. My encounter with the rusalka Piri was the only significant event on that particular round trip. She promised to get me an audience with her grandfather at some point in the future, and left. I spent the rest of the time until sunrise enduring Dilorè’s amorous advances, and we spent the subsequent day patrolling and letting the Berado occasionally …

. Long before sunrise, I sat shoulder-deep in the murky water in the middle of a half-flooded grove in the Greenwater Fen and concentrated on my vampire sense. The whisper-thin web of Darkness spread outward from me to cover every inch of this eerie place. Since I hadn’t wanted my clothing to get wet, I had removed everything before getting …

. We have heard that they escaped, two days ago. I wanted to return as soon as those words finished coming out of Saerim’s mouth, but I stuck to the schedule. It was nearly Mid-Evening when I hovered outside Dilorè’s room and rapped on the window. I could not use a returning bird to send the information to the team …

. When we arrived back at the command tent, Bron was in the middle of briefing a middle-aged bird-man and an older gentleman who looked a lot like Bron. By the time he noticed us and beckoned for us to come over, I had overheard enough to know that the senior was the chieftain and that they already had reports …

. The atmosphere within the headquarters tent became instantly charged with high tension. Bron’s face grew etched with concern as the reports came in. They had a common theme. The light artillery that the Berado forces had snuck in– magic catapults throwing shells charged with explosion magic– combined with the damage being dealt by a fairy knight apparently skilled at …

. According to Aunt Elianora, the reason many Darkness and Light spells seem to do things other than those related to the Dark or the Light is that the nature of these manas is also the nature of knowledge. By which, she meant, using 21st century Earth terms, data. Light reveals knowledge. Darkness hides it. Therefore, both of them control …

. The morning light had strengthened, and that rooster was becoming annoying. Sidis wanted to go to the nearby houses to learn our exact location, but I stopped her immediately. “If there is a chance that they will soon find themselves in occupied territory, then they are better off not knowing about fugitives,” I told her. “They can more persuasively …

. For our wait for the morning light, I had selected a spot where the farmer had been keeping the rushes and weeds clear so that the grazing animals could access the water without encountering snakes. My choice had a good reason. I had been coating myself with Water mana for days and I was tired of it. I wanted …

. The clouds had decreased, and were only occasionally obscuring the moons, but it was only three days until the Night of the New Moons, so the improvement in light wasn’t much. It was mostly the starlight making what little difference there was. As I rose higher into the sky, I asked the bird-kin girl in my arms, “Do you …

. Thinking over what we had just learned, I decided to cut to the chase. I asked the bird-girl on the bed the most pressing question. “How safe is it for my mortal friends to travel into Berado tribal lands as regular adventurers? Will they be stopped?” Sidis didn’t reply. She was looking at me, but her mind seemed to …