"Do you think they'll be back by now?" Myronel asked Nela.

  The two of them, along with Jylania, were approaching the house where they had been staying. He still felt sore, an obvious sign he wasn't back to full strength yet. Even so, Myronel was glad to be able to return here for the night.

  Nela, unfortunately, would not get that luxury. Takhat was still too weak to leave unattended, at least for one or two more days. Knowing Nela as well as he did, Myronel knew she wouldn't want to leave for a few more days after that, just to make certain Takhat regained her health. Plenty of time for Hamond and Edeline to go deal with the Sluice.

  They'd ideally be gone from Lasfont in a hexday or so, along with their new traveling companion. Myronel supposed he was going to have ask them to set down a hard rule about not taking in any more orphans or other desperate children. With the ongoing war, there were certainly plenty of them, far too many for the four of them to bring along.

  As it was, Sedat's ability to carry a pack of her own was questionable. The straps would hardly go over her shoulders with those wings of hers. So it would be larger packs for the rest of them, dividing up carrying supplies for a hex of people among five. Aether, they really ought to see if they could acquire a pack horse.

  "What the...oh, shit." Nela's groan of frustration interrupted Myronel's thoughts. Following her gaze, Myronel saw Edeline running down the street towards them.

  "Is there a problem, or-?" Myronel started to call out to his sister, only for her to rush past him into the building. At least he got a glimpse of her face, which answered his question: there was definitely a problem.

  Following Nela inside, Myronel immediately noticed members of the family staying on the ground floor staring in the direction of the stairs leading up.

  "She was moving in a hurry," one of the children, a slender boy in a faded tunic, commented.

  "Quiet," his mother answered...Zatia was the woman's name, if Myronel recalled correctly.

  Whatever was so urgent to prompt Edeline to be running about, Myronel had no idea. He didn't get long to think about it, as she came dashing just as fast down the stairs and past them. This time, she was carrying something in one arm.

  "Why...was that the dried meat Hamond set aside?" Nela shook her head, "Why would...we'd better follow her."

  Myronel winced, not sure they could keep up, not with him slowing them down. He was about to say as much, but Nela took off with her own sprint without waiting for his answer, Jylania right on her heels. At least he had a rough idea of where they were heading, having seen most of the safe streets here.

  With a nod to the family still sitting there silently, he turned and headed out. Falling back on his time spent marching alongside the conscripted men of Hallowscroft, Myronel paced himself with a steady trot in Nela's wake. Even if his wound had been to his shoulder, a full-on run risked hurting it again.

  By the time he made his way to the edge of the sanctuary, Myronel had lost sight of any of them. Still, going by the guard standing there staring out with a look of confusion, it wasn't that hard to guess where they had gone. It wasn't as if anyone else would have business past this point.

  He'd be better off confirming it. "You see them come running past you?"

  "That I did," the man said, "You need me to go round up some more men?"

  Myronel shook his head. "Just remain here." If this had been the sort of issue that required drawn steel, Edeline wouldn't have needed to run back to their room. Swords and spells were not what she had sought.

  But why the piece of meat?

  The answer lay ahead, but so did the difficult part. Past this point he would be navigating by guesswork, hoping he could hear some sounds or see signs that would lead him to where the others were. If everything else failed, Myronel supposed he could just raise his voice and hope they heard him. With luck, he thought as he marched onward, it wouldn't come to that.

  Thankfully, he had that luck. Around the next corner, a good hexty paces down the street, stood Jylania. The girl was gazing down the next road, eyes wide with astonishment and a bit of fear. Myronel moved to join her, only to find himself staring as well.

  Hamond and Edeline stood side by side, with Nela a short distance away. All three were warily watching the hunched figure in front of them. It was Sedat, bent over and tearing into the piece of meat. Thank Aether no one else was here to see this. They were already going to have enough of a problem explaining Sedat's presence to Captain Takhat.

  Finally, Sedat slowed down, most of the meat gone. A few scraps lay about, but the girl showed no sign of going for them. Instead, Sedat slumped down, heading hanging low. Myronel knew the posture of someone feeling deep shame when he saw it.

  "Are you alright now?" Hamond asked tentatively.

  "Don't know." Sedat's voice sounded rougher than ever. "I didn't think...me getting hungry would get this bad this fast. Took everything to stay here, to not go hunting for food. If I did...might have hurt someone. Killed someone."

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  "And yet you didn't," Edeline said, stepping forward.

  "Just had hoped...that if I had enough food and a good place to sleep, it would go away. It's never going away, is it?"

  "Not without finding a way to change you back, no." Edeline gave Hamond a sad look.

  "There's more than a few people who get an illness or injury that they need to deal with for the rest of their lives." Nela moved up to join the other two. "They just have to push through, and it's probably going to be the same for you."

  "It's my fault anyway," Hamond said, "I was too focused on the whole matter of flight, I didn't stop to consider you might need a moment to rest or such."

  "See? You do like teaching her," Nela teased.

  "I do, but..." Hamond trailed off, looking away.

  "You're trying to distract yourself, aren't you?" Edeline asked, reaching out a hand to Hamond.

  "Yes," Hamond admitted.

  While Myronel wasn't too surprised Hamond was still worried about the Witch of Wrath and the danger to Edeline, it was starting to get tiresome. "I wouldn't be all that concerned about the Witch of Wrath at the moment."

  "What do you mean?" Hamond wasn't the only confused one. All of them were now looking at Myronel.

  "Because she keeps avoiding direct fights." Myronel had given it some thought while he'd been resting, and the pattern was clear. "In Kelshir, she could have taken on the Aetheric Knights easily in a straight battle, as we did, but she did not even attempt to. And here, where she is likely well equipped to fight the sphinxes, she instead retreated."

  "Shes a coward then," Nela stated.

  "Maybe, but my point remains. She isn't going to openly attack us. I'd expect her to ambush us when there's no one else around, probably after we leave Lasfont."

  "Do you mean like right now?" Edeline asked, drawing her sword.

  Wait a moment...shit, Myronel hadn't even considered that. He reached down for his sword, only to remember that his had been taken back to their room. Besides, with his shoulder he had no real ability to fight, and even if he was recovered his blade wouldn't do much good in a clash of spells.

  "I thought you checked the area," Hamond turned to Edeline, his face lined with worry.

  "I did!" Edeline insisted, "Again, there were no signs of spellcraft!"

  "If you all want to stand around and stare at shadows, fine, do it." Nela crossed her arms. "But if she was going to attack, she would have by now."

  That was also a good point. It had been just Hamond and Sedat here for hours, and nothing had happened to them. They could also simply be overthinking matters, with the Witch of Wrath choosing to depart Lasfont entirely. It was a reason to keep their guard up, Myronel acknowledged, but they couldn't let it stop them.

  After a long moment, Edeline returned her blade to its sheath. "I would rather this be settled now," she told them resignedly. "It would make it so much easier if we didn't have the additional worry."

  "Very few battles are won in a single day," Myronel observed.

  "Did our father tell you that?" Edeline humorlessly smiled.

  "No." Even though Myronel understood where the question came from, it still annoyed him. "I do have my own battlefield experience to draw on."

  "Too bad that's not going be useful for what you might be doing tomorrow," Nela commented.

  "You want me to help you with something?" Myronel was grateful Nela thought he was going to be of assistance, but he couldn't begin to guess what she had in mind.

  "Not me, her." Nela pointed at Sedat. "I've got a few people left to attend to, and they have to deal with the Sluice thing. That means you're taking care of her for a day or two. Including, of course, keeping her fed."

  "I can handle that," Myronel said, "Though I hope you don't expect me to take on the cooking as well."

  "I should have the time," Nela replied, "Spent today getting a couple of patients back on their feet again. They've still got a bit of lingering pain from the serpent's bites, but nothing I can do about that. Time that they get back to their normal lives...or as normal as this whole mess lets them be."

  "Think he can stop me if I lose control?" Sedat spoke up again.

  "We just said the food will be taken care of," Hamond answered, "We can even make sure you have extra, just to be certain."

  "Got to be sure I don't hurt anyone. Losing myself like that...it's terrible. If I get to that point...please just-"

  "Don't even start with shit like that," Nela blurted out, "I'll tell you now that whatever you did, whatever you might do, it's nothing compared to some of the terrible stuff we've seen people do. It doesn't deserve you dying over it."

  "What?" Sedat took an awkward step back. "I don't want to die. Wouldn't be here if I did. Even if...I might deserve it."

  "But I thought...hold on, what did you do that makes you think you don't deserve to live?" Nela slowly said, briefly glancing at Hamond. The latter didn't look like he had any answers to this.

  "I was so hungry, day after day. Went from wanting to find some food to needing to. Couldn't focus on anything else, and then...I don't remember much. Just bits of walking around streets, buildings, trying to find something to eat. I don't remember finding it, or eating it. But when my mind cleared...I was in someone's house. In front of me, torn apart, pieces missing...it was a man's body. I had done it. I knew I had done it."

  Silence followed.

  What could any of them say to that? It was grim and disturbing...and yet Sedat had done it purely for survival. It wasn't born from the malice of someone like Kalvarel or Lord Kelshir. Judging it as evil...Myronel didn't think he could bring himself to do that to Sedat. Not after everything else.

  It was Jylania who finally broke the silence. "That's disgusting."

  "Jylania!" Nela immediately rebuked her apprentice, voice sharp.

  "Maybe we should head back for the evening," Hamond said, "We can talk more on this later."

  Honestly, that was a good idea. This was far more dire than they had considered, and being out here wasn't going to help. Taking the rest of the evening to cool off and relax would allow them to discuss this without stumbling over each other. Particularly for Hamond, who had spent most of the day outdoors. Possibly Edeline had too.

  Still looking angry, Nela gestured at Jylania, and the two immediately turned back. Hamond and Sedat followed, the latter still having the awkward half-stride that her feathered legs gave her. Myronel also started to follow, only for Edeline to reach out and touch his shoulder. He winced, as that was where the injury had been.

  "Listen a moment," Edeline said quietly, "We have not been trying to conceal Sedat. Takhat is going to get word of her, either by the time of our meeting or soon after. With all that...you two may have to flee Lasfont. We can meet up afterwards."

  Myronel nodded, understanding the situation. Edeline was trying to avoid bringing the matter up where Sedat could hear, making it one less thing the girl had to deal with. It fell to them to address it, and this did seem to be the only solution.

  Still, he didn't think it would come to that. "We can persuade the captain if the need arises."

  "I hope you are right," Edeline said with a sigh, glancing over at Sedat's back. "I truly do."

  "Ronny? You coming?" Nela shouted back over her shoulder.

  "I'm following," Myronel said, pushing himself into motion.

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