‘Brother. Yuhuo is back,’ the voice roused Huishou from his rest. His brother, Huofan, was poking his head into their den. His eye was still swollen and leaking, and he looked exhausted. It hurt Huishou’s heart to see his brother’s face—mostly because he looked so similar to Dazhao, and Dazhao… It should have been funny. First they had been beaten up by a chicken, and now the Ash Guardian Brothers had lost one of their number to insects. Instead, all it did was make his chest ache. He would have rather endured a thousand beatings from the Blaze Douser, Master Bi De, if it meant his brother still lived. He still remembered the seething mass and the screams. Dazhao’s fire trying to break through the coursing river of black and yellow— ‘I’m coming,’ Huishou said, rising. His back was covered in welts. The wretched beasts had figured out that clipping the blazing hairs on their backs made it harder for them to ignite, and so they sacrificed themselves to do as much damage to that area as possible. What was once the sign of one shamed and exiled was now a common sight—though Huishou supposed they were indeed shamed and exiled. He came up out of the den and into the clearing. It was a place of misery. The wailing of cubs filled the air, as did the scent of death. The few of those who knew the healing ways danced around the prone forms of warriors who had fought the demon bees, using ancient arts to try and get the poison out of their bodies.