The ashen waste and their nomads had always been a home to Sha’Raph. They had been all she could remember until the day she was chosen to take the role of a rider. It was unusual that it was chosen for her, even back then. Yet Master Kru’Gan had made the choice, and his word was fate. It was already to most of their clan, yet even more when it was in regards to her, for he was all the family she had left and all she ever knew.

Like all of her clan she had always been wearing her mask, yet unlike any of them hers showed nothing. While they showed their tusks and their decorations in pride, she remained hidden. Not just her face, but all of her. When she was young she had asked Master Kru’Gan why? Why did she have to hide herself? Why couldn’t she feel the ashen winds on her skin like so many others? What about her was so horrible that it had to be hidden?

“Horrible?” he asked back then and shook his head. “No, no my little dagger. You are the perfect tiny weapon.”

She never understood that either, yet always had to smile when she remembered his words. Since her last visit, memories of home were carried to her mind often. Memories of simpler times. Times of warmth and campfires in the ashen dunes, of feasts and song inside the ashen winds and under a grey moon. Yet even towards the man who should become Khan. The man who rode with her to the south, who showed her the ways of the riders and the long battle they carried.

For that man she felt, was dying. Less and less she could see of him in Aru’Gal. And more and more the man Master Kru’Gan always had promised would come one day. The man who would dare the clans and all of orckind. The man who would be willing to sacrifice it all for the promise of the same strength he was lacking for all his life. And the man, she was the promised dagger for.

Since her last visit home, she was more glad than ever that she wore a mask.

“Are the isles secured?!” Aru’Gal shouted at the surrounded riders. Many of them carried mistrust in their eyes, and everyone there knew they must have heard the remaining Bladelanders talk about their Khan’s grand plan. The last plan and big sacrifice to end all of their wars. Ascension.

Yet still they answered in obedience. "Yes, my Khan!" one of them finally shouted after the pause went on for far too long. He pressed his fist on his chest while the other remained on his wyvern’s reins. “No ogre remains on the mainland, but I cannot speak for all the Isles.”

“Let the Bladelands have some pride in claiming those.” Aru’Gal answered distantly and looked around. The horizon was burning. The battle of Wyvern and Ogre had been fast but greedy. He shook his head. “Why are there so few?..” He asked almost more to himself and turned to face Sha’Raph. “They were more when you were here right?”

She nodded, “Many must have died..” “I mean the Ogres.” He interrupted her and stared through her mask and into her heart. She glanced around but had to nod as well. “Legions.” She answered. “Entire legions, led by their Sorcerers.”

Aru’Gal huffed and shook his head.

Another rider took word from the crowd. “Maybe the Bladelanders actually killed them all.”

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“Don’t be so dim. It will never be that simple!” Aru’Gal replied back, his eyes darting the distant sea.

The rider grunted at the answer yet before he could say a thing Bruna landed next to them.

Aru’Gal’s eyes returned to his friend and they stared at each other while wind and tide rose all so lightly.

This time Sha’Raph broke the silence. “She must have sent them somewhere else then.” After but a moment longer Aru’Gal took his eyes from Bruna and back to Sha’Raph.

“But why..?” he asked himself more than her again.

She thought a moment as well before she answered. “Maybe she has a ritual planned for them..” she struggled to continue and had to control her voice to be cold as she did. “Or maybe she needs them for one..”

His eyes widened before he shook his head. “She can’t..” he said distantly, his eyes racing back and forth, mirroring his mind. “She needs..him..” Finally his eyes widened.

The riders shared some concerned looks before their eyes returned to their Khan as he spoke to Bruna. “You have been in the Ogres lands haven’t you?”

He nodded slowly and answered coldly while his face remained hidden beneath his horned helmet. “It is an arduous journey. The storms around their land are leashed by their Sorcerers and the land itself stinks of death and rot.”

“How did you get there last time?” Aru’Gals words were as cold as Bruna’s and their eyes fought the battle Sha’Raph had stopped before.

“I did not.” He answered plainly. Aru’Gal raised a brow yet Bruna continued. “Not alone…their Watcher. The Bladelands watcher took me with him. And paid the price.”

A bitter smile followed by a slight chuckle was born in Aru’Gal’s face.

Sha’Raph raised a brow. “I thought he only went there because the Ogres attacked and not before that?”

“I am not sure when they attacked, but I know it was before we got the scroll.” He answered and finally Aru’Gal’s eyes widened again.

“She knows it's time..” He whispered. “She doesn’t want the scroll…but the Dragon..”

Concern started to plague the gathered riders and many shared wide eyed glances. The Dragons fire and worry in all of their eyes.

Aru’Gal huffed a few times before he roared his orders. “We shall stop her before she can even set foot on the mainland!” He glanced at them all and tried to look full of anger and determination. It worked on some but Sha’Raph knew the look he was hiding. He studied them all, trying to see who was still an ally and who should be sent to the highest danger. “Once we cut off her head, the Ogres will run and scatter, maybe even fight among themselves if they can even live without their so called mother!”

One of the riders shook his head. “The Wyverns need rest, my Khan.”

“We are at war!” He shouted back. “There is no rest until we have won!”

He turned to Bruna again. “Do you remember a way through the storm?”

He shook his head. “It was not a path, it was a battle of storm and wing.”

“Then we shall fight it!” Aru’Gal roared again and held up his sword. “Follow me brothers and sisters! I will not rest until the witch is dead!” Without waiting for an answer, maybe because he knew there would be none, he brought his Wyvern to the cliff and started flying for the west. For a moment, no rider moved, yet Sha’Raph knew no matter if they were on Aru’Gal’s side or not, the Sorceress needed to be stopped as well. She roared and brought Dustfang to the cliff to follow him, and soon the other riders did as well.

Bruna was among the last that did, as his gaze followed Aru’Gal for the longest while.

The wind grew stronger and the tides were rising.