A pair of dark-coloured lenses, cracked and broken. Long and pointed frame that barely had any of its old colour left. To say nothing of the warped form caused by the heat it had barely survived. This was the mask Nin was forced to leave behind in the ash.

The mask I am possibly never going to see on his face again because I could not save him. I just needed to get down here quicker, I should have ignored that conductor and gone down. I should have done it the moment Nin was taken off the airship. I should have leapt down to help him.

Instead, I wasted time in that room, electrocuting one wyvern to death and getting scared by another. Every bit of time I wasted saw Nin get increasingly beaten up and now he was gone. I came down too late. And now he was gone...

"Einervaene, come back up to the airship. You've been kneeling there since you found it..." that blue-haired coward and betrayer said to me quietly. If I hadn't dried my eyes out before this moment. I'd have probably wiped them away and glared at her. But the lingering heat had made it impossible to cry, so I just looked up at her.

A dead expression on my face as I stared long and hard at that solemn expression she dared to have. Nin was gone because of her and she wanted to act like she had a right to be sad!? It was her fault! She was outright encouraging us to not help him!

"Get away from me, you cowardly, spineless, two-faced coward! GET AWAY FROM ME YOU COWARD!" I said at first quietly before I suddenly flared in temperament. That one word lingering on my thoughts and tongue the entire time.

"I'm not..."

"YES, YOU ARE! NIN IS GONE AND YOU DID NOTHING TO HELP HIM! YOU REFUSED TO HELP HIM! GET AWAY FROM ME!" I screamed at her before I burst into thunder and lightning. This display of magic making her flinch away as I returned life to the cooling lava. Only to turn back to normal instantly so I could avoid damaging Nin's hat and mask.

The only two things I had left of him now that he had been taken away from us. I don't even know why I did not follow them. They were going through the clouds and I can travel along them! I could strike them as bolts of lightning and arc about!

There was no reason I should not have gone and saved him in that moment, yet, I did not. I instead laid about on the burning ground with a dizzy head and a subtle twitch in my body. I screamed after him, after the one I wanted to open up to clearly... But I still did nothing.

I called Larishazza a coward yet the more I thought about it, I was likely just as much of one. Did I not go after them because I was scared of that wyvern? Of how its fires scorched this valley into a blackened, ash-covered pit...? No, that can't be right.

If I was a coward I would be on the airship, I would have listened to that coward. I would have not fallen from the sky with Thurnmourer-inspired fury and struck that wyvern down. I saved Nin's life in that moment and had the injuries to prove it... So I couldn't have been a coward myself!

Yet, Nin was still gone and I did not act in those final moments... I just panicked and screamed like a child. And now I was still wasting time like that. Screaming into the area around me and at those in front of me. I was doing all of that rather than moving to go and save Nin.

What was I doing...? I had an idea of which way they went and I could easily cross great distances with my magic. It had gotten much better this past year or so. I barely twitch when casting and it flows with greater efficiency... So why was I not doing anything?

Why was kneeling in ash on top of burnt earth sobbing? Had I accepted the idea that Nin was dead and my body and mind just did nothing? Or, was I what I feared? A good for nothing coward like the one in front of me?

"I told you to go away!" I growled to the crying girl in front of me as her palm tapped the knuckles of the other hand. Leaning forward slightly as some lightning arced about me.

"I... I..." she stuttered out before she just then ran off. Quickly disappearing into the sky before she likely hid away on the airship. A snort leaving me just after she disappeared.

"I suppose I should see if Vadei is alright..." I then muttered as I stumbled to my feet. Failing to move after that point as my eyes locked on to all the signs of Nin's battle. From the ground he shattered in his final moments. To all the signs of where he had likely been struck.

There was a lot of places like that, places where the mountains were more deformed. Places where the ground was carved up and showed off some still brown earth. Even the very rare patch of green where he used his magic to block an attack! And around those spots I saw bits of his body that had been shattered off.

Little flakes of carapace fused together with torn bandages that just fell apart if you touched them. And, as I started to slowly move, I felt where his feet had been. I could see how they contrasted with the dreaded talons of the wyvern. That fiery raider...

"They would not have come had it not been for those two..." I then commented as I thought about the slavers. Nin was gone as a result of their problem but he was the one who brought them. The one who forced out their aid so he could go home. So he could save his people from people like them...

Could I blame them? This attack was because of what they did at some point but, Nin did bring them. Yet how could I blame Nin for his own capture? He was fighting with all he had!

I did not know what to make of it at the end of the day, so I just went up into the clouds. Moving about the smoke-corrupted clouds before then flinging myself out. Roughly landing on the airship with a thud that I did not make an issue out of. And, slowly getting up once I had spent some time still.

A depressed sigh leaving my lips before I went to look for Vadei. I do not know where she might be so I was hoping she hadn't left the chair... I did not want to risk running into that coward so I hoped she was there. Luckily, she was, just not in the chair.

"Einervaene!?" she called out as I walked in, a gladful smile on her face as she came up to me. A bloody bandage wrapped around the hand that went into that machine.

"Is it alright?" I asked her as I tried to get my mind off of Nin for just a moment. Letting some of my magic flow off of me so I could help Vadei heal as I waited for an answer.

"It's getting a lot better now that you are..." she said as she watched me hold her hand. My fingers carefully prodding away to figure out where the injury was.

"It isn't causing you too many issues, is it?"

"Well, it gave me a fright when it happened, but, no, it hasn't been too in my face."

"Has anything strange happened to you since then?"

"I... Don't know. I feel like that blade somehow connected me to the airship," she muttered while rubbing her ears, "Like, I can't really do anything with it. But, I just know some things about the airship now. Almost as if it was my body in a very strange and convoluted way."

"I see..." I whispered before I let go of her hand.

"Oh! It has also given me a good idea on how to work this machine. So if issues do happen, we can get rid of these two and avoid situations like..." she began to say before her eyes went to the two dead wyverns in here.

"They hadn't been cleaned up?"

"We're all a bit too shaken to really do any cleaning... So we have just sort of ignored it all." she explained, her eyes soon going down to my knees.

"Don't worry about it, I'll see what I can do to help fix the airship." I quietly said to her before I turned around. A nervous shuffle being heard from her just before a screen suddenly popped up in front of me.

"He was still alive you know." Vadei then suddenly said as this recording played over and over again.

"How could you possibly know that?"

"I know it sounds strange, but look. Just before they disappear into the clouds, that orange wyvern is showing affection to him."

"Affection...?" I let out in disbelief, "She tried to kill him! Probably did!" I said to her, barely stopping myself from yelling, shouting or screaming.

"I already said it sounded strange, so I did some digging. I tried to find at least something on the airship and it has a list of advisory tactics regarding wildlife and other potential threats. Now, read this. And then watch what Nin does in this."

"Female wyverns become passive when either their mate is killed or their horns if they have them, are broken." I said aloud before looking at her.

"Watch what Nin does!" she then said with some excitement. Her hands moving my body somewhat for me.

"That kick of his shattered her horns..." I mumbled while staring intently at the frozen image. One of Nin surrounded by his own magic just as he shatters the horns. And while they were not moving in the image, I could just imagine how they broke apart.

"The horns of a female wyvern are a sign of if they have found a mate or not. If Nin broke it then it is possible she let him live under the impression he wanted to..." she began to explain before she went red slightly. But I did not go redfaced at all. I just tightened my knuckles before I reached out for the image. That image of Nin just before he was taken.

"What about which way they went? I have an idea but did they change directions?"

She looked down and away, "I don't know, they went above the clouds before they disappeared."

I let out a tearful sigh and put a hand to my face, "So we have lost him!?" a sense of dread building up in me.

Her nose sniffled, her eyes widened, "No! No! My magic, I have been working on enhancing my senses! I might be able to at least get a hint that way!"

Her hands soon reaching for Nin's stuff which I reflexively hid from her, "Right, sorry." I then said once I brought it back to her. Watching as she sniffed away at the hat and mask before taking a step back. Watching with some curiosity as she swished the smell about her nose. Like how you might taste a new drink at a social event back home.

"I will need to go outside and do a little detective work." she then said before she moved to leave the room. Her body suddenly coming to a halt before she flipped some switches and pushed some buttons.

"What was that about?" I asked as she guided me outside by my hand.

"I was just locking the airship in place so those two could not mess with it." she explained with a jab of her head.

"I guess that is fair..." I let out quietly, a smile nearly coming out as I remembered Nin's words regarding those two. I don't know why it was going to nearly make me smile. I guess it is because it showed me he still lingered about in a strange way.

"Nin landed on a mountain afterwards... Can you remember which one?" Vadei then asked me after she looked about in confusion. Her head turning from one viewable peak to another until she lingered on one. Its snowy cap was missing.

"That one most likely." I told her as I looked at how it was just barely below the clouds. I could, if Vadei was fine with it, transport us both there so she could do whatever it is she wanted to do. But, she then looked down at the valley below and went pale.

"How did he even survive all that...?" she then muttered with a shiver as her eyes likely lingered on cooling rock. Or, perhaps she was staring at some of the fires that still raged down there. Not as bad as they were prior, a certain someone had put them out mostly...

"Don't focus on how he survived it, focus on how we can help him survive for longer." I say to her before taking her hand. Suddenly transforming us both into lightning and striking us down near where Nin likely had been. A dazed Vadei having to be held closely by me as she got used to her sudden reappearance.

"Warning next time..." she slowly said before she covered her mouth. Her gut suddenly jerking at that moment.

"Sorry, I'm just in a hurry at the moment..." I apologize while putting two fingers together and pushing them. Some lightning going between them before Vadei moves on. Her nose got to work as she moved closer to the peculiar outline on the stone. It was comparable to a tan line, that mark was, the stone Nin had been on was lighter.

"Okay, some good news and bad news."

"Bad news first, not like it can get much worse." I say with a miserable sigh.

Her eyes looked at me intently before they moved on, "I can't get a good track on Nin. The smells he lets off have been too tainted by smoke and fire. And, well, we're up here so what smell likely lingered was blown away."

"Right..." I begin to say as I looked down, my legs trembling as they grew weak.

"But! I do have a strong enough lead on these wyverns. There were so many of them going towards him after he broke the horns of the main one that it practically stinks of them up here!" she tried to joke while waving a hand in front of her nose. But I could only smell the wind and all the smoke and ash it carried with it.

"So you're hoping we can find him by following their scent?"

"Yes, if what is presumed is true. They would have taken him straight to their lair and she would be keeping him reasonably idle at that lair."

"And if Nin has tried to escape?"

"Forgive me if this comes off as wrong, Einervaene. But, I think in this case, Nin's injuries are good. It will keep him still and we can get to him."

I looked away and rubbed my arm, slightly uncomfortable with thinking that, but, I accepted it, "I understand. Which way?" I then said as I straightened out.

"That way, but it is likely going to change course over time, so... I'm coming with you, to go after these wyverns."

I was taken a little aback, "Why are you willing to help me to such a degree? This is more than enough for me. I can soar the skies and keep and eye out for his magic signature or that of the wyverns."

"Because he is likely to be my best chance to saving my pack and my family. I might have learned some more magic since I got back to this land. But it is not enough and I do not mean to offend, but, the rest of you aren't likely to help me with this. Nin is why you are here, you aren't here for me." she explained as her ears slowly went down. Her head moving back as a disturbed whine gently left her.

I smiled, just a little, "Don't worry, I will help you. It is only fair I do so given what you are doing for me." I tell her as some tears began to go down my cheeks. Tears that quickly went a little grey as they picked up on the ash in their way.

"Alright!" she exclaimed as her ears went up, some joy returning to her, "That way!" she repeated as she held out her free hand. A little nod being my response before we then went up into the sky to travel along the clouds. Crackling and striking about until I brought us down once more. This time on to a flatter plateau-like area just so we had room to move.

"Can you still smell them? Are we still going the right way?" I asked her as I walked around a little. Stopping so I could stare at a pair of birds that were watching us. Only to watch them as they hopped off their branch and gently blew away using the little flaps on them. They did not fly straight, but rather they went a little up and a little down. Just bobbling along.

"Yes, a little off. Hm, when you take us up... Bring us down every couple of peaks if possible. That way I can keep us on the right path." she explained to me, stopping at one point to gag once more.

"Should I give you some time? This is twice you have nearly thrown up." I asked her cautiously as I stepped away a little. A spark of annoyance going across her before she went up to me to fake vomit. My body flinched at this before I realized it was fake.

She laughed quietly, "Just give me a moment to breathe and we will be good. I don't think I am going to let my guts spill, but, let's not test it, ok?"

"Alright, ready?" I asked as I took her hand once again, watching her free one as it moved.

"That way!" she declared once her hand stopped moving. And so, it started all over again, we went up and then down. Up and down. We lingered about so she could catch her breath and redirect us.

And it went on like this for a long enough period that even I ended up exhausting myself. My magic had been made weak as it became increasingly empty. We nearly even ended up stranded on a narrow-tipped mountain that was all jagged. But, luckily, I pulled through and got us just a bit out of the way.

Instead, we were able to come to a stop at one with a lonely tree on its peak. Healthy and strong despite its solitude and harsh conditions. And we would be relying on this tree to serve as our means to rest this night. So here we were, lying on a tree as night came.

"Einervaene, look!" Vadei then suddenly said to me as she slowly sprang up to her feet. Her hand jabbing wildly in the direction of a mountain that glowed. An orange light lighting up the area around it before it disappeared.

"Could it be...?" I mumbled quietly as I struggled to keep my eyes open. The lids to my eyes being forced back as I saw something come out of the mountain. Something with smoke and embers leaving its wings. And in its claws was what we came for.

"It's him!" Vadei hissed as she began to hide herself.

"Nin..." I said quietly as a smile formed on my face. A glare soon overtaking it when that wyvern blocked my insignificant view of him.

"Don't get any ideas, Einervaene, just rest for now. When day comes and you have eaten something if we can get you something. Then you can go in and save him."

"Only me?" I repeated with a slight smirk just brimming with cockiness.

"I can't fight that! Only you can and possibly Nin if he is able to help..."

"It's alright, now that I see what their lair is like, I have a plan." I say to her as I lazily point to the clouds. They blocked the entrance to the lair and were only just recently parted by that wyvern.

"You think you might be able to beat it by staying as lightning, like how we travelled?" she asked for clarification to which I nodded. That is how I was going to try and do it. I have not met anything able to stop me in my lightning form and I doubted this wyvern could either. So I just needed to draw it out and keeping cutting and chipping away at it.

Or, rather, striking and shocking it, "Lightning may not seem as bad as fire, but it is hotter. She will be the one getting burned." I breathed out as we watched this wyvern rest on the peak of its mountainous lair. Something was clearly in its arms as it lingered about there. That thing was clearly Nin. And while I can't say I saw him, we could see his magic aura.

"It still shocks me in a way, you know? The fact Nin once had no magic."

"Hm?"

"I mean, look at him, he used to have no magic and now his magic glows that brightly." Vadei commented while pointing her finger. And she was indeed correct. While that Wyvern lit up the area with a fire-like light, he lit it near-equally up with a pale bluish aura. I was surprised it was not green to some extent, though.

"He was very lucky to get that magic." I commented after some time being quiet. It was not as shocking to me as it was to Nin. But, that lecture we went to did make it clear how magic affected the magicless... How did he survive that?

"It depends, whatever saved him from dying to whatever gave him all that magic also made him into that. Or, at least, helped."

"I can't see the unluckiness. He survived is all I see and he became so much stronger because of it..." I said with what must have been a twinkle in my eyes.

Vadei looked at me more intensely, "What has he done that makes you like him so much?" she asked me as her cheeks went slightly pink. Mine, however, just went red.

"I don't really know... He's just been very kind to me for most of the time I have known him and I guess I have just been very clingy with him and the others. After having spent so long on my own..."

She smiled, "Oh, so you don't actually like him, you were just starved for affection?" Vadei teased as she moved a little closer.

"I won't say that... I have known him for anywhere up to a year now. Maybe a month or two less. But, men and women forming relationships has happened in less time, no?" I said in an effort to deflect Vadei's digging.

"Yes, but those are very casual relationships. Here you are trying to save his life from something that could easily kill you!"

I looked away in embarrassment, shrugging slightly, "He has saved my life before, he has healed me when I was hurt and he took care of us for weeks on end in the valleys. It's all just these little things building up." I explain to her. Not even bothering to touch on my obsession with what I saw in the temple that one night... What I saw that night was mine to know only.

She laughed, "Einervaene and Nin, perching on a peak! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"Shut up!" I quietly said to her before she started giggling away.

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"Nin...!?" I let out in shock as I clutched my torn open side tightly. Barely able to call up the magic I would need to sear the injury shut. The tears in my eyes near-instantly boiling away as they touched the heat. This wyvern was just too powerful!

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And now, Nin was fighting, but he wasn't fighting against the wyvern. No, he was fighting me and he was hitting me relentlessly. Shattering my teeth, breaking my bones and grinding away at my spirit. One already aflame with disbelief at this revelation I was confronted with.

"Don't say my name, only she can say it." he told me coldly before a harsh backhand struck me down. The stone below shattering as my already dazed head slammed into it. Bloody dribble soon came out of my mouth as my eyes tried to close. Even if I would not let their swollen forms do so.

"My dear, my love, what should we do with her?" the wyvern taunted as she slowly approached Nin. Her arms wrapping around him before she moves to fake-bite him. Her hot breath more noticeable due to the smoke that left her mouth.

"We have already broken her body, so I am thinking we maybe break her spirit, hm?" Nin explained before one of his hands reach for the wyvern's lower jaw. Their lips becoming so close to each other before I began to shake.

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"Einervaene!? Are you alright? Einervaene!" Vadei said to me as she roughly shook me about.

"What!?" I responded with as I shot up, a chilling cold all over me. I had been sweating heavily by the looks of it. This was the kind of cold you only felt if you were wet.

"You were... It looked like you were having a panic attack!" Vadei explained to me. Clarifying what it must have been like from her perspective.

"It's alright, I... It was just a nightmare. Some self-doubt being dreamt about..." I say to her as I slowly stood up. My initially dazed state slowly going away as I stared at the mountain Nin was in. The place he was being held hostage was right before me. But was I ready to do this?

My magic might not have fully recovered, let alone my body...

"Do you still need to rest some? It can only end badly if you just go in there."

"You can't seriously be asking me to be patient when he is right there!? I can save Nin right now!"

"If you go in so recklessly you will just get killed and Nin will never get saved!" she told me bluntly. The passion that had built up in me suddenly being put out when she said that. She was right, if I was not ready... Only the worst would come.

"How am I meant to rest more, though? It is surprising enough we haven't been discovered given how exposed we are!"

"We are at the mountain where Nin is being held, Einervaene. We can go down below, below the clouds and rest there, at least for a little longer." her finger sharply prodding at where the lower mountain would be.

"And... How much longer would you say we would have to rest?"

"For the rest of the day, no longer. Get something to eat if we can. Then you can go on up. We can meet up again at this mountain. The tree here makes it stick out."

"That long...?"

"Einervaene... You need to rest some more. If not yourself, at least, give Nin some time to recover."

"Alright, are you ready to go down then?" I ask her after sighing. A nod coming from her before I took her hand. Striking us down into the ground and also hitting a lonely creature on the way.

"Here I thought it might take a bit longer to find food."

"It helps to have a birds-eye view." I say with a very light sprinkling of smugness. That was one advantage I had that very few I knew had. My ability to just get a near-limitless line of sight at a moments notice. To become one with the sky.

"Time to dig in then, I suppose." Vadei slowly says with a shrug before she then began to pick away at the cooked animal. Her sharp nails substituting in for knives and forks as she took it apart. Meanwhile, with me, I was extremely hesitant. Eating with my hands was extremely undignified!

"Hold on, let me find a stick..."

"A stick? You cooked it enough that it just falls apart! Whatever this is," she says before putting another piece into her mouth and chewing, "Slightly tough." was the comment that followed just after.

"I'm not soaking my gloves in grease and blood." I say to her before I snapped off a branch from a nearby tree. A nervous glance briefly going up just in case a wyvern was above.

"That branch has just stained your black gloves pale green with moss..." Vadei pointed out as blood went down her chin. Blood that soon went onto her arm as she wiped it off.

"Moss cleans easier." was all I had to say before I began to stab into the dead animal. Carefully moving the branch about until it brought off some meat. And once it was out again, I held it carefully in front of me before I started to take careful bites. Not wanting my chin to be smeared with blood like Vadei's.

"Poshie..." she then huffed out with a snort before she focused on her meal. My mouth moving about much slower than hers as she just devoured portion after portion. I, on the other hand, was cautiously avoiding the bits on the branch itself and treating it more like a cobbed vegetable.

"Mannerless commoner." I shot back with, something she didn't take kindly to.

"Hey!" she let out as she glared. An innocent look on my face as I looked back at her.

"What? Just saying what I see." I tell her before I hid my smile behind my food. Taking a little bite out of it to hide the smile more.

"Just what you see? Alright, I understand, saggy chest."

"I beg your pardon!?" I let out as I dropped my food and stood up. Taking great offence at the mere suggestion.

"Well, why else would you have such tight clothing? To hide your sag!" she said, once again pressing down on that button of mine.

"They do not sag!" I firmly stated, barely restraining myself from kicking my foot into the ground.

"I bet they do!"

"They don't and I'll prove it!" I told her before suddenly going quiet and red. Her sudden outburst of laughter making me feel even more embarrassed.

"I can see why Nin likes to do this." she says with a chuckle before she goes quiet.

"Nin doesn't lie about my breasts..." I mumbled with a pout before I sat down and hid my face.

"No, not that, just teasing you in general! You need to relax a little, Einervaene. Not take everything so seriously."

"I don't take everything seriously... I make plenty of jokes."

"More so that you are the joke." I was told before a gently shove was applied to my knees. Knocking me over but not revealing my face.

"Well, this joke is about to save your chances at seeing your family again..." I muttered into my knees.

"And I will be very grateful when she does." Vadei told me with a sweet smile as my head finally left my knees.

"Have you had enough?" I then asked as I returned to trying to eat something. Vadei's head waddled about before she ate a little more. A smile on her face as her cheeks showed off how stuffed they were.

"Stuhffey birhd!" she then said strangely as she kept staring at me with a full mouth.

"What...?" I said as I blinked at the fluffy-tailed woman. Just before she began to steadily swallow all that food in her mouth.

"Stuffy bird! It's a game I used to play when I was little. You would fill your mouth with food and say those two words! Whoever had the fullest mouth wins!"

"But why stuffy bird...?" I asked with a series of blinks.

"I don't know," she said to me with shrug, "I always assumed it has something to do with how we stuffed birds when we cooked them. A more childish version of how our mother's competed to get the most filling bird on the dinner table."

"We never really ate the bird as it at my home, we tore it apart and soaked it in sauces. Usually wrapping it up after."

"Sounds sickly."

"It can be if the sauce is too sweet or oily, but if done well, it is very nice. On that topic, though, I am more conscious of food now. It's all very simple here compared to back home. It just gets cooked and a lot of it is just the raw food on its own."

"Yeah, the people of this land tend to prefer strong flavours on their own. So like, rather than a complex lunch, they'd take some cheese and a pickled vegetable or something."

"Sounds like something a commoner would have as they cannot afford the spices necessary to make good food."

"Good food is food made with love. Even if the cooking isn't actually as good as you think it is, just the fact it was given to you because someone loves you makes it all the better."

"I don't know about that, my Mother loves me dearly but her cooking is awful." I respond with a shiver. Remembering the times my Mother and I tried to make stuff. Only for it to go horribly wrong because we normally had staff make our meals. Even now, Nin and the others are the ones who cook for me...

I might help out, but they are the ones doing the cooking at the end of the day.

"Such a poshie..." Vadei tutted out with a little smirk before I glared at her again. A smile replacing it before I stood up after putting down my food.

"I best get going now..." I said nervously before I suddenly stopped after taking a single step.

"Wait for your food to settle, first, eating before a fight will only hurt your chances."

"I can't just keep waiting..."

"You can't even walk, you're too nervous. Einervaene, sit down. Calm down. Then, go. Go save him then."

"But...!"

"Sit down."

"Fine..." I mumbled before I went towards the mountain and leaned on it. Frowning as I felt the stone and its subtle warmth. I could only hope it was a steam vent under the rock rather than that wyvern... Because if I let the idea it was the wyvern settle then my worries for Nin would only get worse.

"So, does your family own any land where the Jupirochii live?" I was then suddenly asked by Vadei.

"We own some land, more towards the East coast, though."

"Ah, my pack and that come from the west, near the canyon we are headed to. I just got curious as talking about food made me remember that despite we oxfuine technically being from the Land of Wind, the Great Land or the Land of the Greatest People as some like to call it... We don't have much in common with the humans of this continent. More so yours."

"That's very interesting to hear. I guess it might be because we are more outgoing as a people?"

"I am more inclined to believe it has to do with some of your floating islands falling into the ocean and getting washed ashore to this land."

"As I said, outgoing." I told her with a small smile. Making light of how sometimes our continent got smaller bit by bit. To the point some of our people became a new one entirely by virtue of their detachment from the home continent. But I suppose that is why we had good relations with the Jhermonikran people.

There was a hybrid culture between us we could communicate and learn through. Our bridge into the land of wind and mountains.

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.

.

"I really wish she came with me..." I ended up muttering as I slowly climbed up the mountain. Forgoing the use of magic for now so I could sneak close to the entrance. But, unfortunately, it seems like I might just have to use my magic to get us the rest of the way. As the mountain was getting much steeper than before.

So I let go of the mountain and thrust outwards, briefly flying through the sky as a human. Only to then fizzle upwards as I shifted into a more dangerous form, that of lightning. Lightning that bounced about the clouds and leapt out of them like a fish in a river. Unfortunately, my landing was rather rough.

It pretty much confirmed an earlier hypothesis I had made when we were in safer lands. Back at the Academy, when I tried to see if I could fly. I thought that maybe clouds caused my issues and that strange pull I felt. Performing that jump nearly replicated that entire process.

"At least the clouds are nearby..." I breathed out with wide eyes as I let my body calm down. I would need to find a way to drag the wyvern this way if I was to win. My lightning body may have been, well, lightning. But I was worried about my copper frame.

Copper on its own melted quite easily so it might cause that form to be completely useless! So, the gods be willing, I should get the inevitable fight to move this way. All so I could become one with the sky and strike with impunity. So I could win and save Nin!

"Alright, let's go!" I then said with a brief smile as some confidence filled me. I had a plan and I was feeling nice and refreshed. Two of the main things I needed to worry about were in a grand condition. I could and would win!

But then I stopped as I was getting up, I had nearly forgotten about the lesser wyverns... I know I could kill them without much effort, but would they interfere? When we were being attacked they had no problem swarming us. So would I get swarmed here?

I suppose my lightning form would have to solve that as I was nearly impervious in that state. How could flesh ever hope to hurt such divinely-linked magic? How would mere winds stop the light of thunder? There was so much in my favour!

But, I had to be mindful still, arrogance was what I wanted to exploit. Not something I wanted to be used against me. To exploit me and get in easy blows I should have otherwise been able to avoid. Then again, I did not know how to fight beyond just shocking them to death...

So much of what I have faced up until this point has been weaker than me. The creatures that attacked my ferry years ago. Those humans I saved Nin from. All the animals he might have needed help with as we travelled together. All of it was my lesser and I was about to face an equal or superior.

I may have not fought her for long, barely at all, actually. But, I knew full well I needed to have a strong sense of conviction here. Strong convictions that saw me go beyond my limits and fears. This would not be a quick fight if I was to win...

"Enough!" I then sternly declared as I stood before the entrance to this wyvern's lair. I had spent enough time contemplating how it would go! I needed to make it a reality now! Nin's freedom and life depended on this!

So I walked on into the cave, straightening myself out and beating down my fears brutally. Letting my aura flow out well so it was grand and majestic. The loud tap and click of my metallic high-heels calling out alongside my magic. And it became clear they acknowledged me as the lair went quiet.

The wyverns that were previously making all this noise had gone relatively quiet. And as I stood a bit deeper into the lair, I gazed upon them all. A strange stranglehold popping up into my stomach as I looked at them all. Their teeth bared and wings rising.

"So you're the one I have been told about?" someone then called out to me as a different kind of magic filled the area. Fiery and hot it was, I was already starting to sweat just by being this far away from her! And, if we were on grassy land, I had no doubts it would be marking her steps with black marks.

"Told about?" I repeated just before I saw Nin hobble into my line of sight. His body barely clothed at all. Making it all the easier to see the nasty scorch marks and burns he had received. Something that made me angry.

And that anger transferred itself into my external-magic which lashed out against her aura. Dozens of delicate but aggressive bolts of lightning stabbing at her heated surroundings. Her smug smile only making it worse. That taunting laughter did not help either.

"Einervaene..." I then heard get croaked out by him as his body rose a little before he flinched in pain. A sight that calmed me for just a second as concern filled me up. Only for it to boil away once my eyes settled themselves on the fire-using lizard.

"So here is how it will go," the wyvern began to say as her claws stroked Nin's chin carefully, "I am going to make you submit to me. I will break your body and make you declare your inferiority before my mate! You will hand over his affection to me and you will be tossed aside!" she declared to me with a snarl. A strange sense of relief slightly coming out in me. At least she wouldn't kill me, for now.

However, I had other plans for this night, "No, how it will go is I kill you and I save Nin!" I tell her as my lightning flashed out brighter than before. The darker parts of the caves taking on a light-blue glow as my power flushed them out.

"Fine by me!" she chuckled out as she stepped forward. The ground around her melting as her power became more aggressive. And I moved back slightly, I needed to be as close to the entrance as I could get just in case. Only to then be smashed into a wall as that movement had set her off.

Our fight had begun and it was starting off with me getting severe burns on the neck. I only just avoided screaming out in pain by turning into lightning. Well, rather, I hid my screams behind hers as her grip disappeared. A growl soon coming out of her before she tried to slash me with her claws.

Only for them to bounce away as they hit the dense concentration of magic that was my body. Yet, in that moment of shock for her. I learnt something too, that had actually hurt me! Those claws and their magic had hurt me despite my lightning form!

How was that even possible...? I was lightning!

"Tch, so that is how it is going to be..." she slowly said to me as I stood there with a surprised expression. And then, I was grabbed by the wrist and slammed into the ground. Cratering it in an odd fashion as if I had been flattened. Only to form back up into a human-like shape within a moments notice.

That had hurt too, but why...? Could an attack so long as it was magical hurt me? Could the internal-magic of the environment hurt me too if it was dense enough? Why hadn't this occurred to me!?

"AH!" I then let out as a sudden punch to my gut made me lose focus and return back to normal. A vicious smile likely on the wyvern's face as she suddenly charged me again. Her magic ablaze before I sent her away from me with a blast of my own. But it had only done that, just keep her away.

"Don't run! We aren't done yet!" she laughed out at me, tormenting me as I ran away from the lair. Fear driving my actions before I came to a sudden stop at the edge of the mountain. Panicked words incoherently leaving me as her laughter got louder. Her magic more defined in the darkness of the lair and the night.

"That is true..." I slowly said as my eyes kept looking back at the clouds. Jumping towards them just as she charged me again with that aggressive speed of hers. Her claws nearly grabbed me too, but I was too fast for her. And instead, she was struck by lightning that dug into her.

And what followed was absolutely cathartic. She screamed in pain and clutched her hand as it spasmed slightly. And while I could laugh from the clouds, I chose to keep leaping out of them to strike her. But as this went on, she became more aware of where I was.

Which did not surprise me as I was bright lightning making the sounds of thunder. But, perhaps there was a way I could make this work? Drag her down below the clouds so my magic worked better. Maybe if I turned human and fell?

"No! Not now!" I falsely said as I turned back to normal and fell out of the sky. The sights of an eager smile appearing just before my face in that moment. One nearly blocked out by fire and smoke. Yet, even though her speed shocked me.

"Got you!" she said to me in that moment.

My smile shocked her more, "Other way around!" the thunder cried out after I returned to the clouds. Her body entering a state of paralysis that opened her up to more strikes from behind. So I kept hammering away at her as she was shaking. With bright flashes, booming thunder and righteous screams, I kept hitting her.

Only to then be caught off guard when she shot up beyond the clouds when I hit her back. Dragging me up with her until we had gone beyond the peak of her lair. An enraged expression on her face before my face was covered by her claws. Those same claws drawing blood as they settled in on my skull before we shot down.

All the air leaving my lungs as I was smashed straight into the mountain. Sprinkles of burnt stone rolling down onto me as my skin cooked under her grip. I wanted to scream but I sounded more like I was choking. There was just no air in me to scream out!

I could not even cry as they just turned to steam before they even left the ducts! She was boiling the insides of my eyes without even trying. To say nothing of how she choked me more with that toxic breath of hers. Ember-filled smoke as black as the sky beyond our world's magical shell.

"I think that is enough now..." she growled out before she began to drag me inside. Her grip settled on my hair as it used it to pull me in. And she intentionally was lazy in her grip. So my back kept hitting her heel-spikes and getting lashed open!

And the closer we got to Nin, the louder my screaming got as some air got back into me. But then I went silent again as she swung me over and slammed me down. Nearly knocking me out with that single, painful blow. Yet, she quickly moved away from me...

And back to Nin, "I have beaten her! I am the stronger one!" she said to him affectionately. Only for her to step back when she saw his glare and anger. Something I barely saw as my eyes were struggling. I couldn't keep them open.

"He... Won't... Ever love you..." I spat out at the wyvern, infuriating her enough to make her come over to me. And then, she prepared a leg which she then slammed down onto my arm. Snapping it cleanly in two so easily. And I screamed until my throat started hurting as much.

"EINERVAENE!" I heard Nin say in worry before a claw grabbed my face.

"SUBMIT!" the wyvern screamed into my face with smokey breath. Some of the embers getting caught in my skin and burning it. All the while I breathed in that smoke. My broken arm making my breathing all the quicker and harsher.

But, in that moment of terror and fear, an idea came. Smoke was gaseous like a cloud... My spell to turn into lightning only worked if I was below clouds. Barely if I was above...

"I... I... I want you to die..." I weakly muttered as my still useable arm touched her face. Just near where her razor-sharp teeth were. And as I annoyed her with my weak grasping of her face. I used my spell.

.

.

.

What was going on!? What had Einervaene done!? What was she doing!? What was going on with Salahma!?

Those were all the questions going through my head as I watched the sight before me. That wyvern that had cooked me alive was burning from the inside out. She was violently spasming and Einervaene had disappeared in a flash into Salahma's mouth! The glow of flames no longer leaving her mouth!

Instead, it was like lightning was forcing itself down her throat and choking her! Surging into her soft insides and tearing them apart! Her body was even treating it as such, with her claws slicing away at her neck. She even reached out to me with smoke and tears coming out of her eyes...

And then, it happened. Salahma collapsed and Einervaene was seemingly spat out. All that magic quickly shifting back into its true shape. The heat Salahma let out quickly going away too.

The human woman that had just appeared cried in pain, but the wyvern made no noise. It just laid there, not moving meaningfully beyond twitches, smoke leaving its eyes, nose and mouth! Had she done it!? Had Einervaene won!?

"MISTRESS!" all the lesser wyverns suddenly cried out as their anger acknowledged the idle woman. But, before they could do anything, I learned something in that moment. I learned to ignore my pain and I reached out for her. I grabbed Einervaene and I ran away with her in my arms. Leaping away from the mountain with a boom before then going into the clouds.

And just like that, I was through them and I remembered something crucial, "SHIT SHIT SHIT!" I began to repeat over and over. I had forgotten that this was a mountain and about my current state of injury. So, well, it looks like we were now rocketing towards the ground to die.

"It's okay..." the woman in my arms barely got out before we suddenly went up again. My body turning into lightning alongside hers before we came down again. It felt almost instantaneous and it was making me want to vomit. So I held Einervaene close and choked on nothing.

"Please let's not do that again..." I told her with a shudder before I collapsed properly. My back leaning against whatever we landed by after I put her down. Only for her to then lean on me again while panting. The signs of tears present as she shivered against me.

I knew how to heal her, so I was now going to try something and hoped it worked. I put one claw into her mouth, confusing her while I also let my magic flow out. And with my free claw, I began to carefully feel up her arm. Looking at her uncomfortably before I began to make my grip firm.

"What are you...?" she began to weakly whisper past my digit while I grew increasingly nervous.

"Bite down, I cannot guarantee this will feel nice." I warned her before her teeth gently went down on my digit. A single breath going into my lungs before I then squeezed. Clenching my teeth harshly as Einervaene's threatened to bite my digit off. Her screams shaking my arm while I tried to heal her.

And, it was like I was once told by Futhans back when I was in his town. If I let my magic flow out and focus it, I could heal someone. Unfortunately, it seems like I could only give Einervaene a slight heal. Just enough to get her arm sorted out but not fixed.

"Make sure to give them back, okay?" I then joked before I began to take my bandages off and wrap them around her arm. Grabbing whatever I could to at least frame it so the arm would not go back to its prior state.

"The sticks and stones or the bandages?" she then joked with a wide smile and flowing tears in her eyes. All before she then seemingly leapt against me to hug me. Her tears soon flowing down my back as she hugged me tightly. A smile coming to my face as I hugged her back.

"Thank you for saving me, Einervaene." I then told her as one of my claws stroked her messy hair. Somewhat straightening it back out as I did so. But, she did not say anything else to me after I thanked her. She just kept holding me and crying.

And so it was like that for a short amount of time. Us two, in the dark under the night sky somewhere in either a mountain or valley. Just holding each other and letting it all out quietly or noisily. With lots of little movements or heavy hiccups.

"Don't ever do that again..." she then let out with a sniffle. Her eyes having been dried out on my exposed fleshy bits. Tickling them slightly as she did so.

"I can't just leave your arm snapped like that." I said back to her as I looked at my crude work. Frankly, I was surprised I was able to apply bandages like that in a medical situation. But, I suppose wearing them so much has given me some degree of skill in putting them on!

"Not that! Getting kidnapped by wyverns!" she corrected with a pained laugh before she gently shoved me. Only to then collapse against my chest and rest her head under my chin. Her still soft hair pressing up against me, filling in the gaps between my carapace plates.

"I'll see what I can do about it, then." I told her as I grin came to my face. But, to be serious, I was going to heed that. I did not want to be held hostage by a psychopath again. And now that I thought about it...

Was I just cursed or something? Both times I have been on an airship I have been imprisoned by magical monsters! Yet, it also worried me a little. Despite what Salahma had done, I was a little dull to it all.

It just did not stick in my head as well despite it only just ending... A certain moment stayed fresh in my mind but the rest just seemed to be set aside. As if my mind only had enough room for one period where I was a hostage. I was still thankful I was out of it, though.

"Nin... Can I talk to you about something?" she then asked me as she got up slightly so her face was in front of mine. A nervous glint coming to my eyes as I was very certain I knew what this was about. Here we were, just us two and her heart and body had been through a lot. She was confident in this moment...

"Sure, let me just..." I began to mumble before I moved back against the stone formerly behind me. Leaning against it and having her lean on my side so we could be comfortable.

"Can I ask you about it now?" she nearly said with a stutter as her face went pinkish. Not really the red she normally went when she was embarrassed.

"Sure." I just said as I thought on how to avoid what was about to happen.

"I know I sort of said this before, but... I think I wasn't clear enough about it... So, uh, Nin... I... I... I would like to try out a relationship with you. Not a friendly one, you know... A romantic one! I would like to get to know you better in a more intimate way! Nin I..." she began to say while moving about back and forth. Her blush deepening as her fingers pressed themselves against whatever. Only for her to stop when I faked a snore.

And I was nervous the entire time and felt like I needed to just jump off a mountain. I was so unforgivably rude in this moment that I don't think I can look her in the eye. Well, later, when I am done pretending to be asleep. And that noise she made when I let out that snore, it hurt.

"Oh... Well, I guess it can wait for the moment." she said in a surprisingly relaxed tone before I felt her breath. Then, a high pitched noise as her face pressed up against the side of mine. Had she just kissed me on the cheek!? She had, hadn't she!?

That alone nearly made me give up the attempt to pretend I didn't hear this. But, I kept it up, I kept it up and died on the inside. She was hugging me and lovingly spreading herself over me before she then went to sleep herself. And I then opened my eyes and stared blankly ahead.

I wanted to swear and run away to hide to swear some more. But, instead, I was stuck here. Under a woman who had saved my life and opened up to me about something precious... And I ignored it because I didn't want to tell her no.

And then I looked down at the bracelet I was given back on that ship when I was just a soul. Could I solve the issue if I just took it off? Confront Einervaene about it with it off and see if she was still able to say it? But was that even right?

She had just, once again, declared to me that she did in fact hold me in particular regards. She was happy and wanted to share that happiness. Yet, here I was, so desperately trying to undermine it because I wanted to love another. Could this seriously be justified?

"Ah, should have just died in Salahma's custody..." I so very quietly moaned out loud as I clutched my face. Frustrated breaths coming out onto my bug shell covered palms while I kept my eyes shut. A sense of anger boiling away inside me and bypassing the lid of the pot the longer this went on. I was so close to just shouting, but, I calmed down.

I calmed down and I looked at Einervaene. I could just tell her no, just get it over with. A clean-cut and snap, no jagged edges left behind. Or, I could accept her feelings and drop what I felt for Lari.

But that just once again frustrated me, why did I have to argue with myself over this!? If I did not care for Einervaene with the same degree of affection... Then why did I have to undercut myself!? Or would it have been possible to accept her but still chase Lari...?

A sort of middle ground where I guess nobody wins but we all get something? No... That was preposterous. It was cruel to them and cruel to myself.

I just needed to be blunt and clear with Einervaene... Make it official with Lari and guide her towards someone else. She had her whole life ahead of her, a life she wasn't going to be spending with me. Especially not given how close to going home I was.

"Whatever decision I make, please forgive me..." I whisper in apology to the sleeping beauty. Trying my best not to disturb her as I stroked her hair. A sharp cutting-like sensation going past my heart as I heard her purr as I did so. And while my grip was tender, my teeth were grinding harshly while my mind was a battleground.