"Larr said it will only be a few hours more." Henry was sitting on the back of a huge, almost entirely yellow-green-ish hisser, that also carried Thanatos, who now looked at him. "If you say so."

Almost three days they had now spent traveling with the lizards, and so far, the journey had been quite enjoyable. The hissers were rather quiet traveling companions, that usually left Henry and Thanatos to their own devices during breaks and when they assembled to sleep.

They had traversed a part of the jungle entirely foreign to both flier and human, and hadn't the hissers showed them the way, they would have never made it this far.

Once, they had crossed a place swarming with mites, the lizards had warned them to approach, as their sting brought a swift death. Then, there had been that seemingly unsuspicious clearing, but when Henry had suggested taking a break there, Larr, the purple leader of the hissers, had told him to throw a rock into the middle, before entering. When Henry had done that, he had found the clearing was no clearing, instead, it was the wide-open trap-mouth of a flesh-eating plant, that had instantly snapped shut when the rock had hit it.

Overall, they had had several encounters with some of the nastier residents of the jungle, but every time, the hissers had foreseen and warned them of the danger.

Now, they were almost at the colony, and Henry took out his water sack and drank the last of its contents. They had come across several springs with fresh water, so his supply had never run out before. And now they would soon be back at the nibblers'.

For the first time, Henry pondered what the mice might think of their long absence. He twirled around the bone, he had been carving, mindlessly. The new figurine depicted two people, a rider holding up a sword in flames and a flier with spread wings, a stain on his face and a scar, splitting it in half.

Henry had left most of his figurines with Kismet, when they had left, he had smiled and told her they were a gift so that she would remember him. Kismet had scoffed, but Henry had a feeling she had been happy to receive them. He had even left her the one of himself. This one would do a better job at representing him – them – he thought, and resumed carving.

An hour passed and Henry finished the figurine at last. He turned it around and signed "Death Rider" at the bottom, before slightly kicking Thanatos to get his attention. "Hey, look here, I made a thing!"

The flier stared at the image of them in shock and awe. He had only glanced over a couple of Henry's carvings before, and he was visibly impressed with the work – "Hey, we look great. This... this new hobby of yours may not be practical, but it sure makes for some nice-looking art. Teslas will praise it."

They spent the rest of the ride in comfortable silence, Henry packed away his carving things and played a little with Larr's baby son Noar, who had taken quite the liking to him and Thanatos, over the course of their travel together.

Henry had no idea why he even liked taking care of him, he had never gotten along with kids too well, but maybe that was just something you grew into as you got older. As of recently, both the mouse babies and now the hisser pups had always liked him instantly, and Henry had eventually found he had accepted kids seemed to harbor a fascination for him now. Not to mention Boots' love for his footwear. And his spinning.

Then, the hisser they were riding, stopped. Henry looked up and noticed they stood before a clearing – one that was very familiar. "Here lies the nibbler colony. We will not take you further."

Henry and Thanatos exchanged glances. "It's time... I guess."

The exiled prince helped his bond off the hisser's back and they soon stood before Larr, Thanatos leaning on Henry for support. "Hey, you guys were great, thanks for taking us here. We owe you." The exiled prince smiled at the hisser, who nodded at him.

"If the case should arise that we need you, Death Rider, we will call in that debt", the leader of the hissers spoke. Noar on his back called "We'll miss you, we'll miss you!", and Henry grinned at him. "We'll see you again... someday. I'm sure." With that, they turned towards the clearing with the hot spring – and the nibbler colony.

When Henry had finally helped Thanatos out onto the clearing and towards the familiar lake, he could almost not believe they were actually back. "Want to sit on the beach while I get the –", but before Henry could finish his sentence, a white furball whizzed through the curtain of vines and towards the newcomers.

"YOU'RE BACK!", it screamed and ran the still startled Henry over, so that both he and the flier landed backward, in the sand.

When the exiled prince realized he was staring into the face of Curie, he could almost not believe his eyes. She must be fully grown now, he thought, eyes on the pretty white mouse that was only slightly shorter than him now. He felt Thanatos dig his nose into her fur and the three soon ended in a group hug on the floor.

Henry had no idea how long it lasted, before a different familiar voice sounded, from somewhere beyond his field of view – "Looks like sister was right this time, you are back."

Henry recognized the voice instantly – "Cevian! I mean... I'd greet you, but your sister is currently keeping me from doing so by sitting her way too grown-up hide on me."

All of them broke into vigorous laughter.

As soon as Lovelace saw them, she decided to throw a spontaneous welcome-party in their honor and led them inside, where soon most of the colony assembled to eat and hear the stories their old friends had to tell.

Henry was in the middle of demonstrating his new abilities when suddenly something grabbed him from behind and lifted him off the ground. He cried in surprise, not having watched out for that, but then a voice growled "don't you dare disappear like that ever again, you hear? I am still your teacher and I demand updates on things", and the exiled prince grinned.

"Good to see you too, Teslas", he mumbled, face awkwardly pressed into the nibbler's black fur, who was still lifting him up. He must have really missed me, Henry thought, considering he never leaves his workshop normally, and now he turns up here, at a party.

"But hey, I even have something for you!" Henry called after Teslas had put him back on his feet and he remembered the rock he had carried all the way here.

"I will now take this boy to my workshop, and I sincerely hope none of you have a problem with that – for your own good." Teslas growled and Henry saw Lovelace smirk. "It's not like anyone could stop you anyway. Hang in there, Henry!", she called after him, and he grinned back, awkwardly waving at her and Thanatos who looked like he wanted to facepalm, while Teslas firmly gripped his arm and dragged him with, towards the workshop.

When they arrived in the cave, where Teslas built his inventions, Henry thought it had only become even more clustered since he had last been here. He had to tell the entire story again – he left out most parts about his and Thanatos' estrangement, they had agreed to avoid bringing that up to others as much as possible. Instead, he focused on what Kismet had taught him and how she had cherished the vision aid lense Telsas had made her. Okay, maybe she hadn't exactly cherished it openly, but Henry was certain she had – in her own way.

He finally pulled out the figurine of her, one of the few he had taken along, to remember her, and showed it to Teslas. The nibbler was indeed impressed with his new skill and grinned at the way she held the lense.

"Good to know that you at least didn't waste any time, even if the one you learned from wasn't me", he said, and Henry nodded. "It is almost impossible, I know, but Kismet's as good at keeping people on their toes as you – if not better." They both grinned and Henry was happy the nibbler was open-minded enough to not instantly judge her by her species.

Then, his gaze fell on his backpack and he remembered the Skyrock. "Goodness, I almost forgot again – I do have a thing for you. We fetched it from that icy cave system beneath the waterway I told you about. Kismet said it's... a rock that once fell from the sky."

Teslas' head jolted up and his ears stood straight. "Pardon me...?"

Henry grinned, fetched his backpack, and turned it upside down. The contents spilled out, and at last, there it was – he had to unwrap it from the cloth he had packed it in, but finally, Henry lied the rock, metal ball, or whatever really it was, on Teslas' desk.

The black nibbler eyed it in awe, with big, round eyes, and only carefully drew closer. He inspected the odd substance for a while, then turned back to Henry. His eyes shone with a light that the exiled prince hadn't seen since they had successfully tested the ignifer, almost a year ago.

"This... Henry, do you have any idea what you have brought me here?" His voice was almost shaking with excitement.

Henry grinned – only Teslas could ever get so worked up over a rock. "Nope. But that's precisely why I brought it to you. Maybe you could use it for something."

The nibbler overheard the slightly mocking tone in Henry's voice, "Something... SOMETHING? Henry, we will not just make SOMETHING out of this..." He went back to inspecting the substance, mumbling to himself. Then, he moved away to one of the chests that stood on the floor and turned it upside down. Out fell dozens of leather scrolls, those that Henry could see had designs of all kinds on them – different types of weapons, armor and other gadgets, some of which he did not even recognize.

"Hey, what are those, why haven't you showed me any of them?" He picked one up that displayed a thing he had never seen before. The sketch appeared to be a weapon of some kind as there were labels that said "blade", but it was not a sword or knife.

The thing was elongated and bent, to form a third tip, along with the two at the ends. The title was written in Teslas' shorthand, and although Henry could decipher the symbols at this point, the word made no sense to him. "A Boom... Boom-er-ang? What in the world is this?"

Teslas chuckled. "Why did I never show any of them to him, he asks... YOU WERE GONE the last half a year, THAT'S WHY. I mean I had to occupy myself somehow while you weren't here. I made a few... designs, for you. For future use." Henry stared at the mountain of scrolls. "A... few."

Teslas scoffed, taking the scroll with the sketch of the thing apparently called "Boomerang" from Henry. "Yes, a few. But this one is for later. Maybe. If we ever find time and use for it."

"It looked neat though..." Henry mumbled, but Teslas had already moved on. He was digging through the scrolls and muttering to himself, leaving Henry to stand in the room, unsure what the black nibbler expected of him.

"Hey, eh... Henry, how about you go back to the party and fetch me someone who's good in geology. Maybe Lyella or Darwin... or both. I need more information on this rock before I can pick something to do with it."

Henry sighed. "But only if you promise me I can take a look at the designs in that chest at some point... soon."

Teslas was already occupied with the rock again. "Sure, sure, I mean, they are for you anyway. But now go! I NEED ANSWERS!"

Henry chuckled as he left the inventor to his work. Teslas would never change, but that was the amazing thing about him.

"This is a most peculiar material, but highly fascinating indeed." It was the day after the party and they were standing around the rock in a group of four, Teslas, Henry, and the two nibblers Darwin and Lyella, former dark brown and slightly taller than Teslas, latter light grey and a little smaller than the males.

"It is", Lyella supported Darwin's claim, eyeing it again from all sides. "It looks like a rock, but it is not one. It's some form of metal, though I have never before seen this particular alloy."

"Not just the alloy", Darwin spoke now, "parts of it seem to consist of something none of us have ever seen before. There is iron in it, as well as silver, but the rest...", he shook his head. "You said it was a meteorite, Teslas?"

The black nibbler nodded. "The boy found it in some caves underneath the waterway. It is not surprising it's unknown then. But what we are interested in, are its qualities. How hard is it, how well can you work it – it is not one of those metals that burn your skin away and have you grow weird things like third arms and stuff?" Teslas suddenly asked, and Henry looked at him, alarmed. Metals that... what?

"Oh no, it is not radioactive. According to the tests we made, it is entirely safe." Lyella assured, but Darwin chuckled – "Well, yes, according to our tests it is. It's no guarantee it is ACTUALLY safe though. It is from space, after all, it might do something we have no test for."

Henry furrowed his brows and eyed the substance suspiciously now. He had not even considered it might be dangerous.

"Relax, boy, you were carrying it with you this entire time, were you not? Were it dangerous, you would have already noticed something... most likely." Lyella joined Darwin's awkward chuckle.

"Anyway", Teslas cleared his throat, "back to the IMPORTANT stuff. Like... what is it good for? Is it hard, easy to work? We already established it's light. Does that mean it breaks easily?"

Darwin stepped closer, pulling out some sort of leather scroll he had made notes on. "Oh, quite the opposite actually. This alloy is harder than any conventional material known to us, save maybe diamond, it was incredibly hard even splitting off a sample to test."

Lyella glanced at the note sheet too. "It is light and incredibly hard but melts rather easily. You should be able to forge it into whatever you need without trouble, though we wouldn't recommend exposing the finished product to great heat, as it could start deforming."

"In fact, if you'd like a recommendation on what to make from it, we think it's the perfect material for some sort of blade", Darwin handed the scroll over to Lyella and stepped forward, "It is light, so it will be easy to wield and harder than the steel you usually make your blades from."

Henry and Teslas exchanged glances. "But I already have a sword and a dagger, and reforging my sword from this would make it impossible to use the ignifer on it, according to what those two just said."

But Teslas' eyes still shone with excitement. "Who said anything about REPLACING one of your current blades? In fact, I believe I have the perfect design for this... here... somewhere..." He had moved over to his chest and started digging through it.

Henry, Lyella, and Darwin watched curiously, and only after a few minutes of searching Teslas finally seemed to have found what he was looking for. He held the scroll, he had fetched, high in the air, calling "THIS WILL BE GLORIOUS!", then unrolled it on top of the table, before the eyes of his visitors – and Henry's jaw dropped open.

"You are making... a sword out of it? Don't you already have one of those?", Thanatos was lying on the beach, his wing had been freshly splinted and it was already in the process of healing. His other injuries had been tended to as well, and overall, he was feeling and looking much better already. It would still take him a few weeks until he'd be able to fly again, but he was getting there.

Lovelace had offered to harbor them until the flier's wing was fully healed and Henry had accepted, partially because, with Thanatos unable to fly, they couldn't really go anywhere anyway. And then, he also had a few things to make and discuss with Teslas. A few-week break at the nibblers' was honestly exactly what both he and the flier needed, after all the ordeals. And then, when they were fully recovered, they would find a way to track Longclaw and have their revenge. But all in due time.

"No, no, no – you don't UNDERSTAND!" Henry was pacing up and down before him, barely able to hold back his excitement. "Not just A sword – it will be different from the one I have, and –"

"Henry, a sword is a sword." Thanatos apparently did not share Henry's excitement.

"And that's where you are wrong." The exiled prince plopped down beside him, reluctantly. "Just wait until you see it, and then tell me again that it's "just a sword"."

Thanatos sighed. "Alright. Let's do it like that. I can not wait." The sarcasm in his voice was evident, but his eyes were smiling.

Henry grinned. "It'll be great. You know, Teslas has a bunch of designs for new things for me, apparently, that's what happens if we leave him alone for too long. I can't wait to see and try them all!"

Thanatos was silent for a moment, and Henry was about to take out his carving equipment, as Teslas had told him he'd need to get everything ready before they could start making the blade, which would take until the evening, when Thanatos suddenly spoke – "Alright, and can you now finally tell me what you have been keeping from me – again?"

Henry jerked around, confused as to what he was talking about – then the realization hit him. He cursed internally for being so distracted by the meteorite and the new sword that he forgot to show Teslas the design he himself had come up with.

Henry sighed. "I... I'm sorry, I really am, and I was going to tell you, perhaps even today. I just wanted to ask Teslas for his opinion first, because it's... it's just a design for a new gadget, but it's also... you know", he chuckled awkwardly, "... controversial, even for me."

Thanatos listened up. "Is it now?"

Henry started playing around with Mys nervously. "It... listen, can I talk to Teslas first, and then... we talk to you together? It'll be much easier like that."

Thanatos scoffed. "Why in the world would you need support to talk about something as trivial as a new design... to your own bond?"

Henry sighed. "Because you may be my bond, but you're also a proud flier, and the moment I show you what it is, you'll interrupt me and start yelling that I'm trying to disrespect you and just stop listening altogether."

Thanatos chuckled. "Try me."

"I'd really rather not." Henry started burying his hands in the sand. "I promise I'll tell you, but together with Teslas."

The flier nudged him in the side with his head. "Henry, spill it. There is nothing, I promise, that you could suggest, that will make me yell at you. As long as its sole purpose is not, you know, ACTUALLY just to disrespect me."

"It's not", Henry sighed, he thought about how he had first had this idea, almost immediately after they had left the jungle.

He thought about how much more efficiently they had killed the cutters when Thanatos had flown upside down. Back then, he had not even known if he would ever bring this idea up to anyone, but at this point, he at least had a clear design – somewhat. He was sure it'd need work, but for now, he at least had somewhere to start.

"It's... listen, if this works, if we FIND a way to make it work, it'll make us considerably stronger in battle. And by considerably, I mean a LOT. That is its purpose. Just... try and keep that in mind, okay?" Henry stood up to fetch his mother's notebook from his backpack, that he had stored in their sleeping cave.

When he returned, Thanatos was still lying on the beach, and for some reason, Henry's heart was beating out of his chest. He had no idea why he was so nervous, but it was now or never.

"So, what is it now?" The flier asked, turning his way.

"Just... look yourself." Henry opened the page and lied the book down before the flier.

"That is... is that... a saddle?" Thanatos' tone was unbelieving and Henry squinted his eye, trying to prepare for the incoming tirade. "Henry, you know exactly why fliers don't wear saddles, it is symbolic of our equality with the humans. It –"

The exiled prince tried to interrupt him, "I know, and I told you it was –", but as expected, Thanatos did not let him finish. "After everything you have learned, and after everything we've been through, are you still seriously suggesting this? It is –"

"Death, can you let me explain for a second?" Henry was getting annoyed. He dug his fingers into the sand now, but Thanatos just continued talking. "Explain? What is there to explain? All I see is that you have not –"

That's when Henry had enough. "THIS IS EXACTLY WHY I DID NOT WANT TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT THIS!"

Finally, the flier was silent, and his bond sighed before he continued. "I TOLD you you wouldn't listen to me, and just start lecturing me about how it's disrespectful – didn't I? And what did you do?"

"Well, that's because it is." Thanatos scoffed. Henry rolled his eyes. "What did I tell you was its purpose?"

The flier hesitated. "To... make us stronger in battle? But how could a saddle make us..."

"That is PRECISELY WHAT I WANTED TO EXPLAIN before YOU INTERRUPTED ME!" Henry called, still fed up about having to fight so hard just to be able to elaborate on the concept. "Do you really think I'd even bring this up if it wasn't amazing in its concept? It's not fleshed out yet, but if we work on it, it could change everything. And I actually mean that."

Thantos was silent now, eyeing him from narrow eyes. Finally, he spoke again – "Alright. You know what... go ahead. Explain. I am not letting you put any sort of saddle on me ever, but... explain. I believe I owe you that much trust at least."

Henry sighed audibly. "Thank you. That's... honestly more than I expected. And I will, believe me. You won't be disappointed." He took another deep breath, picking up the notebook, getting ready to start talking, when a voice suddenly called from the curtain of vines – "Henry, dad is looking for you. He said he needs your help with something!"

Henry threw a glance back at the curtain and saw Curie's head poking out. He looked at Thanatos and shrugged. "Guess the saddle will have to wait, then, sorry."

The flier rolled his eyes. "It's not like I'm missing much anyway." Henry kicked him for that remark but finally followed Curie into the colony, towards her father's workshop.

"Henry, come, it is done now! You can finally take a look!" The exiled prince heard Teslas yell and immediately jumped to his feet. He flung the curtain to the workshop aside and approached the forge in the corner of the room almost cautiously.

A week had passed since he and Thanatos had arrived at the colony, and Teslas and Henry had spent almost all of it working on the new blade. They had needed to adjust the design a little, come up with an idea for a sheath, make a bunch of custom molds – but at last, here it was, finally done.

Henry had also filled the nibbler in on the details of his saddle idea, and Teslas had been over the moon when he finally understood the concept behind it. They had talked to Thanatos together after all, and even though the flier was still rather skeptical, they had managed to convince him to at least let them do a few experiments with the design.

But now Henry was eagerly staring at the table next to the forge, that was covered up by a cloth. "Is that really necessary?", he asked, eyeing Teslas, but the nibbler grinned. "You know it is."

He finally stood next to Henry and, glancing over at the final sketch the exiled prince had made a couple days ago, that hung on the wall above the table, and carefully unveiled the result of their efforts.

Henry could not suppress an enormous grin from spreading over his face. The sword that lied before him now, was nothing short of magnificent. The blade was pitch black, like the raw material had been, broad, and very long. Henry carefully gripped the handle with both hands, it was the exact perfect length for that. They had even added a little hump in the middle, to separate the handle in two halves.

When Henry raised the sword from where it lied, he was once more surprised at how little it weighed. He estimated its full length on around four feet six or seven, and for how big it was, it maybe weighed the same as his other, considerably shorter, sword.

"A dual-handed blade for close-up and grounded combat you wanted, and you received – I'm pretty sure", Teslas laughed. Henry tried twirling the new sword around, which wasn't easy, considering its length. "This... this is fantastic, Teslas, you... I love it."

The nibbler grinned, putting his front paws to his hips. "Well, what else did you expect from something we both worked on this hard?"

They exchanged excited glances and Henry grabbed the blade with a single hand now, which was not what it was meant for, but very possible. He inspected the handle and the primary, long, as well as the secondary, smaller crossguard, a few inches below the big one, consisting of metal points that stood out to the side. The blade itself was honed razor-sharp and overall felt incredibly good to hold and swing.

Though when he tried swinging it around inside the workshop, Teslas quickly banned him from doing so, sending him outside. "Or you'll demolish everything in here within seconds", he said.

"Oh and – while you're at it", he called after Henry, when he was already on his way out, "why don't you come up with a name for it? We agree on the fact that it deserves one, right?"

Henry nodded and left, contemplating the matter. When he stepped out, he saw Thanatos and Curie on the beach, sitting and talking. He approached, the new sword shouldered, and called out to them – "How is it?" Henry twirled the blade around once, something he'd definitely need to practice more, and rammed the tip into the floor. The handle reached up to his chest now, and he thought the tip lacked some sort of knob, maybe.

"That... THAT is the new sword?" Thanatos was visibly surprised, and Henry grinned. "Do you now understand why "sword" doesn't equal "sword"? Because the old toothpick I use normally can not possibly compare to this!" He took it up again and sliced the air, the sharp, black blade made a quiet, but not unpleasant sound. Henry instantly found he liked having a bigger, stronger sword, to keep enemies at distance and block attacks more effectively.

"That... is a nice blade", Thanatos admitted. "Though... isn't it a little big?"

Henry rolled his eyes. "That is the POINT, Death. I wanted a bigger, preferably dual-handed sword for close-up combat, when I have to fight enemies bigger than me, or when I'm on the ground. And if you're worried that it looks heavy, it is not. The material is really light, I can almost not feel a difference in weight to my normal sword."

"It's really pretty!", Curie called, drawing closer and inspecting it. "Does it have a name, like your dagger?"

"It will have one... soon enough."

"Any ideas?", the flier asked. Henry pondered for a second. He glanced at the black blade, then back at Thanatos.

He raised the sword and held it the way it was meant to be held, in front of his body, with both hands. Then, he suddenly thought about the prophecy, and how he was the Death Rider again now.

"How about I call it...", Henry grinned, "Charos." Thanatos looked up. "You want to name your sword after the Grim Reaper?"

The exiled prince chuckled. "Well, it will be reaping lives for sure. The color matches too. And besides, aren't we essentially the Grim Reaper ourselves? I thought it would be fitting."

"You know what", the flier smiled, "it sort of is. Except for that knob. You're good at carving now, aren't you? Make a new one. It's way too boring at the moment, considering how fancy the sword itself is."

They all broke into laughter. "You can bet I will!", called Henry, before raising Charos above his head, with a single hand. "You all can bet!"