Chapter 17

"How are you feeling today?" Jude asked as he took a seat at the table opposite Aster.

Looking up from copying some notes from Raine's work into a more coherent and informative format, Aster smiled. "Better, thank you." The doctor had come back only a couple hours after he had left and led Aster to another room, after bringing him clothes. He had been given a map of the hospital facility and told that he could go anywhere that wasn't marked in red. As a result, after a bit more sleep, Aster had taken himself down to the cafeteria, gotten something to drink and claimed a table to spread out on. He wasn't the only one who had chosen to use the cafeteria as a place to study.

Jude placed the papers he had borrowed the day before on the table. "I'll admit that much of this I couldn't read and a lot I didn't understand, but given what you told me before and the diagrams, I think I understand the general principles involved..."

Aster set his pen down and laced his fingers, eagerly waiting to hear what Jude had to say.

"What I don't understand is what this tree has to do with it?" Jude said, flipping to a page.

"That would be the World Tree. Do you not have one here?" Aster asked.

"Not that I know of. Humans produce mana on our world. We're in a symbiotic relationship with the spirits here. We produce mana that they need to survive, in return, we can make pacts with them and cast artes."

"Much like elves and half-elves." Aster rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

Jude shook his head. "I only know of humans. I've never heard of half-elves or..." He folded his arms on the table. "Our worlds seem to both rely on mana to survive. But Elympios and Rieze Maxia are running out of mana due to Spyrix technology, which essentially tricks spirits into performing artes with no mana being given to them in return, which incidentally kills them."

"Sounds like magitech," Aster agreed. "Evil by most definitions."

"Elympios is dependent on Spyrix, however, so just eradicating it isn't the solution."

Aster sat back slightly. "I get the impression you think I might be able to help?"

Jude glanced away for a moment before apparently coming to a decision. "I was hoping you could... why are you laughing?"

"If someone had dropped out of the sky and said they were from another world... I wouldn't have immediately believed them," Aster shrugged. "I guess I'm lucky you do."

"Some of what you said has matched up with reports I've been getting; increased monster activities, and creatures that are distinctly different from monsters. I'd safely call them demons, I think." Jude shifted in his chair. "As it stands, however, we've hit a wall when it comes to Spyrites and their creation. We can't produce enough for all the things we need to replace. Mostly the research has been dedicated to medical uses, but the biggest drains on mana are the simple things that everyone uses. Like lights. Maybe someone with a different background might have some other ideas? It's worth a try anyway."

Leaning his elbows on the table, Aster braced his chin against his knuckles. "Asalia is having a problem with mana flow as well. I'd discovered that the Summon Spirit Ratatosk, Lord of Monsters was capable of regulating that flow via pacts with monsters. I would guess there would be a Summon Spirit that has some similar function here?"

"Milla," Jude said. "Lady Maxwell. She oversees the birth of new spirits to replace the ones that are killed by Spyrix."

"But even birthing new spirits is time consuming, I'm guessing," Aster said.

"I don't have any direct evidence, but I doubt it's an easy task." He tapped his fingers on the table, looking down at Aster's papers. "We disbanded the Schism, which was a barrier that prevented mana from Rieze Maxia from reaching Elympios. This bought us a little time, but it's been a year and hardly any progress has been made." Jude shook his head. "The best answers we have are boosters on Rieze Maxian citizens to create Spyrites as quickly as we can. But bonding those Spyrites to their users... is not so easy a task."

"Nor does it fix the problem of lights. You would have to tie a single person to running the lights in a facility for the rest of their lives just because of the Spyrite they bonded with. I doubt people would be very happy about that."

Jude shook his head again.

Scratching his wrist where the unfamiliar weight of Raine's Exsphere and key crest bracelet rested, Aster considered Jude's dilemma as he stared at the wall past the man's shoulder.

"What is that, by the way?" Jude asked. "It looks like a aspyrixis, but doesn't appear to be a medical device at all."

"Ah?" Aster looked at his wrist. "This? Its and Exsphere. It helps develop a person's fighting abilities," he tapped the red crystal. "This," he tapped the key crest, "is so the Exsphere doesn't eat me. They're powerful but dangerous."

"Hm. Might I see?" Jude asked.

Unlatching the bracelet, Aster held it out. The young doctor looked over the device. "This looks like a calculatrix inscription, but it's... almost backwards?"

"Dwarves know how to make them, but otherwise key crest creation is a lost art," Aster said.

Jude offered it back. "How does it work exactly?"

"I... have never used one before," Aster admitted. "So I only know the theory behind it. They've been generally regulated and are currently being taken and thrown back into the mines they came from. As I said, they're generally dangerous without a key crest." He had some difficulty latching the bracelet back on but finally got it.

"It almost sounds like a lillium orb," Jude said and pulled a jewel from his pocket. "I wonder if they're similar? Although the Exsphere itself looks more similar to a spirit fossil than a lilium orb."

Aster lifted the lillium orb up to the light, squinting at the webbing within. "No, the crystal structure is completely different," he said. "Might I see a spirit fossil then?"

"Of course," Jude said and stood, retrieving his lillium orb as Aster handed it back, then helped pick up Aster's notes. He led the way out of the school cafeteria and in a different direction.

"I swear the sun has yet to dawn..." Aster said.

"That would be Fennmont's spirit clime. There's an abundance of dark-type mana that collects here and occludes the sun, though I assure you it does rise and set elsewhere," Jude explained.

"Fascinating!" Aster said. "I wonder what sort of effect Ratatosk would have in this world then if your mana flow has stagnated to this degree."

They walked through town towards another large building and Jude had to produce a badge before the guards stepped aside from the doors and let them in. "This is the military research center," Jude said. "We're working on how to possibly ramp up mana-production via boosters, but so far the testing has been stalled due to ethical reasons."

Aster cast a look at him.

"Don't worry," Jude said and laughed softly. "I'm one of the ones stalling testing until we can figure out a way to prevent users from critically overloading and... dissolving."

"Ah. Definitely good to know," Aster agreed, nodding several times. They took a turn and headed into a lab where various machines and benches he couldn't fathom the use of lined the walls.

Jude stopped at a bench and plucked a white crystal out of a device and held it out. "This is what spirits on our world turn into when they die."

Taking the crystal, Aster turned towards the light to get a look at the inner structure, then lifted the Exsphere up for comparison. "Just a rough guess but they're similar enough to say they might be the same thing," Aster admitted. He looked at his exsphere. "That's unsettling," he mused. "I wonder if perhaps I could see one of those boosters you mentioned?"

Jude hesitated briefly before nodding and moving to another bench further down and gesturing at a red crystal set in a mechanical device. "This is a third generation booster. First generation boosters were implanted directly into the brains of their users. This at least can be external to the subject but still causes fatigue of the mana lobes and eventually..."

Aster set the spirit fossil down and leaned in, looking closer at the device. "I swear I've seen something like this before," he said. "Where..." he muttered as he tapped his fingers on the bench. "I can't remember where. It'll probably come to me in the middle of the night." He continued to wrack his brain trying to think but came up blank. "All right, so... so far exspheres and spirit fossils seem to be cousins, or at least the same thing but come to different results when treated differently." He straightened and folded his arms as he thought. "And boosters increase mana output on humans. I wonder what would happen if we put a booster on the World Tree?" He turned to look at Jude. "Can I see your results on the earlier tests of boosters?"

"The records will need to stay in this lab," Jude said. "They're classified."

"Oh... should I even be in here?" Aster glanced around.

"I've asked you to consult," Jude said and smiled. "I'm the head of the research on this so... whoever I choose to bring into it has clearance."

"Head? You don't look any older than me."

"I'm sixteen?"

"Yeah. You must be one smart guy." Aster grinned.

"More like I was in the middle of things when it all blew up... Literally." Jude flushed, looking aside. "And ended up being the only survivor with enough knowledge of what all was going on to put it back together and move forward."

Aster cringed. "Wrong place, wrong time?"

"Oh, it was my decision to get involved, so I have no one to blame but myself. I don't regret it." The dark haired man smiled fondly at some memory as he glanced down. "The booster records are over here," he led the way to the back of the lab. "If you want to leave your research notes here they won't be touched. I'm the only one using this lab. Well, and you now. I'll get your clearance sorted out by the end of the day so you can come here freely."

Shaking his head in wonder, Aster followed the doctor over to another strange device and watched as Jude tapped on a board covered in letters and buttons. "What is that?" he asked, leaning in. "It's almost like Desian technology."

"I'm not sure what that means," Jude said, "But this is my filing system. Here, have a seat. I'll teach you how to use it."

Immediately dropping into the chair, Aster wiggled in excitement.

...

Tiger took a deep breath past the rattling in his throat and lungs and sighed. While his breathing had never been the greatest, he had learned how to simply deal with it in order to do at least some of the stuff he wanted to. He had learned how to run without losing his breath, but he had never been able to convince his mother to let him learn how to fight like the other boys had. His gaze wandered around the back corner of the church he had been stuffed into. Throwing off the blanket covering his legs, he stood.

"Where are you going?" Aqua asked.

Everyone else, except Aqua, had gone to help clean up or do something useful and all Tiger had was the company of a depressed Centurion and a half-elf who had obviously given up on life.

"I'm going to see what I can do to help," Tiger said.

"You're not well though..."

"Not going to get any better just sitting here either," Tiger said. "Believe me, it doesn't make a difference one way or the other." He pushed aside the sheet and stepped out to find that the whole church had been curtained off in much the same way as his corner had, though there was a wide space down the center in which people were gathered, talking quietly. He spotted Genis sitting with his back against a column, feet stretched out in front of him, eyes closed.

Crouching next to the half-elf, Tiger poked his shoulder.

Genis gasped, opening his eyes and wheezed. "Oh man! You scared the crap out of me!"

"Sorry," Tiger said and settled down to sit cross legged on the floor.

Shaking his head the other boy snorted, "You're not sorry."

"Okay, I'm not. That was funny." Tiger forced himself to not laugh, knowing it would set off a coughing fit. He did grin broadly though.

"How're you feeling?" Genis asked.

"Bored." He glanced around. "I haven't seen my parents..."

Genis chewed his lower lip, picking at the hem of his shirt. "Everyone who survived has been pulled out of the rubble. Anyone hurt would be here."

"And the dead?" Tiger asked.

"Lloyd brought some people from the church to help and Brute's got the Vanguard working with them to find what's left... The dead are being taken to the docks for burial at sea. There're too many to fit in the cemetery."

Tiger nodded, gripping his ankles and swallowed. "So the timeline repeated that much at least," he said. "My parents are dead."

"I wouldn't jump to that conclusion yet," Genis said. "There are plenty of people that got out with only minor injuries and have been working to put some of the town back together." He stood. "Let's go talk to the people in charge of identifying the dead. They'll probably have a list of the survivors." Genis offered his hand down and Tiger took it, letting the shorter boy pull him up.

The half-elf led the way out into the street. There were piles of boxes and carts all around the courtyard in front of the church and it looked a lot like Luin after Alice had burned it. "You know... I don't think it's a good thing that we've gotten this 'recovery after disaster' thing so..."

"Mechanical?" Genis finished and nodded. "It seems to happen so often now that it's gotten easier and you're right, it's terrible. But we're all so used to something happening by now; whether it's a Desian attack, or demons, or whatever..." He led Tiger down an odd route towards the docks, but after passing one street that would have been a direct route, Tiger saw that this round-about way was probably the only way available. Houses had burnt to the ground, or been knocked over, entirely blocking streets.

Wondering how anyone could have survived this at all, Tiger was mildly surprised when they came upon people actively working to clear rubble. He squinted, picking out Brute's bald head among the people working, next to a brunet in a red jacket. The air tasted like ash and burnt human flesh mixed with rotting meat and salty sea air that got worse the closer to the docks he got. Tiger suspected he would never forget that smell, it had lodged in his sinuses and would likely return in his nightmares. They came upon the street his house was on and Genis led the way down it. Amazingly, this road had gotten through the disaster generally unscathed. His house was still standing, though the front door was open and a constant stream of people were moving in and out, some leaving the street entirely, others being led to the docks where a flock of birds circled and tried to peck at the cloth-shrouded mounds.

Tiger covered his mouth and nose with his hand, but that didn't block the smell. He looked away, focusing on Genis's back instead as he led the way into the house Tiger had grown up in.

"Emil!" a woman gasped.

Suddenly, he was engulfed in an embrace and he belatedly recognized his mother. Wrapping his arms around her, he put his face against her shoulder, all his bravado melting away into utter relief that he wasn't completely alone.

"I thought you were dead," his mother sobbed against his hair.

"Where's dad?"

"He... didn't make it. Where were you?"

"I was in the church." Tiger drew back to look at her. "I uhm... I got hurt while fighting Decus and Alice." Her face went pale and he felt her nails dig into his shoulders. "I'm all right," he hurried to say.

"What did you think you were doing?" his mother's green eyes filled with tears. "You know you're not-"

"He helped a lot," Genis said, interrupting. "He's actually a really good fighter. He knocked Alice in the face and kept her from killing us all."

Tiger nodded to Genis, thankful for his help.

"Emil!" his mother closed her eyes tightly. "You know you can't do things like that, you'll make yourself sick again! Come help me with-"

He drew back. "No. I'm going with Genis and Raine. I have to help them put a stop to what's going on."

"You're not strong enough for that," his mother insisted, grasping his arms.

"I am too!" He pulled free again. "Mom. I love you, but if I don't help them do this than I may as well have died because I won't have done anything different with my life. This is a second chance for a lot of people and I'm not going to waste mine. I'll come back when its finished. So stay safe for me."

She bit her lips together, tears rolling down her face as she stared at him.

Tiger set his shoulders and turned, heading out to the street again.

Genis hurried to catch up, scratching the back of his neck. "Wow... That was intense."

"Let's go talk to Raine," Tiger said. "And see if we can get moving on waking up the rest of those uhm. Whatever they are."

"Centurion cores," Genis offered.

"Yeah. Those."

They walked in silence back to the church, though Tiger wasn't absolutely sure Raine would be there, but it was a place to start looking at any rate. As they entered, the coughing fit he had been suppressing finally hit him and Tiger had to lean against the door frame for balance as he wheezed.

"You all right?" Genis asked.

Panting for air, Tiger nodded and forced himself to stand up again. "I'll make myself be all right," he said firmly.

"You know if you're sick-"

"Don't even," Tiger warned, lifting a finger to point in Genis's face. "Sitting around 'resting' doesn't make it go away any faster." He started walking, cautiously peeking into every curtained off alcove along the way. They reached the one he and Richter shared and at last found Raine kneeling next to Richter's head.

She looked up and frowned as they entered. "There you are."

"Don't give me that look," Tiger said firmly.

Raine shook her head and stood. "Sit," she pointed at the cot. "That was you coughing a minute ago, wasn't it?"

Before he could object, Genis shoved him forward and Tiger reluctantly took a seat. "Yeah. So?"

"Drink this." She handed him a bottle.

Opening it, he sniffed and wrinkled his nose. "What is it?"

"Panacea," Raine explained. "I'm hoping it might cure you, though I'm not sure if it works on things like this. If it does, however, I think I might have something that would protect you from getting sick so easily."

Tiger knocked the syrupy liquid back as fast as he could swallow and gagged. "Ugh it tastes like cod oil and green."

"See?" Genis said. "I'm not the only one who thinks that!" He prodded Tiger's shoulder. "How do you feel?"

Taking a deep breath, he let it out, took another. "Huh." He grinned. "My chest still hurts but it's just from coughing, I think." He looked down at the bottle and sighed. "If it had been this easy to fix me..."

"I doubt your family could afford Panacea bottles very often," Raine said and pulled out an amulet. "Put this on. It's an elemental ward amulet to increase your resistance to cold and water."

He pulled it on and tapped his foot against the floor. "In that case, I really can go with you guys to find the other Centurion cores."

Raine nodded, then looked towards Richter with a sigh.

"You don't want to leave him like this, do you?" Tiger asked, then shook his head. "What a coward. You know... I didn't know Aster that well, but I could tell you I saw enough of him to know that this," he gestured at Richter, "would disappoint him."

Genis exchanged a look with Raine.

"Yes, it would," Raine agreed. "Tenebrae reported in earlier and said that Alice wasn't dead. She's taken over the demons that have gotten through his and Aqua's barrier at the Otherworldly Gate and has been trying to break it from this side. Lloyd lost track of the person draining mana so he came here."

"Our obvious solution is to split up," Genis said. "Some people go to get the remaining Centurion cores activated and someone else to go defeat Alice." He looked at Tiger. "I'll take Tiger and go to Flanoir on a reihard."

"Then I should go with you," Tenebrae said as he unexpectedly faded in from the shadows. "Having been in all the temples once already I can assist you in avoiding the traps."

Tiger grinned and nodded, excited that he was actually going to be included in their plans to save the world.

"Then I suppose it's up to Yuan and me to fight Alice," Raine said.

"And me."

They all turned to look at Richter as he stared at the ceiling.

"Thought you'd decided to clock out." Tiger rolled his eyes.

Sitting up, Richter turned a hollow look on him. "I wanted to. But.. You're right. Aster would be disappointed in me."

Aqua drifted close to him and placed her hands on his shoulders, expression sad. "I'll stay by your side, Lord Richter," she said.

The redhead simply nodded.

"I'll make preparations for us to go," Raine said to Richter. "Whenever you're up to moving."

"Come on, Tiger. We'll go get supplies for our trip too," Genis said and hopped to his feet. Quick to join him, Tiger and Tenebrae headed back out of the church to sift through the piles of supplies in the courtyard.

...

"Good to see you gave up on Alvin." Yivona said as she finished packing the things they had bought into a bag for Marta.

Marta shook her head. "He's a creep," she agreed.

Yivona leaned in and whispered, "Blonds are more fun anyway." She winked and handed the bag over. "Have a good day!"

Blushing, Marta took her bag and hurried to rejoin Emil where he was looking over the side of the bridge, locking her hand with his.

"Something wrong?" Emil asked, looking down at her, then looked again as she ducked her head.

"Nothing. Can we go please?" She tugged his hand to get him to move. "I've got everything I need, I think. Where did Ivar go?"

"He said he had an errand," Emil said, his hand squeezing Marta's. "We were going up there, right?" he pointed towards the aviary as a wyvern circled to land.

She nodded. "I think so." Leaning against his arm, she sighed. "I'm so glad we managed to find each other."

"You still had Ratatosk's core," Emil said, "We would have found you with that once he recovered enough." He smiled at her. "I'll come for you no matter where you are."

"You are my knight," she agreed as they walked towards the stairs that led to the elevator that would take them up. As they crested the stairs, she spotted Ivar standing near the doors, arms folded, tapping his foot.

"Are you two done with your date?" he asked irritably. "King Gaius isn't going to like me being late, you know."

"Like I care," Ratatosk retorted.

"Damn. I'd hoped you three had left without me," Alvin said as he approached. He sighed gustily. "Can't believe I let Balan talk me into this..."

"You don't have to come if you don't want to," Ivar said. Marta settled for glaring at the tall man.

Alvin fanned himself. "Wow, I can just feel the love from here... Let's get going." He mashed the button to call the lift and stepped in once it arrived. Tucking herself against Emil, she leaned against his chest and closed her eyes, even though that didn't make the upward motion of the elevator any easier to bear.

"Alvin," Emil said. "How much did Marta's clothes cost?"

"About five gald, why?"

"Here." She felt Emil's hand move away from her.

"What?"

"I'm repaying you?" Emil said, sounding confused.

"First you threaten to take my head and now you're offering me money." Alvin sighed gustily. The elevator opened, and Marta quickly got out, heading for the edge of the landing and panting for air as the wind tugged at her hair and skirt.

"Is she all right?" Ivar asked.

"Motion sick," Emil said. "I'm sorry about Ratatosk threatening you, Alvin, but... well, I wouldn't stop him if someone was rude to Marta. She's important to us."

"Us?"

"What kind of idiot are you?" Ratatosk asked.

Marta turned and leaned against the railing. "Ratatosk, please calm down."

He looked at her briefly then subsided, allowing Emil's usual expression of mild bewilderment to return. "Um," Emil turned towards Alvin again. "Ratatosk and I are... Ratatosk made me, but I'm my own person even though we occupy the same body. So, sometimes he takes over."

"Right... so that's when you get all..." Alvin lifted a hand and clawed the air.

Emil flushed. "Yeah." Suddenly he turned away and walked off several paces, leaving Alvin staring in confusion.

Marta could tell he was having an internal argument with Ratatosk and softly laughed. Deciding to intervene, she said, "Alvin. Your best bet is to be polite. Ratatosk doesn't have much patience and even Emil has a limit to what he'll put up with. Just don't provoke him and you won't have to talk to him often."

The man rolled his eyes. "Sheesh," he muttered and stalked over to the owner of the wyvern pens.

Marta watched as Ratatosk followed the man, but stopped at the wyvern cage, staring in at the beasts. As one, the monsters within the pen went silent and turned to look at him.

"I guess you are a Summon Spirit. Last time I saw wyverns act like that was towards Milla," Alvin said and sighed. "I need my beast saddled. And that guy's," he jerked a thumb at Ivar.

"That one," Ratatosk pointed. "I want it."

Alvin turned to look at him. "You can't just... These all belong to someone."

"Uh... The one at the back there?" the cage owner said. "Actually uhm. Her owner died and she refuses to let anyone else ride her. We were going to put her down."

Ratatosk approached the cage and held out his hand to the bars. "Come here," he said. The wyvern pushed through the throng of her cage mates and put her head against the bars, allowing Ratatosk to touch her. The other wyverns looked mildly put out.

"Uh..." the cage owner slowly blinked.

Turning to look at the man, Ratatosk said, "You have three choices. Either you will give her to me and from then on, she will be my responsibility, or you can keep her and continue to feed a wyvern that doesn't want to be here, or put her to death, which would waste a perfectly good mount."

"I'd have to ask the family first," the man said. "It's not my decision to make. They might be willing to sell her to you."

Ratatosk pulled a bag of gald out of his pocket and threw it at the man. "Then take that to them and inform them the wyvern is no longer their concern." He touched the wyvern's head again, her form breaking down into mana partials and gathering in his palm.

"What did you just do?" the cage owner yelped.

Marta covered her face with her palm and sighed as Ratatosk summoned the wyvern to the landing beside him.

"Ah!" the cage master cowered back.

Alvin and Ivar backed away.

The wyvern bent her head and laid it on the ground in front of Ratatosk, dipping a shoulder to allow him to mount.

"You can't just ride a wyvern without a saddle," Alvin said.

Holding his hand out to Marta, Emil helped her onto the wyvern's back in front of him. "She's my ally, she wouldn't drop us if that's what you're worried about," Emil said and smiled as the wyvern straightened. "Weren't we in a hurry?" The wyvern turned her head to look back at him and he scratched gently under her chin, rubbing at a dry patch he saw. "You need a bath," he said as she leaned into his hand.

Alvin cleared his throat. "Listen," he sidled closer to the cage master, "Here," he slid the man another bag. "Just get our wyverns and we'll go. Just tell Yergen that Alvin okayed this. And bring another saddle for her."

"Right..." the man whispered and hurried away.

Sighing and leaning against the railing, Alvin tipped his head. "Does everything involving Summon Spirits have to get so complicated so quickly?"

"Do we need a saddle?" Emil asked.

"I'd prefer one," Marta said.

"All right." He helped her slide down off the wyvern and dismounted. "I wonder..." he looked around and spotted what he wanted a short distance away. He returned to his wyvern with the scrub brush he found and started working on the dry patch along her neck again.

"I've never seen a wyvern take to someone so quickly," Alvin sighed and looked over at Ivar. The silver haired man had his arms folded, nodding with a smirk.

"Of course he can tame a wyvern with a look. He's the Lord of Monsters," Ivar said, as if he had created Ratatosk himself.

Marta rolled her eyes and stepped over to help Emil as he picked at a tight band of scales on the monster's neck. "What happened here?" she asked.

"She's still growing," Emil said. "But she hasn't let anyone bathe her so her scales have gotten dry." He peeled some scale flakes off. "There. That better?"

The wyvern rumbled and wallowed on the ground next to him.

Covering her mouth, Marta giggled. "She looks like a big puppy." Looking at Emil, she leaned in. "Can I name her?"

"If you want to?" Emil looked at her curiously.

Tipping her head one way, then the other. "Judith," Marta said and reached out to pet the wyvern's crest of hair along her spine.

"Well, what do you think of that?" Emil asked the wyvern. The monster sighed. "She likes it," he told Marta.

"She'll put up with it, you mean," Marta cut her eyes at him with a smirk.

The cage owner came back, leading a wyvern by the reigns, another man was leading a second wyvern and a third had a saddle, which he cautiously approached Emil with once he realized that Judith was completely unfettered. Marta stepped back to watch how the wyvern was saddled, then tied her bag to it once they had it in place. Emil mounted again and helped her up in front of him, his arms protectively around her.

"Are we ready?" Ivar asked. "Let's go!" he pumped his fist into the air and his wyvern took off, launching into the sky with a gut wrenching snap of wings that made Marta's stomach churn.

"How about a little more gently than that," Emil suggested to Judith. The wyvern sighed and moved to the edge of the landing, perched on the railing briefly and dived off.

Marta clutched the saddle, puncturing the leather with her nails as she gasped for air, though it wasn't so bad once the wyvern caught an updraft and simply circled higher and moved into a V formation with Alvin and Ivar's mounts, lazily trailing behind them.

"Here," Emil pressed something against her hand. "In case..."

She cautiously looked down and found a bag. "Oh thank you," she whispered and clutched it tightly, determined to hold down her breakfast for as long as possible.

AN: I honestly couldn't figure out if wyverns had scales or fur (beside that neck fringe) so scales it is.