The Legend of Spyro: Daybreak

by Linkuser2

Kiran's entire world is changed in the course of a single night. As he struggles through a cascade of new emotions, people and challenges, he keeps himself afloat with the idea that one day he will be able to return home. How long can he hold onto this hope before his new reality tears it and him apart?

13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Warfang

The mood in the caravan had changed drastically since last night. Not only was everyone on edge because of the attack, but there were a few who were distraught by the deaths of their friends. Four apes had been killed during the fighting, including Tarmeed, and this added to the guilt I already felt for almost getting Shimmer killed. I knew that Tarmeed's death wasn't my fault, but if I had been able to distract the alpha sooner, then maybe-

"There's not much point in thinking that way, is there?"

I didn't answer my question because I knew the answer. It was morning now, which meant that I would soon have work to do and asking questions like that would only serve to dampen my mood. Instead of sulking, I took a moment to survey the damage caused by the fighting last night. The earth had been torn apart everywhere, and a newly charred section of woods had left a scar on the previously untouched forest. I wasn't surprised by the damage, but many of the merchants were. I saw several of them huddled in small groups pointing and talking about everything that could now be seen in the daylight.

"I guess they finally realize the gravity of what we dealt with last night."

The only people that weren't talking were the guards. They were too busy to participate, and their heads hung low as the bodies of their fallen friend were gathered and placed into boxes as a temporary method of transport until we reached the city. I had heard that some of the merchants had tried to argue against using their wagons to ferry the bodies, but Strongfang put an end to that with a stern demeanor and intimidating rebuke.

"I'm glad they'll find rest at home, not everyone can afford that luxury."

I rubbed my shoulder gently, glad that I was able to take care of my wounds last night with the help of some crystals. Shimmer had been kind enough to share them, and then gave me the opportunity to wash the blood and gore off of myself before I went to sleep. I hadn't seen her since last night, but it was almost time to get moving again, which meant I would have to keep my promise and talk to her. There wouldn't be much of a way for me to avoid it once we were on the road, since we were both traveling with Heimer. I tapped my fingers anxiously against the wagon and started to think over what I would say.

"Don't overthink it. Just be… natural? Ugh, this is going to be worse than all those times I talked with Luna…"

I chose to ignore my own comment and sighed loudly, then hopped down to the ground, deciding that now would be as good as ever to get this over with. I shoved my hands into my pockets and made my way over to Heimer's wagon, passing by several others as I did so. The merchants in general ignored me, but a lot of the apes would wave or give me a smile. Apparently the time that Shimmer and I spent fighting the alpha gave the group at camp the advantage they needed to turn the tide of the battle. Strongfang had made sure to emphasize my "courage" to the rest of the guards for doing that, and as a result, I was now viewed much more highly than before.

I wasn't sure if I agreed with that or not, partially because I was just doing my job, partially because I almost got Shimmer killed, but mostly because I didn't like the attention it was bringing. I was finding out quickly that there were apes that wanted to get to know me more, and several that were asking for a spar sometime in the future. I politely declined or made an excuse for each encounter, not wanting to get caught up in a conversation that I didn't want a part of. This didn't stop a few of them from pestering me though, and It was getting annoying.

"As if Shimmer isn't enough to deal with already…"

I finally made it to Heimer's wagon, and was almost thankful that Shimmer was already there. At least when I talked with her, I wasn't dealing with someone I didn't know, even if she was pushy and emotional. I gave a quick wave to her and was met with a chipper reply.

"Goooooooood morning Kiran! Where have you been? I've spent more than an hour looking for you!"

I shrugged nonchalantly.

"Just hanging out here and there. Is Heimer here?"

"Yup! Looks like he's just about ready, which means we should be leaving soon."

"Mhm. Sounds like it."

Shimmer looked at me expectantly and leaned forward ever so slightly as she waited for me to look at her. When I didn't, she tapped her tail on the ground to get my attention.

"Soooo… I wanted to say thank you."

"Wait, what? Why?"

"I mean, you did kind of save me yesterday. I would have been in big trouble if you weren't there."

I shook my head at her and looked away as guilt tugged at my heart.

"You wouldn't have been in danger in the first place if I wasn't here. I came up with a plan that put you in harm's way and I don't think you should be thanking me for that."

She snorted sarcastically and rolled her eyes.

"Oh come on, you know that's not true! We both agreed to it and I was the one that should've known that I needed to back up sooner. It's not your fault, so accept your thank you and stop being dramatic."

"No. I'm not being dramatic, I'm being realistic. If I did something that almost killed someone else, I shouldn't be thanked for it. That would be stupid."

"So you're somehow not accepting my thanks and calling me stupid?"

"That's not what I-"

"Seriously! I've been doing my best to be friendly and help you out, but you're stuck in this mindset of deflecting every attempt anyone makes to be friends with you!"

"Look, I didn't mean-"

"And the worst part is that you won't even explain why! It's like you don't care about anyone else at all!"

"Shimmer, look-"

She poked me in the chest with her tail.

"So what's your problem? What has you so wound up that you can't relax a tiny bit and either make friends or enjoy your time here? Am I that bad of company or are you incapable of feeling anything positive down in your heart?"

I wasn't sure if I wanted to be angry or sad, but both of them seemed like great options. I wanted to walk away and not deal with this, or shout at Shimmer to vent what I was feeling, but the two promises I made restrained me enough to keep my response somewhat calm, although it was through gritted teeth.

"Look. I don't hate you. You're nice, friendly, and despite your annoying tendency to be pushy, I know you're genuinely trying to help. I know that I said some rude things a few days ago, and I'm sorry about that. I'm also thankful that you helped me with my… breakdown yesterday. I don't know what would have happened if you weren't there to snap me out of it, but that's besides the point. My problem isn't you or anyone else, it's with me. I don't want to make friends while I'm here. At all. It's actually the last thing I want to do."

Shimmer looked completely flabbergasted and her wings dropped down from her sides.

"Why though? What's so wrong with having friends?!"

"There's nothing wrong with having friends, but I don't want to deal with saying goodbye or the pain that comes with it. I've got too much on my plate already and any distractions would only make it harder for me to follow through with my responsibilities. I've already made a lot of mistakes because of friends, and I don't want it to happen again."

Shimmer was silent as she digested what I said. The longer she sat and thought about it though, the more her face twisted into a sour frown.

"Kiran, that's the saddest thing I think I've ever heard. Who the heck thinks of friends as some kind of… some kind of burden?! That's not how it works!"

"Maybe for you it doesn't, but I function differently than you. I wouldn't expect you to understand anyway, since you don't have the same experiences as me. Honestly, you'd probably be a bit more sympathetic to my reasoning if you'd have faced a fraction of the things I have, but that won't ever happen."

I must have hit a nerve because ice was forming at her maw and her body was tensing up as if she was ready to pounce.

"Just because I don't know what you've been through doesn't mean that I'm wrong. I know what it's like to lose people you care about, or to make a mistake that hurts someone."

Shimmer caught my attention with her honestly. I hesitantly looked towards her and she sighed before continuing.

"I don't know where you got this mentality, or who taught you to think this way, but I'm going to change your mind. If you really don't think we're friends after all that's happened, then fine, I'll stop bothering you. But if there's even a sliver of doubt in your mind about it, then I think you owe it to yourself and me to try."

I stood stoically as I digested what she said. It sounded… tempting, to just give in and take a chance like that, but a weird, uneasy feeling bubbled up from my stomach and made me feel sick.

"That's… not how that works. You can't… just…I-"

Shimmer put a claw up to her chin.

"What if we start with something simpler? How about… acquaintances! That way you don't have to feel as weird about it."

"I don't know… I shouldn't be thinking about this. I don't deserv-"

"Crap, I didn't mean to say that."

"So there is more to it. I knew you were holding back on me!"

"Yeah… but please don't ask me about it. I've said enough already."

"Ok, I'll take it. It's a bit more than you were giving me before, so you must be warming up to me!"

I sighed.

"Yeah, sure. But since we're asking questions, why are you trying so hard to make friends? Don't you have plenty of them in Warfang? Why do I matter so much to you?"

Shimmer sighed and grumbled to herself, and then forced a smile as she answered.

"Rough question to start with, but I guess I can share a bit of my personal problems. I'll be honest, I don't have too many friends because I don't live in Warfang, and my views about apes aren't popular. Not everyone is interested in keeping relationships that only exist for part of the year, and when you take into account my defense towards apes… you end up not being very liked. So, you're one of the few people I've spent time with outside of the city, and you even let me train with you! I've never had a friend like that before and I don't want to give up on you."

I had no idea how to respond to that. I mumbled quietly, trying to think of something reasonable to say, and settled on something simple.

"Sorry you're treated like that. Also, you're too nice."

She rolled her eyes.

"I'm not, and it's fine. I don't care for anyone that treats others like trash anyway."

Our exchange was interrupted by Heimer as he cleared his throat loudly.

"As much as I and the rest of my colleagues enjoy listening to such… riveting conversation, I felt that it would be appropriate to inform you that we're leaving. It would be a shame to leave you behind, I'm sure, but then I'd have to explain why my passenger went missing. I'm too busy to be bothered with that, so I suggest you table this conversation for now and get moving before you're left behind."

Shimmer and I both looked around, and I flushed with embarrassment when I saw that people were staring back at us as they made their way towards the path. A few were laughing or whispering, so I shoved my hands into my pockets and pulled my cloak over my head in an attempt to hide myself. Shimmer didn't seem to have the same embarrassment and lifted her head high before falling into stride next to me.

"Sorry about that Heimer, we were just sorting something out. We won't fall behind!"

"Of course, of course. Just be swift, because I'm not going to be waiting around for either of you. After the events of last night, I'm wary of staying here for long."

Heimer hobbled back up into his wagon and took off to catch up to everyone else. I frowned and groaned at Shimmer as loudly as I could, but she didn't seem to notice.

"Let's keep discussions like this for a more private setting next time, ok? I don't want people to get the wrong idea about me."

Shimmer smirked at me teasingly.

"I'm surprised that the super cool ninja is embarrassed by a friendly chat. Maybe I should reconsider being friends after all."

I rubbed the bridge of my nose out of annoyance and mumbled a quick "whatever". With a long, drawn out sigh I resigned myself to this new partnership, because it would take too much effort on my part to try and change her mind.

"Since we're on the same page now, could you leave me alone for a bit? Think of it as a favor for an acquaintance because I'm grumpy and want to be by myself."

Shimmer's face twisted like she had just eaten a lemon, and I internally celebrated when she agreed.

"Fine, but that doesn't mean you can do that all the time. At some point today we're going to hang out."

I sighed in defeat and let my shoulders drop to show my disappointment.

"It's not like I have a choice."

"That's the spirit! Maybe by the time we get to Warfang we'll actually be really good fri- I mean acquaintances, and we'll know everything about each other!"

"Yeah, I don't think you'd want to know everything, and I don't think I'd want to tell you either."

"Right, because that would be swell, wouldn't it?"

—

I was convinced that Shimmer was purposefully trying to drive me insane. The past two days of travel had been uneventful and boring, aside from the fact that Shimmer had been pursuing me relentlessly at all times throughout the day to talk, "hang out", eat, practice her skills, work, or to do pretty much anything she considered good for developing a friendship. I did my best to avoid her, but she was able to find me no matter where I tried to hide. Even when I was working, Shimmer decided that it would be a great idea to help out with whatever task I was given. I tried to ask Strongfang for help, but he didn't find any issue with her helping out and left me to suffer.

It was currently mid afternoon and I was just about on my last legs in terms of patience. I couldn't wait to finally be at Warfang, and despite the slog the past few days had been, I could appreciate all of the natural scenery on the way. Once we were entirely out of the Farleigh forest, we followed a path southeast through some plains that were wedged between two mountain ranges. Shimmer informed me that the southwest range was home to the cheetahs and known as Avalar, and the northeastern range was home to a dormant volcano called Onyx that was currently uninhabited.

This journey only covered a small section of the continent, and I learned that to go across its entirety would take almost two weeks of non-stop traveling, although this could be shortened if you flew. There were also a lot of areas that were still unexplored, because there hadn't been enough time to worry about exploration after the world was pulled back together. Most people were focused on rebuilding and developing land that was close to Warfang, due to it being the center of trade in the Dragon Realms.

It would have been cool to explore the continent, but I had to reign back my interest because of my duties. I was going to be leaving soon, so there wasn't much point in fantasizing about what that could be like. Maybe when the war at home was finally over I could travel around to the different villages and experience the cultures there.

"Kiran!"

"Oh no. Already? I thought she was taking a nap!"

"Kiiiiiiran!"

I let my head hang despondently as she hurried over to me.

"Yes, Shimmer?"

"Check it out! You can see Warfang now!"

For the first time in a while I was excited and my head snapped up like a whip. Although it was still far off, I got my first glimpse of a massive city with a sturdy stone wall that seemed to merge into the mountains on the east and west. It towered over the land, reaching up farther than I could accurately guess. The sheer size of the city struck me, especially compared to my home, which was easily dwarfed in size, and I felt that I would be swallowed up by it if I wandered too close. I whistled quietly, and unconsciously took a step closer to Shimmer as I kept my eyes on the city.

"It's huge…"

"Yep! It's the capital of the Dragon Realms for a reason, and it's home to a whole lot of people. You're gonna love it!"

I wasn't sure about that and I clenched my hands anxiously. For whatever reason, I felt... on edge now that we were so close and I felt my nerves begin to fray. Maybe it was because I remembered all of the things I had to do once I was back, or maybe it was the sight of the canons and guards that lined the top of the wall, facing out towards the plains with an intimidating glare. Whatever the reason, Shimmer must have picked up on my uneasiness because she offered me a wing without prompting.

"Hey, you alright?"

I glanced between her and the city and shrugged, and a fresh wave of embarrassment rushed to my cheeks. I turned away, ignoring her attempt to do… whatever that was.

"I'm fine. Just… nervous I guess."

I waited for the sarcastic remark from her in response, but it never came. Instead, she gave me a smile and tried to reassure me.

"Hey, everything's gonna be fine! This is where the council is, remember? You'll be going home soon, so focus on that and you'll do great!"

I tried to take her advice to heart with a deep breath and remembered my goal. Talk to the council, figure out what happened, and go home. I didn't need to worry about anything else until it came.

"Right… Thanks Shimmer."

She smiled happily at me.

"Mhm. Anytime."

We walked in silence as we neared the city, and as I spotted other groups of travelers I regained some of my confidence. Traders were heading to and from the city, and above the wall I could see a few different colored dragons that were flying in and out of view. Many of them were fully grown adults like Feldspar, but the distance and city's size made them look like small birds floating gently in the sky.

The wall itself had several points of entry built into it, but we headed towards a set of gigantic wooden doors that were reinforced by strips of iron. This must have been the main entryway into the city, because most of the foot traffic seemed to congregate around this particular entrance. Our caravan neared the gates from the west, and the individual wagons morphed into a single line that proceeded to enter through the gate. There were dragon and cheetah guards stationed on both sides of the entrance, but they appeared to be bored out of their minds as they watched with uninterested stares. I could understand their boredom, having had to do the same task myself a few times and silently sympathized with them.

I took a deep breath as I passed through the gate, and a strong breeze filled my nostrils with the scent of salty air. That wasn't what I was expecting and I tried to figure out where the smell had come from.

"Is the city near a body of water…?"

Before I could figure that out, I had my breath taken away by what I could see. Although it was only a small part of the city, buildings and small pockets of open area dominated the landscape, while paths snaked into the city in all directions. I noticed that every path angled slightly downwards, leaving this part of the city elevated over the rest. I could see an ocean or something similar on the south side of the city, along with docks lining the shore and all sorts of boats sailing through the water.

For the most part, buildings were simple and rectangular in shape, but the deeper inside of Warfang I looked, the more ornate and intricate the architecture became. Thankfully the city wasn't all block and stone, as trees and grass lined the streets, giving the city a calm atmosphere despite the cramped space and hustle of its many citizens.

Although the city was beautiful, it paled in comparison to a monument that sat proudly in what I was assuming was the center of the city. There was a large statue composed of smooth white stone that had a mole, cheetah and dragon that were all standing together in unity. I was guessing that each figure was someone important, because in some form or another they were dressed in formal garb and covered in jewelry. Well, the cheetah and mole were, while the dragon wore armor that covered his entire body, only opting to not wear a helmet. He was grinning with a twinkle in his eyes, contrasting with the serious and noble postures of the other two, and it made for an interesting scene.

"That's Spyro, Prowlus and Lexin. They were considered the representative or leader of their respective race during the war, and the statue was built as a tribute to them and a reminder for all of us to work together. At least, that's what my history teacher says. I think it's a bit gaudy, to be honest, and I've heard that Spyro doesn't like the statue of himself being put on display. That's just a rumor though, so take it with a grain of salt."

"Leave it to Shimmer to have a good amount of insight on the history of the place."

Before she could explain anything else though, a gruff voice spoke up from behind us.

"Spyro is a bit more down t' earth than the others."

I turned to see that Strongfang was standing behind us and I almost jumped. I didn't know he could be so quiet and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

"Oh, hey. Did you need something Strongfang?"

"No, but I have your pay. I wanted t' catch ya and give it t' ya before ya took off."

He tossed me a sack of coins that I grabbed and stuffed into a pocket.

"Thanks. I'm guessing this means my job is done?"

"Yep. Yer good t' head out. I wish ya luck solving yer problem, but if ya end up staying in the city and need a place t' stay, feel free t' come find me in the northeastern guild district. I run the mercenary guild there and I can house ya for a few days."

"Hopefully it doesn't come to that, but thanks. I'll keep it in mind."

He nodded and then gave Shimmer a small wave.

"Good luck in yer classes. Don't get into any trouble, or I'll let Feldspar know."

Shimmer waved a wing dismissively.

"Pft, that would never happen, I'd never let you tell my dad!"

Strongfang cracked a smile and I couldn't help but laugh while Shimmer smiled cheekily at him. He shook his head and sighed, just as more people approached him to talk. He gave us both one last nod before turning to deal with them. Before we could be on our way though, a woman broke free from the edge of the entrance and made her way over to me.

"Excuse me sir, are you one of Strongfangs guards?"

"Uhh… I mean-."

She had a tired and desperate look in her eyes, and she was very disheveled. She cleared her throat and stood up a bit straighter, while wiping some dirt off of her clothes that were covered in dirt.

"Please, I need your help. My son has been missing for a week now and none of the others that Strongfang has put on the case have been able to find him. I need to find him, I'm begging you!"

I stood awkwardly in silence, because I wasn't sure what to say. This was not what I was expecting to deal with right off the bat, and I rubbed the back of my head awkwardly.

"Look, I uh… I don't work for him anymore. I'm sorry to hear about your son, but I'm sure that-"

She got down on her knees and wrapped her hands together.

"Please, I'm begging you. Others have disappeared, but no one is doing anything about it! I'll even pay you, my posting is on the board, just like the others!"

"Others?"

I froze in uncertainty, but Strongfang came to my rescue. He helped the woman get up and shrugged apologetically to me.

"I'm sorry about this Kiran."

He then addressed the ape.

"Come now Reilah, ya know I already have someone lookin' for him. We're doin' all that we can."

Strongfang attempted to soothe her, but she started to cry hysterically and screamed at him as they walked away. I felt way out of my comfort zone and terrible for refusing to help her.

"What the hell was that all about Shimmer?"

She was as shocked as I was.

"I don't know… I didn't know that there were missing people in Warfang. Maybe something happened while I was gone?"

"Or maybe this city isn't as great as you think it is."

"Maybe… but it's not our problem. So, can we head to the council now?"

"Not yet, we still need to-"

Shimmer looked behind me, gasped loudly, squealed excitedly and then sprinted past me. She bowled into a sturdy looking dark green dragon with a pale green underbelly that had a blank stoic stare fixed onto his face. There was a single blue flower clamped in his teeth that he presented to Shimmer and she swooned over it. He also had two brown horns that were angled back and then up, almost pointing directly into the sky, and small brown spikes that ran all the way back to his mace shaped tail tip.

"Phyl! I didn't think you'd be here waiting for me! And you brought me a flower?"

"Mhm. I've been here all morning waiting for you."

She hugged him tightly and nuzzled him as he wrapped a wing around her in return. He then glanced over to me and didn't react with anything more than a slow blink.

"Who's that?"

"Oh, that's Kiran. There's a lot that's happened over the past week, but we can talk about it later. All you need to know is that he's a human and a new friend of mine. I was planning on having him meet you before I took him to the civil center, but this works too. Kiran, this is Phylite, my drakefriend!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. It's easy enough to figure that out without you yelling his name repeatedly."

I watched him gently pry Shimmer away so she could walk over to me and I was… confused. How could someone so calm and quiet be in a relationship with Shimmer? He greeted me quietly as he looked me over slowly and I did the same to him.

"Hey, you can call me Phyl."

"Uh, hey Phyl."

"That's the least Draconic name I've heard. I wonder why his parents named him that?"

"So, you're a human?"

"…Yep, not an ape."

"Gotcha, that's cool. I'm glad to know that Shimmer has made another friend outside of Warfang."

"Yeah, well… she's right when she says that it's been an interesting week. I'm just glad that we're both ok."

Phyl raised an eyebrow at that comment.

"Glad you're ok? Did something happen on the way?"

Shimmer shoved herself between the two of us and chuckled nervously.

"Ok, enough talking! Let's get you to where you need to go Kiran!"

"But Shim, what did he mean by-"

"Later! We can talk about it later, it's nothing to worry about!"

He sighed and let his shoulders sag, but didn't argue.

"Alright, how about over dinner then? I was planning on cooking dinner for you, so how about we go to my parent's house after Kiran's good to go?"

Shimmer squealed and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, causing him to smile ever so slightly and blush.

"As long as he doesn't need my help anymore, sure!"

"It's a date then."

Shimmer snuggled up to Phyl and wrapped her tail around his.

"Are you busy, or can you come with us? It shouldn't take too long."

"I'm free, my only plans for today involved you, so I'm flexible."

"You only made plans to see me? That's so sweet!"

At this point Shimmer began walking forwards, pulling Cliff along with her using her tail. I followed along quietly, starting to feel a bit like a third wheel as she started to chat his ears off, which was fine with me. It was nice to not be the center of Shimmer's attention for once and I tuned them out as they talked about things going on in their respective lives.

As we walked, I began to notice that the city was split up into different districts, with specific purposes for each area. The entrance that we came from seemed to be heavily populated by small shops, trading posts and a few buildings that were only for city guards. Once we passed through there, we entered a residential area and then we passed through a marketplace that was selling all sorts of goods, and Shimmer convinced us to stop so she could get a snack.

Once she was satisfied, we left the marketplace and entered an open area that had several natural wellsprings of water. These wellsprings fed into machines that pushed the water into channels that spread out in all directions, carrying water to other parts of the city. It was interesting to see, and I had to give credit to the people here for their craftsmanship and ingenuity. As we left that area, we finally entered into the political center of Warfang, making itself known by the monument I had seen before and the temple-like buildings that were clustered together in a large circle.

I noticed with a bit of unease that there were no apes in sight, despite how many people were here. It was a busy part of the city, and people around here were wearing clothing that was fancier than anything I had ever owned. Even the dragons sported some type of paint or jewelry on their horns or scales, and it made me feel like I would be kicked out based on appearance alone. If the strange looks or flat out glares that I was getting were any indication, I wasn't welcome here.

'I really don't like the looks I'm getting… it's as if they think I'm going to attack them."

It was then that I remembered that my sword was visible, and it was drawing more eyes than I was comfortable with. I pushed the sword under my cloak and hurried after Shimmer, who didn't seem to share my concerns, and she plowed forwards towards the smallest building with a sign that said… something. A city guard eyed me critically as we walked inside but didn't bother us, much to my relief.

Once we were inside, the building opened up into a main lobby. The floor inside was made out of smooth stone and there were wooden desks on each side of the room. Straight ahead there was a staircase that led to a second floor, but Shimmer waved to get my attention before I could see what was upstairs.

"Ok, so, I've never done this before, but you should be able to go talk to anyone at any of the desks and they should be able to help you. I don't know what all you'll have to do, but I imagine that you'll have to fill out some paperwork."

"Alright, that shouldn't be too hard. I'll do whatever I need to do as long as it leads me to someone that can help me get home."

"Yup, that's why we're here…"

Shimmer looked downcast and was making small circles with a claw on the floor. I sighed heavily and reached over to give her an awkward handshake.

"Thanks for all your-"

She bailed on my handshake and charged forwards to give me a hug. She got up into her hind legs and hugged me with her wings and forelegs. She was heavy and almost shoved me over as her weight rested on my shoulders and chest, but I held steady until she let go.

"Like I was trying to say, thanks. It would have taken me a lot longer to get here without your help."

"I know, you're lost without me."

She tried to smile but just couldn't manage one.

"Do you want me to stay here until you've figured things out?"

"No, it's ok, I've got it.

"Are you sure?"

I gave her a pointed stare.

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Ok. But, If for whatever reason you end up staying longer, you can find me and Phyl in the eastern side of Warfang in the Dermant district. His parents live there and we attend classes at the school in that area too, so you'd bump into us eventually."

"Thanks, but hopefully this works out and I can finally go home. I've got a lot to do when I get back."

She nodded sullenly and gave me a small wave with her tail as she turned to leave with Phyl, who also gave me a short wave with his wing.

"Good luck Kiran! Remember to come find me if this doesn't work out!"

I waved back, saying what I was hoping would be goodbye for the last time, ignoring the small ping of sadness in my own heart.

"Bye, Shimmer. Thanks for everything."

Once they were gone, I turned and made my way over to the nearest desk, only to be greeted by a cheetah that looked completely unenthusiastic to see me. With a glare but polite tone, he greeted me.

"How can I help you today?"