As Kane walked back inside he saw the table had been emptied and there was an arrangement of cheeses and meats and crackers. There were also bowls of fruit that the kids were reaching into and already eating. Kane looked around for where the stuff on the table had gone and he saw a pile in front of their bedroom door.

  Callie seeing Kane look at the pile said, “Zeus and Olive are in the bedroom. The boxes are our attempt to keep Zeus from harassing the kids while they ate.”

  “MOM!!! I'll be nice! Let me out!” Kane heard Zeus whining from behind the pile that was up to his chest.

  Kane couldn’t help but laugh at the dog. Zeus was notorious for sneaking food when they were too busy talking, so the pile was a good idea. Kane knew however that if Zeus really wanted out though he would just kool-aid man through the boxes.

  Kane didn’t see Stern or Phillip at the table. Continuing to look around he saw them talking quietly to each other by the living room window. Kane walked over to them.

  “They aren’t going to stop,” Kane heard Stern whisper as he walked up.

  “Maybe not, but we don’t know what we will be fighting if we go up there,” Phillip whispered.

  “If I am hearing right, you are debating attacking instead of sitting back waiting?” Kane said quietly to the two of them after Stern acknowledged him.

  “Yeah, we need to go on the offensive. The attacks around here aren’t slowing down, they are picking up. We need to do something,” Stern said a little louder than a whisper drawing the attention of Callie in the kitchen.

  Kane smiled at his wife to try to ease her concerned look, then turned back to his friends, “We can’t leave the homestead undefended again.”

  “No we can’t but we also can’t stay here. You heard that thing, this is about to be a militarized zone,” Stern continued with his volume back at a whisper.

  “We know what we can defend from here though. We don’t know what we will be walking into if we go up there,” Phillip pointed out.

  “Okay, first, where are you wanting to go?” Kane threw up his hands trying to make them go back to before he joined the conversation.

  “I think we need to go to where this Rift thing opened up,” Stern whispered confidently.

  “And I don’t, nothing we have talked to knows what it is exactly,” Phillip whispered.

  Kane thought for a moment. There were pros and cons to leaving the homestead and going to where this Rift was. But did the pros outway the danger was the real question.

  “Well?” Stern said at full volume making the kitchen go silent behind Kane.

  Kane looked over his shoulder at the wives and kids. Then he sighed.

  “We can’t keep letting them attack us. Tip of the spear,” Kane said, not trying to be quiet now.

  “Kane?” Callie asked, walking over to them.

  “We need to investigate this Rift thing,” Kane said, trying to exude the confidence he wasn’t fully feeling.

  “Alright!” Stern smiled next to him, happy his argument had won. And probably a little happy to continue the fight. Stern was always the fighter in their group.

  “BUT, we can’t leave the homestead unprotected again,” Kane continued.

  “Ha!” Phillip said gloating at Stern.

  “So what are we going to do?” Callie asked not sure what it all meant.

  “We . . . . we are going to eat lunch,” Kane said as he put his arm around his wife and started turning to go back to the kitchen.

  Stern and Phillip looked at each but then followed Kane and Callie to the kitchen. Carlie had sat down already and was trying to encourage Giana to eat. The others sat down too and grabbed plates to grab their lunch items from the center of the table. Two of the four fruit bowls were already empty thanks to the kids. The adults grabbed what they could and ate in silence as the girls giggled and chatted about nonsensical things.

  When it was clear that the kids had finished, Callie and Carlie had them help with putting away the few leftovers and clean off the table. Once the kids were done with the task and had run back downstairs to play, Callie and Carlie sat down with the three men at the kitchen table. Callie looked from her husband to their friends.

  “So what's the plan?” she asked.

  “We need to go through all those boxes first,” Kane said, gesturing to the pile still in front of the bedroom door.

  “Seriously?” Phillip asked.

  “Yeah, there is armor somewhere in there and we need to figure out what we truly have and don’t have. Callie, can you take an inventory?” Kane asked.

  “Sure,” Callie said with a little bit of surprise in her voice.

  “So we really are going to go back into town?” Carlie asked.

  “No,” Kane said definitively.

  “Okay . . . . then where are we going? Isn’t the Rift in Colorado Springs?” Carlie puzzled.

  “No, it’s closer to Cheyenne Mountain. We need to go to the Turkey Creek area to get a closer look,” Kane told the table.

  “Kane! We would need to go through southern Colorado Springs to get there. Or are you proposing we go through Pueblo? Those creatures were all heading to Pueblo!” Callie was very concerned now.

  “That is what we need to figure out,” Kane sighed.

  “What is in Pueblo that those things would be going after?” Phillip asked.

  “I don’t know what is in Pueblo in their world, but here there isn’t much. It used to be a great steel city but it’s not anymore,” Kane said with a tone of questioning in his voice.

  The group sat in silence again for a few breaths then Stern broke the silence.

  “Well, let’s get going through these boxes then,” he said and stood up heading to the pile.

  “Yeah! I get to come out!” they could see Zeus jumping on the other side of the boxes. The view made everyone laugh a little.

  “I’ll get these dishes cleaned up,” Carlie said, still giggling to herself.

  “So inventory it is for me,” Callie sighed, getting up to grab some paper and a pen.

  The boys were thorough and meticulous as they went through the boxes sorting the items into food, medical supplies, armor and weapons, ammunition, and other items. Callie put away the food stores the best she could and busily wrote down the items the boys told her. Three hours later the table was piled high with equipment, kits and other items. The counters were also stacked with food items that didn’t have a place yet. The boys were all sitting in chairs that were pulled away from the table looking at their spoils. Thankfully Carlie had made a pot of coffee so she and Callie were leaning against the kitchen counters looking at their husbands through the stacks on the table.

  “Well, you have everything unboxed. Now what?” Carlie asked, taking a sip of her coffee.

  The three boys looked at each other.

  “Callie, how many sets of armor do we have?” Kane asked, looking up from the pile to her.

  Callie rifled through the multiple pages and chicken scratch, “Um . . . uh . . . Three, I think.”

  Kane had a sullen look on his face, "Three, I thought we grabbed more than that.”

  Callie was still rifling through all the pages, “Um, maybe four, how many are in the pile?”

  Stern stood up and walked over to the table. Callie put her sheets of paper out on the little bit of remaining counter space. Her and Carlie were looking at the sheets and murmuring while pointing at different things on the pages. Stern carefully started moving things on the table.

  “I see two slicks, those aren’t very helpful,” Stern said trailing off at the end.

  “Oh! Is that what those are!? I wrote down two slicks, but I didn’t know what those were. There should be three . . . lightweights someplace,” Callie said, still looking through the papers with Carlie.

  “Also something called a soft armor panel? There isn’t a number next to it though so maybe only one?” Carlie questioned struggling through the writing and the multiple crossed out items on the list Callie had made while the boys rapidly fired the names of things at her.

  Phillip stood up going to the opposite side of the table from Stern to start looking too.

  “Found the panels,” Stern said, pulling out the black inserts.

  “I think I found the light plate carriers, they are just buried,” Phillip said with his head down looking through the side of a pile.

  “How many?” Kane asked from his chair.

  “Looks like three,” Phillip said as he lightly pulled on one of the carriers trying not to knock over the pile.

  “So two slicks, three light weight carriers, but only one set of soft panels,” Kane said contemplatively, “Not the best protection.”

  “Nope, but better than t-shirts against those talons flying around out there,” Stern said, finishing pulling out the last slick from the pile.

  “And better than nothing at all,” Phillip added, having finally gotten one of the light carriers out and starting to work on the second.

  Callie and Carlie turned around to watch Phillip pull the last carrier out while Stern sat back down holding his three items. Phillip finally pulled the last carrier free without tipping over the stack on top of it.

  “Well, looks like it is time to go acquiring,” Kane said decidedly.

  Stern and Phillip both got goofy large smiles on their faces.

  “So time to go a Ranger-ing?” Phillip laughed.

  “Something like that,” Kane laughed.

  “What the hell does that mean?” Carlie asked with a slightly angry tone.

  “It means we aren’t done getting supplies,” Kane said.

  “Again, what the hell does that mean!?” Carlie was visibly angry this time.

  Kane stood up and looked out the kitchen window, then walked over to the living room window.

  “We need to go where we can get our missing supplies to defend this homestead,” Kane said.

  “Are we all going or are only some of us going?” Callie asked.

  Kane turned around and looked at Phillip and Stern.

  “Well, do we all want to go?” Kane asked.

  Phillip and Stern looked at each other for a moment, “I don’t know how much help I will be, unless Callie can heal these burns my leg is fucked up enough I will slow everyone down,” Phillip finally said, “But I can stay here and defend until you all get back.”

  Kane didn’t know what to say at first, “Callie, do you think you can heal him?”

  “I will try, but it might take everything I have left,” she said moving over to Phillip, “It would mean I would need to rest before we go out again.”

  “It’s almost supper time, resting for the night and going out in the morning refreshed wouldn’t be a bad idea,” Stern said.

  “As long as nothing attacks tonight,” Kane said, looking to the north again.

  Kane suddenly remembered something, “Where is Jonah?”

  “Downstairs, I think, he didn’t want anything to eat so I think he stayed down there,” Carlie answered.

  Kane went downstairs to look for him. He found Jonah laid out on the couch with the girls putting blankets on him.

  “What is going on?” Kane asked as Jonah gave a pitiful look at him.

  “Kids told Jonah bedtime,” Jonah said pitifully.

  Kane almost broke out laughing at the misery in the poor creature's voice.

  “Girls, I need to talk to Jonah for a moment, is it okay if his nap waits?” Kane said through his smile.

  Sad noises came from the girls before they headed upstairs.

  “Wait for me!” Giana yelled from her bedroom hearing the girls heading upstairs.

  Kane smiled after her, not wanting to know what kind of mess she had made in Carlie and Phillips bedroom.

  “Jonah, what was that yellow glow you made around the kids when the dragon and rider passed over?” Kane asked, hearing adult footsteps coming down the stairs behind him.

  “PROTECTION, if Hunter doesn’t know where Druid is, Hunter can’t kill Druid,” Jonah said as he sat up pushing the blankets to the side.

  “So you hid Josie and the others?” Kane asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Did you know the Hunter was coming?” Stern asked, coming to a stop next to Kane.

  “No, but Hunters always look for Druids once mages feel them.”

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “How do they ‘feel them’?” Kane asked.

  Jonah had to think for a moment, “Class can be reperio, seen . . . sensed by mages with great abilities. Something Hunters use to find Druids and stop from helping humanura to integrum fieri.”

  “So the Hunters use the mages to hunt down those they don’t like. Fucking assholes,” Stern said with venom in his voice.

  “Asshole? Yes, assholes,” Jonah said with a questioning look.

  “Jonah, it said our area was considered hostile because they knew a Druid was here,” Kane said questioningly although a question wasn’t asked.

  Jonah waited a moment then said, “Hunters are vicious, they will stop at nothing to rid of all Druids. Humanura can not become better, they say because . . . . because they call . . . unnatural. Hunters call any helpers evil and traitors to humans so treat like humanura.”

  “Such bullshit,” Stern angrily said.

  “Yes,” Jonah bowed his head slightly with a sad look on his face, “Mages can . . . sense Druids but can’t find when protected.”

  “Wait, we have a goat that is a druid class. Why didn’t the Hunter go after her?” Callie asked startling Kane a little since he didn’t realize she was there.

  “Hunters only care about human Druids. Animals are useful, humans are not,” Jonah tried to explain.

  “Fucking assholes,” Stern repeated just over a whisper, his face showing deep anger.

  “Jonah, will you stay with the kids to protect them if we go into town?” Kane asked.

  Jonah looked up at Kane, “If amicus goes into town, little Druid should go. Hunters will come and look for her. Jonah’s vicus . . . village kept last druid safe, moving him, but he didn’t like move.”

  Kane looked over his shoulder at Callie who had tears forming in her eyes.

  “Looks like if we are going anywhere we are going as a family,” Kane said, still looking at his wife who ducked her head trying to hide her tears.

  “Jonah contemno, hate mage but mage give . . . petitio . . . petition for Jonah to keep druid safe. Jonah must keep druid safe. Druids help with Jonah integrum fieri, help Jonah become whole.”

  Callie suddenly pushed past Kane and Stern, “If you come with us then you do everything in your power to keep both, ALL the kids safe! Not just Josie! Not just the Druids!”

  Jonah had a shocked look on his face which just seemed more exaggerated with his oversized eyes. Callie had locked eyes with Jonah in her fury. Kane knew that look all too well, and he knew his wife wouldn’t back down until she got the answer she wanted. After a few intense moments Jonah dropped his gaze.

  Jonah locked eyes with Callie again, “Jonah will protect all kids. All kids must be made safe.”

  Callie’s body relaxed a touch, “Good, you need to eat. Let’s go.”

  Callie turned around not looking at anyone else and marched upstairs. Jonah looked from Kane to Stern and then with a defeated look stood up and followed Callie.

  “She sound like mother yell at Jonah,” Jonah was whispering as he passed Stern and Kane.

  Kane and Stern looked at each other before they burst out laughing.

  “Let’s go, sounds like Jonah may need some protection from Callie now,” Kane said through his laughter.

  The two of them headed for the stairs. By the time they made it upstairs, Callie had Jonah sitting in one of the chairs by the table and was putting food on a plate. Jonah had the look of a child being scolded. Josie was looking from Jonah to Callie while standing on the other side of the couch from Jonah.

  Kane walked over to Callie and gave her a kiss on the side of her forehead, “It will be okay.”

  “It's better,” Callie scolded as she finished putting the last of the fruit and vegetables onto a plate.

  She walked over to Jonah, thrust the plate at him with an, “Eat!”

  Jonah grabbed the plate, looked at the food, “Thank you,” he said as he grabbed a couple of pieces of food and started to eat.

  Kane shook his head laughing to himself. Only Callie could get away with doing something like that.

  “Phillip, if you want those burns healed, sit down on the couch,” Callie scolded, anger still showing on her face.

  Phillip looked from her to Kane before rushing to the couch and sitting down. Callie had grabbed the medical kit again and sat down on the coffee table in front of Phillip. She started pulling out different items and then, not so gently, turned Phillips’ face so she could look at the burn. Phillip had put some aloe on the burns when he first came inside, but that was all soaked up and gone now.

  Kane could tell from his wife’s demeanor and tone that she was not happy. He also knew from nearly twenty years of being married that when she got into that mood, to give her a little time to work through in her head whatever was going on. But he also knew that if she didn’t ‘snap out of it’ soon that he would have to find a way to get her out of her head. Based on everything they had just heard and what had been escalating over the last couple of days, this wasn’t going to be something she could work out in a single sitting.

  Kane shook his head, snapping himself out of his thoughts, and looked over at Callie and Phillip again. Callie had a strained look on her face as she looked at the side of Phillips head. She had a tweezer in her hand and was pulling at something on Phillip’s face. Phillip, for his credit, had a pained expression in his eyes but was holding still while Callie delicately pulled at things.

  “Kane, if you are going to watch, then you can get me some warm water to try and unstick his hair and clothes from these burns,” Callie said with a disgruntled tone without looking up from Phillip.

  Kane startled and turned to get a bowl of hot water. That woman amazed him some days. Usually, he thought of her as completely oblivious, but then she does things like that. When Kane made it to the kitchen, Carlie handed him a warm bowl of water and a couple of rags with a half smile. Carlie knew when her friend got into this mood that if Kane didn’t hurry, he would be in for her friend's wrath.

  When Kane had made it back to Callie with the bowl and the towels, she had put down the tweezers and was gently putting her hands on Phillip’s face. A light glow was coming from her hands to Phillip’s face, the scorched marks were becoming less blackened and just bloody as the glow faded. Callie breathed heavily as if she had been holding her breath as she took her hands away.

  “Phillip, do you want to go try to change into shorts, or am I cutting your pants?” Callie asked with an overly serious look on her face.

  Phillip couldn’t help but laugh, “You want me out of my pants?”

  Carlie had been heading over from the kitchen, but stopped at the comment, “Phillip!”

  “She asked!”

  Callie looked embarrassed, but Carlie started laughing and said, “Not like there is much to look at.”

  “Damn, even your wife says it,” Stern laughed from the chair next to the window.

  “God damn, there is plenty there! I have two kids!” Phillip’s laughter stopped as he worked to defend himself.

  “Yeah, so do I, but I hit two targets at once, took you twice,” Kane laughed, sitting down next to his friend.

  “Fine, you win this round,” Phillip said, standing up, “I’ll go put on some shorts, but I don’t think there is any saving of these pants anyway.”

  “Probably not, but take the water so you can unstick the edges,” Callie instructed, handing him the bowl of water.

  “I’ll help,” Carlie said, still giggling.

  “Don’t take too long, I still need to clean and try to heal that wound,” Callie said, but with a smile on her face.

  Kane was happy to see his wife had snapped out of her funk on her own. He didn’t know how long it would last, but at least she was out of it for now.

  “Mom, I’m hungry,” Josie said from the other side of the couch.

  “Kane, you want to make something for dinner?” Callie asked, hoping she wouldn’t have to make yet another meal.

  “Do we have that chuck roll out that I can cut into steaks?” Kane asked.

  “I think so, check the downstairs fridge,” Callie replied.

  “I’ll make a side,” Stern offered.

  “Thank you,” Callie said, relaxing a little from her spot on the coffee table.

  “I’m still hungry,” Josie said again.

  “We are having steaks, you can wait,” Kane told her. She sighed but went downstairs where the rest of the kids had already retreated back too. Kane headed to the fridge to check for the chuck roll. Stern had gone to the kitchen as well and was grabbing some potatoes from the pantry. After a couple of questions of where things were at, Stern was on his way to washing and slicing potatoes when Phillip and Carlie came back upstairs.

  Phillip went straight to the couch and sat down in front of Callie, leaning a little so she could see his burnt leg. Callie started to take a look at the damage, she finally told him to lay down on his side. She cast another CURE WOUNDS. The blackness in the burn went away but Callie had a harder time getting the blood to stop on this wound versus Phillip’s face. Callie bandaged it up to the best of her ability and then moved onto the much smaller but deeper cut on Phillip’s side.

  “Yeah, little bugger scratched me as it died after burning the snot out of my leg. Took advantage of the fact I was distracted by another ignistura,” Phillip said though he winced with pain as Callie tried to clean out the cut.

  “Well, it’s not as bad as your arm, but it’s not great,” Callie said.

  “Oh, it’s not poisoned, cool,” Phillip tried to giggle but Callie poured alcohol or something onto the wound at the same time making him catch his breath from the pain.

  Callie finished cleaning out the wound and then cast another CURE WOUNDS on Phillip’s side. Thankfully the spell closed up the wound entirely, leaving just the smallest red line to hint that he had been cut at all. Callie looked around now that she had done what she could for Phillip.

  “Carlie, how is that shoulder?” Callie asked, noticing her friend next to Phillip.

  “I don’t think we got it fully put back in, but at least I can move it unlike earlier,” Carlie replied, touching her sore shoulder.

  “Let me try something,” Callie said, putting her hands on Carlie’s shoulder. She cast LESSER RESTORATION on her shoulder. Although painful to watch, Carlie’s shoulder realigned itself. Carlie let out a painful grunt as the joint looked like it snapped into place.

  “That hurt, but it feels so much better now,” Carlie said, rotating her shoulder still whincing in pain slightly, “Thank you.”

  Callie took a look around the room, Kane had come back upstairs with the chuck roll and was slicing it into good sized steaks.

  “Well, if we are going to take a rest after this might as well try this,” Callie said to herself not realizing it was out loud.

  “What are you going to try?” Carlie asked.

  “MASS HEAL,” Callie said, holding up her hands. She cast the spell and a glow came from her hands. She held them up to Carlie first. A glow came from Carlie’s shoulder. A health bar appeared above her head, it went from yellow to green, but it didn’t fill up.

  “Huh, that’s new,” Callie murmured. She moved onto Phillip who was still laying on the couch. A glow appeared around his still bleeding leg. The bar that appeared above Phillip’s head was still in the yellow but the bar did go up. Callie got up and went over to Stern. His glow showed up on his arm, his health bar went from yellow to green but same as Carlie, it didn’t fill up. Callie’s hands stopped glowing and she breathed heavily trying to catch her breath again.

  “Nothing for me?” Kane joked.

  “Let me see if I can cast it again,” Callie said concentrating. She cast the spell again, the glow was a little dimmer than the previous casting. She went to Kane first, she closed her eyes feeling like she needed to concentrate more this time around. When she opened her eyes Kane’s health bar was in the green. She went back over to Phillip. A glow didn’t appear on Phillip this time. Callie could feel it wasn’t working for some reason. Callie moved on to Carlie, her health bar was nearly full after this second time. The little bit she had left she used on Stern.

  “Why didn’t it work on Phillip the second time?” Callie thought standing in her kitchen between Kane and Stern.

  Callie walked back over to Phillip, “Time to try RESTORATION,” she told him.

  Phillip just nodded. Callie cast the spell on Phillip’s leg hoping it would stop the bleeding. Instead of the glow appearing on his leg where her hands were positioned over but not touching, the spell glowed on his previously poisoned arm. Callie cocked her head in curiosity. She thought that was healed, but apparently some of the poison was still taking effect.

  “Hey, keep Zeus from eating the steaks,” Kane told Stern. Once he received the acknowledgment that Stern had heard him, Kane walked down the stairs heading for the grill that was just outside the basement door.

  Kane heard Callie following him, he hesitated before going outside, but just for a moment. Outside, he could still smell the smoke from the nearby fires in the air. Kane got the chimney starter ready with the charcoal and lit it. Seeing as he would have a few moments before it was ready to dump into the grill, he looked at the scorched marks on the ground. He decided to take a closer look at the destroyed table and the area around it before he checked the charcoal in the grill. Seeing it was where he wanted it, he dumped the chimney and put the grate back in before shutting the grill to get it nice and warm before he grabbed the steaks.

  As he was turning around to go back in the house, the door opened and Callie came out. Stern was yelling upstairs, probably at Zeus, trying to take advantage of Kane and Callie not being upstairs. Kane felt a warmth go past him but not touch him.

  “What was that?” Kane asked, looking with concern at Callie. She was holding up her hands, and her palms were facing out towards the hill.

  “DETECT,” Callie sighed, “I wanted to make sure there wasn’t anything out here.”

  “Do you see anything?” Kane asked.

  “Some large rat-like things crawling along the top of the hill. They are orange, though, not red. So maybe don’t trust them?” Callie shrugged, turning to look towards the east.

  Kane couldn’t help but smile, “Never trust a rat.”

  Kane dismissed the message as Callie smiled and turned, “Nothing to the east,” she turned 180 degrees to the west, “ummm, something is flying low to the ground that is red.”

  “How close?” Kane asked, reaching for the pistol on his hip.

  “It just went out of range, it wasn’t heading in this direction. It just flew past, but it was low. Did you not see it?”

  “No, I don’t see anything,” Kane wasn’t sure what to think now. If it was red, he was guessing it wasn’t friendly, but why would it be hidden?

  Kane looked back at the grill, the exterior temp gauge was pegging up. Time to go get the steaks. Kane kissed his wife's forehead and then grabbed her hand, gently pulling her towards the door. They went inside together and walked up the stairs.

  Once they were upstairs, he found Stern scolding Zeus. The cutting board with the steaks was moved, but it didn’t look like anything had happened to the steaks. Kane grabbed some seasonings. He quickly seasoned the steaks and took them out to the grill. Kane thought about stepping in to deal with Zeus, but Stern seemed to have a handle on it.

  Not long after the steaks were done, Callie and Carlie were supervising the kids setting the table after having moved the piles to the living room next to the window. Stern’s cheesy potatoes were done and on the table. Someone had made a salad as well. The group, including Jonah, were sitting down at the table with the dogs laying in the living room. Alex was curled up on the ledge of the living room window like a cat.

  Kane looked around the table at his family and friends and smiled to himself. He said a short prayer to himself as the group dug into the food. The kids were talking excitedly. Kane looked up and saw Jonah watching him. Kane nodded at the creature and then reached for a steak. Jonah looked at his empty plate.

  “Aren’t you going to eat?” Josie asked with her mouth full of salad.

  Jonah looked up at her as the table stopped and looked at him, “Jonah never been at . . . at table like this.”

  There was a dramatic pause as the adults looked at each other.

  “Small or big?” Stern finally asked from across from him.

  Jonah just looked at Stern.

  “Alright, small, but if you want more, you can have more,” Stern said, picking up a smaller steak and putting it on Jonah’s plate, “Grab some of the potatoes and salad too.”

  “The bottles are dressing, toppings, for the salad,” Callie said.

  The kids got back to eating and talking about the game they had been playing downstairs. Jonah looked at the steak on his plate for a moment and then reached his long arm across the table and grabbed a scoop full of potatoes.

  “Jonah, it’s rude to reach!” Eliza said, “You ask to pass it!”

  Jonah had a horrified look on his face as he stopped midway through returning the spoon to the potatoes.

  Callie started laughing, “It’s okay Jonah, you didn’t know. Do you want some salad?”

  Jonah’s face relaxed, “Yes . . yes please?”

  Callie handed him the bowl. Josie started passing over the different dressings.

  “Try the ranch! It’s the best!” Josie said excitedly, “The yellow stuff isn’t bad either.”

  “Caesar, and it’s not yellow,” Callie said, smiling at her daughter.

  “Jonah, what do you normally eat?” Carlie asked.

  “Steak not cooled like this but eat tuberosum, just not with yellow,” Jonah said.

  “No cheese!” Josie exclaimed, “That’s the best part!”

  Jonah just nodded and then tried the cheesy potatoes. The expression on his face turned from skeptical to elated, “Jonah not have so good!”

  There was silence at the table and then laughter, “Oh, we have a lot to introduce you to!” Kane said through his laughter.

  The rest of the meal the group talked about some of their favorite dishes. Jonah tried to explain some of the dishes he usually ate. Even through the broken English it sounded like the meals were very similar to older recipes of a more rustic nature. The most familiar to them all was a macaroni and cheese type dish but Jonah didn’t know the words macaroni or cheese. It didn’t sound like Jonah had access to many spices, but was very fond of what they finally figured out was onion and garlic. Overall his diet and food choices sounded very human.

  As the sun started to go down the kids finished their plates and put them in the sink. The adults, with Jonah, sat talking about food and their favorite memories of the foods they had grown up with. It was such a nice conversation and interaction with each other that for a short time the group forgot about the chaos and the war raging outside.

  Eventually Callie and Carlie got up from the table to start doing dishes. The boys agreed to go out and check on the animals and make sure they were situated for the night. Jonah went downstairs to check on the kids. Once everyone was back inside, it was time to discuss the following day.

  “Let’s get the kids baths and showers and to bed before we start,” Callie suggested, her full motive being to put off talking about the fact they were going to have to separate the next day. It hadn’t been a week since the Rift had opened and only a couple days with all of them together and they were already talking about dividing up. She didn’t like it but in the course of the afternoon had figured out it truly was their best course of action. They needed to stop the attacks on their home. The only way they could protect Josie and the rest of the kids was to figure out what was going on and why the attacks were even happening.

  Jonah’s brief history of the war was good, but ultimately unhelpful. He didn’t know much more than they did. He knew the original complaint but just because someone had a different belief couldn’t really be the reason for a whole war. And a war that sounded like it had and was spanning generations. They had to be missing why the Hunters had so much hatred for the Frowlers and for the Druids.

  The kids were bathed and, attempted to be, put to bed fairly quickly considering they were five little girls still full of energy. Giana was the hardest to get settled but eventually she succumbed and was put to bed as well. The adults, Jonah, and Alex gathered at the kitchen table again. Time to figure out what they were going to do next.