Ogre Tyrant

Qreet agreed obediently and then severed the connection.

“I am not a fool, Fadwa. I know that letting those exiles go exposes the village to needless risk. They had a chance to deny your allegations, but they wanted to subvert justice through their assumed superior strength, and once that failed, exile,” I explained coldly, knowing that she would at the very least inform a few of the other elders of the truth, or something close to it.

Fadwa had overcome her shock and nodded in agreement, “Better dead,” she agreed bluntly. A few moments later though, her expression wavered, “Exiled leave mates, leave children…Bonds broken.”

“What is done for them normally?” I asked, unsure of what point she was trying to make.

“Challenge winner, take mates. Other families take children,” Fadwa explained a little hesitantly.

“Absolutely not,” I refused point-blank. While the concept of a harem might appeal to some, Lash was all I needed and wanted. “Find them new mates, and make sure the children stay with their mothers.” Allowing the children and spouses of traitors to live was another risk, but it was a line I wouldn't cross. As of this moment, I had no way of knowing or proving their complicity in the traitors’ actions. So they would be carefully watched to mitigate the risks.

Leaving the storehouse, I stopped by our borrowed house to stow the potions and then headed for Uday’s temporary residence. The village centre was packed with people again, only now they were boisterously discussing the trial by combat and miraculous refilling of the well currently in progress.

A pair of Stone Well warriors had taken it upon themselves to impose a sense of order around the well, making sure that people took turns filling their small drinking pots of water and moved along in a timely fashion. Far from abusing their authority, I was pleased to see one of the warriors fill a drinking pot for a bow-backed elder who would otherwise struggle to reach the water streaming from the root over the well.

The nomads occupied the majority of the queue to the well. Which made sense given that Stone Well and Flowing Water had steady access to water right up until the catastrophic collapse and were likely well watered. On the other hand, the Sand Walkers and Fire Dancers had almost certainly been travelling hard for who knew how long before reaching Stone Well as they desperately outran the quakes.

Delaying my visit to the chief, I conscripted some warriors and had them hang sheets above the street to shield those waiting in line from the sun. It wasn’t much, but it would help keep people a bit more level headed for longer.

Chief Uday’s temporary residence was smaller than the one we had commandeered as a hospital, but was still quite large. There were six warriors posted outside of the front door and judging by their comparatively strange clothing, I assumed four of them were from the recently arrived nomads. The Stone Well warriors recognised me immediately and opened the heavy carpets hanging over the large entrance so I could enter. The nomad warriors stared warily at me as I passed, but otherwise made no hostile actions.

Chief Uday was sitting atop a small pile of cushions on the far side of the room and was joined by what looked like five Fire Dancers and two Sand Walkers. A large plate with olives was set in the middle of the gathering with four large pots of water and smaller drinking cups set nearby. Engaged in quiet conversation amongst themselves, they did not immediately notice my presence.

“Chieftain Tim!” Uday straightened on his pillows but did not get up, “Join us, sit!” he motioned to a particularly large pile of larger pillows beside him.

Not wanting to be rude or needlessly make a poor impression, I bowed my head in recognition of the invitation and patted down my pants before crossing the room to take a seat on the bed of pillows. Despite being made of silk, the pillows were not particularly comfortable due to limited options for stuffing. Still, they were more comfortable than sitting on the bare floor or rug, so I was grateful for the consideration.

Now seated, and not as light blind, I could clearly make out that the two Sand Walkers were a man and woman, and that the Fire Dancers were all women save for one large pot-bellied Desert Orc with a great bushy grey beard.

“Chieftain Tim, introducing Chief Forgut Fire Dancer,” Chief Uday pointed to the elderly orc with the bushy beard.

“Is now like Far-Gut, yes?” The elderly bearded Orc joked and playfully slapped his belly to the combined tittering and dithering of the surprisingly age-appropriate women by his sides.

Chief Uday waved his hand dismissively and then motioned to the Sand Walker, “Introducing Chief Aisha Sand walker.”

The female Sand Walker, Aisha, bowed her head respectfully and then the gesture was then repeated by her male companion.

“Everyone, eat, drink, talk,” Chief Uday clapped his hands and motioned to the olives and large pots of water.

“Is very manners for Ogre, yes?” Chief Forgut commented loudly as he gratefully accepted a small bowl of olives from one of the women I assumed were his wives. “Mmm, is good, is interesting flavour!” He declared as he chewed an olive.

The word made me flinch and I did my best to keep my reaction to a minimum, although I was quite certain just about everyone had noticed except Forgut himself.

“Chief Uday say Chieftain Tim gifts Classes, food, water, safety for joining clan?” Chief Aisha asked pointedly

“That is true,” I confirmed, “So long as you and your people do not break our laws and swear the oaths of secrecy and loyalty, I will do my utmost to provide for you and your people in return. Some of my people have already been teaching the Stone Well Classes so they can better care for themselves.”

“I have seen,” Chief Aisha confirmed, “Shamans have returned to Stone Well, provide great safety from disaster.”

“Actually, while Hessin is teaching new Shamans as best she can, this Ward protecting Stone Well is special. It is provided and maintained by myself and the Labyrinth and will persist indefinitely so long as enemy tribes are denied entry and the people within live.” I tried to explain the Settlement system in an easy to understand way that would be more accessible than the half-hour lecture I had given Uday.

Despite my intentions, it still took close to a half-hour of explanations to satisfy both nomad Chiefs.

“Why share?” Chief Aisha insisted suspiciously.

“Strength in numbers,” I replied bluntly, “I am strong enough that most people would simply wait for me to leave first, then cause trouble. But if there are more people as strong as I am, then the trouble makers, thieves, Slavers...they will never get their chance.”

My deliberate reference to the Slavers struck a nerve, as I had hoped it would. Even though both the nomad tribes had much larger numbers than Flowing Water, the broken families had still been easy enough to spot. Whether they were lost to the Slavers directly or as a result of losing their Shaman, the nomads were scarred.

“My terms are not unreasonable, and my laws are almost identical to your own in spirit. Should you wish to continue your nomadic lifestyle, I will not stop you, but I will insist that you take what innovations and advantages I can offer you to better keep your people safe. You have seen our beasts and I am sure I don’t need to explain the many advantages they offer to the life of a nomad or living in the village. I want a future for our children, so if you have any misgivings, then speak them out loud so I can set them to rest.” Lash had been on my mind a lot lately, not least of which was because I missed her, but also because of anxiety over becoming a parent with our first child.

“Sons, daughters, grandchildren…” Chief Forgut’s voice ached with grief, “Many lost…” The elderly Orc’s wrinkled hands began to tremble violently, “Never again!” Chief Forgut growled into his beard.

Chief Forgut’s vow was mirrored in the intense and mournful gazes of his wives as they held one another for support.

“Fire Dancers join with you!” Chief Forgut swore, “For children’s future!”

Chief Uday nodded, “For vengeance,” he added grimly.

Everyone’s attention turned to Chief Aisha, impatiently waiting for her answer. Unphased, the young Chief remained deep in thought. “All Classes shared?” Chief Aisha queried critically.

I nodded, “There are specific conditions for unlocking a number of Classes that can make them difficult,” I cautioned, “But with the exception of three, which we don’t have the means to unlock, and the Slaver Classes, which are forbidden, all other Classes will be made available to whoever wants to learn them.”

Chief Aisha carefully considered her options again and then nodded, “Sand Walkers join you,” she agreed, “Grow strong again, return to sands.”

I had figured at least one of the nomad tribes would want to return to their traditional lifestyle at some point, so eventually losing the Sand Walkers static force wasn’t something we couldn’t plan around. In fact, if we could construct robust sand sleds for the Sand Walkers and train a decent amount of their warriors and hunters to become Beast Trainers, they might become a solid contributor for the elusive Sand Striders.

After all, the Sand Walkers would just be returning to their nomadic lifestyle, not leaving the alliance. So they would continue returning to Stone Well for trade and the mothers moon. Or I assumed they would.

I spent another three hours doing my best to explain how the promoted positions and Settlement worked. I made sure to specifically mention how important literacy was for making the most of what the Settlement had to offer, specifically for unlocking Classes without being mentored.

Unsurprisingly, all three Chiefs wanted the promotion to Underlord, but I had to disappoint them for the time being by explaining how Osa was promoting military leaders to better protect the village in the transition period. Depending on how many people each tribe brought into the alliance, the Chiefs would have the opportunity to earn those promotions after choosing and unlocking their own base Class or Classes first. This seemed to calm them somewhat, especially when I pointed out the additional unlocking requirements the custom Classes required in order to activate.

Leaving the Chiefs to their discussion on arranging long term accommodations for each tribe and expected contributions towards the village, I decided to spend the rest of the day exercising.

Reflecting on the trial by combat against Jergal and his collaborators, it occurred to me that my proficiency with most weapons wasn’t as big a problem as my low Agility and poor flexibility. Somewhat fortunately for me, I remembered a number of exercises my wrestling coach had taught me that would probably do the trick if I kept at them long enough.

Deciding to take it a little easy to begin with, I shortened a rope and spent an hour getting into the rhythm of jumping rope again. I was too preoccupied with avoiding tripping over my own feet at the time, but once I finished up I realised I had accumulated a small crowd of young adults, teenagers and kids.

Some were trying to copy what I had been doing but were having problems due to their ropes being too long.

Tying a couple of their ropes together and adding my own, I had two of the young adults begin swinging the rope and jumped in for a few spins before jumping out again. The kids were bright enough to pick up on the game and took it from there. I regretted having commandeered so much rope earlier.

Balancing out my jump-rope exercise with pushups and squats, I went for a run around the village, making sure to retrieve my clothes from where I had left them earlier. Finishing the run back at our borrowed home, I changed clothes and set my sweaty ones out on the terrace to let the sun kill off the worst bacteria.

Exercising spontaneously has always been easy for me, especially weight or strength training. What was hard was sticking with it long term. Being huge had never been a personal goal of mine and being able to maintain a high level of muscle without needing to exercise hadn’t helped my motivation. Dislodging the blubber covering that muscle had been the priority, which meant dieting, which tanked my desire to exercise even further.

Waiting by the ropes to the staging area, I grew restless and decided to get a closer look at the situation down below.

Tying a harness around my waist, I had the warriors on watch take hold of the rope while I climbed down.

Reaching the bottom, I was a little disappointed to only find Qreet and Kestrel in the immediate area.

The staging area itself was dominated by an immense pit of vegetation at the bottom of the mesa. I could see the constricted and desiccated remains of different monsters, but was unable to identify any of them for certain.

“Overlord,” Qreet bowed in deference, “Do you have need of me?”

“Just curious,” I reassured her, “I wanted to see how things had changed for myself.” Despite the fact that Stone Well was now on top of a mesa and a few hills and other mesas in the distance, I actually didn’t see much of a difference. “Has Osa discussed plans for a more accessible route to the village?” I asked curiously.

Qreet nodded, “Several, Overlord. He wanted your advice before making a final decision. I can summon Overseer Osa if you wish,” she offered.

“Let Osa know I am here, but not to rush,” I agreed, “ I’m not going anywhere any time soon.”

Kestrel lowered her spyglass and waved in greeting as she jogged over, “Another group of hunters is on their way with another drop-off,” she warned Qreet. “Besides those giant bats and spike-covered lizards, not much has changed,” Kestrel observed with a hint of concern.

“That’s a bad thing?” I asked.

Kestrel shrugged, “The bats are big, but not big enough to be a threat unless they swarm. The spiked lizards are tough, but the hunters don’t seem to have problems taking them out either, and some Beast Trainers have already caught a couple for corpse hauling duty and face tanking the Sand Stalkers.”

“So what’s bugging you then?” I insisted.

Kestrel let out a long sigh and looked out over the horizon, “There still isn’t any sign of something that could have caused that collapse, which means it could happen again, or worse.”

While I doubted the collapse could happen again, Kestrel had a point in that whatever caused it could still cause damage to Stone Well. “The lizards might be responsible,” I suggested, “I have seen them tunnelling on the third floor, and with this drought, there is no vegetation holding the soil together. Given enough time, the lizards may have dangerously hollowed the underground out until something triggered a mass collapse.”

Kestrel shrugged but didn’t seem convinced.

With the return of the hunters Kestrel had spotted earlier, I got my first look at one of the giant bats. Unsure of what I had really expected, the giant bats looked almost identical to flying foxes, a breed of fruit bat. Only, they had a more feral, mangy appearance and a mouth full of sharp teeth. As a monster, I didn’t think the giant bats were all that dangerous. Without particularly sharp claws on its feet or wing gripping fingers, the damage it could inflict would be minimal.

With the sun beginning to set, the teams of hunters remained in the staging area after delivering their kills. I tied harnesses for anyone who wanted to return to the village and blew the horn so they would be pulled back up, but most hunters remained below. Most hunters seemed content to socialise with the other hunters in the meantime.

Noticing a change in how Qreet handled the corpses compared to Mors, I decided to take a look at her status to see if it was a result of her personalised Leadership Class Daemon Fenlord. True enough, it seemed to be the case.

[(Class Ability: Preeminent Domain): Siphon mana from enemy Spells and Abilities within range. Must be within the boundaries of an Allied Settlement for the Ability to activate. {Willpower} increases the intensity of Effect.]

[(Class Ability: Environmental Superiority {Swamp}): Within {Swamp} environments, MP expenditures are made more efficient and stats are increased. Passive MP regeneration is increased while within {Swamp} environments.]

[(Class Ability: Vegetative Awareness): Gain limited perception through plantlife in an extreme radius. Expending MP temporarily increases the range of effect.]

[(Class Ability: Rampant Plant-Growth): Expend MP to significantly accelerate the growth of plants in an extreme radius. {Willpower} allows greater control over the effect.]

[(Class Ability: Summon Swarm): Expend MP to create a swarm of invertebrates under your control. Size, stats and complexity of the organism dictate cost. {Willpower} allows greater control over the effect and reduces MP cost.]

[(Class Ability: Cursed Fetishes): Expend MP to impose a Curse on the immediate area or enemies who interact with or come within range of the {Focus Item}. {Willpower} makes the Curse more difficult to dispel. Maximum number of {Cursed Fetishes} is determined by {Willpower} (0:3)]

[(Class Ability: Booned Fetishes): Expend MP to bestow a Boon on the immediate area or allies who interact with or come within range of the {Focus Item}. {Willpower} makes the Boon more difficult to dispel. Maximum number of {Booned Fetishes} is determined by {Willpower} (0:3)]

Compared to Mors, Qreet was definitely working on a noticeably larger scale, although she seemed to struggle somewhat with her control. This wasn’t an issue for reclaiming water and nutrients from the monster corpses, but it did raise the question of whether Mors might be a better candidate for any undertakings requiring more precision.

My overall impression of the Daemon Fenlord was more in line with a swamp witch or hag than a Druid at this point. Bestowing curses and summoning swarms of insects was pretty different, but I had to admit that the Class overall seemed quite versatile. I sure as hell didn’t want to be on the receiving end of any of those Abilities.

“Overlord!” Osa was with one of the last groups of hunters to return, “Our hunt proved mosst bountiful!” He declared happily.

“I noticed,” I replied with a smile and gave him an approving pat on the shoulder. “Have you decided on a more permanent means of access to the village?” I asked curiously.

“Ah, well…” Osa rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

“Do you have some options you have narrowed it down to at least?” I pressed.

Osa nodded uncertainly, his lack of confidence lowering my expectations further. Crouching down, Osa began sketching out a rough cross-section and top-down view of the mesa side by side. “Wallss down below come later,” he hissed and sketched out a skirting wall below the mesa. “Ramp is too big, ladders too tall…” Osa continued listing off his ideas and sketching them out in the dirt. His best suggestion was a ramp that circled the mesa in a gradual decline from top to bottom like a corkscrew. But even that solution would be very time consuming to implement and to use. Osa even suggested the idea of rebuilding the village below, but surrendering the high ground so easily seemed like a waste. Especially since the Totem’s protective radius was centred from the well up on the mesa, leaving little room below for a sturdy wall and a replacement village.

Impressed that Osa had at least given the issue a great deal of thought, I offered a more practical solution. Elevators.

*****

Tired from the long walk, Jacob still didn’t understand why the tax and registry officials had been so anal about him selecting a second name. After all the fuss, he had allowed his wife Jena to choose for them, so now Jacob, Jena and their four-year-old son Sam now had the second name Meadows. While not a particularly Masculine name, Jacob found he rather liked its association with his being a beekeeper.

Ten full wagons were allocated for their bees and their hives, demonstrating the importance the village held for Jacob’s profession. After all, without bees there would be no flowers, which would mean no crops to balance out the villagers’ diet, or stave off starvation in lean years. There also wouldn’t be any honey or wax for candles, but those were products typically reserved for the nobility.

When his village had been ordered to evacuate, Jacob and his neighbours had done so with the reluctant enthusiasm of those who knew full well what the alternatives would mean. With the rumours of war growing ever more frequent, nameless villages like theirs would inevitably be razed by one side or the other attempting to deny resources or some perceived advantage or another. So evacuating early was both a blessing and a curse. Blessing, in that they would keep their lives, a curse in that almost everything would be left behind and put to the torch to deny the enemy.

Jacob had experienced four evacuations in his lifetime, so he had recognised the differences early on. The soldiers overseeing the evacuation had all been children of farmers or were from small villages like theirs and knew exactly what the villagers did and did not need. Despite this familiarity with what was necessary, the soldiers and their commanding officers had demonstrated extreme leniency in allowing each family a certain portion of allocated space for mementos, keepsakes and other family heirlooms that otherwise had no other practical value.

The most profound difference was how each man, woman and child, regardless of how old or how young they were, were taken aside and made to swear oaths of loyalty and secrecy. It had not made much sense until the officers began disappearing people and wagons en masse. Although initially panicked and disoriented, by the sudden change in location, Jacob was relieved that whatever had happened, his son and wife were still by his side.

Officers had called for silence and that was when Governor Felix, a dashing figure of a man in well-kept armour and a reassuring smile had explained where they were and exactly what would be expected of them. Jacob and his neighbours would be the first colonists of his colony located deeper in the swamp.

As the governor had explained it to them, efforts were already being made to turn the swamplands into rich farmland and a protective barrier was already in place to drive away wild monsters. Every man and woman of enlistment age would be expected to participate in militia exercises during the week, but would otherwise be allowed to do as they please within the confines of the law. Schooling would be provided for all children at no cost to parents, with the bill to be paid by the governor himself. Literacy classes for adults would be offered once a week as well at no cost.

Each villager had then been provided with a small vial of silvery liquid and then been told to drink it. After doing so, they were each then handed a strange pebble and told to eat it. When they hesitated, the governor reassured them that this was the standard procedure for all colonists to help them acclimate to the nascent dangers of the labyrinth. Put at ease, Jacob had volunteered to go first and was surprised when strange coloured pages of writing appeared in front of his eyes.

A nearby officer helped coach Jacob through what he was seeing and what it meant. Days later, Jacob still couldn’t quite believe it. Ascended, made superior to regular men. As much as he wanted to doubt it, Jacob had felt the difference on the long journey.

“Do you think they will have the right flowers?” Jena asked worriedly for the umpteenth time since they left Port Gidian.

“Don’t know love, we’ll have to wait’n see,” Jacob replied almost mechanically, although it was a concern he shared as well. The wildflowers they had convinced the soldiers to bring with them for the bees were far too few to sustain them over a full season, even assuming that the flowers transplanted into the soil without issues.

“Heard the soldiers say they have a witch or some such that can grow anythin,” Jacob’s elderly neighbour Dale commented from the back of the wagon ahead of them. “Makes whole orchards o’ trees spring up overnight!” He barked with a near manic zeal.

Jacob didn’t blame old Dale for his desperate belief in the rumours, after all, his family had been hit the hardest. Dale, his sons and their wives had cared for the village’s apple orchards for generations. Each time old Dale evacuated the village, he would just about entirely lose his livelihood. Trees took years to grow and only cuttings could be taken with them. The soldiers had been incredibly accommodating in allowing Dale’s family as much space as they needed for the cuttings, but Jacob could tell it was more out of sympathy than anything else. They even converted two wagons into seedbeds for the cuttings.

Jacob felt bad for old Dale and his family. Not just because of what they had lost, but because of how interconnected their livelihoods were. Dale needed Jacob's bees to pollinate his apple trees to bring them to fruit, and Jacob’s bees needed Dale’s apple flowers to help them make enough honey to last the winter.

Although trees had seemed a little sparse in the swamplands on either side of the road, Jacob wasn’t nearly as worried for the foresters as he was Dale’s family. The one upside of the village being evacuated to form a new colony together, was that at least they could come together as a community and make sure Dale’s family had work and food to put on the table until their trees had a chance to grow again.

The convoy arrived at the outskirts of the colony in the late afternoon, and Jacob could hardly believe his eyes.

After days of monotonous travel through the swamp interspersed with the soldiers putting down wild monsters, the rolling grasslands ahead of them seemed like a dream. Or it would have been if Jacob hadn’t rather quickly noticed the absence of flowers.

Leaving the reins with Jena, Jacob hopped down from the wagon and was about to go looking on foot when Sergeant waved him down.

“Is something the matter?” The Sergeant asked helpfully.

“They said there would be flowers,” Jacob explained, trying his best to remain calm and not think about the mass starvation of his bees.

The Sergeant stared incomprehensibly back at him for a moment before seeming to realise something, “Oh, you’re the Meadows family, right? The beekeepers?”

Jacob nodded.

“Not to worry sir, a special parcel of land has been set aside for your family and the...Rubygrove? Family?” The Sergeant paused to think for a moment and shook his head, “The apple farmers,” he amended apologetically. “I can lead you there now if you like? Just make sure to stay within the marked areas at all times and stay clear of the briar walls. The barrier keeps the wild monsters out, but it can’t protect you if you stray outside.”

“Lead away m’boy!” Dale cheered excitedly from his wagon, having apparently overheard the conversation.

Jacob agreed as well and then Sergeant arranged for a detail of soldiers to accompany them off the road and away from the convoy. They weren’t the only ones either, groups of soldiers were forming up next to other families' wagons and leading them off in different directions, although most continued on the road for the time being.

After travelling for around ten minutes, the sergeant called them to a halt and pointed to the distant briar walls separating the grassy fields from the swamp beyond. He repeated his earlier warning with the addition that militia drills would involve patrolling the inner periphery of the Settlement and occasionally require fighting monsters under the supervision of soldiers.

The area had been staked out with rough approximations matching the dimensions occupied by Jacob’s old house and the field they had stored their hives in. Similarly, the open space beside theirs was marked out for Dale’s family home and their orchards.

The Sergeant made it clear that the soldiers were there to help and that they only needed instructions on how to do so.

Dale immediately set most of the soldiers to work digging holes at fixed intervals for his orchards, while his sons and their wives began pitching the tents that would serve as their homes for the immediate future.

The Sergeant reassured them that wooden sleepers would be provided for temporary flooring within the next couple of days after the mill was up and running, and carpenters would be arriving later in the week to assist with building permanent residences. He stressed that the homes the carpenters would help build did not need to be as conservative as those Jacob and his neighbours had left behind. The Sergeant insisted that the governor wanted the first wave of colonists to build larger homes that could be both fortified and temporarily house other families. The first was a precaution erring on the side of safety, while the second was stressed as being neighbourly for those who would follow.

Neither Jacob nor his wife Jena saw a problem with this since the governor was covering the expense and providing the majority of the labour. After all, for a little more work they would have a better-made home than the one they had left behind.

While directing the soldiers how best to move the canvas and linen-covered hives, Jacob’s heart nearly broke when he realised half the hives were silent. The best spin he could put on the situation now was that the remaining hives would have that much more food to go between them.

“Hrm...Weak…” A feminine voice growled from somewhere behind Jacob.

*Crunch, Crunch, Crunch*

To Jacob’s horror, a dark-robed and cowled woman with long claw-like fingers was picking at the dead bees stuck to the outside of a hive and eating them.

“What are you doing?!” Jacob cried out in horror. Did this person have a death wish? Very few people would get more than a welt if stung by a bee, but eating them was pathologically insane.

“Sir!” The Sergeant called out in warning and ran hard to place himself between jacob and the crazy bee eating woman, “Please just step back, everything will be fine, just give me a chance to explain-”

“Needs?...Flowers? Hrm....” The woman picked up another dead bee between her sharp nails and put it in her mouth.

*Crunch*

“Efficient...Could be better…” The robed woman tapped the hive thoughtfully and then began making her way towards one of the wagons containing the wildflowers.

*Crunch, Munch, Crunch*

Jacob turned his attention to the Sergeant and tried to find the words to express his outrage and concern that such a crazy woman was being given free rein without the soldiers taking so much as the least amount of effort to stop her.

“Sir, everything will be fine,” The Sergeant assured him, “Our esteemed guest has a special Class and insights that will see you and your neighbours back on your feet, you have my personal guarantee! You just need to remain calm.”

“What do you mean stay ca-” Jacob’s voice caught in his throat as vibrant wildflowers began gracefully erupting out of the ground from around the robed woman, and bees the size of his knuckle began flooding out from beneath the hood of her robe.

It seemed like Dale was right. The army had a witch after all...