At first light they departed the ruined city. Several paths lead out into the vast open space around them, so they chose the one most firmly established and well-walked.

"So, how do you know that the Manticore you know and this one are the same?" Demadara walked in front of their little treck, gazing up into the bright blue sky. The sun shone down on them with brilliant warmth.

"I looked at the dead." Parsae had her codex fly in front of her, sifting through her pages as they walked. "Men, women, boys. No girls."

"So your friend has a soft spot then? Perhaps if we change our appearance she will hear us out?" Timae snickered under her breath, earning a glare from Parsae.

"You wouldn't want to be a girl in her presence, trust me." She shook her head and burried it further in her codex. "Let's not talk about this any longer, just the memories make me sick."

Timae was about to speak, but Demadara rose her hand. "Leave her be. I don't think I want to hear more either."

They walked for a few more hours, before their path was interrupted by the earth.

Before their very feet the ground was torn open by a large fissure, reaching down so far that they could not see the ground, only a gaping, dark maw. Across the chasm travelers before them had fixed a long bridge of rope and planks, several people wide. The rope was thicker than Demadara´s arms, but that did not ease her fear as they walked across.

Her legs were shaking when they reached the other side, she had to lean on Timae for support.

"What is all the worry for, Demadara?" Parsae watched them, tapping her foot on the ground. "You fought a Roc in mid-air, but walking across a bridge is too much?"

"It's not the falling." Demadara spoke quietly, her heart still raced as she looked back down the chasm. "But about what may be down there, waiting. Open maws, massive teeth, dead eyes." She gulped and wrapped her arms around Timae.

Parsae and Timae looked at each other, helpless. "My lord, these passages form here very frequently." Timae spoke as soft as she could. "At the bottom all you find is rock and bones, there are no large beasts to worry about."

Demadara stayed in place for a few more moments before she steadied herself. "It's not about what is there, but about what could be there." she finally muttered. "There is dark, and there's darkness. And this is the latter. I can't help but see things just beneath it, like out of a nightmare."

Without another word she walked on, leaving her companions at a loss for words as they followed in her tracks.

"These parts sure are lively, aren't they." Parsae growled as she looked up into the sky. Black figures were sailing through the air, circling a large group that was heading towards them.

They readied themselves, but as they approached the other group, found that need unwarranted.

The other group was a caravan, trailed only by a few guards, perhaps twenty or so, with another ten flying above. Ten great beasts of burden made up the heart of the trail, creatures with eight legs, a heavy coat of fur and horns longer than Demadara was tall. Yet they seemed docile, carrying massive loads of goods, a haul that made Demadara´s eyes shine.

"Calm skies and peaceful earth!" On the head of the first beast sat the man who greeted them. What part of his body that was not covered in leather was coated in feathers, his head resembling that of a great cat. "I am Xorin of clan Fair-Wind. What clan do you hail from, travellers, and where are the winds taking you?"

"The same to you." Demadara spoke before Timae could step in. She looked at Demadara with worry, but stayed silent. "I am Demadara, of clan Dragon. We are quite new to these parts and are looking for the nearest town to get accustomed to the land."

"Well if orientation is what you desire then you would have gotten that from fair Jina, no? That is where you came from, this road only leads there." Xorin looked across the three, but rested his gaze upon Demadara.

"Jina is no more." Demadara shrugged. "Clan Manticore burned the town to the ground, we arrived only to ruins."

"Manticore has attacked a free city?" Xorin´s eyes opened wide. "That is very grave news, grave news indeed. I thank you, Demadara of clan Dragon. We will be avoiding the south-east then and head back north, and I would encourage you to do the same." He slid off the head of the great beast that had carried him. "If not even free cities are safe from this war, then no place is."

"Thanks for the warning, but I will have to ignore it." Demadara shook her head. "I have business with Manticore, so I take it her territory is south-east of here?"

Xorin´s feathers stood up at her words. "That is true. I know not what business you have with Manticore, nor do I want to get involved with it. I can only tell you to be careful. Not only is she a monster, but an outcast as well. You will not find many friends if you deal with her."

He took a horn from his belt and blew into it. The caravan halted and slowly dispersed. People set up tents, unloaded cargo from their beasts, fires soon started up. "But for your help you can be our friend for the night. We've a lot of goods that wont last the trip back north, so we may as well use them for a feast."

Demadara had to quickly wipe her mouth before speaking. "It is appreciated, but we need to get going. We are-" She puased for a moment. "Very starved for time."

"Oh, the war will not end in a day, Demadara." Xorin dismissed her words with a wave. "And the skies will not be happy tonight, I feel it in my bones. You would do well to stay the night with us."

Demadara was about to speak up when Timae grasped her hand. "His kind know the skies better than anyone." She turned her head to Xorin. "You speak of a dragon´s night, correct?"

"I've not heard anyone call it that since I was a hatchling." Xorin eyed Timae up and down, and nodded. "But yes. I don't doubt your capabilities, after all you walk around here as only three and are still alive, but why risk the skies?"

Demadara sighed, her shoulder slouching forward. "Very well, very well. Thank you, we will be taking up your offer. Especially the feast." Once more she had to wipe her mouth.

Whatever her expectations had been, they had been surpassed. The clan had mustered a staggering amount of meat, beer and wine, though she indulged in neither of the last two. When she staggered into her tent for the night, her stomach was fuller than it had ever been in her life.

But still she hungered, for something else.

She dozed through until nightfall, shaken awake by a howling storm. Demadara crawled out of her tent, and her eyes widened.

The peaceful, open landscape around them had turned into a storm. Large twisters tore through the fields of green, reaching up to the now cloud-covered skies. Yet none of them came even closer to their camp, whenever one seemed to be on collision course they halted, and moved into a different direction.

Demadara took a few short breaths, gripping tightly to the knife she was hiding in her sleeve. These people were rich, largely unarmed, easy prey. She stalked through the tents, before stopping dead in her tracks as a sound reached her ear. No cries, no sounds of violence.

Music.

A melody, calm, short and simple, a few strings pulled in a peaceful harmony. Demadara grasped her chest, and slowly walked into the direction of the sound.

At the campfire she found Xorin alone, a long string instrument in his hands. First now that she focused could Demadara see how few fingers he had, how many he had lost.

She got closer, and sat down on the opposite side and stared at him from across the fire. The sounds of the tempest around them faded into the back of her mind until she could no longer hear it, until even the sounds of the damnable fire was gone, and all that was left was this peaceful, warm melody.

She felt tears stream down her face.

"Why the long face?" Xorin did not look up at her, focused still on his playing.

"I." She reached her hands to her face. "I don't know. There is so much, that I must do. So much that I need to reach, and so little time, so little time."

"Ah. Demadara, you cannot conquer the world in a day. And that is okay."

His words had her freeze for a moment. She did not need to look down to know that her dagger was showing in her sleeve. "You, knew?"

"Knew you? No, we never met before." Xorin shook his head. "But I know your wings, what they mean." His eyes shone in the light of the fire. "Just like my mother before me, and her father before her. It's why I decided to pick up the old banjo."

His eyes went back down to his instrument. "Haven't played her in years since I lost my grip. But if today was to be my last night alive, I wanted it to be like this."

No matter what she tried, she could not stop crying. "You, knew, and weren't going to fight?" Her voice was trembling.

"I was born in the Landsea, I've lived here all my life, and I'll die here. There's just things you have to accept here. Life isn't short, but you can never know when it will end." As his fingers moved across the strings he looked up to the dark skies above. "My father was sucked into one of these twisters one day, my aunt was hit by lightning during clear skies, one of my brothers was swallowed up by the earth. One moment they were there, the other they were gone. You live, and one day you die."

He shrugged. "Who knows how many bugs I stepped on without even thinking about it. And if my end is in the maw of a dragon, then so be it. I could fight and die in agony and despair. Or I could spend my last moments playing the song I loved as a child."

"How..." Demadara´s voice was little more than a whisper. "How can you be so peaceful, knowing you have no say? That you need to live in the shadows of others, that you can die at any moment?"

"Because that is how the world is." Xorin was gently swaying to the tune of his music. "My mother told me lots of stories about people like you, Demadara. Children of the dragons she called you. Many great stories, full of violence, danger, triumphs and tragedy. 'Whether triumph or failure, they always burn the brightest' she always said. 'You can be in awe of them, and you should. But you should also pity them.'"

His song neared it´s end, the sounds got quieter until they stopped, leaving Demadara in a silence until he spoke once more. "I fought all my life, until I no longer could even carry a blade. I don't think I can change the world as it is, and I am alright with that. I think I had a good life."

He leaned his head to the side, and gave Demadara smile. "I am ready."

It was not that her hands shook too much to grasp her dagger, or the heart. It was not that her legs were shaking, or that her vision was blurry. None of that would stop her.

It was that she did not want to.

"We will leave tomorrow, at sunrise." She finally managed to say. "And leave you be. Until, until then." She lowered her head. "Could you please keep playing?"

He looked at her for a few moments, before grasping the strings again. "Of course."

Demadara closed her eyes as the music began once more. In the darkness she saw nothing, no open maws, no tortured visions of her cage. She only listened, and felt a peace, so pure and whole that it made her heart bleed.

Parsae and Timae had been watching from the shadows, ready to step in the moment Demadara gave the order. Now they looked down at her, then at each other.

They left for their tents and left Demadara alone with Xorin, the music, and the feelings that she just could not convey.