Marked by the Four Beast Lords After Transmigration

By first light, water had pushed a dark line of mud through the western drainage wall.

Kael crouched beside the lowest stone while Selvan scraped loose earth away from its base. Water seeped through the opening left behind, carrying grit into the channel cut along the path.

“The stones have not shifted,” Selvan said. He drove the end of a wooden probe into the mud and leaned his weight against it. The probe sank past the first marked line before striking firm ground. “The earth beneath them softened.”

Kael examined the wall above the leak. The upper stones remained level, and no fresh cracks divided the packed clay between them. Water had gathered behind the wall faster than the narrow outlet could release it.

“Open a second channel before the sun reaches this side,” he said. “Do not remove the lower stones until the water behind them drops.”

Selvan pointed toward the two workers waiting with digging tools. “I need another pair here. The males assigned after the market have not arrived.”

“They were moved to the trader shelters when the eastern cart broke an axle.”

“Then the traders can wait.”

“They will. Take two from the lower path crew after they clear the turning space.”

Selvan nodded and called the waiting workers closer.

Tarek approached from the upper path with three bark strips tucked beneath one arm. Damp earth coated the side of one boot.

“The eastern traders want to leave before the second bell,” he said. “Their lead driver says the lower road will be too soft by midday.”

“He is right.”

Tarek handed Kael the first strip. “The eastern stone rise can take one loaded cart at a time. The others will have to wait at the shelter turn.”

“Send the narrow cart first. If its wheels cut deeply, move the remaining loads by frame until the ground dries.”

“The driver will argue.”

“He argued yesterday when we moved him away from the footpath. He still moved.”

Tarek looked down at the next report.

The lower patrol had returned after the market closed. One male had strained his knee crossing a washed slope. Another had remained at the visiting shelters through the night and could not take the morning boundary route without rest.

“Use the first rested replacement on the first boundary section,” Kael said. “Move one of the inner-turn males to the second. The injured male reports to the care station before he returns to patrol work.”

“He says the knee is usable.”

“If it were usable, he would not have changed his stride for half the return path.”

Tarek wrote beneath the patrol names, bracing the bark strip against his forearm.

“The jungle-edge pair also reported water over the lowest marker near the first warm stream. They crossed above the black rocks. The ordinary turn is visible, but the soil below it is moving.”

Kael looked toward the southern paths.

Beyond Hearthfang’s worked stone, spring water ran through roots and old leaves instead of channels. The ground could appear firm until a full step broke through the surface.

“Replace the marker after the water drops,” he said. “Until then, add the upper crossing to the route board. Tell the patrol at the damp turn to stop anyone carrying a heavy frame from using the lower edge.”

Tarek marked the change.

A hunting runner reached them before Kael finished reading the final strip. The male carried a blood-marked token from the smokehouse and smelled of wet hide.

“The ridge group returned with two horned grazers,” he said. “One of the visiting traders offered white salt for the larger hindquarter.”

“The household shares have not been marked yet.”

“He offered enough salt for three winter cuts.”

“The meat is spring meat, and the lower shelters opened their stores during the second storm. Divide the first animal by the ordinary hunt shares. Send the second to the smokehouse after the injured hunters and the households still short from winter receive their portions. The trader can offer again after that.”

The runner took back the token and left at a quick pace.

Tarek watched him descend. “The trader will say the salt benefits more households than one cut of meat.”

“The trader will leave with his salt if Hearthfang needs the meat.”

A shout rose from the lower path. One of Selvan’s workers had reached the packed soil beneath the wall. Muddy water spread into the new channel and began flowing away from the stones.

Selvan stepped back to watch it.

“It will hold,” he said. “Unless someone sends another cart over the upper edge before the ground settles.”

Kael looked at Tarek.

“No carts over the western rise.”

Tarek added it to the trader strip. “I will tell the driver before he decides the rule was meant for someone else.”

They left Selvan at the wall and walked toward the central work tables.

Market covers were being folded beneath the shelters. Hearthfang sellers carried unsold baskets toward their household caves while the visiting traders repacked goods for the road. A broken wheel rested beside the eastern shelter. Two males worked a replacement pin into the axle while the driver stood over them offering instructions neither appeared to want.

Near the work-assignment table, Keva waited with Joren and Haron.

Her household cured hides near the north opening and traded waterproof covers before the heavy rains. Joren had marked his name for the western-wall crew and then added it to the eastern escort. Haron’s name remained on the north shelter-cover crew through midday. He had crossed out Joren’s second mark.

The work caller had left both changes untouched.

Keva stood with her arms folded while her husbands faced each other across the table.

“He gave his name before our storage cover began leaking,” Haron said. “I am already on the north covers until midday, and the grain mats are damp underneath. One person cannot turn all of them before the warmth reaches the cave.”

Joren pressed one hand against the table. “The western crew was short when I volunteered, and the escort still needed another male. I did not know the storage cover had started leaking.”

“You would have known if you had come home before giving away the rest of your day,” Haron said. “Now one of us has to leave assigned work, and Keva is the one waiting while we argue about it.”

Keva looked at Kael. “Haron is assigned until midday. I need one husband released before then. I do not need you to decide what happens after he reaches our cave.”

The work caller lowered his gaze and ran the charcoal along the strip’s edge without making another mark.

Kael read the assignments.

Joren had volunteered for the first wall shift before the leak widened. The eastern escort had enough names once the lower patrol reserve was counted, though using them would require another change to the inner watch.

“Joren stays at the wall until the first bell,” Kael said. “Selvan planned the morning work with his name included. The eastern escort will take a reserve male instead.”

Haron started to answer, but Kael continued.

“Joren is finished with territory work after the first bell. Haron stays with the north covers. What your household does after Joren leaves the wall is yours.”

Keva nodded. “Good.”

Joren looked at her rather than Kael. “The wet mats should be moved outside before we turn them.”

“They should,” Keva said. “You would know that if you had come home before volunteering for another task.”

Haron lifted the work strip and handed it to Joren.

“I will finish the north covers. He can turn the grain when Selvan releases him.”

“Then we are finished,” Keva said.

She left with Haron while Joren tied the assignment strip around his wrist and headed toward the western wall.

The work caller waited until they were several steps away.

“Should I stop accepting a second volunteer mark from the same household?”

“No. Ask whether the first task is complete and whether their household knows where they are.”

“That will slow the morning assignments.”

“Less than bringing every disagreement back here.”

Kael moved the eastern escort strip nearer the patrol list and reassigned the open place.

The first bell sounded before the broken cart left its shelter.

By then, the second drainage channel was carrying clear water instead of mud. The western rise had been closed to carts. Both empty patrol positions were covered, and the hunt shares were being marked at the smokehouse before the visiting trader could bargain for them.

Tarek remained at the route table while Kael returned to the upper cave.

Nia stood near the workbench tightening the knot of her outdoor wrap. She shifted her weight onto the foot that had rubbed raw the day before, took several steps across the uneven stone, then turned back without favoring it.

“The new seam works,” she said. “I can still feel the sore place, but the wrap is not scraping it.”

Shen stood beside the table with a broad hide band folded between his hands. Two padded loops had been stitched into its sides, and a longer tie passed through the reinforced ends.

Kael took it from him and pulled against each seam.

“The inner layer rests against my scales,” Shen said. “The loops remain above my body where Nia can reach them. I will fit it after I change.”

“On flat ground,” Nia added. “Before we reach the roots.”

The seams did not shift beneath Kael’s hands. Shen had doubled the stitching near each loop and softened the edges that might press against Nia’s legs.

Kael wanted to see Nia’s first look at Shen’s other shape. Instead, he tested the reinforced loop once more and returned the band.

“The first warm stream rose overnight,” he said. “Use the crossing above the black rocks. The soil below the ordinary turn is moving.”

Shen crossed to the route map and adjusted the line with one finger. “The upper crossing rejoins the path before the exposed-root slope.”

Nia came closer to look. “Anything else change?”

“The patrol at the damp turn will stop heavy frames from using the lower edge. The rest of the route is open.”

“Then we will check with them again before we leave the worked path.”

Shen rolled the support band and secured it beside the sample basket. The travel supplies prepared the night before were stacked near the passage.

Near the hearth, the yellow fruit peel had curled along its edges while the sour shoot remained damp through the center. Nia crouched to smell the peel without touching it.

“The scent is still there,” she said. “Leave both tiles where they are. I want to see what they do without changing the heat halfway through.”

“I will.”

“There are greens left for midday. Eat them before they sit too long.”

“I will.”

Shen fastened the water skin. “Tarek will remind you if you do not.”

Nia looked at Kael. “Then save him the trouble.”

Kael drew her upright and kissed her.

Her hands settled against his chest before one slid around the back of his neck. She leaned into him for another moment, warm and familiar, then stepped away.

“Do you need anything besides a report on the stream?” she asked.

“Mark where the ground changes if the upper bank is soft.”

“We will.”

Kael touched his tiger mark beneath the edge of her wrap, then lowered his hand.

Shen lifted the travel pouch and sample basket. “If the upper crossing is worse than the patrol reported, we turn back.”

A runner called from the main passage before Kael could answer.

“The eastern driver refuses to separate his loads.”

Nia glanced toward the sound. “You should go. We will see you when we get back.”

Kael nodded.

Nia passed the bark container to Shen, and he secured it beside the sample basket.

They left the cave together.

At the first junction, Kael stopped while Nia and Shen continued toward the southern descent. Nia tested the sloping stone, set her foot securely, and kept going. Shen walked on the outer side with the riding support and supplies balanced across his shoulders.

At the turn, Nia raised her hand.

Kael raised his own. She faced the damp route and continued down.

Tarek waited beside the central table with the eastern driver, two escort males, and three fresh report strips spread beneath his palm.

Kael watched Nia and Shen disappear behind the lower stone wall, then returned to Tarek and the reports spread across the table.

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