“You left too soon, and that is unfair, but we are not the ones who sped you on your way. Forgive us what we did, and do not follow us when we go.”

It was a strange sort of prayer if it was a prayer at all, and Khanh reached into the man’s robes before shaking his head and standing.

“No papers and no purse. They robbed him.”

Lao Bingyi’s lip curled.

“Of course they did. Evil, stupid, and broke.”

She turned to herd Chih out of the shed, where Sang was mostly done crying and Wei Jintai still had that terribly inquisitive expression on her face.

“All right, we have a lot to do before dark,” Lao Bingyi said. “Cleric, just like before, you get the water and make sure that your bird watches out behind you. Be ready to scream your head off if anyone comes too close, and don’t be shy about it either. I’d rather come running because you saw a shadow than otherwise, all right?”

“I don’t think screaming is going to be a problem,” Chih said shakily, and Lao Bingyi nodded before turning to Sang and Wei Jintai.

“And you two. Firewood and some scouting for good ground. Find him a place to sleep, all right? Soft earth and stones we can pile over him.”

Sang and Wei Jintai nodded in unison, and Lao Bingyi clapped her hands like a restaurant owner giving her staff their marching orders for the day.

“Go on, all of you. There’s work to be done before dark.”

Almost Brilliant fluttered over Chih’s head as they made their way to the spring. It felt as if they were walking a few feet behind where they really were, as if their hands were too far from their body and the ground was both too clear and fuzzy all at once.

Almost Brilliant whistled sharply, bringing them to a halt.

“What?” they asked blankly. “I have to fetch some water.”

“I think you should touch that tree over there.”

“What, this one?”

They laid their hand against the tree beside them, and Almost Brilliant came to perch on their head.

“What sort of tree is it?” she asked, and Chih concentrated.

“It’s … got white smooth bark. It’s about as thick around as my thigh. It’s got black stripes dashed along its trunk, and the branches grow at a tight upward angle. The leaves are a deep green, oval and thick.”

“That is good. What else?”

“It’s a poplar,” they said more confidently. “I don’t know what kind, but there are many trees like this here. Poplars have both mothers and fathers, and they will populate a valley with their entire families, rooting out weaker trees and sometimes even older trees with their advance.”

As they spoke, they returned to their body, and the world looked the proper distance away, neither too close nor too far. They nodded with relief.