Axel woke before the dawn burned away the early morning mists in the tent that he shared with Aria. Aria was, like always, curled along his back like a nexus of heat, somehow still feeling cold even while sharing a blanket and tent with Axel. Axel gently extracted himself from Aria’s embrace as his new internal clock said there was still about an hour before they planned to wake up.

As Axel left the tent, he noticed that Larimar was practicing floating dozens of bead-sized water droplets, and Roran was feeding Star by taking out several Snar from a small storage bag on his belt. Axel decided to keep quiet so as to not disturb anyone and used the pit they dug for a bathroom and started his morning exercises. After returning, Axel turned off regeneration and began to go through his morning exercises.

After a few warmup rounds, Axel started to use his gravity powers to slowly increase his body weight by linking his body to the ground below him. This could only be kept up for so long as it was draining his core faster than its natural regeneration would keep it charged. When his core hit about fifty percent of its max, he decided to stop as they were not in a safe environment to go any lower.

Axel made breakfast while waiting until his blessing informed him that his muscle breakdown and repair were completed. Then he turned his regeneration back on. As the smell of food roused everyone from their sleep, Axel asked Larimar if she could give him a shower. With a nod, they set up a curtain for privacy, and he was pelted with very cold water. This caused Axel to clean fast and get into hunting gear when the water stopped.

Larimar offered the service for everyone, which was taken except for Aria, who filled a bucket and cleaned herself with a sponge quickly. After everyone grabbed some of the breakfast that Axel made, the day's tasks were taken by everyone. Sky and Lyra would locate spring fruits and vegetables, Roran and Star would gather firewood, Larimar and Pearl would do a perimeter check, and Axel with Aria would gather local herbs to hide their scents and start scouting out prey.

It took about an hour for Axel and Aria to find the herbs they were looking for, an herb that most beasts found soothing when smelled and completely covered the scent of any of the people. It always grew in large batches near the jungle's edge, though the mountains made its growing area much sparser.

The trip was not carefree as they left the small valley they camped in. Axel had headed away from the hunting grounds to avoid alerting the Quakes or any other prey around about their presence, but he and Aria must have roamed too close to the Thunderer’s hunting ground. What made this worse was that Aria could not fly and scout as there was a flock of Storm Riders overhead, and they would attack her the moment she took to the air.

Axel scanned the Storm Riders quickly and decided that being on the ground was safer for him and Aria.

Index basic mode Storm Rider Known Dangers:

* Talons and claws

* Incredible Speed

* Light metal feathers

Estimated Age: Varies

Beast Potency Level: Between Novice Low to Adept Low.

Storm Riders were more of a scavenger in the ecosystem near the mountains. They were unlikely to go out of their way to attack others unless you were taking their food or flying too near them. Axel decided to avoid the area they were circling, but this led him to his current issue of looking at a Thunderer through some bushes.

Axel watched a titanic bipedal beast, a good five stories tall, as it roamed near a thinning area of the jungle, eating the carcass of a large four-legged beast. Thunderers were at the top of the food chain in the lighter jungle, and most were Adept to Expert level beasts in potency. Arcs of electricity gently arced off its hardened hide while it ate its meal. If Axel had to guess, the dead beast was a Tree Topper, a massive beast that when fully grown could even step over a city’s wall, though one that big would need at minimum a Master to even hurt, if not stronger.

Axel carefully scanned the Thunderer with his index, trying to not make much noise.

Index basic mode Thunderer Known Dangers:

* Talons, bite, and claws

* Electrical discharges

* Armored hide

* Roar that acts as a sonic attack

* A sound-dampening effect around the beast

Estimated Age: Youth stage based on size and general mass of the beast.

Beast Potency Level: Adept End

While it was an Adept potency, Axel did not want to try and hunt this beast with Pearl and Larimar as it would be very hard for them to hurt before it shocked or stunned them with its roar. This also explained why the Storm Riders were so far away as Thunderers were known to stun flying beasts with their roar. They moved very quickly and had a bite force that could shatter steel easily. They have two arms with claws that are very sharp and reinforced by the Goddess’s blessing all their lives, making them just as deadly as anything else on the beast.

Thankfully, it seemed to be getting full of the meal and began to trundle off away from Axel and Aria. With that scare done, Axel moved through the bushes to where he saw the herbs they were looking for and decided to leave now as he felt that he used a lot of his life’s accumulated luck to not run into a hungry Thunderer. As they left, the Storm Riders dived silently onto the remainder of the Tree Topper, allowing the youngest to eat first while the older ones kept watch in the air.

Neither Aria nor Axel made any noise on their way out with the herbs, though with how loud he was hearing his heartbeat, he was surprised no one else could either. Axel also noted that Aria’s wings were shaking slightly as they moved. When they left the hunting grounds, Thunderers tended to have ranges where they hunted and let no other predator in other than a mate or a young child. Axel picked up his pace until he was a good couple of miles from the carcass and put down a trail sign to note that the beast was in the area so that no one would walk into it without warning.

Axel guessed that this beast was young and was pushed to this hunting ground as Quakes were one of the beasts that were known to often kill any but the oldest Thunderer on sight. Axel and Aria made it back to the camp, and Aria leaned against Axel, putting all of her weight onto him.

“Aria thought she was going to die,” Aria said while still shaking. “Aria hates that she could not hear that thing eating until we almost went into that clearing.”

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“Yeah, the Storm Riders threw me off and made me think the predator was in a different direction,” Axel rubbed Aria’s shaking hands. “We are not ready to hunt something like that yet. I think I could penetrate its hide, but I am not sure if my strike would not be stopped by its muscles.”

“Let's not try and hunt what we were planning to,” Lyra’s voice came from the side. “We were starting to get worried about you being gone so long.”

“The herb we wanted was farther out than we thought,” Axel said while holding up a bag with the herbs. “Anything happened while we were gone?”

“Pearl and Larimar cleared out a Gen nest that was nearby,” Lyra told Axel. “They gave the prey to Star as it helped with that hunt. That should also help with Star's food situation for a few days. Jareth kept the cores though.”

“Good to know,” Axel said and picked up Aria in a princess carry, though no one knew where the name came from. Aria squawked in surprise as he finished walking to the camp. “Let's get these processed so Aria and I can scout out some of the upcoming hunt locations.”

Getting to camp, Axel saw Sky doing repairs on the wagon, likely from damage on the rough terrain, while the twins were doing maintenance on their gear. Roran still had Star out and was doing some training off to the side that Axel was not sure of but likely just Star needed to bleed off energy if his experience training with a rider before was any indication.

“Hey, Lyra?” Axel turned his head, saying to get her attention.

“Yes, Axel?” Lyra replied in a drawl voice.

“Anything you can do for Star?” Axel asked while keeping the rider and mount in his peripheral vision.

“Hummm,” Lyra said while tapping her chin in thought. “Well, I have been trained in humanoid and Thalaxian physiology for my healing training. Riders have healers normally that specialize in Storm Drakes, but it is rare for a healer to want to do that.”

“Why?” Aria leaned her head on Axel’s shoulder and asked.

“Well, from what I know, beasts as they grow physically change internally, and healers are rare,” Lyra started. “Getting the church to send anything more than an energy healer for a beast, even one as mighty or useful as a Storm Drake, is hard to do. It would take years of training just to understand the intricacies of the blessing involved. Also, Storm Drakes are very testy with anyone but their rider.”

“Well, could you not ask the Goddess about what changes you need to make to Star to help it?” Aria asked in curiosity.

“Because I did not think of that,” Lyra shook her head. “Also, I don’t know if Roran would allow me to try.”

“Well, there is no reason not to ask!” Aria said and wiggled out of Axel’s princess carry. After landing on her feet, she ran over to the area where Roran was training with Star. She stopped at a safe distance and waved to get Roran’s attention, which stopped the training much to an annoyed growl from Star.

Axel arrived a short time later, walking over and not at Aria’s blistering pace, with Lyra near him to hear the end of the conversation.

“…So what do you think? Lyra, with the Goddess’s help, could help Star,” Aria said and smiled up at the young rider. Roran’s skin shifted colors several times in rapid succession, making it hard to tell the emotions he was feeling. Just as he was about to open his mouth to say something, his jaw closed with a snap, making a sound that caused Star, who was lounging nearby keeping an eye on him, to jump to her feet looking around.

Roran moved over to calm her before saying, “I would have said you were crazy for saying that the Goddess would be able to help me, but I just received a quest to allow the healing.”

Roran just looked perplexed as he calmed the Storm Drake with soothing sounds and gentle strokes near her eye ridges. Axel kept quiet as he did not want to startle the young man, or young Drake for that matter, and let him process what Aria had told him.

“Alright, there is no harm in trying, I guess,” Roran said and looked to Lyra. “Is there anything you need from me?”

“Besides keeping Star calm while I touch her,” Lyra said and eased up to the Drake, which gave a low growl but calmed with a few more strokes from her rider.

Lyra gently placed a finger on the side of Star and stilled. Axel began to notice there was something off when Lyra turned white as a sheet after a few moments and stepped back, breathing hard. Axel wanted to move closer but was worried that might startle Star and overcrowd the beast. After catching her breath, Lyra moved away and looked at Roran.

“So, good news and troubling news,” Lyra started. “Which do you want first?”

“Trouble,” Roran said without any hesitation.

“Star's malformation is not natural,” Lyra looked over the beast with pity in her eyes. “The Goddess helped me analyze, and there is a toxin in her bloodstream that honestly should have killed her long ago. This is stunting her growth, reducing muscle mass, and likely reducing her mental capacity.

“I can only guess that it is pure stubbornness that has kept her going, as from my understanding, she should be in great pain and several vital organs are also failing,” Lyra informed Roran in a more emotionless voice that Axel learned was her healer's voice. “This seems to be long-term exposure from near hatchlings if what I am seeing is correct. It should also be making her very aggressive and prone to attack.”

“Sigh, I thought that there was something off as she did not seem off when she was born,” Roran said with a sad voice. “I was worried my uncle was poisoning her for years, but all the healers that I could trust found nothing.”

“I hope that the good news is that you can help her?” Roran asked hopefully.

“That is a maybe,” Lyra said with a shake of her head. “I can remove the toxin with a bit of time as Storm Drakes are hardy beasts with a strong blessing. We can then work on getting her healthy during the hunt, but the Goddess did not have the information available on a treatment plan, and something was using up her strength stopping to help make one with the available information.”

Roran nodded and quietly kept rubbing the snout of Star in thought. After a short time, he turned and knelt before Lyra. He, in a formal practiced motion, placed his hands on his knee and completed it with a half bow.

“My lady Lyra,” Roran started in a solemn voice, “I beseech thee to help me save my life’s companion and the last of the Sky Shatter Drake legacy. If you can do this, I vow on my oath that I will complete any task you need until this debt is fulfilled.”

Lyra looked flabbergasted with this, and even Jareth and the twins were looking over from the camp to see what was happening. An awkward silence trailed on until Lyra regained her voice and said, “Your oath is not needed as this is a healer's duty and should be done by the Goddess’s will.”

Axel could feel that some old ceremony was happening but stayed silent as anything else felt like it would ruin the atmosphere. Aria looked as confused as Axel felt and kept her silence, looking back and forth between Roran and Lyra. Roran, upon hearing Lyra’s statement, raised his bowed head, a trickle of silver tears slowly rolling down his right cheek.

“Please arise, rider, and all I ask as a healer is for you to do your duty one of your station is born to do,” Lyra finished and held out a hand to Roran, helping him up.

“While you give the old vows,” Roran said while standing, “know that you will always have my lance in times of need.”

Roran then moved over to Star and led her away as she seemed to be agitated by what was happening. After they were gone, Aria could no longer hold her questions in.

“What was that?” Aria asked Lyra while tilting her head slightly in question.

“Riders are an old order, and they take oaths very seriously,” Lyra replied and started to lead them back to camp again. “There is training that I received from… I received a lot of etiquette training as the people of this planet have many cultures. Thankfully, I did; otherwise, Roran would be throwing himself between men and every possible danger until he felt that he had repaid the debt.”

“Wow,” Aria whispered and looked over to where Roran was now taking an oiled rag to Star's scales before looking back to Lyra. “Well, is there anything Aria can do to help?”

“Yes, you and Axel can help by sharing power with me at night for the treatments, and Star will need the best quality meat we can give her while she is recovering,” Lyra said. “This will likely push our share of the hunting thin, but it is the only way I can hope to help Star recover as she is very far gone.”

“We can give her our share of the Adept beast meat and do more hunting of Novice beasts on the side,” Axel agreed with Lyra. “We will need to get to work soon then, Aria. Let’s eat quickly and get to work.”