Everyone in the room stops and looks at me, and then moments ter Pluso asks, “Nero I think I might have misheard you, did you just sa-.”

  “You all heard me right Pluso, I said I pn for every single one of us on this campsite to escape.”

  Edward stepping forward, asks, “You ’t be serious Nero?”

  “I am dead serious, all of us will leave this pce.”

  Edward says, “Please stop this delusion you know such a thing is impossible for us all, we have no pn.”

  “That’s where you would be wrong Edward, because for the st few years me Charles and Mariana have beeing the stohat will allow us to leave, so please I want all of you to listen to me.”

  -Break-

  I told them everything. About our history with Dónal, about our secret csses, and about our pn to escape.

  As I finish, another member of the campsite; Rolo says, “So that’s where you guys have been sneaking off to on the castle days?”

  “Sorry for not telling you guys earlier, but we o keep it a secret,” Mariana says.

  Another member of the campsite; Nora says, “But still to be able to speak the nguage of the beastkin. That’s utterly amazing.”

  “Well some of us speak it better than other,” I say while looking at Mariana.

  Moving close to me, Mariana says, “Say that again!”

  But as she approaches me, she touches my leg causio instantly move to the other side of the hut.

  “That’s what I thought Nero.”

  As I cover my red face with my hands, Charles asks, “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, just a little bit hot.” As I look through my hands I see Mariana making an incredibly smug expression at me.

  THAT GIRL!

  Edward turns to me, and asks, “Is that man Dónal really your ally.”

  “Ally is a strong word but he is plian-.”

  Charles interjects and says, “He is my friend.”

  Charles has gotten looser with his tongue, but when he says something, he means his tone bees unbreakable.

  Edward then says, “But we don’t know if he really is Charles friend at the end of the day he is a beastkin who might do harm to Charles.”

  Looking at Dnal straight in the eye, with the most cm yet disrespectful tone I muster, I say, “Should you really be talking about Charles safety with your history?”

  Embarrassed he looks away from me, and says, “Yeah I did some bad things, but I apologised!”

  “You know what an apology won’t fix, all the scars!”

  Edward drops his head to the ground, and says, “Sorry,” While drooping over.

  Charles pats him on the head and says, “I five you.”

  Seeing them, I let out a sigh and say, “Don’t worry about Dónal, I mainly got information from him, and his current use to us is his horrible ma of the campsite. So it is not like we o be his friend.”

  “I am his friend,” Charles says while pouting.

  Hitting him on the head, I say, “Yeah I got that already.”

  Sandra then says, “But even if you speak the nguage there is the issue of the Merarks.”

  Mariana says, “We have also been w on that. You see haven’t any of you notice Charles absence during the animal days.”

  Pluso says, “Now that you mention it he is always disappearing and reappearing.”

  “It is because Dónal gave Charles who he thrusted the job of feeding the Merarks, and he has been making them very ht!”

  Charles beside me says, “What do you mean ht? You said if I keep given them more food they will be happier.”

  Crap I fot we lied to him about the reason he was supposed to overfeed them. It will be bad if he catches on, because when it es down to it he be surprisingly hardheaded about certain things.

  Sandra the’s out a little scream, which causes attention to shift towards her.

  “Is everything Darling,” Pluso says.

  “Yes it is just a little pain, but I think some flowers would make me feel better. So Charles could you go and pie from around the perimeter of the campsite for me?”

  Getting up, Charles says, “Yep.” Then runs out of the room at full speed.

  Sighing, Mariana says, “Thank you Sandra.”

  “No problem, but if yoing to keep Charles unaware keep up the charade better.”

  “Noted.”

  Edward says, “Still even if the Merarks are not a factor, what about Bricriu?”

  Pluso says, “Why would Bricriu be a factor? He hasn’t been to the campsite i three years. For all we know he is no longer involved with it.”

  “I think what Edward is getting at is the amount of sves that where brought over this year, against the st two years.”

  “What do you mean Nero?”

  “The st two years the amount of sves brought in was tiny, almost as if they haven’t won enough battles to send them over here. But this year a giant heap came in again, one evehan when Mariana and all the women were brought in. So that means.”

  Pluso says, “They have retly won a battle.”

  “And now Bricriu who was likely a part of this war will be ing back, and for some reason, he has a rather strange fixation on our campsite.”

  “If he es back, he could start fixing all of the issues that Dónal has made and then our ces for escape will dwindle,” Edward says.

  “But there is still an option for our escape,” Mariana says.

  “What would that be,” Rolo asks.

  “We simply leave as soon as possible, which would be when Sandra feels up to it.”

  Edward says, “Wait isn’t this too soon.”

  “If we wait to long their won’t ever be aime, so as soon as possible is the best we do.”

  Everyone in the room seems a bit doubtful so, I say, “ I know every single one of you feel scared, and I do as well. But something scares me far more than this, the idea that Charles, or even Jupio or any other kids born into this campsite would have to spend the rest of their lives living like this.

  tless pieces have fallen into our hands, ohat could pletely cease to exist at any moment. Sht now I truly believe that we should go, and if we do I also believe that we would be able to make it.”

  The room falls silent, but then Sandra raises her hand and says, “I will go with you all.”

  “Are you sure?” Pluso asks.

  “Everything Nero said was right, and to pretend like it wasn’t would be a lie to myself. Now that I have this little girl in my hands, I no longer be satisfied with this life, I must leave.”

  Rolo shouts, and says, “ARGHHH. I ’t lie to myself either, if giveion to leave I would want to take it.”

  Around the hut all the people iarted to get rowdy as they start to all voice their agreement oer the other. Then with a sigh, Edward interjects and asks, “Nero if we are going to even escape where would we go?”

  The room quiets to hear my answer, so I say, “Obviously I don’t know?”

  Edward smacks me against the top of my head, and says, “What do you mean you don’t know?”

  “Just like I said, I haven’t been able to figure out the dire we should all go, but it is not like I have no idea. I wao ask all of you where you think we should go?”

  “Well, heading to the east of Victoria is not an option. Since my and Charles's vilge was there and was destroyed.”

  Mariana says, “We didn’t pn to head there anyways, because as far as we know the beastkin homend is east.”

  “I see.”

  “Headi, is also pointless because Mariana’s people e from the tio the west. So without a doubt, the beastkin have cleared out the western part of Victoria.”

  Nora asks, “Though isn’t there another ti west, why couldn’t we sail there?”

  Mariana says, “We would have to find a boat somewhere, and the seas of Molstoria are incredibly viscous and hard to navigate through. So inexperienced captains like us would all sink in mere days.”

  Pluso says, “North of Terrafide is still an option?”

  Edward says, “I wouldn’t if I was you.”

  “Huh why.”

  “This is simply an old folktale passed down in my vilge, but the north of Terrafide is an incredibly cion, and the people who live in such a region as just as fierce. Sturdy like mountains and fiercer than wonderbeasts, not the friendly type.”

  “But sidering that we haven’t seen anyone like that here, I could mean that these people have been overrun by the beastkin.”

  Mariana says, “I think I get what Edward is saying. We would have to trek through a freezing area and without knowing where we were going. All for the ce to find people, who might be wiped out, or hostile towards us. And if for any reasourn back, we will again be in the beastkin sphere of influence.”

  Sandra says, “And we ’t head south, because we know how the beastkin have started to sink their teeth into Terrafide for the st five years, for all we know it could quered.”

  Mariana looking at me asks, “You where part of a nomadi, so wouldn’t you knoces to go to in Terrafide?”

  “Well, there are a few. But they have issues.”

  “Could you please eborate.”

  “Around the western edge of Terrafide is a rge kingdom, known as Jedidiah. Apparently it is the oldest kingdom in all of Terrafide, and is incredibly powerful.

  But in Terrafide there is a giant river that goes from the northwest edge of the ti and bisects it up until about just a bit halfway, so to even reach Jedidah from our current location we would have to cross said river or head east to go around it.”

  “But it is just a river, and there is no way it be as fierce as the seas of Molstoria.”

  “You fet Mariana, but Terrafide is full of wonderbeasts. Crossing the river would be easy enough but dealing with the wonderbeasts would ensure our death.”

  “So north, east, west, and south are all out of options.”

  I rub my head viscously, and say, “ARGHHH THIS IS GETTING ANNOYING!”

  “Well, we always k would be, and ’t do anything about it.”

  Mariana says, “We should head southeast.”

  Stopping we all look at him and I say, “Why?”

  “If we look at our optioher have to cross that river to Jedidiah, or we will have to cross the o ao the eastern ti. Both of those are iy the only options where many of us could survive.”

  “You’re right, that really is our only options, so we ought to get ready. So that whenever Sandra get’s better we leave.”

  As we all start to talk about other pns we have about our escape, Pluso says, “What about the other campsites.”

  We all stop and look at him, which causes him to say, “I know it is childish, and foolish for me to ask such things. But I ’t stop thinking about the other campsite oation, and how things could get even worst for them if we leave.”

  Nora says, “So what do you want us to do, all stick around and die together.”

  “No, I am just saying it feels like we should include them in our pns.”

  Edward says, “Pluso you do realize how impossible that would be without putting our pns at risk.”

  “I know, I know, but it just feels wrong.”

  Putting my hands on Pluso shoulders, I pull my head bad give him a powerful headbutt.

  “O!” He says as he holds his forehead.

  “I know what you’re saying Pluso, but right now this is the best we do, and by esg we hopefully make other know of what is happening here. If we stay we ’t help ourselves or others.”

  Looking down, Pluso says, “Yeah you’re right.”

  Sandra g her hands, says, “Now that all of this has beeled would you allow me and my husband some time with our child.”

  Getting up, I say, “You’re right, it’s time to go.”