I brushed my fingers over the pearl on Juniper's forehead, half tempted to try to pry it away from her skin, but that pressure was enough to snap the cord that had been holding it in place. The cord had withered around the pearl almost as if it had rapidly aged or been burned away by the pearl's glow. It fell away, still tangled in her hair, but the pearl remained. Edges blurred into her skin, glowing opalescent, changing moment by moment, but at the same time, so slowly I couldn't catch the changes when I stared at her forehead.

There wasn't a good way to get a good grip on the thing. My fingers slipped off the still rounded part as if it was ice and the rest might as well have been multicolored skin. No blood or ruptured flesh showed as evidence for the fusing pearl, but if I tried to cut it out of Juniper's forehead there'd be more than enough of both—no matter how much I felt sickened by watching the pearl change with the colors of the Lady Blue's blood I couldn't bring myself to risk giving Juniper what could be a mortal wound by removing it from her forehead. Not after we just saved her from becoming trapped in the Water Frond Snake.

When it came to Juniper my hands were tied. I had just gone against clear battlefield logic to bring her back to her body, but now I couldn't keep defying logic since it said trying to destroy or remove the crystal would hurt her as well. Which meant I could continue to sit where I was hoping that the glow would miraculously go away or do something about the consequences of my actions.

If I couldn't do something about the pearl in her forehead, maybe doing something about the two stuck in the Water Frond Snake would make a difference.

I snapped my fingers in front of the healer's face and she blinked owlishly at me. I wasn't sure if she understood that Juniper was back in her body but I also wasn't about waste time asking.

"Give me something to increase my energy and reduce soreness. I can't keep hobbling around."

She stared at me for a moment before her gaze drifted back over to Juniper. "Nothing ever works."

I wasn't sure what the tribe did to get her to make the concoction for my throat, but perhaps she hadn't been as deep into the pits of despair then. I turned my attention to her supplies, but I knew better than to try my hand at making my own draft even if there was a tenuous argument to be made that it wouldn't be healing, just reinvigorating. A little boost, like a nap in a bottle.

That part of my life was cut out and uprooted. And even I still had my beads, I likely wouldn't be able to do much her ingredients. The plants in this delta were too different from what I knew and even the most common plants that spanned most of the goddess's territory would likely have difficulty growing in the waterlogged environment.

I stepped past Juniper so I could take up the entirety of the healer's vision. "Not her. Me. She's back in her body. I'm the one that needs healing now."

Her face scrunched like I was the wish maker trying to convince her to give away her common sense. "You?"

"Energy. Strength. Reduced soreness. Can you do that?"

She drew in a deep breath and her hand groped to the side until it landed on a small flask tucked up against the wall. She held it up, limply, as her gaze tried to skirt around me to focus back on Juniper.

"Knife Dancer's Revenge."

I took it from her but stopped short of drinking it. "What does it do?"

"Not enough."

I sighed in frustration and stepped past both Juniper and Ana to shove the flask in the door watcher's face. She was still trying to pretend like she couldn't hear everything that was said in the little healer's tent, trying to blend in the woven wall without leaving her post, which probably pointed more towards her loyalty to Juniper as the Pearl Bearer than helping the healer. But she had the look of a knife dancer and if the healer refused to answer my questions than she could answer them since the potion was named after her kind.

"Knife Dancer's Revenge. What does it do?"

"I don't—"

"I don't need the technicalities. Or excuses. When you drink it what does it feel like? What does it do?"

"I haven't had it." She squared her shoulders. "But a few friends of mine have. They said it's like getting a fighter's high on demand. All strength and speed and focus, nothing can stop you and you have all the energy in the world to knife down any enemy that comes your way, but it doesn't long and the crash after is brutal."

The watcher had a storyteller's way with words but disappoint still tugged at me. The drink wasn't exactly the pick up I was hoping for even if it could be useful in its own way. I'd have to continue on sore and tired until I found time to rest or the situation balanced the cost of drinking the Revenge.

It would have to do. I doubted I'd be getting anything else out of the healer's vacant stare. I caught Ana's attention as she stepped out of the hut.

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"Tell Esie and the others to flood the delta. I don't care if the dam isn't as full as it could be. We need as many fish pushed out of the delta as possible." I waited for her to finish sending the whisper before continuing, "I need to know where the remaining crystals are and where the Water Frond Snake ended up."

"Let's go to the command post."

I nodded and kept myself from giving Juniper one last look. I had done what I could for her here. There wasn't any need for me to display further weakness in front of the whole tribe. I had done enough that with my insistence on bringing Juniper back to her body in the first place.

At the command post, Ana showed me where the remaining crystals had been secured in an actual woven box, still in their water bag, in the Tribe Master's sleeping quarters while two tribesfolk guarded the door flap. She left me to go get the most recent updates on the situation in the delta, but I couldn't quite bring myself to stand up as I stared at the box.

So much had happened in too short of time. In that dark nook with no one to see, all the emotions welled up even as I tried to tell myself that now wasn't the time. That I still had things I had to do before I broke. That I couldn't waste energy and time crying.

The tears came anyway.

Hope and fear, guilt and pride, relief and anxiety all roiled through me. Some of it didn't even matter any more. My mind kept offering up images Juniper laying on the floor, mind gone, and then contrasting it with her curling into a ball, safe as she could be, or all the chaos I was sure was happening around the delta. Trees turning red with blood, fish scrambling at a listless Water Frond Snake, tribesfolk fighting and some getting struck down into watery depths.

Somehow I fell asleep and I only realized it when a distant rumble caught my attention and my eyes snapped open. The nap helped ease some my exhaustion but I hated that I succumbed to it. All I could hope was that I hadn't lost a lot of time.

I forced myself up and out of the Tribe Master's sleeping quarters. The command post was surprisingly sparse. Ana and Tribe Master Toniva were conversing quietly next to the map of the delta while only a few others were spread throughout the chamber working on their own tasks along with the two guards protecting the room I was in.

They all glanced over when I stepped out and Ana beckoned me over. No one seemed overly concerned about the rumble that was steadily getting closer, but then I figured everyone knew it was the flood I had ordered.

Toniva gave me an acknowledging nod. "I heard what you did for my daughter. Thank you."

I nodded back, awkward and unsure what to say. Ana saved us from the uncertain pause by pointing at a spot on the map near Bramble Watch.

"The Water Frond Snake ended up here. Apparently, Juniper tried to swim back to her body as well as answer our calls mentally. We have watchers on it but the fish haven't been able to pry open its jaw yet—not that they've been coordinated about it." Ana smiled as if she had said an amusing joke before continuing to point out different things around the delta. "All the tribesfolk that can be spared are marking trees while Tufani and her folk will sweep from above to check if the flood takes out any footpaths. No one wants another situation like what you dealt with. Esie wanted to know if you wanted her group to stay near the river mouth or go to the shoreline to help keep the fish out of the delta."

Competence. Part of me relaxed at the reminder that there were people around me who knew what they were doing while another part tensed with annoyance that I had missed the decision that had been made. I was supposed to be learning delegation but I still found it difficult to let go of control.

But then again, Esie had been playing her own game this whole time. I saw no reason to change that and let her think I was pacified because she gave me a couple of options after I snapped at her.

"Esie can do whatever she wants. Like she has been." I wanted to glare but I tried to hide my frustration and annoyance behind a blank face. "How long was I out?"

"Just a short bit. There was a bit of conversation about whether now was really the best time to flood the delta," Ana said before winking at me. "I reminded them that you are in charge of our group and leading operations here."

I asked, "Do we have any leads on Ambervale?"

"Ziek is tracking her now. She said that she found the freshest trail and should have the traitor secured within the day."

"Even with the flood?"

"Water doesn't hinder the Hound." Pride radiated from Ana for her fellow apprentice. I trusted her judgment. One way or another, I'd have one part of my mission completed before too long.

Then I realized there was one point Ana had brushed by at the beginning of the conversation and I narrowed my eyes at her. "And the Water Frond Snake? Is it normal or is it glowing like Juniper's pearl?"

Tribe Master Toniva answered, "Glowing. The watchers have reported that it pulses with colors matching the Lady Blue's blood."

"Unprecedented times." Ana looked pleased at the thought.

So. The flood was coming, the Water Frond Snake was a problem waiting to happen but I didn't want to risk getting its mouth open when there were still fish around, and the various conditions the High Priestess had given me were getting completed as as quickly as we could.

All that remained was dealing with the fallout from the flood once it hit, completely saving Juniper, and killing every fish possible. Two of which had to wait until the flood cleared out the fish.

The rumble was loud enough now that I had to raise my voice to speak over it and I could hear other noises within in it. Snapping and thumping, creaking wood and shouts from the defenders. I hoped the goddess was in a forgiving mood. It hadn't been clear if the Beloved had accepted defining the trees as blighted rather than under the goddess's protection and this stunt wasn't going to leave me free of further blame. I had hoped that the water would just flow down the waterways already in the delta and not put pressure on the surrounding trees, but that had been a foolish hope. The sudden influx of water was too much for the already waterlogged landscape to contain.

Bramble Watch shook as the flood hit the trees supporting it and groans from straining wood filled the air, but none of the trees gave way. A few people shouted outside the command post and one of the aides that had been working carefully made their way outside to check what was going on. It felt like a small eternity before the rumbling subsided and faded off into the distance as the flood wave continued further down the delta.

I gave Ana and Tribe Master Toniva a few more suggestions and instructions based on the situation in the delta before stomping my way toward the Water Frond Snake. Now wasn't time to be jumping into bird beaks and nearly breaking myself reaching the ground again. Instead, It seemed it was time to take care of business and I was determined to ruin any fish that got in my way.

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