It was a bright morning. Luminous beams of light pierced the canopy and a strong breeze rustled through the towering trees. Birds competed to see which of their many mating songs would be this morning’s soundtrack. A family of elk with horns that branched off in complex patterns drank together from the stream. The oldest and largest elk kept watch while the calves sipped the cold water. It was a beautiful day. All of nature seemed to say: Isn’t it good to be alive?

  Yet, I felt horrible. So nervous I was sick to my stomach! Hopefully I looked okay. Earlier I’d taken a bath in the stream - I’m ashamed to say my first since arriving in the Weald. My newly washed hair reached down to the top of my thighs. And thanks to the bath my violet scales were looking very pristine.

  God, this felt like a job interview. Only instead of business casual (vomit), I was wearing my green cloak. And nothing else…it covered the important bits at least! My tail swishing might give onlookers a peek sometimes though -I couldn’t help it.

  I’d arrived at Windthrow’s village; it was time to introduce myself. I stomped my talons a couple times to psyche myself up, then I marched past the perimeter into the village.

  As I entered, I saw the villagers working together to lift a log onto the frame of the central building. Two orcs were straining at each end, while a dozen other villagers helped to lift the middle, including Cleyre and Gorefang. The cat-villagers and the smaller species, aside from Gorefang who was trying his best, were offering emotional support and unsolicited advice. Windthrow was atop the nearby watchtower. He waved and gestured for me to approach. Casual as usual.

  “Neh, neh, more left! More left!” shouted one of the cat people. “Log go cross center, cen-ter!”

  An orc screamed back, “AHHH! JUST GET IT UP FOR NOW!”

  A few of the spectators noticed me and became silent. Not a great sign.

  “OH, SO NOW YOU SHUT UP!” shouted the orc.

  Murmurs spread among the lifters. Then the orc “anchors” finally saw me and dropped the log to the ground, narrowly missing some of the smaller villagers. They began to draw swords, clubs, and axes.

  Cleyre stepped forward. Her orange eyes slowly blinked as she eyed me with unrestrained suspicion. Then she muttered something under her breath and waved her red-scaled hand towards me. My body went rigid. I couldn’t move, she’d completely paralyzed me!

  “Hold on everyone!” Windthrow shouted while leaping down from the watchtower. He landed lightly, barely bending his knees despite the 10 foot drop. His blond hair shimmered in the morning sun. The other villagers visibly relaxed as he approached, except for Cleyre, she was still focused on me.

  “Cleyre, Cleyre! Could you drop your Hold Person spell? Vylet is a guest.” Windthrow stood between us. He met and held her gaze without looking up.

  “You didn’t say anything about having guests,” Cleyre responded. Her tone held an accusatory edge. “Not to mention a local guest.”

  “It was my bright idea to see how everyone would react to a stranger entering the village. Sorry Vylet, things escalated much more quickly than I anticipated.”

  Cleyre shook her head, then flicked her wrist. “I suppose we failed your little test, at the expense of poor Vylet.” She gave me a sympathetic look. Did Windthrow really not tell anyone I was coming? What the hell!

  I collapsed forward as I was freed from the magical paralysis.

  “Again, my most sincere apologies about that Vylet” Windthrow offered me his hand which I gratefully took.”Welcome to Sapwood Village!”

  “Soooo Windthrow, you didn’t tell anyone I’d be visiting?” I asked. He’d just finished calming everyone down -although I could still feel some suspicious glances. Now he was showing me around Sapwood Village.

  “I owe you an apology for that. I wanted to see how they’d react to a threat,” he replied. “Some of the people here are a little socially strange. Years of forced labor, forced warfare and worse will do that.” He walked us to the perimeter of the village.

  “Anyway! First stop on the tour. Here we’ve set up a ring of torches around Sapwood. We’ll replace it with a wall eventually, but it’ll be months before that’s finished.”

  “Why even settle in a place that needs a wall in the first place?” I had been wondering about that for a while. The Weald was dangerous; both Windthrow and I had experienced that firsthand.

  “Independence. Outside the Weald are powers that would use us. We’ll be safe here -for a time. But in truth none of us know how long this will last” We strolled together along the perimeter, watching the work on the central building. They’d finally put the log into place and were using rope and nails to secure it. Windthrow stopped walking and stared into the forest.

  “This place is what so many of us dreamed of for so long. Ah, sorry. Let's introduce you to some of my friends,” he said. “The best way to understand Sapwood is to learn about us!”

  He led us to Cleyre and Gorefang, along with two of the cat people. They were sitting together on a crudely made picnic bench. The four of them were in the midst of an animated discussion and were eating blackened jerky. They quieted when we approached.

  “Hi! I’m Vylet, thanks for welcoming me!” I said, taking the initiative. I performed a faux curtsey with my cloak.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “This is Cleyre, probably the toughest Wizard you’ll ever meet,” Windthrow said.

  “I’m not bad,” Cleyre said. She brushed her pearly white spines back. Her gaze traced up and down my body.

  “And this is her partner. Gorefang. He used to be a vicious berserker and tactician.”

  “Oy, I’m still a tactician. Ehh, not much a Beserker since I went an lost my eye,” Gorefang said. “I’ll tell ya the story one day lass.” Gorefang tore off and ate a piece of jerky, I don’t remember the last time I’d eaten cooked meat…

  “And these two tabaxi, with the beautiful luscious fur are Milo and his mate Dean.” Windthrow walked over and playfully ruffled the soft fur atop the orange and black Tabaxi’s heads.

  They swatted away his hands. “This one, and this one’s mate are happy to meet you,” Milo said. Both of them bowed their heads.

  So far so good! Next, we met the Dwarf, Sinstrike, an aspiring blacksmith. Then the two orcs, Grel and Sally, who were always eager to help out with heavy lifting but apparently were useless in a fight. Along the way we met the rabbit people, called Harengon, who were prioritizing working on a garden. There were so many villagers that I wanted to pet! I was suppressing serious cuteness aggression.

  I also met their adorable floofy Ox, named Strega. His wool would eventually be used for weaving and sewing clothes! My head was practically spinning by the end of the tour.

  After meeting literally everyone it was early evening. Sapwood was awash in orange light and I was starting to feel the nighttime chill.

  BOOM! CLANK! BANG! Grel and Sally banged a ladle into a pot with alarming force. “Dinner’s Ready! Orcish specialty!” they shouted.

  Everyone dropped what they were doing and lined up in front of a massive soup pot. Grel and Sally proceeded to scoop generous portions into wooden bowls and hand them out.

  Windthrow jogged over to get us some. Today had been a lot, I felt like taking a graceful exit while everyone was distracted. I was about to sneak into the forest, but then I felt a hand on my shoulder,

  “Vylet, don’t you dare leave without having dinner first,” Cleyre said as she held me in place with a single hand. “In fact, you can stay the night!”

  My tail trembled and my mouth instantly became dry. Raw animalistic fear overcame me. I could feel her power, it radiated from her in suffocating waves.

  “Su- sure, I ca- can stay,” I said.

  She gave a concerned smile and walked me over to the dinner line.

  Windthrow saw me and walked over.”Vylet! Where’d you go? I got you some Orcish stew. It’s way better than it looks,” he said. He handed me a bowl with chunks of meat peeking out of a thin red broth like icebergs.

  I took it silently as I watched Cleyre join the nearby line.

  “What were you and Cleyre talking about?”

  “Nothing, I think,” I responded. He was kind enough not to press further.

  I stifled a groan as Windthrow led me to the exposed interior of the central building, where dozens of people were sitting on the floor eating, talking and laughing together. Luckily, they were content to let me listen. I overheard lots of discussion about how they would finish the longhouse, which was where we were currently sitting. Basically, they had very little construction experience.

  I was dealing with my own, much smaller problem. The little wooden spoon they’d given me with my food was impossible for a three taloned hand to use!

  After my third failure, Windthrow leaned over and whispered, “It’s okay Vylet.” He subtly nodded towards the Tabaxi who happily used their hands to eat.

  No point being embarrassed about it now! I used my claws to skewer the pieces of meat and ate them one by one. Oh my god, it was so spicy! Each bite was an explosion of tangy juice and the meat melted in my mouth. I love my raw meat, but this stuff was great. Grel and Sally knew their stuff!

  “You’re sure you’re doing okay? I think after the initial…difficulties, that today went well. You have nothing to feel bad about Vylet,” Windthrow said. His eyes reflected the campfires as he looked at me, like two pools shimmering with hidden gold. My heart started racing and warmth radiated throughout my body. Not again! We needed to talk about something else!

  “Oh, I think today was good too! I’m just kinda overwhelmed. Um, so why is this place called Sapwood?”

  He laughed softly. “You’re lucky you missed the endless discussions on what to name this place.” He put his bowl down and directly faced me. “Can you believe we almost called our village Wood Town?”

  “That was a powerful name!” Gorefang shouted from the other side of the longhouse.

  “It really wasn’t. But yes, anyway, Sapwood is the outermost wood that makes up a tree. Fresh, new, adaptable. Like all of us!” He gently placed his hand on my arm before quickly pulling it away. “Oh sorry, got a bit carried away.”

  “It's okay, we’re friends! I take it you came up with the name?” My heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest.

  “I spent the whole trek into the Weald thinking it up,” he laughed.

  We chatted until we were the last ones in the longhouse. Then, just as I’d been dreading, Cleyre approached us.

  “It’s been a big day for her, why don’t you let her get some rest, Windthrow,” Cleyre said. She was still holding her gnarled staff from lighting the perimeter torches. “And I don’t think she’s ready for the couples tent just yet.” She grinned and gave us a wink.

  “I wasn’t going to ask her!” Windthrow blushed and climbed to his feet. “I hope I’ll see you in the morning, goodnight Vylet.” He walked over to a large tent where most of the men slept. Leaving Cleyre and I alone.

  “Should probably get back home then, I can visit again in the morning. Night!” I stood up to make a quick escape.

  “Hold on, hold on! I know I can come across a bit intimidating” Cleyre sighed. “I’m friendly! Two questions. I only have two questions for you. After that you can spend the night wherever you please.”

  She seemed sincere, despite the alarm bells caused by her power.

  “Okay go ahead.”

  “Thanks. First, I have to ask. Everyone has been talking and well. Clothes. You have a cloak, nothing else…underneath, is it a cultural thing or…?”

  Shit. I forgot. After months it felt natural, but if I was gonna be part of a group I should attempt to fit in.

  “I can try wearing some clothes. Sorry if I was distracting…”

  She clapped her hands. “Great! And one more thing. And this is serious. Would you allow me to train you?”