Red, jagged stone pushes up out of the ground, breaking across the skyline. The mountain looks like broken teeth sticking up to form a shape like birds in flight.

We have to march clear around and come up into the bowl shape from the bottom side, adding about half a day to our travel time. Lana and Astarot knew the way to get us here because this is the source of epis for the City.

How will they react to us moving into their epis caves? It's like taking away control of the thing they all still need to survive here.

There's a large opening that drives down in the middle of the massive rocky mountain right ahead, it doesn't look inviting or friendly. It's dark, like a giant maw ready to swallow us.

Ragnar insisted that he and the hunters go through first to make sure it's safe. Having fallen into a nest of guster gives me all the reason I need to agree with him.

It doesn't take very long for them to return, dirty but safe, and the caves are ready for us to claim.

"Well, here we go," Delilah says.

"Yeah, great, why did we leave the city again?" Astrid asks.

"I'm here for my daughter, Lana," Bailey says, smiling. "I love her but yeah, this decision of hers…" Her smile makes it clear she's joking.

"I'm here for you," Penelope says to Astrid. "I didn't want to stay back there all alone."

"Yeah, me too," Delilah says. "I'm here for my bestie."

She nods over at me, but her side-long glances at a certain Zmaj say that even though what she's saying may be part of the truth, it's a long way from all of it.

"Okay girls," I say. "Let's get started, we have a lot to do if we're going to make this our new home."

"Look at how that path leads up the rocks there," Delilah says, pointing. "There are small cracks up there that might open into caves we could use for individual homes."

"Yeah," I say. "We should get with Errol. He's the mason that built most of the Valley for the Tribe. I bet he could show us how to work with the natural formations here to make homes."

We walk into the main cave while talking. It's a massive open space and our voices echo around.

"Well that's annoying," I observe.

"Yeah, HELLO!" Delilah yells, grinning over her shoulder.

HELLO - HELLO - hello - hello - hell comes the echo.

Rolling my eyes, I shake my head as she laughs.

"If we collect furs, we could use them to dampen the sound," Astrid says. "Hang them on the walls somehow."

"Oh, good idea," Penelope says. "That would be nice for our individual spaces too, we could use it like carpet."

"Yes," I agree. "I like that idea a lot."

"So this can be the common area?" Penelope asks. "Like the outdoors in the valley."

"I think that's perfect," I say, and for the first time I notice that the girls keep looking at me any time they present an idea.

When did that happen?

Lana is more a leader than I am. I'm just me.

Padraig walks into the cave then up to our small group. The Tribe smith is big, burly, and always comes off a bit gruff but I suspect behind the snarly exterior is a big teddy bear.

"Are you females going to use the small cave to the south of the entrance? I want that for my forge," he crosses his arms across his massive chest.

"Okay? No?" I say, making it a question because he's looking right at me.

"Good," he says then turns and walks away.

Looking at the other girls I arch an eyebrow and they all laugh.

"What?" I ask. "He just asked my permission to use a cave and I have no idea why."

"The look on your face," Delilah says, gasping around her laughter.

"Yeah?"

"Oh, Olivia," Astrid says. "You're so sweet."

Embarrassment flushes my cheeks. I shake my head side to side, unsure of what's going on or why I'm the center of attention.

"I don't get it," I say.

"That's for sure," Penelope says, laughing harder.

"Bailey?" I ask, hoping the older woman might shed some light.

"Olivia, honey," she says, putting an arm on mine. "You're our de facto leader. We look to you now. Isn't it obvious?"

"Uh, no? Why?" It feels like the weight of the world just landed on my shoulders. I'm not ready for this. "What about Lana? She's the leader here, not me."

"My daughter is a hunter, that is what she wants," Bailey says. "She'll be out with Astarot and the other men. You're the only one of us that will be here who speaks Zmaj. There wasn't time for the rest of us to learn it in all that happened. By default that makes you our leader."

"But I'm no-"

"Yes, you are," Delilah says, cutting her own laughter off. "You never see it do you? All of us have talked about it. You're perfect and you're the one we want."

Ahhh! Ok girl, get yourself together, you can do this.

"Okay," I smile.

"So, back to what we were working on," Penelope says. "If we make this a common area, we could set up sections for doing work we all need."

"What work are you thinking of?" I ask.

"Anything that would be better to do in company," she says. "Preparing food for storage, making clothes, crafting work."

We walk the length of the cave as we walk. At the back there's a crack in the wall through which shines a faint blue glow. The slit is tall but narrow, just wide enough that the smaller girls could slip through it, I will have to turn sideways and work my boobs to fit. Everyone stops shy of entering.

"We'll make our homes in the smaller caverns up and down the cliff face then?" Astrid asks.

"That's what I was thinking," Penelope says. "What do you think Olivia?"

"It sounds fine," I say.

"Those of us who don't have a… mate?" Astrid turns her statement into a question and looks at me.

My cheeks burn hot and I can't meet any of their eyes. "Yep," I say, pushing the attention away. "That's what the Zmaj call it."

Mates sounds so… primal. It makes me feel, owned, in a good way though. I'm his, claimed by Ragnar. He's everything I have ever dreamed of and more. Seriously, what girl ever dreamed of a dragon-man, one with two… well yeah. I know I didn't, not in my wildest fantasies.

Blood rushes to my face and my ears burn. Damn, I embarrass myself without saying a word.

"So yeah, those of us who aren't mated can share a space, just like on the ship," Astrid says, picking up where she left off.

"Oh, I like that," Delilah says. "I don't think I could sleep alone. It'd be too strange, you know?"

"It's a good solution," Bailey says.

"Well I'm not going to live in a bare stone cave," Penelope says. "Can we work out some comforts?"

"We've got blankets," Delilah says. "But that's not living in comfort."

"The thicker furs off those… what do they call those things? The ones that look like overgrown buffalo with teeth and a weird mutation?" Bailey asks.

"Bivo?" I ask, guessing at what she means.

"I think so, yeah. Those have the thick fur. If the hunters could gather that for us, we could start out making bedding. If we treat it and preserve the fur, then we could use those in place of a mattress."

"That's good," Astrid agrees.

"Where's Arawn, he's the leather worker, he'll know if we could do that," I say.

"Which one is Arawn?" Penelope asks.

I describe him to her and she smiles with a spark in her eye. "Oh, yeah, I saw him outside working on something."

"Okay, I'll talk to him later then," I say.

"Storage, that will be the next thing," Astrid says.

"Could we weave something? Make baskets?" Penelope asks.

"What would we weave?" Bailey asks. "Problem with this whole damn planet is there's not that much material to work with."

"Astarot says there's an oasis not far from here to the west," I say. "The one that Ragnar and I stopped at after we got lost in the storm had a lot of plants. Surely this one would have something we could use as material for weaving."

"A trip to the oasis then?" Delilah asks.

"We'll have to coordinate that with Ragnar, too dangerous to go on our own."

Everyone gives their agreement.

"So, since we're standing outside the entrance here," Bailey says, nodding at the crevasse in the wall.

All of us fall silent, looking at the tight opening. The faint blue glow emanating through it is a siren's call. It's been on everyone's mind, though we've avoided talking about it.

Epis.

We are living in the closest supply, giving us easy access. It also puts us in charge of the easiest source, which the city needs. This wasn't necessarily our plan, but it puts us in a good position.

"This is our home," I say. "Nothing will change that. We should make the best of it."

A murmur of agreement goes around.

Happiness swells inside me.

"What are you grinning about?" Delilah asks.

"This, you, us," I say, shaking my head. "Look at us! We're going to be okay. More than that, this will be good."

"Yeah," Delilah says and we all resume walking around the cavern.

"I feel it too," Penelope says. "The ship wreck was good, but I never felt hope for the future. It was just survival, you know?"

"Oh, yeah, that's it!" Astrid agrees. "It's like there's something more than surviving. A reason to live. Hope."

As we walk out of the cavern, back into the bright double red suns of Tajss, a sense of well being washes over me. Looking out across the rolling sands, I'm home. I've found my place and for the first time in my life I'm happy.