The lodge was noisy. People chatted, drank, and joked. There were even hunters with enough energy to roughhouse. It was all in good fun, though—a way to drain any leftover nerves from the earlier hunt.
I helped butcher the musk oxen, confirming for myself that there were no obvious spells to learn from them. Whatever they’d used to cast Charge, Iron Fur, and Burster was beyond my and Yuki’s ability to discern. What a disappointment.
Charge, at least, would’ve been cool. I wasn’t sure how Iron Fur would’ve worked on me, but there was a hunter spell called Collaut’s Hide. Maybe it’d do something similar for skin? As for Burster, it was a gruesome ability. Did I want to be the kind of man who exploded enemies from the inside? Well, maybe that’d be a little cool too.
The hunters worked together to move three large tubs full of water into the courtyard behind the lodge, and the meat and organs were run through them, one tub after the other. The water smelled and tasted medicinal. Tegen let me know that Alchemist’s Lodge sold a cleansing potion for poisoned meat. It was expensive, though, and was only brought out when there was enough to make it worthwhile.
I asked after the potion’s ingredients, but they were a trade secret. The process was fascinating, so I lingered to watch.
Afterward, the meat was taken away to the smokehouse. I was told I’d get my share later. It’d be a bigger portion, too, since I belonged to a team that had handled one of the more dangerous musk oxen. There’d be no financial bounty, though. These lodge-wide hunts were considered an obligation due to the land knight. A work tax, as it were.
Throughout, I watched, learned, and mingled, sticking around until everyone had left except for Inleio and my team. The lodge master had asked us to stay behind.
He gestured for us to sit. “I have news, but first the good: well done. Your sharp spears and swift arrows are the pride of Voorhei. You brought our hunters back safely, and for that, I am grateful.” Inleio’s expression turned somber. “What’s next is less pleasing: a messenger from Albei has arrived with confirmation that their Hunter’s Lodge had received the Anesthetic spell.”
“And?” Mumu asked. “What did the Grandmaster say?”
Inleio sighed. “She was vexed. Don’t misunderstand—the spell itself pleased her, but the Healer’s Lodge protested and said the spell should rightly belong to them. Our Grandmaster is attempting to negotiate, but the discussions are not going well, and she sees further difficulties.”
“Is this something that happens a lot?” I asked.
“We expected the healers to complain,” Inleio said, “but because the spell was found independently of them, we thought it would be difficult for them to deny us. The only question was how much we’d have to compensate them. But from what the messenger reported, the healers have reached out to their allies and are applying additional pressure on our Hunter’s Lodge.”
I frowned. “What’s their problem?”
Inleio explained: “The Healer’s Lodge made their approval of the Anesthetic spell contingent on a price increase for their services.” He clenched his fist. “It is ‘to make up for any potential losses.’ As if hunter lives can be counted in coins.”
Tegen grimaced. “This means they’ll likely oppose the Healing Water spell too.”
“I expect the discussions to break down completely,” Inleio said, shaking his head. “The Alchemist and Soldier Lodges have come to our aid, though the other lodges are arrayed against us in this. They take the healers’ side.”
“What if we bypass them completely and make the spell available to everyone?” I asked. “That way no one can control it.”
The suggestion surprised the other hunters. I’d be giving up the chance to profit from the spell, after all.
“Not many can cast mana spells,” Tegen said, considering the idea. “Only a few would truly benefit.”
“But there are hunters who could, right? As long as the spell was available.” I looked to Inleio for guidance.
“The problem is the other services the Healer’s Lodge provides,” he said. “Anyone learning Healing Water would be banned from accessing them. Moreover, their lodge wields great influence. The healers have saved the lives of many people—influential people—and they can make life difficult for anyone going against them.”
“So we could do it,” I said, “but the threat of retribution would scare people away.”
“That’s right. And what’s more, the person’s family and maybe even their whole lodge would also be punished.” Inleio sighed. “Fortunately, we were able to share the spell with our village before this happened. We, at least, will benefit.”
“Did you know this was coming?” I asked Inleio.
He sighed. “Yes and no. The lodges are jealous of their rights and responsibilities, but I was unaware that things had become this bad between them.”
Well, dang. I was looking forward to my rewards for the spells. “So what happens now?”
“We will have to wait to learn how the negotiations proceed.” Inleio cleared his throat and looked me in the eyes. “I want to be clear, though, that the events in Albei do not diminish your contributions here. That includes the lives you saved when you tricked the purple musk ox into targeting another of its herd.”
I snorted. “That’s not how it happened. I slipped and rolled down a hill. The attack flew over my head and hit the other ox by accident.”
“Nevertheless, lives were saved. That is a worthy contribution.”
Inleio looked at me with a strange intensity, like I was supposed to be understanding something left unsaid. He didn’t quite wiggle his eyebrows at me, but it was close.
Am I missing something? Wait… Ah. Oh. I see.
I must’ve been tired, because it took a moment to catch on. Inleio was inflating my participation in the hunt so that I could be rewarded—which made up for what was happening in Albei.
“I’m honored to be of service to the lodge,” I said, playing along.
“Good.” Inleio went to retrieve the lodge’s spell catalogs from his desk. Normally, they were kept in the room under the lodge, but he must’ve brought them up earlier to prepare for this moment. “In gratitude for the services you have provided to your hunt brothers and sisters, Eight, you are granted two spells.”
My team cheered. They patted me on the back and ruffled my hair, their joy spilling over.
Inleio watched the hunters, pride evident on his face. “Normally, we would celebrate with a feast, but given the delicate situation, we… can’t speak widely of tonight’s events. Your lodge brothers and sisters can know, but not many besides them.”
“Sure,” I said, grinning. “I understand. I’ll keep quiet.”
Inleio nodded. “I know you will. Now, I asked your team to stay, not only for them to hear the news from Albei, but also so they can advise you on your choices.”
That settled the other hunters down quickly, though it seemed everyone had an opinion on which spells I should pick.
Mumu kicked things off. “Eight’s ability, the one he calls one with the land, is very good, but not enough to handle enemies with strong senses. I recommend the spells Camouflage and Scentless Hunter. They will serve him well both when he is hunting with us and when he is out on his own.”
“I disagree,” Haol said. “He should take Scentless Hunter, yes, but also Spiral Pierce. His land is good enough for most hunts. He only needs to make up for where he lacks: hiding his scent and the weakness of his strikes.”
“The disagreement goes deeper than that,” Tegen said. “He should—”
“Actually,” I said, interrupting. “I wanted to mention this earlier, but I didn’t want to say anything until I was more practiced. I… uh… I already have a handle on Camouflage and Scentless Hunter.”
The room quieted, and the hunters turned to stare. I smiled, embarrassed. I really had meant to say something earlier—it was important for teammates to know each other’s abilities—but I’d been looking for an opportunity to surprise them.
Yeah, okay, this timing is pretty good. I felt my smile turn from embarrassed to mischievous. The look on their faces—the reactions were just as gratifying as I’d hoped.
It was Teila who broke the silence. She whooped and jumped up, grabbed my shoulders to shake me, and then danced around the seated hunters. The young girl went around twice before the adults were able to gather themselves enough for coherent speech.
Mumu sputtered. “You… you little—”
“When? How?” Tegen asked.
“When I took the blynx’s bones to the Glen.”
I didn’t like lying to my teammates, but I couldn’t exactly tell them about the uekisheile inside Otwei. Hopefully, making it seem like I’d learned the spells from studying the blynx’s remains was enough.
“But still…” Haol trailed off.
“Our Eight is a genius,” Mumu said, shaking her head. “A little devil and a pot full of questions, but still a genius.”
I cleared my throat, uncomfortable with getting the credit rightfully belonging to Yuki. “All right, let’s continue the discussion. Just know that I can become one with the land, have spirit eyes, and also know the Camouflage, Scentless Hunter, Healing Water, Anesthetic, Dog’s Agility, and Cold Snap spells.”
The hunters sighed together. Several shook their heads once more, and we began a long discussion.
There was consensus that Spiral Pierce would provide a critical boost to my being able to penetrate a target’s defenses. I’d also seen enough of the spell’s practical application to make that choice an easy decision.
The option for my second spell wasn’t nearly as obvious.
Spark was useful for creating opportunities. I’d seen it used on the purple musk ox, and the spell had caused the animal to momentarily stop defending himself. Plus, there was the undeniable attraction of being able to throw lightning. I had a thing for thunderstorms, after all.
Alas, I already had the Cold Snap spell for creating opportunities, and the lure of lightning wasn’t enough to overcome the need to bolster my defense. Dog’s Agility was great, but it wouldn’t protect me in situations where the enemy was faster than me. Like, for example, a blynx.
That left Collaut’s Hide and Iron Heart, which were the two hunter spells dedicated to defense. The first thickened the skin, while the second boosted the body’s resistance to damage as a whole. Tegen used both to good effect, and as he went into detail about them, I learned that Collaut’s Hide wasn’t compatible with Dog’s Agility—something about the way the qi flows interacted.
Anyway, that was how I ended up picking Spiral Pierce and Iron Heart.
With the new spells in hand, that meant I’d—once they were mastered—have two approaches to dangerous encounters. I could either:
Go full stealth and ambush with:
- One with the land
- Camouflage
- Scentless Hunter
- Spiral Pierce
- Poison from the chishiaxpe
- Spear or bow, but likely bow
Or warrior up with:
- Dog’s Agility
- Iron Heart
- Spiral Pierce
- Poison from the chishiaxpe
- Spear or knife, but likely spear
- Cold Snap
- Anesthetic
- Healing Water
In the ambush scenario, I’d rely on stealth and range for defense. In melee, I’d depend on Dog’s Agility and Iron Heart. And if I got hurt, I could use Anesthetic to fight through the pain and recover afterward with Healing Water.
Once my choices were made, the team demanded I show them my version of Camouflage and Scentless Hunter. They couldn’t teach me anything about the spells, because I hadn’t earned them through the lodge, but that didn’t stop the hunters from making observations aloud—things that just happened to hint at ways the spells could be improved. And since I was showing off my Camouflage, Haol did too. Then, the hunters started asking him general, roundabout questions about how he cast the spell.
Clearly, it was all for my benefit so that I could deepen my understanding of the magic. My teammates were annoyed by the nonsense coming out of Albei, so they’d decided to skirt the lodge’s rules for my sake.
The opportunity to study a second hunter using Camouflage was helpful. Neither Yuki nor I had been able to figure out how to include our gear in the spell’s effects, so this gave us a chance to compare Otwei’s use of the spell with Haol’s.
When Mumu saw me struggling, her questions became more pointed. She didn’t know the spell herself, but she’d grown up in the lodge. It was in her blood and bones, and her questions dug deep into the spell’s mechanics.
It was the first time I had ever seen Inleio frown, but he didn’t say anything—only gestured for Teila to accompany him a short distance away. I overheard him start the talk about the lodge’s purpose and how it should serve the people and not the other way around.
Partway through, Tegen left and came back with an armful of chicken skewers. He got a fire going and grilled them up, basting them with a fermented fava bean paste. It was tangy, herby, and delicious. Then we had tea, and Inleio taught Teila a new song, which reminded Mumu of a story of a talking bird who tricked hunters into falling off cliffs. After that, we compared Spiral Pierces, and Tegen showed me his Iron Heart.
By the time we were done, it was one in the morning. We all stumbled out of the lodge exhausted, but deeply satisfied.
The night air was brisk, cooling the sweat sticking to my skin. There wasn’t much of a moon, so the stars stood out in the sky. I took a moment to wonder at what the stonewater serpent had seen among them on the night of the solstice. To me, they looked like a blanket covering the sleeping village.
Inside, Yuki buzzed from all the new experiences, not to mention the spells. With a grin, I realized that there wouldn’t be any restful dreams anytime soon. We might as well practice spells on the way home, so we became one with the land, opened our spirit eyes, and wrapped ourselves in Camouflage and Scentless Hunter as we walked.
The qi looped through us and into our clothes, and it carried with it the intent of including our belongings in our understanding of ourselves—in the knowledge that our tools, weapons, and armor were a part of us and should be included by the spell’s effects.
Truly, we were blessed with good teammates. They’d shared their wisdom and knowledge so generously with us. And we put it to good use—the hints they’d given us earlier meant we could now hide our weapons, clothes, and armor inside our Camouflage spell.
The world teetered and swayed with every step, though. We’d also learned that evening that Dog’s Agility was incompatible with Camouflage, so we were forced to process the extra sensory information from our spirit eyes without the spell’s help.
Because of that, the qi nearly slipped from our grasp when we saw the outline of a Camouflaged Otwei sneaking out of Bihei’s longhouse. We quickly checked with the portion of ourselves inside her, but there was no sign of violent intent. She’d been bored waiting for something, so she’d used the time to search for clues to the location of the eilesheile. Not finding any, she’d stolen Bihei’s best pan and was planning to hide it in the neighbor’s yard.
Her thought: there was nothing better for curing a village of boredom than strife between neighbors.
We molded ourselves against a nearby wall. A cloud passed across what little moon there was, and we used the opportunity to sneak closer. She looked around, but didn’t see us. Then, she leapt over the low wall of the neighbor’s place. The pan was hidden under an old chair beside the front door.
Our body was tired, our mental reserves low. A long day had been followed by a long night, yet there was an undeniable thrill to testing ourselves against an experienced hunter like Otwei. There was also a desire within us to reflect her mischief back upon her.
We tasted our desire and found a lingering spite hidden within it, an unaddressed anger at Otwei for the danger she represented. A decision was made to follow and test ourselves further, but that would be all. Even though we wanted mischief, we would abstain. At least, for now.
Otwei wandered through the village. Here and there, she took something from a yard and placed the stolen item elsewhere. She stumbled across Haol and Mumu kissing outside his longhouse, but her annoyance at their intimacy was interrupted by Dena, Haol’s wife, poking her head out the front door and telling them to come inside out of the cold.
“Don’t you know how late it is?” Dena’s quiet voice asked. “Did you get a chance to eat? What happened at the lodge to keep you so late—”
The rest was lost to a closed door. Otwei was tempted to defecate in the garden, but it wasn’t worth the risk that Mumu or Haol might sense her or somehow track the dung back to her.
Further thoughts of mischief were interrupted when a stone hanging on a cord around her neck pulsed with warmth; it was the signal she’d been waiting for. We returned our consciousness back to our body and followed Otwei as she started to move more intentionally.
The village’s ghosts watched as we tailed her. Without Dog’s Agility, their forms tilted and distended, like looking at a person’s reflection in a fun-house mirror. Walking through the village with our spirit eyes open was like walking through an entire maze of those mirrors.
We snuck through the village maze—from where the longhouses were made of logs to the cluster of stone buildings at the village’s center where the wealthier residents lived. Where Ghitha lived.
Otwei took up position to watch his house. She, and we, made it just in time to see the door open and someone slip out. He paused in the house’s moon shadow to make sure there was no one about, then snuck away.
We tasted his spirit with our eyes and knew him to be Borba. What had he been doing visiting Ghitha’s longhouse? And so late at that?
We followed Otwei following Borba, along the paths to an unassuming longhouse near the village’s eastern wall. Borba slipped stealthily into his own home. Otwei stopped, then kept watch for another hour, and when she was sure he wouldn’t go out again, she went back to Ghitha’s house to meet with her team.
“How did it go?” The voice belonged to Banan.
“Easy. He went straight home.” Otwei fiddled with her hair. “I don’t think we have to worry about Borba having second thoughts. I’ll keep watch, though, just in case.”
“All the hunters are weak,” Ghitha said, “and they are in need of a strong hand to lead them. If my brother were alive and he was the lodge master, Borba would never have behaved this way.”
“What can he do?” Otwei asked, grinning. “You have him caught, sir, and can bend him as you will. There’s nothing he can do, not unless he’s willing to risk Inneioleia’s wrath.”
“Loyalty is an illusion,” Banan said. “The only truth is self-interest.”
Ghitha laughed, though the sound was grim. “And I have your self-interest well in hand, don’t I?”
“Yes, sir,” Banan said. “Our agreement’s firm. We’re all going to be rich.” There was a pause while we heard him gulp from some drink. “Borba’s done well to convince the other hunters to participate in the kalihchi bear’s hunt. It was just the thing needed to force Inleio’s hand. I doubt the lodge master would have agreed to it otherwise, no matter how much he wanted our help with the musk oxen today. Now, we just need Borba to get that Eight to tell us what he knows about the eilesheile.”
“He’s just a boy,” Ghitha said. “Moderately talented, that’s all. Eventually he’ll slip, and we’ll have what we need.”
“And poor Borba,” Otwei said, grinning. “He’ll always be under our control. Now and forever. We can ask him to do anything, and he’ll do it. All because of a woman.” She turned to Ghitha, her curiosity rising. “Was Kiertie really that beautiful?”
A blotch we saw through Otwei’s eyes shifted. We realized it was Ghitha, and he said, “Yes.”
Otwei heard the pain in his voice, and she delighted in it. Not that she’d show it on her face. Not now. She’d tuck it away, though, and bring it out later for her enjoyment. Had Ghitha loved Kiertie too? Otwei hoped so. It would make the whole situation that much more delightful.
The rest of the conversation turned to the team’s plans for tomorrow, none of which impacted us. We’d learned what was important: Ghitha was blackmailing Borba and had used that influence to tip the lodge in favor of the hunt for the King of the Forest. What had Borba done to get him into this predicament?
There was no way to know. Not yet, anyway. From what we glimpsed from within Otwei, she burned with curiosity to learn the exact nature of Borba’s transgression too. All she knew was that it was related to Kiertie. If so, if it was something of the past—something shameful but no longer relevant—then maybe it didn’t matter to us?
A brief detour retrieved Bihei’s pan before we snuck into our longhouse. The family didn’t rouse as we undressed and slipped into bed. That night, we had intended to dream of Camouflage, Scentless Hunter, Spiral Pierce, and Iron Heart, but we spent it thinking instead.
