Several lizards the size of large dogs rutted the ground, in search of roots, tubers, and bugs. In spite of appearances, they were opportunistic omnivores with a diet more akin to a wild boar than with most other reptiles. Unlike boar, however, they were still predators with an array of tools including armored hide, powerful claws, paralytic venom, six legs, and complex pack hunting behavior.

In short, they would be the apex predators of most ecosystems. However, the forests of Midara had far worse beasts than them to fear. As such, when three humans appeared, they didn't behave like stupid beasts which had no reason to fear. They scattered, fleeing into the forest and using the cover to conceal their approach. With camouflaged scales and six legs to distribute their weight, the forest was their ally.

Two arrows, each the size of a javelin, pierced a pair of the beasts and left their corpses pinned to trees. Elsewhere, another pair fell through the leaves of the forest floor and discovered sharpened branches awaited them at the bottom of a pit. Of a pack of ten, four died without realizing that this day, they were the prey.

"Lisks are dangerous beasts, but limited." Wynd drew on the ground using his claws. Some marks representing the monsters, others representing the team. "They circle their prey, in six groups of two. Then the alphas rush forward to intimidate the prey. Prey that flees will find itself caught in an ambush." He drew more lines, then the finalizing 'X' symbol to represent death. "We will set traps, to ambush the ambushers."

"We'll bait them into position, then pick them off. Life is so much simpler now that we have bait." Tel grinned at the taller trio.

"I want everyone to know that if I die, I blame Arakash for everything," Shiara muttered.

The alphas rushed the trio, then stopped and held position. It was uncommon, but hardly unheard of, for prey to hold its ground rather than flee. Nor were they surprised when the prey led an attack against them; of the many beasts of the forest, no small number considered offense to be their beast defense. Their sons and daughters knew what to do.

As the prey approached, their pack left their positions in the trees, prepared to kill them from behind.

That is when everything went wrong. One of the prey burst into flames, then lit the path behind themselves ablaze, cutting off the pack's attack path. Now, they were surprised, and unprepared when one of the prey sprouted wings and jumped over them. The female straightened her neck and clenched her jaw muscles, causing a stream of toxins to strike the victim.

The male turned toward the other two prey animals. Feeling only a moment of fear, he rushed the pair, trusting his mate of twelve seasons to handle the remaining, envenomed, prey. He intended to distract and delay until the rest of the pack arrived. He made it no more than two of his body lengths before his body fell, split in half.

Ada stood, staring down her fingers at the bisected lisk for a moment, before running to Arakash, who was busy fending off the brutal strikes of the female lisk. Another burst of magic saw the female lisk's left flank all the way to shoulder removed from the rest of its body. While its death was far from instant, it collapsed, too maimed to move. Arakash ended its life by spearing it through the eye.

"When hunting, they always run in pairs," Wynd continued explaining the art of hunting lisks. "The males are larger, with thicker hide, and will seek to shield the female in combat. Like most dragon-kin, they possess considerable magic resistance."

"Yeah, and females spit their venom. It's a good team-up they've got," Tel added. "No threat to a Noctrel, long as you keep away from the claws and teeth. I've seen 'em crack open a deer skull like a walnut."

Wynd nodded at his partner's point. "Like most animals, they fear fire. Shiara, you can use your power to drive them back if needed."

"Yeah, but don't set them on fire!" Tel cut in. "We don't need them alive, but we do need them fresh!"

"It must be Ada's magic which slays them." Wynd nodded at the young woman. "Isylan magic is difficult to defend against, and does not risk destroying the samples we require."

"Isylan?" Ada asked. "What's an Isylan?"

"You do not know?" Wynd eyed the girl, considering the possibilities. In retrospect, it wasn't too unusual that a Second not know her heritage. The lives of Firsts and Thirds were much simpler, in those regards. "Isylans are what the descendants of Kiara call themselves. To wield the power of Void as you do, one must possess Kiara's blood."

"And if that ain't obvious enough, the purple-" Tel was silenced when Wynd put his hand on her shoulder. A hand almost as large as her entire body. She liked Wynd, but his predator nature spooked her at times.

Ada stared down at her hands. Void. She'd felt it before, when the goblins' lisks were attacking her. A place outside of space, a moment outside of time. "No, I didn't know."

"Wynd apologizes for evoking painful memories. Would you like to take a moment for introspection?"

"No. No, it's not that." If anything, it was the opposite of painful. "Please, continue."

Moments after the pack alphas fell, two more lisks rounded the wall of flames, but instead of attacking they kept running. They fled into the underbrush, leaving the three standing with their kills.

A series of water-bursts put out Shiara's firewalls, to reveal a horse-like animal with a mane and tail of flowing water. Moments after the fires were out, it collapsed into water itself, and evaporated moments after. Wynd was behind the creature, cradling Tel in one arm, while the other held a bow of massive proportions; taller even than he was, and almost as thick as a man's arm.

Tel's eyes fluttered open. "Ugh, that headache's not goin' away soon." She looked at the dead lisks. "You didn't get the other two?"

"Hey!" Shiara shifted back to her human form in order to speak without sounding like a monster, herself. "You said nothing about outrunning wild animals."

Wynd set Tel down, which prevented her from speaking before he did. "Wynd thanks you for your assistance."

Tel muttered something unintelligible even to herself, then sighed. "At least we got the alphas. They're the most important part of the plan, anyway.

Ada focused her mind, tapping into the impossible nowhen/where of the Void. With laughable ease, she called on the power she never, yet always, knew. With a single sweep of her hand, a branch dropped from a tree with a sharp thirty degree angle point.

Shiara took a cautious step toward her princess. "So, how are you feeling? It's not every day you learn you've got divine blood, huh? I know, putting up a strong front is fine, but you can trust me."

Ada smiled, almost laughed before realizing how serious Shiara seemed. "I've always known I had divine blood."

Shiara blinked. "How?"

"My father is Sorda en Tyr, after all." Ada stepped away from the pile of magic-sharpened branches laying near her feet. "I am only six generations removed from Tyr, while Kiara lived and died well over a thousand years ago. And Tyr could trace his ancestry to numerous gods and goddesses, including Sira and Enochra. It's the same for most nobles. As strong as your magic is, I bet you have some divine ancestry, too."

Shiara yearned for the ability to go back in time and erase the last few minutes of conversation, or better yet, to discuss with her educators about how failing to teach her about other gods would be to her detriment. Instead, she forced herself to laugh. "Maybe. So you're not bothered at all?"

Ada considered the questions. "A little, maybe. I grew up knowing that I had a different mother than my siblings, and that she died not long after my birth. It was never a secret, though also never discussed at any length. And while my step-mother never treated me like a trueborn daughter, I was never treated poorly. For now, I'm relieved more than anything."

This was not the course Shiara expected from the conversation. "Relieved?"

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"Yes!" Ada laughed, and with a gesture dropped another limb with her magic. "I've spent my entire life thinking that I was a freak, that my blood was defective because of my lack of magic. Do you know what it's like to grow up thinking there's something wrong with you?"

Shiara kept her stupid tongue trapped firmly behind her teeth where it couldn't cause more problems.

Ada wiped away a tear she hadn't realized was there. She'd never cried from happiness before, which only made her cry more. "But it's not my fault! I was being taught the wrong magic!" She wrapped her arms around Shiara, still laughing and crying.

Shiara put her arms around her emotional princess and swore that if this was how Ada responded to being happy, she'd do everything in her power to keep her that way.

Covered in blood stains, Tel stood up from where she was sitting crouched behind the dead lisk, holding a fluid-filled leathery pouch that was almost as big as her head. Even through her face covering meant to allow her to breathe in spite of goblin stench, she gagged at the horrid musk coming off the bag. "Okay, Wynd! That's the last of 'em."

Wynd nodded, then took the time to set his bow aside. "Wynd thanks all of you for your aid. And no matter what comes, Wynd will remember your kindness."

Tel walked over to her friend. "Don't talk like it's over before it's begun. If you truly want to thank us, then do it when we've won."

Wynd closed his eyes. "There is much wisdom in you, when you allow yourself to listen."

"Okay, moment ruined you lumbering brute." Tel turned and walked off, toward Arakash, where she held out the bag. "Here, you carry it. You don't have a sense of smell to ruin."

"That's not part of the deal," Arakash said. "But, I'm willing to make an exception in exchange for, say, first claim on the basilisk?"

Tel stepped back, looking aghast at the demon. "First claim? We both know you'll take the shard." After the mutual silence grew uncomfortable, she relented and thrust the disgusting fluids toward Arakash. "Fine, but in exchange, the next two shards are mine to claim."

"Done." Arakash snagged the bag from Tel, pleased at how negotiations were playing out. It would be quite the profitable distraction, assuming they survived to speak of the tale.

"The final goal is here, to the south." Wynd pointed at the rough drawing in the dirt. "Where a pair of basilisks have made their nest. We cannot fight a basilisk in its own caves, where we would be paralyzed by the toxins within seconds, but with effort, we can draw them into the open."

"That's where I come in, with the lisks." Tel stood tall, though she was not looking forward to what her role entailed. "See, a lisk is merely a basilisk whose bloodline lost its magic. We'll take their sarite to insulate us some against poison, and I'll take their..." she gagged for a moment. "Fluids and body parts from the males." Some days, it did not pay to be an alchemist.

Recognizing Tel's reticence, Wynd finished the explanation. "When the substance is dumped nearby, it will draw out the pair. The male to fight a challenger, the female to mate with the victor. Then, we strike."

Basilisks were much more intimidating than their lisk counterparts. The first glimpse they caught of them was the male's deep emerald scales emerging from the darkness. He stood taller at his shoulders than Shiara or Ada, though not quite to Arakash's height, and he was ten times that in length. This was no pack hunter; such a creature felt no need to share its prey with others.

He was prepared for a battle against another male, for his territory and his mate. What he was not expecting was a furred creature to rush straight for him. He wasn't upset; rivals were lots of effort for little reward, while insane mammals were an easy meal. An assessment changed moments later when his head rocked back thanks to an uppercut to the jaw.

His mate roared in her own confused rage when a series of loud explosive noises went off near her face. Moments later, a wall of fire came up, separating them from one another and their cave.

Wynd took advantage of the chaos and confusion to hit the beast in its throat once again. He didn't bother with his claws, knowing full well that the basilisk's hide was tough enough to withstand his talons. This was to be a bruiser's battle for the time being.

The basilisk snapped out with speed and power which would be envied by the crocodile it loosely resembled. In spite of its size, it was fast.

Wynd was faster. In close range, he twisted around and brought his elbow right into the creature's eye socket. He rolled back, to avoid the beast's wild half-blind thrashing, and came up with his arm bleeding after being whipped by a razor-sharp tail. While his foe got his bearings, Wynd took the time to look at how the others were doing.

He smiled; their plan was working well. With Arakash making himself the target of her venom, while the girls stayed back and pelted her with spell and alchemy, it seemed their use of the same basic tactic basilisks replied upon was working well.

His foe, would be far less easily beaten. He jumped back to avoid another strike of the tail. Clever, he thought. It was feigning its confusion to buy time for a proper surprise strike. He dropped to all fours, grabbed a rock, and hurled it at the beast's much more vulnerable belly.

That got his attention. The basilisk twisted to his feet, then charged Wynd again. But this time, both of them had a different plan than the first trade of blows. At the last moment, the basilisk twisted and went low, seeking to avoid the punishing strikes of his enemy and catch him vulnerable when moving.

Wynd was wise to such tactics, and instead leapt upon the basilisk's back, his attention on that dangerous tail-whip. His hind claws dug into the scales, not to cause damage, but to provide purchase and leverage when get caught the tail near the base and bit into it. With talon and fang alike, he ripped into the flesh until he severed nerves and tendons as his foe roared out in rage and pain. If not for his collection of anti-poison sarite, the blood alone would have killed him.

Wynd attempted to jump clear after, but was moments too slow. The massive creature rolled over and caught his leg beneath its great bulk. Now it was his turn to cry out as his leg bone twisted, popped, and snapped. Ignoring the pain, he pulled himself away from the twisting beast, but not to escape. Instead, he found himself in an excellent position to strike at soft underbelly.

They both cried out when his talons sank into the soft, fleshy material near the groin. The basilisk pulled away, which only aided Wynd. In spite of a rib snapping, he kept his grip, and pulled a long mass of entrails from the basilisk's underside.

A basilisk which, while fatally wounded, still had not given up on the battle. Dragging his innards behind him, he was still powerful enough to kill before his own life was lost.

That was until Wynd howled, and changed from a predatory monster to a duck. In spite of still having a broken leg, and ribs, Wynd fought through the pain long enough to take to the air. He couldn't fly forever, not as wounded as he was, but it gave him speed and maneuverability now denied to the disemboweled basilisk. The chase lasted for several minutes, but in the end the basilisk succumbed to its wounds and blood loss.

Once he felt safe, Wynd returned to his natural form, and limped to his foe. "You were a worthy foe, and Wynd will see to it that you remain in the Memories until Memory itself is forgotten." He knelt down, and with great effort given his broken rib, carved open a path to the insides of the basilisk. He withdrew the heart of the monster, then in one difficult bite. devoured the whole of the organ.

Electricity danced between the pair, as Wynd's body began to metamorph while the Basilisk's began to melt into an unidentifiable goo. Soon, there was one whole basilisk standing where Wynd used to be. He howled again, in gratitude for the power bestowed upon him, and mourning for the death required to grant him such greatness.

He pretended not to hear when Shiara gagged. "I think I'm gonna be sick."