With nothing to lose and a lifetime of walking under their belts, the Yellow Folk were quick to pack up and get moving. They marched with fiery purpose through the sweltering heat, driven by a bloodthirsty eagerness that smouldered in their guts.

Bo and Yvet walked at the front of the group beside the Elder, Yvet sticking close to Bo's side. She was walking so close that he kept bumping into his leg, and he almost stood on her tail on more than one occasion.

"Um, Ma'am… ms Elder." Bo glanced sideways at the grim-faced elderly woman, noting her lack of reaction. "I was wondering if… after all of this is over, we could, and by we, I mean Yvet and I. If we could possibly… stay with your tribe."

She slowly turned to face him, an eyebrow raised.

"Not permanently, you understand," Bo hurried to say. "Just until the next tribe meeting so that I can return to my people."

"Boy."

"Yes?"

"If we're still alive after this, you can do whatever you want."

Bo nodded. "Right, thanks." He glanced down at Yvet and winked at her.

"What does this mean?" She asked.

"Huh?"

"Was there something else you wanted?" The Elder asked, responding to the fact that Bo had spoken.

"Oh, no…" Bo trailed off, glancing down at the little dragon who winked back at him. "I was just talking to my pet."

Yvet whacked his leg with the side of her tail, turning her nose up at him.

"That's really something," the Elder remarked. "To be able to communicate silently would be invaluable during a meeting or battle."

"Yes, but I still haven't figured out how to do it," Bo said with a sigh. "And she-" he gestured down at the dragon. "-isn't a great teacher."

"I can teach you if you'd like," Yvet said coldly. "As long as you don't call me your pet."

"Of course! I was only joking. You, Yvet, are a valued and trusted friend of mine." Bo held his hand on his heart as though swearing an oath.

The Elder gave him an appraising look. "Although it does look odd seeing you talking to yourself."

Bo blushed and nodded, walking away from the older woman and taking Yvet with him. They soon filtered through to the back of the procession, and Bo listened closely as Yvet explained how expanding one's mind actually worked.

"It's all about control," She said. "There's no use in spreading your thoughts every which way because your mind will be worn thin. It would be like trying to fill an ocean with a bucket of water."

"So… how do I not do that?"

"First, look inwards and just sort of… concentrate."

Bo nodded.

"Fix a thought firmly in your mind and envision the thought fully formed as a thing that exists in the confines of you."

He did so, imagining Yvet with bright green scales.

"Then, when you have that image fully realised, focus on where you want it to go and force it out of your head and into mine."

Bo tried to do that. He tried to force a thought out of his head - whatever that meant - and got so far as squinting awkwardly.

Nothing happened.

"Are you doing it?"

"Just give me a second." Bo was concentrating so hard he felt like his ears were going to pop, but still, nothing happened.

Finally, he was forced to give up as the Yellow Folk had encountered something at the front of the group.

He and Yvet hurried to where everyone had crowded around many footprints in the sand. With the footprints were the tracks carved by the sledges most tribes used. The footprints were deep and many, far more than Bo had been expecting.

He found it rather daunting to see tangible evidence of what they were up against. All those footprints could only be made by many, many people. And one pair had already caught his eye.

Yvet wandered through the many footprints, pausing within an incredibly giant set of impressions. These marks were so big she could almost curl up inside them, and Bo had to wonder what sort of person was capable of leaving such footprints. They would have to be more than twice the size of the average man if not more.

"Those must have been left by SkullFist," a nearby man said quietly, his voice shaking at the mere mention of the name. "Do you really think those fire rocks will be able to take him out?"

"Well, we certainly wouldn't stand a chance without them," said a woman by the man's side. "But if the Elder says it will work. It will work."

"I know, it's just…"

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She put her arm around his shoulder, softly patting his back. "I know, I know."

Bo looked away, feeling as though he had intruded on something incredibly private. Although he had learned something important. SkullFist - that was a name he knew, and he knew it well. It was a name parents told their kids when they had been naughty. It was a name people spoke in hushed tones. It was a name he didn't take lightly.

"The name SkullFist is very powerful," Yvet remarked.

Bo looked around, embarrassed to be seen speaking to himself. He lent down to Yvet and whispered, "The Racten's names are not given but earned. And SkullFist, the Racten's leader, is called that for... very literal reasons."

"Impressive."

"What are you talking about? He's a monster. The worst of the worst. When nightmares have nightmares, this guy is in them."

"Then defeating him will only bring me more glory."

"That's one way to look at it, I suppose," Bo conceded. "Although I will be the one to defeat him." He added the second part so quietly that not even Yvet picked up on it.

They followed the footprints for miles before Bo noticed that they had begun to go down. It wasn't a steep incline but a very gradual, almost imperceptible descent.

After walking for hours, they came across a large boulder in the middle of the desert, and soon after, they found another. Gradually, the golden sand began to fill with huge red rocks and boulders strewn without rhyme or reason.

Bo found it fascinating to examine these rocks, as some were made up of many layers of different materials. He liked to imagine what process could turn all those individual layers into one.

Yvet was using the rocks as an excuse to continue flying. She would climb the side of one and jump off, sailing hundreds of metres before crashing into the side of another boulder.

It was her, then, from her high vantage point, that first saw it.

Although in this case, it could be felt before it was seen.

The air had grown noticeably thicker, as though drenched in Mi, and Bo had noticed an enormous increase in the otherworldly energies as he continued forwards.

Yvet had paused on one of the enormous boulders, staring into the distance blankly.

Bo noticed her, frozen there, and hurried over. "What is it?" He called out.

She slowly turned her head down to face him. "It's big," she whispered.

It only took Bo a second to realise what she meant, as everyone had a similar dumbstruck reaction when they first laid eyes on the Rift. "How close are we now?"

"An hour or so, at most,"

He nodded and licked his lips. It had been a while since he last saw the Rift, and even after seeing it so many times, his reaction was never much different to Yvet's stupor. There was just something about the sheer magnitude of it that never failed to stop him in his tracks.

After Bo relayed this news to the Elder, the Yellow Folk picked up their pace even further, spurred on now that their goal was in sight.

They continued to follow the tracks for another half an hour before they saw it.

Beyond scale, bigger than size, that was the Rift. It looked like a god had reached down and pried the ground open, leaving behind a monstrously large, yawning chasm that ran from horizon to horizon. The rock on its sides was an earthy red with white mineral bands running through it.

As they grew nearer, Bo could almost hear the rush of water that had once flowed through the trench, and the Mi had become so dense he could almost see it with the naked eye.

Yvet had gone quiet; perhaps awe had stolen her voice.

After following the tracks for another twenty minutes, they arrived at a steep slope that led down into the Rift. The tracks descended the slope, disappearing into the trench below.

This was where the Yellow Folk stopped following the tracks. Instead, they turned parallel to the Rift and began traversing its steep, jagged cliff edge.

As they walked, Bo and Yvet followed near the rear of the group, remaining quiet. "Are you alright?" Bo asked, gazing down at the little dragon.

"I- this just feels strange…" Yvet's tail thrashed nervously. "It feels like I've been here before."

"What? Really?" Bo glanced around, embarrassed to be seen talking to himself. "Perhaps it's one of those ancestral memories you have."

"Hmm, maybe."

From the front of the procession, Diatra hurried back to Bo and Yvet, a nervous look on her face.

"What's wrong?" Bo asked as she neared them.

Diatra bit her lip, glancing to the side where the ground plummeted away into the chasm. "We have a plan," she whispered.

Bo nodded.

"I bet they're going to throw the Borealis down on the Racten's heads," Yvet said smugly.

Bo gave her a look, annoyed that he couldn't reply without being heard and looking strange.

"Since the Racten outnumber us so greatly, we are going to engage them from up here," Diatra said.

"Told you,"

Bo shook his head and sighed.

"Is something wrong with the plan?" Diatra asked, seeing his face.

Bo coughed awkwardly and shook his head. "N-no, I was just wondering how you can be sure they will all be in one place."

Diatra smiled wickedly, her eyes almost glowing. "We will wait till they set up camp for the night and then bombard the monsters while they sleep. Then, they will see how it feels."

"That sounds like an excellent plan," Bo said, sneaking a look down at Yvet. He really wished he could say something to her right then.

"Okay, perfect," Diatra smiled wickedly. "We were just wondering how capable Yvet is in a fight."

"I am the most capable."

"She... she's very strong, yes."

"Well, I know this may be a lot to ask, but if any of the Racten escape the bombardment, would Yvet be able to fly down and finish them off?" Diatra looked at the little dragon guiltily.

Bo frowned, looking down at Yvet, whose ego had expanded into a bonfire after being stoked like that. "I could take them all by myself if needs be; finishing off a few stragglers is nothing."

"Um- maybe-" Bo started to say before getting interrupted.

"Great! then we can count on you." Diatra whirled around and raced back to the Elder before Bo could object, leaving him standing there with his mouth open.

Yvet looked up at him and winked. "There's no need to be worried about little old me. I can handle myself, Bo."

Bo ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath. "Sure," he said, not quite believing it.

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

As night fell once more, shrouding the desert in shadow, one place did not grow dark.

The Rift glowed spectacularly, with hundreds of intertwining ropes of light twisting and undulating like millions of neon snakes.

Every rope was a different shade. All of them beautiful, all of them dangerous. There was something otherworldly about those lights, something magical.

Over the many years he had come here, Bo had never once seen this sight, and judging by the expressions of the Yellow Folk, he and Yvet were the only ones seeing it now.

However, they didn't have time to focus on the brilliant glow emanating from the chasm, as something far more important was happening.

The Racten's camp had been found, and as the Yellow folk lined up on the edge of the Rift, staring daggers dripping with bloody vengeance at the people below them, tensions rose.

Bo was lined up with them, gazing down at the tiny tents and distant flicker of campfires.

All was still as they waited for the signal to rain death on the Racten, all save for the nervous breathing of the Yellow folk.

"Is everyone ready?" The Elder asked, her voice rasping.

A quiet steeped in grim determination was the only response she received.

"Then let us begin."

On cue, a silent volley of leatherbound rocks dropped toward the camp below.

There was no battle cry.

No war horn.

No fighting fair.

The Racten did not deserve such things.

The only noises after the Elder spoke were the distant explosions as balls of fire consumed the camp.