The Land of Broken Roads

Dirt didn’t have to ask how close they were, because he could just look at Socks’s mind and see. Even so, it was hard not to keep asking. They were close. Any minute now the treetops would come into view.

Looking back, the rest of the winter had gone by in a blur. Dirt never felt more at home than when he was alone with Socks, and those months had been a treat. But the mundane comfort of them made them all slide together in his mind and fade, leaving behind only a few notable memories.

One memory was the first big storm after the fight with the Devourer. Dirt’s clothing had been shredded and after getting snowed on, he decided to get rid of it and put on Antelmu’s spares. Socks had come the closest to laughing he’d ever been in his life watching Dirt flop around in them. The sleeves and pant legs were way too long, but at least they didn’t have any holes. Socks teased him about turning into another kind of animal, and Dirt flapped the sleeves and tried to take off like a bird. It didn’t work.

Another time was the river Socks had turned from its course, just to see if he could. It was harder than anticipated. Downhill was downhill, and the water was already going along the most efficient route. The pup had left an impassible muddy mess before he successfully got the river to flow in a completely new direction, but no sooner did he finally stop to rest than an earth elemental emerged from deep below to fix it again. That was, coincidentally, how Socks and Dirt learned they existed.

They met no further humans along the way, but Socks was avoiding them, which was fine. They did come across more ruins, though. Dirt recognized only one of the cities, since it looked like the other three were built after his time. Socks still had the siblings’ packs to carry so they didn’t go treasure hunting, but they could always come back. They crossed a rainy mountain range full of goblins, and later on, Mother had them go around a flat plain with nothing growing on it without telling them why.

Early spring had been strange. First the snow melted, but it stayed cold and just got wetter. It took a month for everything to start turning green and warm up, but once that started, Mother told Socks to hurry up so they’d get back to the forest in time for something she declined to explain.

They would arrive today, and Dirt was getting so eager he couldn’t even sit down. He stood on Socks’s back with his arms folded. The trees would swarm them as soon as they arrived, no doubt, and Biandina and Antelmu would be there. And the beast children, most likely. Perhaps even Marina, and who could guess who else. After several months without speaking aloud, he was ready to hear voices again.

The day was warm with no wind, and the first flowers were just beginning to peek out. Half the little trees had no leaves yet, but the grass was growing with enthusiasm. Socks had taken to running in zigzags because he liked how it felt on his paws, after all the stone and ice and dead brush.

Just as the treetops from the real forest came into view, Socks slammed his mind shut. He’d seen something with ghost sight, and Dirt had missed it. The pup gave him a mischievous glance back, but that was all. Dirt watched around the edges of his mind for something to leak out, but after two months of imagination games, neither of them were about to reveal anything by accident.

The leafy treetops were just a distant gray haze at first, but Socks sped up and they grew as they crept closer and closer. Dirt got so excited he wanted to cry in frustration, and he almost hopped down to run alongside Socks instead of just standing here waiting. Socks picked up the pace yet again and had to put up a force shield to keep the wind from pushing the little boy off his back.

The last few minutes were the longest of Dirt’s life. The trees grew and grew until they were taller than he remembered, trunks as thick as cliffs and the canopy higher than stormclouds.

Finally, they got close enough to see the ground inside the forest, less than a mile now. The line of shadow stood stark, in part because the vibrant green grass gave way to dark, muddled ferns in exactly that spot. Socks took the final distance at even greater speed, accelerating so suddenly he had to hold Dirt with his mind, and a moment later, they passed into the shade.

Butterflies, everywhere, larger than Dirt or Socks had ever seen. They were at least eight inches across and colorful, a pale purple with yellow highlights around the wings. They fluttered high, up to a hundred paces in the air, and the forest was absolutely filled with them.

Socks removed the blocks hiding his thoughts and said, -This is part of what Mother said to hurry for. These are the grubs. They turn into butterflies to mate and lay eggs, and you were born last year after the eggs hatched.-

“I kind of want to slow down and catch one, but—”

-But you want to see everyone more. I know,- said Socks.

“Yep,” said Dirt. He sent the wolf a little puff of affection and went back to staring. It was so strange seeing all that motion here, all that color. It was almost an entirely different forest. His forest had been quiet and sacred, unchanging as the Gods, but this was a forest where things lived and moved. In a few weeks, it would go back to normal, but the sight seemed a miracle.

“Are they waiting for us somewhere specific?” asked Dirt.

-Mother told me where they are, but she didn’t say what we will find there. I think it will be part of the city you tried to surprise me with.-

“Well, I tried. I thought it would be a fun surprise.”

-Human buildings are not as interesting a surprise for me as they are for you.-

Even at Socks’s speed, the trees passed by slowly, one by one, each spread out like solitary rulers. Last time they’d been here together, Socks had been just over half the size he was now, and the big pup found it slightly unsettling that the forest didn’t seem any smaller. Not the least bit, even though everything else in the world did.

The dryad Dawn erupted from the ferns in the form of a great wolf, and Dirt recognized her at once. She emerged like she was coming up out of a tunnel, but that was an illusion. She moved close and ran alongside Socks, pushing her snout against his and licking his mouth.

Socks was pleased and wagged his tail, then ran a little faster. She kept the pace and they ran like that for a time, each edging just a bit farther than the other before falling back. They jostled and pushed and changed direction several times, and it was great fun.

They made it to the outskirts of Turicum, all the little towns that grew along the roads to cater to travelers and farm the land. No sunny fields now, no carts along the broken road. Just empty, skeletal buildings resting in the shade, inhabited only by butterflies.

Dawn sank into the ground and disappeared, and Socks ran ahead alone. They entered the city proper right through the main gate, which had lost most of its statues and carvings. Dirt wondered whether he wanted to try reshaping it someday. He would never get it exactly how it used to be, so would that be better or worse than just leaving it? Who knew? And did it really matter? The city would never mean to anyone else what it meant to him.

The crowd was not in the center of the city, like he expected. They were waiting in the plaza nearest his villa, just down the street. The area was packed full of people, a sea of dryads in green. Their uniform color made all the others stand out all the more—furry beast children in constant motion, making them look like a nest of disturbed mice. Many of the dryads were in adult form now, all women holding infants. They left a path open for Socks, and at the end of it, right in the middle of the plaza, waited a group of humans.

The one who stood out the most was a short woman with white hair and pale skin he didn’t recognize. But he found the duke and duchess immediately, since they were taller, dressed in finery, and easy to spot. And there was Marina with a man he thought he knew but couldn’t remember, and Hèctor nearby. No Ignasi, though. Home was in her adult form with Callius riding on her shoulders. Màxim was there, and Èlia holding the hand of the toddler. Mariona was her name, if he remembered correctly. Dirt hadn’t seen her much.

Antelmu stood by the white-haired woman, looking a lot better than in Father’s vision. He wore the simple clothing the dryads made, since his previous attire had been ruined, and the hand-shaped burn on his face was just lines now, not total destruction like before. It fit him rather well, actually. Made him look adventurous.

Socks stopped and Dirt jumped down, only to be immediately swarmed by dryads seeking hugs. Callius was first, then Home, then Sunset, followed by Starwatcher and Dawn and twenty others. The humans had to get in line, and everyone let Marina cut in when she insisted, “I met him first! All of you move!” She was speaking Camayan, which he hadn’t heard in a while.

Dirt grinned and held his arms up. “Hello, Marina. Is that man your mate? Husband, I mean? Did you find one?”

“I did,” she said, lifting him off his feet in a tight hug. “Do you remember Marc Torrent, the major?”

“Oh, is that who that is? He grew his beard out. Hello, Marc. I’m happy for you two,” said Dirt, since he was right behind. “Have you started mating? Are you pregnant yet?”

Marc’s smile faltered and Marina laughed. “Dirt, that is not a question you can ask like that. You’re supposed to hint and wait for them to tell you. But yes, I am pregnant. The dryads confirmed it.”

“Well, I can’t wait to meet the baby,” said Dirt.

“You will have to,” said Marina. “I’m not letting it out until it’s ripe.”

“Hello, Dirt,” said the Duchess, who was right behind. She stood straight and gathered him into a hug. “I am happy to see you are well.”

“Thank you, your grace. And you too,” said Dirt.

“Now it is my turn. Come here, boy!” said the duke, with enthusiasm to match his wife’s grace. He gave Dirt a quick, tight hug, then held him out by the shoulders and appraised him up and down. “I don’t know what you have been up to, but I am sure it makes for some wonderful stories. I have a bit of it from Antelmu and Biandina, but we hardly understand each other.”

“Where is Biandina?” said Dirt. “Did the trees give her a new arm and leg? She’s not lying somewhere, is she?”

“She can wait her turn. Dirt, you must promise to make some time for me. We never discussed the ancient tongue,” said the duke.

“Okay, I promise,” said Dirt.

“Time for me does not mean time running off with Màxim and getting into trouble,” said the duke sternly, although his eyes betrayed his good humor.

“I’ll do some of both, I think,” said Dirt.

Màxim was next and gave him a slightly awkward hug, like he wasn’t used to it. “Welcome back,” was all he said, but his face and mind were full of eager excitement.

“Thanks,” said Dirt. The boys exchanged mischievous glances and their friendship resumed right where it left off.

Èlia gave him a hug, too, a barely functional one; little Mariona didn’t want to.

Hèctor was the first to break the pattern by shaking Dirt’s hand and ruffling his hair in a way that almost conveyed affection. He looked older than Dirt remembered, in part because he’d grown a short beard and part of it was gray. His black eyes were just as piercing, though.

“Where’s Ignasi?” asked Dirt.

“Over there,” said Hèctor, pointing.

The man was holding three beast children, practically covered by them, which is why Dirt hadn’t spotted him. He had a toddler in each arm and another on his shoulders. Two more children, slightly older, were sitting on his feet to hold his legs in place, giggling wildly while he insincerely struggled to move forward.

“What can I say? The man loves his animals and he’s adopted the whole tribe,” said Hèctor. “I doubt he’ll be joining us on the return trip to Nullor. He has a wife now, too, right over there. See her? The skinny woman with the curly hair. I think getting swarmed by the little rodents helped him forget his first one.”

Dirt said, “He was married before? Does he have—”

“She died in childbirth when they were young. He was betrothed two other times but kept getting drunk instead of attending the wedding. I’ll tell you later about this new one. It’s pretty good,” said Hèctor. His dour face betrayed a bit of mirth, which meant it was probably uproariously funny.

Seeing he was being discussed, Ignasi shouted, “You’ll have to wait in line, Dirt, unless you have a way to get rid of pests!” To make the point, he tried to step forward, lifting one child an inch off the ground, then stomping with an exaggerated huff.

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Dirt made his way over and said, in their language, “Can I have a turn? Ignasi is a friend and I want to say hello.”

All five beast children looked at him, considering their options, but when one young child slid out of his arms, the rest climbed off him.

“You speak their tongue?” said Ignasi. “I have never envied you before, little Dirt, but that is simply unfair. I cannot figure out how to tell them to leave me alone. Will you please tell them for me? I am buried up to my nose here.”

Dirt got a big, warm hug, then said, “No, I won’t. Good luck.”

Ignasi’s wife really was as thin as a stick. She was mostly bones, by weight, and without any of Marina’s wiry grit. “Hello, Dirt. I’ve heard so much about you,” she said, not putting down the sleeping little boy she was holding. Instead she gave Dirt a surprisingly radiant smile, becoming almost a different person. It was easy to see why the children liked her.

After hugging several more dryads, there was one person left—the short woman with white hair. Not pale gray like an old lady, but white like the clouds. Her skin was pale, too, the palest he’d seen. Her clothing was simple, the kind the dryads wore, but it looked thinner and softer than average. She had the figure of a growing youth, not a full woman, but Dirt supposed people came in all shapes. Although, now that he noticed, people didn’t have long, pointy ears sticking out like she did.

People stepped away to give him room and the crowd went a bit quiet as everyone watched to see what would happen.

“Hello, Dirt,” said the pale woman.

“Biandina!?” shouted Dirt.

Socks’s ears perked up and he deftly padded over to sniff her. –It does not smell like Biandina,- he said, in the ancient tongue.

“Yes, it’s me. Sorry. What do you think?” she said, holding her arms out and turning in a circle. She was barefoot, and the black soil clung to her pale skin all the way up to her knees, but other than that, she moved more gracefully than he remembered.

Now that he looked closely, he could see it. Her face was only slightly changed, but the rest of her was so different it was hard to tell it was the same person. Mostly it was the hair and her skin turning so pale, but the ears completed the effect. She really had become someone else. Even her eye color was different now. They used to be dark brown, but now they were a blue that revealed an iridescent rainbow, like fish scales.

“I guess the trees got carried away,” said Dirt. “You look beautiful, though. Do you like it?”

“I am adjusting. There’s a lot to explain. Do you want to talk now, or…?”

“I suppose we can talk later,” said Dirt. “There’s still a line.”

After that he had to hug every single dryad and many of the beast children, more than he was expecting. He’d hardly gotten to know any of them, but a few seemed to remember him fondly. And the trees had probably told them all about him. He assumed the dryads could speak their language, but he’d have to check for sure later.

Socks was fully bored by the end and had wandered off to go poke around the ruins, so Dirt took the humans and showed them around the town. He pointed out all the old places he knew, the shops and homes and restaurants, the public buildings and spaces, and talked about what they were for. He had to explain it all twice, once in Camayan and once in Biandina’s tongue. Some of what he explained came from Prisca’s memories, but much came from such familiarity that he didn’t need a specific memory to know.

They stopped to check on Antelmu’s egg, which was in a little house by itself. It was the only building with a functional door, which had been placed there to keep the heat in. Inside, a comfortable chair sat next to a large nest of vines, which the trees had enchanted to keep warm. They twisted very, very slowly, rotating it inch by inch throughout the day.

The tour resumed with a building that used to be a theater, and the duke listened to all of it with rapt attention. If he’d been a wolf, his ears would have been straight up the entire time. The duchess got tired after a while and sat to rest while the others moved on, and Màxim was more interested in exploring than explanations. Èlia hovered near Biandina, and they seemed like they liked each other even though they couldn’t communicate. For her part, Biandina sort of drifted along. She listened with genuine curiosity, but her fingers traced along all the ferns, and often her eyes looked distant as her mind went elsewhere. She had a habit of gently swirling her head like she was stirring the air with her ears, and maybe she was.

Toward evening, the crowd split up. Hèctor went back to Ogena, as did the duchess and Èlia. Ignasi and his new wife were apparently staying with the beast children, unable to escape the swarm, and left to return to that quarter of the city. Dirt would have to check on them all before too long, just to make sure the little ones weren’t learning anything weird from the dryads.

Those who remained sat on benches in a noble’s garden and ate a nice dinner of sap. They drank water with a hint of sweetness in it from glassware from Avitus’s time, and the duke could hardly hold his cup without his fingers trembling. Home and Callius sat to either side of Dirt and translated for him so he didn’t have to keep doing it, and Dirt had to eat with one hand because Home wouldn’t let go of his other one.

After that, with only a few hours until nightfall, Dirt led them to the last thing he wanted to show them. He turned around at the old, familiar gateway and said, “I think you all know by now that I lived a long time ago and came back, and now I get to show you where I lived. This is my villa. It may not be as grand as a palace, and it’s empty and run down now, but it’s mine. The very same place. Want to come look?”

Everyone did, and he showed them the garden and discussed how it had been. Showed them the statues and where he used to sit, the remains of the pathways, and so on.

Socks had to sit outside for the rest, but he was able to peek in through the gaps in the vine ceilings. Inside the entry hall, Dirt showed them the fountain and pointed out where the resting benches had been, and all the other furniture. His favorite chair. He even showed them the temperature dial and explained what it had been for.

He showed them most of the rooms down the hall; the kitchen, the pantry, storage spaces and guest chambers and servant beds. Then his own room, with the big bed of soft fibers the trees had put there for him.

Finally, there was one thing left for the grand tour, the thing he’d been most excited for. He led them all and tested the water. It had grown cold, so he cleaned it with the water purifying spell and tossed in ten magical embers, which he heated up to the point they made steam.

“This might be my favorite thing in the whole villa. If it’s not, then it’s at least the place I missed the most,” said Dirt.

“Do you keep fish in there?” asked the duke.

Dirt laughed. “No, those would be in a pond in the garden if I wanted any. This is a bath! Take off your clothes, everybody. As soon as it’s warm, we’re getting in!”

“What? No!” said Biandina. “With these men?”

“What’s the problem? You all know each other, don’t you? And it’s my house, so it’s fine. That’s what this place is for. You’ll like it. Trust me,” said Dirt. He pulled off his shirt and tested the water. It wasn’t quite there, but it was getting close. He stripped the rest of the way and slipped into the water, then started swirling it around with his arms to make sure there weren’t any cold spots.

“It’s just about warm enough now. Come on. Just do it. Please?”

“Our people don’t get naked with the opposite sex,” said Antelmu, glancing at Marina. Dirt noticed he hadn’t removed any clothing yet, and he was starting to turn red. Dirt suspected it wasn’t the humidity.

“I’ll civilize you all eventually, I swear it,” said Dirt. “Okay, everyone turn around. Marina and Biandina can get in first, and once they’re in the water, then all the boys can come. How’s that?”

There was a lot of shyness that Dirt genuinely didn’t understand, and a lot of looking away, but eventually Dirt got them all into the bath. It was a luxury not one of them had experienced, and he had to coax Marina into the hot water, as well as her husband Marc, who both thought it was painful at first. The duke grit his teeth while he got in, worried he might start to cook. The women sat slumped down to keep their breasts under the water line, but despite all the complications, the heat won and everyone relaxed.

“Socks, there’s room in here for you, I think. It’s not very deep, but it’s warm,” said Dirt aloud, in the ancient tongue.

The pup sent a picture of himself quite content to lay in the garden. Something about the little walls made it more comfortable, and he didn’t want to get wet.

“Suit yourself,” said Dirt.

-I will,- said Socks.

Dirt leaned his head back and closed his eyes, enjoying himself. Truly, this is what life was supposed to be like. He flexed his toes and enjoyed how the hot water warmed the cold skin between them. Every inch of him, finally warm, after a long, cold winter and a slightly less cold spring.

Only when he felt the sweat start to form on his brow did he open his eyes. No one was speaking yet, but they all looked comfortable. Marc had his arm around Marina’s shoulders, and the duke sat close to Màxim in a fatherly way.

Antelmu said, “So, are we supposed to do anything in here? Or are we just relaxing?”

“Just relaxing. Although you can rub all the grime off if you want. Like this,” said Dirt. He raised his arms out of the water and made a rubbing motion. “If the water starts getting dirty I can always clean it. I have magic for that. Oh, okay, so Biandina. Tell me what happened? And then I have something I want to tell you all.”

“Well…” she started. Then, once she noticed how many eyes had fallen upon her, crossed her arms over her chest, even though it was under water, and said, “I guess the short version is, when they grew me a new arm, it looked like this.” She lifted her hand out of the water, gazing at how pale it was. She was turning red, actually; all of her. Her entire body was blushing from the heat.

Dirt translated for her, and she had to speak sentence by sentence. She continued, “When I touched anything, I could… how do I describe it? I could taste it, but that’s not quite right. I know what it’s made of. I can feel it. And I can feel the plants talking, and the trees. At first it was frightening, and it stayed confusing when they grew me a leg that was the same. My feet have the same sense. I can taste the soil, and I know what’s in it. I’ll have to invent a lot of words to even start to explain what I am learning.”

“Can you wear shoes?” asked the duke.

Biandina smiled after Dirt translated. She said, “Yes, but they’re uncomfortable. Anyway, the dryads asked if I wanted a new body to match my new arm and leg. It was my decision, but they said they could change me so I could understand what they’re saying to each other, and if they did it, I would never get old or die of old age or get sick. They said it would be easier to learn magic, too.

“I’ve thought a lot about it afterward, but at the time it was an easy decision. I fell asleep and woke up like this. They explained everything they did. My pale skin gets more nourishment from the low light in the forest, and my long ears taste the wind. Every change has a purpose. Now I’ll be the mother of a whole new species. Even though my spirit is still human, my body is something else now, and that’s what I’ll give birth to, once they tell me my body is grown enough.”

“So wait, you can understand the trees? Their real thoughts? The things they really say to each other?” asked Dirt, sitting up out of the water.

“Yes. I hear it all now. They are… indescribable,” said Biandina. “Incredible. I have so much to tell you about them, Dirt. And they want me to. They want you to understand them better. I think that might be part of why they did this to me. They can come into our world and talk about themselves, but one of us has to go into theirs, too.”

“What about your old tribe? Didn’t you say you wanted to help save them?” asked Dirt.

“Yes, but Maxima will protect them. I do want to see them again, but I’m afraid of what they’ll think. Especially my mother. They’re pretty far away, so I don’t have to decide yet anyway,” she said.

“You need to plan on going,” said Marina. “Trust me on that. Especially if you’re going to live forever. You’ll have a long, long time to regret it if you don’t.”

“She’s right,” said the duke. His mustache had gotten wet and was drooping now, losing most of its majesty. “Take it from a parent.”

Biandina gave no reply to that, although Dirt saw everything else she wanted to say. Her relationship with her mother had been strained, certainly, but perhaps not unfixable. Another time, though.

The duke broke the awkward silence by changing the topic. “So, our dear Dirt, you say you have something you want to tell us?”

“Yes, I do,” said Dirt. He had to say everything twice, once in each language, and it made him wish they’d all just learn the ancient tongue. Actually, that wasn’t a bad idea. “I got this idea from Antelmu, sort of. When I lived in the Sunset Empire, I was the master of something called the Collegium Magorum. It was a school, but also a clan, and it was for people who learned magic. I want to bring that back, but not just that.

“I want to start something new. I want to find people who are willing to put aside whatever else they’re doing and help me save humanity. I have a few things I can start with. The duke has knights, and he’s helping. And Antelmu will have a gryphon, and I want him to have a hundred more boys like him with a hundred gryphons. And I’m sure I’ll think of something for Biandina and her new people.

“The beast children can help, too, if some of them want to. This is only for people who want to,” said Dirt.

“You want to set up a new collegium? What will you call it?” asked the duke.

“I’m not sure yet. And I don’t think collegium is the right word. I’ll start a new Collegium Magorum, too, but that will be a side project. My real project will be this new thing. Socks and I have had a couple months to think about it, and he’s willing to help too, at least a little. We can’t turn him into a new god we worship. He’s still a wolf.

“But I want it to be independent. It can’t be under a king, or a duke. No offense. It has to be its own power, but welcome anywhere,” said Dirt. He certainly had everyone’s attention. Even Marc Torrent had removed his arm from his wife’s shoulders to lean forward and listen.

“You mean like a guild?” asked the duke.

“Yes, like a guild. I think. Is that what I want? I have plenty of gold. More than you’d believe unless you saw it, so funding won’t be a problem.”

“A guild is independent and answers only to themselves and their customers. Some even have power to judge their members for crimes. The big ones, not even I dare offend lightly. The King could probably disband them if he wanted to, but it would not be without cost. The Bricklayer’s guild is powerful, and the Iron Miners. There are others. They have some representatives in Ogena I can introduce you to,” said the Duke. He tugged his wet mustache thoughtfully. “It’s not a bad idea. I can give you a charter, even. So who would the guild be for? What would you call it?”

Dirt said, “It’s for people who are like me. You have to be willing to go out and explore and go on adventures. The purpose would be to make the world safer for humans and protect them. And I think we’ll include the beast children in that, too, and Biandina’s new race. So anything that’s close enough to a human to count. The wolves don’t need us.”

“Adventurers, then? You want to found a guild of adventurers?” asked the duke.

“Yes, that’s perfect. The Adventurer’s Guild. I love it. I’ll be the boss,” said Dirt. He grinned. That was exactly what he wanted. What the world needed. Adventurers. He could see the agreement on the others’ faces as they rolled the idea around in their heads. Antelmu would probably join, but Dirt wouldn’t press anyone. His people would come, and he would train them and make them strong. Or someone could, anyway. The trees would probably want to help.

He could picture it now. Free knights and mages, travelling to defend against goblins and everything else. Gryphon riders soaring the skies to carry messages and fight and lead tribes to safety. Rough men and hardy women, kind men and graceful women and canny children, all sorts of people doing what they could. Dirt would put branches of the Guild all over the place so they had somewhere to go home to and friends no matter where they went. And maybe even a place to raise their orphans if they died. Dirt would protect his own people, and they would protect everyone else.

Someone would have to hunt down Caeso, and the remnants of the Sunset Empire that Caeso had mentioned. Quintus and Faustus. Their names were familiar. And there were some things that Dirt would have to take care of personally, like the Eye. That might be a lifelong battle for him, but it was one he intended to fight. And, if possible, find out what happened to the gods. And how to properly deal with the fae. The trees could probably tell him that.

It would take time to get everything started. They needed a main building in a big city, and members, and a charter, and there was so much to do. Mountains of work, with many things to plan and decide. But he had time. He was only eight years old, after all. Right now it was a dream, but Avitus was not a man who set his dreams aside and moved on. The world itself was proof of that.

Màxim got out of the bath, thinking he was being subtle. He nonchalantly wiped some of the water from his arms, and the moment Dirt looked away, ran over and jumped on him for a tackle. The game was on.