Yinwulong could have continued flying all the way to Bale. But Kitty could not. Gryffs were not built for long-distance flying without the help of air currents. The winds in Serdio tended to blow south most of the time, which would not help Kitty in his flight. So the group decided to take a rest in the plains. Since the Fireborn had strangely ceased chasing them quite some time ago, they felt safe enough to land. Niira was glad for the break. But it didn't last long.

Niira had no sooner jumped from her dragon's back to the grassy ground than she was confronted by a large scaly head that thrust itself in here face. She jumped back in fear, bumping into her dragon. A hissing, insect-like dragon, much smaller than Yinwulong, growled at her from mere feet away.

Suddenly, the dragon looked up, not at Yinwu, who was confused by this new development, but at Lavitz, who still sat on Yinwu's shoulder. As if by a silent command, the green dragon took a step back.

"I'm sorry..." Lavitz dropped to the ground. "I forgot he would be here. He doesn't like other dragons."

"He's your dragon?"

"Yes."

The green dragon hissed again and waved its multiple legs around, perturbed. Yinwulong replied with a low growl. That seemed to assuage the other dragon a bit, and he settled down into a more comfortable sitting position, as if preparing to guard something.

"I tried sending him away but he won't go unless yours does."

"What? Oh..." Niira turned to the black dragon. Yinwu...please reeturn to your own place. This dragon is upset.

Yinwu's thoughts indicated that of course he knew the other dragon was upset, because it was a stupid dragon and didn't know a friend when it saw one. But Yinwulong heaved his massive bulk onto his gangly legs. With a disdainful snort, he turned and walked away from them slowly. His body became more hazy and translucent with every step, and then he disappeared entirely. Only then did the green dragon rise and take his leave of the group.

Lavitz sighed. "Gnapaillaer can be stubborn at times. He's led a very confused life, for a dragon."

"I'm sure." Suddenly, Niira burst into tears. "Why?"

The knight wrapped his arms around her. "Quiet. He died doing his job. I'm sure he wouldn't have wanted it any other way."

Niira whimpered softly. He's gone...he's gone...it's my fault...

-----

Shadow Hunter sat by herself in the pre-dawn stillness. Just when she thought she had here life under control, something always arrived to flip things upside-down again.

Her whole life had been started upside-down. She had been born into a well-off Wingly family, but not from any sanctioned marriage. No, her mother had been kidnapped from the reptilian settlement on the southern coast of the Northlands and sold into slavery under the Winglies.

Humans. Northlanders. There was no distinction between them.

Her mother had been bought as a bed slave by a plantation owner.

Shadow Hunter could remember the horrors she had faced as a child, the hatred directed towards her by the other slaves due to her Wingly blood. The hatred from the other Winglies due to her slave blood.

That was why she had come back later and killed them all.

She smiled to herself.

She had found a place to live after that. A place where nobody knew of her past. She actually grew fond of that town.

And then the dragoon had arrived.

The town had never posed a threat to the humans, or the other races. The people in it were caring folk. But that hadn't meant anything. Their pleas for mercy had fallen on deaf ears.

When Shadow Hunter had stumbled across the Topaz Dragoon Spirit years later, she tried to run from it. She refused to be a part of the warriors who had destroyed her life. Eventually she relented. She had to.

But she decided to use that power to spite everyone who supported the dragoons.

Scowling, she cut off her disjointed reveries. The Fireborn may have stopped chasing them, but that didn't mean they weren't being tracked still. Shadow Hunter stalked back to the group. The knight was already awake and watched her with suspicion in his green eyes. She ignored in, instead going to Niira's side. She was still asleep. Lazy as usual. She dug her boot toe into the feline's side. "Get up."

"Leave me alone." The words were clear enough to indicate that she had actualyl been awake for quite a while.

Shadow Hunter snarled to herself. "We have to move. The longer we stay here, the easier it'll be for them to locate us."

"They'll find us wherever we go. There's no point in running."

The Seventh crinkled her nose in disgust. Get over it already. The hyaena is dead.

"There's a cave, a bit to the north," Lavitz was saying. "It's faster to go through there than any way else. We'll come out just south of Bale."

"Then that's where we'll go." Somebody has to take charge around here. What idiots. How did they even make it to Hellena? "Fireborn are not terribly fond of being within the earth."

"And yet they were in Hellena."

What the hell kind of vendetta do you have against that place, knight? "That's a building, not a cave."

"Sure feels the same."

"No, it doesn't. The magic is nothing alike."

"Can we argue this later?" It was Meru, the Wingly. Shadow Hunter disliked Winglies almost as much as dragoons. And Meru was both. "If they're still looking for us, we shouldn't be out in the open."

"If you can get the mopey girl up, we can get moving already." Shadow Hunter had wanted to say something much worse, but even she knew to hold her tongue when a parent was around.

Though that had been as mild as Shadow Hunter had made that statement, Lavitz gave her a warning glare. "Niira, get up."

"Go on without me."

Even Lavitz had his limits of patience. The knight walked over to Niira, grabbed her arm, and pulled her to her feet.

"That's my sore arm!" Niira's voice was tight with pain.

"Then you should have gotten up yourself."

As they prepared to move out, Shadow Hunter slunk to Niira's side. Don't let your own self-hate problems slow us down and cause us all to die.

Niira made a swipe at her, claws extended. Shadow Hunter easily sidestepped and went on her way.