Betcha weren't expecting Meru to pop up :D.

K, so a gryff is basically the Northland best of burden. They're bird-like, with four legs, four wings, and a long scaly tail. The heads kinda resemble an owl's, but with little bear-like ears, six eyes, and spikes on the forehead. Kinda cute, actually, in my opinion. They're commonly kept as pets (hence why Niira has Kitty), as well as cavalry mounts.

Also, they are fuzzy, and fuzzy is good.

If I can ever find a picture of him I drew, I'll be sure to link it in one of the future chapters.

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After the run-in with the Sandoran rogues, there was little resistance to Lavitz's decision to walk through the prairie instead. He did know the area well, and they moved quickly southward for several weeks. The landscape reminded Niira of the feliforms' territory in the Northlands, with its tall, dry grasses and sparse trees...and no towns in sight.

Unless the abandoned farms that stood in the distance counted. As the group neared the old buildings, a herd of wild horses suddenly bolted from behind what must have at one time been a house. Kitty eyed the beasts curiously, but Niira put a hand on his shoulder to stay him before he could decide to try to hunt one down.

Lavitz wore an odd smile. "Been a while since I've been here," he mused.

"Really?" Niira said, only half-interested. All this walking without even the slightest glimmer of magic that could be the Seventh was making her weary and hopeless.

"Well, I was being chased by Sandoran soldiers at the time..."

"Sounds exciting!" Meru piped up. She had found the remains of an old fence and was walking along the fallen wooden slats. One of the beams suddenly gave way, and she hopped to safety.

"It was until..." The knight looked around. "We should probably stop here for the night. We won't come across anything else before nightfall."

"Good idea," growled Marach. He had been silent for days straight from his crankiness at being on open terrain, which didn't bother Niira, except that he was surly at best when she asked for his help in talking to Serpent Mother. The hyaeniform stretched, accidentally smacking Kitty in the face. The gryff merely blinked and moved on.

-----

They decided on staying in the building that was the least dilapidated, a shed cluttered with various tools. But for some reason, Niira was unable to sleep. Something was bothering her, and it wasn't the wooden floor of the shed. She had slept on stone for years, the hard floor didn't cause her that much discomfort. No, it was something else she couldn't place.

When she was sure everyone else was asleep, she slipped back outside. Even Kitty was deep in slumber, his giant form curled up against the side of the shed. Niira stepped silently past him, heading for the crest of a nearby hill. Perhaps she just needed some time alone to think and figure out what occupied her tired mind.

She sat down in the night-chilled grass. Stretched above her was a sky full of stars, the same stars she remembered from the Northlands. They winked at her from their seats in the heavens. She watched them in silence.

After a few minutes, she realized that the stars were blinking in a sort of pattern, as if something large and black was moving in front of them. Or were they? Maybe she was just making things up in her exhausted mental state. As she continued watching, she realized that something was indeed moving around in front of them. She couldn't make it out, as whatever it was was a black as the night itself. What on earth? It can't be Yinwu, he wouldn't have come unless I called him.

She began to get light-headed from sitting so stiffly as she observed the stars. But she dared not move. Something strange was going on.

She lost track of how long she watched the sky. She felt disembodied almost, as if she was floating among the stars, surrounded by their tiny lights. The dark form was still moving around, almost as if it was dancing. Finally, it pulled itself together in front of Niira, and although she couldn't see any of its features, she knew it was staring at her.

Where are you going, my child?

Niira knew the voice immediately. Serpent Mother. Serpent Mother was talking to her. She had spoken to the ancient Northlander on several occasions in the past, but then they had always been face-to-face in the physical world. Nothing like this. This...scared her.

Where are you going? Serpent Mother repeated the question, patiently awaiting the answer.

"South." Niira's voice shook.

Why?

"Marach said...you said..."

I did.

"Then why haven't we found anything yet?"

Because my powers are still limited. Now you are close enough that I can find the Seventh.

"Where is he?"

There was silence for a moment. Where the Seventh lives is not a good place. But it is where you must go.

"Where?"

Flashes of light burst around Niira, so bright they hurt. She closed her eyes to block out their glare, but they still danced in her mind. As the light dimmed, she opened her eyes again. Faint images began to form around her.

The ocean. The dark ocean of the south. An island set away from the black coast, a shattered bridge leading to it. The island came into sharper focus. It wasn't an island, truly, but a massive building built out of dark stone.

Into the building she went. Flames seemed to shoot up around her, and it took her a moment to realize it wasn't fire, but molten lava. The lava sank back down, and she followed it with her eyes. A river of magma flowed through the bottom-most levels of the building, through deep crevasses that criss-crossed the stone of the island. Even as high up as she assumed she was, she could feel its heat.

And then she saw them. Dark, twisted creatures dressed in black robes. They seemed to float across the floor as they moved. Magic rolled off them like the waves of heat from the lava. Within their group, a single figure pulsed with a silver light. The light of a dragoon spirit reacting to a kindred orb.

Niira recoiled from the view. The Seventh...is...is...with them...oh gods...we're dead... There was a throbbing pain in her head.

Someone was pushing on her shoulder. "Niira! Niira! Come on, wake up!"

Niira opened her eyes, surprised to find herself laying on the hard ground of the prairie. The stars were still scattered above her, but their positions had shifted. How long was I...wherever that was?

"Oh good, you're all right!" Meru's ruby eyes stared down at her.

"What...happened..." Niira was too stiff to even sit up.

"I dunno. I heard you come outside. Thought you'd be back in a few minutes, but then you weren't so I came to look and you were sitting out here. And then you just fell over."

"I did?"

"Yeah."

"I don't remember that." Niira was able to sit up finally. "I need to talk to my father."

Meru made it to the old shed faster than Niira, and immediately set to poking the First Knight's arm. "Hey. Hey. Get up! Hey! Niira wants to talk to you!"

Lavitz rolled over, glaring at Meru. "What?"

Niira sat on one of the barrels in the room. "I...know where to find the Seventh now."

"That's wonderful. You needed to wake me up to tell me this?"

"Well, I don't know where exactly this place is. I thought you might."

The knight sighed, shifting so he could lean back against some nondescript, broken pieces of wood.

"It's a dark building. On an island."

"What?" His voice was low, as if he couldn't believe what he had just heard.

"An old building on an island in the southern ocean. Made of dark stone. There's a bridge going to it from the mainland but it's kind of collapsed. And there's lava going through the bottom of it."

Lavitz had a strange expression on his face. "Yes, I know where that is."

"That's where we have to go."

He shivered once. "It's Hellena. One of the worst prisons that was used during the Serdian War. I've spent far too much time in there for my liking."

I've never heard this story before.

"What's a dragoon doing in there?"

It was Niira's turn to be terrified. "The dragoon is a Fireborn."

"What!" Marach snarled as he jumped into the conversation. Niira hadn't realized he was listening. "I knew the Seventh had turned tail on Serpent Mother, but...he's one of those damn murders?"

"Wazza Fireborn?" Meru asked.

Marach hissed. "Damn traitors."

"They...originally, they were just a different sect of magicians. Like our priests are. Except...they wanted more power than Northlanders are naturally capable of." Niira closed her eyes. "So they ended up surrendering parts of themselves, their souls and bodies, in order to gain power. Lots of power."

"They serve Phoenix now," Marach added. "A bad day that was, when he gained their support."

"But...why call them 'fireborn'?" Meru looked up at the dark Northlander.

"Because most of them end up using fire magic." He shook his head. "They're all insane. The whole lot of them. That's what makes them dangerous."

"How did they get this far south into another continent without our knowledge?" Niira said to Bead Pouncer.

"I have no idea."

"Well then, I have to come with you!" Meru's statement drew the attention of all.

"You don't know what they're like," Niira said. "Nobody survives an encounter with them." We're going to die.

"But if they're fire people, you'll need my help."

"Really."

"Yup! I'm the Blue Sea Dragoon!"

"She does have a point," Lavitz said.

"Of course I do!" She waved her arms around frantically.

Even if we were all water dragoons, I doubt we'd get far with them. As it is, we aren't.

Serpent Mother better have some grand plan to help us out here.