"For some reason, I feel exposed here."  Llani said and looked around fearfully.

"We're close to your old town.  That place has old memories, and shadows of death on every corner."  He turned away as she lowered her chin to her knees.  "I'll need to take care of that place eventually."  She frowned.

"Take care of?"

"They are too close to us.  They may decide we have too much, and they have too little."  She frowned and looked around.

"We have too much?"  She looked confused, which made him grin a bit.

"Food.  This whole clearing has food growing, while the forest is filled with meat.  If food was gold, we are rich."  She tilted her head.

"But only you can hunt that meat and harvest it.  No one else could run down an ironback deer, and kill it.  Or a silverback wolf."  He nodded.

"Which means they think I have weapons to do the job.  I've used them to get what we needed, but when their scouts come, I'll deal with them the same way I do the animals who hunt us."  She shivered.

"They'll hunt us?  Just like the kingdom did, huh?"  Her chin was still on her knees, like she had almost given up.  He nodded, but still smiled.

"Don't worry about them, Llani.  I take care of those who belong to me."  She looked up, then blushed and smiled a bit.

"Thanks.  What about Coral?"  He smiled softly as the girl snuggled in to her side.  She had eaten the stew and held onto Llani's side as though she was now her mother.

"She's mine too.  They'll never be able to sacrifice her like they did with you.  Which means we'll need to work hard over the next while.  Food foraging, wood for fire in the winter, and a shelter to keep the elements off us.  We'll need to do a lot this first couple of years."  He then looked around at the clearing.  The picture he had in his mind, a simple hut for the winter, grew in scope and grandeur.

"Yeah, we have a lot to do."

Llani frowned slightly.  She looked around, noticed that the fire was still burning brightly, but the sky had started to lighten.  She then noticed a few long logs off to the side.  Coral poked her side.

"Him."  She pointed to Leon off in the distance, a couple of logs on one of his shoulders, his ax in his opposite hand.  "Made fire. Went woods."  Llani hugged Coral carefully, as her skin was far too thin, and her hug might hurt her.

"Want something to eat?"  Coral looked up at her carefully, then nodded.  She hugged her gently, then looked at Leon as he approached.  "Did you want to eat soon?"  He dropped the two large logs onto the pile.

"Sure.  Be about half an hour.  I want to get a few stones for the foundation."

"Are you sure we should be doing this?"  One of the hunters asked.  He just watched as the big man carried two massive logs on one shoulder as though it was nothing.  The other hunter shrugged.

"We were told to rob this guy as he had lots of meat.  Meat means food for our families."  The first hunter nodded, but then pointed.

"Are you sure we should rob someone like that?"  He held a spear in his hand, but he watched as the tall rake thin man lifted a stone larger than themselves, put it on one shoulder, and walked away from the edge of the clearing.  The second hunter swallowed a lump in his throat as fear filled his belly.

"They never said anything about trying to take on a guy like that!  Why didn't they give us stuff to trade with?"  He lowered his eyes fearfully, and took a step back.  "I am not stupid!  If they want to trade....what do we have to trade with?  On us, I mean."

"Just these spears."

"Then let's go back before we get impaled on them!  If we ever decide to come back here, then we had better have gear to trade with him!  I'd rather take on a humpback bear then go after someone like that!"  When they turned away from the clearing, something they wished they would never encounter blocked their path.

"Oh hell, a bear.  Looks like you get your wish."  This gigantic beast had a massive head filled with long teeth, enormous paws that could shred their leather armor like it was paper, and the hump they referred to in the name of the bear was actually bony armor that lined its spine.

Before they could say anything else, cry out, or scream, blood covered their faces though it was thrown from a bucket.  A voice spoke beside them.

"Don't come back unless you have something to trade with. Make it worth my while too.  That is a lot of meat in front of you."

"Leon?  What were those voices?  It sounded like someone was dipped in boiling oil!"  He grinned.

"Just some fools who came to look around.  We have some bear meat to smoke, Llani."  She saw the carcass of a massive humpback bear being dragged on top of two long logs, not yet gutted, or skinned.

"That skin should keep us warm this winter, and the meat will keep us fed for quite a while."  She smiled, and didn't question the amount of strength necessary to take out one of those monsters.  She couldn't get her mind wrapped around one small detail.

"Um, Leon?  Where is the head?"

"I thought you guys were supposed to bring home some meat from that idiot's camp!"  The new self appointed mayor looked the two scouts over, then frowned.  "Where did all this blood come from?  Don't tell me you were able to kill him on your own."  The men shook their heads at the same time, their eyes still hollow and vacant.

"We have a message for you."  The mayor frowned at the hollowness of their voice.

"What message?"  One man took something off his back and dropped it at the mayor's feet.  He turned it over, his face then turned white.

"Don't come back unless you have something to trade with.  Make it worth his while."  They picked up the head, and slowly walked it into the town. The mayor was still frozen in shock at the entrance to the town, until a large hammer crushed his skull.

"Fools and shit rise to the top.  No longer.  I'm not making an enemy of someone who can kill an ironback deer, and a humpback bear."  He then walked to the only other store in town and explained what had happened.

"We better make it worth his while then, don't ya think?"  Deena said softly.  The blacksmith nodded firmly, then looked at the head of the bear still carried by the hunters.  "What would someone like him need?"

"The basics.  He's startin' over, from scratch, but he's no fool.  Pots, iron tools, candles for lighting, oil for lamps and lamps.  Whatever you think they might be able to use if they moved into a house but had nothing to start out with.  Get it on a cart, and I'll add things I know he'll be able to make some use of."  He lifted the large hammer in his hand.  "Someone that big will be able to swing this like its made of paper.  I'll need to make something bigger."  Deena nodded thoughtfully.

"I don't know his size, but the two girls could use some extras, I think.  That might calm him down a bit."  The smith nodded.

"Good idea.  He did take that child with him, and escorted Llani home safely.  Means he's protective."  Deena sighed softly.

"Which means the only reason we're still alive is that Llani didn't want us dead."  She looked at the bear head again, and shivered visibly.  "I can use the tongue and cheeks to make something good for a lot of people to eat.  Just need some foraged food, like potatoes, and onions to make it go further."  She looked up at the smith after she looked around her shop.  "You need to make sure you sleep tonight, father.  I assume you'll take the cart tomorrow?"  He nodded.

"So far, we're the only ones who treated him fairly, and I'm not letting you go out there."  She chuckled.

"Don't forget what those scouts said, father.   'The bear sneaked up on us.  The bear was quiet, like it was afraid of him.'"  He nodded slowly, and tiredly.  "Go get some sleep.  That's an order."

"That's a few stones, Leon?"  she asked carefully.  Coral giggled, which made him smile.  It was the first time since he met her that he heard her laugh.  It was a nice sound.

"It will take a bit of time to dig down so that the foundation is nice and sturdy and doesn't shift."  He pointed to a spot about twenty feet away.  "Do you think this spot is good?"  Llani walked over to it, looked around, and shook her head.

"Too much moss.  Probably holds water.  It might be easy to dig through, but there will probably be a lot of roots."  She looked around, and smiled.  "How about over here?  This large stone is probably pretty deep, and will make it easier to make a foundation because its already set, and its nice and flat."  He looked at the spot she pointed out, and thought for a moment.

"That was the reason I didn't choose that spot, but it should have been the reason to use it."  He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.  "The cornerstone, Llani.  The cornerstone of our home."  She smiled, and blushed a bit.  Coral pulled on her sleeve.

"Home?"  She said in a low voice as though she didn't dare to believe it.

"Yes, Coral, this is our home.  Mine.  Yours.  Llani's."  Coral smiled, and snuggled into Llani's legs.  She still liked to look at Leon, and trusted him, but she was still shy.  Llani smiled brightly.

"Our home.  It's been a long time since I could say that I had a home.  A real long time."