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baked.
    “Be careful,” Enat said. “These will be hot.”
    Despite the warning, Ash burned her fingers picking a cake off the stone. She blew on the hot oatcake until she could take a bite. Never had she tasted anything like this. She gobbled it down, quickly followed by three more. Warmed by the fire, clean and dressed in new clothes, and now with her belly full, Ash’s eyes began to close and her head to nod as she sat there. She thought maybe Enat was saying something, but her voice sounded very far away….

    “She looks like a runt.”
    “She was rescued by a clan of badgers and raised by them.”
    “You jest.”
    “No.”
    Ash listened from where she lay on a warm mat, covered with a heavy woolen throw. She had never slept on anything so soft and comfortable. She inhaled and recognized the scent of lavender. The shaggy shadow of a bear-like man moved over the wall next to her as he approached. She closed her eyes and lay without moving. He was silent for a moment.
    “Are you sure about her?”
    “Ivar, I felt her power. From here.”
    “From here?”
    “Yes. All natural. She’s had almost no contact with humans. I’ve never encountered another so strong at such a young age. I think it may be because she’s used her power to communicate with them ever since they saved her.”
    She heard his big feet shuffle away and opened her eyes.
    “What –?” Ivar’s shadow pointed. “Where did that come from?”
    “It’s hers,” Enat said. “The badgers took it from a fallen warrior the night they rescued her. She’s had it ever since.”
    Ivar’s shadow disappeared from the wall as he went to Enat. “Does she know?”
    “No. I didn’t realize myself until I washed it last night. And I think it best if it stays that way. At least for now.”
    Ash lay very still.
    “Hmmm.” Ivar cleared his throat. “We’ll see how she progresses.”
    “Ivar, she shows great promise, but she will make mistakes. We must give her a chance.”

CHAPTER 4
    Fire and Crow
    F or several days, Enat was the only person Ash saw. The girl was still fatigued from their journey, and she found her days and nights turned around. Living with the badgers, she had been in the habit of sleeping during the day and hunting at night. Since leaving with Enat, she had had to learn to change that pattern, but night seemed a strange time to sleep when so many animals were about. She looked longingly at her soft sleeping mat – filled with feathers, Enat had told her – while Enat was trying to teach her about herbs and medicines. Enat must have seen, for she said several times, “Go and rest. We will talk more later.” Never had Ash slept so much or so deeply. Within a few days, she felt more rested and began to take a greater interest in her surroundings as Enat took her for walks through the forest around their cottage.
    “Why did you pretend to be lame?” Ash asked as Enat strode quickly through the forest. “With the villagers where I first saw you and again at the lake. You pretended to be lame.”
    Enat glanced at her. “Why did you pretend you couldn’t speak or hear?”
    “It was safer if they thought I could not understand their speech.”
    “Even so. Not all believe now in the old ways. They fear magic, and I seem less of a threat as a crippled old woman,” Enat said.
    “Why do they fear it?”
    Enat did not answer immediately, but paused to pluck some plants, shaking the dirt off the roots before placing them into her bag. “There are men who have come to our land. They want others to believe in their god. They don’t believe in magic, and they have taught some of the people to fear it. The village near your sett was not such a village. The women there did not fear what I offered. Until I know how the villagers feel about it, I pretend to be a harmless old woman.”
    Ash did not know much about magic, and she did not know what a god was, but it had never occurred to her that not all humans believed in the same