The smell of charred earth made its way to Ardent’s nose yet again. She cringed internally at the memory the scent triggered. Not wanting to look at the scene before her and wanting to put everything behind her, she stalked away, passed Askerian, passed the burning remains of her crypt and further along the field, Memory’s Field, as it was called.

At one end of the field was the forest surrounding her former home, the Forest of Alex. But she was headed for a different forest, Whisper’s Gale.

“Where are you going now?” Askerian demanded.

“Away from here.” Came Ardent’s reply, sharp as thorns.

Glancing at the ruined tower, Askerian decided to follow the angel, lest she repeat her demise a second time, and shadowed her into the tree line.

The wind blew harshly against the bows of the Evergreen as they danced in tune with it’s song, bringing the perfume of dirt and pine.

White boots halted in place amongst the pine needles on the ground, the brown earth mingling with the lush green.

Ardent lifted her gaze and scanned the woods, her feline ears twitching as she listened for other sounds.

Askerian stopped beside her, confused. “If your concerned about the drake, its long gone. I’d be able to feel it if it –“

“That’s not what I’m looking for, Askerian.” Ardent huffed. “I’m looking for my people.”

Understanding dawned him then, and he too began to examine their surroundings.

“They aren’t here so let’s go.” Ardent finally spoke, bringing their journey’s pause to an end.

When they passed caves and large crevices in the ground, Ardent would stop and look inside briefly, her ears twitching for sounds, her eyes scanning the darkness for any signs of life.

She stood up and sighed.

“I’m sorry.”

This brought Ardent to a halt. She spun around and faced her companion, her eyes landing on his own in an intense stare off. After a few moments, she lowered her gaze. “Don’t. It’s my doing, and I will face the consequences.” She said as she started walking again.

He grunted in reply. “Where are you taking us?”

She glanced over her shoulder at him. “Do you not know where we are?”

He pressed his lips into a thin line and Ardent knew the answer without him speaking it.

“We are in Whisper’s Gale. Beyond this is the Crags and from there we go up.” As she said the word “up” her wings flared out as if to indicating what “up” really meant.

Confused, the dragon rider continued to follow the mysterious creature.

Soon the ground below their feet shifted from pine needles to course dirt as the trees began to thin out and the wind seemed to lessen its dance.

Their feet came to a pause at the edge of a cliff, sending pebbles of dried earth downward onto a sandy shore. Water lapped against the sandy bed in small pulsing waves that sounded a soft melody with each push before slinking backward to reach towards the thicker forest beyond.

The full moon reflected off the water’s surface, despite the motion of the large lake.

“It’s beautiful.” Askerian spoke then, breaking the symphony of the water below. He glanced over at Ardent who had her gaze trained on the sky. On the moon. He followed it then. “Now what?”

“I did tell you that we go up.” Ardent retorted.

“And why would we go up?” His brows furrowed.

“Look closer.”

He turned his eyes back to the moon and that’s when he saw it. Sitting in front of the bright golden ball in the sky, a transparent object shimmered in what appeared to be starlight. It shifted, grew in size and then shrunk and repeated the movement.

Before he could ask what it was, the angel was already making her way into the sky towards the mysterious object.

“Hey! Wait!” Askerian shouted, summoning his bat like wings from his back and lifting himself into the air after her.

She paused for a moment before the strange thing and the dived right into it, before disappearing. Askerian was taken aback, but not wanting to lose the angel, he repeated what she did and then disappeared beyond the golden galaxy.