“Ta-da!”

  I presented Arian with her platter. She eyed the crispy fish with hesitation mixed with horror. Her gaze rolled up to my eager face. “Have you ever cooked fish before?”

  I shook my head. “No, why do you ask?”

  “No reason,” she replied as she accepted the plate with as much enthusiasm as someone attending a funeral.

  I grabbed my plate and plopped down beside her. “How are you drying?”

  “Very well, thanks to your fire,” she assured me as she adjusted her blanket.

  I poked at my blackened fish and pried apart its flesh. Pink flesh greeted me, and I eyed it with suspicion. “Is it supposed to look so pink?”

  My friend laughed. “Of course. Have you not had fresh fish before?”

  I shook my head. “No. I don’t remember it being served very much in the heaven realm, and there weren’t too many places to pick it up in my hometown, either. At least, not the kind you could believe were fresh.”

  Arian prodded at her meat and drew off the charred skin, discarding it to the far ends of her plate until she had a deboned meal in front of her. I stared at her with far more reluctant anticipation than I should have as she stuck a forkful of the meat in her mouth. She chewed a few times before swallowing.

  “Well?” I asked her.

  A smile spread across her face, and she nodded. “It is actually quite good.”

  I lifted my chin, but my eyes twinkled too brightly. “Was there ever any doubt? I mean, besides the tremendous doubt both of us felt.”

  “I will show you how to cook fish with spices when we reach Banhar,” she promised as she picked away at her food.

  I dropped my gaze to my fish. A thought struck me, and I floated the plate over to my friend. She looked up, and I stuck my lower lip out. “Please?”

  Arian laughed and handed me her plate while she took mine. “You can eat that one while I pick the bones from this one.”

  “Do you guys have to worry about bones when you’re in your bear shape?” I wondered as I dug into my meal.

  “Not at all,” she assured me as she deftly removed the skin and dug out the bones. “We merely swallow the fish whole, and our bodies worry about the bones.”

  I prodded my food and sighed. “Must be nice being able to transform like that.”

  She paused in her picking and cocked her head to one side. “But you have that ability. You were once a cat.”

  I snorted. “Yeah, a cat that couldn’t transform back into a human, and I can’t transform back into a cat.”

  “You will learn in time,” she assured me as she resumed her picking. “I believe I recall telling you how my brother was not interested in his magic studies?”

  I nodded. “Yeah. You told me he used his brute strength until your dad knocked some sense into him.” A thought struck me, and I narrowed my eyes at my friend. “You’re not suggesting I get the sense knocked out of me to teach me how to transform, are you?”

  She laughed and shook her head. “Oh no. I am merely saying that perhaps you may find your ability when you most need it.”

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  I recalled the terrible time with the boar only the night before. That hadn’t activated my feline talent. My shoulders slumped and I chewed morously on my food. What kind of danger would it take to give me the ability to change?

  We finished our meal and I held out my hand to my friend. “I’ll take your plate and the first watch.”

  “Are you sure?” she wondered.

  “You didn’t get your nap this afternoon,” I reminded her as I took her plate and stood. “You get some sleep and I’ll get some time to admire the stars.”

  She tilted her head back and gazed up at the twinkling sight. “They are amazing, are they not? I wonder what makes them appear so beautiful.”

  I didn’t have the heart to tell her it was some gaseous formation reflecting light from millions of light years away. Then again, this was a world of magic. Maybe they had been created by a spell.

  Either way, I had a long night ahead of me. Arian settled into a deep slumber and I leaned my back against the trunk. The fire crackled at my feet as I stared up at those happy stars. That beautiful night sky reminded me of the few other times I’d seen it during my stay in this new world.

  “Can you see the same ones I can from your little island?” I whispered.

  Silence was my answer and my heart was heavier for it. I tucked my folded arms behind my head and watched the wondrous sky float by over the long night.

  Morning couldn’t come soon enough. It was a clear, chilly one that greeted us and I was glad when we set off down the road. The exercise warmed me and the thought of reaching our destination in a few hours quickened my step. We followed the roaring river which gracefully turned to meander northward, and in doing so, we left its side and traveled deeper into the woods. The road wound its lonely way through the trees until a huge stone wall fifteen feet high and five feet thick appeared on our left.

  I ran my hand down the weathered rocks. “What’s this?”

  “An ancient boundary between the bear and the wolf clans,” she explained as she studied the old wall. “My father once told me it was built by our ancestors to keep the wolves from invading.”

  “Did it work?”

  She sighed. “Only until they discovered they could dig through the foundations.”

  “How long did that take?”

  “Less than a decade.”

  I stifled a snort. This was Arian’s ancestors we were talking about, after all. “That, um, that doesn’t sound good.”

  My native guide shook her head. “No, especially as the wall took that many years to build.”

  “Wow. That’s. . .wow.”

  “Fruitless?” she suggested with a hint of a smile.

  I sheepishly grinned and shrugged. “Something like that?”

  “My father agrees with you,” she revealed as we followed the decayed fortification. “He thought battle tactics were more an asset than a wall that could be climbed over and dug under.”

  I eyed my mysterious friend with a playful smile. “Your father sounds like he was involved in a lot of fighting.”

  She fidgeted with the strap on her knapsack. “He has some experience. We should meet him within an hour after we reach the crossroads.”

  It wasn’t hard to guess what the crossroads were. Our path forked two miles ahead. One road led left through an arch in the wall and into another part of the forest. Arian led me rightward, where we rejoined the river and headed northward.

  Civilization popped up here and there in the form of weir boxes dug out beside the tumultuous waters. The river water was diverted into the boxes and sent through pipes under the road to fields on our left. There were no homes visible but a few outbuildings made of heavy logs abutted the fields.

  The technology brought a bunch of questions to my mind. “Do your people have a lot of fields?”

  “There were some fields when I was younger,” she mused as she studied the piping systems that fed the fields. “Though they have planted many more since I was last here. I believe Father desires to encourage our people to do more than fish and hunt.”

  I lifted an eyebrow. “Your father sounds really important.”

  She blushed and avoided my curious eye. “He does have some sway among our people.”

  I tugged on her sleeve. “You’re being really mysterious about your dad. Why?”

  “I-I just want my home to be a surprise,” she told me. She grabbed my hand and tugged me down the road. “But we should hurry or we will miss the lunch hour.”