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was given a special place under the dead roots of the great tree. Lin worked at turning the tree’s stump from wood to stone to act as a stark memorial to those who died. Maya had tested out her armor even more by doing a running scout of the remainder of the trail through the pixie forest. Coming back, she indicated it was safe enough for the main party to pass through.
    Nia just sat disconsolately on a branch. There were some tears off and on, but soon there wasn’t even any more of those. Every attempt I made to try and comfort her was politely rebuffed. Maya, who seemed more in touch with Nia’s feelings, told me to give her space.
    As we were getting ready to leave the glade, Nia cleared her throat and activated her amplification spell. It still wasn’t very loud, but I doubt we could have heard her real voice in the shape she was in.
    “Thank you for everything you’ve done, please…when we rejoin the others, do not mention this. There is enough heartache in the camp already, we do not need to add more. I will see that the memory of my people does not die.”
    I could see the little bit of strength she had left leave her at that point as we all nodded and began packing up.
    Riding back, Lin and Julia rode behind me on the stallion in their human forms. I could tell from what I heard of their limited conversation that both of them had grown up a bit as a result of what they had seen today.
    Instead of riding in her usual place on my shoulder, Nia choose to travel with Maya all the way back, with the mare lagging several lengths behind us most of the journey. The two of them talked in elvish, using low even-sounding tones, but I could still tell the occasional tear dropped from both of them. As time goes by, it occurs to me that Nia seems to see Maya more and more as a mother figure, and I guess at times like these, Nia just needed her mom…I can relate.
    Before we even topped the last rise to the encampment, we could already hear shouting, and it didn’t sound like a party. Almost all of the servants and wizards were yelling at each other; even some of the guards were involved in the verbal free-for-all.
    I looked at Maya and Nia, but they were both shaking their heads in utter disappointment. Maya reset the helm on her armor. Sighing, we rode up to where Rosa and the captain were trying to regain some form of control of the situation, but no one seemed to be listening.
    Rosa spotted us almost instantly; then again, how could she miss us? She waved us over as we dismounted. “Thank the stars you two came back!”
    Still confused, Maya looked at me and then back at Rosa. “Why wouldn’t we?”
    Panicked, my master brushed off the question and pushed us toward the crowd. “Never mind that, you have to help me get them under control! Please, I have no idea how to be a leader!”
    Maya had one of her famous gleams in the eyes; she was all over this one. She calmly walked over to a flat, elevated rock shelf and easily jumped on top of it, giving her a commanding view of the crowd. She stood silently for a bit, even shushing me when I was going to say something. After well over a minute, she finally answered my unasked question.
    “I was listening to them in hopes of finding out what all this is about. It seems there are two major arguments going on at the same time with overlapping opinions. About half want to try and retake the school while the others say we need help. I even hear a few saying they just want to go home to their parents and never deal with magic again. The other discussion is about who should be in charge. The older students want one of them to lead, and the younger ones want the enchanters in charge. It’s really a giant mess!”
    I sighed. “We haven’t even moved yet and we have dissention in the ranks, can this day get any worse?”
    She laughed grimly at that. “Don’t worry, I like a challenge!” She stepped forward, cupped her hands over her helmet were her mouth would be and shouted