In the dying evening light, the call shocked Laryn out of his skin. He sprang to his feet and dashed to his shelter, where he snatched up Keldin’s sword.

  “Halloo the camp!” the call came again. From the north, across the river. Laryn watched the line of trees, bordering on the clear water.

  “Who hails?” he called back. “Show yourself!”

  Two men stepped out of the trees across the river, standing on the shore around a gross meters from Laryn’s shelter. One of them waved his arms overhead. He had a short sword strapped to his hip. The other carried a long staff, or spear.

  The wind had picked up, and a steady dribble of rain now beat down onto the sand.

  “We seek refuge from the storm!”

  “Adi?” Laryn whispered. “Who are they? What should I do?”

  “I don’t know who they are,” Adi said. “Remember, you have influence here in your kingdom. If you invite them over here, that will work against them. Especially if they try to overpower you.”

  “Two of them, emerging from the trees of the wildlands. I’m not prone to trust—”

  “We have women and children with us,” one of the men shouted. “Please!”

  As if to verify his statement, a few smaller figures bundled out behind the men.

  “Is it a trap?” Laryn asked Adi.

  “Please! We’re starving,” the man across the river called out again.

  Adi shrugged.

  Laryn emerged from his shelter and waved back at the people. “The river is treacherous!” he called. “I don’t know if you should cross it…”

  But the people were already plunging into the water, streaming out of the trees and wading through, helping each other at the deepest points. Smaller children were carried on shoulders.

  Crossing the short distance in the water took a considerable amount of time. Laryn could do nothing but watch the people struggle. But soon enough, a broad shouldered man stood on his beach, soaking wet and looking around with relief as the rest of the people followed.

  “Thank you,” the man said, breathing heavily. “We saw your fire in the darkness, and… we’ve been wandering through the wildlands for days, with little to eat. I was so relieved—”

  “A little help over here?”

  This from the other man, the one with the staff. He pulled a struggling woman out of the water, helping her to her feet. In total, about twenty men, women, and children had just entered Laryn’s kingdom.

  Laryn stared at them, stunned.

  The rain fell harder, though the newcomers, soaked as they were, hardly seemed to notice. A small child started crying.

  “What happened to you?” he asked. “No, not now. We’ll have time for that later. I don’t have much shelter, but we’ll see what we can do.”

  Laryn lead the people over to his shelter. He moved crates out, creating space for people. There wasn’t enough room for everyone, but they let the women and children huddle inside to keep out of the rain. Embers still glowed in his fire pit as rain beat down around them. Laryn cracked open a case of rations, and passed it around.

  Thin fingers snatched at the food, packing bites into gaunt faces. Laryn wondered what else he could do for these people. He left the shelter and turned to face the men standing outside.

  They gathered in the lee of the shelter, partially blocking the wind and rain.

  “Thank you again,” the big man said. “My name is Coril, and this is Tasam.” He gestured to the man with the staff. Tasam eyed Laryn, his eyes resting on Laryn’s sword. Around eight other men stood in a semi-circle behind the two.

  “This was a mistake, Coril,” Tasam said. “He’s as lost and stranded as we are.”

  “It’s true,” Laryn said. “I was washed down the river a few days ago and beached here.”

  “You have a kingdom core,” Coril said, a question in his voice. Laryn ignored it. Rain water ran in a rivulet down his forehead.

  “What is your story?” Laryn asked. “Where did you come from?”

  Tasam grabbed Coril’s arm, a look of warning in his eye. Coril brushed the man off.

  “Our town was destroyed by a voidbloom, nearly two weeks ago,” Coril said. “We fled. Tasam thought he could lead us to the river crossing, and find help in Townshold.”

  “You nearly made it to the ford,” Laryn said. “It’s further upstream, and Townshold is only a few days journey beyond that. How did you end up on the north bank?”

  “Our town was north,” Coril said. “In the wildlands. I know, I know, it’s a dangerous thing to do. We believed in our [Ruler].”

  “Your [Ruler]? Where is he?”

  Tasam and Coril locked eyes. Coril continued his explanation, and Tasam tensed.

  “Killed when voidspawn attacked the kingdom core,” Coril said. Tasam seemed to relax at those words, and Laryn wondered what had really happened.

  “What were you doing, setting up a kingdom in the wildlands?”

  “Aren’t you doing the same thing? Many people have been moving north, since the goblin threat receded. We wanted to carve out a living for ourselves. If not for the void, I think we could have been successful. We were planning to establish trade with the elves…” Coril looked around as he was speaking. “Are you the only one here?”

  “I am,” Laryn said. “I did not plan this.”

  Coril’s face fell.

  “As you see, I don’t have much here,” Laryn said, an idea forming in his mind. “But you are welcome to what I do have. I didn’t mean to set up a kingdom here in the middle of nowhere.”

  “Thank you again,” Coril breathed. “Tasam feared you were some kind of void cultist, but we were so desperate, and hungry… It was worth the risk.”

  The wind picked up in intensity then, and rain began pouring down in earnest. Pleased that his shelter held up well, Laryn began looking for some place for the men to shelter.

  “In the trees, probably,” Laryn said. “Outside of my domain. That will be the best place for you to shelter for the night.”

  Laryn sat outside his hovel, watching as the men searched for shelter in the woods.

  “Adi?” he said.

  She appeared beside him.

  “They can’t see or hear you?” he asked.

  “Nope,” she said. “Only your subjects can interact with me.”

  “What do you think about all this?” he said. “It seems like an opportunity for me to go find a coresmith. They can protect the core while I’m gone. Coril seems like a capable man. He would defend this core for me, perhaps.”

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  “I think that all these people are going to eat through your supplies really fast,” Adi said. “You’re going to need to find another source of food. If you let them stay, you should have them swear fealty to you and put them to work.”

  “What would that entail?” Laryn asked.

  “Managing a population is a complicated part of running a kingdom. The simplest way to do it, at first, would be to simply add them as subjects. Then they would benefit from the core’s influence.”

  “It would make it easier for them to tear down what I’ve done here,” Laryn said.

  “It will be necessary if they are going to stay, and survive. You could always turn them out. If you don’t add them to your kingdom, things will become increasingly difficult for them as you increase your influence here. Besides, you can’t grow a kingdom without subjects.”

  The following morning Laryn brought Coril over to the kingdom core, inside of his protective fence. Tasam followed, inviting himself to the conversation.

  “Coril, we agreed that we would make decisions together,” Tasam said as he walked up.

  Coril nodded, turning to Laryn. “Will we be making decisions here?” he asked. “If so, it is right that Tasam join us.”

  Laryn shrugged. “I don’t mind. Listen; we’re both in a bit of a predicament and I think that there is a lot that we can do to help each other out. I can’t stay here. I made a mistake in setting up this kingdom core, and I need to go find a coresmith to help me dismantle it and bring it back home. But I also can’t leave the core untended. There are too many dangerous creatures in the wildlands for that.”

  Coril nodded. “I understand.”

  “I also don’t have much food. A lot of food, for one person, but not much for twenty.”

  “You aren’t from this region,” Tasam observed. “Your accent is strange to me. Where did you come from?”

  “Eltar,” Laryn replied. “On Endara.”

  “An Endaran,” Tasam repeated. “You’re a soldier then?” He indicated Laryn’s shaved head.

  “I am,” Laryn said, watching Tasam glancing nervously at his sword. “And I’m quite competent with my sword. I wouldn’t want anyone getting any ideas.”

  Tasam shifted his staff, and Laryn noted the man’s clothes. Dirty and ragged, they still bore fine embroidery. Tasam was something like a priest in this region.

  “I know you have… different traditions than we do,” Tasam said, pulling his eyes from Laryn’s sword. The flicked quickly to Coril’s sword, so fast that Laryn almost missed it.

  “You have nothing to fear from us,” Coril said. “Tasam is just nervous.”

  Tasam dismissed the self critique with a wave. “The point is, the trees on your island are laden with gobo berries.” As he spoke, Tasam produced one of the husked pods that Laryn had tasted the day before.

  Laryn grimaced. “Those are disgusting. You eat them?”

  “They have to be prepared. It can be a labor intensive process, and involves several rounds of cooking and boiling the fruit. But they can be quite pleasant to eat when properly treated. We never stopped for long enough in the woods, and were afraid to build a fire that might attract attention, to do it for ourselves. We also have a few fishers among us who might be able to work this river.”

  “That’s good,” Laryn said. “I was worried about food.”

  “But I have to ask you a question,” Tasam continued. “I discovered the blighted tiles on this island last night. At first I panicked. I fetched Coril, and we watched the blight all night long, weapons ready. But no voidlings emerged from it.”

  “What is your question?” Laryn asked.

  “You said you were not a void cultist, but you do not seem afraid of the void,” Tasam said, griping his stick more tightly, shifting his legs to a fighting stance. Coril’s hand strayed to his sword. They both watched Laryn’s sword hand intently.

  Laryn sized them up, and he knew this was a mistake on their part. With his buffs from the kingdom core, and the influence advantage of fighting on his kingdom’s soil, he would beat these two if they tried to attack him.

  He raised his hands to the air, away from the hilt of his sword. Seeing the fear on their faces, he smirked. “There is no void on this island,” he said. “I killed the voidbloom.”

  Tasam’s mouth fell open slightly.

  Coril quirked an eyebrow. “You killed it?” he said.

  Laryn nodded. Let them wonder about him. This was a better deterrence than cocky words about his swordsmanship. He’d told them nothing but the truth. An Eltaran warrior, alone in the wilderness, bearing an enhanced sword, bound to a powerful kingdom core. He did not have to explain the time rewind ability to them.

  Tasam seemed to suspect, though, for he turned to the core and began examining the imagery carved into the obelisk. If the man had been trained in ancient runes, he’d be able to read the descriptions carved there, unveiling the core’s power.

  “Is this the legend of Ishtoran?” Tasam asked. “The man who built a tower to the heavens, and became a god?”

  Glancing over the obelisk, Laryn saw that Tasam was correct. He nodded.

  “Interesting,” Tasam said. “It appears that this is Ishtoran here, gifting six kingdom cores to humanity. I have not heard that version of the story before.”

  Laryn directed Tasam away from the core, afraid of what the man might have gleaned. “As I was saying, I think we may be able to work together. I would like to invite you and your people to join my kingdom.”

  Coril and Tasam made eye contacte with each other.

  “We agreed,” Tasam said.

  ‘I know.”

  “May we have a moment to discuss?” Tasam asked, turning to Laryn.

  Laryn nodded, and the two men walked a few paces away, speaking to each other in hushed voices.

  “Adi, can you hear what they’re saying over there?”

  “Unfortunately, I cannot,” Adi said. “I’m an administrator, not a spy.”

  “But you can be invisible.”

  “I could,” she said. “But I’m not a spy.”

  “If they joined the kingdom you would be able to listen in though right?”

  “They’d be able to see and interact with me like you do,” Adi said. “But I’d have to walk over there to listen to them.”

  “You couldn’t just pop into their heads, like you do to mine?”

  “Nope. Not without a bond. What do you think they’re saying?”

  “I don’t know,” Laryn said. “But it seems quite animated. Come on, just go listen!”

  Coril gestured broadly with one hand, his face growing red as he spoke to Tasam. Tasam returned the energy, shaking his staff and pointing. They both managed to keep their voices low as they argued, though.

  Adi shook her head, and before Laryn could encourage her further, the men seemed to reach an agreement.

  They walked back over to Laryn.

  “We accept your offer,” Tasam said quickly. “We’ll join your kingdom, but we must remain under our own leadership.”

  “When our kingdom core was destroyed and our ruler was killed,” Coril butted in, “Tasam and I agreed to lead together. We will make decisions for our people. And we must be free to leave your kingdom when we decide to.”

  Laryn considered that for a moment. He glanced to Adi. “Will that be a problem?” he asked.

  Adi shook her head. “We can form a contract,” she said with a shrug.

  Coril and Tasam, unable to see or hear Adi, also responded to the question.

  “No,” they said in unison.

  “It’s just that you’re a warrior, not trained as a ruler,” Tasam said. “And you intend to leave…”

  “We have to be getting on to civilization, once we’ve recuperated our strength…” Coril added.

  “I understand,” Laryn said. “We can work out a contract.”