Mia feared for the worst. Volga lay in the sand, out cold from exhaustion. The harsh desert sun crawled higher into the sky. Already the heat pounded on her translucent wings as she fluttered around Volga frantically.

"Please wake up," she landed in the sand next to his face. No matter how hard she smacked his cheek, he remained asleep. Maybe a bit of magic would help. She wiped the grit from his cheek and gently kissed it.

Volga didn't stir.

She needed help. There had to be a good soul somewhere in the grand expanse of the Lanayru Desert.

I'll lose him if I leave. If I stay here, he'll die.

She'd no other choice. Wings buzzing, she flew northward. The heat grew as the sun rose higher, but she refused to let the elements stop her. Fairies, however, were not blessed with stamina. By the time the sun reached a quarter way into the sky, exhaustion forced her to land. The Goddesses were merciful, however, and she found shade under a scrub.

Aside from the occasional scrub like her resting spot, the desert proved vast and empty. The only feature that Mia made out in the distance was a grand expanse of cliff. Someone had to live there, someone who could help. There was just the matter of finding them.

Mia took to the air once again. The cliff lay only a quarter million wingbeats away, she could make it. She'd only flown about a hundred wingbeats before she spotted several figures in the distance. Had she the breath, she'd have sighed with relief.

With all her tiny might, she quickly turned and shot towards the figures. "Hey!" She shouted, "over here! Over he-" She nearly fell to the ground as she tried to halt. After evening out, she squinted.

Bulblins.

Mia never flew so fast in her life.

"Volga?"

Who was calling his name? They sounded familiar.

"Volga!"

A tiny slap to the cheek and Volga's eyes jolted open. For several moments the world was nothing but a mess of noise and blackness. Even when he gathered himself he made out nothing but incoherent, distant voices and a putrid stench.

"You're okay," someone sighed with relief.

"Who...?" He grunted. His eyes darted about but he saw only darkness.

"It's Mia."

Mia. That's right. Like a person clearing the grog from their mind after a nap, Volga recalled everything. The last thing he remembered was the heat of the desert. Exhausted, he'd passed out. Then what? He turned his head to Mia. Her soft rosy glow hurt his eyes for a moment.

"Where are we?" He asked.

A long pause passed between them, "They found you again."

"They?"

"The Bulblins."

He didn't need to ask how. Lanayru Desert was the Bulblins' home. A passed out human wouldn't prove difficult to find.

"We're back in their camp," Mia continued as she settled on his shoulder, "They threw you into they bulbo pen."

Volga furrowed his brow. Now that she mentioned it, he could hear hoarse grunts and slow, heavy steps around of him. No stars danced overhead, making the pen completely enclosed. He moved to stand but chains around his wrists forced him back down. The rocky ground colliding with his head reminded him of the wound that'd not yet healed.

"How long have I been out?" He grunted.

Having taken to the air with his jolt, Mia settled on his knee, "Two days. They kept you alive somehow and..."

"What?"

"I don't know how to explain," she shook her head slowly.

"Mia," Anger bubbled in Volga's chest. In that instant he knew that something was wrong. Fire always accompanied strong emotions, a familiar flame that churned in his breast. But now he felt cold. Instantly his hand flew over his heart. Immediately he pulled it away when his fingers burned with cold at the touch of a raised mark beneath his shirt. "What-"

"He used this...iron on you. I didn't hear everything he said but..."

"What did he do?!" He grabbed her and held her close to his face. Intense eyes stared her down. She cowered in his grip and held her hands up. His cold heart sank at the sight and he gently set her down. "I-"

"It's fine," Mia shakily replied. Her heart pounded in her ears, but somehow she knew he didn't intend her any harm.

For several long moments silence rested on them like a suffocating blanket. Volga drowned in his racing thoughts. Mia mentioned an iron. No. Not the iron Adar threatened to brand him with? He refused to wrap his mind around it.

"I'm sorry," Mia flew up to his face and held her hands close to her chest. There would be no consoling him. Adar literally trapped Volga in his human body. The mighty dragon along with his flame sealed away and stolen. Even in the dim light she radiated, she could see the lack of fire that burned behind Volga's keen, blue eyes.

Volga replied with a shaky exhale. Normally his human form proved one of convenience, but now it'd become a prison. He brought his hands to the mark over his heart. Still it burned like frigid metal and he yanked them away.

"How?" He managed to ask.

"I don't know. I don't recognize that symbol," Mia admitted.

"Can you heal it?"

"I tried when you were still passed out," she bore her palms up to him to show him the blisters. Upon close inspection, he saw similar blisters along the thin line of her mouth.

Volga sat back with a slow shake of his head, "Adar is a dead man."

As if on cue, the sound of old metal squealing with protest echoed in the chamber. The light of dawn of dusk-neither of them could tell-poured in. Instantly Mia fled into the collar of Volga's shirt.

Once his eyes adjusted, Volga noticed that the bulbo pen was a large cavern gated off by a rusting but sturdy door. "Speak of demons and they will come," Volga growled under his breath.

Hands clasped behind his back, Adar stepped in the cave flanked by two bulblins, "There's our prize catch. I have good news for you."