Of Air...Vigilante gazed towards the sky, a sky still fading from light pink to blue, the sun not yet reaching above the trees. A few scattered clouds hovered above, and for a moment it was almost as if she was just as weightless.

"My mother used to tell me beautiful stories about the Ayads, I haven't thought of their fate in a very long time though..." she said, mostly to herself, before trailing away as she heard her mother's soft voice in her mind, a voice from a happy time. She rarely allowed memories to surface like this, but she couldn't hold them back. The mention of the Ayads was like a siren call, urging her memories forward.

She returned to present, and saw Qumo looking curiously at her. "Did she now? I'm a little bit surprised. The subject is somewhat of a taboo in the Southern lands, is it not?" he said, and she nodded.

While still a child, she was never allowed to tell those stories to her friends, and she never heard any of her friends speak of the long lost Ayads. Not even the street children from her days living in the gutter, spun tales about the Ayads, which was surprising considering that they regularly told each other stories that could make your hair turn white. Finally she had thought them a bedtime story, one created by her mother, until Spider brought her out into the world, allowing her to hear of their tragic story once again. Her mother's story had been different, happier, and the ending had not been the same. Perhaps she had wanted to spare her children.

"What? Why can't you speak of them?" Vito asked, his white eyes gazing into hers, making it difficult to believe that he was blind.

She remained silent. She couldn't bring herself to talk about it. For some reason the subject had her terribly saddened. Qumo seemed to notice her reluctance and took over.

"They lived in the Southern Lands, where they met the fear and hate that would ultimately lead to their demise. The topic is prohibited to speak of, history has been rewritten, every possible thing was done to make them vanish from the minds of men. These are the worst crimes humanity has conducted so far, eradicating an entire race, then the memory of them..." he paused, his clenched jaw showing slight signs of just how upset he was. "I hope they stay silent about the race because they are ashamed, but I'm inclined to think that they do it for some other reason," he finished with force. His words made her feel even worse. The topic brought an extreme sense of loss, one she wasn't prepared for.

Before the feelings had time to settle she felt a presence behind her, immediately annoyed when she saw who it was. The old Sigyn was there to claim her conversation again, and it felt like an intrusion on their privacy. The topic, the setting, their situation, it all felt very intimate for some reason, and she didn't like the Sigyn, not one bit!

"Good, you speak of the Ayads. Perhaps you are not as incompetent as I was starting to fear. Now, we must talk, bring the Nyx!" the Sigyn snapped, before turning on her heels, walking away with determined steps. There was nothing else to do but follow.

Vigilante looked at the others and rolled her eyes when she realized that it had fallen upon her to persuade Milo to join. Great...she sighed, not ready to approach him. She knew that he battled with his identity, and she really wasn't up for silky gloves and polite manners; but she had no choice but to walk over, putting one foot before the other until she stood before him.

The sun was playing with the shadows at her feet, the bright globe now high enough to cast its warm glow on them. She watched them, stalling to address the Nyx, but she knew she was silly.

"Milo? We've been summoned by the old Sigyn. The others left with her. Come on, let's go!" she spoke, trying to sound unaffected: switching between sarcasm and cheeriness and she could see him stir to life, but he didn't answer.

"I think it might be interesting. She mentioned the Ayads," she continued, provoking his interest by bringing up the ancient race, and it seemed to work. He lifted his chin, meeting her eyes.

"The Ayads? Why would she want to discuss them?" he asked, and she shrugged. However, she was relieved. He hadn't been so far away in misery this time, not as when she had found him last time when she ended up saving his life, saving him from the Spider. He sought for a way to die that night so this was a huge improvement considering...

Milo rose quickly and started off towards the others. She followed one step behind but caught up with his long strides before they arrived at the small wooden cottage where the others had entered.

The door creaked open, and they left the morning sun for a murky interior. She could see Milo pause for a brief moment, and she realized that they were in the same cottage he was taken to upon their arrival. She wished she knew what had happened in here. Even if the rational part of her mind tried to persuade her that there wouldn't have been enough time for them to claim his body, her emotions didn't want to calm down. The reaction she saw, his tense shoulders, his uneasy steps, none of it helped. She was raging inside.

"Ah, you are here finally. It is time to stop dallying: we have important matters to discuss!" the old Sigyn said, her voice so firm that Vigilante fought the urge to strangle her. She wasn't really used to this display of authority from someone totally unconnected to her. However, Qumo smiled with interest sparkling in his eyes, so she decided to listen. She had started to trust the ancient N'aian, a weird feeling in itself.

"Qumo told me that you are on your way to Wyvern, I must tell you what to expect. That woman has caused enough trouble already, but claiming that Io is back and in her company is the worst lie that she has constructed so far. Unfortunately, the foulness doesn't end there. For some reason our Sigyn men have decided to trust this horrid spectacle of a woman, swallowing her lie about Io. They are now, together with the Humans, amassing an army to conquer "the unfaithful", which we must assume applies to all not in league with Mischka. We stand completely helpless as we are haven't had any contact with our men in years."

-----

They all stood in stunned silence for a while. Vito could feel the other's auras give off confusion and not a small amount of suspicion. The old Sigyn seemed totally unnerved by the response she received, so he guessed that they schooled their expressions, or perhaps the Sigyn wasn't troubled by the reactions she got.

"An army?" Qumo said, and Vito felt the seriousness in his question. It was an odd sensation, but he liked it, liked how it gave him a chance to see without seeing.

"Yes, an army, do not make me repeat myself, we both know what an army means. It means less safety in the world, and more souls for the Destroyer to collect. It means loss of innocent lives that happen to get in the way, and it means chaos in a world that does not need more chaos to handle," the old Sigyn finished.

"We agree then," Qumo answered.

"You're not in contact with your men? Do you not send your young boys to train with them?" Milo asked.

"We have not had children in a very long time. Do you think that we would want to carry children into this world?" she paused, and Vito tried to read her mood unsuccessfully. "And we have never claimed humans for our continuation as a race, they have come willingly! We are the ones who have been forced to indulge those vile lusty men to be able to carry children, but no more: we do not want more souls to live with hopelessness until we know for sure that the balance is restored."

"Then what in Io's name did you do to me? Why was someone removing my shirt, touching my skin?" Milo called out, his voice hard, terrifying, and his glowing form turned into a menacing darkness. Vito shirked away from the display of anger, but he understood. The Nyx must have been claimed...just as the Sigyn now claimed didn't happen anymore. What game was she playing?

"I did not mean for that to happen, but apparently we are drawn to you as a moth to a flame. I feel it too, but I'm old enough to control it," she replied. Her tone didn't hold much apology, and even though he could sense that she was honest with her words, it didn't help to lighten Milo's aura. The pulsing darkness that was Milo continued to make him uneasy.

"...but why have you no contact?" Qumo continued, effectively breaking off the confrontation.

"They estranged themselves from us when we could no longer receive their love without fear of future suffering, when we could no longer carry their children without watching them die. Our proud men have fiery souls, just like us, and they could not handle the rejection," she paused, her aura projecting a deep sadness. "They forced us to send the boys to them, threatening to kill those they had brought from the beginning if we did not cooperate."

She paused again and he had time to think, wondering why fate chose to treat the Sigyns so harshly. He realized that he had hoped that this part of their history was a tale, not a truth. He couldn't imagine the pain they must feel, but in one way he did. He felt it from the Sigyn in front of him, and from those outside the cottage. It was if something was missing in all of them. Hollow

She continued, her voice slightly stronger again. "They left such a long time ago that I do not know if that reason still holds. Perhaps they have forgotten, perhaps they think differently. I wish I could tell you more, but we are banished from their presence. They are ordered to kill us if we approach them, and for some reason they oblige those rules."

"What about the Ayads, why did you mention them?" Vigilante asked.

"At this moment they are a minor concern, but I believe their story may be of consequence for the events to come. Someone must find out more about why they were extinct, and how that came about."

"...someone? You are telling us disturbing news about a new army, practically telling us that you cannot do anything to change the minds of your men, and for some reason I believe that you think that we should be responsible for changing the direction of that tidal wave. Then you give us another investigation to pursue. Have you any suggestions, or are you just deciding to hand over the responsibility to us?" Milo all but yelled. Vito couldn't blame him. The Sigyn really pushed her limits, and if she had known just how angry she had made the Nyx... he didn't think that she would have dared to speak again.

"I suggest that you concentrate on dealing with Io first. I didn't bring up the Ayads, you did!" the old Sigyn sounded calm, but Vito could see her emotions boiling. This was important to her, very important.

"I think that I have the best chance of finding information about the Ayads," he heard himself say, partly to avoid any further conversation between the other two. Silence followed and he could feel that the others were waiting for the Sigyn to speak again.

"Why would you think that young human?" she finally said with a new interest in her voice.

"Because I seem to see the intentions and emotions in people, I should be able to tell if someone is lying or withholding information. Moreover, I won't continue towards Wyvern as my main concern is in Bankor at the moment, so I will be going there."

He saw Annie's desecrated body before him, the picture too clear, too disturbing. Waves of nausea hit him as the image played before him, but it didn't lessen his determination. He would get her out of there.

"Then you must split up. I will see to it that someone accompanies you to Bankor," she said dismissively. Her tone was so different from what he saw of her emotions that he got confused. Why would she feel such hope if she sounded so completely detached?