We watched them fly off into the distance. Eric had hold of my hand in an iron grip. "They will be alright Rat." He said, sounding like he needed to reassure himself.

I looked at him as he spoke, he was wiping his face. "How could they not be with Bear to wach over them and call them fools."

He smiled as he lost sight of them turning to me. I took one more look up. They were gone. That sense of dread filled me seeing the sky so empty. Eric let go of my hand. "Well, I have to get on." His voice cracked as he spoke and he hurried away.

I looked at Pup and Gorilla. He had Pup pressed to his chest and she appeared to be crying. Walking over to them made Gorilla frown at me. I rubbed Pup's back making her turn to me. "They will be alright." She grabbed me crying into my shoulder. "She will be back for you. I'm grateful she is going. She saved my friend, and I know she will help protect my husband." She nodded. "Let's go to your house. We will have some tea and talk about what's happoning next."

She nodded and we walked to the house they had picked. It was a small cottage-type house with a small garden in the front. Gorilla let us in and put the kettle on. Standing in the living room made me smile as it reminded me of my mother's house growing up.

A small table and chairs are near the stove at the back, and a rocking chair near the fire with a cot that Gorilla put that baby in.

Everything felt homely and I knew this had more to do with Pup's comfort than Duha's. "The others are leaving tomorrow aren't they Rat?" Gorilla brought me back out of my head with his question.

I sat down at the table with Pup still crying on my shoulder. She sat on my lap as I answered him. "They are."

This girl is almost taller than me... Ahh well, I'd better get used to comforting people taller than me. Everyone is taller than me. I thought smiling. "We will be weakened. We are giving too many of our fighters to the people moving around outside of the village."

I frowned. "That is why we are building the wall. We can defend ourselves with a wall and the people we have."

He came to the table with the drinks. "I'm not so sure of that Rat."

"Well, it is all I have. According to Tiger, it will take them two days to get there, That means they will be gone less than a week. With the people coming from the cave at North Pass we will have more people that could look like they can fight even if they can't. Also, the people heading back to the human town will supply us with food and other things. We really will be alright."

Gorilla looked unimpressed. "We have two Blue Dragons and two Green Dragons. That is nowhere near enough fighters."

"Blue Dragons don't fight. They only help the wounded, but Greens are the best at tactful thinking."

Gorilla stared at Pup and I couldn't hide my shock at her words. "How could you know that?" I asked her softly.

She stood from my lap and sat on a chair next to Gorilla wiping her face. "I saw when the Village was attacked. The Blue Dragons were dragging people out and fixing them up and the Greens were bobbing in and out telling people where to stand for the greatest effect."

She took a sip of her tea. "Great so they don't even fight." Gorilla grumbled.

"That is the point of us having them. Pup is right. The Green Dragons are working on making us look more dangerous than we are. That in itself is a defence."

Gorilla sighed. I finished my tea and stood. "I will be happy to talk to you about this some more but..."

"Rat!" I turned as the door opened.

"Rat there is a group of humans on horses coming."

"Let's hope you are right Rat." Gorilla said.

I followed the man to where the humans came towards us. They stopped as we moved out of the village. They did indeed have horses but most of the people were on foot. They looked like what they were, refugees. I approached them slowly. "How can we help you?" I called to them.

"Do you have food and Medicine?" One of the people called back.

I walked closer to them seeing the people better. They were all thin and most were wounded. This is where we start to build trust. If we help them, others will come. With others, the word will spread that we are safe. The part of me that was more Rat knew that it also meant more danger. "Come with me." I said suppressing the Rat in me.

Walking back to the village with the humans behind me filled my head with ideas. We already have the humans from that town. Maybe they can be all right with everything.

There was a gasp as one of the Blue Dragons walked over as a Dragon. And then they do this. I will have to ask Kyanite why Dragons spend so much time as Dragons. "Reina of the Dragon fire, I heard someone say medicine in your language, so came over." The Blue Dragon said softly.

His ice-blue eyes told me he needed to help. I smiled and held up a hand to him. He nodded as I turned to the humans. "I assure you no harm will come to you. We have beast people here as well as humans. We live together. If you need help Blue Dragon here is a master of healing."

I gestured to him and he bowed to them. The humans talked amongst themselves for a little while, and then the one I spoke to before stepped up. "We need help."

I nodded and took the woman's hand. "Dragon they need to be treated. Do you have a translator?" He nodded and gestured for the group to follow him. This is the start of changing things. If we can convince enough humans that we won't hurt them we can live in peace. Maybe even own our kingdom.

We landed by dark and set up our camp. I practically kissed the ground when my feet touched it. I took myself away from the others making our camp. Duha saw me sitting by myself, and came over. "How are you feeling Bear?" She asked sitting beside me.

"Tired. How about you, how's that wound?"

Duha grinned. "Fine. You seem sad."

I sighed. "I'm worried about Eric. He will be worried sick about me."

She hummed in agreement. "Same for me too. Pup has been crying since yesterday on and off."

I nodded and we lapsed into silence. After a few minutes, Duha shifted uncomfortably. "You sure you're alright?"

She smiled and nodded. "There are some things I can't share with you."

"But we shared a near-death experience." I said smiling.

She shifted again and then rubbed her back. "Flying is uncomfortable."

I laughed. "Agreed.... Duha?" She looked at me waiting for me to continue. "You and Gorilla are together aren't you?"

"Yes?" She said frowning.

I smiled. "That's great! Rat told me that Gorilla took you and Pup in." That made her smile and shake her head.

"I have known Gorilla for a long time. He found me when I was very wounded and nursed me back to health. We didn't get together until we were kicked out of the group." She is more open than I expected her to be. "What about you and Eric?"

"We are together...but not officially."

She nodded. Why is she so easy to talk to? "I hope it isn't rude of me to ask but... don't you need to hibernate soon?"

I smiled. "I have something to help me with that." She shifted again wincing. "Maybe you should get that seen too." She shook her head. "I don't blame you. I don't like being poked and prodded either."

"Eric said that." I growled which made her chuckle. "He didn't ask me to look after you. I went to see him before I left."

"Oh?"

She offered me a letter. "He gave me this to give you. He told me I could trust you... there again I knew that. I'm sure you know why I find it hard to trust a Bear but... you... well, I wouldn't have saved you if I thought you were like him."

Frowning I opened the letter. The contents made my brain fizzle out a bit. "Really?" Duha nodded looking back out over the landscape. "And you still came with us?"

She eyed me and then sighed. "I need to be here." Why on earth would she risk herself like this? She is not well and here she is putting her life on the line. "I can't do guard duty or night watch. Eric told me I could trust you to help me skip these tasks."

We should tell Kyanite he has a lot of clout with these people. I sighed. "We need to tell Red Dragon. He will keep a lid on this and he will be setting up the tasks." She nodded looking at the landscape. I can see she doesn't want this to be common knowledge. "I'm not going to tell him why just that Eric advised this. He already knows about your other condition."

She inclined her head slightly like she was listening to something other than me. "There are people west of us." She said softly.

I stood looking west. There were indeed a group of people wearing armour and riding horses. I catch glimpses of them in the trees now and then. "As impressive as that was, they could be trouble"

Duha stood watching the people then frowned. "I can't believe that these guys are coming this way."

"What do you mean Duha?"

Her eyes narrowed at the approaching group. "These are the cavalry that attacked the village. They attacked me and Pup on our way to you as well."

I growled clutching the grip of my heavy knife. Duha leaned on her quarterstaff looking casually dangerous. "The others can see us and get to us if we need it. I don't think we will." She said in a low voice.

I looked over the well-armoured men. They are very well armoured and they have horses. There are maybe ten of them. She is so calm and still. I can see why the others are so scared of her. The armoured men came closer their lances pointed at the sky to show they were not going to attack. Duha smiled. "I warned you to leave me and now your leader is dead. Do you think I will let you live this time?" Her voice held all the danger her stance offered.

She is sure she can do that! All she has is herself and me. One of the men handed his lance and reins over to the man next to him. He dismounted and walked over removing his helm as he moved. "I know what you told the leader and he is dead. We are all that is left. Please call your wolves off."

Call your wolves off? I know there were wolves in the village but.... she called them! How can she do that? A growl nearby made me look that way. The bushes rustled as one wolf then two came out of the underbrush. Before I could say or do anything we were surrounded. One of the wolves sat next to Duha and she stroked its ears. "My friends here are hungry. Why should I ask them to leave their easy dinner alone?"

The man went to one knee. "Let us go and we will help you."

Duha growled. "What are you going to do to help me?"

The man bowed his head. "Tell me what you need of me and I will do it."

The wolf next to Duha growled and walked forward to the man. Its lip was turned back as it grumbled menacingly. "Do you know the difference between a dog and a wolf?" The man shook his head slowly never losing eye contact with the wolf that stood in front of him. "Wolves aren't able to be tamed. We are free and can never forget the taste of fresh blood in our teeth or the smell of the wind as we run. A dog gives this up for a human."

The man swallowed. "You know, Duha, those horses and armour could be very useful to the people in the village."

Duha turned slightly to look at me. In her eyes was the death she was holding back for this man. "You want my wolves to peel them like an onion?"

I chuckled despite the situation. "Maybe just strip them of their horses and armour."

"Maybe just send them to protect the village." Kyanite said walking over to us.

Duha looked back at the man. "And how do we trust them?" Duha asked.

Kyanite walked forward to the wolf closest to me and offered it his hand. "Send your brothers and sisters with them. If they deviate from the route back to the village the wolves can have them."

The wolves howled, making the horses dance, and the humans shift. "That sounds like a plan but how will we get a message to Reina?" Duha frowned at me as I asked.

Kyanite pulled a coin from his pocket and offered it to the wolf next to me. The wolf sniffed at the coin. "We write her a note and ask this wolf to give it to her." Kyanite took out some paper and something to write with.

Duha came over and tied a cloth to the neck of the wolf and then tucked the note into it. "Take this to Reina." The wolf barked as Duha turned to the wolf in front of the man who knelt on the floor. "You can take them to the village sister." The wolf turned to her and licked her hand. "You know what we want of you then human!" Duha growled at the man.

He stood slowly watching the wolf and Duha as he did so. "I will do as you command Wolf of the battlefield. I never wanted to attack you and we all tried to stop him from attacking the village. We didn't have the power to say no to him."

"You paid a heavy price for your lack of backbone." She growled at him.

The man nodded and mounted his horse. As they turned and trotted off the wolves went silently with them. Duha watched them depart smiling. She looks satisfied by this outcome.