Bo watched nervously as the Yellow Folk gathered around the Elder, whispering in hushed, often suspicious tones. They kept glancing back at him as though to ensure he and Yvet hadn't run off - with the younger tribe members being the most openly hostile of the bunch.

"Bo!" Yvet snapped, glaring up at him. "Why did you agree to help? You'll never reach that mountain in time if you help these humans solve all their problems."

He reached down and scratched the side of Yvet's neck. "There are a few things to consider, Yvet." He said slowly. "First of all, the problem you are referring to is the Racten. They are a plague. A blight on humankind. What If I don't get rid of them now, and years later, the Karak end up devasted like these people?"

Yvet narrowed her eyes, squinting at him suspiciously. "And what makes you so confident you can deal with these Racten?"

Bo smiled slyly. "As far as I know, the Racten aren't fireproof, and I plan to test that."

"I suppose you aren't going to tell me what this plan is?"

He winked smugly at her. "I've got to keep you on your toes… claws? You know how it is."

"And what are the other reasons for helping these humans? Perhaps you find one of them aesthetically appealing?"

"Oh, that's just my own self-interest," said Bo.

"Oh my, Bo. I know you are eager to find a mate, but aren't you a bit young for that? We dragons often wait until we are at least a few hundred years old before we go sniffing up such trees... Not that dragons sniff trees, you understand."

"No, I-" Bo paused. "Why are we even talking about this?"

"If anything, we burn trees, right down to cinders. And then we gather those cinders and make a nice warm pile to sleep on."

"What?"

"Pardon?"

Bo glanced around, trying to make sure he wasn't having a stroke. When he had finally established that he wasn't dreaming, he shook his head and tried to redirect the conversation back to its original path.

"You see that Elder over there?" He pointed to the elderly woman. "She can read the stars and will be headed to the next tribe meeting. As will the Karak."

"Ah, so we will meet up with your humans then." Yvet bobbed her head smugly, as though this was some great piece of detective work.

Bo nodded.

"So, you're giving up on the mountain then?"

"… I-" Bo sighed. "Yes. We'd have to get there in a few days, and I don't even know where here is, never mind there."

"Didn't that woman mention that the Racten were headed towards the Rift? Is that near the mountain you want to go to?" Yvet asked.

Bo raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm impressed you were paying that much attention."

Yvet gave Bo a smile that would scare the life out of all herbivores, rodents and thieves looking to steal some gold that had been arranged in a nice, neat pile.

"And no." He shook his head helplessly. "The Rift is so big that it's not really near any one thing. It's this enormous trench that runs all along the desert floor for miles and miles."

"Like a riverbed?" Yvet ventured.

"Exactly."

As Bo and Yvet discussed the Rift, the Yellow Folk seemed to come to an understanding and separated from their huddle. The Elder stepped forward and held out an old, leathery hand.

"We wish to trust you, Bo." She said slowly.

Bo reached out to grasp the outstretched hand, but she took it back. "But we would like some idea of what this plan of yours might be before we agree to anything."

With a frown, Bo nodded, thinking about how to explain everything to them. "Right, of course. Well, tell me this…" He glanced around the yellow Folk, taking stock of their suspicious gazes. "Have any of you ever seen the caves that glow?"

"Aye," one of the older men nodded, his voice gruff and gravelly.

"I, too, have seen them," said the Elder. "Although I dared not step inside."

Bo licked his lips and nodded. "Yes, they are exceedingly dangerous."

"Mm, I chanced across one when I was young," the older man said, his voice steeped in reminiscence. "Cost my friend his life."

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"Well, I have a way to harness the explosive power held within those caves, and Yvet and I passed one on our way here, if you get my meaning."

The Elder and older man frowned, exchanging a glance. The remaining yellow Folk seemed oblivious to the danger the caves possessed, deferring to those two's decision on the matter.

Yvet was likewise confused, her gaze darting between Bo and the Elder as she tried not to get lost in their exchange.

In the quiet of the night, backed by the distant crackle of dying fires, the Elder spoke softly, leaning in with a vicious twinkle in her eye.

"I'm listening."

----------------------------------------

Bo, the two older men, and one of the younger women headed straight from the Yellow Folk's camp to the cave he had seen at the ridge.

All three Yellow Folk wore tense, nervous expressions - particularly the young woman who was carrying a large portion of the tribe's water supply in a leather pouch she cradled against her chest.

Of the three, only one of them – the old man who had spoken earlier – offered anything in the way of conversation.

He had a gruff, aged temperament, and his skin looked like fruit that had been left out to dry in the sun. He had a smattering of grey hair on his mostly bald head and a grizzled jaw covered in sparse bristles.

"Gale's a good man," He said, his deep voice carrying a hint of retrospection.

Bo glanced at him, happy to have anyone speaking.

When he and Yvet had entered the tribe, an uncomfortable silence had tightened around them like a noose. They were forced to endure many judgmental stares from grieving tribes people, creating nearly palpable tension. It felt almost like they were in some sort of stand-off, with one wrong move likely to snap their agreement in half and stamp on it for good measure.

Bo had felt like he was walking on eggshells, and the openly frightened stares the people aimed at Yvet didn't help.

The Yellow Folk's hostile reaction to the little dragon had given him some pause. Specifically, he had decided that when the time came, he would need to consider a careful strategy to introduce her to his own tribe.

Considering the Yellow Folk's reaction to Yvet at her current size, Bo could only imagine what the Karak's reaction to her would be like in a few months at the tribe gathering.

She would only get bigger, after all.

All things considered, it would be a delicate subject, involving perhaps introducing her to a few of the more open-minded Karak first before putting her before the masses.

He looked back at the older man and frowned when he realised he still didn't know what the man was called.

"He's a strange old guy; that's true enough. But underneath all those layers of gristle is a man who really cares about people. When did you two meet?" Bo said, wondering if it was too late to ask the man for his name.

The older man scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Hm, it must have been decades ago. It was long before I became a hunter, anyway."

The younger woman looked at him, shocked. "I thought you were always a hunter Bruw." She spoke with the sort of reverential tone only given to parents and teachers.

Bo was just happy to have learned the man's name.

"Not always," Bruw said wistfully, his gaze growing distant. "Long ago, I wanted to learn the ways of smithing, which is when I met Gale, actually."

"You had the same master?" Bo asked curiously.

"Aye, though he was always better at it than me. Gale, that is. Despite only having one arm, the man could forge quicker than anyone. He swung the hammer like it was an extension of his body."

"It was Gale who discovered the trick to harnessing the cave's explosive powers," Bo added conversationally.

Bruw nodded as though such a thing made sense. "He always was fascinated by that…"

"Borealis?"

"Aye."

On their returned to the ridge, Bo was stunned by how long it took them to get there. He and Yvet had covered the same distance in only a few minutes, but the journey with the Yellow Folk was taking at least ten times that.

Granted, they were walking, but it was still a stark reminder that Bo's body was truly abnormal. A pace that he considered slow was probably blistering for any normal person.

As they walked, Yvet stayed ahead of the group, rushing to the top of dunes and diving off. She swooped down into their valleys and glided back up to their peaks while whooping with exhilaration. Bo could practically feel her delight through their connection and was happy to see her getting better control of her body.

Eventually, they arrived at the cave, which sparkled like sunlight refracting through a thousand raindrops. As they neared, Bo warned the Yellow Folk and Yvet, Especially Yvet, not to go inside.

Unless they wanted to end up in chunks, that is.

"Can you pass me the water?" He asked the younger woman.

She had dark skin with a shaved head and the universal tortoise shell tattoo. Her face had two yellow stripes going from temple to jaw, and her eyes never seemed to get wider than narrowed in suspicion. It was as though her natural state of being was doubtful.

"Why?" She asked.

Bo frowned at her. "What do you mean, why? I already told you that I need to put it on the Borealis to mine it."

She snorted at him, squinting suspiciously. "I'd like to see some proof of that."

"…" Bo sighed. "Fine, just step back a little."

The cave cut into the side of the ridge like a gaping wound, its narrow, jagged edges raw and hungry. All around its entrance lay boulders and rocks that had been shaken loose by the many explosions the cave had caused over the years.

Bo picked up one of these rocks, hefted it to his shoulder, and chucked it into the cave.

Bruw grabbed the young woman and dived to the ground while Yvet, sensing something was up, darted behind Bo. The other older man had likewise thrown himself out of the way, leaving Bo to scramble back as the sizeable rock arced through the night and was quickly swallowed by the cave mouth.

It soon fell, racing towards the glowing, starry floor.

The second it touched the Borealis, a blinding explosion picked it back up and sent the flaming rock careening out of the cave like a meteor.

Soaring into the night sky, the rock left a little comet trail in its wake, vanishing quickly over the tops of distant dunes.

All was quiet following the explosion.

Yvet peaked out from behind Bo, her mouth hanging open a little. For once, she was truly impressed and couldn't pretend otherwise.

The younger woman picked herself off the floor and stared at the cave in utter confusion. The look on her face was like she had just seen the cave get up, and walk away.

Bo rubbed his palms together eagerly.

Soon, the Racten would be no more.