I rose and peered around the night-dark forest. Beyond the trees, a bonfire burned. I climbed a small rise for a better view. Below lay a temporary settlement, with tents and a single bonfire guarded by a man in rough clothing.

“The Dark Ages?” murmured a voice beside me, and I turned to see Gabriel, squinting at the camp. “I landed over there.” He pointed. “Holding hands, it seems, doesn’t help with the drop. Would this be the Dark Ages?”

“Mmm, before that. I’m guessing pre-Roman.”

“—know where to find their water source?” asked a man.

We both turned. Behind us stood a small group of men carrying swords and cudgels. While I knew they weren’t speaking modern English, that’s what I heard.

“Can they see us?” Gabriel asked.

I shook my head. “As Patrick said, it’s a dead memory. Like a virtual reality replay.”

I walked toward the men, and Gabriel followed.

“Dump this into their water,” the man said to a younger one.

“Won’t that poison it?”

One of the other men snickered, and the leader said, “That would be the idea, boy.”

“But…but that camp isn’t a war party. It’s their whole clan, including women and children.”

“Women can still fight. Children grow into warriors. We’ll no longer share the same land with these trespassers.”

“Weren’t they here first?”

“Who told you such lies?” the man snarled. “Go back to your momma, boy. You aren’t ready to act with men.” He turned to the man who’d snickered. “Pour it in their water. Can you do that?”

The man grunted his assent, took a water skin from the leader, and loped off.

The scene flickered, like a movie reel hitting a glitch. Then I was lying in a field, looking up at the bright sun.

“Gabriel?”

He didn’t answer. I blinked hard and reached out. I’d fallen on something soft, and when my hand touched down, I felt fur, yet no movement or warmth underneath. A skin? I hoped so, though with my luck I’d landed on a dead animal. I blinked again and turned and…

I let out a shriek, cut short as I clamped a hand over my mouth and scrambled to my feet.

I was lying on the fur-cloaked body of a woman, twisted and contorted, her eyes bulging, dried blood crusting her mouth, both hands clutching her stomach.

A drinking cup lay at her side, next to a plate of half-eaten food. More food lay spilled by her hand.

The water.

They poisoned the water.

Another body lay beside me. A man, hands wrapped around his throat. I turned to look around me and…

Bodies. That’s all I saw. The dead. Everywhere.

I closed my eyes, and I heard screams and moans, and a child calling “Mommy!” voice pitched impossibly high with pain. I quickly opened my eyes, and the scene went quiet.