Kaiyennah studied the layout of the beastmen's camp. The foul beasts had taken over the clearing where the grass grew long and the shade of the nearby trees would keep the area nice and cool. Some had brought wood to the center of the clearing while another had worked to start a fire. They built a campfire with all the wood and set it ablaze with some sort of sorcery.

The beastman with her flowers approached the fire and threw them in. He was a menacing sight, with his wolfly appearance spreading beyond simple ears and the tail of a wolf. He had fur on his face instead of a regular beard. His legs had the appearance of a wolf's, with his paws in his boots. His hands had the claws of a wolf. Even from where Kaiyennah watched from the safety of the stifling foliage, she knew that this man must be a leader of the troop of beastmen.

Men came back from a nearby stream with buckets of water. A few beastmen sat with knives, skinning rabbits and squirrels. One beastman even walked into the clearing with a deer slung over his shoulders. It was a doe, and Kaiyennah couldn't help but harbor rage in her heart for the beastmen who would kill a mother deer without a thought. All the beastmen remained alert.

Without making a sound, she found her flowers behind some trees and bushes. She took a breath and released her mist Makutu, appearing again beside the bush, but hopefully out of sight of the watchful beastmen. Now she just needed to make it to the children to perform her mist Makutu on them. An illusion to distract the beastmen should work, and she pondered her course of action.

She pulled the pack off her back and took out the ingredients for an illusion Makutu. Little acorns set inside circles of woven hair. She laid out dozens of them in a halo around her, all that she had in her pack. She would be very busy later replenishing her supply.

She quickly stuffed the lilac into her pack, making the bag bulge with all the sprigs she'd found. With all the lilac she already had in her bag, she would hopefully have enough.

She knelt down behind some tall grass and bushes and breathed slowly to try and remain calm, but now came the risky part of her plan. Now she would alert the beastmen of her presence. With her hands held cupped in front of her belly, she summoned her spirit again. Once her spirit answered her call, she waved her hands all around the acorns in their little circles, sending her spirit into the circle. "Kia ora mai nga kano oka iti! Hah ere! Come to life, little acorns!" she whispered. "Go!"

The little acorns turned into images of Kaiyennah. They ran off in all sorts of directions, now only somewhat under her control.

The beastmen shouted in alarm. Kaiyennah quickly hid behind the bushes as a few beastmen ran by. The bloodthirsty beastmen would pursue harmless Värian children who merely fled the area. The thought made her want to rescue the odd children from these tyrants all the more.

She hid in the bushes, patiently giving the pursuing beastmen time to run by. All but two of them had pursued the illusions. The two beastmen stood up to guard the children, looking around warily. Kaiyennah breathed a sigh of relief. She could deal with two beastmen.

She stepped out of the bushes and knelt to lay out her lilac in a circle. Would it be big enough for all of them? Unable to know for sure, she decided she could only bring them here and find out. She pulled four arrows from her quiver and stuck them into the grass. The first shot was the most important, but she should have time to shoot at least a few arrows.

She grabbed a pouch of moonstones from her belt and emptied the bag into her hand. Before activating her spirit, she made a circle around the arrows with the stones, infusing them with gravity Makutu. Now there was nothing left to do but begin the attack before the other beastmen came back.

She nocked an arrow and aimed. For a moment she paused to steady her breathing. She let loose the arrow, which snapped forward and found its mark. She didn't wait to watch the beastman fall, and instead, she stooped quickly to grab another arrow from the ground and aimed at the other beastman who was on high alert. He held up a shield.

Kaiyennah aimed right at the shield and let her second arrow loose. This time she watched as the arrow shot out quickly and hit the shield. The gravity Makutu yanked the shield right out of the beastman's grasp, nearly pulling him down to the ground with it. She grabbed her remaining arrows and headed out into the open, sending her heart flying. But she needed a better angle to continue attacking the beastmen, who both struggled against the gravity Makutu, sitting on their knees and attempting to stand back up.

She aimed at the second beastman again and shot him in the shoulder. The gravity Makutu yanked him down where he stayed this time, writhing and struggling to move. Turning her focus to the remaining beastman, she saw that he had panicked and crawled to the children. He was now holding one of the girls in front of his chest as he knelt down. But the beastman made a mistake. He didn't pull a weapon on the child. He only wanted to use her as a human shield to block Kaiyennah's arrows.

Out of the mist, Vespeera materialized and approached from the side. He bit down on the beastman's wrist and yanked him around. The beastman shouted in surprise and pain. Vespeera ravaged the wolf man's arm with strong claws, but the beastmen wouldn't let the girl go. With another crushing bite of the feline's jaws and a hard yank, the panther freed the girl from the beastman's grasp. She scrambled to her feet and ran.

Nice work, Vespeera! Kaiyennah said.

Of course. Nice shooting! he replied.

Thank you.

The children regrouped and turned to flee in the other direction.

"This way!" Kaiyennah called out. She sprinted into the clearing and looked for an easy shot at the beastman Vespeera was mangling. His leg made an easy target, and Kaiyennah shot her last arrow, pinning the beastman to the ground. "You're going the wrong way!" she shouted after the children.

She slung her bow over her head and across her chest. Then she ran. Behind her, beastmen shouted in their strange language. She glanced back over her shoulder, but the bushes surrounding the thicket blocked her vision.

The children sprinted to the far side of the thicket. The older boy brought up the rear, protecting the younger girls while their blonde and curly brown hair streamed out behind them.

"Stop!" Kaiyennah shouted, waving her hands as she went after them. Vespeera, help!

Coming! Vespeera abandoned his beastman target and leapt after the children. The panther caught up to the children ahead of Kaiyennah. Out of nowhere, a big gray panther with wings appeared and roared at Vespeera, who skidded to a stop and roared back.

"Vespeera, get back!" Kaiyennah shouted.

What is that? Vespeera asked.

A flying panther! Is that a mythical Companion? Are these children of the high tribe? Kaiyennah wondered.

Vespeera trotted back to Kaiyennah's side where she stood in the middle of the clearing. The gray winged panther stayed by the children's side on the edge of the trees. After a glance around, Kaiyennah confirmed that all the beastmen still chased her illusions. Her gravity Makutu still ensnared the only two beastmen in sight. She needed to convince the children to come with her to her lilac circle. "I'm here to help," Kaiyennah said, holding her hands out to show that she had put her weapons away and didn't mean to harm them. She waved her hand back in the other direction. "We have to go this way."

The children stood huddled together close to a bush, obviously wary of her. They stayed strangely quiet. Kaiyennah wondered if they spoke another language and that was why they wouldn't listen. Though they had a mythical Companion like all members of the Värian high tribe, their clothes differed greatly from Värian tribal attire, such as the deer hide dress Kaiyennah wore.

She turned and pointed toward her lilac circle. She took several steps through the thin underbrush while waving her hand for them to follow her.

When she looked back, they were still hesitating, but their gray winged panther was no longer on high alert.

Kaiyennah took a few more steps, turned back toward the children and said, "Come on, you must hurry before they come back!"

Vespeera followed behind her and asked, Do you think they understand?

I hope so...

Finally, the children looked at each other and the older boy stepped out of the shelter of the bush. He held the blonde girl's hand, and after a few steps he softly tugged on her. The other girl with the dark curly hair followed the boy, and this gave the blonde girl a burst of bravery. She followed after them.

"Yes! Come on!" Kaiyennah shouted, and she turned and ran. Vespeera remained at her side as she sprinted to the edge of the thicket; the shorter grass along the clearing made a rushing noise as it swished against her moccasins.

As she ran, she looked over her shoulder to check that the children followed after her. She surveyed her surroundings again and spotted one of the beastmen from earlier struggling to stand. He had managed to push himself up to his hands and knees. The gravity Makutu was wearing off!

"Quick!" Kaiyennah shouted, and she led them up to the lilac circle. She stepped into the circle and turned to watch the children come to a halt right outside of the circle. Now that they had all gathered around, Kaiyennah sighed with relief. The circle would fit them all, even Vespeera. "Come on!" she called, waving for them to step closer.

The children all exchanged glances, but the girl with the curly hair screamed as the beastman grabbed her from behind and pulled her away. The girl gestured toward the beastman, and something black erupted from her palm and shot the wolf man in the face. He fell down, and the girl came back and ran into the circle. Then the gray panther flew at the girl. In the next moment, the flying panther disappeared.

Kaiyennah wondered what she might be getting herself into by rescuing these strange children. Before she could change her mind, the other two ran up and stepped into the circle. Vespeera came up behind her and joined them in the circle.

Kaiyennah put her hands together at her belly and drew on her spirit once more. Since it had already traveled up her spine earlier, it took but a moment for her to ready herself. She poured a tiny drop of water from her canteen and cast her Makutu easily. "Tahur aha keetay kouhu!" she said and turned them all into mist.

Thanks for reading! Please vote, share, and comment if you would like to let me know what you think!

~Mrs. Sutliff