Elara Kindlewick found the creature tangled in a bramble at the edge of her garden, and she knew at once she could not leave it there. It was no bigger than her rabbit, but it had scales like wet coals and eyes that begged. She had spent her whole life dreaming of adventure beyond her little hillside home. Now one shivered in her hands, lost and far from wherever it belonged. She had to get it home. That was the trouble. She had no idea where home was. She carried it inside her burrow and wrapped it in a dish towel. It smelled of smoke and rain. When she set it near the hearth, it pressed itself against the warm stones and made a sound like a kettle. Her rabbit thumped and hid under a chair. "I can't just walk in every direction at once," Elara said. The creature blinked. That helped nobody. She knew one person who might. A beast tamer had wandered through the village a week past, trading stories for supper. Folk said he had handled things no farmer dared touch. Elara bundled the creature in her too-big cloak and ran to find him. He was camped by a stream, coaxing a hawk onto his wrist. She had never spoken to him. He looked up before she said a word, as if he already smelled the creature on her. "You've got something you shouldn't," Kael Wildstrider said. He set the hawk down and came closer. His eyes moved over the bundle, then narrowed. "Show me." Elara unwrapped the towel. The creature hissed, then went quiet under his gaze. Kael crouched. He touched one glowing scale and drew his hand back slow. "I've seen these once. Only once." He looked at her. "They don't leave home. Not ever. Something drove this one out." "Where's home?" Elara asked. Her heart pounded. "Please. I have to take it back." He was quiet a long moment. "North. Past the last ridge, where the ground stays warm all winter. There's a valley no map marks." He shook his head. "It's a hard road, halfling. Longer than you think." "But you know the way," she said. "I know where it starts." He stood and picked up his pack. "That's not the same as knowing the way." Elara looked down at the creature. It had curled against her chest and gone still, trusting her. She had a direction now. North. That was enough to begin. "Then I start there," she said. Kael studied her a moment longer. Something in her muddy feet and stubborn chin seemed to settle him. "You'll die out there alone," he said. He hefted the pack higher. "I'll take you as far as the ridge. After that, you're on your own." Elara grinned. She had a direction, a guide, and a creature counting on her. She also had no idea what waited past that ridge. But at last, she could choose a road.