Avess soared through the dark cloudy sky, rain sheeting on his body. The bad weather mimicked his feelings and thoughts inside of him. He should have stopped, but he wanted to get back home to his daughter Etain. So he pushed on flying through the terrible storms.

Lightning crashed all around him. He tried to avoid the deadly blasts as they struck out and cracked through the sky. It was like fighting an Opal Dragon but not knowing where the strike was going to come. He dodged left and right going up and down looking out for the lightning streaking across the sky. When Avess had flown for several hours through the storm, the rain became almost unbearable. He tried ignoring the constant beating on his wings and his body. He tried ignoring the lightning strikes that grew more fierce the further he flew. But it was difficult to break through the storm clouds. It was difficult to break through the malaise that had settled on him ever since he learned about the gray-souls.

Avess hoped and wished that the Magus would find the one responsible for the gray-souls. If they were allowed to live they posed a permanent and deadly threat to all Drakku, dragon and griffin alike. As the Dragon Lord it was his duty, honor bound, to protect the Drakku from all dangers.

Lightning streaked across the sky, startling Avess. He lunged to the right, hoping to avoid an oncoming strike. Thunder boomed, Avess wary of the dangers in the storm. A streak of lightning crashed, the bright blue and white glow carving a path across the dark clouds that Avess was flying through. Another lightning bolt cracked this time striking Avess along his wing, and he cried out in pain.

“My wing!”

Another lightning bolt struck through the clouds crashing into Avess’s back making him fall from the sky. He streaked downward, the ground getting ever closer as he fell from the sky. The lightning bolt created an immense pain throughout his body. Avess crashed through the trees, the rain beating down on him and landed on the ground sinking into the mud with a thud.

He groaned. His body ached immensely. A tiny hole through his wing from where the lightning bolt pierced him felt like white-hot pain. Avess pushed himself up onto his knees, his arms shaky. He had no idea where he had landed. It was somewhere between the Dragonback Mountains and the Dragon Lands. Several villages were scattered throughout the wild, and he hoped he was near one so that he could find a Magus to help heal them.

Then, in his distress and pain, he shifted into human form. Bright white light engulfed him, and suddenly he was changed into a man wearing a brown robe with a red beard and long red hair. His arm ached badly. His whole body was wracked with pain from the lightning bolt making it difficult for him to stand and even walk. Thinking grew more difficult, his mind could not wander over anything other than the pain within his body.

He took two steps and stumbled to the ground, crashing into the wet leaves.

“I need to find help, to heal me.”

Avess pushed himself back to his feet, preparing for a long journey across the land in hopes of finding rest or a Magus or anything to help him get through so he could return home.

The rain continued to beat down, relentless, souring his mood even further. His carelessness within the storm now meant that he would have to travel on foot until he could find somebody to heal him and return his strength back to him. It was a mistake to shift into a man, but on the ground, his dragon form often made it difficult for him to cross through the land without scaring people.

Avess got up and walked through the rainy forest stumbling along the way. His strength was leaving him fast, the jolt from the lightning blast doing more damage to him than he anticipated. He cursed himself for not being more careful, spending too much time thinking about his wife, and his daughter Etain, and the gray-souls that now threatened the Drakku.

He had no idea what time it was or how long he’d spent in the wet forest, when he finally came upon a small village. The forest had ended and a barely noticeable muddy path led from the trees to a clearing that held a small cluster of buildings. The sky was still dark, the rain coming down and beating upon his head. His robe was soaked to the bone and his arm continued to throb and scream at him in pain.

“I must find help. I have to get out of here, I have to get home.”

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Avess stumbled into the village, looking for any sign of life or help or hope. But as he did, an eerie feeling came over him. There were no candles or lanterns lit within the houses. There were no animals outside, making noise or calling out to him. There was no one. It was as if there had been no one for a long time. Avess wiped his face trying to clear the rain from his eyes but it was no use. The rain continued to pour, continued to fight against him.

“What is this place? What happened here?”

Avess walked to the nearest house and peered into the grimy window. He could see nothing through the thick glass and tried the door instead. It creaked open and he entered the dark room, thankful to be out of the rain.

His arm screamed in pain at him and he clutched the wound, careful not to make it worse.

The darkness was difficult to navigate so he created a small ball of flame to help him see, using the least amount of power he could, needing as much as possible to heal. But what he saw was not what he expected.

The small two room house was covered in dust. It looked like no one had been there for a long time. The bed was made and the kitchen was in order. It was as if whoever lived there deliberately left the place vacant.

What’s going on here? he thought.

The house unsettled him. He’d be more comfortable, and feel safer, if he were in his dragon form, but his decision to shift while injured meant he’d remain as a human until he healed enough to change back.

His head pounded, the after-effects of the lightning strike crying for his attention.

The kitchen looked like it was still stocked, though the meat and grains were moldy. He went rifling through the herbs, looking for what might take the edge off his pain. When he found what he was looking for, a thin green leaf from the dragon’s-tongue plant, he ate it whole, hoping to gain the effects faster. The taste nearly made him vomit, but he held it in and forced the leaf down.

He checked the rest of the house and found nothing else of note. The rain continued outside and he didn’t want to be back out in it. Instead, he built a small fire in the fireplace and huddled next to it while waiting for the morning to come.

By the time the sun rose, the rain had finally stopped. Avess was worn out and wanted sleep badly, but he didn’t want to rest knowing something wasn’t right.

He left the small house and inspected the next closest building. It was a small tavern but like the house, it was abandoned and seemed like it had been left to die. Behind the wooden counter sat a few small bottles that he decided to check out.

Unplugging the first, he sniffed and smiled. It was honey mead. Slowly he sipped, the taste warm on his tongue, then gulped down more of the sweet drink.

He left the tavern with the bottle in hand and ignoring the pain in his arm as best he could, he checked on all the buildings knowing beforehand that he’d find nothing. They were all empty.

Birds called out to the morning, their raucous noises echoing amongst the buildings. Avess left the village, hoping to be rid of whatever danger lurked there. He tossed the empty mead bottle into the brush and followed a muddy path to the west.

The path wound through a dense forest, skirting a small lake, and down into a lush valley. It was there he found another village, but this one was clearly inhabited.

A wooden fence held in chickens and roosters. Goats were in another pen on the other side of the village. People worked the fields. Even at this distance, he heard sellers in the market calling out about their wares.

He followed the narrow path down to the valley and entered the village, grabbing his arm when it throbbed.

“Hello, can you tell me where the Magus is?” he asked an older woman walking with a young boy clutching her hand.

“Magus? We ain’t had none around here in ages. You’d be better off going up to Snowcreek. Heard they got several that live up there.”

“Snowcreek?”

She eyed him suspiciously. “North. Go north and you’ll find it.”

The boy fidgeted when she pulled him away.

Avess had no desire to travel further. There had to be someone to help him here.

He went in search of the inn, surely they had an inn, to find out about a room until he could heal himself.

The sign out front called it the Lazy Bear and though the picture was faded, he could make out the image of a bear sleeping on a bed of straw.

Avess entered and the room was fairly quiet, unlike most inn’s he’d been to. A kind old man behind the counter smiled at him. “Welcome to the Lazy Bear. Do you need a room or just a good meal?”

Avess winced. “A room please.”

The man nodded and scurried to get a key. “This way then. You are?”

For a moment Avess didn’t know what to do. Should he tell the man his real name? Should he cover up who he was?

“Avess.”

The man stopped. “Like the Dragon Lord? I hear he’s a just ruler and the Drakku are in good hands with him.”

“Yeah, like him.”

“Huh. Come this way then.”

The man led him to a small room halfway down the hall. “It’s not much but it’s a room and it’s available.”

Avess peered inside. “Looks wonderful. Oh, can you tell me where the nearest Magus is?”

The man shook his head. “Not anywhere near here I’m afraid. The last one we had left three months ago and we’ve not seen once since. I think they’re going back to Tregaron for something, but I don’t know what. I try to stay clear of their machinations. It’s better that way.”

That was the first he’d heard of the Magus returning to the lands beyond the mountains. Ildor hadn’t mentioned it to him, but why would he?

“Thank you anyway. The room will be perfect.”

The man left and Avess entered the room, ready for decent rest. He’d been up so long he barely kept it together. His body was sore and his mind was overworked. Rest was the perfect thing for him now.