"I liked…planning the hike…more than…actually hiking," Sutton panted, the words costing him the last bit of breath he had left in his lungs.

Archie looked back. Sutton and Blanche had fallen behind and below, the constant slope of the ground becoming apparent as their hiking formation lengthened. Barley trailed behind them out of solidarity, not exhaustion. Their weeks of training had trimmed him, allowing his muscular physique to finally see the light of day.

"It's the altitude. Harder to breath," Hawthorn yelled back at them. He led the way with Nori close behind. She took advantage of the break—her position near the lead came from her determination to not be a burden, not from being in shape.

"Can we take a break?" Blanche whined.

Archie sighed. It had been two days, but they were already several hours behind schedule. They'd be lucky to make it to Jakha by nightfall the next day. But Sutton and Blanche needed the rest. Archie looked up at Nori. Her face was red and she could hardly breathe, but Archie knew she'd keep going if he told her to. She had grown subservient in their time in Khala. He missed the days when she'd boss him around. He hadn't told her about Sutton's solution. He hadn't told anyone.

"Just for a few minutes," he said.

Sutton and Blanche didn't have the energy to cheer. They slung the packs off their backs, Sutton sitting on his and Blanche using hers as a pillow as she sprawled out on the rocky grass. Hawthorn rummaged through his bag and shared some yak jerky with Nori. Archie put his pack down and walked away from the group.

He unclenched his jaw, not knowing when he had started clenching it. The muscles around his lips ached from being pushed together all week. He rolled his shoulders back and forced them down. He took a deep breath. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw a herd of elk in the distance. But when he turned to look, he saw only sparse trees with sparse leaves amongst the rocky grass.

"You okay?" Barley asked.

Archie turned to him and forced a smile, making his jaw ache again. "Just restless. You?"

Barley nodded, rhythmically tapping his quarterstaff on a stone. In their time together, Archie had learned to value sharing silence with Barley. But Barley had learned to value sharing conversation with Archie.

"I'm restless too," Barley said as he looked down at the end of his tapping quarterstaff.

"Oh yeah?"

Barley peeked up to meet Archie's eyes, then dropped his head back down to look at the ground. "Yeah. Returning home is…well…"

Barley shifted his weight. His head swayed back and forth, but his gaze never left his quarterstaff. Archie sat down, hoping to put Barley at ease.

"You've never really told me what it's like," Archie said. "Your village."

"Small," Barley answered.

"How many people live there?"

"Depends on where you draw the line." Barley took a deep breath and sat down. Archie silently cheered at himself for getting Barley to start talking. "There's probably a couple hundred people that live close together in the village proper. But then another thousand live within a day's walk. They'd still tell you that they're from Jakha."

"So were you from village-Jakha or surrounding-areas-Jakha?"

"Surrounding-areas-Jakha until I was twelve. Then I manifested." Usually, when Chefs spoke of the day they discovered their magic, they did so with excitement and fond remembrance. Barley did it with melancholy.

"Then we moved to village-Jakha," he said. He picked at the grass as he thought about his next words. "We believe in a bit more…communal raising of children. I mean, I was still raised by my parents, but I was also raised by Jakha.

"So when I manifested, I became everyone's favorite child. There were no Chefs in Jakha, so everyone's focus was on me. They gave me…everything. Things to teach me. Books. Tutors. But they also gave me things just…to make my life more comfortable. Better clothes, better food. The grandmas fought everyday over who got to teach me cooking techniques."

The more Barley spoke, the more he squinted. Archie took a deep breath, debating whether or not he should probe any further. Despite the mild pain in Barley's expression, Archie got the sense that this was one of the rare opportunities to get Barley to open up.

"So how do you feel about going back to that?" Archie asked.

"I…I don't know. I wasn't supposed to go to the Academy of Ambrosia. I was supposed to go to the Monastery."

"Why didn't you?"

"Six years of being everyone's focus. I needed to breathe a little. In a weird way, Ambrosia City is quieter to me than Jakha." He yanked up a piece of grass and threw it into the wind. "It's kind of been nice being in the background this last year. And I didn't just want to learn the Khalyan way of doing things."

"So how did everyone take the news of you going to the Academy?"

"They still wrote to me over the year. No one said they were disappointed but…but I could tell."

"Sorry, Bar."

Barley snuck a glance at Archie and smiled. "It's alright. I always planned on going back. And I thought maybe I wouldn't do the full four years at the Academy. Maybe the last year I'd transfer to Khaldeer Monastery."

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The thought stung Archie. Barley had become a comfort to him in a way that no one—not even Nori—had managed. Losing him would hurt. And the room of Archie-Oliver-Benedict would be pure chaos without Barley.

"But I…" Barley trailed off. He looked around to make sure no one else could hear them. The others had caught their breath and now sat around Hawthorn as he told some story, gesturing wildly as he spoke. "Can I tell you something?"

Archie raised his eyebrows in surprise. Apparently he really had gotten close to Barley. "Sure."

Barley lifted his head, speaking his words up into the air so that the wind might take them away from him. "I don't know if I want to go back…"

Archie remained silent, giving Barley as long as he needed to continue.

"Mountain living is…tough," Barley said. "It's home but…I have the means to make a life for myself in Ambrosia City. I'd be more…comfortable. But I feel obligated to my homeland."

Barley looked at Archie, revealing a frown.

"I don't know what to do," Barley said.

Archie pursed his lips together. He ignored the pain as he curled his mouth into a comforting smile. But then the smile faded. Archie retreated into his own thoughts, the word "obligation" echoing in his mind.

Did Archie have an obligation to the people of Sain? When the Kents ran out of money, who helped them make ends meet? If Archie had to choose between paying back that debt or keeping Nori at the Academy, did he have a moral obligation to choose his home? He wasn't sure. So what could he say to comfort his friend that felt obligated to those who raised him?

Nothing. He said nothing.

Barley stood. "We better get going," he said.

"Yeah."

They hiked through the afternoon, leaving the gravelly slopes and entering a verdant valley with a trickling stream running through it. Long grass flowed like a vibrant green ocean with boulders that protruded like islands. Archie loved the color and the softness. Back in Sain, the grass was either itchy and brown or an ugly green crabgrass. He wondered if his father had ever seen grass so green.

They stopped in the last patch of trees before the stream. Even with their padded jackets and yak blankets, the summer nights at this altitude got as cold as a winter day in Ambrosia City. The trees provided a good place to set up their tarps and get out of the wind.

Archie gave them their orders.

"Sutton and Hawthorn, you start setting up camp. Barley and Nori, refill our waters. Blanche and I will go foraging."

They unhooked their packs, leaving Sutton and Hawthorn to unpack their bedrolls and set up rocks for a campfire. Barley and Nori hauled their waterskins down to the stream. Archie walked over to Blanche, who had plopped down for a rest.

"You alright?" Archie asked.

"Yeah. Just a little worn out." She brushed sweat and her long, brown bangs off her forehead, revealing her jet black eyebrows. The cold, dry air had chapped her lips, amplifying their redness. When Archie first met her, those red lips jumped off her pale face as if they belonged to another person. But after a year in the fields, her tanned skin made her lips set into her face.

"We can rest an extra day in Jakha," Archie said. He cursed himself immediately for saying it. As summer came to a close, each day became more valuable. They only had a few weeks until they needed to be back at the Academy. But looking around at his friends, Archie could tell that they needed a break. "Get a bit more acclimated to the altitude."

"That'd be good," Blanche said. "Get some strength before we set out."

"Yeah."

"Alright, let's do this." Blanche closed her eyes and put her palm flat on the ground.

Archie put his own hand to the ground to feel Blanche's essence surge past him.

"That way," she said with a nod to a hill downriver. She groaned as she got up. Archie followed her down the creek. "There's a pretty good cluster of essence. Maybe some root vegetables."

Archie prayed for the day that Blanche would find a steak waiting to be picked. While they had a healthy supply of dried meat and fruits, they treated their journey to Jakha as a practice run in conservation. Instead of dipping into their valuable reserves, they bulked up every meal with tasteless flowers and roots.

Blanche continued ahead, putting her palm to the earth every twenty steps. She pointed at a cluster of flowers that barely poked out of the tall grass. As Archie bent down, he thought he saw the herd of elks again across the river. He turned to look at them, but saw only trees. He returned his attention to the task at hand, picking the flowers and putting them in a bundle. He thought they would make a nice gift. He was surprised at himself for imagining giving them to Blanche, not Nori.

"Hey Blanche."

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for…" He ran his fingers through his unruly hair as he tried to find the words. The mountain air had killed the frizziness of his wavy hair, but it had also kept it from curling, leaving it to awkwardly stick up in the wind. "Thanks for…Well, you've worked so hard to be able to do this. For me."

Blanche looked back with a smile. If Archie had seen any regret in her face, it might have killed him. But her face contained nothing but joy.

"Of course, Archie. It's been fun," Blanche beamed. "You know, you've been quiet these last couple of days. Something on your mind?"

Archie laughed to himself. First Barley, now Blanche. Archie was starting to realize how transparent his emotions were.

"I feel…" He took a deep breath. "Everyone just wanted a fun summer."

"It has been a fun summer."

"Yeah, but…" Archie's face scrunched up as he tried to power through his emotions. "This is no longer just a trip to see Barley's home. We waited all this time to go so we'd cross paths with the Bhantla. And things are about to get dangerous. Everyone is risking themselves for me."

"You'd do the same for me. Pick those," Blanche said, pointing at a little flower with four long yellow petals that curled up to the sky. "They're glacier lilies. Be sure to get the bulbs."

"Either way, I really appreciate it," Archie said.

Blanche refused to bring her voice down to his drab demeanor. Instead, she flipped her hair back and shot him a toothy smile. "Just get me back to the city by the end of the summer."

"Yeah, I promise—"

"Oh!" Blanche jumped. "I found them!" She bent down to the ground and pushed the grass aside. "Salsify!"

Archie was amazed by Blanche's abilities. Even with the little pink flowers that decorated the grass-like leaves, Archie would have never noticed there was something edible there.

"Salsify?" he asked. "What's it taste like?"

Blanche started to dig out some dirt around the roots. "Well…some people say a little like oysters. Some people say artichoke hearts. Some people say it doesn't really taste at all."

Archie thought of a big, juicy steak. What he would give to tear his teeth into something meaty. But instead, he had to eat little flowers of nebulous flavor. "Sounds delicious," he grumbled.

Blanche laughed and pulled out a big carrot-like root. It looked as appealing as it sounded. "Oh, it'll be fine. It'd be better if it had snowed recently. Stuff like this gets sweeter after the frost."

"Well, as long as it doesn't snow now…" Archie said as he looked at the sky. Even as the sunset splashed the clouds with orange, they maintained a foreboding darkness.

"I think that's good," Blanche said as she regarded her bundle of salsify. She put her palm down to the soil. "One last check…"

Blanche's essence pinged out through the earth and found nothing.

But something found her.

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