“Emerald.” I try to keep my voice steady. I soon realize that is one of the hardest things to do when approaching a legendary saber. She raises her head and gazes at me for a long moment. I get on one knee and keep my head down. She stands up to her full height and comes closer to me. I feel her breathing right above me. It takes a lot more strength to keep it together. This is it. She either is going to eat me or not. I wait. A moment passes. Another. Please. Nothing. I can’t take it anymore.

“I love her still…” There. I said it. That’s the only thing I can think of to tell Emerald to let her know I don’t mean any harm to her or Breeze…Finally, I feel a wet muzzle nudge me. I look up at her. Her eyes are just as warm as I remember. I smile at her and raise to my feet.

“I’ve missed you.” I tell her looking straight at her. She sits down on her hind legs and raises her right paw in front of me.

“So, you remember.” I touch her paw with my hand. It was our special way of communicating.

“You look good.” I touch her just below the jaw and my hand sinks into her deep fur. She closes her eyes and makes a low growl.

“Would you like to eat now?” Her eyes pop open sparkling. I laugh.

“I’ll go get you something then.” She whips her tail. That’s a yes. I leave the stables and go inside the small shed that is right next to them. That is where the keeper lives.

“Anyone here?” I ask opening the doors. Nothing. So, I go inside. I look around the room looking for Breeze’s bags. I think about how I will tell which ones are hers, without having to check all of them, but in reality, it’s a lot easier than I think. As soon as I see the four worn out leather bags with cuts, tears, mud and blood stains on them I know. I take all of the bags and go back to Emerald. She’ll be able to confirm if the bags belong to Breeze or not. But I had a feeling they are hers.

“I’m guessing these are Breeze’s bags, right?” I show her the bags. She sniffs them and whips her tail. That’s a yes. Great. I open one of them but Emerald knows where the food is. She’s trying to get inside the third bag. So, I put the one I had in my hands aside for a brief moment and open the other one. A minute later I get my hands on an urn, of some sorts, and as I take it out, Emerald’s tail is swinging to the sides. Only then I notice the chain they had put on her hind leg. Are they stupid or something? A chain like that will not hold her. Emerald is a lot like Breeze – the only way you could restrain her, was if she let you. It makes me kind of mad seeing her like this. No respect at all.

“So, this is the one?” I ask her opening the jar. She gets in extra close. “Alright, here.” I get up and take a wooden lid off one of the water barrels next to us, lay it in front of her and pour out the contents of the jar on the lid. The stench of the rotten fish hit my nose. I want to barf. It has to be at least a week old.

“Hold on. I’ll get you something of this century to chow on.” I take the lid and the petrifying meal out of the stables and toss it into the woods as far as I can.

“I’ll be back soon.” I wave to Emerald and march towards the barracks.

“Sorry for the wait.” It took some effort but I got her a nice juicy hunk of meat. I put that in front of her on a metal tray.

“Enjoy.” I bow. Emerald digs in straight away. I sit down by her side and take the first bag I opened.

“Mind if I?” Emerald takes one glance at me and goes back to her dinner. “Thank you.” I’m probably not supposed to be doing this but I’m curious. Plus, I have time and nothing better to do anyway. I don’t find anything out of the ordinary: herbs, bandages, potions, trinkets. Anything and everything a traveler would have with them. I put the bag aside and take the next one. A grinding stone, some scraps of leather, thread, needles, couple of knives. Nothing interesting. I open the last bag since the third one obviously contained food. Jackpot. The last bag had everything a nomad should not have: armor. I recognize Emerald’s Anchors. I dig in deeper. I find a cloak, a helm, couple of bracelets’, rings’, a chest piece, leg protectors’, gloves and… No. It can’t be. She kept it? Why? I stare at it and then shove it back inside with the rest of the items and put all of the bags next to Emerald as if nothing happened. Once Emerald is satisfied with her dinner, I hug her giant neck.

“Thank you. Thank you for keeping her safe. It made me feel easier knowing she had you looking out for her. I won’t lie. I have missed Breeze every day to the point where I couldn’t bear the pain anymore. But I have missed you just as much… And Starlight… There’s nothing I regret more than my inability to stop her from leaving back then. Although, as much as I have missed her, I was never worried. All thanks to you. I knew there was no way you would let anything happen to her. For that – I will always be grateful to you. You did your part. Now it’s time I did mine.” I let go of her and look her in the eye. She had a different expression now. I’ve seen it before. It was the Are you sure about this? face. I’m sure. I let her go once. I’m not planning on letting her leave again.

“I have one last favor to ask you.” She whips her tail. “Tell her I will be waiting for her at the usual spot. She needs to hear what I have to say. Can you do that for me?” She whips her tail. “Thank you.” I touch her neck one last time and leave.

It takes me a lot longer to calm down then expected… I couldn’t believe the mess I was in… How did I ever let it get out of hand? Were all those years, I spent isolated from everyone I cared about, pointless? I tried so hard to get away from all of it and now I’m right back where I started. It made me furious. Tahon used my land against me. He forced me back in, when I thought I had already gotten out. Damn it all to Hell! I land on the roof of the stables. This is the only place they would keep Emerald. I jump off and walk in. She was resting in the middle of the stables. Doesn’t seem like she’s hurt. Good. Means I don’t have to kill anyone. Yet.

“Hey, enjoying your vacation?” I ask her sitting down next to her.

“Not too much. What happened?” She lifts her head and I see the concern in her eyes.

“Remember Tahon?” She nods. “Well, he became The King of the Concord. Can you imagine? That brat…” Emerald growls. “And…” I start but am not sure if I want to finish the sentence… “He forced me to become the Chieftain again…”

“How?”

“He threatened to launch a war against Noxanda if I refused.”

“And you are letting him get away with it?”

“Well, I don’t know if I can call it that, but I did get a written promise from him that if he did anything to harm my people, while I agreed to do this, I would have the full right to kill him. No questions asked. So, for now, I need to figure out a way how not to get the Royal Army slaughtered. That’s all…” I look down. She isn’t going to buy that last part being the easy one…

“I see…” Emerald’s tail lands on my lap… “Well, I have some news for you as well, Child…”

I looked up at her. “Oh?”

“Crile was here. Left a message for you.” My heart skips a beat. “He’ll be waiting for you at the usual spot. You need to hear what he has to tell you.”

“Give me one good reason why I should grant his wish.”

“Child, you know why.” Her gaze is warm and sad at the same time. I sigh…

“I don’t want to…” I hug my knees.

“I understand, but there’s no going back now. You did agree already, Child…” The tip of her tail touches my face as gently as if made of air. I’m crying… Emerald curls up more and now her body is surrounding me from both sides… So, I cry…

A loud noise wakes me up.

“Oh, come on now, would ya stop struggling, I’ll get it out in a minute, just hold on…” Someone is having trouble with their mount. I stand up.

“Do you need a hand?” I call out.

“Shit, you scared me, I had no idea someone was here.” The boy turns around. No way. “But yeah, that would be great if you could…” He freezes mid-sentence. It is him. “Deathbreeze?”

“Marcus. Fancy meeting you here.” I walk up to him. His jaw is almost to the ground.

“This is the last place I would have ever expected to see you…” He’s a bit out of it still. I smile.

“Me too.” I give him a couple of seconds to process the reality and speak again. “Nice to know you made it out alive that time.”

He manages to think again. “All thanks to you, anyway.” He looks at me with a smile. He has changed over the years. If back when we met, he was looking like he barely knew left from right, then now he’s looking more like someone who has been through a lot…

“We can talk more later.” I break the silence. “Now then, let’s see what we can do about your mount.”

“Right, sure.” He stutters a bit. “He has a piece of metal stuck in his side and I can’t get him to stay still long enough to get it out. Hold still!” Marcus tugs on the reins.

“Allow me.” I raise my right arm and pull on the Vines that are in my bag, they dig into the ground and come out right under the bull-horse creature, wrapping themselves around its legs, holding the beast in place. A Robastant looks like a horse dressed up as a bull. It has the horse's shape but the looks of a bull. It packs a bit more fire power than a regular horse and is just as fast.

“Try now.” I tell Marcus. The mage quickly goes around to the left side of his mount. A few minutes go by. The mount snarls and I hear Marcus say.

“There, all done.” He comes back round, and I let go of the Vines. “Thanks, that really made it easier.”

“No problem.” I pet the side of the Robastant. “A fine example you have here.”

“Yeah, I got him as a reward some time ago.”

“A reward?” That’s a surprise. “For what?”

“It’s a long story, maybe I can tell you later, it’s kind of late anyway, which side of the Palace are you staying at?” He leads the bull creature inside one of the cages and leaves it there.

“Right here.” I point towards Emerald.

“Emerald.” He gets star struck again, just like the first time he saw her. Emerald stands up. Marcus walks over to her. Half-way he kneels.

“It’s good to see you again, miss.” Miss? I chuckle. Wow. Emerald nods, and Marcus gets to his feet. “Hold on? You two are staying here? You’re joking.”

I shake my head. “Not at all. I’m not leaving Emerald in this place alone.” I go over to my mount and stand by her side.

“I see.” Marcus wants to say something more but at that moment we hear someone shouting my name.

“BREEEEEEEZEEE!!!” You have to be kidding me. Marcus quickly acquireds a puzzled look on his face.

“That sounded like…” Emerald raises her head as well. Sure enough. There she is.

“Breeze!” Laira appears from around the corner, catching her breath.

“It’s been a while.” I take a step forward.

“It really is you…” Laira’s expression is priceless. “It really is you!” She comes right at me. “It really is you, sister!” She runs up to me and hugs me.

“Sister?!” Marcus’s jaw drops again and his eyes look like they are about to burst.

“I’ve missed you.” Laira sobs the words out.

“I’ve missed you too.” I say it quietly as I pat her back.