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  I awoke to a jarring bounce, my skull thudding against the rough-hewn pnk of wood beneath me. A wave of dizziness washed over me as I tried to sit up, the world spinning like a top. I groaned, forcing myself back down. My eyes took in the scene around me. I was in the back of a rickety wagon, its wooden frame creaking and groaning with every bump. Several figures y scattered beside me, their faces pale and drawn. Soldiers, I realized, their uniforms stained and torn. Some were wrapped in bandages, others y still, their chests rising and falling shallowly.

  So this must be the hospital wagon, or at least one of them, on the way to the next camp.

  Since I couldn't really get up, I decided to just y there. At least I didn't have to walk this time. I wondered what had happened. The st thing I remember was Quack attacking me with his sword and his magic. I remember attacking back but then nothing

  What happened to me? What happened to him? Why wasn't I dead?

  If he had reported me I should be. If he were still alive he would have killed me himself. There was no mistaking his actions nor the murderous intent in his eyes.

  Is he dead? Did I kill him? If I did, why didn't they execute me, a sve, for killing my task master?

  I thought about that for a few minutes, and decided it was best if I didn’t even ask. If they didn't know, it was best to leave it be

  After ying there for a while I eventually fell back to sleep, but I woke up again when the wagon jolted to a halt. I was feeling a little better so I sat up. I could tell I was still pretty weak, but at least I wasn't quite so dizzy.

  One of the nurses I had worked with saw me sitting, so she came over to the wagon.

  “Ka gku sbang koiatihdri? Sobra sbang brue?” (How are you feeling? Can you walk?)

  “Ouni sobra brue," (I can walk) I said.

  She helped me to a shaded area where I could sit down near a pile of supplies that had been unloaded earlier. The day was hot, the air filled with humidity and some irritating gnats which swarmed around my head.

  I wondered where Fin and Lil were. I scanned the bustling camp, my heart aching with concern for them. There was no way to know if they had already arrived, or if they were still walking. I prayed they were all right.

  When I looked around, I could see the medical tents being set up. I was gd no one was asking me to help, even though I felt like I should. But my body felt like lead. I also knew that I didn't really need to be put in a cot in the blistering hot tent to recover, at least I hoped I didn't.

  I just sat there for a while, watching the activity going on around me. Eventually, I started feeling well enough to try and get up. I decided to wander off and see if I could find Fin and Lil

  It looked like we had moved a good distance from where we were before. There were multiple camps just like before, but I assumed that ours wouldn't be too far from the medical tents.

  I didn't find them, so I wandered over to where the cooks were preparing the evening meal, the scent of wood smoke and stew filling the air. At least cooking was something I could do that didn't take a lot of effort. When she saw me, the head cook brought me to a pile of potatoes and handed me a knife. I sat down and started peeling and cutting them up for the stew.

  After the soldiers had all eaten, and it was time for the sves to eat, Fin and Lil finally showed up. Lil ran to me and threw her arms around me. We were so relieved to find each other again and safe.

  “Where were you?” Fin asked, once we had some food.

  “I got a little injured, so they brought me in one of the medical wagons.”

  “Are you all right?” Lil asked, as she reached over and gave me another half hug.

  “Thanks, I'm feeling better. I just need to take it easy for a while.”

  Later we found a small tent and set it up near the other sve tents, so we would have a pce to sleep.

  We stayed in that camp for another week. Everyone got up early each morning. Their leaders yelled at the soldiers while they ate breakfast, then sent them off to fight. Each evening they came back looking beaten and demoralized. Their leaders yelled at them some more as they ate their supper.

  I'm not sure what they were hoping to accomplish, but whatever it was wasn't working

  We continued helping around the camp, and especially in the medical tents. There were many more casualties, so we set up extra tents for them.

  One morning we were awoken to wild yells and the sounds of fighting. We quickly got dressed and scrambled out of our tent to the scene of more chaos. There were soldiers running and fighting everywhere, ours and theirs. Many were only half dressed.

  This time there was nowhere safe to run to. I grabbed both Fin and Lil and just started heading away from the closest fighting. We ended up at some wagons parked near each other, so we climbed under them to hide. It wasn’t a great pce, since anyone who looked below the wagons could probably see us. We stayed there for a while, but I kept looking around and thinking about where we could go to be safer.

  I saw some trees in the distance, but they seemed too far away. There were some houses, but they were even farther, and I thought the generals were using some of them anyway.

  Some soldiers were running toward our wagon so we quickly moved in between them, by the wheels, so we wouldn't be seen as easily. After they ran past I continued to look, desperate to find a better pce to hide.

  There was a small river that ran by our camp. I remember seeing a bridge that went over it. I couldn't see it from where we were but I knew it wasn't far. But would hiding under a bridge be any better than where we were?

  I couldn’t think of a better pce, so I expined my pn. The problem was there was a lot of open ground between where we were and the river. I told them both to use their magic to get there as quickly as they could. I would follow once I knew they were safe. They looked unsure, but agreed.

  I knew Fin was a speedy runner, since he had easily outpaced me whenever we raced ever since he manifested, and could almost keep up with Dad. He had only grown and improved since then. But Lil was so fast I couldn’t track her after the first few seconds.

  I wonder what else she could do with that kind of speed?

  I looked around to make sure no soldiers were around then took off running after them. I almost made it to the river before a sound distracted me. I tripped over a stone I hadn’t seen which sent be sprawling to the ground. My toes and shoulder hurt as I groaned and got up to run again. Then I noticed someone hiding in some taller grasses off to my left. At first I thought it was some soldiers, but then I saw someone I recognized. It was a sve woman, one who spoke Landrian and had helped me back when I was first captured.

  I knew she wouldn’t be very safe hiding there, so I said, “Come with me. I know a better pce to hide.”

  She looked strangely at me at first. I was speaking fast, so maybe she didn’t understand. Then she said, “Alright.” She turned and beckoned urgently to someone behind her, and whispered something I didn’t hear. Suddenly there were four other sves popping up out of the grass, another woman and three men.

  But… Oh well.

  “Onulu, hurry,” I said in both nguages, as I beckoned them to follow and started running toward the river. I reached the gully where the zy river meandered on its way toward the bridge and beyond. At the bottom of the hill I turned to see them following, but much too slowly. I gritted my teeth.

  Hopefully, we won’t be seen down here.

  I turned to follow the river toward the bridge. I couldn’t go as fast as I wanted, but at least I didn’t see any soldiers attacking whenever I looked back. Eventually, I made it to the bridge where Fin and Lil were anxiously waiting.

  “Who are they?” Fin asked when he saw the people following me.

  “More sves. Don’t worry.”

  We spent the rest of the day hiding under the bridge. It was nice and dark, as long as we remained up near where the bridge connected to the road. We took turns napping and keeping watch.

  “Thank you for helping us.” It was the friendly woman sve.

  “You’re welcome,” It was strange speaking to anyone besides my family in Landrian. I had adapted to speaking to everyone in a different nguage for so long. But it was a welcome change. “I never got a chance to thank you for helping me when I was first caught.”

  She smiled at that, but then her face changed and she shook her head. “Maybe I was mistaken, but I thought you were a boy back then. Please don’t take offence.”

  Fear and shame gripped me for a second. I wasn’t sure what to say to that, but decided to just go with it. “That’s alright. I was trying to hide.”

  She nodded, but a deeper emotion crossed her face and she frowned. “I can understand that. That was probably wise.”

  After another minute of thought she said, “My name is Mira.”

  “Oh, my name is Jer, I mean…” I stopped. I was going to say my full name, but that was a boy name. I desperately thought of a simir name, but more for a girl. “I mean Jer is short for Jerisha.”

  I held out my hand as a greeting, but she surprised me as she grasped all the way to my wrist. That was a more intimate grasp meant for close friends, rather than acquaintances. I hesitantly returned the grasp and smiled.

  “Fin and Lil are my twin siblings,” I said as I pointed to the two who were ying nearby, closely observing our exchange.

  “I can see the resembnce. It’s nice to meet you both,” she said.

  The battle continued all day. I could tell it was fierce, with sounds of swords cnging against shields, and men screaming in death.

  Multiple times we had to endure the bone jarring rumble of horses galloping just over our heads. Sometimes it was the sound of many feet running across the bridge. Each time we ducked lower and collectively held our breath. None of us wanted to be discovered.

  When evening came we could still hear some fighting going on, but it was greatly reduced. We were all hungry, but there was nothing we could do about that. At least there was water nearby.

  By nightfall we all fell asleep, but I kept waking up to more sounds of the bridge being crossed. It didn’t sound like there was much fighting going on, though.

  I awoke the next morning to the sound of horses walking across the bridge and men talking. They were speaking in Landrian.

  “There’s a river right here,” one said. “Why don’t we just let them drink now?”

  “Do it then,” a gruff voice said.

  I heard the horses stop on the other side of the bridge and the men dismounted. I could hear them as they led them around to the edge of the gully. It was a lot deeper here than where we had entered upstream.

  Fear gripped me as I watched the men and horses slowly make their way down the steep bank. I couldn’t move my body, but at the same time I gnced around to see Fin and Lil asleep but several others awake, all watching what was happening.

  Eventually, they got their horses down to the river where they started drinking. It looked like there were six of them, all soldiers with armor and weapons. Some of the men refilled their waterskins at the same time. A few of them were quietly talking, but I couldn’t make out the words.

  We were all figuratively holding our breath while we watched in horror.

  The horses finished drinking. The men were preparing to lead them back up the sharp incline, when one pointed at us and said, “What the… Who are they?”