When they got to the mouth of the River Jiet, they disembarked from the ferry. Cade said that it was farther than he usually went anyway. Arlen reckoned that they were on the west side of the river, with the city of Belatona to the east of them. It was here that Rose said goodbye.

"Cade, I wish you and your family farewell," Rose said. She took some silver out of her coin pouch and said, "I hope this compensates you for the time you took to get us here."

Cade shook his head. "No, I couldn't take money from you, Auntie Rose."

"I insist," Rose replied. "You need to make a living, and we've taken up enough of your time already."

"Very well, but I would have done it for nothing at all if you asked me," Cade said.

Rose sighed deeply. "I know. I tend to be surrounded by the naïve."

"It's better to be naïve than depressed as far as I'm concerned," Cade said. It was very interesting for Arlen to see the two of them converse. He almost wondered how Cade came to call Rose "Auntie", but he probably wouldn't get an answer if he asked. As Cade boarded his ferry and began to float away, he waved to them shouting, "Farewell and goodbye! I hope to see you again before the end of my days."

"As do I," Rose shouted back, waving in return. While it may have been Arlen's imagination, Rose seemed to have a small smile on her face. "Goodbye!" She then turned to Arlen and the others and said, "Let's go."

As Rose revealed, their destination was Feinster, which was on the other side of the border between the Empire proper and Surda. Arlen had no idea what the proper name for the territories ruled by the Empire between the northern wilds, the Spine, the Hadarac Desert, and Surda was, but thought that it should have one. He was in no mood to think on it though, because soon after they began their trek cross country it started to rain.

Arlen shivered as the rain poured down on his hood. They were fortunate to have encountered a trade caravan along the road to buy rain-cloaks from, but it was terrible weather all the same. The temporary dyes in their clothing began to wash out, and what was left of any pretense of them being performers was drowned among the insects of the ground. He hoped that he wouldn't catch a cold.

The sky began to darken, and Arlen wondered where they were going to spend the night, when there was thunder but no lightning. To Arlen that could mean only one thing: a Dragon. He turned to Lynde and said, "Where is Artsanna?"

After a pause Lynde said, "Scouting ahead. Why?"

He didn't say anything but looked around for the Dragon. When he saw it he was frightfully surprised how close it was. It was going to land quite near them. "Duck!" he called out, hoping that they wouldn't need to. As the Dragon crashed to the ground nearby he thought better of his advice.

Rose immediately sprang into action, drawing her bow in preparation. "Stay here," she commanded as she approached the Dragon.

As it righted itself Arlen could see how big it was. While it was one of the biggest ones he'd seen, it wasn't as big as Magnora let alone Thorn. Its scales were muddy, but beneath the mud they were a very vibrant shade of light green. Its spiked snout and head made it seem even more threatening, only lessened by the sound it made.

It called out with a sad sort of sound, like a lonely cat. While it did have a defensive posture, it didn't seem to want a fight. It pressed against his mental barriers, which he did not allow in for the simple reason that he didn't want the Dragon to control him in the case that it tried, but he might guess that it could have been a cry for help.

Rose approached cautiously, keeping her bow ready in the event that the Dragon attacked. It growled as she approached and breathed green fire into the air. Rose lowered her bow, putting it on the ground, and that seemed to calm the Dragon down significantly. She made it to the Dragon without harm.

The Dragon gestured its head under its wing, and Rose looked under it. She turned back calling, "Lynde, come over here."

Arlen looked to Lynde. She was just as surprised as Arlen was that she would be called for, but she went to Rose anyway. The Dragon insisted that Lynde leave her sword behind, and she went along with it, which was something Arlen didn't think he could do. After getting to the Dragon's wing, Lynde and Rose disappeared under it.

Arlen and Herbst waited where they had stopped in the cold rain. It was rather annoying for Arlen to have to wait while Lynde and Rose were doing something he had no idea what was. He could only imagine what was going on under the Dragon's wing.

Haldthin, a light male voice said from seemingly nowhere. Arlen deduced that it was coming from the Dragon. My name is Haldthin.

Arlen was annoyed with himself that he let down his defenses for even a second. But as angry as he was, he did realize that the Dragon did not have malice intended, as he would have inflicted it in that opening. While there was no harm done, there was no excuse for his failing.

After a while in the rain Haldthin said, Your female companions wish you to come. Quickly as I smell something strange nearby and it might be dangerous. He might have talked about Artsanna, but Arlen couldn't tell.

He and Herbst approached the Dragon carefully but quickly to get out of the rain. Oddly enough, this time Haldthin didn't make Arlen drop his weapon, so they arrived under the Dragon's wing soon enough. When he was there he saw something he didn't expect.

It was a silver haired Elf man, wounded in the side, looking very weak. Rose and Lynde were by his side, and had bandaged the wound. The Elf had a sword at his side with a light green emblem on his scabbard, which may have shown him as the Rider of Haldthin. "I've done all a Human can do," Rose said. "Now all we can do is wait for him to heal."

Lynde frowned at Rose, and Arlen caught on to what was going on. Rose didn't want to use magic on the Rider as it would expose them as at the very least magicians—and at the very most an Elf and a Rider. Arlen could understand Rose's reasoning, as well as Lynde's displeasure, but he had to side with Rose this time, as it was just too dangerous with a Dragon on hand.

You may stay under my wing for now, Haldthin said. I ask you to stay here and watch over Kaesdir—my Rider—for me, but I will understand if you wish to move on.

"We will stay," Rose said. "I will decide for how long in the morning."

Thank you. There was honesty in the Dragon's "voice" that made Arlen trust him somehow. It was simple, childlike even, but earnest. He hoped that it wasn't an act as it would be a shame that the Riders' Order didn't have someone like him.

They set up camp under Haldthin's wing. It was awkward, but reminded him of his time spent during that blizzard with Murtagh and Thorn. Hopefully this Rider did not have quite the same reputation as Murtagh.

He wondered what caused his wound. It was strange that an Elf with such a massive Dragon would have such a wound on him. Perhaps he did not expect it, or there was something that pierced his wards, or his wards collapsed because of massive damage to them. He would only find out when the Elf woke up.