Ambrose stared up at the light blue of the morning. He had been laying on his small bed of leaves and looking up at the sky since he had woken up. Despite the fact that it was hard and more than a bit itchy, he was really happy to be back on his land, in his bed.

  He only had a limited time to enjoy his moment of piece, before a small green face appeared over him. Though it was surprisingly a bit smaller than the one he expected. Baby Gren-Lag gave a gurgling smile as he looked down at him.

  "Hello" Ambrose said, a smile blooming on to his face at the little one’s cuteness. He sat up and saw that the source of the baby’s new flight ability was its mother.

  "Reenie is asleep still, and I thought you wouldn't feel at home without a small goblin waking you up." She said, with a smile.

  He sat up and without thinking put out his arms to take the baby. Ros passed them over and Ambrose made funny faces until another of Gren-Lag's heart melting smiles appeared. Once what he had caught up in his brain what had just happened, he was both a very happy and a little shocked.

  "I am really glad that you feel comfortable here and with me, enough to let me do this." Ambrose said, as he lifted Gren-Lag into the air, causing more giggles to emit from him.

  "You have nearly killed yourself twice for my family" She said, a half-smile on her face "I think I can conclude that your pretty ok, for a human."

  Ambrose gave a chuckle at her comment. "Probably the best I can ask for."

  Once Rennie was up and Gro-Lag had returned from fishing, they began making breakfast. Ambrose built up the beginnings of the fire from there kindling pile they had stored in the goblin family's hut and using a little magic, got it lit. He then; with the help of Reenie, fed it progressively until it was ready for cooking on. They dined on hearty breakfast of venison soup that Ros had prepared the night before once it had began bubbling from the heat.

  "If we are having soup, why did you go fishing this morning Gro?" Ambrose asked, between bites.

  Gro-Lag drank the rest of his soup from rough clay bowl his wife had made. "Now we have a good amount of salt, I thought we should start to make some long lasting supplies." He said still chewing. "We can make oil from the mackerel and salt the rest, as well as some of other meat."

  "Good idea."

  All of them turned; including baby Gren-Lag, to see Trelen standing just behind and to the side of where they were sitting.

  "I wondered when you were going to wake up." Said Ambrose, cheerful.

  "I have been awake for hours." The Slovèi replied.

  "Ah, ok. Well sit down and have some soup if you want?"

  Trelen seemed to hesitate for a moment before sitting and picking up a bowl. They offered it to Ros who filled it an handed it back.

  "No bread?" They asked, flatly.

  "We have no grain and no kiln, so unless Ambrose has some magic to create some, no, no bread" Ros said, equally as flatly.

  Trelen took a slurp of soup, giving a satisfied sigh as it went down their throat. "You guys have a ton of bricks, how come you haven't built a kiln yet?" They asked.

  "We were getting around to it when the accident that made me want to dig out the river happened, so we have been a bit sidetracked." Said Ambrose.

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  "I can build it if you want?" Trelen said, just before drinking more soup.

  "You know how to build one?" The three had discussed plans for how to put a kiln together but Ambrose had to admit, they were making it up somewhat as they went along.

  Trelen gave an odd smirk at Ambrose's question. "Leave it to me."

  Once breakfast was finished and tided, Ambrose and Trelen walked to the spot where the bricks had been drying.

  "Most of these bricks are green, I am going to need to fire them before they can be used to make a kiln." The Slovèi said, crouching over the bricks.

  "Green, they look pretty red, or grey to me?" Ambrose responded.

  "Green means they haven't been heated, just dried." Trelen responded, still looking over the bricks. "They look good though; you have high quality clay here." They paused for a moment, seemingly deep in thought. "I wonder?" They stood and turned to Ambrose. "I will need to build a fire; can I use some of your gathered wood?"

  "Sure." At Ambrose confirmation they started off back towards the camp. "Do you need any help?" He called after them.

  "Probably not." They called back.

  After a few moments of awkwardly standing where Trelen had left him, Ambrose made his way over to the bank of the river. Where they had gathered clay from had left gouge about and arm's length deep and about his body lengths wide.

  It’s a start. He thought to himself.

  The river was maybe only a fifth of a chain wide, but to be able to slow it down enough to be safe while also wide enough that damning it didn't cause it to flood, he thought he might have to double or even triple its width.

  "It's not going to be easy." A voice behind him said.

  He turned and saw Gro-Lag walking up behind him.

  "We have the shovel that Rea gave us." said Ambrose. "And we could probably make another stone one."

  "We could, but might I suggest we use some of the coin Reabeck gave us and buy some better tools. Plus, you still need to get your tooth fixed."

  Ambrose’s tooth had not been giving him much trouble the last couple of days, though he could still feel the soft throbbing from it when he exerted himself.

  "As long as you are ok with that still?" He asked.

  "Yes, lord Ambrose, I am still ok with it."

  Ambrose smiled and nodded. "Arlon should be here in about a day to collect the deer's we agreed on, I will see if can I travel back to the city with her."

  It was hard for him to believe that only twelve days had past, so much had happened, especially since he had been unconscious for nearly three of them. "I can get my tooth fixed, buy some more tools and report what happened to Trelen to the city officials."

  "Think they can help?" Gro-Lag asked.

  "I hope so. Slavery is outlawed in this country, in this whole continent even. I can't see how they can ignore it."

  Gro-lag nodded at his reasoning. "Welp, in the meantime we better get started, I will get the shovel."

  "I will get the shovel." Ambrose interjected. "You have shown your much better with the bow then I am, and we need two fresh deer for the collection."

  The two walked back to camp and found Trelen looking through on of their supply piles.

  "Everything ok?" Gro-Lag asked as they approached.

  "I can't find you flint and steel anywhere." They said, slight annoyance in their voice.

  "That’s probably because we don't have one." Ros said coming out of the hut.

  "So, your only way of starting a fire is Ambrose, or can you all do magic?" They asked.

  "We did have one but it broke when Gro-Lag nearly blew him and Ambrose up." She replied. "Luckly we now have something better." She reaching into a pouch just by the door of the hut and pulled out a bone rune. "Do you know how to use these?" She asked.

  Trelen looked at it confused. "What is it?"

  "I will take that as a no. Reen-Ge?n-Lüg Come on; we are going to help Trelen light a fire."

  The small girl slowly emerged from the hut rubbing her eyes, seemingly just waking up from a nap. When she saw Trelen, her eyes locked on to them.

  Trelen seemed a bit uncomfortable at the child's unblinking stare, giving her a wave after a few awkward seconds.

  "Are you a boy or a girl." Reenie said, so out of nowhere that everyone took a moment to process the question before they could react.

  "Reen-Ge?n-Lüg, that is not nice thing to ask" Her father said.

  The small girl looked at him, her face showing growing upsetness and confusion at being scolded.

  Before she could burst out crying Trelen walked forward and knelt Infront of the girl.

  "I know it might be confusing for you but my people don't have boys and girls, we are just us." They said.

  The girl was silent for a time, as she processed what she had just been told. "That’s silly." She giggled finally.

  Ros and Gro-Lag looked mildly mortified at her answer before Trelen responded.

  "Well, I think you being a girl is silly." They said, with a small laugh.

  The laughter that continued from both of them caused the tension that had slowly grown since Reenie had asked her question to instantly dissipate.

  "Oh, don't you just love children" Ros said, her sarcasm barely hidden.