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Leaf swings an arm around my shoulder. “Thanks, Kem.”

“I mean it, I really didn’t know what to expect. You move so quickly. And when those hoops lit up?” I leap forward clumsily to emphasize my point. “You were quick as lightning!”

“Soren was faster,” Ramona chimes in from Leaf’s other side. He brushes off the comment by looping an arm around her shoulder as well.

“You’re likely right about that.”

Without warning, a bear sticks its head between Leaf and me. I scream, vocal chords be damned.

Esther materializes between us wearing a fur hat that equals the size of her head.

“Sun burn me!” I yelp just as Leaf says, “Fuck!” and Ramona yells, “Get back!” while swirling a dagger between her fingers.

Esther scrunches up her nose. “Oh, sorry about that. I thought I had said something, but it was probably in my head. I sing a lot in my head. Tell stories too—Akemi, I’ll have to share them with you. It’s really a family thing, you see—”

“Esther!” I grab her shoulders. “Don’t ever do that again.”

She drops to her knees and begins to weep. “I’m sorry Akemi. I’ve upset you. I didn’t mean to scare you all. I was just trying to join in on the fun. I’ll leave if that’s what you want.”

Leaf and Ramona—not so discreetly—start walking ahead on the path, leaving me with Esther.

“No, it’s alright,” I say. “I overreacted.”

Esther jumps up to her feet, keeping her eyes downcast and attempting to blink away the tears. The sight breaks something in me. She just wants to get along with people—be included. That’s something I had yearned for my whole life.

“Some of us are going to Anita’s. Do you want to come with?”

Esther jumps with excitement. “I would love that so much! I love making friends! Do you?”

What an odd question. One that, dare say, I’ve never been asked before. “I guess I do,” I admit, watching Leaf say something to Ramona that had to be inappropriate by the way she punched him in the arm in response. “Yeah, friends are the best.”

We walk the rest of the way in relative silence, Ramona and Leaf only ahead by a few feet trading lewd jokes and punches. Nestled in the lush forest, Olwythion comes into view. The main road is split down the center by a trickling river. Frogs croak and crickets chirp from underneath the bridges. Crowds of Watchers are already clustered around Anita’s in the distance, mugs in hand, animatedly arguing about the game.

Hello, My Sunrise.

I jump.

“Everything alright?” Ramona calls back.

“Fine! Go on in, I just need a moment to think about something.”

Leaf points his fingers at me excitedly. “By the suns, are you coming up with a Telling right now? Is that how it happens? You just suddenly need time to think?”

Ramona looks less than impressed with the conclusions Leaf jumped to. Her eyes sparkle with concern.

“No, really,” I console her. “I’m okay, just need a few minutes. Meet you inside.”

Esther runs up to Ramona and Leaf, linking her arms in theirs. “Take all the time you need. Good stories always take time. That’s what my pa always said. We’ll see you inside.”

I watch their forms retreat further into the town before I dart down a dark alleyway. I swear the faint trace of shadows lick up the nape of my neck.

“Atlys?” I whisper. “I know you’re here.”

His rumbling voice fills my mind once more in a silky purr. Only if you can find me.

I reach to the left where the source of his voice came from. Nothing.

Walking forward a few steps, deeper into the dark alleyway, I scan my surroundings. The shadows appear darker. Ominous.