The group retreated into the forest enough that they could still see the clearing, but not enough that they would be freely seen. They moved slowly but deliberately. Callie wasn’t sure where they were going at first but as Grandfather kept leading them she realized her skin was feeling more and more electrified as they went. She started carefully looking around. There were just enough trees and shrubs that there wasn’t a clear sightline to anything.

  She would see the tents in the distance off to her left through gaps in the branches and shrub cover. But the next step they would disappear behind another shrub or tree. Callie carefully made her way up to Grandfather in the lead of the group.

  “Where are we going?” Callie questioned quietly as they ducked behind a small stand of shrubs that were only about chest height.

  “Around,” Grandfather said, not looking at her but continuing his methodical pace.

  Callie looked over her shoulder at Jonah who half shrugged with the weight of Kane on his one side. As Callie was turning back to ask Grandfather another question, she caught the eye of Gemlin. For a split second, Callie thought she saw fear in Gemlin’s eye. She wasn’t sure, because in the same breath she saw anger flare in those large eyes. Callie couldn’t figure out why this humanura’s hatred was so focused on her and her kids.

  Callie shook it off and continued moving next to Grandfather trying to remember what she was going to ask him next. She had just remembered when she felt all the hairs on her arms and neck rise. Callie stopped even though no one else did. She looked around trying to figure out why she was feeling the way she was. As Callie looked around she realized she was perfectly in a gap where there weren’t any trees or shrubs.

  Grandfather stopped and turned to look at Callie. She saw surprise in his eyes then he reached back and grabbed Josie’s arm. The two of them disappeared. Gremlin brought her axe out of its loop on her leg. Jonah took one look at Callie and Gemlin and then scooped up Eliza with his free hand heading deeper into the trees. Callie watched them go feeling light-headed and dazed suddenly.

  “My Lady!” Callie heard Alex yell but he sounded like he was far away even though Callie could see him standing right next to her.

  Callie felt herself turn towards the tents in the distance. It was like her body wasn’t her own anymore. As she turned she saw a humanura with red eyes pointing his fingers at her. He was standing between two tents next to what could be an aspen, but it didn’t have any leaves on it. Callie thought that was strange, it was mid-summer, or at least it had been, on their Earth. Maybe time worked differently here.

  Callie started walking towards the humanura. Realizing what she was doing but feeling like her head was about to explode and dizzy enough that she could topple over, Callie tried to stop her legs from moving. The more she struggled it felt like the faster she was moving. Callie watched as half a dozen humans came up next to the humanura. They lined up in a tight line on either side of it. The soldiers didn’t bring up their rifles though.

  Callie was maybe within 100 yards of the humanura now. She saw it in those red eyes, the humanura was sad. Callie couldn’t figure out how she knew it but she just did, this humanura didn’t want to be doing this to her. Callie used all of her will to take a step to the left, it ended up being a forward and left, but it showed her what she wanted.

  There was a tall, older soldier standing with his hand on the humanura’s back. The soldier had a smile that could curdle cheese. He just looked mean, his eyes showed maliciousness and hate. Callie’s breath caught looking at the man. Whether he saw her make the side step or not, Callie wasn’t sure, but somehow Callie knew this man was controlling the humanura through his touch.

  Callie thought quickly, she needed to take the gamble. Callie let herself take three steps closer, this was just enough to restore her energy and willpower enough to raise one hand.

  “FLAME,” Callie whispered, trying not to use more energy than she needed to so she could pour her energy through her hand into the spell. A bright red and orange flame leapt from her hand towards the men and the humanura. Callie saw the fear in the three men to the side of the humanura right before the flame widened and hit them, setting their clothes on fire.

  Callie saw the humanura duck at the last moment and the flame hit the soldier behind him, setting his beard and the little bit of hair sticking out from his hat on fire. The man dropped his hand, and ignoring the fire on his face glared at Callie. Feeling her freewill come back, Callie turned to run to cover.

  As she turned she saw Gemlin come leaping forward with her axe raised screaming. Callie turned back around raising Kane’s rifle as she went. Gemlin’s axe bit home on one of the soldiers. She was working on yanking it free when Callie heard Eliza’s scream from behind her.

  A big gust of wind swept through the three soldiers who were still standing. It staggered the two younger men, but for the older man it just made him drop his hand to steady himself. The evil smile on his lips and eyes weren’t shaken though. His attention was still fully on Callie.

  “So, another traitor siding with these vial creatures. You will pay for your actions,” the man raised his hand again, his beard and hair were smoldering now sending smoke around his face. The smoke and smoldering hair add to his already monstrous look, reminding Callie of the descriptions of monsters from the underworld in mythological tales. This soldier looked like a devil with his eyes shining with a hatred Callie had never experienced.

  Callie raised her rifle trying to get a shot off but realized she was shaking. A small ball of fire hit the man in the side of his hand. The man barely flinched but it gave Callie a moment she needed to flip the safety off on the rifle. Callie took a rough aim despite her shaking. The bullet hit the soldier in the chest. He laughed as he took a step back from the impact.

  “Foolish,” he spat and laughed at her. Callie almost dropped the rifle, fear taking over her body as the soldier locked eyes with her. Gemlin had taken care of another soldier and was screaming something. Callie couldn’t tell what she was saying or who she was saying it at.

  Another fire ball hit the man in the side of his face, he winced just enough that he broke eye contact with Callie. Suddenly the fear wasn’t so gripping and Callie brought up her rifle again. Seeing the man looking for her eyes again, Callie took aim again at the soldier's chest. She shot, he winced again. Callie didn’t wait; she took aim at the same spot and shot just as another ball of fire hit the soldier in his arm. This third shot made him double over. Callie wasn’t sure if it was the impact of the bullet hitting the same spot a second time or if by hitting the spot again she had weakened the hidden armor plate enough for penetration.

  Either way it didn’t matter, it gave Gemlin the opportunity to swing her axe down on the soldiers neck. Callie lowered her rifle enough to get a clear look at the scene. Five bodies lay on the ground around Gemlin. One soldier who was still smoking from the fire on his clothes was running towards the farthest tents. The last soldier was rolling on the ground crying. Gemlin stepped over a soldier's body towards the whimpering man.

  “Mors tibi,” Gemlin said as she swung her axe up and let it fall onto the soldier. Callie looked away before the axe made contact. It was all too much for her, she didn’t need to watch more death if she didn’t have to.

  When she opened her eyes Gemlin was walking up to her.

  “Weak,” Gremlin said as she walked past her.

  “Hurry, we must go now!” Callie heard Grandfather shout, but she couldn’t see him still.

  “Mom, we are running out of time,” Josie said from the same area.

  Callie took another look at the dead bodies less than 100 yards from her and turned to run back to the forest edge. As she hit the treeline she could hear commotion behind her.

  Callie paused, “Where is the humanura that cast the spell on me?” she asked the treeline.

  To her left an answer came, “Here, thank you amicus.”

  She turned to look for where the voice had come from. What she saw was the humanura who had been in front of her pulling her closer grabbing both of her arms, but his eyes were no longer red. They looked more human even than Jonah’s eyes and were a light green. Callie nodded at the humanura as he released her after gently squeezing her arms.

  “Where is Walynic?” she heard Grandfather ask before she saw him. He and Josie suddenly appeared out of thin air next to the new humanura.

  The humanura looked around and then pointed, “There. Behind shrubs, must hurry. Control almost full.”

  “Callie, ready? Must touch Walynic and iactus. Ready?” Grandfather looked at Callie, his voice was commanding but his eyes showed more pleading.

  “I don’t know what iactus is,” Callie said in exasperation.

  “Cast your spell mom,” Josie said, walking over to her mom and squeezing her free hand.

  Callie looked down at her daughter, “I can’t risk my children.”

  “Weak,” Gremlin whispered just loud enough for the group to hear.

  Grandfather turned to her, anger in his voice, “No, you not parens, you no intellego. Silentium!”

  Gemlin’s eyes changed from anger to fear and bowed her head.

  “Light will not burn. Need Walynic to stop. Must do,” Grandfather said with urgency in his voice.

  Callie looked at Josie in front of her. And then back at Eliza who was standing next to Jonah. Jonah didn’t have Kane, but she could see his body laying just next to the treeline behind Jonah.

  “The girls and Jonah stay here with Kane,” Callie demanded.

  Grandfather nodded, “We will go and help. Agree Stephan?”

  “Assentior,” Stephan said with a nod.

  Callie finally took a good look at Stephan. He had grey, not white, hair that was in a high bun and a brown almost ribbon-like tie around the bun. His skin was pink like Gemlin’s but had a touch of blue almost to it. He wore a white, but dirty shirt similar to Grandfathers. His pants were more flowing than Grandfathers and were a brown color like what Samwell had been wearing. He had the strange barefoot style shoes that Gemlin and Samwell had been wearing. His belt was a rope like Gemlin’s but there was a leather pouch attached to it. There didn’t seem to be anything in it though as it lay too flat.

  “We go. Gemlin stay, protego . . . protect children,” Grandfather said sternly, turning to Gemlin, breaking Callie out of observation of Stephan.

  “But!” Gemlin started but Grandfather raised his hand and she sulked past him to stand next to Jonah.

  Jonah had his head slightly bowed but there was a slight smile on his face. Gemlin’s face was stoic as she stood there looking at her grandfather. Grandfather did one nod and then turned to Josie.

  He put a hand on her shoulder and then started walking off. Stephan, without looking at anyone, followed. Josie walked over to stand with her sister. Eliza reached over and grabbed her sister's hand. Callie watched them for a moment.

  “I love you girls. I’ll be right back,” she said trying to put a smile on her face, “Alex, watch the girls for me.”

  “My Lady,” Alex said with a bow and then he walked over and curled up next to the girls.

  Callie turned and followed the two humanura.

  They didn’t need to go far to get eyes on Walynic. He was just outside the circle of tents, maybe 30 yards from the treeline. As Eliza had said there were many colored lightning-like streaks coming from him in all directions. They dissipated about five to ten yards from him.

  Grandfather had them duck just inside some shrubs to their right. The shrubs weren’t very tall so they had to crouch down to not be seen. Callie looked around the kneeling humanura. From her angle she couldn’t see much directly around him, but she just could see through the trees on the other side of him that there was a meadow or clearing of some sort. But it had no ground. The ground looked like a dark cloud with lightning coursing around in it.

  “Come, move quiet,” Grandfather whispered to her and gestured to another small patch of shrubs. They quickly moved the 20 yards or so to the new shrub cover. Once there, Callie was starting to hear shouting behind them, where they had come from. Callie turned, wanting to run back to her children.

  Stephan grabbed her arm, “We must finish. Can not save them without this.”

  Callie turned to look at him and Grandfather. She took another look over her shoulder at the sound of the yelling soldiers.

  “Fine, let’s hurry,” she grumbled, hating herself for not disobeying and running back to her children. It felt like a betrayal of them, but she also knew Gemlin and Jonah were there and Jonah wouldn’t let anything happen to her girls if he could help it. And Gemlin just seemed to want to fight.

  Grandfather nodded and then started moving towards a stand of aspens another 15 or so yards in front of them. Callie didn’t wait for Stephan and followed Grandfather. They paused for a moment behind the aspens and then leap frogged to another stand of shrubs. They did this until they had moved the 100 yards they needed to swing close to Walynic.

  As they crouched next the shrubs they had chosen for cover, Grandfather turned and gently grabbed Callie’s arm. Callie felt the familiar energy go through her body.

  “Protected. We will distract Hunter.”

  Callie looked again at Walynic, she didn’t see anybody close to him, “What Hunter?”

  “Can no see but there is Hunter. Would not leave alone,” Stephan responded quietly.

  Callie looked again and then nodded. That would make sense. If this mage was that important they wouldn’t leave him unprotected.

  “Now what?” Callie asked looking back at the two humanura. They weren’t looking at Walynic now. As Callie watched them they turned and looked at each other.

  “Like when kids? Stampede?” Stephan was quietly laughing.

  “A stampede? Of what?” Callie asked, looking around for what he could be talking about.

  Then she saw them. Just inside the clearing, where there was still ground there was a small group of rhinoca. They all had saddles on but there were no riders.

  “You wait, we make stampede. When Hunters show self, you run to take away curse,” Grandfather said with a smile in his voice and a mischievous look in his eyes.

  “I have to go alone?” Callie asked, feeling the fear rising in her.

  “Yes, we distract Hunters,” Grandfather said, giving a smile to his friend.

  “I don’t like this,” Callie whispered more for herself than anyone else.

  “Death not needed when fun can happen instead,” Stephan said seriously at first but a laugh quickly returned to his face.

  Grandfather nodded and then turned to go into the forest. Stephan put his hand on Callie and she felt an unfamiliar tingle, “Energy, you need.”

  Callie felt the energy flow into her, reviving her a little. Stephan gave her a soft smile and then took off following Grandfather. Callie sat there by herself thinking of this new humanura. He was younger than Grandfather but he was older than Jonah. He seemed to have a playfulness to him.

  Callie turned to watch Walynic. She could see the lightning was starting to get stronger and more frequent. She looked over at the clearing and saw that the lightning inside it was slowing down. As she watched some burs were being caroled to the edge of the dark spot by some Hunters. Callie looked back at Walynic, he had turned his face from looking straight ahead to looking up at the sky.

  She could now see that he was sitting with his legs crossed and almost a meditative pose with his hands resting on his knees. His eyes were closed as he looked up. The lightning was now fully encompassing his body. Callie started hearing commotion coming from the clearing.

  She looked over to see the rhinoca were rearing up and one was charging towards the Hunters and burs, going around the dark spot that no longer had any lightning in it. As she watched, the other two rhinoca started running towards the tents. Callie started looking around. Stephan and Grandfather were certain there were Hunters by Walynic, she needed to watch for them.

  As she was finishing her thought she saw a Hunter jump out of one of the trees above Walynic, shouting and waving his arms at the rhinoca. Callie started looking up in the trees. And there she saw him. A second Hunter looking in her direction with his rifle up. From the glint of light, Callie could tell he was lightly moving his rifle scope back and forth. Probably searching for her.

  If he was looking then he didn’t know exactly where she was. That was good, but would he see her scope if she brought it up to take aim at him? She took another look up at the soldier in his little tree stand, then she took a look at Walynic who was barely 20 yards from her. Could she run the distance, and touch him before getting shot? She didn’t know, if she did make it to Walynic, it would then leave her open to being shot before she could get back to her cover. That was assuming after she cast the spell that she would have any energy to move again.

  Callie wasn’t Kane, she knew she wasn’t that good of a shot. But maybe, just maybe, she could unsteady the soldier just enough to give her a chance. She brought up her rifle through the shrubs. She dropped down as low as she could and pointed the rifle as high as she could. The soldier wasn’t looking at her, but he was still looking in her general direction. As Callie looked through her scope, from the angle she was at, all she could see was the soldier's knee and just a little bit of his foot.

  Callie took a breath trying to steady herself. She took aim at the soldier's knee.

  “Take the shot, then run,” Callie whispered to herself. She took her breath, exhaled and squeezed the trigger. When she heard the scream from the soldier, she dropped the rifle and ran around the edge of the shrubs towards Walynic. She didn’t look up at the soldier. She heard a rifle fire but didn’t feel anything.

  She skidded to a stop bumping into the sitting form of Walynic. She put out both hands and screamed, “REMOVE CURSE!”

  Callie heard screaming from above her as she felt energy pass from her into Walynic. She saw the blue glow come out of her hands and encompassed Walynic. She felt something hit her side, searing pain rippled through her body but she did her best to focus on that glow. She saw the last bit of Walynic get engrossed in the blue glow and his eyes flew open looking at her.

  He had a surprised look on his face as he turned his head to look at her. The glow started receding and he turned to look over his shoulder. The look turned from surprise to anger. As the last of the glow disappeared Callie heard the shouts all around her, or at least they sounded like they were coming from all around her.

  Walynic stood up. Each soldier was shouting something different. Callie heard the familiar sound of bolts of rifles shutting around her.

  “SUBSISTO!” Walynic shouted and Callie felt a burst of energy rush out of him past her. Callie fell over letting the pain in her side take her.

  “My girls,” Callie whispered and she blacked out, the pain taking her last ounce of energy.

  Callie wasn’t sure how long she was out for but when she came to again, there were trees above and around her. She could hear birds chirping in the distance. Well maybe a bird chirping. And it was dark out, very dark, making it hard for her to see anything.

  She heard a whine next to her. She reached out her hand and felt Zeus’s coarse fur.

  “Mom, we got him back,” Josie said gently from her left.

  Callie tried to sit up.

  “No, My Lady, you are hurt. The mage couldn’t fully heal you,” Alex said, putting his hands on Callie’s arm.

  “Where . . . where are we?” Callie asked, propping herself up painfully on her elbows and looking around.

  “Grandfather said we need to go to . . . I think a village to help daddy,” Eliza said from her right.

  “Okay, where are we now?” Callie asked, trying to look around but all she could make out was that there were trees around them. She could see a few stars through the tree canopy, but not much else. Her daughters were silhouettes in the darkness.

  “The Hunters ran after Walynic woke,” Jonah said from somewhere by her feet, “We got Zeus from . . . from . . . cage? And Walynic told to follow.”

  “Thank you my friend,” a voice that Callie didn’t recognize said from behind Josie, “You saved me, you saved many.”

  “Um, you are welcome?” Callie said, not sure what else she could say.

  “Wound will heal, but in hundreds years we have been here, still not sure how to heal fire metal,” the voice said.

  “Fire metal . . . you mean bullets?” Eliza asked.

  “Yes, bullets. They were not familiar to us when we came, still learning.”

  “Kane?” Callie started to sit up further, but the pain in her side sent her back down.

  “He breathes,” Jonah sounded sad, “Not well.”

  Callie felt the tears start forming in her eyes.

  “Mom, the Rift closed. Will we see Dani or Cosette again?” Eliza asked but Callie could hear the sorrow in her voice.

  “I . . . I,” Callie couldn’t bring herself to say anything more as she lay there looking up at the few stars she could see.

  “We will try to get you home,” the voice said.

  “How?” Eliza asked.

  “This Rift closed, but more mages opened more Rifts.”

  “Wait, what? We didn’t close all of them?” Callie started sitting up again, this time she made it all the way up into the sitting position. She now could see the figure of Jonah in the gloom. And the voice, she was now assuming was Walynic. She looked around and saw the laying figure of Zeus. She didn’t see anyone else though.

  “No, I open one. Each Rift has own Mage to open. Must stop mage or stop war to stop Rift,” Walynic said but there was great sadness in his voice. Callie could tell now that she was able to see his figure in the dark that his head was bowed.

  “How many are there?” Callie asked, thinking back to what Phillip and Stern had said. It sounded like there were at least four more, or at least that is what she could remember them talking about.

  There was silence as a reply, “Well? How many?!” Callie repeated her tone a bit more frantically.

  “Many,” Walynic whispered.

  “What does that mean?” Callie was now getting upset and her voice was showing it.

  “Many mages, many Rifts. I was travelling to see how many mages gone when taken.”

  “How many mages did you not find?” Jonah asked moving himself from Callie’s feet to next to Walynic.

  Walynic sat in silence for a moment, then he raised his head and although Callie couldn’t actually see his eyes she knew he was looking at her.

  “Four villages gone completely,” Walynic paused and bowed his head again, “Eight friends gone, ten mages at smallest.”

  “Ten! There are ten Rifts open!” Callie cried into the darkness.

  “At least,” Jonah said sorrowfully with his head bowed as well.

  “I only see this land, can not reach others,” Walynic continued.

  “Shit, do you mean this continent? Is this Earth like our Earth?” Callie waited for a reply but when none came, “ANSWER ME!”

  “I don’t know, this . . . earth . . . . has six living lands and one that is too cold,” Jonah said but he jumped a little at first at Callie scream.

  “This is Earth, seven continents, we are on North America,” Callie sighed more out of exasperation than anything else, “At least it should be similar enough that we can get around?”

  “Yes,” Walynic said but there was an uncertainty in his simple answer.

  “Where are Grandfather and Gemlin, and Stephan?” Callie asked as she looked around again.

  “Gemlin not like Grandfather’s plan, so he took her to look around with Stephan,” Josie said quietly looking up at her mom.

  “Okay, so where are we going now? This doesn’t look like the tent area,” Callie observed.

  “No, we couldn’t stay, more Hunters would come. We are going to . . . to village,” Jonah answered.

  “What are we going to do at the village?” Callie asked as she touched her side.

  “Heal, rest. I no have potentia . . . . no know word . . . . need others to help man,” Walynic stuttered in the broken English Callie was becoming familiar with.

  “You can’t heal Kane by yourself? But you can heal him with others, right?” Callie started to move to stand up. The pain suddenly shot through her, radiating from her side, and she fell back down.

  Jonah reached for her as she fell back helping ease her to the ground.

  “We will do what we can,” Walynic said sadly.

  “Please, I need him,” Callie said quietly as she sat there looking at the ground.

  “You must heal too,” Walynic sounded like he was going to say something more but stopped and got to his feet looking across Callie into the dark trees.

  Jonah jumped to his feet too and moved quietly in the direction Walynic was looking. Callie saw his figure disappear in the darkness just to reappear quickly with two other figures. As they got closer Callie recognized Grandfather's voice in the whispers.

  “Hunters going to castra,” Grandfather said quietly as they came to a stop next to Callie and the girls.

  “Castra?” Callie asked.

  The humanuras looked at each other for a moment, Jonah bowed his head in thought and said, “Where Hunters teach, place we pass before truck hit.”

  “Truck hit . . . do you mean when we got shot at? By Fort Carson? Are they all going to Fort Carson?” Callie asked, realizing what he was trying to say.

  “It not . . . Fort Carson here, Hunters don’t say name,” Grandfather said.

  “Okay, so are we okay going to your village? Or wherever we are going?” Callie asked, trying to stand again, this time making it successfully up, but barely.

  “No, humanura not safe with you,” Gemlin sneered.

  Grandfather made a strange grunting noise, almost a mixture of a growl and a quack as he turned to Gemlin. Gemlin’s figure recoiled a little and she made a noise similar to a squeak but lower in tone.

  “The juvenis have been doceo bad, must . . . teach that not all are like one. Young can not repetere . . . . do same as we, must be better. Integrum fieri, must do,” Grandfather’s lecture softened at the end as Gemlin kept her head bowed.

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  “Integrum fieri,” Jonah repeated softly.

  “Integrum fieri,” Walynic also said but added, “Humanura start to forget. If forget then here will be like old was. We will be lost again.”

  Callie let the ensuing silence go. She needed to catch her breath and was finding it increasingly more difficult the longer she stood.

  “Where, where is Stephan?” Callie asked, seeing that no other figures were coming.

  “He stay to watch and see no Hunters come near,” Grandfather answered.

  “So, can . . . can we go?” Callie asked, trying not to sound harsh or rushed, but she was starting to find it hard to breathe.

  “Yes,” Grandfather said as he shifted his weight back and forth.

  “Where did the Humanura come from?” Josie asked as she stood up and took Jonah’s hand.

  A light chuckle came from Walynic and Grandfather as they looked at each other, “Far, but that is lost to us now. We lost our way,” Walynic started.

  “Few seniores know narratio . . . humanura’s story. We will tell to juvenis so it will not be lost,” Grandfather added but then turned and started slowly walking. Not before they heard an annoyed grunt from Gemlin, Grandfather turned briefly to her but continued his walk.

  Callie started looking around for Kane, “Where . . . .where is . . . Kane?” she asked, short on breath.

  Walynic stooped down a few steps away from her and picked him up. Callie nodded and saw Walynic nod back. He then turned and started following Grandfather. Callie looked over at Jonah and Josie, and then felt Eliza grab her hand. Callie started walking slowly and painfully after them. She heard Zeus & Alex get up as the group started to move.

  Callie’s legs felt like they had lead in them as she moved to try to follow Grandfather and Walynic. She didn’t see Gemlin ahead of her but at that moment she didn’t really care. It was taking every ounce of concentration and willpower she had to keep moving.

  Callie wasn’t sure how far they had gone when she saw Grandfather and Walynic stop ahead of her. As she slowly came up and stopped behind them she saw a figure of another humanura. It took Callie a good while to figure out that it was Stephan. She was starting to feel like everything below her chest was weighed down, and she could only take short breaths.

  “Hunters passed, they talk loud about prize was taken. We need to get back to village before sol rise,” Stephan was whispering to the other two.

  “How . . . how . . .far?” Callie wheezed.

  Grandfather and Walynic turned to look at her. After what felt like a long look at her they looked back at each other. Callie couldn’t see the expressions on their faces but Grandfather turned around and took a step towards her.

  “Mom, are you okay?” Eliza asked, still gripping her hand. Or at least Callie thought she was gripping her hand. She realized her arm was feeling cold and she wasn’t really sure if she had a grip on Eliza’s hand or not.

  “I . . . I . . . am . . . fine,” Callie choked out, not able to catch her breath.

  “Mom?” Eliza sounded worried, Callie turned to look at her.

  Or at least she thought she was turning, the last thing she remembered was feeling the world spin and her vision getting black.

  Callie dreamed of being chased through the forest. A red haze was all around her. She could hear her daughters crying, but no matter how fast she ran, or in what direction, she couldn’t get to where the crying was coming from. Callie stopped in a clearing, the red mist finally disappearing. She looked around, there was no one around her. She started shouting her daughters names. There was silence in return.

  As she spun around in this clearing shouting for Eliza and Josie, Kane came walking out of the treeline towards her.

  “Callie, where have you been?” Kane asked her, but he wasn’t wearing his body armor or anything he had been wearing. He had on regular jeans and a t-shirt. It was an outfit he often wore on his rare days off.

  “Where are the girls? I can’t find them?” Callie cried frantically.

  “They need you, why are you here?” Kane asked, stopping just out of arms reach of her.

  “I don’t know where I am. Kane, please help me!”

  “You can’t stay here, our daughters need you.”

  “Kane, please, where are they?”

  “You need to go.”

  “Kane, wait! I need you too, please, help me!” Callie shouted as the figure of Kane disappeared as a red mist came back out of the forest and started encompassing the clearing.

  “KANE!” as Callie shouted her words were choked by the thickening mist.

  Callie took off running in the direction she thought Kane had disappeared into. She got to the treeline and ran through the trees. The branches hitting her face and body as she ran through the mist and trees.

  The mist started changing from red to almost a purple color. As she ran she started hearing voices she didn’t recognize talking around her. She couldn’t tell what they were saying but she didn’t care, she needed to find Kane, she needed to find her children.

  Callie kept running until she hit a wall. Not a physical wall, but there was something in front of her that she couldn’t see through the mist that was stopping her from going further. The mist was now turning to more of a dark blue.

  “Callie, you can’t stay here, our daughters need you,” Callie heard Kane’s voice say again but it didn’t sound like it was coming from one place but was the mist itself.

  “Kane,” Callie sank to her knees, “I need help, I can’t find you. I can’t find the girls.”

  “I know, I love you.”

  “Kane,” Callie was now on her hands and knees crying into the soft green grass on the ground.

  “Callie, I love you, you need to wake up.”

  “Kane, I can’t do this by myself,” Callie cried still on the ground.

  She felt a pressure on her back, not like a hand but just a pressure.

  “I love you, please, get up. Our girls need you,” Kane’s voice said again.

  Callie picked up her hands from the ground and wiped away her tears. She started looking around in the mist. She was looking for Kane.

  “I’m not here. You need to get up,” Kane’s voice said but it sounded far away this time.

  The mist was starting to dissipate, it was like the sun was coming up. Callie stood up, she looked to where the sun was seeming to rise. She took another look around.

  “Go,” she heard Kane’s distant voice say.

  She started walking slowly towards the rising sun. She put her hand up to shield her eyes a little.

  Callie wasn’t sure if she blinked or what happened, but one moment she was walking towards the rising sun, the next she was looking up at the smiling face of an older woman. She was in a sunny room that looked like someone’s dining room. Callie tried to sit up but she still had a great pain in her side.

  “Woo-wa there momma, you need to go slow or you will rip my handiwork,” the old woman said.

  “Where am I?” Callie asked looking around, she definitely wasn’t in an emergency room or a doctors facility.

  “Well, do you want the name of the village or do you want where you are specifically right now?” the woman asked.

  “Umm, yes?” Callie said with a slight smile.

  “Well, the village is called Carson and you are in my clinic. It isn’t much but the Hunters didn’t like the type of medicine I practiced so I came here. This village and the ones around it need me, Hunters be damned,” the woman said and walked over to a small sink in the corner.

  “Where are my children?” Callie asked, looking around.

  “They are with Jonah, that Gemlin gal does not seem to like you. Did you spit in her flask?” the woman laughed as she turned around holding a glass of what looked like water.

  “I don’t know what I did,” Callie said looking at the glass the woman was now handing to her.

  “Well, she has always been hard to get along with, so that is nothing new. You probably looked at her wrong and she took it personally. Here, it’s water, you are a bit dehydrated.”

  “Thank you,” Callie said, taking the glass and drinking it, “Who are you?”

  “My name is Mag, I was a medic before the Hunters took over the base. Was training to be a doctor but those assholes decided anyone who wanted to preserve life didn’t deserve to be around anymore. They forgot my dad was an expert marksman and taught me enough to defend myself,” the old woman chuckled to herself before continuing, “That asshole who turned me in got what he deserved. That was the last life I ‘intentionally’ took.”

  The quotation marks she made with her fingers made Callie laugh a little.

  “Where is Kane?” Callie asked after a moment of silence.

  “The man they carried in? He was taken straight to the elders lodge. I’m sorry, they rushed you in here and laid you down and then left to help him. Jonah stayed and showed me where you were hit. Those humanura are amazing healers, but they can’t seem to get through their thick skulls that bullets don’t always leave the body. You were lucky, yours missed your stomach, but was lodged in your diaphragm. Got it out though.”

  “Uh, thank you,” Callie was stunned at what Mag was telling her.

  “You are welcome. Do you want it as a souvenir?” Mag was chuckling to herself as she turned around to grab something.

  “Um, no thanks,” Callie said feeling a little queasy.

  “Okay, good, because I threw it out,” Mag laughed as she turned around holding some gauze wrappings, “Here, let me get that covered up for you so you can go see your kids.”

  “Thank you,” Callie said, turning to hang her legs off the side of the wooden table. The table was definitely not medical grade, it looked like it was a live edge dining room table from one of those expensive ‘farmhouse chique’ furniture stores. As Callie looked around the room, it looked like she was in a small cottage with mismatched window coverings and regular kitchen and dining room furnishings repurposed to hold medical equipment.

  “Lift up your arms please.”

  Meg wrapped the gauze around her waist and secured it before unfolding and untucking Callie’s shirt. She patted her leg as she turned around putting the leftover gauze on a small rolling table that was covered in various wraps and bandages.

  “Your kids are through there. Jonah should be able to help you from there,” Mag pointed to a narrow door on the wall opposite of the glass windows that had the sun shining through them, “Grab something from the snack bin on your way through.”

  With that Mag turned around and walked her rolling table over to a cabinet next to the windows. Callie watched her go. It all seemed strange how non-chalant and jovial the woman was. She didn’t give follow-up instruction, she didn’t tell her how to take care of her wound. Just told her to see her kids and to grab a snack like they had just been talking about a book and it was time for her to go home.

  Callie got up and walked through the door. Her kids were facing away from her at a small kitchen table in the middle of a crowded kitchen. There was a steaming tea pot on what looked like an old wood stove. A green, 1950’s style fridge was in a corner, and a white oversized sink was next to it. The juxtaposition of items from a frontier time-period with the semi-new appliances threw Callie.

  “MOM!” Josie screamed and pushed back her chair toppling it as she ran to her mom grabbing her around the waist. Eliza followed and Callie felt the pain in her side from their squeezing but she was so happy she was with them she ignored the pain.

  “Girls, girls, please, your mom has stitches and I don’t want to have to redo them. Be gentle,” Mag said from behind Callie.

  The girls loosened up their grip and Callie kissed both on the tops of their heads. She looked up at Jonah who was still sitting at the table with a tea cup in front of him.

  “Thank you Jonah,” Callie said.

  Jonah nodded to her but stayed where he was. A sad look on his face. The smile on Callie’s face disappeared as she saw it.

  “Where is Kane?” Callie asked.

  Jonah’s face dropped and Callie looked down at her girls who were no longer smiling.

  “They took dad to a big wooden house. They wouldn’t let us go with him,” Eliza said.

  “Jonah, where is Kane?” Callie asked again.

  “They are still working,” Jonah whispered barely loud enough for Callie to hear.

  “Well that’s unusual, the poor guy must have been really hurt,” Mag said, pushing past Callie and the girls heading to the stove, “Here, sit, have something to eat and drink. Jonah, go check for the gal.”

  Jonah nodded and stood up. He quickly headed out the door and Josie and Eliza sat back down at the table. Callie looked from the table to the door Jonah had gone out of.

  “Sit,” Mag said a little more sternly as she turned around with two tea cups in one hand and the pot of water in the other.

  Callie hesitated only a moment before taking an open seat by the sink. Mag nodded to herself and then sat a cup in front of Callie and then a cup in front of where Jonah had been sitting. She took Jonah’s cup and moved it to the side before sitting down and pouring Callie and then herself the hot water.

  “What kind of tea do you like?” Mag asked and then she poured hot water into the girls cups.

  “I, I normally drink coffee, so I don’t know,” Callie admitted.

  Mag cocked her head at her but then smiled and got up, “Okay, I got that too.”

  Mag pulled out a coffee pot and put it on the stove. Callie looked over at her girls who were rifling through a box of little tea bags on the table. They were talking quietly to themselves and gently giggling as they pulled out a couple bags and put them back before Josie picked an orange bag and Eliza a green one.

  Mag sat back down, “Well, let’s let that brew for a bit. What is your name dear? They didn’t tell me when they brought you in.”

  “Callie.”

  “Well, nice to meet you Callie. Where are you from?”

  “Ummm, here, but um, not here,” Callie really didn’t know how to answer that question.

  “The Rift,” Josie said through a cracker she had shoved in her mouth. Callie hadn’t noticed ritz-like crackers Josie had in front of her.

  “Ah, I didn’t know it went both ways. Heard the villagers talking about Hunters and Frowlers sending people through a Rift. No one seems to know what their plan was but everyone has been skittish.”

  “Yeah, we closed one,” Callie said sadly thinking about the home they probably wouldn’t get back to.

  “So you had some fancy gear on before I had to take it off you. You aren’t a Hunter because they wouldn’t have brought you if you were. Were you a soldier?” Mag asked gently over her cup of tea.

  “No, we were, well I guess the best description would be ranchers. We had livestock and property. I don’t know why they targeted us,” Callie added at the end not knowing if she could fully trust Mag.

  “Ah, rancher. That would explain how hardy you are,” Mag said smiling at Callie.

  “I guess,” Callie said, hearing the bubbling of the coffee and looking over Mag’s shoulder.

  Mag saw the look and got up to pull the coffee pot off the heat. She turned and grabbed Callie’s cup and poured the coffee in. She then turned and grabbed her own cup and poured in some coffee.

  “Milk, honey?” Mag asked, heading to the fridge.

  “Milk please,” Callie said, turning around to watch Mag.

  Mag grabbed a glass bottle of milk and from a small cabinet next to the fridge grabbed a small jar of yellow honey. She sat back down and put the bottle of milk in the middle of the table. She had grabbed a spoon from the pot next to the sink on her way past and was now dripping honey into her coffee. Callie grabbed the milk and poured a little into her coffee.

  As she brought it up to her nose she smelt the familiar smell of freshly ground coffee, but there was a sweetness to it that she didn’t recognize. She sat there a moment just breathing in the coffee next to her mouth without drinking. The warmth from the cup in her hands felt good, it felt familiar in a place that was so strange to her.

  “I grind a little mellowroot with mine. Do you have mellowroot where you are from?” Mag asked, taking a sip of her coffee.

  “I’m not sure,” Callie said, broken from her contemplation before taking a sip. The coffee didn’t taste any different than what she was used to, maybe a little sweeter, but barely noticeable.

  “Mellowroot helps soothe the soul, but that is just my opinion. Not everyone likes it, but those that come and share a drink with me always seem to walk away in better spirits,” Mag said smiling into her cup, “But I know you have a lot on your heart Callie dear. Just take a moment and enjoy something simple if you can.”

  Callie looked from Mag to her daughters who were quietly talking and smiling at each other as they ate their crackers. Callie couldn’t help but let a small smile come on her face as she sipped her coffee and watched them. Callie wasn’t sure how long her coffee had been gone when Jonah came back into the room.

  “The doors are still shut. Great Mother said they are . . . are busy?” Jonah said the last word like it wasn’t what he wanted to say but he couldn’t come up with anything better.

  “Well, that is unusual. If that boy has a bullet in him, or fire metal as you call them, they need to get that out. Would you be a dear and go back to Grandmother and remind her,” Mag said looking at Jonah but turned back to the table when she finished like she expected her suggestion to be an order and obeyed without question.

  Jonah looked at Callie and then at Mag’s turned away head. He shrugged and went back out the door.

  “Jonah said Great Mother and you called her Grandmother. Why the two names?” Josie asked, putting her last cracker in her mouth.

  Mag laughed gently to herself, “She is married, or their equivalent, to Grandfather. They tried to explain why they call her Great Mother but it just sounded like because she was married to Grandfather so I call her Grandmother. She hasn’t corrected me despite all of our conversations.”

  Josie shrugged and turned back to her sister.

  “Is this unusual for it to take this long?” Callie asked, growing incredibly concerned.

  “It took longer when Jonah came to us. But I will let him tell his story. Poor kid, everyone thought he was dead, but Grandmother told those old farts they had to try anyway. I have seen the way Jonah looks at those girls and you, if he thinks there is a chance he won’t let them stop,” Mag said, standing up and pouring herself and Callie more coffee.

  Callie just nodded and looked down at her coffee cup. A notification popped up.

  “Oh no! I must have gone up a level,” Callie accidentally said out loud.

  “Mom, I went up two levels,” Eliza told her mom, putting a cracker in her mouth.

  “I only went up one, not fair,” Josie said, pouting a little.

  “Remember what I told you sweetheart, as you go up levels it gets harder to get your next one. Callie, dear, it will take Jonah a moment to convince Grandmother to open the doors for him, why don’t you take some time and go through your selections,” Mag recommended over her cup of coffee, sipping slowly with a smile on her face.

  Callie just nodded and swiped to show her main menu.

  “Well shit, that is a lot of DEBUFFS,” Callie thought to herself. She scrolled right to her SKILLS menu.

  Clicking on the selection option she saw two options DIVINE STRIKE and DIVINE SPELLCASTING. There was a brief description under both words.

  Callie clicked on the DIVINE STRIKE to get the description.

  Callie got rid of the description and clicked on the next one to see its description.

  It didn’t take Callie long to decide on which ‘divinity’ she would pick. She chose DIVINE SPELLCASTING, she couldn’t help but think that in this unknown world it would be nice to have a leg up. Callie felt from what she had already seen and felt from the soldier in the camp that she needed as strong of RESISTANCE as she could get. She scrolled to see the rest of her skills and spells menu.

  Callie looked through the PASSIVE SPELLS list first. Once again she saw MENDING as an option, and once again she was immediately torn in picking it, especially not knowing what the state of this new world was. But she resisted and looked at the rest of the list. The other two options didn’t catch her fancy, but she saw an unfamiliar word THAUMATURGY. She clicked on it for a description

  That description made even less sense than the word did, so Callie chose MENDING. She moved onto the SPELLS. As Callie clicked on the ‘select’ button a long list of spells started flowing in front of her. She almost dropped the cup she didn’t realize she was still holding.

  “Are you okay?” Mag asked and Callie could see the concern on her face through the still scrolling words.

  “Yeah, I didn’t expect this many options,” Callie hesitantly said.

  Mag giggled a little and then stood up grabbing the pot off the stove again, “Ah, you must be past level 5, those darn menu options just seem to get longer and longer every level.” When she finished, she carefully poured more coffee into the cup Callie set on the table. Callie gave her a smile and then focused again on the long list.

  There were a lot of options that started with ‘detect’, Callie scrolled past them at first, she saw SHIELD OF FAITH and clicked on it, the description sounded promising but she closed back out and continued going down the list. ENHANCED ABILITY also caught her eye but she kept scrolling remembering what Kane had told her. She needed to focus on healing.

  She found what she was looking for: PRAYER OF HEALING.

  Thinking of how often she had lost the ability to cast some of her spells over the last 24 hours, she selected it and went back to scrolling. One more option to choose. Callie looked at the description for MAGIC CIRCLE but, although it sounded helpful, to make the selections they required while in the heat of battle seemed foolish. An enemy wouldn’t wait while she tried to decide what to choose, so she continued looking. A couple other options caught her eye and she opened their descriptions just to be in the same boat as MAGIC CIRCLE of seeming too complicated to be implemented effectively.

  Ultimately she went back to SHIELD OF FAITH. Before scrolling over to see if her FEATS had changed Callie noticed her spell list looked longer than just the two spells she had picked. She started looking closer at her list and realized there were a couple spells she didn’t recognize. Somehow three spells had been added without her selecting them:

  Callie clicked on the descriptions of each of them. AURA OF LIFE seemed promising. The description made it sound like it was an even more powerful version of RESISTANCE. BLESSED could come in hand making some of the attacks by Kane more powerful. Assuming Kane woke up.

  Callie had to pause before selecting DEATH WARD because a wave of inconsolable sadness rolled through her thinking of Kane. She could see Mag give her a questioning look through the words that were in front of her. Callie bowed her head, unable to give Mag even the smallest smile. Callie clicked for the description of DEATH WARD.

  Callie started crying silently. She had done what she could at the time to keep Kane alive, but if she would have had this spell would it have helped?

  “Callie, dear?” Mag had reached out and was lightly touching Callie’s hand. Callie couldn’t bring herself after that to look at her FEATS, so she closed her menus and looked up at Mag. Mag’s concerned look turned to a sad but sympathetic look as she gently patted Callie’s hand that was still clutching the cup of coffee.

  “Well, what do you kids like to eat?” Mag said standing up.

  “Pizza!” the two girls said in unison.

  Mag laughed, Callie was mortified, with the semi-primitive state of the kitchen, would Mag even know what pizza was.

  “That sounds about right,” Mag looked at Callie’s face, giving her a reassuring smile, “Honey, we didn’t always live like this. I know what pizza is, it just looks a little different. Who is going to help me?”

  “Me!” the two girls said standing up.

  Callie watched Mag pull some jars out of the cabinets and put them on the table. She then took all of the cups except Callie’s and put them in the sink. Callie started looking around as Mag worked her way around the tight kitchen.

  “Where are Zeus and Alex?” Callie asked, trying not to let her grief ring in her voice.

  “Oh, I don’t let them in the house. It is hard enough keeping infections down without having a dog and a porcupus in the house. Last I saw them they were in the yard,” Mag said over her shoulder.

  Callie nodded and stood up taking her cup with her. She walked to the door.

  Before she could open it, Mag added, “Oh, feel free to walk around a bit, we will call you when the pizza is ready. And if you see Jonah, give him hell for taking his sweet time getting back to us," Callie could see a twinkle in Mag’s eye as she said it.

  Callie nodded and then walked out the door Jonah had left out of. The warm sunlight hit her and she felt the gentle warmth of the day. It was cooler than what she thought it would be if it was still midsummer. They were in the forest still and there were trees scattered throughout the small cluster of houses and buildings. Nothing was more than two stories tall, and two stories was being generous, the placement of the second story windows seemed to be too low. But Callie thought of Mag’s clinic, the ceiling was lower than the nine plus feet they were used to. Most of the structures looked like simple wood construction on the outside, but some had solar panels sitting next to them.

  Callie was standing in a small fenced yard. As she looked around she saw Zeus laying down next to a gate looking at her. Alex was sitting on a bench next to the gate looking out through some of the slats. The fence wasn’t very tall, Zeus could clear it without trying if he wanted to, so it was strange that he was just laying there.

  “Mom?” Zeus cocked his head at her.

  “Hi Zeus,” Callie said and he got up, stretched and then happily trotted over to her. He sat next to her and leaned hard onto her leg.

  “Good boy,” Callie whispered down to the dog as she petted his head and took the last couple sips of her coffee.

  Callie just stood there watching as a few people walked by. They were wearing outfits like what Callie would have seen in her world. T-shirts and jeans. A couple had prints on them that looked similar, but just off from what she was used to. For example, a younger man had walked by talking to an older woman who was wearing a shirt with a prism on it like the Pink Floyd bands shirts with the colors coming out of the prism but the colors weren’t right.

  “My Lady! You are okay!” Alex cheered and hopped down from the bench and hop-ran over to her.

  “I am okay,” Callie repeated, more for her own benefit than Alex’s.

  Alex hugged Callie’s leg gently and then backed away, “Would My Lady like to look around?”

  Callie looked back and forth suddenly remembering what Mag had said about Jonah, “I guess. Zeus, can you stay here with the girls?”

  “Yes, I will stay with the girls,” Zeus stopped leaning on Callie and had a determined look on his face watching the gate.

  “Okay, thank you,” Callie said and took the final sip of her coffee, “Alex, do you know this Village?”

  “Yes, My Lady,” Alex said proudly.

  “Okay, what can you show me?” Callie asked, putting the cup on the small window sill next to the door.

  Alex got a big smile on his face and ushered her to follow him. They went out the gate and turned right. As they walked Alex told her where the human church was, where there was a trade store. They passed a few houses, all had gardens of some sort, but only a few had a solar panel or two. They turned around and started walking back down a different area. Alex pointed out a large log cabin-type building.

  “That is where they took Kane. It is where the humanura do their magic and their discussions. Some humans are allowed in, but only the most trusted.”

  As they got closer Callie could see Jonah sitting on a bench next to the door with an old humanura woman sitting next to him. They were talking gently to each other. As they approached Jonah nodded towards Callie and the old woman stood up.

  “Hello Callie,” the old woman said in a sweet voice that somehow instantly comforted Callie.

  “Callie, this is Great Mother,” Jonah said standing up.

  The Great Mother was much shorter than Jonah. Her height was closer to a tall woman's, not the seven plus feet she had grown used to seeing of the humanura. Even despite her slight hunch she was still taller than Callie. Her skin was a rosy color but her eyes were still the large eyes of the humanura and they were a light blue like the sky. She wore a simple cotton dress that was a light blue but a little flower pattern was in a slightly dark blue all over it. Great Mother had a rope belt around her waist. The dress swept the ground so Callie couldn’t tell if she was wearing shoes or not. Grandmother moved gracefully despite her old appearance.

  “Hello. Is Kane okay?” Callie asked, walking up towards the steps leading up to the door.

  The woman smiled, “Come, we will see.”

  She put out her arm for Callie to come up the three steps to the small patio they were sitting on.

  “My Lady, I will stay here,” Alex announced, hopping past her to the bench Great Mother and Jonah had been sitting on.

  “You can call me Grandmother, dear, I know you have talked with friend Mag,” Grandmother said putting her long arm around Callie’s shoulders.

  As they entered the building the smell of sage and lavender filled Callie’s nose. She almost choked. The smell was so strong. The room they entered was brightly lit through side windows and light coming in from a mezzanine above them. It was a wide room taking the full front half of the building. There were scattered chairs and tables throughout the area. It reminded her of the game tables at her grandparents' church's event hall. There were even cards on some of the tables. The back half had two doors in wood slatted walls. The right door was open and was letting light pass through the opening. The other door was shut and there was a gentle hum coming from it.

  There was also an energy Callie could feel on her skin as the door behind her closed. She looked around the room some more as Jonah took a few steps in front of her but stopped at one of the large posts supporting the mezzanine.

  “Come, please,” Grandmother said, stepping up next to her and holding out her arm towards the closed door.

  “Won’t . . . won’t we bother them?” Callie asked, worried from what she had heard that their presence might stop the healing.

  Grandmother smiled at her, dropping her arm, “No, he needs your potentia . . . your strength. You will be good for him.” And she started walking towards the door.

  When Grandmother got to the door she stopped and waited for Callie to step up next to her. When she had, Grandmother turned and gave her a smile. The door opened revealing a light blue glow coming from the room. A wave of cedar and rosemary hit her. Kane was laying on a short wooden table in the middle of the room. Walynic, Stephan, Grandfather, and two other humanura that Callie did not know were around Kane. The one who opened the door looked young, but not as young as Jonah.

  He smiled at Callie, “Come, you took longer than thought," He opened his arm, gesturing for her to enter.

  Callie looked back at Jonah who hadn’t moved from the post. He smiled at her and nodded. Callie looked at Grandmother who also had a smile on her face.

  “Go,” she said gently.

  Callie walked into the room and knelt by Kane’s feet as the five others were kneeling. The sixth humanura went to the empty spot next to Stephan. The six of them put their hands on Kane and the blue glow intensified.

  “Callie,” Grandfather said gently next to her, “Talk to him. Words not needed, but talk to him.”

  Callie looked at him a bit confused but she looked back at Kane’s figure. She could see that the blood had dried on his wounds and she could barely see the line of the entry points through the cuts in his clothes.

  “Kane, please, we need you,” Callie whispered, “Please, the girls and I need you.”

  Callie couldn’t help herself; she fell forward grabbing his unbloodied leg. She started to cry. She thought about the dates they had before they were married. How they fell in love. She thought about that awkward proposal he made outside that bar in their hometown. She recounted their wedding and the birth of their daughters. Callie thought about when they bought their property and then opened Mountain Man. When Callie didn’t have anymore tears to give she sat up.

  The six humanura were watching her, their hands on their knees. The glow around Kane was gone and the natural light of the afternoon was shining through the windows in the back and side of the room. Callie screamed thinking the worst had happened, that her silent memories and prayers hadn’t been enough.

  “Callie, my girl, he is alive,” the humanura she didn’t know to her left said, reaching out his hand and touching her knee.

  “He’s alive!” Callie screamed with joy but then realized, “But he’s not awake! Why isn’t he awake?”

  “Healing not always fast or perfectus . . . perfect,” Walynic said standing up and the others followed, “He will wake when he is ready.”

  Walynic walked down the side of the room past her to the closed door, “Come, we wait.”

  He opened the door and the other humanura walked out except Grandfather. He stopped and put a hand on Callie’s shoulder. He smiled, and then he walked out of the room with the rest. Leaving only Walynic holding the door behind Callie.

  “Come, a watched seed will not sprout,” Walynic said.

  Callie looked surprised at him, “My grandma used to say that.”

  With a smile, Walynic said, “I know. Come, let’s play cards.”