The Escape

Blue Haven had fallen into a quiet lull, as it usually did so once the Night Circle fully rose into the darkening sky, accompanied by an endless canopy of dancing stars. The only exception to the silence was of course the Big Water, its waves carelessly smoothing over the sand, followed shortly by the occasional splash of a shimmering scaly swimmer breaching the surface. Everything was exactly as it should have been- save for the slender silhouette of a flyer gliding higher and higher, right into the mouth of a cliff, dimly lit by the Night Circle's glow.

Vali and Orri had both elected to stay up that night, the slightly muffled dribble of the waves like a soothing melody to their ears. Vali appeared asleep beside his brother, while in truth, his mind was overactive with every single plausibility. Orri was sitting upright, his stomach churning with the weight of his decision. The realization of what he'd done had just begun to hit him, and it felt more like a punch to the gut.

He would have gone on to overthink and panic some more had it not been for the soft grunt that grabbed his attention from right outside the entrance to their nest. Orri scuffled over to investigate, nearly falling over in surprise when he saw who it was that awaited him.

"Illyria?" He was a bit taken aback by her sudden appearance at his home, but quickly helped her inside. "What are you doing here? I didn't even hear you come up."

There was a slight hesitation on Illyria's end. "Oh, well..." She didn't want to just blurt it out. She wanted to be delicate, but unfortunately, there was simply no 'proper' way to say it.

"Well?" Orri urged, features contorting into a look of confusion and anticipation. "What is it?"

"I just came to tell you that if we're going to leave, we should do it now," Illyria blurted out, despite her prior resistance to doing just that. "Time isn't exactly on our side with all of this, so I don't think we should waste it."

The brothers exchanged worried glances, clearly having the same thought- Illyria was hiding something. Orri knew the girl well enough by now to know that she would never admit to something she purposely omitted, no matter how much others pressured her. The only way to cough up the truth from Illyria was to trick her and catch her in a lie. Beat her at her own game.

"Well... alright. Vali's going to go wherever I go, so if you want to, we could leave right now." While Orri spoke, a realization had begun to dawn on him. "How... how did Faris handle the news?"

"Oh, no need to worry about him. He's fine with it," she responded, her demeanor a bit too cheerful. She winced as the words left her beak. Even a youngling could have come up with a more convincing lie.

Everything and everyone went quiet, making for an awkward and drawn out silence between the trio of flyers. Fortunately, Orri soon ended the tension with a surprisingly hysterical laugh. "...You are a terrible liar."

"Oh, give me a break." Illyria threw her hands up in defeat. "I only ever actually lie to Faris, and honestly? He puts way too much trust in me. You'd think he would have learned something from all the times I disobeyed him and snuck off. Besides, I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm a bit off my game right now."

"Seems like you're both pretty gullible, if you ask me," Orri teased, a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth, "like father, like daughter, hm?"

"He is not my father," Illyria hissed defensively, "he doesn't have a single caring bone in his body."

Vali tilted his head to one side, surveying the female curiously. "I take it you two got into an argument of some kind?"

"Argument is a nice word for it," Illyria huffed in response, "he might as well have disowned me. You should have heard him. He spoke to me like he couldn't trust me, like I was an enemy. I don't even like the bastard that much, but it still hurt."

"Language," Vali reminded her in a firm yet gentle tone.

Illyria, having little to no patience for any further nonsense, produced an irritated scoff. On the other hand, Orri laughed and shook his head. He understood his friend's frustration of course, but couldn't help laughing at his brother's priorities. Vali would always be Vali, no matter the situation.

It took him some time, but Orri was finally able to regain some semblance of composure. He cleared his throat a few times, attempting to appear serious. "Well, if he treated you like the enemy, then there's no doubt he'll extend that same courtesy towards anyone else who chooses to leave."

"Mm. That's true," Vali assented, "if we're going to leave, we should do it now. Do either of you know where the wanderers might be right about now?"

Illyria flashed a mischievous grin, with Orri reciprocating her expression. The latter flyer usually wasn't one who went out of his way to defy authority, but so long as he had his brother's support, Orri felt like he could do anything- including breaking the rules.

So the trio set off on their journey, a journey to change their lives for the better.


Across every single peak of the island, at the top of every cliff, a single sentinel could be seen dutifully keeping watch. The heavily built flyers, with their fearsome reputations, were spread out across every high point of Blue Haven- meaning flying was absolutely out of the question. Unfortunately, this also meant that the three flyers would be forced to travel on ground like a pack of helpless sand creepers. As creatures who were at their strongest soaring through the skies, stumbling blindly through the lumpy sand was an incredibly humbling experience.

"This is so stupid," Illyria complained, tripping over her own feet for what was about the third time since they departed, "at this rate, we might get to the wanderers by the time the Bright Circle sets tomorrow. Seriously now, how does anyone actually get around like this?"

"It's really not so bad," Orri piped up, "lots of creatures don't even have wings, they just use their legs to walk. This is probably pretty normal for them. We're just not used to it."

"Well, I'm not one of them. This is humiliating. We're flyers, not walkers, dammit."

"You know we don't really have a choice here, Illyria. If we use our wings, the sentinels will spot us for sure. Then we'll never get out of here."

"Hey loudmouths," Vali butted in, "maybe we should be a little quieter when we talk about getting out of here."

Perhaps it was luck, perhaps it was just pure coincidence. Whatever it was, something prompted Orri to chance a look towards the tip of the cliff towering directly above them, protruding outwards from a fertile moss-covered hill. When he did, he was able to notice the sentinel perched on the top scanning the perimeter, as if searching for a noise.

"Hide," Orri whispered, "Quickly!"

The three flyers retreated to the darkness of the shadows, holding their breaths for what seemed like an eternity. At last the lone flyer abandoned the search, presuming it to be nothing more than his mind playing tricks on him, and returned to his usual post.

"All clear," Vali announced before emerging from the gloom, pursued by Orri and Illyria.

"What in the world are you three doing?"

Had it not been for the severity of the situation, the reaction of the trio would have been almost comical. When the voice suddenly erupted from behind them, Vali immediately came to a screeching halt which in turn caused Orri to bump into his brother, followed by Illyria promptly colliding into the former.

Vali was the first to turn around and see who the voice belonged to, his pounding heart caught in his throat as he slowly craned his head. Then, just like that, the feeling of dread vanished and was replaced with immense relief.

"Oh, Scud," Vali sighed, his muscles relaxing at the familiar sight, "it's just you. We thought you were someone else."

The scrawny flyer was perched atop the ledge outside his home, narrowing his eyes in piqued curiosity. "Pfft. You're lucky I'm not someone else. Why, with all your babbling, I'm actually surprised that the sentinels haven't caught you yet. What are you three up to, anyhow?"

"We're leaving Blue Haven," Orri answered in a hushed voice.

"Leaving Blue Haven?" Scud nearly shouted, immediately slapping his hands over his beak to stifle his voice. "That seems a bit hasty, don't it?"

"It's not," Illyria hissed, the feelings of resentment from her exchange with Faris clearly still lingering, "...I can promise you that."

There was a visible look of concern embedded on Scud's face, but it only lasted for a second before his usual cheerful and carefree disposition returned to his face. "Well... alright. But if you guys are leaving, then I'm coming with you."

"You don't have to do that," Vali insisted, "you don't have to leave your home just because we are."

"Oy, get a load of this guy," Scud guffawed, "I'm not doing it for you, wisehead. You'd be surprised by how many of us want out of this stupid place. Besides, I'm sure you guys could use a storyteller and someone with a sense of humor to lighten things up along the way, eh? Just let me wake up Gale and then we can go."

Scud scampered back inside, heading towards the rear of the cave in which he lived. Gale was fast asleep in a patch of dirt, his beak facing the wall of the cave with his back turned towards his friend.

"Gale," Scud whispered, stirring the grumpy flyer from his peaceful slumber with a not so gentle nudge. "Oy, lazybones. Wake up."

"Ugh... buzz off why don't you," Gale muttered groggily, his mind still lost in the fog that came with sleep. He wasn't sure who it was that dared to interrupt his beauty sleep, but he gave a dismissive wave that spelled out a clear message: get lost.

Scud let out a huff, having no time nor patience to deal with Gale's usual stubbornness. He nudged him again, with much more force this time- enough to jolt him awake.

"Ow! What the-!"

Gale awoke with a mouth full of dirt, the first thing he saw being Scud standing over him, grinning like the idiot that he was. Gale, who greatly treasured his sleep like most normal flyers, did not take very kindly to the rude awakening.

"I swear I'm going to rip your stupid beak off of your stupid face," Gale snarled, scowling at the other male. "Do you have any idea how late it is, you blathering idiot? If you want to go ahead and fly around all night then by all means, go ahead. But some of the saner flyers on this island are trying to sleep."

"No time for that, I'm afraid," Scud responded, surprisingly casual, "We're leaving Blue Haven. Right now, so get your head in the game and let's go."

The other's statement hit Gale like a rockslide, leaving him grasping for words, his beak agape in shock and disbelief. "Wait, what?! Leave Blue Haven? I don't even- have you completely lost your mind?"

Scud tapped his beak, as if he were actually entertaining the possibility. "I don't know... maybe. But never mind that. You can join me and the others, or you can stay here by yourself. Up to you."

Scud proceeded to walk away without him, leaving Gale to fret about his choice for a few seconds. A wise move, as it hardly took any time at all for the latter flyer to produce an utterly defeated groan.

"Dammit, fine! I'm coming."

Scud paused, donning an absolutely delighted grin. "Oh! There you are. I knew you'd come around."

"Don't push your luck, wisehead," Gale warned, storming off ahead of him while muttering several protests, most of them including the word 'stupid'. While he was indeed incredibly resentful that he had basically been coerced into doing something he never wanted to, a small part of him had to admit that it had been quite the clever trick.


Yuri was no stranger to the silence and tranquility of the nighttime. If he was being honest, he quite relished in it. Many feared the night, afraid of what unknown abominations might be lurking in the depths of the darkness, but not him. There were many occasions where he found himself wide awake in the middle of the night, and the only way he found peace was by laying underneath the gaze of the stars, the Night Circle watching over him. As it turned out, tonight was another one of those times.

While his brother retired for the night and caught up on some much needed rest, Yuri sat by the stream and protected their hiding place, ensuring that it remained hidden. Yarrow insisted that it would be fine, that no one would find them there, but Yuri couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched. His eyesight wasn't the greatest and the dark cover of dusk made just about everything look the same, so he was at a disadvantage there. Fortunately, his sniffer had yet to fail him- he'd latched onto a scent, an unfamiliar one, and he wasn't going to sleep for even a second until he knew what it was.

Suddenly, a faint and barely detectable rustle from the bushes caught his attention. Yuri was up on his feet in an instant, ready to pounce on whatever unsuspecting fool came sauntering by.

Yarrow, being a fairly light sleeper, steadily stirred from his slumber. "Mm... Yuri? What is it? Do you see something?"

"No," Yuri answered bluntly, "But I hear something. In the bushes, over there."

Yarrow squinted and turned his attention towards the foliage, watching with bated breath, waiting for something to happen.

The bushes rustled again, and through them stepped Orri, his face lit up by the Night Circle's pale glow.

"Relax," Illyria snorted, having noticed Yuri's defensive position, "it's just us."

"And friends!" Scud added, as chipper as ever.

Yarrow breathed a sigh of relief. "You know, you really should be more careful wandering around in the dark like that. Yuri almost punched you in the gut."

Orri rubbed the nape of his neck, offering a bashful chuckle. "Yes... traveling at night on foot isn't as easy as it looks. But anyway," he cleared his throat, "we're all ready to leave right now, if you are."

Yuri eyed him suspiciously. "You're sure you weren't followed?"

The way Yuri suddenly invaded Orri's space caused the young male to instinctively back away. "I-I think so," he stuttered, "but it won't really matter once we're airborne."

"Orri's right," said Vali, coming to his brother's defense, "There are sentinels watching just about every corner of this island. As soon as we're in the air, they'll spot us for sure. Our only hope is to outrun them."

"Well then," Yarrow sighed, "We shouldn't waste a single moment more."

Sounds of agreement rippled quietly through the small gaggle of flyers, who promptly abandoned the shelter of the vegetation and headed straight for the shore. No sooner had they turned their backs and left, an unseen and mysterious figure cloaked in darkness could barely be seen shifting about.

If someone happened to come by and if they looked closely, they might have been able to spot a flyer- dangling upside down from a tree by grasping the branches with its talons. The camouflaged creature then unsheathed its wings, revealing the unmistakable but still exceptionally well-disguised form of Nightwing. As soon as he had heard what he needed to, he released his hold on the tree branch and swiftly took to the air, his dark blue hide blending in perfectly with the night sky.


Near the top of a short mountain situated in between the many taller peaks that twisted and turned across the land, seated upon the flat surface of a ledge that protruded from the mountain's face, two sentinels stood watch- albeit not quite as diligently as they were ordered to. Oran and Niro were not exactly regaled for their work in keeping watch over the island, as they had a most unremarkable tendency to slack off and fool around, even when on watch. They weren't a force to be reckoned with like Aharon, nor were they helpless runts like Nightwing, who was no good for anything but following Faris around and doing his dirty work. They received all of the hero worship without having to actually do any of the work- which was just how they liked it.

"This has got to be the most boring job on Blue Haven," Niro griped, leaning against the cold and rock-hard wall, "nothing ever happens."

Right across from him, Oran was preoccupied with grooming and preening himself rather than keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. "Better make sure Faris doesn't hear you say that, or else he'll have your head."

"Oh come on," Niro scoffed, "don't be such a shortbeak. He's not even here."

"Maybe not, but that old coot has eyes everywhere. You never know who could be listening. Why, Faris himself could be listening in on us talking about him right now!"

"That's exactly right," a familiar, gruff sounding voice cut in, inviting itself into the conversation. "And I thought you two had no brains."

The two males glanced behind them at exactly the same time. The color completely drained from their faces when they saw the very flyer whom they were dissing, standing right beside Nightwing, of all flyers. They were up on their feet in less than an instant, lowering their heads in respect.

"Anyway, I'll pretend I didn't hear whatever it was you two imbeciles were talking about," Faris hissed, "It's not like I haven't heard such things be said about me before."

"O-Our sincerest apologies, sir," Oran stuttered, lowering his body completely towards the ground in a show of complete submission. "Please, forgive us. We'll make it up to you however we can!"

"Make it up to me, hm?" Faris seemed oddly intrigued by such a proposition. "If you're really that serious about earning my forgiveness, then listen closely. I have a special task for the both of you."

"Of course, sir," Oran responded, exchanging a subtle glance of curiosity with his friend before redirecting his gaze to his superior. "What is it?"

Faris' expression hardened. "There is a group of traitors currently attempting to escape, and they've abducted Illyria. I want you two to find them and stop them. No matter what it takes."


Vali watched the ebb and flow of the waves, some unseen force pushing and pulling the water in an eternal and repetitive dance. The sight was almost hypnotizing, and the sensation of the current against his scales incredibly soothing. His eyes focused on the horizon, specifically where the water began to turn dark, and it was near impossible to tell what could be lying underneath.

"We just need to make it past that point," he explained, pointing a talon in the aforementioned direction. "The sentinels will stop following us as soon as the water starts getting deeper."

"Well, this is it," Yarrow murmured. "...I just want to thank each and every one of you for deciding to join us in this journey. Leaving your home is certainly no easy feat, and I am immensely grateful."

Yuri made no effort to hide his annoyance at his brother's dramatics, once again. "You just have to make a show out of everything, don't you?"

Vali performed a quick once-over of his surroundings before deeming it safe to continue. "Alright, let's go."

"Not so fast!"

"It's the sentinels!" Orri cried out.

Oran and Niro swooped down, each flyer surrounding the group from both ends. Niro stepped forward, releasing a high pitched screech to assert his dominance over the lower ranking flyers.

"Stop this mutiny right now, and I might consider going easy on you." He smirked, "...Or not."

"Niro, please, you need to listen," Orri pleaded, "We're not trying to harm anyone, or tarnish this flock's name. All we want is a better place, a safer place. Like my father did."

"Just let us go," Vali practically commanded, desperately trying to fight the unsteadiness in his voice. "It'll be easier for everyone involved if you do. There are more of us than there are you, even if you are bigger and stronger. I reckon it would be a pretty fair fight."

Niro did not budge a single inch while Oran stepped closer, narrowing the gap between them. They were trapped, nowhere else to go except the unknown lengths of the Big Water.

Then, just when it seemed like all was lost, Aharon descended down onto the sandy shore. The fury in his eyes was one that none of them recognized in the flyer.

"You brats!" He roared, directing his fiery glare towards a frightened Orri and Illyria, isolating them further into a corner with each word he spat out.

Illyria could feel the current rushing up against her feet as she backed away, using her wings to shield Orri while keeping her eyes on Aharon. She wasn't sure what exactly Aharon's angle was, and decided she would she see for herself. After all, if she knew, she definitely wouldn't be standing there uselessly.

"Faris nearly tore my wings off after I covered for you two! Told me to count myself lucky that I'm not stripped of my duty as a sentinel! Lucky to still have my privileges, to still have my wings! Well..."

He whirled around to face Niro, who was now the object of his frustration. "...Well, I'm sick of being a sentinel."

The triumph on Niro's face was washed away, replaced by shock, disbelief, and barely detectable pain. "Aharon...!"

Niro was now the one being cornered as Aharon chased him up a rock, towering above his fellow sentinel. Former fellow sentinel. "I'm sick of being a part of this flock, and following Faris' stupid orders all the time!"

"A-Aharon," Niro rattled, still backing away from the offending flyer, "Think about what you're doing. You shouldn't- Oran, help me!"

Oran leapt up, retaking his usual place at his friend's side. Even he was too unnerved by Aharon's brute strength to throw even a single blow. A smart choice.

"Go now, old friend," Aharon snarled, his voice eerily gentle, "or I'll kill you both."

A low growl escaped Aharon as he watched them flee, stepping down from the rock and returning to the group once Oran and Niro were out of sight.

"Faris definitely knows what you all are up to. We need to move, before they come back with more sentinels."

"Right," Vali concurred, "everyone, to the air, now!"

The urgency in his voice let every single member of their rather tiny flock know that not a moment was to be wasted. Not even bothering to warm up, they each took the skies, vigorously pumping their wings up and down, up and down.

Vali led the escape, with Yarrow and Yuri as his flankers. Towards the rear, Orri flew onwards with as much strength he could muster, but it just wasn't enough. No matter how quickly his wings ripped through the air, it felt like the horizon was growing farther and farther away, always just out of reach. He wasn't fast and light on his feet like Illyria, or strong like Aharon. When it came to flying with an audience, Orri might as well have been a landwalker who had suddenly been blessed with the gift of flight and was just beginning to learn how to use it. At least that was how he felt, compared to the other skilled and far more experienced flyers who surrounded him.

But how he felt didn't matter now. He had to stay his course, or be left behind. He flapped his wings once and then twice, attempting to pick up speed. It was right as he managed to catch up with the others when something caused his muscles to seize up. A sound, like a gust of wind traveling through the air. He glanced upwards, where there was nothing to be seen.

But there was something. He knew there was. He could feel it. Like a pair of eyes, watching his every move.

"Vali?"

"What is it?" the flyer called out, keeping his eyes focused on the path ahead.

"I... I think there's something—"

Before he could even finish, a loud "skree!" sounded through the chilly nighttime air. The piercing noise was followed by the sound of wings shearing through the atmosphere as the mysterious assailant dived down and grabbed Orri in one fell swoop.

Exclamations of surprise rippled from one flyer to the other, all of them muffled by a single, panicked screech.

"ORRI!" Vali immediately curved around, jetting after Nightwing in frantic pursuit.

"I'll handle this," Aharon intervened, following the sound of Orri's call for help, "you keep on leading the others away from here."

Orri's desperate cries could be heard all throughout the island as the distance between him and the group increased, a stark contrast to the stoic silence of his captor. While attempting to wriggle free, he managed to catch a glimpse of the obscure flyer's face.

"...Nightwing?!"

Nightwing did not respond, determined not to let anything disturb his focus.

"Let me go!" Orri demanded, kicking and squirming, which earned him nothing except the tightening of Nightwing's talons around his shoulders.

"It's for the best if you don't try to fight it," Nightwing advised, "if you know what's good for you, you'll do as I say."

"You... you don't even know me. How could you possibly know what's good for me? You're taking me away from my brother!" Orri blurted out through a torrent of angry tears. In that moment, he was willing to do anything to return to Vali and the others. Anything. Unfortunately, Orri was no good with spur of the moment ideas. No, that talent belonged solely to Illyria. Think, Orri. What would she do?

His heart began to sink as a feeling of hopelessness settled in, when he realized he was never getting out of this. He hung his head in despair, eyes floating up and landing on the sight of Nightwing's bare ankle. A spark ignited in him then, and without even thinking twice, he arched his neck and sunk his teeth into Nightwing's scaly skin.

The male let out an ear-ripping screech of pain, reflexively releasing his hold on the young flyer. As soon as Orri saw an opening, he seized the opportunity and dashed in the opposite direction, seeking refuge behind the formidable Aharon.

"You go on ahead, Orri. Catch up with the others," the male urged, "I'll hold him off."

Hesitantly, Orri scrambled to get back up in the air, retreating to the safety of the departing group. Aharon watched them leave before turning his attention back towards the dark blue flyer, dark eyes narrowed and mouth turned upside down to form a grim looking frown.

"Just let us go, Nightwing. I'm asking you, as a friend, to just allow us to leave this place. That way, no one else has to get hurt... including you."

"I looked up to you," Nightwing choked out in anger, although the moisture welling up in his azure eyes was more indicative of sadness. "All of us did. We all wanted to be like you! How can you just betray us like this?"

"It wasn't as if I planned it to be that way," Aharon explained, the words of his former teammate appearing to affect him for a moment. "If you would just step out of your own heads and see things for how they really are, you'd realize—"

"Realize what?" Nightwing asked icily. "That we should all be traitors like you?"

Aharon proceeded to rebuff the other's claim, until he realized- there was no point. What was the endgame? Them standing there, arguing for all eternity? It was already clear to him where he was needed, and it wasn't Blue Haven. He sighed resignedly, meeting the other flyer's cold, hard eyes. "...Sorry for this, Nightwing."

In the blink of an eye, Aharon came barreling at the smaller flyer with full force. Nightwing didn't have the luxury of getting a moment to process anything, as he found himself being knocked back, as if a flying rock had just rammed into him. It was no flying rock, but Aharon, that had sent him falling from the sky, leaving him too dazed to even futilely flail his wings in an attempt to get airborne once again. Nightwing watched Aharon leave him to plummet to his death, filled with an overwhelming sense of regret. The sound of air ripping through his wings invaded his ears, tears flowing freely as he closed his eyes, bracing himself for impact.

But it never came.

He felt himself falling faster and faster, and then, he stopped. He was frozen in place, and for a moment, pondered if he was dead. But when he finally managed to open his eyes, Nightwing found Faris looking down at him, supporting him with one arm.

"Nightwing," he spoke firmly, but gently, "Are you alright, boy? You still with us?"

Faris' voice sounded far away to the dark blue flyer, who was still attempting to process everything that had just taken place. Finally, after nearly a minute of squinting and blinking repeatedly, he managed to piece everything together, and regain his balance.

"Y-Yeah," he answered, flapping his wings slowly but steadily, "I-I think I'm fine. That Aharon really packs a wallop." Nightwing looked up, noticing the barely visible silhouettes of the treacherous flyers growing father and farther away. He felt his muscles stiffen and tense up, until Faris brought a hand to his shoulder.

"Forget it," he demanded, shaking his head in forbiddance.

"W-What?" Nightwing was dumbfounded. "But sir... what about Illyria? Aren't you upset?"

"Of course I am. However, they've already gone beyond our borders and it's far too dangerous for us to follow them now. I'm not losing anyone else to the Big Water." The elder gritted his teeth, shaking with rage as he turned to head back towards the island. "Tell the other sentinels to retreat. Illyria has made her choice, as have the others. Whatever happens now, it will only be a consequence of their own foolish actions."

Nightwing could tell Faris wasn't as apathetic towards the entire ordeal as he seemed, but an order was an order. "As you wish, sir."

He lowered his head and soared in the opposite direction, his superior not far behind him, a gust of wind carrying them farther and farther away from the Night Circle. And as they headed on back home, neither flyer dared to look back.


Hey, everyone! Been a minute, I know, but I'm sure it's starting to feel completely normal to some. I actually finished the majority of this chapter not long after Chapter 3 but purposely procrastinated on seeing it all the way through. It's been a very wild couple of months, and I've been through a lot, but I've finally managed to kick myself out of that writing slump and crank something out! And just in time too, as this chapter just turned a year old. I'm actually fairly pleased with this installation, and I do hope you all feel the same. As always, I look forward to your feedback and I hope to see you next time! :-)

The Rhombus: Thank you! I'm glad to hear you picked up on the contrast between Orri's and Illyria's home lives. I kind of wanted to mirror the two and show how different they are, and how it might explain why each flyer turned out the way they did. Always good to hear from you, and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter as well! :D