Sam was waiting for Karl by the time they arrived back at the camp. "Hey there," Karl said.

"Hey yourself," Sam said. "I was wondering when you'd be back. We're packing it out soon."

"You wouldn't have left without me," Karl joked.

"You don't know that," Sam said with a wink. "Anyway, Cameron stopped by earlier. He says we're just waiting on a few more patrols to cycle through and we'll be on our way."

"Sounds good," Karl said.

"Did you enjoy your walk?" Sam asked.

"It was refreshing." He reached into his bag and pulled out a small handful of berries. "Here," Karl said, "try one of these." Sam picked a few from the pile and tossed one into his mouth.

"Not bad at all," he said.

The pair met up with their three friends, and they all sat around talking, waiting for the word to move. It came soon and the five found a place in the line-- in the middle, of course, by Cameron's request-- and slowly the Tribe began to move.

For over one hundred people, Karl was amazed at how efficiently they were moving; majority stayed in line, but like the previous day, a few very small groups of people rotated in and out of line, some scouting ahead, some guarding behind and more patrolling large areas on either side. They did this without having to be told, like it came as a second nature. Karl suspected whoever was in charge of patrols likely roamed the crowd, ensuring every patrol arrived and departed orderly and timely. Karl remembered they had been at this for a long time, so there was a method already in place.

Karl took some time to look around him. He spent a bit of time looking at the trees, remembering some Nichole had pointed out to him; the rest of the time he looked around the line of tribefolk at his peers. Although most were still unknown to him, he was starting to recognise many. Behind him, toward the back of the line walked one guy who Karl knew to be a great cook-- according to Valentina-- who knew every herb, tree, bush and bramble in their land. Close to him walked a very tall girl who was so medicinally savvy that some theorised she might have elf in her blood.

Ahead of him was a pair of twins, Jamik and Jarron, who were nothing alike. Jamik was a great hunter, one of the best scouts, and could use every weapon carried by a tribesperson, while Jarron was better at cooking, could start a fire in seconds, and was apparently the fastest runner in the tribe.

All around Karl were healers, cooks, warriors, and scouts, all friends, and almost every last one an orphan. He wanted to feel sorry for them, but they had taken their losses and used them to create a family stronger than any Karl had known. This group, from the youngest at twelve or so, to the oldest nearing thirty, would die for one another and to protect the land they called home.

Karl could not help but to smile. He and his friends were lucky to be a part of this group, for however short it may last.

*** ***

It was not until they stopped for lunch that Karl saw Nichole-- he was seated, leaning against a tree talking to Julie when Nichole walked by.

"Hey!" Karl called out.

She turned and smiled. "Hello! How are you?"

"Fine," Karl said. "Easy walk today. How are you? I didn't see you all day."

"I was on the long border patrol," she replied. "We scouted out pretty far."

"Anything interesting out there?"

"Nah, not today. A few demon trails, but they were cold. At least a month, I'd say."

"How can you tell?" Julie asked.

"It's about how much wear it has seen and how much has grown back since."

"Ah," said Julie, "sounds fun."

"Sometimes," Nichole laughed. "You know, I've got a short round later tonight if you would like to join. Maybe I can show you some things."

Julie perked up. "Really?"

"Sure," said Nichole. "There are only three of us on that shift. I think I could fit two more in."

"That would be cool," Karl said.

"I have to get going," she said. "I'm in charge of dropping off the report with Bryan this time, but I'll catch up with you sometime on the walk." Karl nodded to her, then she was gone.

"She seems sweet," Julie said to Karl. "Super friendly."

"Yeah, she is," he said. He missed her implication in that statement.

A few minutes later, a boy Karl had seen only a handful of times before walked by. "Gather up," he said, "we move any time now."

Karl packed away the satchel of berries he had picked earlier, stood up and helped Julie to her feet. Moments later the line surged forward, on the move once more.

As promised, Nichole found Karl some time after they had been walking. Her face was tight.

"Something wrong?" Karl asked.

"No," she replied.

"It's all over your face," he said. "You can tell me, but I won't press if you'd rather not say."

"It's just... I won't be able to take you guys out with us later."

"Cameron say no?"

"Not exactly," she replied.

"I'm confused," Julie said.

"He says you can come, but it's up to me."

"So what's the big deal?" Karl asked.

"We're coming up on some demon territory."

"Oh," was all he said. "I don't mind. Take me anyway."

Nichole's expression softened. "Oh, you. I can't let you come out, it's dangerous!"

"How can we really follow your people if we aren't willing to learn? You know we'll be in a situation sooner or later; I'd like to practice while it's safe."

"I can't ask that of you," Nichole said.

"You're not asking," Karl said. "In fact, I'm not asking either. I'm telling you, I'm coming along, whether you like it or not."

Nichole smiled and threw her arms around Karl's neck. "Aren't you just an angel," she said. She quickly dropped her hands and stepped back, slightly embarrassed. A bit of pink colored her cheeks. "You're too sweet."

Karl smiled at her, a hint of pink on his own face.

*** ***

Nichole stayed with Karl and his friends for the duration of the walk. She spent a lot of time talking to Emily and Julie, oddly enough about fashion. Even on a world ravaged by war, in a period that could be compared to medieval or pre-colonial days on Earth, fashion was still big among womenfolk.

Karl may never understand women.

*** ***

Eventually the crown neared a rocky outcrop where Nichole said they were going to stop for the night. "How do you know?" Bob had asked.

"We pass this was often," had come the reply. "It's set back on three sides and defensible on all four."

Once the rotation began, Nichole gathered Julie and Karl and the trio walked toward the front of the long line. At the very front walked Cameron with Erika and Bryan at his side.

Cameron had seen them and said, "I see they convinced you of their worth."

"Well..." Nichole started to say, clearly starting to second-guess herself.

Karl spoke up, "We can handle ourselves, thank you."

Cameron looked him up and down. "I've heard all the stories. You and Bob versus one goblin."

"We held our own," Karl said.

"Until you tripped, and Bob stepped in, and Erika took it out for you."

Karl was speechless. They had kept the goblin at bay for quite some time before the others had arrived.

Cameron stopped, motioning for Bryan and Erika to continue on. The crowd parted around Cameron, Julie, Karl and Nichole. "Look," the tall boy said. "I like you guys, I do. I think you've made an impact on many of the lives of our people. But you are untrained and apparently reckless. I cannot have you running off again. The next time might lead into a trap, and I will not risk my people because you wanted to play hero."

Karl just stared; he did not know what to say. Julie stepped in. "So train us."

"Run that by me again?"

She stood her ground. "If you don't think we can handle ourselves, then train us the way you train your people."

Cameron stood still, staring Julie in her eyes. After a very uncomfortable silence, and a lot of people had filtered around around them, Cameron finally said, "Go. Play sentry tonight. We'll see about the rest." Without another word, Cameron disappeared into the mass of people.

Karl looked first at Julie, the Nichole. Slowly a smile crossed his lips. And he said to Nichole, "Lead on."

*** ***

It wound up being a very uneventful trip. Karl and Julie followed Nichole and two guys-- Taz and Brock-- around for what Karl guessed amounted to an hour. They passed a herd of unicorn, saw countless animals Karl had never seen that Nichole referred to collectively as "skeely" and aside from one cold fire pit Brock determined was three weeks old, all Karl said was animals.

As grandiose as unicorns were, it was not the first time he had seen them, and such creatures no longer surprised him.

They circled back toward camp. Karl was actually disappointed not to have seen any real enemies lurking about. It might have been fun to get a little more real experience.

As his thoughts wandered, so did his vision. Off to one side he saw a small flicker of light, a very slow, low flash. It reminded him of a firefly back on Earth. "Cool," Karl said.

Nichole, who was laughing at something Julie had said, turned around. "What is?" Karl pointed nonchalant in the direction of the light. Nichole looked over and the color drained from her face. She stopped walking, causing one of the boys to almost run into her.

"By the fairies, Nichole, what are you stopping for?"

Her eyes stared ahead at the still blinking glow. "Taz, look!" She pointed and his gaze followed, before his face dropped.

"Oh, my," he said.

"What is it?" Julie asked.

"That, my dear child," said Taz, "is a demon stone." Seeing the confused look on her face, he explained: "A demon stone can have multiple uses from healing a demon to enhancing their power, like an energy boost. Most demon stones look like normal rocks, and essentially are unless you're a demon of course."

"So what kind is that one?" Karl asked.

Taz shook his head. "Demon stones only glow when they are used, and only continue to glow after when an elder demon-- a clan leader-- has used it. The way it's glowing, I suspect a curse has been used nearby."

Karl's mouth dropped. "A curse?! I thought only elves had real magic."

"Where are you from?" asked Brock. "Who told you that?"

Nichole shook her head. "Most races have magic of some kind. The elves are the most notable of course, but the demons and goblins come from the same ancestors, so they all have a lot. Dragons, of course, and gargoyles."

Taz added, "Don't forget merla, unicorns, and of course magicals."

It was so much to take in that Karl fell to the ground, his head spinning. "So when you say a curse?"

"Anything," Taz nodded. "Anything, from an upset stomach or dry mouth, to..." he shook his head. "We need to leave. Now."

"Agreed," Nichole said. She and Julie helped Karl back to his feet.

Karl looked around. "Where's Brock?"

"Right here," Brock said from behind Karl. He had the demon stone in his hand.

"Should you be holding that?" Julie asked, cautiously keeping her distance.

"It's safe to hold," said Brock, "unless it was the rock that was cursed, but in this case, it's not."

"So which is it?" Taz asked. He took the stone and turned it over in his hand.

"Sleeping curse," Brock said. "Paralysis, unconsciousness, possible headache later."

"So that's good, right?" Julie asked.

"If we weren't so close to camp it might have been." Brock's voice was low, sorrowful. Serious.

Karl could see Nichole's eyes water up, hallow. It hurt to see her like that.

Something struck Karl. "It's a sleeping curse, nearby. So maybe camp is fine." Nichole nodded.

Brock said, "Camp can handle itself. I'm worried for whomever the curse was lain."

"We need to go," Taz said suddenly. He dropped the still-glowing stone to the ground. "Like now." He took off into the woods, not looking back. They followed without a word, first Nichole, then Julie and Karl, and Brock took the tail.

"What is is?" asked Nichole in a hushed voice.

Taz replied quietly, "The rock was warming up. The demon is coming back." He moved almost silently through the trees; even Karl and Julie made little noise. But on the next turn, Nichole gasped.

A demon stood in their path. His arms were crossed over his chest; a sneer plastered his face. On the ground before him were four bodies, three guys and a girl. Karl recognised one of the guys but did not know his name. The girl was Valentina.

His hand went quickly to the hilt of his sword, but he was stopped from drawing the blade by Julie's own hand on his. The demon snarled, but did not move otherwise.

Brock rushed forward. In moments he was on the ground beside one of the bodies. Taz and Nichole were right beside him, but Julie and Karl remained stationary, eyes on the demon.

"I see you now," came a voice resonating all around Karl, in the trees, on the wind, inside his head. It felt like a whisper coming from everywhere at once. Goosebumps lit up his skin like frost. It felt evil.

Neither he nor Julie moved. Nichole was heard saying, "He's alive!" But Karl could not move. He did not know if it was terror, a spell or shock, but his muscles would not cooperate.

"Karl," Julie whispered next to him. His mouth would not work to respond.

"We shall meet again," the voice of the demon said. Then it disappeared in a shimmer of black, light the light vanished from him.

"Are you two okay?" Taz asked. Karl snapped to. Taz has risen and closed the distance back toward the two living statues by half. Brock and Nichole were still on their knees next to the four on the ground. One-- Valentina-- was already sitting up, the other three were stirring.

Karl shuddered once. "Yeah," he said, "I think so."

"What happened just now?" Taz demanded.

"You mean you didn't see that?"

"See what? Four of my friends were unconscious, that's what I saw."

"Not that," Karl said. "There was a demon standing over them."

"Uh, no," Taz said, "there wasn't."

"There was," Julie stepped in. "I saw it too."

"Maybe they were somehow affected by the curse," Nichole suggested.

"Must be," said Taz.

"No," Karl said firmly. "I know what I saw. It stood right there and stared at us. It said 'I see you now.'"

"I'm sure it did," Brock said, dismissing Karl. Brock and Taz exchanged a look that unmistakably said they did not believe their guests. They went back to helping their friends to their feet. Nichole looked at Karl, a look of sadness, with a hint of pity.

Julie put her hand on Karl's shoulder, whispering, "It's okay," before walking over to the rest. Karl shook his head and walked over.

"What do you remember?" Brock asked one of the guys.

"I'm not really sure," the guy said. "One minute we're walking, the next I'm waking up to you and Taz."

"Is that all?" Brock pressed. "No people, no creatures, animals? No demons?" He shot a look toward Karl.

The boy shook his head. "No, nothing."

"There was a breeze," another boy said. "A colder-than-normal breeze. Like from winter-time."

"It wasn't a breeze, really," said Valentina. "It just sort of got cold."

"And you're sure you didn't see anything?" asked Taz.

"No," said the first boy. "Why?"

"No reason," Taz said with a glance at Karl, so quickly he almost did not see. Taz said, "We need to get out of here and get back to camp."

"Whatever happened here," Brock said, "we need to see Cameron."

Taz took point, followed by Valentina and Nichole, the the three boys. Brock held back from the group, putting a few extra feet between then and the others while staying within sight.

"I don't know what you think you saw," Brock said, "but keep it to yourselves for now."

Karl started to say, "But..."

Brock cut him off. "I'm not ignoring it, don't think that. We need to make sure our friends are safe before we do anything else. When we get to camp, we'll all talk to Cameron. You might as well get some experience with patrol report." Karl nodded, and the three closed the distance to their friends.