“It’s been three days?” Fumi asked, spinning a braided strand of hair around her shoulder. “Three days and you’re back with nothing to show?”

“Absolutely nothing. With Seriara’s ‘wise’ counsel, we’ve only scanned the border of the mountain. Afraid if we go too far, we’ll find an ambush waiting for us. As if everyone knows where I am and what I’m doing. Whatever that woman said must’ve spooked her. She’s keeping something from me again.”

“Perhaps you should heed her caution. The only people we know of who can withstand His ether for so long are Lady Lavia and Zio. The spirits of my tribe have kept me from danger enough, and if it were me, I’d be looking for Zio since Lady Lavia is unavailable. Some months of recon show that he’s been around the countryside.”

“The same recon where his location blips from one spot to the next on a near daily basis? No way. I’d be better off chasing directly after the Ash rather than chasing a ghost.”

“I’d jump at the opportunity without a second thought.” Her tightening fist grabbed Glacia’s attention. Noticing, she relaxed her hand. “But it’s just a suggestion. Since he’s had a bounty on his head for some years now, he would be just a good a prize to the Order as the Ash. And maybe some other members.”

Fumi walked alongside Glacia through the encampment toward a cart of supplies, with a line extending in front of it and Tarragon handing out the contents inside and grabbed a few rations and a bedroll. Others looked at her in anger, huffing their frustrations loud enough for her to hear.

“Didn’t she leave?! Does she think she runs the place?!”

Their words didn’t affect her, as she was already used to being the topic of discussion amongst them. Her world would not collapse from the insults that were hurled her way. No matter how degrading, Glacia kept her mind focused on the reason she came to suffer the words. The reason, in her mind, of how she became an orphan.

“Don’t be so loud! She can probably hear you!”

“So what? We all know if it wasn’t for Lady Lavia covering her ass, she would’ve been dealt with a long time ago.”

Before she joined the Order, she would’ve acted on such a claim. Unsheathing her weapon, and loudly proclaiming they were nothing to her until Seriara would take matters into her claws and carry her away. A defiant voice in the back of her head still roared for that response, but the light in the used to be unending tunnel was in sight. Glacia eased, allowing their words to slip out of her ear. “Bael has given me a task, Fumi. I complete this and word gets to the council that I’m more than capable of handling my duties as Gardenia. Then I can finally be free from this place and this Order. So it’s urgent that I capture the Ash as ordered.”

“Wow, that’s not the rebel I know talking. What did you do with the Frost Princess?” Glacia’s instant sneer made Fumi raise her hands. “It’s a joke, Glacia. Sounds like a big deal, though.” Fumi strode by Glacia and to the cart, climbing atop and reaching toward the back. She plucked an apple from the furthest sack. “This is what you’re looking for? I know they’re your favorite.” She lobbed the fruit to Glacia’s hands, then hopped off the cart and flashed her sharp canines at the Tarragon in line. “Now let’s get out of here before they talk shit about me, too. And my tolerance isn’t as sturdy as yours.”

“Thanks.” Glacia took a crunch of the apple with her sharp teeth, its juices sliding to her chin before she wiped them away on her sleeve. “First, I have to find a way to last in His ether. Or at least diminish it somehow. They say it’s like stepping into the ocean, as weird as that may sound. Your body goes stiff, while all the air you have left flees your lungs. Eventually, you’ll be a lifeless corpse until the ether resurrects you as one of his pawns.”

Fumi scratched her head. Confusion clearly written on her face, nothing surprising to Glacia in the slightest. “You know, I’m not knowledgeable of everything that goes on in the background. Like, the trick we used to get to the mountaintop, with those priests we brought along. Isn’t Light from The Crossing a part of the ritual they used to form the barrier that got us here?”

“It’s too adept for me. The same thought crossed my mind.” Glacia answered sternly. “Fully communing with Light requires a sacrifice of the person’s anima. A conversion in a way. Simple uses like my healing are possible without that sacrifice, but even then most struggle to learn it.” She held the apple on her palm, a creeping frost crawling around its red exterior. “Something directly tied Seriara to my ether. Back when we were bound. She’s the only reason I can control an anima beyond the normal spectrum. This ether is hers and I couldn’t convert it if I wanted to. When I got her powers, I discovered I could use the Light to heal. That said, learning more is impossible.”

“Okay! Then we need to find you a way to get through the ether, yeah?” Enthusiastically pointing her thumb at herself, Fumi lifted her chin with a fierce grin. “I’ll go shake up some of those priests for you! They’ll shit themselves once they see Minhki without a collar.”

“That won’t be necessary.” As if someone had stuck a pin in her, Fumi’s enthusiasm deflated. “While on the border, we realized something within the ether. Weak spots that weren’t as dense and one in the very direction of an important city between here and Morath. Accolade.”

“It also has a rich history with Tarragon and Dragons.” Seriara said, appearing on Glacia’s head.

Fumi flinched. Her hand moving to the knife on her hip, then slowly pulling away. “Ugh. Can you tell her not to do that while we’re out here? The moment I hear words I can’t understand, I get antsy.”

“The better question is this. Why is she turning visible and speaking aloud when no one here can understand her but me?”

Seriara laughed with a puff of blue flame shooting from her tiny snout. “I heard you say my name. Then I figured I’d stretch my wings.”

“Impatient.” Glacia could tell when her guardian was hinting at something. Their decade long attachment gave both of them keen insight on the others’ thoughts and tells. Right now, Seriara claimed to only be stretching her wings, but she was really urging Glacia to finish her conversation with Fumi.

Fumi’s normally stoic face twisted, as if she had something to say. Her mouth hanged open until Glacia looked at her and opened hers to say her goodbyes. She forced the words out before that could happen. “Glacia!” Her mind paused, then ran as if in that moment she had processed something. “Ever since I showed up in Edelmira for Ascent, there were these moments I would look up at the sky and spy a white-haired brat eating an apple. Eventually, that same brat became an opponent when I saw her register for Ascent and, to my surprise, would actually give me quite a scare when she almost bested me.” She held her fist up, knuckles turned toward Glacia. “Come back with your prize. Don’t leave me here alone with these idiots. I need at least one friend to make this bearable.”

Glacia stared her down, then turned about. “Whatever gave you the implication that we’re friends needs to be reevaluated.”

“In my old tribe, the strong would always hunt together. Stronger hunters in a group makes unit stronger as a whole.” Fumi looked at the sky with a smile on her face. “Which means more success. If we two stick together, we’ll get out of this shitty post sooner than you’d think. Ascent was just the start of it. Imagine the future. That’s why I think we’re friends. Once you make a name for yourself, I’ll be right there with you. The lonely, pampered Frost Princess and the minority slash token Minhki, who both apparently have an issue with authority.”

Glacia’s focus remained on the road ahead of her. “We’re different, Fumi. Where you joined the Tarragon by choice, they forced me. For the last ten years of my life, I’ve been a prisoner at Edelmira. The first two years I was compliant until my past came back to me. I’ve spent every moment since either planning or attempting to escape. Learning routes the Tarragon would neglect, how they fought and their patterns of attacks. This is the closest I’ve ever been to freedom, and I’m confident I can seize it. So trivial things like ‘friends’ are of no interest to me.”

“I guess ‘bitch’ will forever be your personality then.” Fumi laughed. “This is non-negotiable. Tribes don’t break easily and unless you do something really stupid, we’re sisters in arms.”

“Guess so.”

“Will you ever lighten up, Glacia? You weren’t like this a year ago and hardly anything has happened between now and then.” Fumi crossed her path once again. Turning around, her arm shot up in a diagonal direction. “The Deities strengthen your mind and body. May they bless your hunt as well.”

Glacia sighed and reluctantly raised her arm in a manner identical to Fumi. Their knuckles tapped, Fumi giving a quick nod before heading back into the encampment. “I’ve changed? You’re the one that’s different. She seemed so angry when we met, but maybe there’s something I missed.”

“People left to their thoughts can grow to be angry with the world and feel as if they’ve been rejected. That twisted in with her own outlook and possibly her goals could have affected her.”

“What would you know?” Glacia turned away, heading toward the gate with her dragon companion landing on her head.

“I know enough about people. When I was your mother’s guardian, she would do her best to aid help others with their deepest issues. Much like yourself, she ignored my advice. Almost as if she found pleasure in doing it.” A gentle growl rolled down her rough neck. “It’s like I’m spending my time with her again. You remind me of her so much. I’m sure she would’ve loved you the same way I love you.”

Glacia bit her bottom lip as anger swelled within her chest. The pace of her steps hastened, walking so fast that one could mistake her for running. The gate swung open as she came closer, the Tarragon not intentionally avoiding eye contact. She snarled like a beast, heading down the mountain pass with nothing but her mission on her mind. Love won’t change things, it won’t save me. It can only go so far when the only thing that you loved is gone.

***

Bael stood between an open area of the mountain under the cloud cloaked sky where the moon rays shined. Through the clouds, she could see the broad border of Elysia before her. Torches lit along a massive wall established on the border line loaded with weapons and cannons, prepared for the moment the dragons would attack. Not too far west, she spotted a gathering of flames. Torches held by soldiers. Far too many than what she expected there to be. The clang of a spear against the rock grabbed her attention, A Tarragon kneeling behind her. “Stand, Soldier. I’m not the one you should kneel to.” She pointed out toward the wall. “Look. Amazing isn’t it? Elysia’s great wall, spanning hundreds of miles across their border.”

“It is impressive, Commander.” She lifted her spear off of the ground, then stood and squinted her eyes in the direction. “So that’s what the wall looks like? I’m embarrassed to say that I’ve never seen it in person until now.”

“Is this your first deployment?”

“Yes ma’am. The first of my family to step outside of Edelmira and the first to join the military. I’d only heard of the wall in stories about why it was built and the conflict between Elysia and Hyleria that divided its nation.”

“I see. Tell me then, what do you see when you gaze at the structure from here? Do you see anything more than what is before you?”

The Tarragons eyes wandered briefly as if she were asked a trick question, but gave the wall another look. “N-Nothing more than a wall, ma’am. Oh, and there are Elysia troops gathering around that bit there. Our reinforcements to secure the area, no doubt. Am I missing something that I should see?”

A low hum rumbled in Bael’s throat. “No, you’ve seen all that you needed to. Did you have something to report?”

“The Gardenia departed a few hours ago. Scouts have mentioned before that she’d not gone further than the priests’ established perimeter, but some overheard her talking about traveling to Accolade.”

“Accolade? How would she cross through the red ether? Going there must mean she’s searching for answers to something dragon related. Answers to what is the question we should be asking.” The ringing of the spear sounded again, disrupting Bael’s focus. “What is the prob-!”

The Tarragon’s neck was slit and her body dangling with a hand tightly gripping her helmet. Blood gushed from the three marks across the neck, similar to that of claws. Her body swung to the side, revealing the culprit. Talion. “Tarragon. Your order will forever insist on defiling the lands dragons consider sacred. Given your position, Commander, you’ve full knowledge of the place you stand.”

I couldn’t even feel his presence! Who is he?! Bael didn’t respond, now turned completely and reaching for the knife behind her back.

Talion sighed before suddenly tossing the Tarragons over the edge and tumbling down the mountain. “There’s no chance of victory here, Commander. I would advise that you stand down and let’s talk, as you humans say, ‘civil’.”

Bael’s interest piqued. “Humans? Are you a?” His confident grin answered her question. “Killing my soldiers is the opposite of civil. Whoever taught you that was a liar.”

“There it is. Man’s hypocrisy at its finest. For the amount of my kind slain by your blades, that one was a tit for your tats. Have you ever thought the reason dragons attacked you was that you were trespassing in a place where you shouldn’t be?” He focused on the slight movement of her arm behind her back. Confidently, he shook the blood from his claws. “What you just witnessed was an example of what will happen to the rest of this encampment if you choose to not heed my warning.” He then held his claws forward. “I’m offering you an ultimatum. You are to clear the mountain of feel the wrath of the Ebonwing. Three days. That is your time limit. If even a single soul remains of these grounds when that time comes, I will slaughter you all before have the chance to find help.”

Bael kept her hand on her knife. Knowing naturally, it was her duty to slay dragons who harmed mankind, but Talion’s questionable generosity stayed her blade. If he wanted to, he could’ve killed me or maybe even burned the camp to the ground. Why is he doing this? “It’s buried. Deep beneath the snow. Even if you dug it out to where the sunlight could shine on its fires once again, the Eye of Embers will never return to what it once was.” Talion’s grin wiped away, turning into a serious stare. A bead of sweat rolled down Bael’s head, though the pit in her stomach was ice cold. She stared back into his crimson eyes and the darkness in their center filling her with a sense of dread. Their eye contact broke. Her focus shifted towards his legs as he moved toward her. In an instant he stood beside her, turning his head so slowly she could hear the cracking bones in his neck.

“Three days.” A roar echoed from the clouds above, followed by a shadow descending toward them. Talion walked over the ledge, falling below, then reappearing on the back of a dragon carrying him into the darkness.

In that moment Bael sighed, as if it were the first time she breathed in years. Arden’s put in the line of fire. Was this her plan all along? Did she know this is what they were looking for? Bael shook the stiffness of her spine away and stood straight, finally taking her hand off of her knife.

A group of torches came rushing over the walls, calling out. “Commander!” Four Tarragon surrounded Bael as she turned her attention toward the broken mountaintop. “We heard the roars! Are we under attack?”

Bael said nothing as she continued to stare at the mountain. The Tarragon moved toward her until she pointed at the mountain’s peak. “Begin construction of a Draconator there and send the priests with guards to further the perimeter around the mountain. No one sleeps until these tasks are complete.” She eyed each of the Tarragon. “Now!” Urgency had struck. Each of the Tarragon split off in different directions, and their voices echoed through the darkness. Alone again, Bael stared into the darkness where Talion had vanished. Fist tightened and teeth grit, she scowled. “I will carry out my duty.”