After a stint digging into a mound of scrolls until he found his world map, Peacock was off, his potions and orbs secured in his inventory.

According to the map, Genua sat at the far south of the world, almost as far away from Zenith Flight’s cave as it could get. Considering Zenith Flight’s spread of destruction, he didn’t blame Alainn for heading there.

The serene grasslands which housed Peacock’s sanctuary sat to the east of The Valley That Hums where he’d been born. The valley dipped low, pockmarked with dragon-sized cave entrances devoid of concealing magic or occupants. If Peacock closed his eyes, he could almost imagine the valley as an artifact of an ancient civilization. As he moved south into the Basin of Gold, such illusions shattered.

The sprawling depression of the basin sunk into the surrounding prairie. Log and brick buildings, from basic lean-tos to expansive three-story mansions, covered most of it. Like in the valley, entrances dotted the basin’s rocky edges, but these were far too small for dragons. All was in ruins.

The largest buildings were missing their roofs or walls. Many of the smaller buildings were nothing more than piles of rubble. Ash and scorch marks covered most of the area. Miserable-looking Rebirths scurried around the wreckage, eyes darting to the sky every few seconds. Telltale signs of a dragon attack.

Zenith Flight had steadily expanded their path of destruction, destroying every settlement they came across. They never took loot. The dragons didn’t even bother killing and capturing all the Rebirths. The raiders were playing, getting their fun off of the suffering of others.

Peacock stayed hidden from view. This settlement looked recently raided, which meant the survivors were more likely to run screaming than attack, but Peacock had no desire to add to their misery.

Peacock moved on quickly, one eye to the sky in case the raiders came back.

His path through the rest of the prairie was uneventful, save for the many encampments. Another result of Zenith Flight raids. Peacock felt a surge of pity as he spied a Faefolk family casting a glamour on their children. Zenith Flight didn’t play by the rules, and no amount of magical camouflage would keep them away.

Not until l kill every last one.

Peacock’s pity turned to anger. This was their life now. Zenith Flight had turned what was supposed to be the ultimate heaven into the ultimate hell. The dragons deserved every dark thing Peacock had dreamed up for them, and Peacock couldn’t wait until he brought the full force of karma down on their heads.

The encampments continued into the Hissing Bog, which divided the prairie from Genua. In better times, the smells of sewage rising from the stagnant pools would have driven away most Rebirths. Peacock counted twenty camps as he flew over.

Relief washed over him when the scraggly, brown plant-life and overwhelming smells of the bog turned into blankets of fragrant shrubs, flowers, and trees. The setting sun cast rainbow hues across a cluster of Greco-Roman buildings in the distance. Genua.

Stolen novel; please report.

Finally.

Peacock had left his sanctuary with little thought to whether it would be day or night when he arrived. Regardless, the twilight would serve him well enough. The camps, however, would not.

An increasingly dense group of camps clustered in the green expanse around the city, and it got worse the closer to Genua Peacock got. Hastily constructed wooden spikes surrounded the city’s high stone walls in a clear message to the shoulder-to-shoulder mass of Rebirths and camps which lined its circumference.

Peacock wondered what the masses expected to get. Bombarding the city would only make them an easier target for the first Zenith Flight dragon to fly by. As much as it stunk, their comrades in the bog had it right.

All those Rebirths were also in the way.

Peacock abandoned the idea of landing outside of Genua to take stock and plan. Regardless of how well he could hide, that many Rebirths meant thousands of checks and chances to be seen.

No thanks. The quicker he got in and out of the city, the better.

He dove toward the domed roof of a white and blue bell tower, tucking his wings tightly against his sides as he slipped under an arch and landed beneath a bronze bell large enough to fit into. The fading sun cast a large shadow over the alcove, and Peacock happily merged with it.

From his vantage point, all of Genua spread out below him. Rebirths sporting scarves wrapped around their necks and torsos hurried through cobbled streets. Everyone carried something, from large boxes to small objects clutched in hands, and not a single one stopped to talk with another.

At the edge furthest from Peacock, Genua’s southernmost side bordered the ocean. Its high walls prevented Peacock from seeing anything more than the tips of ship sails, but the increased cluster of residents around the docks spoke of its importance.

Peacock flinched as he activated Ubique Sight. More glowing spheres than he could count lit up around and under him. The spheres slid past one another like fish in a stream, clogging inside buildings, and settling so thick outside the city wall it all merged into a large band of color and text. Peacock’s head pounded.

001IM125D. He focused on the handle, filtering through each sphere marking a Rebirth and doing his best to keep his eyes from crossing. No, no, no, no. With each handle, it got harder to concentrate. How many people are there? Maybe it’d be better to run through the streets screaming her name. See if I died or found her first. Peacock giggled deliriously. What if all of them ran screaming? That would make it hard for her to hear me.

On and on it went, until names lost meaning and words lost sound. Through north part of the city, the western market, and the horrifyingly clogged central square.

058HN, 562NR, 001IM…. Peacock’s eyes glazed up the mountainside leading up to a massive government building. Wait, what? His eyes snapped back.

An oddly solitary sphere sat on the side of the mountain, well off the beaten path, 001IM125D stuck on the top like a flag. Peacock’s mouth went dry. Strange. Maybe I’m more afraid of stumbling into more Zenith Flight than I thought.

He shook his head to clear the cobwebs. Searching had been boring, yet safe. The next part, not so much.

Fortunately, it had taken so long to locate Haven, the moon had replaced the sun in the sky, and the spheres had mashed themselves into tighter quarters. Peacock was in his element.

He picked a blank spot at the foot of the bell tower and jumped with wings tucked. The air rushed up to meet him as he came out of his stoop just in time to avoid splatting on the ground. Peacock touched down, silent as a shadow, and closed in on his target.