Chapter 405

Women had dug a few deep pockets in the side walls of the mountains. Inside these pockets would be a small complex of twenty or thirty rooms with their own set of lacquered pots and a large communal fire pit. I thought of them like small villages. The men that lived that way tended to be similar in demeanor and very close to one another. It impressed me that men like that had invited our families to join them. It was essentially like opening their home to someone.

I felt Damien and his brothers as we walked. They were talking to the Mund and his friends. My men had never experienced the absolute openness that these men allowed.

Tyle and his brothers, as well as, Arnold’s family had just come to stay in this place, too. They were glad to be re-accepted into the camp. It turned out both families had not enjoyed being ostracized, but they’d done it out of loyalty. Damien was thrilled they were no longer cursed by his presence.

As the men sat around the large communal