous of that pathetic boy from the Great Before,” the wolf said. “If he deserved to become greater, then surely you do as well. Have you not suffered enough? Have you not paid the price over and over again?”

Shani’s resolved hardened. Wasn’t this what she’d hoped to find inside the totem? Why had they come if not for the chance to make themselves more?

“Do we have a deal?” the wolf asked, mouth and eyes widening. Saliva dripped from its enormous maw.

“Yes.”