Nestled between two medium-sized mountains was a rugged little valley. There was no land to farm, so the people there lived off mountain herbs, wild eggs, and goat’s milk. To the people of the towns that dotted the plains to the southeast, these were the lands of barbarians. If not barbarians, then creatures far worse.

There was a place, high on one mountain, where the trees thinned and a vast, grey outcrop overlooked the foothills. Two thin men dressed all in grey, were perched on this outcropping.

“They’ve harvested,” Rae said. He couldn’t make out any of the figures of the plains-people, but the patchwork landscape which had been a verdant green only a week ago, was now a dead dark brown.

“Hmm, you ever wonder what it is they’re growing down there?” Gaori asked.

Rae might have shared that the fields grew cabbages, which sometimes brave traders pickled, and brought up the mountain road to sell, but was interrupted by the sound of footsteps.

A boy, no older than ten, had followed them into the deep forest. He had proudly proclaimed he would be assisting them in their scouting. His mother was a woman who worked in the kitchens. She had sent him out to gather berries and herbs for dinner. Despite clambering across the rocks like a goat, the boy was afraid of meeting a forest witch, or some other demon, so never strayed too far from the young masters.

“Don’t get too close to the edge,” Rae said, stepping away himself. It was clear the Emperor’s men had not made any significant moves on the mountain. The civilian plains-people, fearful of the mountain’s savage inhabitants, had kept to their own business also.

“All is well here, so we’ll be heading back soon. Do you have what you need?”

The boy hid his canvas sack from view, telling Rae all he needed to know. When the boy said nothing, Gaori spoke up:

“We have much to talk about on the way down, and we’re slower than you, so hop to it and catch up to us soon,”

“Yes sir” the boy stammered, and dove back into the undergrowth, scouring the earth for useful plants.

Rae and Gaori were young and fit and could descend the mountain with ease. But since they knew the child was scared, and dark would soon be falling, they lingered longer than necessary. Goari stopped to pick some berries of his own and offered some to Rae.

“It must be very hectic in the Shak’s camp, what with the little shali due any day now,” Gaori said, wiping his fingers on his tunic.

“That’s very presumptuous of you,” Rae said, “who are you to say it won’t be a shakje this time?”

“Everyone knows an evil spirit cursed the Shana to never bear a son, and even if she did-“ Gaori stopped at the sound of snapping branches. There was an odd, rumbling screech, and a frightened cry.

“A bear,” Rae said, but Gaori had already taken off in the direction they had left the boy. Goari had always been a lumbering oaf, but when he wanted speed he got it.

Rae crept after him, his bow drawn, making no more noise than the wind in the grass.

The boy might have been young, but he knew that the worst thing one could do when faced with a bear was to back down. He stood in a clearing, cowering behind his arms, knees shaking.
The bear was a brown mass a dozen or so feet away. It was a female and didn’t have the look of a witch’s familiar. Its eyes were dull, not sharpened by the will of malevolent spirits. It was plump with a good hide, but still had some growing to do.

Rae cursed as he watched Gaori launch himself at the creature, letting out a growl twice as wild as the one they’d heard earlier. In his hand was his short sword. Rae sighed. He readied an arrow and prayed his cousin wouldn’t advance any further.

The bear let out a miserable little grunt, before fleeing into the undergrowth. As soon as it was gone, what was left of the boy dissolved into a puddle of tears.

“Y-young master… thank you… saved me…” he wailed.

Goari, who had met the bear with such valour, was at a loss at what to do with the child. He went to clap the boy on the back, and at the last moment, had second thoughts and only tapped him.

“There, there. It’s gone now,” he said.

Rae, after confirming the beast was truly gone, put his bow away and joined them.

“Was that the first time you’ve seen one?” he asked the boy, who nodded through his sobs.

“You did just the right thing, your mama will be proud when you tell her,” Rae said, before noticing something odd.

The boy’s trousers were soaked through, and there was a puddle at his feet. Rae couldn’t help but recoil at the realisation and the boy’s cries hit a new octave. He pinched the bridge of his nose.

“You’ve… you’ve… you’ve had a…”

“Don’t tell anyone!”

About a minute too late, Gaori realised what was wrong.

“Oh! Oh no. There, there, we can sort this out,”

The boy wailed all the way down the mountain, till they found a creek for him to bathe in. He jumped in fully clothed and came out sniffling.

“Young masters, if anyone asked how I got so wet…”

“You scared off the bear and fell in the creek, unrelated incidents, say no more,” Gaori said.
Despite his shivering, the boy was in good spirits for the final leg of the journey. Soon the path leveled off and grew less littered with rocks and tree roots. The first huts and tree-houses of the camp came into view.

The sun had long since set, but the lanterns still sat unlit. No one was around, not collecting water from the river, nor sitting around fresh fires.

“Father must be hosting everyone for dinner at the house,” Gaori said.

However, the deck outside the Duke’s residence was just as abandoned as anywhere else. Gaori and Rae were at a loss for words until they caught sight of a man who had been on sentry duty that day.

“Big bro!” Gaori called, and the man startled.

“Young master, you’re finally back,” he said, and his expression did a strange twist when his gaze fell on Rae, “you should both hurry inside, grave news just came from the capital,” 

The man was the child’s uncle, so he agreed to make sure he got back to his mother safe and warm. This left Rae free to catastrophize.