Fire Emblem: Last of the Manakete

[SoaringHawk218]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[X] Travel only at night. You will be less likely to be spotted, and in general you'll be better rested. However, it will take noticeably longer to get back to Agrithe. You will have time to do some fun things while you're resting (Choose one activity).
-[X] Read a scroll (The Dragon Within)

"A manakete that cannot read is no manakete at all, and any tribe that denies their children this sacred skill is accursed by the Mother and is not of Her people."
- High Lord Shyrlonay


No matter what she says, you're pretty sure Artemis would prefer to go faster. You also admit that there are good reasons to do so: the faster you go, the less time there is for things to go wrong. The faster you go, the sooner you can go and help Axton and Lancel and Kelton. The faster you go, the less time to sit around and feel sorry for yourself.

However… you're also scared. You remember the terrified look Artemis gave you when she found out about your draconic heritage, the fearful looks that Axton and Lancel gave even not knowing about that part of you. The thought of hearing screams of terror echoing up from the ground as you fly overhead is not appealing. Nor is the idea of burn-out from overuse of half-shifting. You already know you've made at least one mistake with the shift: the way Smagishi described the ritual indicated that you should be in an utterly tranquil state while in this form, but you're most certainly not tranquil right now.

No… as much as you wish otherwise, there's only one safe option.

"Let's only fly at night," you say. "I don't know how long I can maintain this: it'll be good to get some rest during the day."

Artemis nods immediately. "That makes sense," she says. "Well, that's what I wanted to say: we should go. I don't know how far we got from the castle, but Mantrae will be looking for us. We should go before one of her goons gets lucky."

You nod. "Right, right," you say. "Alright, hop on my back and let's get going."

Artemis pauses. "Umm… Ryza, you do realize you have spines, right?" she says. "I didn't notice as much last night, but they go all the way down your back."

Glancing over your shoulder, you nod. "Yep," you say. "But don't worry, they're really flexible, so you can just bend them out of the way and sit between them. They're kind of like hair. I don't really feel it."

The human considers for a moment before slowly nodding. "If you say so, Ryza," she says.

"I do. I've ridden on Mother and Father plenty of times. The spines tickle a bit, but it's actually kind of nice." Pressing your belly to the ground, you offer your foreleg to Artemis. "Come on, come on! I want to show you what flying's really like!"

She smiles softly as she approaches. "Thank you, Ryza," she says, gently stepping up on your offered leg and clambering onto your back. It takes a minute for her to press herself between the spines just ahead of your wings and adjust your cloak so she can stay warm. Finally, however, she pats you on the neck. "Okay," she says. "Onwards, noble steed."

Giggling, you spread your wings. "Hold on, Artemis!" you cry as you leap off the rocky rise and spreading your wings.

You love flying. You've always loved flying. You thought nothing could be better than feeling the wind ruffling through your heart-form's hair, your wings flapping gently on your back as magic and muscle keep you aloft.

It has nothing on flying in dragon form. Even half-shifted, the change is impossible to miss.

The first thing you notice is your senses are even sharper. You can smell the flowers far below, even though they're closed. You can hear the rustle of small creatures moving through the undergrowth. You can see the man riding the horse a few hundred feet behind you, staring in your direction. You can taste the…

Wait…

Back up.

Mounted man; wearing armor, staring up at you. There were actually four; the others were spread out.

Not good.

Thankfully, you'd instinctively tucked your forelegs up like Artemis said when lifting off, so hopefully they'll mistake you for a wyvern in the darkness. Beating your wings fast, you shoot up higher into the sky; listening as the humans below cry out in surprise.

"Ryza?! What's going on?" Artemis calls over the rushing wind, apparently forgetting that your hearing was now a lot better.

"Riders below," you say worriedly. "I can outfly them, but that was close."

Artemis grunts, but when you glance back you can see she doesn't seem too concerned. "You weren't flying for too long the first time," she says. "And we're still close to the castle; this is the terrain they know best. It's not surprising they would predict where would be a good landing place." She smirks. "Good thing we left when we did; I can get some satisfaction out of the thought of them arriving just as we fly away."

You giggle as you take one last look down. The riders have regathered and seem to be having some sort of argument with each other. Ignoring them, you find a good air-current to ride on as you continue northeast.

As you fly, you scan the ground below you. Like Artemis said, it's mostly flat ground, though there are still plenty of hills and groves of trees. You can even see flattened areas with neat, ordered rows of plants. You'd seen some of those around Miau, but you hadn't thought much of them. It seems like a lot of work was put into them, so you figure they have to have some purpose.

You also spot the occasional signs of human habitations. Nothing so large or grand as the castle; many even smaller than the buildings at Miau. Some are clustered together in small villages, others stand alone. None of them have any lights in them, so the inhabitants are probably all asleep. Frowning, you peer closer: a few of them look a bit like the rolling houses that Sir Octavio had been preparing. You suppose that if humans can't fly, they'd have to take their shelters with them.

Still, despite all these interesting things you spot, after the first hour of flight you find yourself growing bored. Normally, when you got bored while flying, you started doing tricks, but you couldn't do that since Artemis was clinging to your neck. You also didn't want to exert yourself too much: you can feel the edges of exhaustion begin to creep into your mind.

"Artemis, tell me a story."

The girl shifts on your back. "What?" she calls.

"Please?" you whine. "Something to keep me focused."

There's a momentary pause before Artemis answers. "Of course, Ryza. What kind of story do you want to hear?"

You consider for a few seconds before saying "Do you know any Lady Seryph stories? Daniella and her friends told me about her."

"The Sky-Marshal? Sure, I know a few stories about her." A moment of silence. "There's one I really like about the time she saved a bunch of villagers from baels-"

"No, no, I already heard that one, tell a different one," you say quickly. Too quickly, even to your ear.

Even though you're not looking at her, you swear you can see Artemis grinning wickedly. "Oh? Are spider stories too scary for the big bad dragon?"

"Manakete!"

---

In the end, Artemis tells a much nicer Lady Seryph story about a time when she was hired to act as a messenger between two rival noble houses on the brink of war. In the end, she managed to expose the treacherous underlings on both sides who had wanted to use the chaos to enrich themselves, aided by the children on both sides who had secretly fallen in love. "Wow, she's amazing!" you say.

"I will say that this story is almost certainly exaggerated," Artemis says. "But yeah, she is. The Whitewing Alliance is Agrithe's oldest and strongest ally; the first people who broke free of the Empire. They're a matriarchal society; pegasi only rarely let men ride them, and only the best of the best can become Sky-Marshal. Lady Seryph is widely considered the second greatest pegasus knight to ever live, surpassed only by their founder Sky-Marshal Victoria."

You yawn widely. "She does sound really nice," you say. "Thanks for the story, Artemis. I'm getting kind of tired, so I'm going to land for a bit."

"That sounds good, Ryza," Artemis says. "We've gone a long way; there's no way they could keep up even if they wanted too."

Nodding, you look down. There are a few good-looking spots, including a bend in a small river that will afford you cover on three sides. "Alright, hold one, we're going down."

A minute later, your feet dig into the soft soil of the riverbank and you settle onto your belly to let Artemis off. "Are you okay, Ryza?" she asks worriedly as you don't get up once she's down.

"I'm just really sleepy," you say, letting the half-shift fall away to leave you laying face-down on the ground. "Really, really sleepy…"

Artemis sighs as she reaches down and helps you up to sit in her lap. "Get some rest, Ryza, I'll keep watch," she says.

"Okay," you say, yawning again as you tuck your head into her neck. "See you in a bit."

With that, you're out light a snuffed candle.

---

It's the better part of an hour and a half before you surface. The scroll wasn't kidding when it said that half-shifting took a lot out of you; you were almost as tired as you'd been after nearly six hours of consistant walking and spellcasting when you'd been on your way to Countess Mantrae's place. Really, you figured you should have spent more time sleeping, but your ruined sleep schedule forced you awaken far sooner.

Artemis had not put you down while you slept, having moved to sit against a rock, wrapped you both in your cloak, and by the feel of it simply held you as you slept. It had been decades since the last time you'd wandered into your parents' chambers at night to sleep with them, but considering everything that's happened, you can't force yourself to feel anything more than some mild indignation that she was treating you like a baby when you were older than her.

"Are you awake, Ryza?" she asks softly as you shift.

"Yeah, yeah," you say, wiggling a bit to get out of her grip. "How are you?"

"Not bad; nothing happened while you were asleep," Artemis says, letting you go.

You nod; that's good. Shifting over to where Artemis had moved your bag, you pull out The Dragon Within again. "Alright, give me some time, I'll re-cast the half-shift ritual," you say as you roll it to the right place.

"You can rest for a little longer if you need to," Artemis says.

"Maybe tomorrow: but today, I want to get us as far as possible; the longer it takes them to find us, the more I'll be able to rest later," you say, pulling out your stone and kneeling down.

Artemis doesn't say anything more, but as draconic magic flows aroud you, you can tell she's watching with interest. Thankfully, she doesn't interrupt or even move too much, probably because lightning is whipping around you and your wings flare to full size. Every ounce of focus is on the ritual: it's hard. You've done rituals before: Father may have been the ruenwrighter of the family, but Mother was the ritualist and she'd shown you some tricks. You remember the time she'd shaped out an entirely new corridor in an hour after a freak avalanche had destroyed the old one.

She probably could have done this in ten minutes. Twenty at most. You, however, are not your mother's equal.

Pushing those self-defeating thoughts out of your mind, you throw yourself back into half-shifting; just because you can't do it perfectly and quickly doesn't mean you can't do it. Artemis needs to get home, and by the First Mother you're going to get her there!

Finally, your wings wrap around you and a final flash of lightning lights the clearing, scaring off some of the small animals that had been watching from the undergrowth. Rearing back, you suppress the urge to roar your victory to the sky: tranquil, you're supposed to be tranquil.

"Amazing…" Artemis whispers. "Absolutely amazing! I've never seen anything like that!"

"Do humans not cast rituals?" you ask as you settle down and offer Artemis your leg.

Clambering onto your back, Artemis answers. "We do, but nothing so grand. When I was at the Marble Hall, Apollo snuck me into the Room of Recharging, and we got to see some of the professors recharging old tomes from the spirits that live around the Marble Hall. But it was nothing like what you did."

"You should have seen my mother, then," you say sadly. "She was amazing."

Artemis gently pats your neck. "She certainly raised an amazing daughter," she says softly.

"…Thanks," you say, turning your head as much as you can to try and nuzzle her. She leans forward to allow you to press your muzzle against her for a moment before you spread your wings. "Let's go. I want to meet your mother."

With that, you lunge into the air, and the journey continues.

---

You blink blearily against the sun as you uncurl yourself from under your cloak, trying to remember how you got here. Everything's so hazy…

"You're awake," a voice says. "You gave me a bit of a scare this morning."

This morning? What had you been doing this morning? And who was that… that wasn't Mother. It wasn't Father. Wait… "Artemis?" you ask stupidly.

"Yes, it's me," Artemis says, and a moment later something touches against your mouth. "You should eat, you must be starving."

Accepting the offered food, you look around the strange clearing you're in. "What happened?" you ask.

"We were on our third jump of the night, and you'd wanted to go on a little longer than two hours" Artemis says. "Then you started complaining about a headache. I told you to land, that moving quickly wasn't worth your health. As soon as we got down, you went to sleep and haven't woken up for hours. It's afternoon now."

You… remember that. You'd been pushing yourself hard, trying to get some distance, to make up for not wanting to fly during the day, when your head had started aching. It hadn't been too bad, but Artemis had been worried about you, and your emotions had gotten the better of you and you'd agreed to land to make her happy. Well, you thought you had; you must have been more tired than you thought.

"Are you doing okay, Ryza?" Artemis asks worriedly, offering you some water from the cup Father had packed in with the food. Or maybe Mother had done it, she had always been the one making sure you and father ate and drank well.

"I'm okay, I'm okay, just a little tired," you say.

The pair of you sit in silence for a few minutes before Artemis speaks. "We could take a full day off, night included," she offers softly. "It'll add a bit more time…"

You shake your head. "No, no, I'm fine," you say. "I'm already feeling a lot better. If we wait until nightfall I should be able to keep going. Maybe a little slower than before." You pause. "Actually, it'd probably be better to just have fewer, slightly longer jumps, so I'm not having to re-cast the ritual as much. That's the big strain; once I get going I'm okay for a while."

Artemis frowns, but slowly nods. "You know yourself best, Ryza," she says. "But please, don't push yourself too hard for my sake. Enough people have gotten hurt on this journey; there's no need to invite more."

"Okay," you say. "I was planning on doing some reading, anyways. I rushed through the scroll looking for the ritual, and I think I might have missed some important things."

"That sounds alright, so long as you don't push yourself," Artemis says. "Do you mind if I look over your shoulder while you do?"

You grin. "Of course not!" you say. "I love reading; I can read to you if you want."

For some reason, Artemis frowns slightly as she nods. "I think you'll probably have to," she says.

Those words were slightly confusing, but you were just happy to get a chance to do something you love. Scooting over, you pull out The Dragon Within again, find the point where you left off with Artemis before, and start reading again.

…

The Nature of the Dragon​

While all manakete agree that it was the First Mother who created our people by combining heart and dragon into one, not all agree on how she did this. The majority of reputable scholars, however, have formed the consensus that dragons had existed for much longer than recorded history. These ancient dragons, unbound by a heart, acted purely on whim and desire, and thus could not create the complex, stable culture we enjoy today. When the Mother beheld the constant strife and blood the ancient dragons engaged in, she determined to cast a great ritual, the likes of which has not been seen since and likely will never be seen again, to create our hearts in order to tame the worst impulses of the dragons.

This understanding is important because, even with the creation of the heart, the nature of dragons has not greatly changed. Dragons are beings of vast passion and nigh uncontrollable urge. Dragons do not plan. They act. Dragons do not consider. They act. Dragons do not hesitate. They act.

This is not an entirely bad thing. Dragons will not bow to any aggressor, will accept no chains or restraint. Where a heart might waver, might be too fearful or mentally defeated to stand up to injustice, a dragon will roar its defiance against any odds. In this way, the dragon within keeps us moving forwards, even when all hope seems lost.

However, in this determination and unbending will exists the great weakness of our dragon-selves; even after millennia of civilizing and development, they remain as wild and unpredictable as our ancient ancestors. It is against this unpredictability that our hearts must guard, and for this, manakete must understand how their stone and transformation interact with each other.

The Dragonstone and Transformations​

The Mother's ritual gave our heart-form stones that serve as conduit of the dragon within, stones that we can use to consciously unleash them when the time is right. That these stones appear after our birth is one of the pieces of evidence scholars use to prove that this ritual is still in effect today.

When a manakete wishes to transform into their dragon-form, they must decide which emotion will serve the situation best. After all, the dragon draws not only power from shared feelings, but also purpose. A dragon transformed in fear is likely to withdraw from a situation, while a dragon transformed in rage will likely attack. Once this has been decided, the manakete must temporarily purge all other emotions from their mind and soul, so that there is no corruption of the fuel they feed into their stone.

When properly carried out, when a transformation occurs the stone will only contain a certain amount of a specific type of emotional energy. The dragon-form will then take control, acting upon the emotion presented to them. When the energy in the stone is spent, the manakete will shift back into their heart-form. While it is possible to re-fill the stone's reservoir of energy while the transformation is still in effect, to do so is a perilous act to be undertaken only in the most desperate of situations. (For more on this, read the section on Draconic Feedback.)

Thus, the first step upon the path a manakete must take to become whole is to learn to control their heart's emotions, so that they can choose which emotion and how much to feed into their stone. In this way, even after giving control of the shared self to the dragon-form, a heart can grant some protection for themselves and those around them.

An interesting quirk of the Mother's ancient ritual is that, even though all makaete are granted their personal stone soon after birth, one that is tied to their soul and being, it is possible to transform using the stone of another manakete of their tribe. It is far more difficult, and can even be painful, but it is still a measure of safety should their own stone be lost or, Mother forbid, damaged. It is for this reason that some manakete, as their lives come to an end, choose for their stone to be enshrined but still available rather than buried or burned with the body they are leaving behind. In this way, even after they have returned to the Mother's side, they can still give aid to their kith and kin.

Draconic Feedback​

Our dragonstones serve another purpose: they act as both as something of a barrier between our heart and our dragon. These two halves of our being, though intrinsically one, are simultaneously different from each other. Even as you awaken your dragon from torpor, so that they might give their guidance and thoughts, it is important to keep this separation, lest the two parts of your being begin to intermingle too greatly and share emotions between them in an unstructured manner.

The most dangerous form of Draconic Feedback occurs should a manakete's stone be lost or destroyed. While your soul will be able to maintain separation for some time should the stone be lost, eventually the walls will begin to crumble, bringing heart and dragon into direct contact. Should a manakete's stone be destroyed, this connection will occur immediately and irreversibly.

If this should come to pass, the manakete's dragon-self will be constantly filled with the normal, relatively calm emotions that their heart-form feels. Dragons, being emotional entitles, will amplify these emotions and attempt to transform, even if there is no great need. The heart and dragon will begin to instinctively fight for control of the shared body, coming to see each other as intruders and rivals rather than partners and friends. On this path lies only madness and suffering, and thus it must be avoided at all costs.

However, there is another, more temporary form of Draconic Feedback. Should a manakete's heart choose to feed emotions into an active transformation, the open link will form a direct connection between heart and dragon, one that is not so easily closed. The dragon will instinctively drink even more emotions, including ones that are not directly related to the emotion they were originally fed. In this way, they becoming completely unpredictable, even violent; lashing out even at friend and family should they do something that triggers their ever-shifting emotional turmoil. Thankfully, this state is not permeant: eventually the heart will be able to close the door, but in that time many terrible things can happen, and the strain and stress will likely damage any relationship heart and dragon had established.

If the reader forgets everything else from this scroll, they should remember this: avoid even this more survivable form of Draconic Feedback in all but the most desperate of circumstances. Only if your very life, or the lives of your kin are in danger, should you break the barrier the Mother's spell put in place and directly feed emotions into an existing transformation.

…​

As you continue reading, you glance back at Artemis. She is clearly listening, but you notice that her eyes don't seem to be following the words. In fact, her eyes haven't left the title. "Artemis?" you ask.

She blinks before looking down at you. "I'm sorry, I was just thinking," she says. "It sound like being a manakete is tough."

"It can be," you say. "But it can also be wonderful. It's not just bad feelings that can be used to transform: Mother and Father transformed in joy and love multiple times. Smagishi is just writing to make sure that manakete respect the potential dangers and are careful. Better to take care and have no regrets than to be carefree and accidently hurt someone you care about."

Artemis nods slowly. "I suppose that's true enough for everyone," she says. "Apollo said that a lot of the early lessons taught at the Marble Hall are about recognizing when it's appropriate to use magic."

The pair of you sit in silence for a moment before she picks up a stick. "Ryza, I'm going to ask you something, please don't be offended if it seems like a stupid question," she says, starting to sketch in the ground. You glance down, confused, at the odd symbols she's marking into the dirt. After a minute, she stops and points down.

"Can you read this?" (The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.)

You stare at the line of symbols. Now that you take a second to look at it, it's obvious that it is writing. You can even see a few symbols that look like Makai runes, but they're subtally… wrong, oversimplified. There's also a lot of symbols that you don't recognize at all. "No," you say.

"Interesting…" Artemis mutters. "You can speak the common tongue well enough, but you can't read it. I certainly can't read that Ancient Draconic scroll you have. Could you try saying something in Draconic?"

"Draco- Oh, you mean Makashi?" Frowning, you close your eyes: you honestly hadn't really thought about what you were saying; you'd just used the words that came naturally to you. Now that you thought about it, thought, some of the words had seemed a little odd… Focusing, you try to remember how Father and Mother had spoken…

"Hello, my name is Ryza. Do you understand me?" you say.
"Ava'yorn, sia ominak uî Ryza-vrak. Tir wux kampiun vek?"
Artemis shakes her head. "Nope, that is no language I know," she says. "What did you say?"

"I just said hello, my name was Ryza, and asked if you could understand me," you say, and you realize that your words are different, and you have no idea why!. "I… I'm just talking…"

Artemis gently pats your shoulder. "Maybe it's part of your father's magic," she says. "You mentioned that he'd made it so that someone you trusted would be able to find you; maybe he made it so you could speak the language of whoever ended up finding you too."

You nod: that made sense. "That sounds like something Father would do," you say sadly. "He'd want to help me in any way he could, even after he was gone…"

Artemis's pat turns into a hug. "Any good father would," she says softly. "And from the kind, sweet girl you are, I can tell you had good parents." You don't answer her, just leaning into her embrace as another wave of grief and hurt washes over you as you're reminded again that your parents, no matter how wonderful they were, are still gone.

The pair of you sit for a time, the scroll forgotten, before Artemis points back to her writing. "Do you want to learn?"

Your eyes widen as you stare at her. "I-"

"It's okay if you don't!" Artemis says quickly. "But you said you love reading, and eventually you're going to run out of scrolls, so I thought you might want to read some of the books humans have written-"

"I'd love to!" you say. "Thank you, Artemis! Thank you! Reading is one of the most important skills a manakete can learn, it's one of the Mother's Commands! I'd love to learn to read!"

The rest of the day passes with Artemis explaining the characters of Common Script to you. I'll take time to figure it all out, but you've always been a quick learner, so you're confident you'll manage.

AN: No vote here: I'd hoped to get to Agrithe in this chapter, but it was starting to get a bit long and I don't want to completely overload it, so I decided to split it in half. Feel free to discuss any of the (hopefully) interesting tidbits I've thrown in.

 

[SoaringHawk218]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[X] Travel only at night. You will be less likely to be spotted, and in general you'll be better rested. However, it will take noticeably longer to get back to Agrithe. You will have time to do some fun things while you're resting (Choose one activity).
-[X] Read a scroll (The Dragon Within)

"We do not read because of some ancient, divine decree. We read to learn and improve ourselves. We read to enjoy the words and the worlds they create. We read because it is good, not because we are commanded to."
- Runemaster Fafnara of Kepesk-Okar


You and Artemis had been flying for nearly an hour the next night when Artemis speaks up. "Ryza, would you mind telling me more about manakete?"

You glance back at her. "Why do you ask?" you question.

"Why wouldn't I be curious?" Artemis asks. "You're important to me, and it's clear that, for whatever reason, the human history of your people is severely lacking. I'd like to know what got lost over the millennium." There's a moment of silence before she continues. "If you don't want to talk about it, I'll accept that…"

You shake your head. "No, no, it's fine," you say. "What would you like to know?"

Artemis considers for a moment before answering. "I'd like to know a lot of things, but I'm curious about how manakete organized themselves. You mentioned that your mother was in charge; were manakete matriarchal?"

"Not as a rule, no," you say. "Mother was older than Father, and back when there were more members of the tribe around she was the oldest, so everyone looked up to her." You pause to consider. "It's not so much that she was in charge, as she was the one people asked to resolve disputes. From what I remember, manakete don't really have rulers like humans do; each family is… was, independent. It's just that, whenever there was an argument, the sides would go to an older manakete they both respected to make a fair judgement."

"I can understand that," Artemis says. "It's similar among the Kingdoms, or at least Father tries to make it that way. He taught me that, if the Kingdoms fight each other, then it weakens all of us and makes us vulnerable to the Empire. He's spent much of his reign trying to prevent the various squabbles and minor wars that are always flaring up when different people in power are too close to each other."

"Oh, so he's like a High Lord?" you ask.

Artemis frowns. "I thought you said manakete didn't have rulers," she says.

"We don't, but there are some elders that are so respected, that just about everyone agrees they'll make a fair decision. Those manakete are called Lords, and the one that they elect to be the highest judge within the tribe is called the High Lord." You consider. "I suppose you can kind of consider them rulers: from what I read when a Lord or High Lord asks a manakete to do something, they have to have a really good reason not to do it for them. They aren't supposed to abuse that, though."

"Sadly," Artemis says. "What people are supposed to do and what they actually do are not always the same."

"True," you say sadly. "But that's what the Arbiter was for: to make sure the tribes got along with each other."

"Arbiter?"

"The Mother's Chosen One. The ultimate judge, the one every manakete is bound to respect the judgement of," you say. "Whenever there was a disagreement between tribes, or if an argument within a tribe got too big or complex, the Arbiter would come and sort everything out."

Artemis frowns. "That sounds like a lot of power to give one person," she says.

"It was," you agree. "But the rule was that the Arbiter had to give up all ties to their old tribe after being elected. They would then be given the True Stone and fuse it with their own, making them able to represent all the tribes equally and showing that they had the Mother's favor."

"You keep mentioning the Mother," Artemis says. "Was she the manakete's goddess?"

"Pretty much," you say. "There were some scholars that argue that she's just the collective gestalt conscious of the most powerful ancient manakete souls, but in the end that'd pretty much be the same thing. What's important is that she's the one who watches over and protects manakete-kind." You pause before continuing sadly. "Or at least, that's what she was supposed to do…"

Why hadn't the Mother protected your family? Why hadn't she prevented the slaughter of your people? Didn't she love you? Had she been so upset that manakete had not been following the rules, that they'd been arguing and fighting among themselves, that she'd turned her back on you all?

Was all of this your people's fault?

Artemis leans forward, carefully pressing your back-spines down so she can hug your neck. "I'm sorry," she whispers. "Do you want to hear another story?"

"… That would be nice," you say softly.

Rather than another Lady Seryph story, this time Artemis tells a story from her own youth. Apparently, she'd been a pretty willful child, always running around and getting into mischief. This had come to a head when she had snuck into the stables and met Actaeon, who had just been a foal at the time. You couldn't help but smile as she describes how she snuck the young horse out to get him some exercise, since the stable hands had been keeping the rambunctious colt locked up and young-Artemis had thought that was wrong. Even the fact that she'd gotten in a lot of trouble afterwards hadn't been enough to break the bond between the pair.

As you settled down to rest after returning to your heart-form, you feel a bit better.

---

The rest of the night passes calmly, the pair of you engaging in only light, fun stories to pass the time. Finally, however, dawn comes, and you're forced to settle down to rest for the day.

Once you wake up from your sleep, you notice that Artemis is taking a nap of her own. Although you're interested in learning more about human writing, you decide to let her sleep for a bit and get The Dragon Within out again: there's still a lot of reading you need to do to try and figure out how to live alongside that part of you in a world that may not forgive the sort of mistakes and experimentation that your old home would have.

…

Path of Awakening​

The undisputed transition from childhood to adulthood among all the tribes of manakete is the moment when they awaken their dragon-self from torpor. Although even young dragon-selves still affect the whole of the manakete, their influence is limited until the heart is ready to work alongside that part of themselves rather than be overtaken by it.

To this end, the tribes have long taught their children how best to reach this point in their lives, so they might become full, productive members of society. However, as manakete-kind has grown ever closer to the Mother's ideal that we live and trust each other as one people, the mingling of different cultural elements has shown the weaknesses and strengths of each color and tribe's methods. The purpose of this section of text is to collate the best practices of millennia of culture into a Path of Awakening that any manakete might follow in order to smoothly awaken and partner with their draconic self.

The first step, and the one that is as much biological as societal, is coming to an Understanding of Emotions. While manakete are young, it is important to understand that their minds are not yet fully developed. It is completely natural that they will struggle to understand their emotions. The most important thing for parents is to help their children name their emotions. This will take time, but without this understanding all other steps will be far more difficult.

…​

You pause to consider. You remember Mother and Father often asking you how you were feeling, sometimes even pressing you when you gave vague or uncertain answers. You'd thought at the time they were just being considerate, and you suppose they had been, but it appears they'd had another motive.

It was a good thing you'd taken to those questions so well. You'd even started thinking about your emotions yourself when Mother and Father weren't around. You had, however, fallen somewhat out of practice this last week.

You should really start doing that again.

…​

The second step is the Control of Emotions. This should not be mistaken for Mastery of Emotions, a far later step on the Path. In the Control step, the most important thing is to recognize emotions, recognize what sort of actions they might drive a manakete towards, and then either resist that path or follow through with full understanding of what the outcome will be.

This step, more than the last, is on the manakete themselves. The best way to advance this step of the Path is to a moment to consider what the current emotion is pushing towards, and recognizing if that is an outcome is one they are comfortable with. Should that not be the case, it is vital for manakete to train themselves to interrupt that emotion, lest it awaken the dragon in ways the heart knows is dangerous.

The third step is the Channeling of Emotions. Previously, this work has discussed the risks of the dragon within, but it should not be forgotten that that part of our heritage is not only necessary, but beneficial. We are manakete; heart and dragon combined. Without either, we are nothing. Once a manakete has learned how to recognize their emotions as well as predict the actions they will lead their dragon to take, it is time for them to practice the heart's true purpose: guiding the emotional path so that their dragon can act without fear or regret.

There is no easy way to train the heart for this step: one must be able to control their own natural instincts. When emotions can be brought to the fore at will, when rage can be smoothly eased into determination, fear emboldened into ferocity, passion purified into love, can a manakete take this third step on the Path.

Only once these three steps have been completed, will it be safe to carry out The Awakening.

…​

"Anything interesting?"

You jump as Artemis speaks up behind you. Turning, you see that at some point she'd sat up from where she'd been laying and was munching on some of the food Father left. You hadn't noticed. "Artemis!" you squeak. "How long have you been awake?"

"A few minutes," she says, grinning. "I thought about saying good afternoon, but you were so adorably focused on your scroll I didn't want to disturb you." You puff your cheeks up, causing her to laugh. "Just like Apollo. Spirits, you two really would get along well. At least, if either of you could ever get your noses out of your reading."

"Reading is good for the mind and the soul!" you say, feeling your face go red.

Artemis shrugs. "Never said it wasn't," she said. "Just that you look particularly cute doing it." Somehow, your face heats up even more, and almost without thinking about it you hold the scroll up to hide behind. "I'm sorry, Ryza," Artemis says, and when you peek over The Dragon Within you see her frowning slightly. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

You pause to consider your feelings. You were embarrassed, true, but the same sort of embarrassment as when Mother or Father had been particularly affectionate towards you: there was a warmth behind the embarrassment that meant that you were happy. "It's okay," you say. "I'm not uncomfortable, that was just unexpected."

Artemis sighs. "Still, I shouldn't be so forward," she says. "Spirits, sometimes I forget that we've only known each other for a week. I guess it's true what they say: bonds form quickly under stress."

"I guess so," you say.

The pair of you sit in silence for a few moments before Artemis glances up. "We still have some time before night falls, and you look tired. Get some rest: we'll probably reach Agrithe sometime tonight, and we're going to have to fly lower so I can direct you. From what I've heard: low flying is some of the most dangerous kind of flying, so we should both be at our best."

"Okay," you say, putting your scroll away before crawling over and curling up against Artemis. "Do… do you think they'll like me there?"

The human gently pulls you into a hug. "You saved my life," she says softly. "That'll be enough for Mother, and even if it's not enough for Father, she and I will bring him around. You have my word."

You smile slightly as you close your eyes. If everything Artemis has said about her home is true, you can't wait to get there and see it for yourself.

---

"Bear a little left, left!"

"Make up your mind!" you whine. "You said right not two minutes ago!"

You had thought finding your way to Artemis's home would be easy. It had certainly been easy enough to just fly northeast, occasionally letting Artemis read the sky to tell you if you were getting off track.

Now, however, it felt like you'd spent hours just flying in circles!

"Forgive me for finding it a little difficult to navigate in the middle of the night from dragon back!" Artemis snarls, hanging onto a spine as she leans off to stare down into the darkness. "No, that's too far left, you want to follow that trail down there…"

You hiss as you dip lower. "That's not a trail, that's a stream!" you shoot back.

"Are you sure?!"

"I can see in the dark. You can't."

Artemis mutters a word that you choose not to hear. "Alright, already, find a hill and set me down, let me try to get my bearings."

You suppose it makes sense: Artemis has never flown before, so she'd have no idea what her home looked like from above. Still, it's frustrating as you drop down slightly more heavily than you probably should have, if Artemis's yelp means anything. "Sorry," you mutter. 'Tranquil, Ryza, tranquil.'

Artemis doesn't answer, simply hopping off of you and marching to the edge of the hill to peer around. "Okay…" she mutters. "I think I recognize that tree line over there. Ryza, does that look like it ends with a bunch of fields?"

You move to look over Artemis's shoulder (or head, as the case may be.) "I think so," you say. "Do you know where we are?"

"I think so," Artemis says, frowning into the darkness for a moment longer before looking up at the stars. "Okay, Ryza, here's what we're going to do. When we take off, fly straight towards that mountain in the distance, the one that looks like someone took a bite out of it. Then, once you pass over the trees, turn hard right, pass over the field. We should see a small river before too long; once you see that, turn left and follow it. That should take us almost straight to the castle."

You think for a few seconds before nodding. "Okay," you say. "Come on, get on, I'm not sure how much longer I can keep this up."

Artemis grimaces. "It shouldn't be too much longer," she says, taking your offered leg and settling herself onto your back again before petting your neck. "We're almost home, where we can both get some sleep. Just a little longer, Ryza."

"Okay…" you say with a yawn. "Hold on, let's go."

Thankfully, it seems this most recent stop is paying off, as the landmarks go exactly as Artemis said they would. You find your spirit lifting as the end finally seems to be in sight.

Or at least, in the right direction.

Finally, as you start to worry that you might have to stop to rest, you feel Artemis perk up on your back. "There!" she cries. "I recognize that bend in the river: we're almost there! You can probably see it ahead of us."

Indeed, as you peer into the darkness, you can see a massive stone shape rising from the riverside. "Wow…" you whisper. Artemis hadn't been lying when she'd said her father's castle was even bigger than Countess Mantrae's!

"Ryza, there should be a road leading up to castle," Artemis says. "I think there's a hill over to our left; set down there. As much as Father and Mother are going to love you when they hear what happens, the guards will probably not appreciate a dragon trying to land in the castle courtyard, and they have a lot of ballista."

"That doesn't sound good," you say. Your real dragon-self could probably deal with that, especially at night, but an exhausted half-shift? Not a good idea. "Alright, going down." Taking care to land more smoothly this time, you slump to your belly in exhaustion. "I'm tired…" you whine as Artemis climbs off, finally allowing you to transform back into your heart-form.

"I'm sorry, Ryza," Artemis says softly, bending down to rub your back. "But we're almost there. Can you stand?" Groaning, you clumsily push yourself to your feet. "Great job, Ryza," Artemis says encouraging, crouching with her back to you. "Hop on."

"What?" you ask.

"You have carried me for more than four hundred miles," Artemis says. "I can carry you for a little while."

Too exhausted to argue, you wrap your arms around Artemis's shoulders and let her lift your legs up on either side of her. "Thank you, Artemis," you say.

"You're welcome, Ryza," Artemis says as she stands, lifting you up like Mother used to. "Hang on, now, I'm afraid it will be a little while, but we're almost there. Spirits be praised, we're almost there." Too tired to do more than nod in agreement, you simply rest your head on Artemis's shoulder, letting her carry you down the hill and along the path.

As you walk, Artemis seems to be considering something. Finally, she says quietly "Ryza… I'm going to have to tell my father about you."

You blink. "I thought we were trying to keep my being a manakete secret?" you say.

"I know, and in most cases that is best, but… but he's my father, Ryza. I can't lie to him, and a lie by omission is still a lie." She glances at you. "I promise that I will do everything I can to protect you, to convince him to keep your nature quiet, at least until you've gotten settled, but I can't not tell him."

You suppose that makes sense: if something this life-changing had happened to you and Father was still alive, you'd tell him. Or Mother, especially if it included an outsider. "Okay," you say, laying your head down on her shoulder again.

You don't quite fall asleep, but it's a near thing, and you certainly aren't aware of much before Artemis comes to a halt. "Hail!" she calls, causing you to grumble and look up.

"Who goes there?" another voice shouts, and you realize that you'd somehow made it all the way to the gates of the castle. Just like Countess Mantrae's, you can see the light of torches along the top of the wall, to allow the late-night guards to see in the dark. Squinting, you can see more and more starting to come to the edge, their holders probably peering down to see what was going on. On the top of the massive gate, an armored man is leaning over to stare down at you.

"Lady Artemis Cartese, first daughter of Archduke Letoro Cartese of Agrithe," Artemis calls back. "I have had a long, hard journey and am glad to be home."

You faintly hear muttering coming from the top of the gate as several of the guards talk to each other. "Lady Artemis left here with a retinue," the armored man shouts after a few moments. "Yet you approach alone?"

Out of the corner of your eye, you see Artemis's eye twitch. "Did you miss the part where I said it was a long, hard journey?" she shouts. "I am tired, and I have a tired child on my back. Let us in."

"How do we know you're really Lady Artemis?" the man asks. "In the dark, you could be anyone!"

Yeah, Artemis's eye is definitely twitching. "Would that happen to be Sir Ulrich up there?" she asks sharply.

There was a long moment of silence. "How-"

"Let me make myself clear, Sir Ulrich. If you do not come down here right now and check my proof that I am exactly who I say I am, when I do get in, by all the elements I will tell everyone EXACTLY what you wrote in that truly awful poem you wrote to Selena when you were a squire!"

You had expected there to be another silence, but instead you almost immediately hear the clatter of rushing armor, along with what you were pretty sure were snickers from some of the other men on the wall. "What did he write?" you whisper.

"Maybe I'll tell you when you're older,"

"I'm older than you!"

Before Artemis can answer, there is a rattling noise, and a small door set into the gate opens up, revealing the armor clad man who had to be Sir Ulrich. "My lady-" he says.

"You do need to see my proof, Sir Ulrich," Artemis says dryly, working a ring off her finger and holding it out for the man to see (you wrap that leg tightly around her waist to stay up). "After all, I could just look like Lady Artemis, couldn't I?"

The man grimaces as he looks at the ring. "Be that as it may, I should have been more cautious, my lady," he says. "But… may I ask what happened? Where are…"

"Dead," Artemis says darkly. "Most of them, at least. I need to talk to my father, immediately."

Sir Ulrich blanches. "Spirits preserve us…" he whispers, stepping back and holding the door open. "Go and wake the Archduke! Hurry!" he says to someone inside. As Artemis carries you in, ducking down so as not to bump your head on the door, you see a man in lighter armor rushing out the other way. "Are you injured, my lady?"

Artemis shakes her head. "No, thankfully," she says.

"And the child…"

"I'm okay," you say. "Just a bit tired." Okay, a lot tired, but he doesn't need to hear that. He gives you an odd look, but glances back at Artemis, pales slightly, then leads the way towards the main building.

Unlike when you arrived at Castle Legerius, there aren't many people to greet you, just a few guards who take one look at the strange procession and get out of the way. Sir Ulrich leads you and Artemis to a massive room with countless long tables just off the main entrance hall. Artemis ignores him as he starts to hurry towards the table at the other end of the hall, instead sinking down onto the bench. Clumsily, you work your way off her back and sit next to her, leaning against her weakly. "Thanks, Artemis," you say.

"Don't mention it, Ryza," Artemis sighs, wrapping an arm around your shoulder.

Sir Ulrich looks between the two of you oddly, but thankfully doesn't comment or look offended. Instead, he pokes his head out of the door and spends a moment speaking to someone out there. Finally, he steps back over to the two of you.

"My lady, His Highness the Archduke will surely be here soon. Is there anything you need? Food? Water?"

"Both would be appreciated, Sir Ulrich," Artemis says.

"At once, my lady!" he says, hurrying back to the door and speaking some more.

"Artemis, who is he?" you ask softly.

"Sir Ulrich is another of my father's cavaliers," Artemis says. "Don't worry, I do not believe he is another Robert." You nod; you hope so too.

The next few minutes pass in tense silence. Sir Ulrich does not leave the room, but he does not approach either, standing by the door with a worried expression. In fact, he doesn't seem to look at either of you much at all, his eyes scanning the dark room as if expecting Robert and the bandits to leap from every shadow.

Finally, however, you hear the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps. The cavalier snaps to attention as a pair of guards step in and stand on either side of the door, followed by two humans wearing some sort of robes.

"Artemis!" the woman cries as she accelerates.

Spoiler: Dione Cartese

Gently extracting herself from you, Artemis stands just in time for the woman to wrap her in a hug. "Mother," she says softly, embracing the woman back.

"Dear, what happened? You look so pale! And where is Selena? Spirits, are those shadows under your eyes…"

You're distracted from listening to Artemis's mother fuss over her as the man who had to be her father steps forward. He doesn't speak, simply studies the situation for a moment before turning his gaze on you.

Spoiler: Archduke Letoro Cartese

You shudder slightly at his piercing eyes: just like Baron Rickman, Archduke Letoro Cartese has an air about him of a man so certain in his own authority that the world itself almost seems to bend to his will. He looks you up and down, and you find yourself automatically lowering your eyes in submission.

You half expect him to start interrogating you on the spot, instead he simply nods before turning back to Artemis and her mother. "Dione," he says softly. "Artemis cannot answer your questions if you do not give her a chance to."

Dione flushes slightly, though she doesn't let go. "We were just so worried about you, dear," she says. "You were days overdue, and we hadn't heard of any ill weather that might have caused a delay. What happened?!"

Artemis swallows as she looks over her mother's shoulder at her father. "We had just made it to the Shattered Pass," she says. "There was an ambush. Bandits attacked us, Robert betrayed us. I managed to get away, but only because Selena… because Selena and Master Shadebringer and the others stayed behind."

Her mother gasps. "Oh Artemis!" she cries, redoubling her grip enough that you see Artemis flinch slightly. "Is there… is there any chance…"

"No…" Artemis says. "I saw her die." Dione doesn't say anything, simply running her fingers through Artemis's hair.

"Why would Robert do that?" the archduke says, seemingly asking himself. "He was not a perfect man, but for all his flaws simple greed was not one of them…" He looks at Artemis. "Are you certain it was bandits who were behind this?"

Your friend frowns. "I cannot be certain, no," she says. "There are… other factors, that make me think that there was more to this than a simple attack of opportunity." She takes a breath. "We were able to make it to Castle Legerius, where I had thought to find shelter. Countess Mantrae, however, imprisoned me, as her own daughter had been taken. She intended to trade me for Sypha."

Archduke Letoro's eyes flash with rage. "Mantrae…" he growls, before taking a deep breath. "A problem to be dealt with tomorrow. You said we, Artemis. Who else was there, and how did you escape?" He gestures at you. "And where does this child come into this?"

"Letoro!" Dione says. "Surely you can't think to interrogate Artemis tonight?! With everything she's been through, she needs to rest, to grieve…"

Artemis pats her mother on the back. "Thank you, Mother, but Father is right. There are things that must be discussed tonight." She glances at the guards and Sir Ulrich. "However, these things must be discussed in private."

Archduke Letoro studies his daughter for a long moment. Artemis meets his eyes firmly, and eventually he nods. "Leave us, and ensure that we are not disturbed," he says shortly.

You half expect someone to argue, but all three soldiers simply bow and file out, closing the door behind them.

After the last echoes of the closing door fade, Artemis looks at you. "Ryza… do you want to tell them, or should I?"

[] "…Would you, please?"

[] "I'll do it."
- [] Go into detail.
- [] Say only what Artemis already knows.
- [] Try to hold something back (What will you try to hide?)

 

[SoaringHawk218]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[X] … Would you, please?

"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak up and remove all doubt."
- Traditional Costal Republic saying

You look between Artemis and her parents. They are both looking at you curiously. Dione's eyes scan you with an expression that you hope is more sympathetic than worried, while the Archduke's frowning slightly.

You like Artemis. You really do, but you don't know her parents, and they'll have a lot of say on if you're allowed to stay. If Father and Mother had still been alive, and you'd brought someone home they didn't like, then no matter what you wanted they would not have been allowed to stay for long.

Maybe it'd be better if you let Artemis explain. She knows them better, and you're still sleepy and you're stupid when you're sleepy.

"…Would you, please?" you say in a small voice.

Artemis nods, giving you a reassuring smile. "Of course, Ryza," she says before looking back to her parents.

"Father, Mother, this is Ryza. She is my friend, and she is also the reason that I made it out of the Icewalls alive, let alone all the way here."

Archduke Letoro raises an eyebrow. "Truly?" he asks mildly.

"Truly," Artemis says. "After the ambush, I don't really remember what I was thinking, but I fled further up the mountain. Eventually, I came across a ruined door dug into the mountain itself, and thinking it to be my best chance to escape, I went in." She gestures towards you. "Deep within, I found a room that was hidden by magic, and in that room, I found Ryza asleep in some sort of stasis spell."

You shrink down slightly as Archduke Letoro's other eyebrow rises to join the first, while Dione gasps softly. "Who… why would anyone do that?" she asks, looking between you and Artemis.

"To protect her," Artemis says. "These ruins were Pre-Fell ruins, back from before the First Emperor and the Fell War." She looks seriously at both of her parents. "Does the term 'manakete' mean anything to either of you?"

The two adults glance at each other before both shaking their heads. "Is that what she is?" Archduke Letoro asks.

Artemis glances at you one more time, seemingly asking if you wanted to jump in. You nod at her before bringing your legs up and hugging them, resting your chin on your knees. "She is," Artemis says. "A manakete is… we would know them as dragons, though Ryza has told me that her nature is far more complicated than that, and I have seen nothing to make me doubt her sincerity."

Somehow, the Archduke's eyebrows creep even higher. "A dragon…" he says slowly.

"Ryza and other manakete can transform into dragons, yes" Artemis says. "But they also have human forms, which are of equal importance to them." She shrugs wryly. "I didn't even realize Ryza could transform until she told me outside Miau: I thought she was a mage prodigy, since her initial aid came in the form of magical support."

"But she looks so young…" Dione whispers, looking you up and down.

"She is, relatively," Artemis says. "Ryza is my friend, and she is very wise and knowledgeable, but by the standards of her people she is still a child. I didn't even want to put her in danger at first by asking for her help, but she convinced me that she knew her home well enough to guide me out of it safely."

Archduke Letoro throws you a side-eyed glance. "Does the manakete have anything to say for herself?" he asks.

"Only if she wishes to," Artemis says firmly before you can even finish cringing. "Ryza has given much these past few nights; more than I would have ever asked if the situation were not so desperate. She has earned some rest, and trust, many times over."

Dione nods firmly. "I agree with Artemis. The poor dear looks exhausted." She smiles gently at you. "When was the last time you slept, child?"

You shrug. "Sometime in the afternoon? Artemis and I were flying at night, since she thought it'd be best if fewer people saw me, since I don't look like a wyvern."

The woman's eyes widen. "Artemis, Letoro, are you sure we need to have this conversation tonight?" she asks. "If both of you have been traveling at night, your sleep patterns must be absolutely in tatters! You should both get some sleep!"

Artemis grimaces. "Believe me, mother, I'd like nothing more than to sleep for a week, but there's too much going on," she says. "Ryza and I were able to rescue Axton and Lancel, the last survivors of my retinue, and we tried to make our way here. We briefly stopped at Miau, a small village in Legerius, who were kind enough to give us shelter and supplies, but eventually I realized we couldn't keep going on like that. There were just too many bandits, and Robert was tailing us and preparing something. Even once I realized just how powerful Ryza was, I didn't want to fight a risky battle needlessly, especially one that would almost assuredly expose her secret. So, we diverted to Castle Legerius."

"Where Mantrae betrayed you," Archduke Letoro says coldly.

"Where she betrayed us, yes," Artemis says. "Ryza was able to get me out, but we couldn't save the others." She squirms slightly. "I… considered, asking Ryza to go back, but I worried that she would be prepared for an attack, and I couldn't ask Ryza to take that risk for me."

You glance at her. You had seriously considered going back for the others. You'd also considered trying to find Sypha, so that all the unpleasantness could be put behind you as it should have been. However, in the end, you'd decided that it would be safest to just go to Artemis's home. If Artemis asked you to fight Mantrae and her people for her… you know you would have done as she asked. For better or worse.

Archduke Letoro's eyes soften. "I'm sure it was painful decision, Artemis, but you made the right choice," he says, a note of gentleness entering his voice. "I do not know how powerful your new ally is, but to court a fight with a full castle would have been unwise, and I am certain the men would not have wanted you to put yourself a risk for their sake. No, better that you return here, so that a proper response can be formulated." He looks back at you. "And you? What is your stake in all this?" Artemis starts to open her mouth, but he raises a hand. "I would hear the girl speak, Artemis." She closes her mouth, though she still doesn't look happy.

"I… I just wanted to help…" you say. "Artemis woke me up, she was really nice to me." You force back a yawn. "But right now… I just really want to go to sleep."

The archduke starts to open his mouth, but Dione seems to have finally had enough. "Are any of the issues that face us likely to come to a head tonight?" she asks, looking between her husband and daughter.

"…Unlikely…" Artemis says.

"Then you will both get some sleep!" she insists. "Poor Ryza looks one stiff breeze away from collapsing, and from how much you've been leaning on me you're not in much better shape. I know you want to help those you feel depend upon you, but you need to look after yourself too." Artemis starts to open her mouth, but Dione puts a finger to her lips. "No. You are my daughter, and it is my prerogative and duty as a mother to look after your wellbeing. There will be time for the details and questions tomorrow: you and your friend are going to get the rest you so desperately need. This is non-negotiable."

"Yes, ma'am," you say in a small voice.

Dione smiles sweetly at you. "Good girl, Ryza," she says. "Artemis? Any complaints?"

"No, mother," Artemis says in an equally small voice.

Archduke Letoro sighs. "I suppose you are right, Dione," he says. "If you traveled by wing, even for only half of the day, it is unlikely that Mantrae was able to formulate an effective pursuit, unless she had Whitewings already on retainer." He glances towards the window, frowning thoughtfully. "We will reconvene in the morning-"

"Afternoon," Dione says.

"When we are all awake; we will continue this discussion."

Nodding, you push yourself to your feet. "Thank you," you say.

Archduke Letoro glances at you before sighing strangely. "I am grateful to you, Ryza," he says. "And I did not mean to give the impression that I am not. You saved my daughter's life, and she is right: that has earned you much. We will discuss your reward tomorrow."

You start to open your mouth to insist that you were just happy to help, but Artemis's words about her father's pride drift through your mind, so you simply smile and nod like she told you to. Something must have appeared on your face, however, as the man gives Artemis a dry look. She simply shrugs. Before you can think too much on it, you realize that Dione has stepped away from her daughter.

This realization comes when she pulls you into a hug. "Thank you, Ryza," she says softly, rubbing your back. "Thank you for bringing my little girl home."

"You're welcome," you say, automatically leaning into the embrace. She gives you a little squeeze, before eventually standing, taking your hand, and reaching over with her other to take Artemis's.

"Come, come," she says. "I assume, Artemis, that you'd like to keep your new friend nearby?" Both you and Artemis nod.

"Go on ahead," Archduke Letoro says. "I need to discuss a few things with the guards, ensure that there are no… leaks."

As Dione leads you out of the big room, you notice two more guards falling into step behind you. While the cloths under their armor are a different color than the ones worn by Mantrae's soldiers, their uniform is similar enough that you drift closer to Dione. "Don't be nervous, dear," she says softly. "Nobody here is going to hurt you, I promise."

'That's what they said last time,' a small, nasty voice whispers in the back of your mind. You try to force that down: surely Artemis's mother and father would keep anything bad from happening to her, and as long as she still liked you, they'd keep anything bad from happening to you too. If only to keep Artemis happy.

It takes a while, but finally, just as you're considering asking Artemis to carry you again, Dione leads you up a final set of stairs and into a rounded room with multiple doors leading off it. "Here we are, Ryza, the family area of the castle," she says, pointing around. "That's Letoro and my chamber over there, and there's Artemis's." She gestures towards a smaller, nearby door. "We'll find you something more permeant tomorrow, but for tonight, there are some quarters usually used by servants. Will that be alright with you?"

You were pretty sure you could sleep on spikes, you were so tired. "Thank you," you say.

Dione smiles. "No, thank you, Ryza," she says, kneeling down and pulling you into another hug. "You saved Artemis. A place to sleep is the absolute least you are due." She gently pushes you towards the door she'd pointed to. "Now go, get some sleep."

You glance at Artemis, who gives you a reassuring nod. "It's fine, Ryza," she says. "I'll still be here in the morning."

You hope so. You hope so.

---

Your dreams that night are… odd, to say the least. You're in dragon form, and your flying through the night. Looking back, you see that Artemis is riding on your back, but she looks terrified. Further back, you see two more dragons flying, and with a start you realize it's Father and Mother! And they're carrying Dione and Archduke Letoro!

Below you, a building burns atop a mountain, tall towers crumbling into dust as the roars of countless dragon-forms sound in your mind, echoing as if they were traveling through winding corridors. "What's happening?!" you try to shout, but your voice is lost in the wind, and Father and Mother are falling farther and farther away. You try to turn back, but your wings don't seem to be working… you're falling, falling… a massive draconic form swoops down on you, so vast as to blot out the moon…

"Lady Ryza?"

You jerk awake, floundering in darkness and oppressive weight. Panicking, you feel lightning gathering around your fingers as-

"My lady, please!"

With an unconscious twist, you accidentally work your head out from under the heavy, well-made blanket you'd been curled up under, blinking owlishly at the pretty young woman wearing an odd, leathery outfit and a sword at her side, who's backing warily away from you. "Whadayawant?" you gasp out.

Spoiler: Phoebe

NathanParkArt from Deviantart

The woman raises her hands to show them empty. "My lady, peace, peace," she says hurriedly. "I mean you no harm!"

"…who…" you ask, looking around. "Where am…"

"Lady Artemis said you would be tired, my lady," the woman says, taking a careful step forwards. "I hadn't meant to wake you, but I heard you crying under there, and I thought…"

Taking slow breaths, you force yourself to calm down. "Sorry, sorry," you say. "Just a bad dream…" Tugging the blanket up to wrap comfortingly around you like a cloak, you look at her. "What's your name? I'm Ryza."

The woman smiles, curtsying. "My name is Phoebe, my lady," she says. "Lady Artemis asked me to check to see if you were awake, though she cautioned that you might still be tired." She frowns. "Are you well?"

You force a smile onto your face. "I'm okay," you say bravely. "I just had to work really hard last night, so I needed a bit more rest." Peering at the window, you cock your head. "How late is it?"

"It's about midafternoon, my lady," Phoebe says. "Are you sure? You sounded…"

"Bad dream," you say again. "Is Artemis awake?"

Phoebe frowns, but nods. "Yes, my lady, Lady Artemis woke several hours ago. She and her parents have been in conference ever since; she had just stepped out to ask me to check on you."

"Just Ryza, please," you say. "Are you an Artemis friends?"

The young woman makes an odd gesture, tilting her head rapidly from side to side. "…Kind of?" she says. "I am… well, I was, Dame Selena's squire." She hugs herself, looking down. "Wherever Lady Artemis went, Dame Selena followed, and where she went, I followed. The only reason I wasn't with them was because I fell ill when they were leaving, and I told them not to wait for me. I… I should have been there…"

Standing from the bed, you move to give Phoebe a hug. "I'm sorry," you whisper.

She goes tense for a moment before patting you on the shoulder. "No, no, don't be," she says. "Lady Artemis didn't give any details, but she insisted that you were instrumental in allowing her to escape, in making sure Dame Selena's sacrifice was not in vain. Short of ramming a lance through the traitors' hearts myself, making sure that their plan failed is the best revenge I could have asked for, and you provided that."

You squirm a bit. "I just wanted Artemis to be safe…" you say.

"Yes, and that's the most important thing," Phoebe says quickly. "Sorry, I'm babbling. Lady Artemis said that if you did happen to be awake, her lord father would appreciate speaking with you."

You nod. "Okay," you say. "I'll just get dressed; Artemis liked my shiny outfit, and she said her mother and father would like it too."

Phoebe blinked. "Your… shiny outfit?"

You nod again. "Yes. Mother made it for me, and Father helped. It's the nicest thing I have."

"Okay, that makes sense," Phoebe says. "Take as long as you need; I'll wait outside and guide you to His Highness when you're ready." With a final small bow, she steps out of the door and closes it behind her.

Finally alone, you flop back onto the bed, briefly considering going back to sleep. You're not as exhausted as you were last night, but you're still tired, and a part of you wants to just close your eyes and rest for another thousand years. However, after that moment, you force yourself to roll out of bed and wander over to your pack: not only would it be polite to talk to Artemis's father, but you needed to silence that niggling voice of doubt that worried that this was going to be another Castle Legerius, that something was going to go wrong and Artemis was going to be in trouble again.

It takes you a few minutes, but eventually you slip out of the room you'd been offered, once again wearing your formal clothes (and having straightened the rats-nest your hair had become with the brush you'd found on the table). Phoebe looks over with a small gasp. "I see what you mean by shiny!" she says. "Wow, how long did it take your mother to make that!"

You cock your head thoughtfully. "I'm not actually sure," you say. "Probably a year at least, adding in the time it took Father to add in his parts."

"Wow…" Phoebe says. "Lady Artemis is right, Lady Dione will love that!" She gestures down the stairs. "Come on, they're highnesses are out in the gardens. Come on, I'll take you to them." You nod, following after the human as she leads the way.

As you walk, you notice a lot more people moving around than when you'd been at Castle Legerius. They also act differently, while those you'd met in the last castle had quickly pretended they hadn't seen anything, people here give waves or respectful nods to Phoebe, curious glances at you, and in general act naturally. There are even a few comments on how cute you are, which makes you smile a bit.

Phoebe calmly keeps everything moving, gently letting anyone who try to talk for too long that you have someplace to be. However, you never get the feeling that she doesn't want people to know you exist; she just has a job to do and she's doing it. You hope you'll get a chance to meet some other kids like Daniella here. You hope they're okay.

Finally, Phoebe leads out of a small door into a walled courtyard filled with plants, though this one is on the ground rather than at the top of the tower. You're a bit disappointed: the view from up there had been amazing.

Artemis and her parents are sitting at a round stone table under a vast oak tree, talking quietly. Artemis is the first to notice you, standing with a smile. "Ryza!" she says, moving to join you and Phoebe. "I was worried that you'd still be asleep: are you well?"

"Yep," you say. "Phoebe was nice enough to wake me up when I was having a nightmare."

Your friend frowns. "I'm sorry to hear that," she says softly, crouching down in front of you. "Is everything okay?"

You smile. "It was just a nightmare," you say. "I'll live."

Artemis nods. "I'm glad to hear that," she says, before standing and looking at Phoebe, who's looking between the two of you oddly. "Thank you for walking with her, Phoebe."

"Of course, my lady," Phoebe says, bowing. "Have you any further need of me?"

"Wait, please," Artemis says softly. "Phoebe... are you well? You… did not take my news well."

Phoebe tenses before sighing. "I… don't think I've fully grasped it yet, my lady," she says. "A part of me expects her to just… show up, I guess. Not that I think you're wrong, it's just-"

Artemis raises a hand. "I know," she sighs. "Spirits, I know. I don't think I've fully accepted it myself. If there's anything I can do to help…"

Clearly, whatever Phoebe thought about her relationship with Artemis, Artemis herself considered the younger woman a friend. She slowly nods. "Thank you, my lady," she says. "I… do have one thing to ask. May I know more of the story? I know you said that it was this child's story to tell, but…"

Artemis looks at you with a clear, silent question.

[] Allow Phoebe to join the discussion, you like her.
[] You don't want someone else to be scared of you.

---

As you finally perch yourself on the rough yet strangely comfortable stone chair, Archduke Letoro sets down the cup he had been gently nursing as you and Artemis talked to Phoebe. "I am glad to see you well, Ryza," he says.

Before he can say more, Dione finally seems to burst. "You look adorable!" she squeals. "Artemis told me that you might wear that, and I'm glad you did!"

You tuck some hair behind your ear, blushing. "Thank you," you say. "Mother and Father worked really hard on it, and I hope they're glad I get to use it."

Dione smiles gently. "I'm sure they are, child," she says softly. "I'm sure they are."

Archduke Letoro nods. "Artemis told us more of your story," he says. "And I would once again thank you for the aid you granted my daughter. I am aware that you did not do these things for any reward, but simply because you felt it was the right thing to do. However, I and Agrithe owe you a debt that must be repaid."

[] Ask for something
-[] Write-In
-[] Ask for help in reclaiming your old home.
-[] Ask for a permanent home here in Agrithe.
-[] Ask for something to give you standing among humans.

[] Ask for some time to think of a reward.

The archduke nods slowly. "I see," he says. "And do you have any plans? After all, you have succeeded in your self-appointed mission of seeing Artemis home. What do you think to do now?"

[] "I want to learn about the world. I want to know more about humans."
[] "I want to keep learning magic, like my father wanted me to."
[] "It's not over yet. Axton and Lancel and Kelton are still in trouble: I want to help them to."
[] "I… haven't thought that far ahead."
[] Write-in

AN: Sorry for the slightly abrupt ending, but a lot of what comes next will depend on what you-all-as-Ryza decide to do.

EDIT: Forgot Phoebe's picture.

 

[SoaringHawk218]

AN: It lives!

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[X] Allow Phoebe to join the discussion: you like her.
[X] Ask for something:
-[X] Ask for a permanent home in Agrithe.
[X] "It's not over yet. Axton and Lancel and Kelton are still in trouble: I want to help them too."

"Let him who desires peace prepare for war."
-Emperor Flavius Wyrmblood III


You study Phoebe thoughtfully. You never met Selena, though for some reason you almost feel like you have. However, it's clear that Artemis loved her very much. Phoebe clearly loved her too, and Artemis trusted Phoebe enough to ask her to check on you when you were sleeping and vulnerable.

You're of two minds. On the one hand, you're still worried that, as more people find out about your not being human, they might not like you. However… you don't really want to live the rest of your life in fear. You need to trust some people, and Dione had been nice enough when she learned what you were. Even Archduke Letoro had been more surprised than anything else.

Maybe… maybe Phoebe would be okay.

"Okay," you say. "So how much do you know already?"

Phoebe smiles hopefully. "Just that you saved Lady Artemis," she says. "I'm guessing it has something to do with the magic you were starting to use when you woke up, though…"

You nod. A good start. "Well, I can do magic because I'm a manakete," you say. Glancing over at Artemis's parents, you notice that they're listening intently as well. This is an opportunity for you to give your own description of yourself rather than just relying on Artemis to do it. "We're people who are a melding of heart and dragon. We lived a long time ago. My father put me to sleep after our home was invaded by people who wanted to hurt us, and so I was able to survive. Father also put a spell on the shrine that would allow me to attract someone I could trust to let me out; and that's how Artemis found me."

Out of the corner of your eye, you see Archduke Letoro frowning thoughtfully, but most of your attention is taking up by the way Phoebe is gaping at you, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. "Dragon…"

"Manakete," you say firmly. "My dragon is only a part of me. She does not define me any more than my heart does. I was able to help Artemis most of the way without calling on her. It was only when I needed to carry her the rest of the way that I took that step." And when you'd panicked in Castle Legerius, but you didn't want to mention that just yet.

"But… but the stories…" Phoebe says.

"I know the ones you're thinking of, Phoebe," Artemis cuts in gently. "And I thought of them too, but it's clear that many important things have been lost over the millennium. Ryza does not normally fit the descriptions of draconic wrath, and when she does it is only with the best of intentions and the most desperate of circumstances. She has my trust, and my gratitude."

The squire nods, taking a few breaths. "Okay…" she says. "Okay, I guess… I guess you did save Lady Artemis, so you're good. Sorry, just… surprised…"

You smile. "It's okay, you took it much better than Artemis did," you say.

Your friend grimaces. "Forgive me for not being prepared to have that dropped on my head," she says. "I was still under the impression that you were a successful artificial mage."

At some point, you were going to have to figure out what she meant by that, but you didn't want to waste Archduke Letoro and Dione's time. "Well, that's the basic story," you say. "There's some more details, but I think Artemis's parents want to talk to me. You can stay if you want."

Phoebe glances over, and Archduke Letoro nods after a moment. "Thank you, my lady," she says, bowing slightly to you.

"Just Ryza, please," you say. "I'm not a noble or anything, I'm just Ryza."

You find yourself remembering those words a minute later as Archduke Letoro mentions the debt that he and Agrithe apparently owe you. A part of you considers asking for that to change, since it seems wherever you go people think you shouldn't be friends with Artemis because you weren't noble.

However, as you think about it, you remember what Axton said. Nobles had jobs that they needed to do to earn their position, you knew that, but he'd never fully explained what they were. While you were confident you could learn to do them, that would take time, and until then what would you do? Also, people still seemed to be confused and nervous about you being a manakete. Would the Archduke making you noble cause trouble because of those old stories? You didn't want to cause him any trouble.

Besides… in the end, you don't really want to be noble. You just want someone to care about you, and you already have that.

"Can I stay?" you ask. "I know I have a home back in the mountains, but it's all fallen down and… I don't know what I'll do with all the memories of Father and Mother that are still there." You look hopefully at him. "I'll go back someday, I know that, but until then, can I have a home here?"

Archduke Letoro studies you for a long moment before nodding. "I am tempted to insist that you choose something more substantial, as I had planned to grant you sanctuary for as long as you wished regardless," he says. "However, I suppose that is the most pressing concern you have, and there is a difference between someone who is simply allowed to stay and someone who has a true home." He nods again. "Very well. As long as you wish it, you will have a home in Agrithe."

You smile. "Thank you," you say.

"Of course, dear," Dione says, reaching out and putting a hand on yours. "You brought Artemis home to us: you are a friend of this family. There is no reason you wouldn't be allowed to stay."

"Even my being a manakete?" you ask.

"Not even that. In Agrithe, we judge people by their own actions, not the actions of their ancestors. Whatever happened back then, you have shown yourself to be a sweet child." She gestures to Artemis. "Besides, you are Artemis's friend, and I trust my daughter's judgment. If she wants you to be allowed to stay, I see no reason not to grant that."

The five of you sit in silence for a few minutes before Archduke Letoro speaks again. "Do you have any plans, Ryza?" he asks bluntly. Both his wife and daughter glance at him, but he keeps his focus on you. "After all, you have succeeded in your self-appointed mission of seeing Artemis home, and you now have a home to call your own. What do you think to do now?"

You frown. "But it's not over yet," you say. "Axton and Lancel and Kelton are still in trouble, I want to help them too!"

For some reason, both Artemis and Dione give Archduke Letoro strange, knowing smiles. He glances at both of them before giving a wry sigh. "True," he says. "I am pleased that you had not forgotten them, but I wished to give you the chance to stand aside if you wished. Artemis has told us enough about you to know that you do not like fighting. However, I suppose some bonds transcend such considerations."

"… I just don't want to leave them behind," you say.

"I understand," Archduke Letoro says. "However, before we discuss how I intend to bring them home, I must ask what you as a manakete are capable of. There are many stories of the power of dragons, however it is clear that those stories cannot be fully trusted. What can you do?"

"Father-" Artemis begins, but the Archduke raises a hand.

"I know that she is powerful, but if I am to allow a child to be a part of this, then I must know what it is that she can do."

You pause to consider, but in the end what else can you do but answer as honestly as you can? You want to help the others, but you understand that Archduke Letoro doesn't want to send you into more danger than you can handle. "Well, in my heart-form, I can do magic," you say, lighting a small ball of thunder in your palm. "I have a tablet that can enhance it like your tomes, but even without that I can hurt people."

Nearby, Phoebe tenses up. Artemis, spotting this, puts a hand on your wrist. "Ryza, a word of advice," she says gently yet urgently. "When in public, it's considered very bad form to do anything that could be considered aggressive, especially around a higher noble," she says. "We all know you don't mean anything by it, but others might not, and might feel the need to act without hesitation."

"Oh, okay," you say, stopping your channeling and causing the lighting to flicker out. "Sorry." Not that such a little bit of magic would have been a threat to any manakete, but you suppose even if humans have somehow figured out how to do magic, they're probably not as good at it. If only because they don't have the decades and centuries to learn to do it properly.

"It's alright," Artemis says. "Just something to keep in mind."

Nodding, you continue. "Well, that's my magic. I can fly in heart-form, which is not something most manakete could do, but I'm not as fast as in dragon-form, and I can't carry anyone." You take a breath. "In dragon form… well, in dragon form I am faster, stronger, and have strong scales that can block pretty much anything I've seen humans using except maybe those big axes. I can fly really fast, carry someone else if needed, and quickly breathe lightning." Artemis flinches slightly, and you throw her an apologetic look. "However, my dragon self is… emotional. That is to say, she is powered by emotions, and completely driven by them. And unfortunately, I'm not yet well trained enough to fully pick what emotion she transforms in. I can kind of push some away if needed, but ultimately she'll go with whatever emotion I'm feeling most strongly, even if that isn't necessarily the smartest choice."

"You speak of yourself and your dragon as if they are different people," Dione asks curiously. "Artemis had indicated you were one and the same."

You munch on one of the flat, sweet pieces of bread for a moment as you think. "...Kind of?" you say after a moment. "We are the same person, she and I, but we're also distinct. It's… difficult to explain." If for no other reason that you never thought you'd have to: any other manakete would instinctively understand what you were saying. "I guess the best way of thinking about it is that my heart is my right hand, my dragon my left. They're both part of me, but they're not all of me."

Dione doesn't look like she fully understands, and she glances at Artemis, who shrugs. "I suppose that makes some sense," she says.

Archduke Letoro frowns. "Your dragon, would she accept orders if the rest of you asked her to?" he asks.

"Maybe? It would depend on the situation. And the emotion. And who was giving the order." You could pretty easily construct a situation in your mind where a driven, determined dragon-you would feel bound to accept orders from Artemis, if she gave them respectfully and seemed to know what she was doing. "But… until I've gone further along the Path, I wouldn't really count on it." Your eyes widen as his frown deepens. "But I can still help! I still want to help! I can't just-"

"Peace, girl, there is no need to panic," Archduke Letoro says. "I simply need to understand your nature so I can determine how best to fit you into my existing plan."

Artemis cocks her head. "There's a plan?" she says.

"Of course," Archduke Letoro says coolly. "I began building it the moment you told me of what Mantrae had done." He looks around. "It is an indisputable fact that Countess Mantrae, by attempting to unlawfully imprison you, committed an act of war. I would be well within my right, as Archduke of Agrithe, to launch a full-scale invasion for her actions. Some would even say I am duty-bound to do so."

You glance nervously at Artemis, who's chewing her lip. War… you'd heard that word before. Mother and Father had occasionally whispered it, when they thought you weren't around. Fighting on a massive scale, so many people hurt or worse… war had cleared your home of everyone but you and your parents. Mother, war had probably been the reason those other manakete had come and forced Father to put you to sleep!

You start to open your mouth, but Archduke Letoro raises a hand, and you instinctively quiet yourself. "However, it has long been the policy of the House of Cartese to prevent war between the Southern Kingdoms," he says. "My father and my father's father dedicated their lives to keeping the peace, so that we as a collective are too strong for the Empire to reasonably threaten. I do not wish to overturn their work while other options exist." He gives you a grim smile. "Thankfully, you, Ryza, gave me that chance."

You cock your head. "What did I do?" you ask.

"If Artemis had been taken, then I truly would have no choice," Archduke Letoro says. "I would be forced to declare war had my heir been killed or sold off. If I did not I would lose all respect among the Kingdoms. Since you were able to rescue her, I have options more subtle than the crushing maul. If you are willing, you will be of great help in not only ensuring that this never happens again, but that the loyal men who were willing to give everything are not left in darkness." He holds out a hand. "Scion of legend, will you stand with Agrithe in this task?"

You think you see Dione rolling her eyes and Artemis pinching the bridge of her nose with a weary sigh, but you're overwhelmed by the force of Archduke Letoro's conviction. "Yes," you say in a small voice. "Yes, I'll help."

He nods. "Excellent," he says.

"Father, please," Artemis says wearily. "Ryza is not one of your knights, you don't need to give her a rousing speech." She looks at you. "Ryza, thanks for being willing to help the others."

"You're welcome," you say quickly, glad that things aren't as heavy anymore.

Archduke Letoro pauses for a long moment before shaking his head. "Yes, yes I suppose," he says. "However, you should know what you are offering to be involved in."


[] "While it is still possible to prevent a full-scale war, it is important to impress upon Mantrae exactly how displeased Agrithe is. I will be sending a delegation to meet with her and submit a series of demands to avoid conflict, one of which will of course be the immediate release of the yeomen she's taken. This does cede initiative, and it is possible she will refuse and I will be forced to carry out my ultimatum, but I am honor-bound to give her a chance to avoid war. Having a dragon flying above my delegation will make it far more likely she will accept my terms."
-[] Agree to the plan. After all, you might as well get some use out of everyone being scared of your dragon-self. If a bit of fear can prevent a war, you'll gladly accept.
-[] You argue him down to using you as an emergency backup should the bandits return or something else go wrong. If it comes to a fight, you'll help, but you won't start this conflict.

[] "While I have no desire to engage in full-scale war, her attack upon Agrithe cannot be ignored. A swift sortie into Legerius will serve to remind her of the disparity in power. This will not be a full engagement, but a series of raids that will force Mantrae to the negotiating table as soon as possible, where Agrithe will have a position of strength. Artemis does not want me to ask this of you, but as Archduke I must: will you agree to be the tip of the spear? The dragon that brings this conflict to a swift conclusion?"
-[] With a heavy heart, you agree to take the lead: you don't want to hurt anyone, but the sooner this fight ends, the better.
-[] You will not. You're willing to help, and if his men really get into trouble you'll step in, but you will not act out the role of the rampaging monster human stories describe.

[] "Ultimately, as angry as I am with Mantrae's actions, I cannot help but understand them. More importantly, solidarity among the Kingdoms is not to be ceded lightly. It is possible that, with a quick-moving force, young Sypha could be recovered. This would be an exceptionally difficult task, and without you I do not think it would be possible, but you might be able to move fast enough to catch up with whoever took her. You would almost certainly have to foray into the Empire, as that is the only source of the bandits that I can envision, and they almost certainly will have retreated since you and Artemis fled."
-[] "Should you recover her, your goal will be to return her to Legerius as soon as possible. Mantrae's gratitude will ensure her loyalty for the foreseeable future."
-[] "Understandable as Mantre's actions were, there must still be some consequences for her betrayal. Bring Sypha to me: she will see her mother again, but only after some terms are agreed to between Mantrae and I."


EDIT: A quick note about the last option that might not have been clear: the Archduke is essentially asking you to do the same thing as you did with Artemis: half shifting and flying, since that's the only way you might be in time to affect the outcome. And you'll probably have to fight at the end of it.

 

[SoaringHawk218]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[X] "Ultimately, as angry as I am with Mantrae's actions, I cannot help but understand them. Additionally, solidarity among the Kingdoms is not to be ceded lightly. It is possible that, with a quick-moving force, young Sypha could be recovered. This would be an exceptionally difficult task, and without you I do not think it would be possible, but you might be able to move fast enough to catch up with whoever took her. You would almost certainly have to foray into the Empire, as that is the only source of the bandits that I can envision, and they almost certainly will have retreated since you and Artemis fled."
-[X] "Understandable as Mantrae's actions were, there must still be some consequences for her betrayal. Bring Sypha to me: she will see her mother again, but only after some terms are agreed to between Mantrae and I."

"We must all hang together; or most assuredly we shall all hang separately."
-Archduke Benjamin Cartese, Year 776 after the Fall of the Fell Dragon


Archduke Letoro picks up a scroll from beside him, tapping it lightly on the table. "Ultimately, as angry as I am with Mantrae's actions, I cannot help but understand them," he says. "Though that does not excuse them." You nod slowly. "More importantly, however, solidarity among the Southern Kingdoms is not to be ceded lightly. It is the shield that protects us from the Empire. To cast it aside without a fight is madness."

You have to ask. "I'm sorry, but why are you so worried about this Empire?" you question. "I mean, I met Baron Rickman from there, and he was kind of rude, but he didn't seem like an evil person."

Artemis's eyes widen. "An Imperial Baron was at Legerius?!" she asks.

"Yes?" you say.

Your friend looks at her father. "Could it be connected?" she asks.

"Almost assuredly," Archduke Letoro says grimly. "To answer your question, Ryza, the Empire still claims dominion over all humans. They never truly accepted the various secessions and independence movements that have resulted in the Whitewing Alliance, the Divine Realm, the Coastal Republics, and the Northern and Southern Kingdoms. While they are diminished, they are still the single most powerful force on the continent. If they sense weakness among us, it is possible they will attempt to take one or two of the Kingdoms back by force; as they have done in the past."

"Oh," you say. "That… that sounds bad."

Archduke Letoro smiles dryly. "Indeed. Back to the matter at hand: it is possible that with a quick-moving force, young Sypha can be recovered. This will be an exceptionally difficult task, and without your wings I do not think it would be possible. However, you may be able to catch up with whoever took her."

"Father…" Artemis says. "Is there no…"

"Sadly, there is not," Archduke Letoro says. "There is at least one flight of pegasi in Rignali, but it could be some time before they come this way. If Sypha was taken before you even got to Legerius, then it may already be too late. It is only by flight that anyone will even have the chance to reach her in time, and even then it is not guaranteed. Mantrae will certainly still attempt to get her daughter back, but without you I do not think she will succeed. Once that attempt has been exhausted, the people who took her will likely retreat into the Empire."

You cock your head. "Why there?" you ask.

"These are no simple bandits. Even a small nation like Legerius could deal with them with little effort. The only place I can think of that would produce a force able to force Mantrae into this position is the Empire. Combine that with the fact that they are targeting noble families, I find it likely that someone in the Empire has a more sinister plan." He studies you. "Are you still willing to help?"

You consider. On the one hand, you don't really like where this conversation has gone, and you're worried about how low he seems to think your odds are. However, if you're the only one who has a chance, then you have to try. Besides, Axton and Lancel and Kelton need you.

"Okay," you say. "So what do I do?"

Archduke Letoro unrolls the scroll on the table. Scooting forward, you see what looks like a more detailed map of the surrounding area.

Spoiler: Local Map

"You will need to fly back into Legerius and find the trail of the ones who took Sypha," he says, pointing. "While it will be too dangerous to return to the castle itself, there are small villages in the surrounding area that might hold clues. Alternatively, you could seek the trail itself in the wilderness; it is likely there are enough of the kidnappers to leave one."

"Okay," you say. "I can do that." At least, you hope you can. Or at least you hope Artemis can, since you don't think you could convince people to tell you anything or follow a trail.

The Archduke nods. "Good. Then, once you have found the trail, you will need to follow it to find the ones responsible. Recover Sypha from them by any means required, though I would prefer they be eliminated as a threat to Agrithe. Once that is done, you will bring Sypha back here."

You frown. "Why wouldn't I just take her home?" you ask. "It'd be closer."

"As understandable as Mantrae's actions were," the Archduke says coolly, "there must still be consequences for her betrayal. Bring Sypha to me. She will see her mother again, but only after some terms are agreed to between Mantrae and I."

You squirm uncomfortably in your seat. "But wouldn't that mean I'm just kidnapping her again?" you ask. "She's probably really scared. Wouldn't it be wrong to make that worse?"

Dione reaches over and rubs your shoulder. "I know it seems cruel," she says gently. "And I understand your hesitation. But we would never hurt Sypha. She's not to blame for any of this. We just want to make sure that nothing like this happens again. That no other children are snatched away from their families, and to do that Letoro and Lindila need to have a serious talk. One that she'll really listen to."

"I guess…" you say, fidgeting with a cup. Dione smiles sadly, patting your shoulder again.

"I do not know what the world was like when you were last awake," Archduke Letoro says. "But the world of today can sometimes be harsh. However, Dione is right. I give my word that no harm will come to the child, and that she will be returned to her family safely. The most important thing is to get her away from the people who have taken her."

You suppose that makes sense. "So Artemis and I just need to go find her?" you ask.

Artemis grimaces. "I wish I could go with you, Ryza," she says. "Truly, I do, but..."

"Artemis, we had this conversation when you woke up," Dione says, wrapping an arm around her daughter's shoulder. "It's just too dangerous. You are a clearly their main target. If something were to go wrong, you'd be delivering yourself right back into their hands if you went."

Your eyes widen as Artemis slumps back in her chair, folding her arms moodily. "Wait, you want me to go alone?!" you squeak. You want to help, but you're not ready for that-

"Not unless you want to, which by your tone I am guessing you do not," Archduke Letoro says dryly. "Thankfully, I have others I can send with you. There are several I considered." He frowns. "Were it my choice I would send both of them, but Artemis insisted that you would only be able to carry one, so I will leave it to you to decide who you think will best help you on your quest."

"Okay…" you say, glancing at Artemis. You haven't really met anyone here, so you'll have to trust her to let you know if she thinks they're a good fit. She gives you a nod and a smile.

Glancing between the two of you, Archduke Letoro pauses for a moment before continuing his thought. "The first choice is a man named Kopoi. He is one of my most trusted agents, tasked with ensuring that no spies are active in Agrithe."

Artemis grimaces. "Which is to say he's a spy himself," she says.

"Do not let your personal sense of honor distract you from what Agrithe requires, Artemis," Archduke Letoro says firmly. "While you may not like his methods, the man is efficient and effective, and he would be of great help to Ryza." He looks back to you. "That being said, I will understand if you choose to look to someone else. Kopoi is an… acquired taste."

A dry laugh fills the courtyard. "That's a very kind way of putting it, Your Highness."

You topple out of your chair with a cry as a dark shape drops from the tree to land right next to you without a sound. "What! How! Where!" you cry, scrambling back as you look at the black-cloaked man standing over you.

Spoiler: Kopoi

"Huh, would have thought dragons would have better senses," the man says, cocking his head as he looks down at you. He has no particular expression on his face, but for some reason you get the feeling that he's not impressed.

"Kopoi! Leave her alone!" Artemis says, standing. You're pretty sure you see her forcing surprise off of her face. Hopefully she'd missed him too, so you didn't have to feel as bad. Really, where had he come from?! All that was up there was the branches of the tree, and you'd looked up and you hadn't seen or heard anything!

The man's cool grey eyes turn to Artemis. "If she's going to go on this little adventure, I'm worried that she's so easily startled, My Lady," he says.

"Kopoi," Archduke Letoro says.

The man immediately bows. "My apologies, Your Highness," he says before offering you a hand. Gingerly taking it, you let him pull you to your feet, wincing slightly at the ache in your shoulder as he does. Without another word, the man takes a few steps away, still studying you with a blank expression.

"Well, you've met Kopoi," Dione says in a deliberately cheerful voice after a moment of awkward silence. "He has given Agrithe and House Cartese many years of loyal service, and you will find few men more capable of finding information."

"Alternatively," Artemis says, glaring at Kopoi. "I believe Father's other option would be Robin, am I correct?"

Archduke Letoro nods. "Indeed, Artemis. Robin is another of my most trusted retainers. An expert archer and woodsman, his training regimen is perhaps the most important reason Agrithian yeomen are the envy of the world. If you should need to track these people through the wilderness, you will find no greater ally."

You look around nervously, expecting this Robin character to leap from the shadows to surprise you as well. Artemis laughs. "Don't worry, Ryza, that's not his nature. He's a good man: he taught me almost everything I know about hunting. You'll like him."

How are you supposed to choose? You don't know either of these people. You suppose it'll depend on how you want to go about finding Sypha: Artemis mentioned that Robin was good at tracking people through woods. Artemis had done it herself outside of Miau, and if he was her teacher, surely he was better at it than her. Alternatively, Kopoi was supposed to know a lot about getting information from people, so if you wanted to poke around the villages he could probably tell you how to do it-

"Your Highness, may I ask something?" You look back at Phoebe, who had been sitting silently for the entire conversation.

Archduke Letoro studies her for a moment before nodding. "Speak," he says.

Taking a deep breath, Phoebe continues. "Your Highness, I would like to volunteer to accompany Ryza. I know I am not as strong or as experienced as Sirs Kopoi or Robin, but trust is an important part of any successful quest. I do not claim to know why she trusted me, but she allowed me to be here. I believe we can work well together to successfully achieve the mission."

You glance around. You're not opposed to the idea; you like Phoebe well enough, and Artemis seems to like her as well so she can't be bad, but you're curious what the others think. Dione's chewing on her lip, seemingly trying to decide what to say. Artemis is glancing between the two of you thoughtfully. Kopoi's face still looks like it's carved from rock.

Archduke Letoro, however, simply raises an eyebrow. "Be honest with the real reason you want to go, girl, and I'll allow Ryza to consider it," he says simply.

Phoebe looks down. "I… I should have been there, when Lady Artemis and Selena were attacked. I just want a chance to make things right."

"Phoebe… there wasn't anything you could have done," Artemis says softly. "You would have died too."

"Probably," Phoebe says. "But she was my mentor. I promised to follow her wherever she went, and I wasn't there. I… I'd just like a chance to redeem myself."

The archduke glances at you. "I suppose it is your choice, Ryza. The journey will be long and hard, and you can only bring one. Dione has already said she won't let you try to carry two." His wife nods firmly, and for some reason you find yourself compelled not to argue. It must be a mother thing.

Who do you bring with you on this mission?


[] Ask for Kopoi the Spy to accompany you.

[] Ask for Robin the Hunter to accompany you.

[] Ask for Phoebe the Squire to accompany you.

AN: It lives! And even a little earlier than expected. Making the map wasn't as hard as I thought it'd be.

 

[SoaringHawk218]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[X] Ask for Robin the Hunter to accompany you.

"I have no reason to trust you other than the fact that the Old Master does. Thankfully for you, that's enough for me.
-Emperor Wyrmblood to Archmage Lenora, The First Emperor


Your thoughts race as you consider your options. With so many unknowns, you have to take this seriously. That means you can't just go with your gut feeling, you have to take time to reason out what you need, not just what you want.

After all, what you really want is Artemis to come with you, but you can't have that.

You notice Dione starting to open her mouth, but before she can say anything Archduke Letoro touches her arm. She glances at him, but he continues studying you intently. You're not quite sure what he's looking for, but if he's willing to give you the time to think you can't complain.

Ultimately, you decide that the thing you need most is help. This world is still strange to you, and even if it wasn't you're still a child. Sadly, this means that Phoebe is probably not the best choice. You like her, and you can respect how much she wants to be useful. However, though neither of them said it aloud, the fact that neither Artemis nor her father thought of Phoebe means they didn't think she'd be much help. You sadly set her aside.

That leaves you with either Kopoi or Robin. You have to admit the cloaked man seems impressive. Your senses are better than that of a normal human, but even with him in clear view, you almost swear he isn't there. There's a… darkness, about him. It reminds you of something you'd read about older Black manakete. It's said that some of them became so infused with Black magic that they had to make a conscious effort to be noticed. If Kopoi's like that, surely he'd be very useful.

However, as you peek at him and are once again met by those cool, empty eyes, you shiver. Something about him scares you in a way nothing and nobody else has. How many times had you been able to keep going because Artemis was there to hold you? How many times had you felt comfortable going to sleep because you hadn't been afraid? You don't see that happening with Kopoi around.

That leaves only one option.

"Could I meet Robin?" you ask. You suppose it is possible that something will set you off against him, but if Artemis likes him you doubt it. You trust Artemis completely, and she knows you well enough to know your preferences.

Artemis glances at her father, who nods. "Of course, Ryza," she says. "Is there anything else, Father?"

"Nothing Ryza needs to be here for," Archduke Letoro says, rolling up the map and holding it out for you. "You are dismissed, Ryza. Any supplies or equipment you might need are open to you, feel free to request them. Barring any extraordinary delays, you should leave no later than tomorrow morning. The longer we wait, the further Sypha will be taken beyond our reach."

"Okay," you say, accepting the scroll and hugging it to your chest. "Thank you, I won't let you down."

Archduke Letoro nods. "I trust that you will not," he says. "Kopoi, stay a moment." The man nods sharply, stepping aside to clear the way as you and Artemis stand. Dione and Phoebe join you, and a moment later the four of you leave the garden.

You glance back over your shoulder to see the cloaked man sitting down across from Archduke Letoro. "Do you think he'll be upset?" you ask nervously.

"Kopoi?" Dione says. "No, that's not the way he is. He may seem unnerving-"

"Creepy, more like," Artemis mutters.

"Artemis, do not needlessly poison the well of your friend's mind, that is unbecoming of a lady." Dione chides. "Kopoi is a loyal man, and his skills are vital for Agrithe's safety. One day, he will answer to you as Archduchess, and you will need to give him the respect he deserves." Artemis nods sullenly. Dione looks back to you with a tired smile. "Kopoi… has a very difficult job, one that not just anyone can carry out. However, as my husband said, I can understand why you would want someone easier to work with. Kopoi respects results: once you've brought Sypha here safely, he'll be more personable."

As you ponder her words, you glance over your shoulder at Phoebe, who's trailing behind. She doesn't meet your eye, seemingly lost in thought. Dropping back, you pat her arm. "I'm sorry," you say. "It's just…" you take a moment to think about your words. "I just want to make sure that Sypha's safe, and I need a lot of help to do it. It's not that I don't think you can help, I'm sure you can, but…"

The young knight raises a hand with a weary smile. "You don't need to justify yourself to me, Lady Ryza," she says. "To be honest, I wasn't really expecting to be allowed to go. I'm just a squire, not the most useful person to have around. I just… I just had to ask. To try to do something,"

"What happened wasn't your fault," Dione says softly. Turning, you see that both Artemis and her mother had stopped to watch the pair of you. "You were dangerously ill; you couldn't have gone with them, and nobody saw this coming. Believe me, if I had known what was going to happen, I would never have allowed Artemis to travel with anything less than an army."

Phoebe blinks. "My Lady?" she says.

"I had this exact conversation with Artemis this morning," Dione says. "As much as we hate it, sometimes the spirits turn away from those who deserve their protection. All we can do is keep moving forward and live our lives in a way that makes them proud." She smiles at you. "On that note, we should get our little heroine her partner so that she can go save Sypha."

"Okay," you say.

The four of you make your way through the castle, and once again you see plenty of people around. This time, however, they bow whenever they spot your group, Dione nods genteelly, keeping most of the attention on her. This allows you to shrink a little into the background, simply watching as humans go about their lives. All the humans. So many humans. How are you ever going to keep track of them all? You lose count around the thirtieth person, and that's just number, not even faces or names!

Eventually, your worries are cut short as you exit the castle into another courtyard. This one is much bigger and has less plant life. Instead, it seems to be split into several sections with groups of people swinging swords and spears at each other and a single, larger area. That area has a short fence, behind which a line of men and women in short green cloaks are shooting bows at targets lined against the great stone wall of the castle.

Pacing behind them, occasionally stopping to say something, is a man in a cloak, hood down. You pause to watch him as he mimes holding a bow to one of the younger-looking boys, pointing downrange.

Spoiler: Robin

He seems… brighter, than Kopoi. You hope that means he'll be friendlier, though you can't hear what he's saying. Your thoughts race as you try to ponder all the different ways this conversation could go and how you're going to make sure that he likes you-

"Are you coming, Ryza?"

Glancing up, you see that Artemis and Phoebe have stepped into the courtyard. Dione, meanwhile, had turned to leave, but glanced back at her daughter's words to give you a reassuring smile.

"Right, right," you say, hurrying after them. Sypha needs you to move with purpose, not get overwhelmed!

A few people glance at you as you follow Artemis and Phoebe, but thankfully the sight of Artemis seems to distract them. You're not sure you're ready for this much attention yet.

"Sir Robin," Artemis says as she reaches the line of archers.

Robin turns around with a smile. "Lady Artemis!" he says. "I didn't know you were back." The other archers pause what they're doing to watch. As you glance at them, you realize that some of them look like they're only a decade or two older than you. Or whatever the human equivalent is. You suppose it makes sense; you started learning magic even younger than this (relatively), and using a bow looks complicated.

The man glances over his shoulder. "Oi, you lot, it's not break-time yet!" he says. "You'll never be great yeomen if you slack off!" They all turn back to their work, but you notice the nearer ones taking peeks every now and then.

Meanwhile, Robin turns fully back to Artemis. "No offense, my lady, but you look like you've been through the Void," he says softly. "What happened? With how far you were overdue, I'd say you got lost, but I know I taught you better than that. And where's…"

Artemis raises a hand tiredly. "Not here," she says. "Follow me."

Robin frowns, but nods, walking after Artemis as she leads the way towards a nearby door. He glances down at you as you follow, his gaze sweeping you up and down. You force yourself to smile and wave at him. He raises an eyebrow briefly, but before you can get discouraged he finally gives a small smile and nod.

Once you, Robin, Artemis and Phoebe are in a room that looks like a library for weapons (why do humans need so many ways to stab each other?) Artemis takes a deep breath. "Robin… I just got back yesterday," she says. "Everything was going fine until the Icewalls…"

Over the next half hour, Artemis tells the now familiar story of how Robert betrayed her to the bandits, how she found you and you helped her get out of the mountains, how you and Axton and Lancel made it to Legerius, only for Mantrae to betray you as well. She then lets you take over, talking about how you used your dragon form to rescue Artemis and bring her home. To your surprised, at no point does Robin interrupt, question, or even seem particularly shocked. Sure, he raises an eyebrow as you describe your non-human nature, but he simply glances at Artemis before nodding.

Finally, when the story is done, he gives a sigh. "Sentinel preserve his soldiers," he says quietly. "I'm sorry for your loss, my lady."

Artemis nods. "Thank you, Robin," she says. "Well, that's how we got here. Father wants Sypha recovered, so that the Kingdoms can be held together. He's tasked Ryza with doing this, but she'll need help, and no matter how much I want to be there, I can't help her. Will you go with her?"

Robin bows slightly. "Even if it were not your father's command, I would agree," he says, looking down at you. "You sure you're okay with all this, kid?"

You nod. "I just want everyone to get along with each other," you say. "If that means I need to go find Sypha, that's what I'll do. Besides, her friends seemed nice when I talked to them; so I'm sure Sypha herself is nice."

Robin gives a wry grin. "Ah, the innocence of youth," he says. "Seems some things don't change between species."

You and Artemis glance at each other. "You… don't seem very surprised by any of this," you say.

Robin shrugs. "I know Lady Artemis," he says. "She's got a good head on her shoulders, and if she says you're a friendly dragon, then you're a friendly dragon and it's best if I don't question it too much."

"Manakete."

He nods. "Manakete. My apologies." He shrugs again. "Believe me, I have plenty of questions, but if we are going to be spending time together on this quest, then I'll have plenty of time to satisfy my curiosity." He glances towards the door, which Phoebe is leaning against. "So are we leaving now?"

"Not yet, no," Artemis says as you shake your head. "Ryza still needs some time to rest and prepare, so you won't be leaving until tomorrow."

"Good," Robin says. "I'll need some time to get my kids set to progress without me for a few weeks or months." He looks at you seriously. "Ryza, right? You should be figuring out what you need to bring with you. I'd suggest packing light: we're going to need to move fast if we're going to have a chance."

You nod. "Okay," you say. "Any suggestions?"

He studies you for a moment before nodding as well. "I would consider bringing some extra food. I don't know about you, but I can hunt if we need sustenance, but that'll take time. Time that I'm not sure if Lady Sypha has. If I was the bandits, I'd be beating tracks for someplace safe, so we'll need to move even faster if we're going to have a chance to catch up."

"Okay, I'll keep that in mind," you say. "Thank you."

He nods. "Other than that, you know yourself best." He looks at Artemis. "By your leave, my lady?"

"Of course, Robin," Artemis says. "Thank you,"

"I live to serve, my lady," Robin says. "And this'll certainly be a change of pace from teaching children how to hold a bow properly." With a final nod, he leaves, Phoebe stepping out of his way as he left.

The three of you look at each other for a minute. "Well," you say. "He seems…"

"Mellow?" Artemis says. "I wouldn't count on him staying that way once you're traveling. He's patient: he takes his time to process new information, but once he's done so he will want to know more." She smiles. "Don't worry, though. He does know how to take no for an answer, at least most of the time. If he asks you a question that makes you uncomfortable, let him know and he'll back off."

You ponder that for a minute before looking around. "Well, I should probably take his advice," you say, moving towards what looks like some kind of desk with thick, heavy paper on it. "Do you know if I can write on this?"

"Not this parchment, that's the armory log," Artemis says quickly. "The quartermaster will become very upset if we disturb this. Why?"

"Well, I want to make a list of everything I need," you say. "Writing things down helps me think."

Artemis giggles. "When this is all done, I have to introduce you to Apollo. Sometimes I swear that you are truly the same person." She shakes her head. "Come on; I have some writing materials in my chamber; we'll make your list."

It takes the better part of an hour, but finally, you, Artemis and Phoebe nod in satisfaction at the finished list (written in both Makai and Human Common).

How much do you pack?

[] Pack light, as Robin suggested. You won't be able to bring as much, but it'll make movement somewhat easier. (Top four choices will be taken)

[] Pack normally. You don't know how long you're going to be away or what you'll need, so you decide to bring a bit more than he'd probably suggest. (Top six choices will be taken)

What do you bring? (Vote for as many as you want)

-[] Scrolls: Artemis has offered to keep your things from home safe, but you still want to keep learning about your heritage. Each scroll counts as an item. (Dragon Within, Runewriting, Practical Magic)

-[] Thunder's Cry: While not as powerful as your dragon form, Thunder's Cry has gotten you out of some sticky situations. You also know exactly how to use it.

-[] Tome: Artemis suggested that maybe it would be good for you to practice with human magic; offering to get you a Thunder tome to take with you.

-[] Extra Food: While you'll certainly take some, bringing more might make things easier. Or at least make it so Robin doesn't have to do as much work.

-[] Extra Medical Supplies: While nobody got seriously hurt on your first trip, this time you'll be going straight towards the bad guys. Bringing some extra healing herbs might be a good idea if you get into a fight.

-[] A bigger map. You still have the scroll Archduke Letoro gave you, and it looks very useful. However, if you're going to be searching, it might be a good idea to dig out a bigger, more detailed map to find your way.

-[] Extra money. Phoebe suggests that, if you do end up needing to get information or supplies from someone while away from Agrithe, having a good store of money will be useful. You're not quite sure how this "money" works, but you're sure Robin does.

-[] Write-in: Something else potentially useful comes to mind. (Subject to veto.)


AN: The quest lives, it dies, it lives again!

I will admit am slightly sad that you all didn't choose Kopoi, only because I had a great (if slightly anachronistic) quote for him.

"I'm not a psychopath, my lord, I'm a high-functioning sociopath. Do your research."

 

[SoaringHawk218]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[X] Pack light, as Robin suggested. You won't be able to bring as much, but it'll make movement somewhat easier. (Top four choices will be taken)
-[X] Extra Food: While you'll certainly take some, bringing more might make things easier. Or at least make it so Robin doesn't have to do as much work.
-[X] Extra money. Phoebe suggests that, if you do end up needing to get information or supplies from someone while away from Agrithe, having a good store of money will be useful. You're not quite sure how this "money" works, but you're sure Robin does.
-[X] Thunder's Cry: While not as powerful as your dragon form, Thunder's Cry has gotten you out of some sticky situations. You also know exactly how to use it.
-[X] A bigger map. You still have the scroll Archduke Letoro gave you, and it looks very useful. However, if you're going to be searching, it might be a good idea to dig out a bigger, more detailed map to find your way.

"Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance."

Castle Agrithe Storage​

"Wow…" you whisper as you look around the massive underground room.

Intellectually, you knew that, there being so many humans, they would need a way to feed everyone. It was something else to see stack upon stack of barrels, boxes, and racks of food. You and your parents could have eaten for decades off of this!

"It's something, isn't it," Artemis says. "Father always makes sure to have a surplus. Not only is it useful in case there's an unexpected siege, it can be distributed in case of famine in the outlying towns."

You frown. "Will it be a problem if I take some?" you ask. You want to be able to rescue Sypha, and Robin seems to know what he's doing so you and the others had agreed to follow through with his plan. That being said, you don't want to cause any problems…

Artemis ruffles your hair. "Don't worry about it," she says. "I'm sure Agrithe can spare enough for you. You don't seem to eat that much." She frowns, glancing around before continuing in a softer voice. "You… don't normally need to eat more, do you?"

You cock your head. "I mean, I don't need to," you say. You'd been hungry a few times on the journey, but Artemis had always made sure you'd eaten enough to keep going. "Why?"

"Well, I was just thinking about… other you," Artemis says. "She's much bigger. I remember listening to a few Imperial students at the Marble Hall complaining about how much wyverns eat. That makes sense, since they're carnivores and pretty big…"

You shake your head. "Manakete rarely eat in dragon form," you say. "We use magic to shapeshift; that provides the energy our bodies need for the shifting." You frown thoughtfully. "I suppose if a manakete were to remain half-shifted for days, they'd have to eat as a dragon and they'd probably have to eat more, but I didn't read anything about it so I don't know. I can take a look if you want to know."

Artemis shakes her head. "Only if you want to," she says. "I'm sure you have more important things to think about right now." Hefting the bag she'd grabbed when coming in, she looked around. "We'll have to focus on the salted meat," she mutters. "It's early spring, the bread won't last long out there…"

"Oh, is there a stasis ward down here?" you ask. You hadn't seen anything like that when you'd come in, but you'd been a bit distracted.

"No, no," Artemis says. "It's just food lasts longer when it's kept in a cool, dark, dry place like this." She glances at you. "Is that how your family stored food?"

You shrug. "Sometimes," you say. "Mostly, Mother just froze anything she hunted if we didn't eat it right away; there wasn't usually much at any one time. It was only when we started getting towards winter that we would stock up." Another thought occurs to you. "Artemis, how do humans avoid overhunting? With so many people to feed, you would have to hunt so much…"

"Thankfully, we don't need to hunt as much as your mother probably did, or we would all starve," Artemis says. "Most meat comes from farm animals, things like pigs and chickens that are raised for that purpose. Of course, even that has its limits, which is why there's so much grain in here."

You listened attentively as Artemis described the wonders of agriculture and how it could be used to sustain the ridiculous population you'd seen.

Truly, humans are fascinating!

---

Castle Agrithe Library​

You can't help but feel a little disappointed as you look around the library where Artemis had taken you to find a map. You suppose it was kind of impressive on its own, especially as you factor in how efficient books are compared to scrolls. There was clearly a lot of information stored here.

On the other hand, with how many people you'd seen wandering around Castle Agrithe, you'd expected the library to be… bigger. Father's personal library had been at least half again this one's size, and Mother's had only a tiny bit smaller. And that wasn't even counting the storage caverns for lesser-used scrolls you'd gotten lost in for the better part of a day once. Mother, even your own little library would not be insignificant in here.

This… was one room. A decent sized one, true, but one room. Maybe two depending on if that door in the back was a closet or not.

The young woman, probably five or six decades (years, you remind yourself) older than Artemis looks up. "My lady!" she says happily, hopping out from behind the long table she'd been sitting at. "What can I get for you?"

"Hello, Pincana," Artemis says. "My friend here needs a map of Legerius and the Imperial Southlands Duchy," Artemis says. "The most detailed we have."

Pincana glances at you, surprised. "I… of course, my lady," she says. "I think I have something back here that's just what's needed."

As Artemis and the lady get to work digging through a pile of scrolls, you find yourself wandering to the nearest shelf and plopping down to look through the books. With a huff, you remember that you can't read any of them. You're about to turn back to Artemis when something catches your eye.

On the front of one of the books is a detailed drawing of several figures. On the left, a helmeted man riding a wyvern and carrying a spear that seems to shed green light is depicted in the act of diving downwards. On the right, a woman with a billowing cloak is surrounded by lashing lightning, a haughty pride clearly visible on her face. In the center, slightly larger and above the others, is a man. In one hand, he carries a flaming sword, and the other holds a crown with a jewel set into it aloft. His gaze blazes with purpose, seeming to glare at you off the cover.

What really catches your eye, however, is the darkness at the bottom of the picture. A darkness that, as you look closer, contains shapes. Shapes with wings. With four legs. With scales and horns and murderous eyes.

You don't know why you take the book off the shelf. Not only can't you read it, you know it will do nothing but upset you. However, almost against your will your shaking hand reaches forward, grabs the book and flips it from page to page.

The writing is illegible to you, but it seems that whoever wrote this was also a gifted artist. You see pictures, pictures that draw you into a story you can't read. The fire-sword man from the front kneeling and howling obvious pain to the sky with a burning village in the background. The lighting woman running with a pair of dragons circling mockingly above. A cloaked figure pointing towards a line of objects laid out on-

Artemis's hand gently plucks the book from your numb grip. "The First Emperor," she says softly. "The most recent penned iteration of the Empire's founding myth."

The woman she'd been talking to crouches down on the other side of you. "Are you okay, child?" she asks worriedly. "I know that story gets a bit depressing at parts…"

You force yourself to smile. "I'm okay," you whisper. "Just…"

Artemis wraps an arm around you. "Don't think about it, Ryza," she whispers. "This was written centuries after everything happened. It got details wrong."

"Really, I'm okay," you say. "Just… just looking at the pictures."

Your friend frowns for a moment, but simply gives you another squeeze before putting the book back. "We found the map," she says, holding out a scroll to you. "Is there anything else you want? I know you decided not to bring your own…"

You grimace. You had wanted to. Oh, how you'd wanted to, but you just couldn't justify it. Sypha and Artemis needed you to go fast, not waste your time reading about yourself. Although… "Is… is there something small that would help me learn how to read?"

Before Artemis can answer, Pincana's eyes widen and she smiles. "Oh, yes," she says, hopping up. "I was actually tasked by the Archduke to re-write the old primers, I have a finished one back here!" Hustling behind the table she'd started at, she picks up a small book that could fit easily in her hand. You'd easily be able to squeeze it into the bag. "I do wish more people had the time to learn to read," she says as she offers it to you. "The Archduke, spirits bless him, does his best, but so many have other things they need to do… I'm just glad that someone is taking initiative."

You frown slightly, was she saying… "Can… most people not read?" you ask.

Artemis sighs, gently patting you on the shoulder. "Things are different, here," she explains, giving the woman a warning look as she starts to open her mouth. "I'll explain later."

"Okay…" you say.

"Come on, we need to go visit Chamberlain Ebenezer. He'll be able to help us get the rest of what we need."

As you turn to leave, you glance back at Pincana and wave. "Thank you," you say.

She waves back, smiling. "Ryza, right?" she asks. "When you get back, don't be a stranger! I'll be interested to know how well you liked my work!"

You smile. You're so glad that, whatever their literature is like, the humans of Agrithe all seem to be as nice as Artemis had said they would be.

---

Castle Agrithe Treasury​

The tall, gaunt form of Chamberlain Ebenezer peers scornfully down his long nose at you. "You wish for funds to be released to this… child?" he says, barely on the respectful side of sneering.

Artemis's fist clenches. "This is important, Chamberlain Ebenezer," she says. "Ryza has a mission Father tasked her…"

"From what little information you have told me, my lady, Sir Robin has a mission His Highness tasked him with, and for some reason this little girl is along for the ride," Ebenezer says, adjusting the odd glass and metal things in front of his eyes. "Now, if one of them were to make this request, then…"

"And what if I make the request," Artemis says coldly.

"You will be Archduchess one day, that is true," Ebenezer says. "However, even after that day comes to pass, I or whoever inherits my position will have a say in how the treasury is used. I have yet to hear an explanation for this 'mission' and why a child is required to hold valuable coin."

You frown; you still don't quite get why this money is considered so important that this man needs to be so stingy with it. You would have thought the person in charge of the food stores would be warier, as with so many people around any disruption could lead to people going hungry.

Meanwhile, Ebenezer is still speaking. "Especially considering the fact that there has already been an investment gone wrong with the loss of the tomes Master Shadebringer was to bring back. That was a significant loss, my lady-"

"Do not speak to me about the losses of that night!" Artemis snarls. "I watched my best friend and a lot of good people die, that's a little more important than some lost books!"

"Dame Selena's death is tragic, certainly," Ebenezer says with a slight but noticeable airiness. You automatically grip Artemis's wrist as her fingernails drive so hard into her palm that you smell blood. "However, the loss of those tomes is significant. Not only are those funds gone, but so too will be the funds that will be required to be released to purchase another round." Ebenezer raises a hand as Artemis starts to open her mouth again. "My lady, if His Highness does command that these funds be released, I will of course do so, but as Chamberlain it is my duty to argue for sound investments, which means I must go and speak-"

"Any supplies or equipment you might need are open to you, feel free to request them."

You jump slightly as the Archduke's voice echoes from behind you. You hadn't heard him come in! Turning, you're shocked to see not Artemis's father, but Kopoi leaning against the door, which was once again closed as if it had never been opened. Even though you'd heard the hinges squeak when you'd come in a minute ago. You also see Phoebe, who had been standing off to one side, regaining her footing from where she'd stumbled away. Could nobody hear him!?

The man's cold grey eyes pierce Ebenezer, who pales. "Those were His Highness's exact words, spoken directly and deliberately to Ryza this very afternoon," he says, shifting back to his own voice. "I do not see any other way to interpret them other than every member of this household being expected and required to give her exactly what she asks for." A faint, dangerous smirk crosses his face, though it doesn't reach his eyes. "Of course, I don't have quite the way with words as you do, Chamberlain Ebenezer Shylock. Perhaps you might educate me on whatever strange variation of the common tongue he was apparently using that offers a different interpretation. Or did you simply think his eldest daughter a liar or a fool?"

"I… I see," Ebenezer stutters out. "I… I suppose there… what I mean to say is…" Kopoi raises an eyebrow slightly. "I… I was unaware that you were-"

"What you are unaware of could fill many volumes, Chamberlain," Kopoi cuts in. "And as Her Ladyship has determined that you do not need to know the specifics of the mission, one that I will tell you is vital to the security of Agrithe, you will remain unaware." He doesn't move, but somehow seems to loom larger over all of you. "Now, I believe you have something you need to get for the girl?"

Ebenezer slumps in on himself. "Of course, if it is His Highness's command," he says meekly, shuffling to the large, iron-bound door behind his desk and fiddling with some keys.

Swallowing, you force yourself to smile at Kopoi. "Thank you for vouching for us," you say.

The cloaked man studies you. "I am simply expediting the task that His Highness has commanded you to undertake," he says after a moment.

"Still, you were of assistance," Artemis says. "Thank you."

"My life for Agrithe, my lady," Kopoi says.

The four of you stand in awkward silence for a minute before you speak again. "If you don't mind me asking, how do you do that?" you ask. "Be so sneaky, I mean. I do have better senses, but I never hear you…"

Kopoi simply stares you down. "Why do you need that information?" he asks.

"Because she might run into other people who also have a Seal, Kopoi," Artemis says. "She needs to know what humans are capable of." She looks down at you. "Kopoi is no simply spy; he has been bonded with a Fell Seal. He is more than just a man now."

Kopoi does not grimace, but you can sense a flash of displeasure. "It is unlikely she will run into anyone else with a Fell Seal, my lady," he says. "There are, to the best of my knowledge, between fifteen and twenty other Fell Seals in existence. Now, she might run into other seals, but those behave very differently, so knowledge of mine will not help her."

You look around, confused. Artemis sighs. "Seals are tools that humans use to enhance their natural talents and powers," she says. "When bonded with one, men are enhanced to superhuman levels." She grimaces. "They are, however, very difficult to use. I attempted to use an Orion Seal once, but it rejected me. They will only accept someone who has earned their allegiance. Even death does not immediately break that allegiance."

You blink, that sounds like really powerful and delicate runewrighting. You're sure Father could have done it, but you wouldn't even know where he would start. Curious, you look at Kopoi. "May I-"

"No." Kopoi's voice is even more flat than before. "No. You. May. Not."

You flinch away from the man. "Sorry…" you whisper. Even Artemis looks unnerved.

Another long, awkward silence fills the room before Ebenezer returns. "The money you requested, my lady," he says, offering her a bag that jangles slightly as it moves.

"Thank you, Chamberlain Ebenezer," Artemis says, taking the bag and offering it to you. It's heavier than it looks, but you're able to avoid dropping it.

"Yes, thank you," you say. "I promise I'll be careful with this."

The man grimaces slightly, but nods. "I'm sure you will," he says. He glances at Kopoi. "Is there anything I can do to help you, spymaster?"

Kopoi steps aside from the door. "In a moment," he says, his cold eyes still locked on you.

Artemis nods. "Of course," she says, tugging on your arm. "Thank you again for your assistance, Kopoi." The man nods sharply.

As you pass, you glance up at him. "Kopoi…" you say softly. "I know what it's like, to have something precious to you. Something you can't bear to lose. I'm sorry I worried you about yours." He doesn't answer, but you feel his eyes on your back as you walk away.

---

The next day, you find yourself riding in front of Artemis on an equally big, even more unnerving horse than Actaeon. Around you ride several more people. Robin himself is there, of course, carrying a bag like yours, a strangely shiny bow, and a sheathed sword. Then, there's Phoebe and three more similarly armed and armored people, who Artemis said were escorting you to your launch point.

Artemis's father had insisted that you leave as soon as possible, to give you the best chance of catching up to Sypha and the people who took her. However, he also understood that having you transform in the middle of the courtyard of the castle would not be comfortable for anyone. Instead, he pointed you to a grove of trees on a hill a mile or so away from the castle.

"It will be a cloudy day today," he had said. "That should give you some cover." He had then put a hand on your shoulder. "Find her, Ryza. For Agrithe and the Southern Kingdoms, find her."

"I will," you'd said. "Please… make sure nothing happens to Artemis while I'm gone, won't you?"

Dione had laughed at that. "I think we can manage, Ryza, despite what I'm sure will be my daughter's best efforts."

You were distracted from the memory as Artemis gives you a squeeze. "Do you have everything you need?" she asks.

You nod. "I do," you say, mentally tallying what you'd grabbed. The food, the longest-lasting Artemis could find, was safely wrapped up at the bottom of the bag. You also stuffed the money down there, hoping you never had to figure out how to use it properly. The large map, along with the first one you were given, were near the top for easy access, along with the little reading primer and a piece of parchment you'd scribed a shortened version of the half-shift ritual on. Thunder's Cry, meanwhile, is in a small knapsack Artemis found for you, easily in reach if needed.

You're as ready as you'll ever be.

Artemis sighs and hugs you closer. "You'll do great, Ryza," she says. "Listen to Robin. He knows what he's doing, but also don't be afraid to tell him when he's misjudging what you can do. I made that mistake a few times on the way here; it's sometimes hard to remember that you're a lot more powerful than you look."

"I know, I know," you say. "I'll be fine, Artemis."

"I know," she says. "It's just… well, I can't help but worry. Father and I are asking you to go straight at the people strong and cunning enough to take a countess's daughter with only part of their forces. I know you're tough, but still…" She leans in close and whispers in your ear. "Ryza… I know I'm going against what my father would say is proper behavior, but as far as I'm concerned, your most important mission is to come back safely yourself. If you look at whatever situation Sypha's in and you realize that you just can't get her out without getting yourself hurt, then don't. Leave her behind if you have to, okay?"

You frown. "I… I don't know," you say.

"If you get killed or captured, Ryza, then there's not going to be anyone to save or avenge you, and Sypha will still be in danger," Artemis says seriously. "I know you want to help, but as much as I hate to say it, sometimes the best way to help is simply to leave. I learned that lesson the hard way in the Icewalls: if I had stayed and fought, I wouldn't have accomplished anything other than handing myself to the enemy. I never would have had the chance to find you. Please… just stay safe. I'd never be able to forgive myself if you get hurt because I got you into all this."

You pat her arm. "Don't worry, I'll be fine," you say. "I'm a big girl. Robin and I'll go get Sypha, and there won't have to be any more fighting or arguing between you and Mantrae."

Artemis sighs. "I'm afraid it will take a bit more time before I'm willing to forgive her," she says. "But the important thing is that Sypha, Axton and Lancel will all be able to go home. None of them deserve any of this." You nod, that does sound like the most important thing.

"My lady, Lady Ryza, we're here," Phoebe says.

"Ryza," you remind her, letting Artemis help you off the gigantic horse. You don't know if it was just the distance, but pegasi had always seemed smaller and more elegant than their ground-based cousins.

Robin stretches. "Alright, my lady," he says, bowing slightly to Artemis. "I promise that I will bring your friend safely home to you."

Artemis nods. "Thank you, Robin. Good hunting."

While they're talking, you give Artemis one last hug before finding a clear patch of ground and kneeling down. Pulling out your stone, you feel your wings extend and your ears lengthen as lightning begins to gather around you. "Alright, everyone stand back," you say as you hear a few muttered curse words from the knights that had come with you. "Don't worry, everything is under control."

The air is filled with static and tension as you do your work: you've never transformed around so many people, especially since some of them seem to be filled with nervous anticipation. Thankfully, you'd had plenty of practice, and you'd gotten some rest, so you maintain your focus.

Finally, after fifty minutes of casting, you throw your head back and unleash the power within. Lightning lashes your form, but it fills you with strength rather than pain as your body shifts and elongates, scales replacing flesh and cloth, wings kicking up dirt and small plants as you flap them experimentally.

"Bloody void…" one of the knights mutters.

"Glad it's on our side…" another whispers back.

"Hey, that's rude!" you whine, glaring at him. "I'm a person and my name is Ryza!" The man pales. "But it's okay, I guess I forgive you." You stretch languidly. "So, Robin, should we get going?"

The man blinks before nodding. "I suppose we should," he says. "It's quite something. How does it feel, being a dragon?"

"Manakete," you say automatically. "Though I suppose in this case dragon does fit." Laying down, you offer your foreleg to Robin. "It feels really nice. Not like when I full-shift; then I'm too angry or scared or whatever to really appreciate it, but it's nice right now. Probably because dragon-me's still in torpor, so she's not complaining as much about me using her body." You squirm a little as Robin climbs on; he's heavier than Artemis.

"So was my advice about packing light useless?" Robin asks mildly as you stand up. "I don't see the bag anywhere."

You pause to consider. "I don't think so," you say. "I do actually feel a bit lighter; I think that anything I'm wearing transforms with me, so the more stuff I have, the more energy it takes." You shrug. "I guess? I don't know; I never read the whole thing, just enough to make it work."

"Well, I'm glad I didn't go with the idea of giving you armor," Artemis says, moving around to stand in front of your head. "Spirits fly with you, Ryza."

You nudge her playfully with your snouts. "They'll have to fly pretty fast," you say. "Stay safe, Artemis. I'll save Sypha, and we can all be friends." With that, you spread your wings, and, once Artemis is at a safe distance, shoot up into the sky like a reverse lightning bolt.

As you settle in to flying back south-west, thankful that you're not flying in circles around Agrithe again, Robin speaks up from behind you. "Now that we have a little privacy, Ryza, we should discuss our plan. Lady Artemis told me about your flight here, how you flew only at night. That is an option on the way back, especially as we get closer to Legerius and potentially hostile eyes. That will, however, make it harder for us to see anything that might help us find Lady Sypha." You nod, that makes sense. "Alternatively, we could take something of a risk and fly during the day. We'll be easier to spot, but so will any clues, especially with two sets of sharp eyes looking rather than just one set in the dark."

"What do you think?" you ask.

"Personally, I would say day," Robin says. "Though I do accept there would be benefits to secrecy." He pauses. "An even more risky alternative is to push ourselves even harder, flying both day and night, stopping only when needed to avert completely exhaustion." You look over your shoulder at him, confused and a little nervous. "I know, I know, it seems to marry the worst parts of both worlds with an additional risk of overexertion, but it does give one advantage: speed. We're already behind; the people who took Lady Sypha may already be back in the Empire. If we can get onto the scene sooner, we'll have a better chance of catching up before it's too late."

You pause to consider. However, it seems Robin's not done. "We also have to decide where we're going to start. I'm not Kopoi; and yes His Highness did mention that he'd offered you Kopoi's services. I'm not as good at getting information out of people as he is. I am better in open ground, though." He shrugs. "Assuming we're right, and that the Empire or someone in it is ultimately behind this, then we have three places to start. One, we go to a village near the border, in Legerius. We may not be as good at it as the spy, but it's possible we pick up a clue, something to get us on the right track so we can trail them properly. On the other hand, we start in the wilderness. We'll have to find that trail ourselves, and that'll be hard, but we avoid the risk of tipping people off or running into Countess Mantrae's soldiers."

"And the third option?" you ask curiously.

"We go somewhere we know the enemy was: the Icewall ambush point where they killed Dame Selene and the rest of Lady Artemis's people. It'll be a more roundabout route, but it's one we should be able to follow. The only risk is that it may take too much time." He shifts. "So, manakete, what is the wisdom of the ancients?"

"I'm not old!"

Despite your annoyance with the man's joke, you do need to cooperate with him. As the day passes and the two of you of you debate, a plan takes shape.

[] How do you fly?
-[] During the day.
-[] During the night.
-[] During both day and night.

[] Where do you start your search?
-[] In a village near the border.
-[] In the wilderness between Legerius and the Empire.
-[] In the Icewall Mountains, just below your home.

 

[SoaringHawk218]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[X] How do you fly?
-[X] During the day.
[X] Where do you start your search?
-[X] In the wilderness between Legerius and the Empire.

"When was the last time you had water? When was the last time you ate? When was the last time you slept? When was the last time you did anything for yourself that didn't involve a quest?"
-Tavern master Quincy


You're not sure if it's because you're lighter, because you've been practicing, or just because you feel like you're making a difference, but you make good progress as you fly back southwest. The Mother's Light shines down on you, especially whenever you rise above the low-flying clouds. This is nice. This is very nice. You purr contentedly.

"You really like flying, don't you?" Robin calls from your back.

"I do!" you say. "I really do! It's nice when I'm doing it in heart-form, but this is great!" You force yourself not to roll in midair: you don't want to drop Artemis's friend. "Have you ever gone flying before?"

You feel Robin shifting. "Nope," he says. "And, no offense, but I think I'm happier with my feet on the ground." You slump. Had you done something wrong? Almost as if reading your mind, Robin continues. "It's nothing to do with you, I'm sure you're doing your best, but it seems it's just not for me!"

"Do you want to land for a bit?" you ask. "We've been going for hours; I could use a rest as well." This isn't completely true, though you are a little tired.

"If you don't mind!" Robin responds.

Carefully dipping just below the clouds, you scan the ground. It's much easier in the day, so you almost immediately spot a clearing well away from that village you notice in the distance. "Alright, hold on, we're going down," you say. Robin grabs onto your spines hard enough to sting a bit, but you push through the irritation. Carefully, you flare your wings, landing with barely a bump. "Okay, we're down."

Robin slips off, and you notice him massaging his legs. "Thank you, Ryza," he says.

Shifting back into heart-form, you give him a concerned look. "Is there anything I can do better?" you ask as you kneel down to catch your breath.

"I don't think so, Ryza," Robin says, walking around in a circle. "Only thing I can think of is a bit… inappropriate."

You cock your head. "What is it? If it could help you or Artemis, I wouldn't mind."

"That is sweet of you, but I'm sure Lady Artemis would be furious if I or anyone else suggested putting a saddle on you," Robin says dryly.

You pause to think. You've seen what he was talking about: leathery things that were put on the backs of horses. You hadn't thought about them much, but you guess they're to make it more comfortable to ride. When you'd been little, you had sometimes scraped your legs a bit on your parents' scales when you weren't careful while riding them. "Why's that?" you ask. It didn't seem like that bad an idea to you.

Robin seems to ponder his words for a moment before answering. "Among humans, saddles are seen a mark of ownership of an animal. You're not an animal, so having you wear one would give the wrong impression. I get the feeling you don't want that."

"Oooohhh..." you say, nodding. Yes, that did sound bad.

Robin nods as well. "Don't worry about me," he says, sitting down across from you. "I'm no stranger to discomfort; it'll just take me a little while to get used to it. We have a job to do; we can't afford to hesitate because of me."

The two of you sit in silence for a minute before you scoot over to sit next to Robin. "So how did you and Artemis meet each other?" you ask. "She mentioned that you taught her about how to hunt. Mother was talking about starting to teach me before… well, before."

The man nods sympathetically. "My condolences," he says. "Well, Lady Artemis was always a bit of a contrary child. Her father would have much preferred her to take a more knightly path. Her mother didn't want her learning to fight at all, but as the eldest it will fall to her to lead Agrithe's armies in times of war." He chuckles. "Of course, trying to tell Lady Artemis to follow a certain path as a child simply made her want to do something else. Even after His Highness appointed Dame Selena, Sentinel watch over her, to Lady Artemis, she wanted to be different."

"And you were different?" you ask.

"I was. His Highness had just recently re-tasked me to training new recruits, and Lady Artemis took a liking to archery at around the same time. One thing led to another, and next thing I knew, she was convincing me to teach her about hunting and tracking." He smiles. "It helped that Lady Dione, having lost the argument to keep Lady Artemis from danger at all, compromised to supporting her interest in bows. That way, she would be a bit safer than the grind of a melee. Eventually, the two of them wore His Highness down and he agreed to it."

You nod. "I guess that makes sense," you say. Honestly, you don't quite get why young Artemis had wanted to not do what her parents wanted her to. You'd always been quite happy to learn what your father and mother suggested of you.

The pair of you sit in silence for a minute before you tug your bag over. Pulling out the primer Pincana had given you, you hold it up. "Sorry to bother you, but on the way back Artemis and I realized that I can't actually read human. I can only speak it because of some sort of spell Father cast, but I have to learn reading and writing the normal way. Would you…"

Robin nods. "If you wish to. I'm not the best tutor around for that particular skill, but I can help a bit if you're willing."

You nod eagerly. "Thank you!" you say. "I know Makai really well; I could show you that if you want. I'd planned on teaching Artemis first, but now I have to go help Sypha so I can't do that yet."

The act of learning is soothing. Robin focuses on the runes of Imperial Common, the ones that you are now certain are derived from Makai. You're brought back to happier days; sitting on your father's lap as he gently guides you through the runes. It's… peaceful. Truly peaceful.

An hour and a half later, you lift off again. You are making progress. You are doing good. You're going to make Father and Mother and Artemis and everyone proud!

---

As the days pass, you alternate between a relaxed and worried state of mind. On the one hand, you'd been a bit worried about being spotted, especially on clear days. You are certain that you were seen at least once, by a group of travelers walking along a road as you moved to land. Thankfully, you didn't hear any screams drifting up from them, though they were pointing. You carefully tuck your front legs up to your torso and fly on, hoping for the best.

Thankfully, nothing seems to come of this event. As you fly deeper into Legerius, Robin takes over directing you, thankfully with more success than Artemis in that last night-flight. You're getting somewhere, you're getting somewhere, even if you're starting to get a bit tired.

"Alright, set us down over there," Robin says about noon of the third day, pointing.

"Why there?" you ask as you start angling down, being sure to check for any signs of people. There didn't seem to be any, thankfully.

"We're probably looking for a decent sized group. More than the band that accosted Lady Artemis, since they expected Robert's betrayal to do the hard work for them. A group that size needs to have a sizable camp; and there are only so many places one of those can be safely set up." He points. "Thankfully, from the air, there are clues that someone experienced in tracking can spot." He sighs. "That is not to say this will be easy. I won't lie, this could take some time."

"Oh," you say as you land. "Anything I can do to help?"

Robin pauses. "How good is your sense of smell when you're in dragon form?" he asks.

You sniff the air experimentally. "Pretty good, though not as good as when I true-shift. I was able to smell so much more when I did that." Not that you'd been able to enjoy it.

"Great," Robin says. "Give me some time to check the area: if there are good signs, you'll need to get the scent so we can track it if we come across it again."

"Okay, sounds good," you say, shifting back to heart form and slumping against a tree. "I'm glad I'll be able to help, but can I take a rest first? I'm tired."

"Of course," Robin says, kneeling down to study the ground. "As I said, this will take some time."

You watch curiously as Robin works. You don't pretend that you understand most of what he's doing, only that he seems to be very careful about where he puts his feet and keeps crouching down to look at things. "What do you see?"

The man doesn't answer for a moment, gently tracing a finger across something on the ground before standing. "Someone camped here recently," he says. "There are old tracks, what looks like the remains of a fire, and some horse dung off to the side. I'd say they left about a week ago."

"Could it be the bandits?" you ask hopefully.

"Unlikely, I'm afraid," he says. "At most, I'd say there were three people here, not nearly enough. From the footprints, I'd also say they were all wearing armor." He looks around. "In fact… I would say it's most likely that these were some of Countess Mantrae's people."

You frown. "I thought she and the bandits were working together?" you say.

"Not by her choice," Robin reminds you. "And only a fool would trust bandits completely, even if they had the temperament to. If she could get her daughter back without doing what they want, I'm sure she'd do it in a heartbeat."

You nod, that makes sense. Your glad that someone else agrees that she's not a bad person, just forced into a bad situation. "So is there anything you need me to sniff here?" you ask.

After a long minute of looking around, Robin shakes his head. "I don't think so," he says. "There's not nearly enough signs of habitation that they were on the right track: this group found nothing." Standing, he moves to sit next to you. "Take a breather, Ryza, and then let's get back in the air."

As you practice sketching Common runes in the dirt, your mind wanders. "Robin… do you think we're going to find Sypha?" you ask worriedly. "Archduke Letoro said that the bad people might have already taken her away…"

Robin pats you on the head. "Don't lose hope, child," he says. "This was just the first stop; it would have had to be an act of the Sentinel if we found the trail here. We're moving faster than anyone could possibly expect: my guess is they'll slow down once their back in the Empire, where they feel safer. Once we get the trail, we'll get 'em."

"Okay," you say. "I hope you're right. She must be really scared."

The man smiles. "Well, then it's a good thing she's got a dragon coming to get her."

"Manakete!" you huff, folding your arms.

For some reason, this makes Robin smile more. "Manakete, of course."

---

It takes two days. Two days of moving from potential site to potential site. Sometimes by wing, sometimes on foot, you and Robin scan the wilderness between Castle Legerius and the Empire. Even with your new, lighter movement, you start to feel like you're constantly tired, like too little blanket stretched over too much body. You don't think it's reaching dangerous levels yet, but you can't know since you don't have your scroll and you're grumpy.

"Find anything?" you ask darkly as you sit against yet another stupid tree. Robin doesn't answer, so with a huff you lean back and look around, breaking the twig you'd been fiddling with in your fingers."Who cares about stupid human language."
It's much bigger than most of the places you've seen. You wouldn't even call it a clearing, more like a small plain. You wouldn't think anyone would camp here if they wanted to be safe, they were clearly visible from several hills, but Robin had insisted that you check here. Sometimes, you wonder if he actually knows what he's doing. You shake your head; that's unkind. Artemis trusts him; that should be good enough for you.

'Of course, she's not out here working her tail off on no sleep,' a voice says nastily in the back of your mind.

'Her father wouldn't let her,' you say back to your brain.

'How very convenient for her.'

'She wouldn't lie to me!'

'How do you know that?'

Before you can keep arguing with yourself, you're shaken out of your dark thoughts by Robin kneeling in front of you. "Ryza? Are you well?"

You force yourself to nod as the sulky part of you retreats from your consciousness. "Yes, just tired," you say, making a show of stretching. "Have we found anything?"

Robin studies you worriedly. "Are you sure? You seem tense."

"I'm fine," you say immediately. "Did we find anything?"

Robin looks like he wants to keep arguing, but after a moment he sighs and nods. "We have, though there's good news and bad news." He offers you a hand. "I'd like to show you something, maybe you can make something of it." Curious, you let him help you to your feet and lead you over to the spot he'd been studying.

As you walk, he explains. "I could be wrong, but I believe that this is where the exchange was meant to take place. There are a lot of hoof marks on that side, towards Castle Legerius, and a bunch of boot-marks on the other side. Recent, too. No more than a few days ago. Between those two clusters: almost nothing." He nods at the ground as he comes to a halt. "What do you think?"

Biting back a moody comment about you now having to do his job for him, you look at what he's pointing at. A moment later, you pale. "Those… those are claw marks," you say, pointing. "Just like mine…"

"I thought so, but I wanted to get your opinion," Robin says grimly. "The good news is I don't think they're exactly like yours: they're narrower, and there only seem to be two sets of them." He takes a few steps away. "And right here… I think someone died to fiery breath. Put together, that means that there's probably a wyvern rider among the bandits. Which means this is almost certainly organized by someone powerful in the Empire."

"Why's that?" you ask, kneeling down to study the scorched earth Robin had pointed out. As you look, you see glinting droplets of metal, and your nose catches the faint scent of burned flesh, just like when you'd let loose on those two men who had taken Artemis prisoner. Gagging slightly, you stand up and back away. That was not a good memory.

Robin gently guides you away from the spot, towards where the bandits had been standing. "Wyvern riders are rare. Aside from a few exceptions, only Imperial knights and nobility are able to afford the price of acquiring and feeding one." He looks around. "Even those exceptions usually have a close relationship with the Empire. If I had to guess, we're looking at mercenaries, hired by an Imperial noble to stir up trouble, and using the local banditry as disposable pawns."

You flinch. "Why would they do that?" you ask. "Why…"

"The Empire has never liked it when people have no longer wanted to be ruled by them. Most still consider all of humanity as their rightful dominion." Robin frowns. "I cannot say their exact plan, but that is the only idea I can think of."

That all sounded very bad. Shaken out of your dark mood, you grip his hand. "What do we do?" you ask nervously.

"There is some good news," Robin says with a slight smile. "I believe someone in the bandits is leaving clues behind, probably an agent Countess Mantrae was able to slip in." He nods to something in the dirt. "That was etched: not visible unless you either knew to look for it or are very observant. Thankfully, I was able to spot it."

Crouching down, you cock your head as you see an arrow that's been scratched into the ground among the boot marks. "Could it be Sypha?"

"Possibly," Robin says. "Which means we have a clue to follow." He pauses and looks down at you. "Ryza… are you sure you're alright? You've been getting more and more tense as we've traveled. You don't seem to enjoy learning to write as much and… sometimes I worry about you."

You start to open your mouth to insist you were fine, but you pause. "I'm… tired," you say finally. "Very tired. Half-shifting is not meant to be used this much in quick succession: I think I might be starting to come up against the limits of it."

Robin considers you for a few moments before kneeling down to eye level with you. "Do you think you can keep going?" he asks. "I know that rescuing Lady Sypha is important, but it should not come at the cost of destroying you. Lady Artemis wouldn't want that."

"I know," you say. "But Sypha needs us. If we can't get her back, then there will be nothing to prevent fighting between Legerius and Agrithe, and I don't want that. There are nice people in both castles, and I don't want any of them getting hurt!"

Robin smiles slightly. "You have a good heart, Ryza, but it is alright for you to think of yourself too."

"I am!" you say. "I don't want anyone getting hurt!"

After a moment, the man nods. "Alright, so we continue," he says. "The only question now is how we go about it." He leans back. "The way I see it, we have three options. First, we continue as we are: going as fast as we can. This will almost certainly allow us to catch up: the mercenaries with Lady Sypha are not that far ahead of us. Even if they have a wyvern, most of them are on foot. We will catch them."

You nod. "That's- "

"Ah ah ah, I'm not finished yet," Robin says, raising a finger. You immediately close your mouth. "Doing this will also continue to exhaust you, which sounds even worse than human tiredness." You're forced to nod, that does sound true. "Our second option is to go more slowly. This will give you time to rest, which will hopefully take some of the strain off of you. This means that they'll get further ahead, but we should still be able to catch up. This will draw out the quest, but it could be worth it for your health."

"And the third option?" you ask after thinking about it for a moment.

Robin pauses. "I… only mention this because I worry about you, and because I heard Lady Artemis when she said that she wanted your safety to be your primary objective. If the bandits have a wyvern knight, then they are dangerous. We might be able to defeat the wyvern if we take them by surprise, but it will be dangerous." He nods towards your bag. "However, you did have the idea to bring extra money. It's possible we could hire some help of our own. We'd never be able to afford whatever price it would take to buy off the mercenaries, but we could hire some local reinforcements. This would also give you time to rest and recover." He pauses. "However, this would slow us down a lot. It would also make us easier to detect. Finally, we would have to give them some information about you. Enough that they are willing to go along with a plan that involves fighting a wyvern. Mercenaries are not suicidal, after all."

As he finishes speaking, you pause to consider the best option.

[] Push on. You want to get this done with, and the longer Sypha remains in these people's hands, the worse things will get. Besides, then you can get out of here and go back to Artemis before something bad happens to her again.

[] Go more slowly. You don't feel so good. You want to help, but Artemis wants you to be safe, and you know Father and Mother would want the same. Sypha can hold on for a little while longer, surely.

[] Go hire some help. Having more friends sounds like a nice idea, especially if you're thinking that you're going to have to maybe have to fight an adult wyvern in the not-to-distant future. That doesn't sound fun at all, even knowing they're weak to Yellow magic.

 

[SoaringHawk218]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[X] Go more slowly. You don't feel so good. You want to help, but Artemis wants you to be safe, and you know Father and Mother would want the same. Sypha can hold on for a little while longer, surely.

"Thank you, Commander, for so thoroughly and brutally dispatching my enemies. But now, I'm afraid, you have outlived your usefulness."
-Imperial Duke Cherdekar to Sky-Commander Seryph


You spend a moment thinking about it. You quickly discard the idea of pushing on as you were. You don't feel good, and you're worried that if things get worse dragon-you will become upset enough that she might do something rash. Not only would that hurt you, but you could end up hurting Robin or Sypha, and that is an unacceptable outcome.

As for Robin's other suggestion… you don't really want to bring more people into this if you don't have to. Robin and Phoebe and Kopoi are different: Artemis at least vouches for them. A bunch of unknown strangers? Strangers who you'd ask to fight and maybe die for you? You shiver, you don't want that.

That leaves only one option. "Can we go more slowly?" you ask.

Robin nods. "Of course," he says. "We were already going to need to slow down a bit so I could continue tracking them. I had planned to ask you to make short jumps as a dragon, but we can also walk for a while. Will that be better for you?"

You nod. "It should be," you say. "I can go pretty far if I use my wings when my legs get tired, so hopefully I won't slow you down too much."

He frowns. "That won't make your condition worse, will it?" he asks.

"No, no, my wings are part of my heart form," you say, extending them. "It's only when I half-shift that I'm tapping into dragon-me, which I'm pretty sure is what's causing my issue. That's not something manakete are supposed to overuse, after all."

Robin nods slowly. "I suppose you know yourself best," he says. "Well, if you're ready, we should get going. We've still got a lot of work to do."

You push down the irritated hiss that tries to force its way out of your mouth as you nod. "Okay," you say. "Lead on. I'm right behind you."

It's an odd feeling, going back to walking. You're reminded of when you and Artemis were just getting started: how new and big the world seemed. Now… well, hopefully at least some of it is just the lingering sulkiness of your dragon-self being in a bad mood with you. You hope that you're not already becoming jaded to the outside world: there's still so much to see and do.

As you walk, Robin repeatedly pauses to study the area. "They were still being careful as they traveled," he murmurs. "Not surprising, since they are still in Legerius. Even holding the countess's daughter, they don't want to invite a battle…"

"So what do you think happened back there?" you ask.

Robin considers for a moment before answering. "I can't be certain, but if I had to guess, Countess Mantrae tried to carry out the trade even if she didn't have Lady Artemis. No idea how she pulled it off, but it seems the mercs were prepared to pretend they were going for it. Trade happens, Mantrae gives over whoever was standing in for Lady Artemis, and while Lady Sypha's on her way back, the wyvern drops on her from above. There was plenty of cloud cover this way for the last few days."

Your mouth moves silently for a moment as the scene plays behind your eyes. Mantrae standing on the hill, her heart in her throat as she watches her daughter coming back to her, maybe even rushing forward to hug her as your mother would have done for you. Then, all that joy and hope turning to ash in her mouth as the bandits steal Sypha away again… "That's just cruel," you whisper. "That's…."

Robin nods. "I can't be sure that's what actually happened, of course," he says. "But it fits the evidence."

A swell of anger, unrelated to your general annoyance with everything, causes you to grind your teeth. How could these people do this? How could they look at themselves in the mirror after taking a little girl from her mother? Not because of anything either of them had done to them, but just to get money. How could anyone do that?!

'You are.'

You freeze in place as that thought surfaces. That's not true. Well, you guess you are going to be taking Sypha back to Agrithe rather than back home...

'Does she want to go there?'

'Well, no, but…'

A sense of bitter malcontent fills you, and you get to thinking. You're sure that Sypha'll be so happy and grateful when you first rescue her, first get her away from the horrible people who have taken her. Then she'll realize that she doesn't recognize anything, that the trip's taking far too long. That look of hope and joy will start to fade as she realizes that you're not taking her home, you're just the latest of her kidnappers…

"Ryza?"

Jerking out of your thoughts, you look up at Robin, who's come back and is standing in front of you with a concerned expression. "Yes?"

He crouches down, studying you. "You are still unhappy," he says. It's not a question.

You lower your eyes guiltily. "It's just… are we really doing the right thing, taking Sypha back to Agrithe? With everything she's been through, wouldn't it be kinder to just take her home, so she can see her mother again?"

Sighing, Robin puts his hands on your shoulders. "I understand your hesitation," he says. "But it's the best thing for the long term. Countess Mantrae needs to understand that, while Agrithe will help her in times of need, we need to know when there is trouble. She also needs to understand that, if she strikes at any member of House Cartese, there will be a response. However, this is a warning, not a punishment. Certainly not a punishment for Lady Sypha."

"It still seems wrong," you say. "Children… children are precious. They shouldn't be hurt, shouldn't be taken from their families."

Robin seems to consider his words. "Is that the way all manakete saw it, or just your family?" he asks.

You bristle. "No decent manakete would ever hurt a youngling!" you snap.

'They are mad, all of them mad!'

As you try to purge the echoes of your father's voice from your mind, Robin nods. "And the Archduke will not hurt Lady Sypha, or allow her to come to harm," he says. "She will be returned to her family; he gave his word on that, did he not?"

"I guess…" you say.

"Then it will be done. Archduke Letoro Cartese does not go back on his word. Ever." He squeezes your shoulders. "You have a good heart, Ryza, and a kind soul. But sometimes, the firm hand of justice is required to ensure that people do not take advantage of kindness. The trick is learning how to balance kindness and justice. Only then can there be respect, and only through respect can conflict be averted."

"Okay," you say, kicking at the ground.

Robin considers you for a moment. "If you have any more concerns, Ryza, feel free to bring them up," he says. "You are here by choice: any potential issues should be be talked out rather than left to fester."

"…Thank you, but I just need some time to think," you say. "We should focus on getting Sypha away from the people who have her, we know they're bad."

"That we do," Robin says, standing, "that we do. Come on, we're making good progress."

As the two of you continue on, Robin speaks up in a more casual voice. "So what were manakete families like? I'm guessing children were pretty rare, if they were considered absolutely off-limits."

Over the next few hours, as you answer Robin's questions about manakete culture and traditions, you find yourself calming down. It's nice to be able to relax a bit, to remind yourself that you're more than just a flying half-shifting mount. You are a manakete, the heir of a tradition more ancient than any other you've seen.

You are Ryza. You are Yellow and lightning and magic, and you are going to make sure none of your friends or their friends get hurt.

---

The next day, as you are flying a few feet above the ground to give your tired legs a chance to rest, Robin holds up a hand. "Land for a moment," he whispers sharply.

Dropping instantly to the earth, you take cover behind a nearby tree. "What is it, what do you see?" you whisper back.

"Up ahead, do you see those mounds?" Robin asks.

Peering forward, you nod. "Yeah, I do," you say. "Why?"

"Those aren't natural. They don't match the terrain at all. Someone made those." He pushes you back behind the tree. "Stay here, Ryza, I'll check it out." Not waiting to see if you obey, he carefully sidles over, staying low and fingering the string of his drawn bow as he does.

Not interested in getting closer to the strange mounds that seem to have Robin nervous, you shuffle behind the tree, only to freeze as your boot connects with something hard buried in the dirt. Looking down, you realize that you'd dislodged a dagger. Curious, you kneel down and tug it out, marveling at the odd, claw-like protrusion on the end of the handle.

It takes you a moment to notice the ugly red-brown stain on the broken blade. Bringing it to your nose, you take a sniff.

Blood. That smells like blood. Relatively fresh blood.

Recoiling with a yelp, you drop the dagger. Thankfully, you're able to avoid stabbing yourself in the foot.

"Ryza, are you alright?"

Shaking, you nod. "Yes, yes I'm fine," you say, looking up at Robin, who had turned back to look at you. "I found something, take a look at this!" Gingerly picking up the dagger between two fingers and holding it as far away from your body as you can, you hurry over to Robin. "It was behind the tree."

Robin nods, carefully taking the offered weapon. "Interesting…" he murmurs. "Very interesting…" He looks around. "I don't think anyone's here; they would have reacted by now," he says more calmly.

"What's interesting?" you ask worriedly. "And what's going on with these mounds?"

Robin glances back at them with a grimace. "Well, the blood on this dagger answers how some of these poor sods died," he says.

Blinking, you glance down. "What do you mea…n…" you ask, only to realize that something is sticking out of a disturbed area in one of the mounds.

A hand.

A human hand.

Fighting the urge to scream, you stumble away. "What… what is this?!" you gasp.

Robin sighs. "Unless I am much mistaken, Ryza, this is a mass grave," he says. "I see a few signs that look like a camp over that way, but it looks like a lot of people died here and were hurriedly buried."

You feel sick. "How… how many?" you whimper.

"I don't know," Robin says grimly. "At least a few dozen, but I don't know, and I don't think either of us are interested in digging them up to find out." You rapidly shake your head, backing away from the sickly smell that you're just starting to notice.

"Who did this?" you ask.

"The mercenaries that we're hunting," Robin says, crouching down to study something in the dirt near the hand (you refuse to look closer to find out what.) "And thanks to your sharp eye, I'm pretty sure I know who they are now." He glances at you with a forced smile. "I know you're not happy, Ryza, but that dagger was a big help."

"Who?!"

Holding up the dagger, Robin taps the claw on the end. "This dagger is a Shrieking Talon dagger, they're very distinctive" he says. "They're the premiere mercenary troop in the Empire, and they are known to have wyvern riders among them." He tosses the weapon to himself thoughtfully. "I'm a bit surprised they left this behind; though I suppose if it broke its owner might have decided it's worthless. Good for us, I suppose."

Sinking down, you watch as Robin continues his work. "Why would they do this?" you ask.

Robin hums slightly as he scratches at something else. "Well, the Shrieking Talons are either the second or third largest mercenary group in the world, depending on how you count," he says. "But the interesting thing about them is that they are broken up into a lot of smaller chapters rather than sticking together as one big army. Each group is well-trained, but usually not too large, fifty to a hundred members." Standing, he studies something he'd picked up before moving to sit next to you. "That explains why they co-oped the local bandits: they tend to take on local auxiliaries during a job to bolster their numbers. If I have to guess, these are the bandits. The Talons must have decided they'd outlived their usefulness."

Hugging yourself, you look away. You'd known these people were bad, but this… "Why… How could…"

Robin gently pats you on the shoulder. "I am not justifying what they've done, but remember that these were bandits," he says. "They were not good people before they joined, and they were instrumental in the kidnapping of Lady Sypha and the attempted kidnapping of Lady Artemis." He looks around, frowning. "That being said… this is unusual behavior for the Talons. They have a reputation for being generous to their auxiliaries, this… they must have been trying to hide something."

"Maybe the fact that they took Sypha?" you ask.

"Possible…" Robin says. "But people are going to figure that out eventually. The Talons are powerful enough to have some protection from retribution, especially in the Empire. They have a close relationship with the Empire's nobility. No, they wanted to hide something else…" His frown deepens for a moment before he shakes his head. "We'll get more answers when we find them. The good news is that, if they're letting their auxiliaries go, then they consider the job over. They probably decided to cut their losses when Countess Mantrae was unable to turn over Lady Artemis." He gestures. "We're almost at the border of the Empire; they must think that nobody is going to chase them across it."

You perk up a bit. "Good thing I brought a map, then," you say, pulling the map Artemis had found you out of your bag.

Robin nods, grinning. "You really came prepared, didn't you," he says.

"Of course!" you say. "Artemis needs me to get this done, and I needed every tool I could get!"

"Excellent," Robin says. "We should check the camp; I've seen a few signs that make me curious."

You cock your head. "Like what?" you ask.

Standing, Robin helps you to your feet before leading you towards the camp area he'd pointed out. "Well, I've been seeing the signs left behind by our potential informant," he says. "But I've also been seeing a few signs that someone else is following them. I didn't dig at the mass grave, but someone else was. If I had to guess, the Countess has a few people following the trail as well." He pauses as he looks around the camp remnants. "What I'm curious about is why the Talons are tolerating it. They have a wyvern; that gives them excellent counter-reconnaissance…"

"Maybe it's a small enough group that they're able to hide," you say. "I mean, I'm not sure I'd be able to see you if you were trying really hard to not let me when I was way up in the sky, and a dragon-form's senses are better than a wyvern's. It is possible to hide from us."

"True, true," Robin says. "But it would still be something they'd be looking out for." You don't have an answer to that, so you simply shrug.

You spend a few minutes poking around the camp. It's clear that this had been here for a while; even you can tell that. From what Robin says, this was probably their main base camp, while the other, smaller camps were ones that groups of these Talons set up as they traveled. You don't find many new clues, but you can tell that the mercenaries did, in fact, go back towards the Empire.

As you follow in their tracks, you look up at Robin. "Should we try to find Mantrae's people?" you ask. "I mean; we want the same thing…"

"To an extent," Robin cautions. "However, she might have orders out for her people to kill or capture you if they spot you, as you were the one who rescued Lady Artemis and ruined her plan. This group might or might not follow those orders." Your face falls, and Robin signs. "We'll see how things look when we find the Talons. If we think we need the help, we'll talk about it again. Maybe we can come to an agreement with them."

You hope so. You don't want to be enemies with too many people.

---

It's the better part of two more days of walking before you find anything. As you move, the signs of the Shrieking Talons' trail become clearer. When asked, Robin says that it's because they've stopped trying to cover their tracks. "They consider themselves safe now," he explains, "and as such don't feel the need to be cautions."

The memory of the massacre these people perpetrated, even if it was against bad people, makes your blood boil at the thought of them getting to feel cocky. You intend to make them regret all the evil things they've done.

In general, however, you start to feel a lot better. The dark mood that had been hanging over you for days begins to fade, leaving you once again able to mostly enjoy life. Of course, you're still stressed and tired in a way you've never been in your life before this, but it's an understandable stress and tiredness, not the lurking cloud of an overworked half-shifted dragon-form. Several times, you wish that you'd brought The Dragon Within along so that you could check to find out what was going on with you and if there are ways around it, but then Robin points out something on the map and you're reminded that you brought the tools you need, not the toys you want. You're a big girl, you can be patient.

Finally, however, Robin tells you to stop flying again. "We're almost at the village of Glenhaven," he says quietly. "Local shepherds are probably nearby; we need to blend in. If anyone asks, you are my daughter, Gwyn, and I'm Hood, an itinerant salesman from the Northlands Duchy."

You cock your head. "Why not just use our names?" you ask.

Robin smiles. "You're too honest for your own good sometimes," he says. "We don't know how much the Talons know; it's possible they've heard your name in connection to Countess Mantrae or Lady Artemis. No need to invite problems that we don't need to invite, Gwyn. As for mine, well, in for a chicken, in for a hog." You nod, you suppose that makes sense.

An hour or so later, the two of you start to crest a line of hills, only for Robin to stop you. "Careful; silhouetting yourself against the sky is a great way to be seen," he says. "Let's peek over and see what we're dealing with, easy does it."

"Okay," you say, crouching down. With a nod, Robin peeks over first, and after a moment waves you up to join him.

Laid out below the pair of you, in a small river valley, is a town a bit bigger than Miau. Without the trees around that Legerian village, you can clearly see the crowds of people moving to and fro. The buildings look much the same; mostly small, wooden and with thatched roofs. A few bigger, stone buildings, but nothing like the castles of Legerius and Agrithe.

"Surprising number of people around," Robin mutters to himself, pulling an odd tube out of his bag and raising it to his eye. "Would have thought small-town folk would be warier with an armed company nearby."

"Maybe they're from here?" you say. "And what's that you've got?"

"It's called a spyglass. The Republics invented them for use on ships, but if you have the money to get one, anyone can use it if they want to get a closer look at something in the distance." As he says this, Robin continues scanning the village. "The Talons are here," he says after a moment. "Look, on the other side of town."

Frowning, you peer into the distance. It takes you a moment to realize what he's talking about: there's enough tents set up on the hill overlooking the village to almost be a second village. "Are they… living here now?" you ask.

"Probably not for too long," Robin says. "But if I had to guess, they're taking time to rest and recuperate after their time in Legerius." He lowers the spyglass, frowning thoughtfully. "They spent weeks, if not months, in hostile territory. That can wear on anyone, even professionals. Their commanders have probably given the men bonuses and a few days off to settle them down. As for the villagers… well, this is the Empire. The Talons will be viewed more favorably. They also represent a fair influx of coin and news that a village like this probably would be interested in." He points. "The town market is certainly booming, and there's a steady stream of people going to fro."

The pair of you ponder in silence for a minute before you glance at him. "So what do we do now?" you ask.

"That… depends," Robin says. "We don't know if they still have Lady Sypha, but there are enough guards posted around the camp that I think they do. They're still wary, even in relaxation. I also don't see the wyvern around, though that could mean several things. They could be off delivering a message, or hunting, or just being kept deeper in the camp." Raising his spyglass again, he looks around. "We need to make a plan. Normally, I would recommend waiting until nightfall and trying to slip in when they're not ready. I'd never be able to face them in a stand-up fight, and I'm not sure you could either. However, you know your capabilities better than I do. Let's figure out how to best use your talents."

After some discussion, you and Robin come up with a plan of action.


[] Enter Glenhaven and gather information. If the Shrieking Talons have been here for a while, then the locals probably know some useful things that could help you out. This will almost certainly bring you into contact with members of the Talons, but that might just be more sources of information.

[] Try to find Mantrae's people; they're probably nearby. As much as Robin doesn't like it, he agrees that it will be useful to have some backup. Besides, the Countess's agents will have been here longer; they might have a plan of their own that you can help with.

[] Attack the camp yourselves. Trying to overcomplicate the plan is too much of a risk, and the longer you wait the more time for things to go wrong. The enemy is in sight, finish your task so you can go home. (Begin Combat Planning round)
-[] During the day: A lot of the Talons are in town, enjoying themselves. If you engage fast enough, you can push through the guards left behind before the others can get back. Besides, nobody would expect an attack like this in broad daylight.
-[] Wait until nightfall. Not only will this mean that some of the Talons will be asleep, but you'll have time to observe the camp and maybe figure out where Sypha is before you go in. They will be more likely to expect an attack at this time.

[] Write-in

 

[SoaringHawk218]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[X] Slip into Glenhaven and find out more information. If the Shrieking Talons have been here for a while, then the locals probably know some useful things that could help you out. This will almost certainly bring you into contact with members of the Talons, but that might just be more sources of information.

"You're both nuts. This whole plan is nuts. It can't work. I am totally in!"
-Wyvern Lord Mycelus, The First Emperor


While you could just try to fly in and rescue Sypha, Robin points out that you're not dealing with bandits anymore. Apparently, these Shrieking Talons are kind of a big deal. Not only would just rushing in put you at risk if they had someone unexpectedly dangerous, but if anything went wrong Sypha might get hurt. That was unacceptable, and so you had to come up with a better idea.

In the end, the answer is surprisingly simple. With so many strangers already around, the villagers are unlikely to take too much notice of another pair. Meanwhile, the Talons are unlikely to pay too much attention to every single person they come across, especially since Robin's observations indicate they're mostly at ease. You have to agree: you can hear the faint sounds of laughter drifting from the town.

"Remember, if anyone asks, your name is Gwyn, and you're from Aslockton in the Northern Duchy," Robin says as the two of you circle towards the path into town. "But that's only if people ask. We're here to listen and learn, best not to draw attention to ourselves."

"What sorts of things should I be listening for?" you ask.

"Anything about the Talons," Robin says. "They probably won't be careless enough to say anything about Lady Sypha, but any clues we can get will be useful. We should also pay attention to see if we can spot any of Mantrae's people."

You frown. "How would we tell who they are?" you ask.

"If they're still around, then it won't be easy," Robin admits. "It's even possible they've already done their scouting of the town. They may have even decided the risk wasn't worth it. Still, no reason not to keep our eyes open. They'll probably be like us, either alone or a pair of people that seem to be moving around more than they really need to, talking to people. If they have weapons, they'll be covered up, just like mine."

You glance up at him. "About that… are you sure that just putting the bow in a tube will hide it?" you ask. True, it isn't as noticeable as it isn't as shiny, but still…

Robin nods. "It's not meant to be hidden. It's not unusual for travelers to have a means of defending themselves. In fact, people would be more suspicious if I didn't have a weapon of some sort." He taps the tube. "This is so people don't feel threatened by it, and so they don't realize it's a silver bow. That would be very hard to explain."

Before you can ask, you notice a pair of people walking up the path towards you. They look like locals: neither have weapons and one has a long, curved stick. Still, you force yourself into the role of Gwyn, mild-mannered human girl far from home. Not that different than yourself, but different enough that you felt it warranted to move so that your 'father' was between yourself and the strangers.

Thankfully, neither local seemed to pay you much mind, simply giving a respectful nod as they and you passed each other. Robin pats you on the shoulder comfortingly as you enter Glenhaven.

The town, while seemingly only a bit larger than Miau, is packed. Everywhere you look, there are people walking, talking, arguing, and countless other -ings that you don't have words for. There seems to be an almost even split of locals, marked by their rough-spun cloths, and armed and armored Talons. Surprisingly, you don't get the feeling that the locals are intimidated by the large number of strangers. Maybe they'd just gotten used to them?

Thankfully, it seems that Robin is right. Nobody gives the pair of you a second glance as you make your way towards the market. In fact, other than a few casual nods, nobody reacts to you at all. Looking around, you realize that a lot of the stalls seem to have been hastily set up rather than being permeant fixtures. Seeing your confused look, Robin speaks softly. "When there's a large number of travelers, locals will try to sell anything they can to them. The Talons, meanwhile, are probably eager to get something other than the field rations they've been subsisting on for who knows how long. It's a win-win." He looks around. "Though by the looks of it, everything's slowing down. They'll need to move out soon before Glenhaven runs out of supplies."

"So what do we do now?" you whisper.

Robin looks around, frowning. "We've been traveling for a while, so we'll need some supplies of our own," he murmurs. You start to open your mouth to say that no, you're both doing pretty well, but then you remember you're supposed to be from the Northern Duchy, which must be a lot farther away, and so you shut your mouth. "Follow me, but keep your ears open. I'll focus on the seller: don't interact with anyone unless they do it first. Just listen: your ears are better than most."

You nod. "Yes, I will," you say.

"Good girl," Robin says, ruffling your hair before making his way through the crowd, seemingly looking for someone who still had goods. After a minute, during which you sadly don't pick anything useful out of the babble, he stops in front of one of the stalls tucked off to the side. "Good day to you," he says. You frown, his voice… sounds a bit different. Not like Kopoi's, which was indistinguishable from the Archdukes, but it's clear Robin is making himself sound a specific way. You resolve to keep your mouth shut: you don't know if you can emulate him.

"To you as well," the man at the stall says cheerfully. "Haven't seen you around before."

"Just got into town," Robin says. "I'm just hoping there's something left, what with this lot around,"

The man laughs. "We're not that bad off yet," he says. "These Talon's boss-lady made it clear to the townmaster that there was a limit to how much she was letting her boys get: doesn't want to eat us all out of house and home. Good woman, her." You force a frown off your face, you don't think she's a good woman.

"Glad to hear it," Robin says casually. "I've seen the results when a mercenary company doesn't have someone keeping a firm hand on them: it's not pretty."

"Spirits be praised that the Talons have honor," the seller says. "So what can I get for you?"

As Robin begins to barter, you play the role of a bored child and look around. The crowd continues to swirl, babbling over each other. Frowning, you close your eyes for a moment to refocus yourself before looking for anyone interesting.

There! A pair of Talons, one carrying a long, slim sword on her waist and the other with a bow slung over his back, are walking slowly, seemingly arguing with each other. You focus your ears and try to listen in.

"-the point of even having guards, then?" the man is grumbling.

"Come on, James," the woman says. "You don't really think they're going to cause any problems, do you?"

The man, James, kicks the ground. "Is the principle of the matter, Jessie," he insists. "If we're going to have a secure camp, we should keep the riff-raff out. It just makes sense, but most of the guards aren't even bothering with-"

"They're just kids, James," Jessie says, rolling her eyes. "They're just little kids who are curious.They may never see a full Talon chapter again. They're almost certainly never going to go more than a few miles from this town of theirs in their lives. Let them have their fun and run around the camp a bit." She lowers her voice, but thankfully she's come close enough that you can still hear. "Besides, we have more stringent guards on the… sensitive, parts of the camp. Who cares if they explore a bit: even if they were to spot something, what could they do about it?"

James grumbles again. "I still think we should kick them all out."

"Which is why Ubel kicked you out to have some fun for once in your life!" Jessie says, throwing her arm around James's shoulder. "Come on, we've got this job in the bag, live a little! There's this nice little place on the other side of town where they put honey on apples, it's to die for!" James tries to argue, but Jessie drags him away before you can hear more.

As you start to consider what you'd heard, you realize that Robin and the man at the stall had stopped talking. Glancing over your shoulder, you realize they're both looking at you. "Ah!" you say. "Sorry, sorry, what?"

Robin laughs. "Ah, just like her mother, Sentinel watch over her," he says. "Sweet child, but head in the clouds." You force the annoyance off your face: Mother would have been very cross to be described that way.

The seller chuckles. "Ay, but at least she's obedient enough to stay put," he says. "I have no idea where my boy wandered off to. Probably going up to try and play merc in the camp with his friends."

Your mind flicks back to what you'd heard the two Talons saying. "So children are allowed to just… go up there?" you ask.

The man immediately wags his finger at you. "Now don't you go wandering off, girl, not after your father was just getting through saying what an obedient little light spirit you are," he says. "Just because the Talons are being loose with kids now doesn't mean that their patience is unlimited. I'm gonna be giving my Liam a stern talking to when he gets back."

"My thoughts exactly," Robin says, putting an arm around your shoulder and pulling you close. "You stay right next to me, Gwyn, you hear?"

You lower your head in contrition. "Yes… Father," you say, reminding yourself of your fake relationship. It's almost painful, to use that word for someone else than your real father, but you have to do it.

Thankfully, it seems the man doesn't notice the slight pause. "Well, a pleasure doing business with you," he says to Robin, smiling. "Spirits be with you."

"And also with you," Robin says, leading you away.

As you slip back into the crowd, Robin looks around. "Nothing too unexpected," he says seemingly casually, but you get the feeling he's trying to tell you something. "Not much new, either."

It takes you a moment to figure out what he's saying: he doesn't seem to have learned anything new. "The children here seem pretty bold," you say carefully. "And very curious. The Talons do really seem to tolerate it."

Robin nods slowly. "Interesting," he says.

The pair of you walk through the market for a while. You're not quite sure what Robin's looking for, and you're not going to ask in the middle of the crowd. Thankfully, it seems that Robin knows what he's doing, as a minute later you're once again at a small, out-of-the-way stall, waiting as Robin negotiates with the owner.

This time, you pick up on something interesting very quickly. Not far from where your standing, a big, bulky Talon is drinking an odd-smelling liquid from a wooden mug, laughing as a local woman who only looks a little older than Artemis leans against him. Flushing slightly, you force yourself to pay attention. The man seems… almost unsteady, and is talking quite freely.

"And that's how I fought off a dozen bandits!" the man says, his voice slightly slurred.

The woman titters, running a finger along the man's shoulder. "So bold," she says in a sickly simpering voice that causes your skin to crawl. What's she playing at?

The man grins. "Well, you've got to be to be a Talon," he says. "After all, we live in close proximity to the most powerful and dangerous of all predators constantly!"

"Oh, undoubtedly," the woman says, shuddering theatrically. "I very nearly fainted when that wyvern flew overhead the first time! It was as if some dragon had risen from myth to destroy us!"

You can't keep yourself from slumping. Did humans really think so little of your people? Were you truly nothing more than monsters to be afraid of?

Meanwhile, the man gestures with his mug, sloshing some of the sickly-looking brown liquid out. "Ah, to be honest the overgrown lizard isn't that bad," he says. "So long as nobody tries to take his food, he's content to sleep most of the time, and even if he gets frisky Commander Rachel'll keep him in check." He grumbles. "No, it's the arrogant mage that you've got to worry about. Thinks that just because he went to some fancy school and learned to make breezes that he's better than everyone else. At least the commander has to put in the work to keep her lizard listening to her."

Your blood chills. The Talons have a mage? Worse, they have a Green mage? Green magic is inherently effective against your own Yellow magic. If it does come to a fight, you'll have to be careful. Trying to be subtle, you edge away from Robin, hoping to get more clues about this mystery mage.

Unfortunately, the Talon seems to have gotten distracted by the woman he's with and is now hugging her to his side and slurring through another story that seems to involve an inordinate amount of blood and killing bandits. Curling your lip, you start turning back towards Robin: no matter what you think of an enemy, you don't see yourself ever taking pleasure in that amount of death.

As you start back, however, you find yourself in a position to look between two buildings and notice something interesting. A group of three boys, looking like they were a decade or two older than you but who knows how old they really are, are crouched in a circle, scratching in the dirt with a stick and whispering to each other. There's nobody else around, and in fact it seems the boys have made themselves as hard to spot as possible.

You're not sure what draws your attention to them. There's a hundred and one things that these boys could be talking about. However, the memory of James's complaints about children in the camp makes you pause. Maybe these boys know something important? You take a quick glance at Robin. He and the stall-keeper are still deep in discussion, and neither seem to be paying much attention to you. You could wait to ask him if it was okay or even just let him know what you're doing, but you don't know how long the boys are going to be there.

Slowly at first, and then more quickly as nobody tells you to stop, you slip away from Robin and towards the boys. As you approach, you perk your ears to listen to them.

"Do you really think this is going to work?" the smallest of the boys asks nervously. "We could get in a lot of trouble…"

"Come on, don't be such a chicken!" the biggest boy says, thwapping the smaller boy on the shoulder with his stick. "Aren't you curious?"

The smaller boy rubs his shoulder, glaring at the bigger one. "I'm no chicken!" he insists. "It's just-"

"Oi, simmer down!" the middle boy says, grabbing at the biggest boy's stick. "We need to work together if we're going to pull this off, no fighting each other!"

Crouching down next to the boys, you look at the scratching in the dirt. It looks like some sort of crude map. "What's this and why are we whispering?" you ask.

"Gah!" all three boys stumble away from you. "Where did you come from?!" the smallest boy gasps.

You raise your hands in a placating gesture. "I was just curious!" you say quickly. "My name's R- Gwyn. What are your names?" You give them a hopefully charming smile.

The three boys look warily at each other. "Don't know you," the middle boy says. "Did you come with the Talons?" They seem nervous about that.

"No, no," you say quickly. "My father and I just got here from up north. We're just passing through." You make a show of looking down at the map. "What's this."

"Nothing, nothing," the biggest boy says quickly. You raise an eyebrow: you may not have much experience in interacting with other children, but even you can tell that's a lie.

A long moment of silence stretches between the four of you before you try again. "I promise I'm not going to get anyone in trouble," you say softly. "I'm… I'm just curious, is all. You were talking about that being a good thing, right?"

The three boys look at each other again before the smallest finally speaks up. "…'m Jace," he says in a small voice, his face oddly pink. You cock your head; he seems to be having a hard time meeting your eyes.

"Jack," the biggest boy says. "And we're not worried about getting in trouble!"

The middle boy frowns, seems to consider his words for a long moment before sighing. "John," he says. "What do you want?"

Crouching down, you study the map. For a moment, you think it's the town, but the shape is wrong, the buildings too small. "Is this the Talon camp?" you ask.

"Why do you want to know?" John asks sharply.

"I'm just curious," you say again. "Father and I just got here, and there's all these people around. He said he'd tell me what a Talon is when we were done, but I want to know now." It feels a bit bad lying to these boys, but if they're planning something, maybe it could help you to save Sypha.

"Yeah, it's their camp," Jack says, crouching down across from you. "You promise not to tell anyone?"

"…Yes, I promise," you lie. Sypha and Artemis need you to have as much information as possible, and you're not going to tell anyone other than Robin, who won't get these boys in trouble.

This seems to satisfy Jack and Jace. John is still studying you with some suspicion, but after glancing at his friends he signs and crouches down with them. "If you just got here, then you won't have had a chance to go up there," Jack says eagerly. "It's so cool, and they're really friendly for a bunch of hardened adventurers." He points at a circled square near the center of the map. "They're pretty calm about us looking in most places, except here. They have a bunch of really mean guards who keep anyone from even coming close to it."

"They must have some really cool treasures in there," Jace continues, his nerves seemingly forgotten. "Gold, jewels, who knows?!"

'Most likely, a terrified kidnapped girl,' you think darkly, studying the map. "And you want to find out what's in there?" you ask.

"Yeah," Jack says. "We're not gonna take anything!" he says after a moment. "But when're we ever gonna get a chance to see anything like that again!? Da says that the Talons are probably gonna be leaving soon, so we have to come up with something fast if we're gonna do it."

"I'm still not so sure this is a good idea…" Jace says.

"Thought you said you weren't chicken!" Jack says, nudging the smaller boy with his shoulder.

"We have a decent plan," John says, giving you a calculating look. "And if Gwyn here is willing to help, we can make it even better."

You blink. "You have a plan?" you ask.

"Are you willing to help us out, girl?" John challenges you.

You start to open your mouth, but surprisingly Jace jumps in. "Hey, leave her alone," he says. "It's not fair to make her promise to do something without telling her what it is!"

The two boys glare at each other for a moment before Jack puts a hand on both their shoulders. "It's alright, she's already promised she won't rat us out," he says. Looking back at you, he grins. "So, the guards are always watching the front, which is tied shut. But I got a look at the tent, and while it's pegged down pretty hard, someone could slip under it if they had a little time. The plan is to have Jace here do that while John and I distract the guards out front!"

"Although, if you wanted to help, you could distract the guards," John says.

"Why me?" you ask.

"They haven't seen you before," he says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. "They've seen us all, so they'll be keeping a close eye on us after Jack here tried to just poke his head in without thinking." The bigger boy splutters, but before he can defend himself John continues. "Besides, adults tend to trust girls more. They'll probably take it easy on you when they're telling you off, especially if you bat your eyes at them like you did at Jace." The smaller boy starts spluttering as well.

You frown: you hadn't batted your eyes at anyone. However, you do have to answer John, whose eyes have narrowed as he studies you.


[] Go along with the plan. While you suspect Sypha's in that tent, being able to confirm that will be good. These boys might even be able to help you save Sypha. No idea how, but it's possible.
- [] Tell Robin where you're going. He's still talking to the stall owner, so you'll have to figure out how to pass the information along surreptitiously.
- [] Just go. You're a big girl, you can take care of yourself.

[] Respectfully decline. You already know what you're going to find, and you've already gotten valuable intelligence about where Sypha is. No need to risk yourself.

[] Suggest a different plan. You want to get in and get some information, but you have concerns about the viability of this plan.
- []Write-in

[] Suggest that the boys don't do anything risky. You know how violent these Talons can get when crossed: you don't want them to get hurt.

AN: I did not plan for this level of synergy between information gathered and complication. That was just chance.