I felt Kiri get up around dawn, but I didn’t stir. She pottered around, started a fire, set a pot of tea boiling, and cooked some meat. My eyes followed her as she did this, but I didn’t move.

  The Healing Potion had done wonders. Another one, and I would be mostly fine, except for my fur loss. That will take a week or so to grow back.

  Kiri must have thought the same, as she got up, grabbed another Healing Potion from her pack, and placed it on the ground in front of me. “Come on,” she said, “Breakfast is ready.”

  When I got to my feet, the sheep skin slipped off my back, and I initiated the Transformation to a Humanoid. I kept the fur but otherwise went human. Kiri raised an eyebrow when she realised I had been sleeping on the throwing knives.

  I drank the Healing Potion, and she passed me a mug of tea. “Come and sit,” she said. “Eat,” and she handed me some cooked meat.

  “Thanks,” I said, sipping the tea and nibbling on the meat. “I guess you need to know what happened,” I said after a while.

  She nodded, “Nobody has a clue. Reports of a snow monster walking out of the flames and exiting the city gate are adding to the confusion,” she said with a small smile. “I guess it was Felix?”

  I nodded. “Dagger Dan killed him, Yoboc, and Goldie. I am assuming there is no one else here who has better stealth than the Duke's stealth orc that was in the noble meeting.”

  “You saw the Hidden Fang at the meeting? Nobody has been able to spot him.” She thought, “I am guessing you are right, as that level of stealth is very rare and Dagger Dan has a reputation for it. Seeing through it is rarer. What happened?”

  I walked her through what I had seen and done.

  “There is a massive reward for Dagger Dan, but there is no way we could prove you killed him. There were no bodies left that the Duke’s investigators could find. Are you sure you killed him?”

  I nodded, “I watched his body burn with my Void Senses.”

  “That is a relief, because if he escaped, you would be target number one.” She thought out loud. “The six missing mercenaries would match the six armed people you saw. He hired them locally. They were disposable local muscle to him. Makara is dead as well?” I nodded. “I am sorry, Ivan. I am sorry this happened to you. I am sorry you lost Felix, Yoboc and Goldie. I am glad you got revenge. I am also glad you didn’t die.”

  We sat in silence for a while.

  Eventually, I ask, “How many bystanders did I kill?”

  She looked at me in silence for a while, which I took to mean that the number was more than zero. Eventually, she said, “Three. A mother and baby were in the house next door, and a young man was on the street.”

  “Fuck!”

  “Yeah,” Kiri agreed. “Hrothgar will take care of the families. You were on our employ, following my instructions and engaging with known criminals. The death of your Bond will explain a lot.”

  “It won’t bring them back,” I said.

  “No,” she said, “and nothing can bring back Felix, Goldie and Yoboc either. It is not your fault.”

  “The three bystanders are my fault,” I said.

  “Many people lose their minds on the death of their bonds,” Kiri said.

  She was trying to make it sound less than it was. “Who were they?” I asked.

  She was reluctant to reply. “Mother was a merchant with a small dwarven clan and dealt in ore and mining equipment. She was on leave to raise her child. The young human I don’t know much about yet. There was word that he was a cobbler's apprentice.”

  “You said they didn’t know what happened, but the Duke will know. So will Nash and anyone who was at the mines where I worked.”

  Kiri nodded.

  “I should leave.” I said, “I am not safe around people. You have the safe. Give it to the Chelonians and get your information. I will leave.”

  “Not without me you are not,” Kiri said firmly.

  “Why would you stay with me? I am out of control. I am a baby killer.”

  “Not by intent, you are not, and that is what matters to me,” Kiri replied. “You have something unique and are trying to work it out. You didn’t choose it, just like I didn’t choose the bone affinity. I am no Yoboc, but two heads are better than one.”

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  “I’m not…” I started, but Kiri interrupted.

  “Shshshsh,” she said, putting a finger to my lips. “I am serious here. You taught me what I needed to know when I needed it, and if you had not been there, Pānihi would have died. That is a debt I will never be able to repay. I look at you, and you are lost and grieving. That would have been me, and worse if I had to put her down.”

  She looked at me for a few seconds. “Pānihi and I will always be there for you. Always!” Then her lips quirked into a smile, “Pānihi says if you try running, we will track you down. We will always be there. And I am sorry, but you don’t get a say in this. Not at this time when you need us most.”

  “Now,” she said, “Tell me what you need.”

  I shrugged my shoulders, “I don’t know.”

  “Right, well, first we need a decent place to set up a camp. We are only about a day’s run from Jern. I suggest we go about half a day that way, and there is a moderate-sized stream, and we should find a sheltered spot for a camp.”

  “Won’t you be missed in Jern?” I asked.

  Kiri shrugged, “Kevin is putting his skills to work, and Kahz was with us until we picked up your trail, so he knows which direction to find us if he needs to.”

  I let her guide me, which meant I didn’t have to think. Pānihi ranged ahead, and Kiri hid our trail. I had not been thinking about hiding my trail when I walked out here, but now I put into practice the things Goldie taught me in our wilderness run. That memory induced a wave of sadness over me.

  Then I thought, why is she covering our tracks? “Is there a contract out on me?” I asked.

  “Not yet, but there may be,” she replied.

  We found a sheltered camp spot near the stream. Kiri had brought the basics in her pack. We used waxed leather for a lean-to and set up a reasonably comfortable camp. Pānihi arrived with a doe in her jaws for dinner. I helped Kiri skin and butcher it.

  “I will head back to Jern tomorrow and get the lay of the land. I will bring back more supplies. I will bring you the spare belt for your knives so you can carry them in both forms, but the sheaths won’t be enchanted. Any other requests?”

  “An axe is handy,” I said.

  Kiri nodded, “I will try to get one similar to the last one; they are quite common. Pānihi will stay here. Do you remember when I said she treated me like a reluctant cub?” I nodded. “Her mothering instincts are now focused on you.” Kiri laughed at the look I gave that news.

  She did lighten things up.

  Kiri left before dawn. She would probably be gone for three days or so. She had brought me some clothes and left a belt and a hunting knife. I put on the trousers and shirt and made myself look human. I slipped a couple of the throwing knives into the belt and hid the others near the camp. Then I left to explore the area. I needed to do something.

  I just wandered up gullies and explored the wildlife in the area. From my previous wanderings and hunting, I already had a good knowledge of the area. There were parts that my Map had not filled in, that I filled in. I also wanted to get up high and explore with my Farsight.

  Pānihi didn’t join me, but I figured she could track me if she wanted. I found a rocky crag with a good view. I engaged my Alpine Camouflage and settled in just below the peak to watch the world.

  I could see the edge of the city to my left and various landscape points out to my right. With Farsight, I traced the roads as I could see them and tracked the birds I could see.

  I pushed Farsight to Apprentice when I identified two Avion flyers. Jern didn’t have a large population of the bird people, but there was a mid-sized nest somewhere in the mountains.

  I watched some vultures circle. Something must have made a kill, and that brought my mind back to scavenging and exploring. My Explorer class was close to levelling. That's a nice, harmless task. Explore the area until I level the class. I figured filling in the map gaps was a good start.

  I slipped off the slope and headed into the forest to the first blank spot on my Map. I enjoyed exploring on my own. I stopped and studied the mountain sheep, and watched a beaver work on its home. I caught some fish for lunch and kept moving.

  I practised moving and jumping with my Gravity Filter. I also climbed trees that I would have broken with my weight without the Gravity Filter. I was big and heavy, and jumping and dropping from heights was something I wasn’t used to doing. I enjoyed exploring it until I realised I had no one to share that joy with.

  The weather was closing in again, and I remembered how uncomfortable wet clothing was, so I made my way back to the camp. It was undisturbed, and Pānihi was nowhere to be seen. Her smell was everywhere. I assumed she marked our camp to keep others away.

  I stripped out of my clothes, changed into full bear form, lay down, and let my mind wander. Then it wandered to that night, I tried to switch off and think of nothing. That didn’t work, of course, so I switched to thinking of Kiri.

  I was a bit surprised at her commitment. She has issues with the nobility, and she obviously rebels against them. I know I am part of that rebellion, but there is obviously a lot more there. She is very loyal, especially to her family and somehow to me.

  Felix was loyal, comforting, and stable. Kiri is there for me, but I need to be more self-reliant. Kiri is not Felix. She might be committed to me, but she won’t always be there like Felix. She has her own life and responsibilities.

  My mind is too chaotic to decide what I want to do. I don’t know what will happen now, so I need to keep putting one step in front of another. I know I am not safe near large groups of people.

  The next day, I continued to wander and explore. I also found some high points and spent a lot of time watching the landscape. At the last one, I stayed there well after sunset and into the night. There were only a few clouds, so I explored the stars, updating my Astal map with new ones.

  I did get that level in my Explorer class. I am still not quite sure what it needs to level, but I guess I will learn.

  The next morning, Kahz turned up with a piece of paper. Kiri wants us to travel to a small town called Kulle and wait for her there. She will be bringing the Chelonian delegation. I don’t know why.

  Kulle was three days' travel from Jern on the road to Hrothgar, and it is probably four days from where I was camped. Kiri had left her pack, but I would have to stay humanoid to use it.

  I shrugged. I guess this is the next step. I started packing up the camp.

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