Seth scrambled to his feet. It was a small elephant. But even a small elephant was big. It was stopped, but swayed back and forth, swinging its trunk. Its movements were difficult to discern in the dark, the flickering firelight not illuminating the shadows that comprised the elephant. To Seth, it was behaving like a very agitated and unpredictable animal. It wasn't acting like Duvessa's normal summons at all.

"Woah, that's big," Seth said as the elephant backed up. "That's like three times your total summon volume isn't it? Duvessa watch it, it's going to knock the tent over."

"No, no, no," Duvessa said. "Move that way! What are you doing? You're my summon!"

"Can you calm it, Duvessa?" Seth asked. "It looks scared or upset."

"It's a shadow. It shouldn't be feeling anything at all. It was supposed to walk around the camp and then come back to me. I've never had a shadow disobey me before."

Duvessa stepped towards the elephant, and it backed further away. It tripped over one of the tent ropes making the tent sag drunkenly.

"Is it hostile to you?" Blaise asked, surprised. "I didn't think summons could do that."

"They're not supposed to," Selendrith said. "A summon is a manifestation of the mage's power. A mage has control over their mana, so too should they have control over their summon."

"But she ain't using her own power," Booth said. "This is that berry stuff. Can you at least get it away from the tent? It took us ages to get that up and now it's lopsided again." Booth retreated to the other side of the campfire from the elephant. Selendrith and Blaise followed.

Duvessa walked up to the elephant with her hand out, clearly intending to reabsorb the elephant. Apparently, the elephant didn't want to be reabsorbed. Before Duvessa could touch it, it stomped its feet and charged. Duvessa missed grabbing it as it swung its trunk and flung her away. Then it whirled and charged across their small camp sending everyone scattering to the edges of the clearing. Duvessa huffed as she sat up, clearly offended.

The elephant skidded to a stop just past the fire, and started rocking back and forth while swinging its trunk again. The dark body swayed aggressively.

"Duvessa!" Blaise exclaimed. "Stop it already!"

"I can't! It's not doing anything I want it to."

Owen darted towards his sword where it had fallen near the tent. Booth was picking up rocks and changing them to glowing stones before chucking them at the elephant. That enraged the shadow and it charged at Booth.

Mau darted at the elephant and jumped straight at it. The elephant skidded to a stop and raised its trunk defensively while backing up. Mau landed in front of it and circled. 

"Now, Duvessa, while Mau has its attention. Sneak up on it now!" Seth said. 

The moment Duvessa was even slightly near the beast it whirled around and swung at her. 

"Why is my own summon attacking me?" Duvessa cried as she darted behind Booth.

"Why are you hiding behind me?" Booth asked as he ran away too.

Mau jumped at the elephant again and it ignored everyone else for a moment.

Seth wasn't getting nearly the sense of danger or malice from the shadow elephant that he did from the wyvern. It didn't feel like the elephant was out to get them, but more casually hostile. If they stayed clear of it, it would probably wander off. 

"Maybe we should just get it out of camp," Seth suggested. "How long do your summons usually last?"

"I would need to resummon them after a few days. It really depends on how often I've summoned that particular animal type. My sparrows can last a week, but I wouldn't expect this elephant to last more than a day or two."

"Should we just drive it off then?" Blaise asked. "Let it disperse on its own?"

"Right. An angry shadow beast wandering the mountain is such a good idea," Booth said, throwing another light stone. "You think nobody'll notice?"

Mau still had its attention, and was steadily leading it to the edge of the clearing. 

Owen gave the sword a test swing. "Will you be alright if we kill the elephant, Duvessa? Your shadows getting killed bothers you."

"This one doesn't feel like mine. Go ahead and kill it," Duvessa said. She put a hand on her hip and pointed at the elephant. "Hold still," she commanded.

It didn't. It charged Mau and attempted to trample her. She was faster than it by a lot. She squawked and was behind it in an instant, confusing the shadow. Owen stepped up to block its way back into the camp.

Seth backed up and focused. Closing his eyes, he really concentrated on the wind blade spell, and tried to do it as close to its structured form as he knew how. He could feel the extra power from the berry and tried to use it to connect better with the wind. The instant before releasing the spell he opened his eyes to verify his aim on the elephant was clear of Mau and Owen.

He released the spell and immediately thought it backfired on him. Pain unlike anything he'd ever felt before stabbed through him and he fell to his hands and knees and nearly fainted.

For the next several seconds he had no idea what was happening as he just tried to stay conscious. Then he tried to take stock of where he was hurt. Everything ached in a sharp, stabby way. He looked down at himself but saw no injuries. As the seconds ticked by and some of the pain faded he realized it wasn't physical pain he felt. Some other essential part of him was hurting. It was like his mana was electrocuting him from the inside. He focused on his breathing and enduring the pain.

Blaise had her hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright? What happened to you?"

"I don't know," Seth panted. "It just hurts." Seth looked past Blaise to where Duvessa was absorbing the elephant. "You got it, good. I don't think those berries are a good idea."

"I'm thinking no too," Blaise said. "You really don't look good."

Seth barely had time to turn away from Blaise before puking his guts out. Mau leaned against him, lending him her support until he was done.

"Those chickens were eating these berries, right?" Owen said. He was standing on the other side of the fire where the elephant had been and was watching Seth with concern. He leaned his sword against a large rock next to him. "Someone actually saw the chickens eating them? That means they're safe for us to eat too, doesn't it? They're not poisonous or nothing, right?"

"I didn't see them, no," Blaise said. Selendrith shook her head. 

"I thought I did, but now I'm not sure," Seth said.

"I did!" Duvessa said. "The berries are safe for chickens."

For a moment Seth doubted Duvessa really saw that. She wanted to eat the berries bad enough that he thought she might make up a reason it was safe. Then he felt bad for doubting her. To the best of his knowledge, she had never lied to any of them.

"Do you think there's something different between the chickens and humans that the berries work differently for us?" Blaise asked.

"There's stuff chickens can eat that people can't," Owen said. "Maybe these berries are too."

"I've always been under the impression that humans are just a type of animal," Selendrith said. "How it works for chickens is how it should work for us. Duvessa got more and stronger summons. Booth feels like his power is leaking and he needs to use it."

"People are not animals–" Booth started.

"I feel that too! What should I summon this time?" Duvessa interrupted.

"Nothing!" Booth said sharply. "We did that once already!"

"But I'm so full! Maybe if I pick something harmless?"

"Please don't summon anything, Duvessa," Owen said as he walked over to Seth. "How are you feeling?" 

"I'm all right," Seth said. He wasn't though, not yet anyway. 

"You're shaking," Blaise said. She turned to the others. "What do we do if this is serious? There's no way we can get him down the mountain tonight. What if he can't walk back to the city tomorrow?"

"I can carry him," Owen volunteered.

"No you can't, your shoulder is still injured," Blaise said. "And Seth isn't well enough to heal you again."

The shadows around camp gathered around Duvessa.

"What the hell, Duvessa? We said not to summon anything!" Booth exclaimed.

"But this one is harmless!" A large, vaguely bean shaped shadow creature with stubby legs stood calmly by the fire. "It's a capybara. They are super gentle and it won't hurt anyone. The one I saw at the zoo let baby goats climb all over it."

The placid shadow creature turned its head to each of them in turn and then slowly wandered the clearing.

"At least it's calmer than the elephant. Smaller too," Blaise said. "But you really shouldn't have summoned something again, Duvessa."

"It was necessary," Duvessa replied airily. She refilled her borrowed water container and brought it over to Seth. "Maybe you should get the tent tonight."

"I'll be fine," Seth said. He was sitting on the grass and leaning against a boulder. The pain was lessening, albeit slowly. "I just need a bit. I don't want to be in the tent if I need to throw up again." He watched the shadow capybara nosing through the grass. 

Everyone else was watching the capybara too. And they continued watching it as it wandered off into the forest.

"No way am I chasing that in the dark," Booth said. "Right now I don't care if someone finds it."

"Aww. It'll come back when it's ready. I guess it just needs some space," Duvessa said.

"I'm going to put away the rest of the berries," Selendrith said. She pulled a large jar out of somewhere. "I've got a preserve jar that'll keep them fresh for a long time. I really don't think we should be eating any more of these without knowing a lot more about them."

"Yeah, like knowing what they are and if they're poisonous," Owen said. "Why is Seth the only one puking though? Selendrith, did you try any?"

"I did not. Mana potions don't work for me, and I figured these berries would have similar properties. But based on Seth's reaction, there are more factors here than we know."

"Is he going to be alright?" Owen asked. 

"I want to know why the berries worked fine for the chickens but are doing weird things to us," Blaise said. "Who tried the berries? Me, Duvessa, Booth, and Seth? Owen and Selendrith did not, right? So, there was no real effect for me, and I had two. Duvessa had three, and her summons effectively don't belong to her. Booth tried one, and feels like he needs to use up excess mana. Seth got sick and isn't doing well."

"Any chickens that got sick probably got eaten right off," Owen said. "And any chickens that had bad reactions probably did too. I'd say these berries ain't safe to eat."

"They're so tasty though," Duvessa lamented. "I would love to turn those into a fruit tart or something."

Seth and Owen both shuddered.