It had been two days since Nightreader and Stonemover had joined Griffin and Torrent, and the brutal heat of the desert sun was finally cooling as dusk fell upon them. The moons were a bit brighter than Torrent would have preferred that night, as the light shining from them illuminated the dunes and dry skies not only to them, but to other watchful eyes. Griffin held out Orca's map within his talons, silver beams of moonlight glittering off the blotches of ink. As his strained eyes watched the slow movement of the grey blotch traveling to the west, towards a yellowish blotch on the coast of Pyrrhia, he felt a cold presence on his feathered wings, as if someone was watching him.

He quickly swiveled his head midair to see Stonemover, who spread his wings in shock at Griffin's turn, having to quickly flap the leathery membranes to regain control and steady flight. "Sorry," he whimpered, like a young dragonet apologizing for setting his family's abode on fire. "I was just curious."

Griffin sighed. He flapped his wings instinctively, realizing he had lost a little altitude. "Just ask next time, alright?"

Stonemover fidgeted from side to side uncomfortably, although midair it seemed much more like a sweep. Griffin banked to the left, closer to the NightWing until their wings were practically touching. He held out the waxy scroll to the left, closer to Stonemover so the NightWing could see. "It's a map," Stonemover stated.

Griffin nodded. "It's an enchanted map of Pyrrhia," he explained. "It shows the location of all animus dragons. It's how we found you." He pointed a talon to the grey blotch, somewhere to the northwest of the "heart" of Pyrrhia, in the northwest corner of the desert. "That's your blotch. So whenever you used the portals, we could see you traveling back and forth to the rainforest."

"Oh," Stonemover stammered, as if he was embarrassed of his movements being tracked. "So you were . . . spying on me?"

Griffin shrugged his wings a little, causing a quick bout of turbulence in his flight. "I mean, sort of. I could see whether you were in the Sand Kingdom or the rainforest, but that was all."

Stonemover looked slightly ashamed. "Queen Battlewinner spied on me occasionally," he murmured. "She has an enchanted mirror that she used."

"Wait, she has enchanted objects? Did you make it?" Griffin was concerned now. If the NightWing queen was able to spy on dragons, she could be looking at them right now, unless they were all huddled up against Torrent. He gulped a little.

Stonemover nervously shook his head. "I don't think we have many others. I didn't make it either, some animus from thousands of years ago did. Where are we going?"

"Huh?" Griffin asked, surprised at the sudden turn in the conversation. He glanced down at the map again, and pointed a talon to the yellowish blotch on the west coast of Pyrrhia, at the edge of the desert. "Oh, here. There's another animus here. We're going to pay them a visit."

The NightWing frowned. "Why am I still on the map? I thought I wasn't an animus anymore."

Griffin glanced over to Torrent. He was flying a bit behind him, near Nightreader. He really needed to tell the SeaWing about the mirror, sooner than later. "You're still an animus," Griffin explained, "you just can't use your powers. That's what you made the enchantment do, right?"

Stonemover looked a little lost in thought, as if he was having trouble recalling the moment. "Right," he softly responded. "So, who enchanted the map?"

Griffin winced. He didn't feel like there was time to get into Orca right now, and he didn't particularly want to be the one to bring that subject up. "Just a sec," he interrupted, "I need to talk to Torrent.

The NightWing looked a bit uncomfortable as Griffin angled his wings, falling back to where Torrent and Nightreader were flying. After regaining his stability, he turned towards Torrent. "Stonemover just mentioned that the NightWing queen has an enchanted object she can use to spy on dragons."

Torrent thought for a moment. "So?" he asked. "My dagger will stop it."

Griffin shook his head, the wind blowing his feathers back and forth. "Not if one of us is too far away from you, and out of your dagger's range. Maybe that's how the NightWings found out about us; it could have been used on me while I wasn't nearby."

Torrent flicked his tongue out, concerned.

Nightreader spoke up. "It's called the Obsidian Mirror. It's been with the NightWings for as long as we can remember, and it allows its user to see and hear anyone they want with it. I don't know if that's what was used to find out about you, but it's possible."

"So they might have been watching us this whole time, and we could receive a nasty NightWing surprise when we get to the coast," Griffin speculated. "Delightful."

Nightreader grimaced. She didn't particularly find this idea appealing, either. "Maybe," she answered, "but I've still got a while before I'm scheduled to return to the Night Kingdom, and the Mirror doesn't tend to be used unless it's needed. The queen doesn't use it herself, and most dragons find it . . . unappealing. It has bad vibes."

Torrent knew exactly what she was talking about. The uncanny feeling around enchanted objects. Though he was surprised that it was so bad around this thing it dissuaded the NightWings from using what would be an extremely valuable tool. In a way, that only made him more concerned.

"So as long as we only talk about where we're going near Torrent, and keep traveling, they won't be able to find us," Griffin suggested. The idea didn't particularly appeal to him, and it seemed a bit temporary at most, but it was better than nothing. He rolled up the map between his talons, and put it in his satchel. It would be better if he didn't have it out in plain sight, just in case the NightWings were watching. Given the measly number of blotches left on it, it wouldn't be difficult for their plans to be guessed. "I'll go tell Stonemover." In a few short flaps, Griffin had propelled himself forward, leaving Torrent and Nightreader behind.

There was a short moment of silence between Nightreader and Torrent. Nightreader finally broke it. "So," she stated curiously, "why do you hunt animuses?"

Torrent snorted. A bit heavy for small-talk. "Well," he responded, uneased, "they're dangerous." Realizing from her expression that she wouldn't accept just that answer, he sighed and continued. "Animus dragons can do anything they want with their power, whether they want to help others, or use their magic for their own selfish and evil reasons. And most dragons would prefer to do the latter. Every animus represents a threat to all of Pyrrhia. The risks are just too high."

Nightreader frowned, and thought for a moment. "I disagree," she stated. "Most dragons wouldn't want to use their magic to harm others. We just want to live our lives, and be happy. There are some who just want power for the sake of power, but no matter what the scrolls say, that's just not true of everyone."

Torrent grunted. "Maybe you're right. Maybe most dragons are good, or at least not evil. But there are still those out there who would use it to harm, whether by nature or by circumstance. And the whole soul-losing aspect. Sure, an animus might start out using her powers without hurting others, but she'll change. She'll want to use her powers more. Then, she'll use them for power, to harm others. And if it goes on too long, who knows what she would do with them? Genocide an opposing kingdom? Worse?"

Nightreader took a quick glance away from Torrent. He followed her eyes to Stonemover, who was meanwhile conversing with Griffin over something. She turned back to him. "Why do you kill them then? Instead of taking their power like you did with Stonemover?"

"Most of the ones I've met wouldn't agree to something like that," Torrent replied, slightly unsure of the truth in his words, "and I didn't even realize it was possible, or if it would work." I still don't, he thought with concern. Griffin had told him Stonemover's blotch was still on the map. What if he still had his powers? What if he had fooled them into thinking he had gotten rid of his magic? "By killing them, I can be absolutely sure they don't use their powers."

Nightreader flicked her forked tongue in and out of her teeth. "You should avoid killing whenever possible," she commented.

Torrent snorted a little. Sure, that was ideal, but he wasn't quite sure she understood the risks involved. If she did, she would agree with him, wouldn't she? "Your brother," he stated. "You knew that the magic would have an effect on his soul. Why did you support the Night Kingdom using his magic?"

NIghtreader scoffed a little. "Support them? I didn't have a choice. I had my orders; there was nothing else to do about it. Anyways, by using his powers, we're hoping we can bring the war to an end sooner. Sort of."

Bring the war to an end? Torrent hadn't heard anything about NightWing involvement in the war. Supposedly, they wanted to remain neutral. Though, he did recall Avalanche mentioning meeting NightWings, years ago. "Do you know what the Talons of Peace are?"

Nightreader glanced over and nodded. "Yes, I know them."

"Have you heard of a SkyWing named Avalanche?"

"I've met her," Nightreader answered. "Years ago, Morrowseer took a few other NightWings and I to meet with her."

Torrent remembered that name. Morrowseer. If he recalled correctly, He was the one who created the Dragonet Prophecy. Griffin was probably the one who mentioned it, he was always far more involved in the Talons than Torrent was. "Did you find her as despicable as I did?" he chuckled.

Nightreader shook her head. "She didn't really stand out as rude one way or another. Though I suppose that might be because NightWings are generally somewhat . . . confrontational. Are you part of the Talons?"

"No," Torrent replied, "but Griffin has a number of connections to them." It was funny that they both knew Avalanche. He supposed Pyrrhia was smaller than it seemed.
"About Griffin," Nightreader said. She glanced over towards him, as if making sure he was too far to hear her. "What exactly . . . is he?"

Torrent sighed. "He's enchanted. Not as in he's a dragon who was cursed to become a gryphon, but an animus brought him to life."

"An animus?" Nightreader wondered, eyes wide with curiosity. "Who?"

Torrent averted his eyes. "It's not important," he grumbled.

The NightWing laughed. "You can tell me. I'm not going to report you to my queen. Was she the one you were referring to when you were talking about animuses earlier? You did say she."

Torrent thought back for a moment. Had he really been thinking about Orca then? He supposed so. "Fine," be begrudgingly replied, "she was my sister. Her name was Orca."
"Wait, Orca?" Nightreader asked in surprise. "As in, Princess Orca? Seriously? You're a prince?"

Torrent rolled his eyes a little. "Yes. As far as I know, there aren't any other Prince Torrents."

"It's not an uncommon SeaWing name," Nightreader answered, "and we're only required to learn the princesses of the kingdoms, not the princes. Otherwise, well, how many dragonets has Queen Cor . . . er, your mother had?"

Torrent didn't really keep track. From what he remembered from the little news of the Sea Kingdom he got, the SeaWing princesses kept mysteriously dying, many times still in their eggs, so his parents had to keep having eggs in hopes of a heir surviving. Because of that, he now had more brothers than he could count. A few of the ones just younger than him had had dragonets by this point, but their heirs suffered similar fates, only the male dragonets surviving. Not that it was really his concern. "Too many."

"Wait, so Princess Orca was an animus?"

Torrent nodded. "Through Albatross's line. She hid her powers well. Only Griffin and I knew back then, although there are bound to be more by this point who've figure it out."

"So are any of your other siblings magical?" Nightreader questioned. "Animus magic runs in the family."
"I know," Torrent responded, "and as far as I've seen, Orca has been the only one as of yet. There's no other blotches in the Sea Kingdom in my map, though we did meet an SeaWing animus a while back. Probably a fourth cousin once removed or some other distant relative. He got away. With how fast my mother is spewing eggs out, there might be more eventually, though there's no point in worrying for now."

"So," Nightreader asked slowly, "with Orca . . ."

"What happened?" Torrent chortled. "How did she die? No need to be indirect about it. She's been gone . . ." Torrent gently glided as he counted years off on his talons, ". . . seven years? Eight?" He looked a bit longingly behind him, towards the direction of his dragonet home. Had it really been that long? "She used too much magic, and started to lose her soul. She killed a couple dragons. She challenged our mother, and lost. That's all."

"Who did she kill?"

"You won't remember her, but my sister River." The blank expression on Nightreader's snout confirmed Torrent's suspicions. "Additionally, she killed a NightWing animus named Sunscorcher. To be fair, it was in self-defense."

"Sunscorcher?" Nightreader asked in recognition.

"You know her?"

Nightreader nodded. "She was a NightWing animus from five hundred or so years ago. The sister of an ancestor Stonemover and I had, and the last time we had an animus in the NightWings. I don't remember exactly what happened, but supposedly she had a falling out with the queen, which eventually led to her committing regicide in a . . . particularly gruesome fashion. Sunscorcher fled the Night Kingdom, and no one ever saw her again. Everyone all figured that she'd died or had gone off to find the Lost Continent or something."

Torrent snorted. "Well, she's good as dead now. Very dead, in fact." He glanced in front of him, to the west. Somewhere, only days ahead of him, was the west coast of Pyrrhia, and the great ocean to the west. He would be glad to feel the salty sea on his scales again. "Guess we'll see who's next."