“I thought you no longer wanted to follow the path laid out by the Dawnmother,” Senora Barkfall said, some of her earlier condescension back in her voice.

  Kelly sighed, rubbing at the bridge of her nose. Senora had been pretty quiet the last few days, which suited Kelly just fine. She really didn’t want to reveal anything to the elf Priestess. But in this case, it wouldn’t hurt and just confuse Senora even more.

  She pointed to the trees on the side of the road. There were still some green leaves but most had turned to browns and reds.

  “See those trees? They were green just a week or so ago. That means Fall is coming. With Fall, it means Winter.”

  “We have the seasons on Tirna,” Senora said, huffing. “I know what Fall and Winter is.”

  “Good,” Kelly said, gesturing to all the people behind them. “Because you and Freyja kept us moving, we weren’t able to build a shelter and gather supplies for the coming Winter. That makes me think Freyja had a plan for that. I really doubt she gathered all these people just to have us all die in the snow.” I hope, Kelly thought to herself. She was making a huge assumption but instinct told her she was right. “So we’re going there, to wherever Freyja wants us, in the hope that there will be shelter and food.” She turned to glare at Senora. “We’re doing it because you and Freyja gave us no choice.”

  Kelly regretted how she’d dealt with Senora coming back from Northwood. Not that she had done it, taking full command of the column, but just how she’d done it. She’d revealed a little too much. She had just told Senora the truth, they needed what Kelly hoped Freyja had waiting for them. Kelly just wished she hadn’t told Senora that they were planning on leaving Freyja’s path.

  It put her in an awkward spot. Senora, and through her Freyja, now knew that Kelly didn’t trust them and wanted to pull away, but they also now knew that Kelly needed them.

  She’d just been so angry about leaving Loch and the girls. Seeing Senora as soon as she stepped out of the portal, hearing the elf priestess’ arrogant attitude, it had set Kelly off. She’d intended to put Senora in her place upon coming back, but not to the extent she had.

  Kelly sighed, turning away from the elf. No use worrying over it now. What’s done was done. Kelly would just have to deal with Freyja when they go to wherever it was they were going.

  “There is always a choice,” Senora said. “Turning away from the Dawnmother is a choice and you must deal…”

  Kelly stopped walking, turning around quickly, making Senora stop abruptly and stumble. The elf looked about to say something but stopped when she saw Kelly’s angry face and finger pointing right at her.

  “Don’t,” Kelly hissed out. “You and Freyja haven’t given us a choice. It was always ‘go this way’ and I’ve been saving as many as I could. You didn’t allow us to stop and gather supplies or build a base, always saying we had to reach Freyja. I went along with it because I was thankful to Freyja for getting me off Martha’s Vineyard. But I’m done just doing what you or what she says.”

  Kelly walked around Senora, making the elf turn. She pointed at the hundreds of people behind them. A thick mass of humanity, all with backpacks and bags. Some pushing carts, others pulling wagons. People moved along the edges, watching the buildings and the forests, weapons in hand. Most of them looked tired, haggard. Trudging along just because they had to. There was nothing else for these people. Months of just walking north, only spending a couple days in one place. It was no life. There was no chance to start a life.

  These people should have been in a community like Northwood. The same shelter every night, a farm growing food, people providing protection. Seeing what Loch had accomplished in Northwood had lit a fire under Kelly. She had never liked the column, never really stopping, but had gone along with it because she didn’t see anything else.

  But there was something else. How many Holdstones had they unknowingly passed on the journey? How many places that would have been perfect to turn into a new community?

  Kelly had to admit that she was also to blame for not stopping. She hadn’t wanted to. Always moving, always going North, had fed into her goals as well. She needed to get home to her family and leading the column north, always moving, had kept her on that goal.

  Watching the column, she knew that was where part of her anger came from. Guilt. This was her fault as well. She was going to fix it.

  “Look at them,” Kelly said, turning to glare at Senora, making sure the elf priestess was looking at the people. “This is no life for them. They need a community. They need a new home. Wherever we stop, it will be miles and miles from their old homes. They have no purpose besides walking. Even the fighters can’t Level much because we don’t stop long enough for them to fight monsters or run Dungeons. I have no idea what Freyja wants with them but when we get there, that’s it,” Kelly said, turning away from Senora, grabbing the woman’s shoulder and yanking her along to get her moving again. “We get through the winter and then that’s it. I don’t care what Freyja wants. These people will have a permanent home and the ones that want to Advance will get a chance to. No more just walking.”

  Kelly kept walking, hearing Senora fall into place behind her. She had no idea how many more miles they could get in before having to find a place to rest, then they’d stay there for a day of rest and hunting for food, then keep going. How long until they got to where they were going?

  It would end at some point and all those people would have their community. Kelly had made that vow and she would make sure it happened, no matter what.

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  ***

  Loch stood on the steps, watching the large sasquatch walk through the yard. Most people had seen Little River Stone by now, but there were some that hadn’t. It was easy to tell who those were. They gawked, pointed and some even turned to run, starting to panic before they realized that none of the many guards present showed any alarm. Then they became curious, asking the ones that weren’t gawking just what was happening.

  For his part, Little River Stone ignored them all. His long strides covered ground quickly, making people move out of his way by sheer presence. Rushing to keep up, T.J. Wolfe followed. The man looked tired, his clothes were covered in dried mud and even some sticks and leaves.

  Loch walked down to join them, stopping to look up at Little River Stone. It was hard to judge the Sasquatch’s expression through the thick hair, but Loch thought he looked worried.

  “Any changes?,” he asked.

  “No,” Little River Stone said. “They have not found it yet.”

  “The road’s pretty good all the way there,” T.J. replied. “Will still be slow going but we won’t have to cut through the woods. Can use the powerlines to shave off some time,” he continued.

  “Great,” Loch replied. “Go get some rest, we’ll head out in the morning.”

  “Right,” T.J. replied, walking past. He patted Little River Stone on a shaggy arm. “Been fun big guy.”

  “I would not call it fun,” Little River Stone said, his deep voice confused.

  “It’s a saying,” Loch said, motioning the Sasquatch to follow him.

  “It is an odd saying.”

  Loch chuckled.

  They walked around the side of the school, between the barracks buildings and the brick wall, passing to the rear. There was a line leading to the three wood-heated shower buildings. Patrick Verneer was still working on a better way to heat water without using so much precious wood, but at least they had showers. There was always a line to the showers. Each member of the Clan was allowed one shower every three days, volunteer attendants keeping track.

  There had already been some corruption, the attendants letting friends and family go more often, or accepting bribes. Ed and Darren had put a quick stop to that. There wasn’t a jail in the Clanhold, sadly Loch feared they’d have to make one soon, but there was still a room that was used for that purpose. If people wanted more showers, they were free to bathe in the lake. It was cold, but they could at least get clean. There just wasn’t enough wood or showers to let people do it more often.

  The showers, another invention of Patricks, were pump and gravity fed, mostly using collected rainwater with some supplemental from the lake. It was an efficient system but required short showers. Loch missed long hot showers.

  “Why are your people doing that?,” Little River Stone asked, pointing at the showers.

  “That’s how we get clean.”

  “You do not just wash in the rivers and lakes?”

  “We don’t have all that fur for insulation,” Loch said. “We like our water hot.”

  “Your people are strange.”

  “That we are.”

  They continued past the people, heading for the beach. Loch watched the construction of the south wall. It was progressing well, almost to the water’s edge. Logs twelve feet high were being placed in the ground, along with some parts of CMU blocks and even some concrete being laid in a form. They’d found a book in the library with various ways to make concrete, or near-concrete like building materials. They’d even started experimenting with adobe bricks. Anything to help make the construction faster.

  There was no gate in the south wall, platforms built behind it for archers and guards. The tops of the logs were being sharpened. Loch wasn’t happy with how many logs it was taking to build the entire wall. They had cleared almost twenty feet from the original treeline around the feed and started taking logs from other areas. Workers were removing the stumps, which were being cut into smaller pieces to add to the wood piles to burn over the winter. They had to find a better solution.

  The two stopped at the water’s edge. No one else was around. Loch looked out over the lake. Aside from a couple of fishermen, it was calm. He couldn’t even see the ripples that marked Unfey’s passage. It was calm, peaceful. Something that wouldn’t last.

  “Honest answer,” Loch said, looking up at Little River Stone. “How bad is it?”

  Little River Stone hummed softly to himself, looking out over the lake. It was still deep and loud, a thrumming sound that Loch could feel the vibrations.

  “I do not know,” the Sasquatch finally said. “Giants are tough opponents but the Si-Te-Cah is an unknown quantity. I do not even know what his strength is.”

  Loch looked out over the water, second guessing himself. Going after the Silver Bark had been one thing, but going after the giants was a whole other level. The Silver Bark had a code of honor, their version of it, that they would follow and the rules of the Connection. Those were things that Loch had exploited to the advantage of Clan Brady. The giants had none of that.

  They were just large barbarians. Incredibly dangerous.

  He wasn’t even sure that the thing, whatever it was, that the Si-Te-Cah and giants were looking for was going to help them out. He was planning on it. So many plans revolved around it, all based on Little River Stone’s assumptions and feelings.

  The Sasquatch thought he could feel a Natural Resource of incredible power. What else could the Si-Te-Cah be looking for? There were other Natural Resources around, the Grand Oak was one such thing, Loch was sure there were others near the school. Why was the Si-Te-Cah looking in that specific area?

  Loch did know they couldn’t let the giants and Si-Te-Cah find whatever it was.

  He sighed.

  “We’ll spread the word. No one goes out, no Dungeon runs. In a couple days, everyone should be back. We’ll let them rest for a couple days, then we’ll head out.”

  Little River Stone made a grunting acknowledgement.