Short chapter. Because I don't want it to run together with the next part.

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It was just like Niira had seen in the vision. The black tower on the island, the broken bridge leading to it... She could even just make out the dim red glow of the lava in some of the lower windows. Smoke and ash left a dark track across the sky for miles. The only signs of life anywhere nearby were a few tough grasses that tried to hold on in the crevasses of some rocks, and a handful of birds that slowly circled up and down the coastline.

The closer they came to Hellena, the more distressed Lavitz became. He even stopped talking, only looking at the ground, as if trying to keep the deathly once-prison from occupying his vision. Niira, in her cat-like curiosity, wanted to know what had happened to him here that made him so uncomfortable to be near the place even over a decade later. But her better sense got a hold of her, and she didn't ask.

The place seemed to cast a mood of despair over everything and everyone. Marach complained, as usual, about just walking into Hellena using the front door. But after a while, the gloom of their surroundings got to even him, and he fell silent. Only Meru and Kitty seemed impervious to the depressing effects of the prison island.

The shattered bridge slowed their progress considerably, as they often had to jump over cracks in the stone, or even backtrack and find a new way across. Ever since Imperial Sandora had been defeated, nobody had bothered to maintain Hellena. Nobody wanted to maintain it.

Eventually, they reached a wide hole in the bridge that crossed its entire width. There was no way to get around it, and it was too big for easily jump across. But that didn't deter Niira. Slipping to the back of the group, she shifted into her feline form. Then she took a running jump at the gap. Even with her animal attributes, she barely cleared the hole, quickly scrabbling for a clawhold on the stone on the other side. She hung there for a moment, trying to calm her racing heart, then pulled herself up. Marach soon followed suit.

"Hmph. Well that's just great." Meru gave the Northlanders an accusing glare, her hands planted firmly on her small hips. "How are we supposed to get across?"

"You're a Wingly," Niira said. "Fly over."

"What about Lavitz?"

There was absolutely no way the knight could make it across the gap, especially considering the armor he was wearing. Niira smiled slightly. "See, I told you Kitty would come in handy. He can jump across."

"He can, can he?" Lavitz eyed the beast suspiciously. Kitty was giving Niira a plaintive look, as if unhappy about the hole that separated them.

"Of course he can. Just get up on his back and hold on."

He sighed, but followed his daughter's advice. Niira watched him pull himself onto Kitty's back. The gryff made a croaking sound low in his throat and shifted under the new weight. He wiggled his wings, making sure they were free, and turned his ears back, waiting for a command. The knight tucked his spear under his knee, holding it tightly against the gryff's side, and grabbed a hold of the beast's feathery neck ruff.

Niira gave a short high-pitched whistle. With a lurch, the gryff bounded forward the few steps to the gap. Then, bunching his hind legs, he leapt into the air. He landed on the other side with an audible thud, then bounced once, as if proud of himself.

"Wow!" exclaimed Meru as she floated across, her wings of light bright against the surrounding dullness. "Didjoo see that? Like a horse with springs on his feet! I get him next time!"

Lavitz slid off the gryff's back. "You can have him. If we're going to do any more flying, I'd prefer to use my own wings."