Fay came out of the trees bloodied all over. Her robe had already repaired itself, the array stitching cloth and seam back into place.

But her knee was another matter. The purple bruise still stood out, ugly and swollen where the heavy wolf had dislocated it.

People gasped at the sight of the wolves.

Fay flicked her whip through the air in a sharp warning, telling them there was nothing to see.

It did not help. The huge wolf skull at her whip tip flailed when she moved, and fear crawled into faces.

"These animals are tamed by me," Fay said, voice raised. "You have nothing to worry about."

Relief went through the camp in a long shudder. Who would have thought such canines could be tamed at all, much less twenty nine of them.

Eyes followed the wolves with a mix of awe and dread.

Radeon waved Fay over. He did not praise her. He did not scold her.

His attention was already on his woodwork, on the planks he was shaping for the massive hauler.

"I need something adhesive," he said. "Glue.I'll leave these miners in your hands. Take care of yourself."

His eyes were locked on something else even as he spoke, a huge shape trying to hide in a burrow line in the earth.

He had watched Fay fight the whole time. He could have helped. He chose not to.

Radeon had liked being helped when he was at the same stage in his previous life.

Later he realized every rescue stole a lesson from the rescued.

He did not rob Fat of her learning now, not unless it served a dire need.

Radeon turned to leave and signaled the bison to come with him this time.

As they started off, he glanced at two bald wolves that lingered near Fay, then at Fay herself, then looked away.

Fay let out a breath she had not known she was holding. She thought the two were almost cute on how they looked.

Once Radeon was gone, Fay began to hand out fresh wolf meat. It was rich with vitality and good for the body.

The miners cheered and surged forward. They snatched what they could, laughing too loud and swearing.

Fay kept certain parts aside. The blood, tied up tight in pig bladder balls. The heart. A bundle of bones.

For her master. For his work. For whatever purpose he saw that she could not yet.

When the frenzy eased, she sat and prepared for supper. Soon the camp followed, fires blooming low, voices rising and falling.

Above them the night remained moonless and starless.

Fay stared up at the empty sky and felt a hollow ache. There should have been twinkles up there, if the myths were true.

A thousand small lights, watching. Instead there was only dark, like a lid pressed down over the world.

"Someday," she murmured. "Someday I will see it."

Her mind started to wander toward another foolish picture, her and Radeon raising a family of their own.

She bit it back before it could grow. The road is long, she told herself.

Then something tore at the forest.

The sound of uprooted trees carried on the wind.

Fay squinted and saw trunks toppling far off, near where the miners camped.

Something was plowing through the woods without bothering to go around.

The refugees had been drinking and settling in for the night when a huge roar bellowed.

Men froze mid laugh. Children went quiet.

A boar burst from the tree lines.

It was enormous, close to Campion's size, five meters long and thick as a cart, jet black hair bristling over its body.

Steam poured from its snout with each breath. Its tusks shone pale in the firelight.

Fay glanced at the people. Still eating. Still drinking. Thinking everything was all good.

Her stomach dropped. She looked for Radeon. Surely the commotion was too big for him to ignore.

No sign. Fay grit her teeth and signaled the wolves. They flowed in around the boar, a loose circle of canine.

There was a problem. The scent of food was everywhere.

Meat hung up. Fat dripped. Broth and seasoning hung in the air. It drew the boar like a hook.

Fay knew she had to get the people out first. Taming could wait. Pride could rot.

She fed qi into her voice and shouted until her throat burned.

"Everyone, please. Get into your carts and pull them away."

The camp moved too slow. Too lax. Some stared. Some argued. Some reached for bundles they did not want to lose.

The boar lifted its head and sniffed the air. Then it went straight for one of the carriages.

A wheel splintered. Wood screamed. Grain spilled out in a pale cascade.

The boar dropped its head and gorged on the wheat, snorting and chewing.

"Move back," Fay shouted. "Move."

She was already rotating the Breath of the Wild Taming Arts, the circulation Radeon had given her.

If she could not push the people into motion, then she would have to bind the beast.

She softened her qi, made it round, made it reach like a hand offered open.

For a heartbeat she felt it. A brush of connection. An illusion of being one with it.

Then the technique betrayed her.

The boar was territorial. Her approach did not read as kin. It read as intrusion.

Its eyes reddened. Bristles along its spine stood up like knives.

It charged. Fay dodged to the side on reflex, but the wagons were not spared.

The boar tore through them in a straight savage line. Tens of carts carrying clothes, rations, tools, and men.

Wood burst. Iron shrieked. People flew. Some saw the rush in time and threw themselves clear.

Others were not so lucky. Bodies hit the ground wrong. Pained screams came.

Fay stood for a breath with her mind gone white.

She could not understand it. She had followed the circulation exactly. She had done it to the letter.

She had even felt the aura, that false sense of harmony, and now the camp was being ruined in front of her.

She snatched the manual up and flipped pages with shaking hands, eyes racing over each line once again.

There. It would not work on all animals unless you understood their behaviors and criteria.

Temperament. Territory. Hunger. Breeding season. What they considered threat and what they considered prey.

Fay swallowed. Hard. She had never studied boar ecology. She had never studied animal ecology at all.

She looked at the wolves she had tamed and suddenly saw the truth behind her pride.

She had been lucky. A lucky girl who had pretended she knew more than she did.

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