After that conversation, Veralla's mornings took on a different routine.

When she announced her intention to reject her innate battlefury, Glawlrhain decided to instruct her in the art of meditation. So instead of training to fight, she spent the early hours of the day learning how to focus her inner energies. While there were many schools of thought regarding the finer points, there was not a whole lot of theory about the actual exercise itself, and, just like walking upright, one got better with practice.

On Glawlrhain's advice, Veralla meditated mainly in the gardens, where the environment was most tranquil. She liked to be at the bottom of the mountain's hollow, by the lake, where she had picked a spot among a group of large peach-colored rubber plants growing under the soft shadow of an overhang. She sat there with her slit-pupiled eyes closed, opening them from time to time to gaze at the lake or the magenta rays skipping across its surface.

She found meditation boring at first, as she easily got distracted. Yet gradually she began to like the exercise, feeling quiet joy spread inside her as her mind held still. Her sporadic thoughts during those serene moments were often related to Airo, and sometimes she felt like she could sense his presence across the planet. This heightened awareness never lasted long; she cherished every occasion when she managed to sense his soul, happy for being able to connect with him even in such a fleeting way. It made her all the more determined to train, to meditate, to become better, so she would be able to help Airo and make him company, so he could free himself from his sadness.

Yet a part of herself wanted very much Airo to feel the same for her, too.

Suddenly, she heard an immense thud, followed by four others. She opened her eyes and saw a group of dragons who had landed near the lake. It was Alomar and the other dragons who had no human companions. They had come to the lake to drink, their boisterous voices rumbling throughout the empty gardens.

"Those freebooters are starting to get on my nerves," a wiry maroon-scaled dragon said.

"Bah, you always find something to mantle your wings at, Hater," another dragon said, whose plain green body was adorned with large sails along the back.

"Shut up, Scorn, or I'll tailslap you!"

"Personally, I don't care for these primates as long as they don't stand in my way," a third dragon said, flexing his spiky bulk as he hunkered down to drink.

"It had been long since there've been only primates among their number, Discord," Alomar snorted with disdain. "Though I wonder why they still call themselves transhumans..."

One of the dragons spotted Veralla and rawr–ed. "Hey, it's her! That whelp who follows the Dragonslayer everywhere!"

Alomar and the others turned their heads. Veralla tensed. She had a bad feeling, yet did not know what to do. She rose, realizing she would not be left alone to finish her meditation.

"Well now, what a chance encounter," Alomar said with malicious glee, moving closer to her, his gang in tow. "You're the little runt everyone talks about. I see you haven't changed much since they first scooped you up aboard the skyship. You're still an ugly-looking fledgling with a blubbery body and stumpy limbs." He smirked with disdain, while the other dragons growled in amusement. "And your scales will give the Goddess Herself vertigo."

Veralla looked down at herself, noting for the aeonth time the differentness of her shape. She felt shame building inside her. But then she halted herself and took control over the feeling. She was not weak, even if she was different. She lifted her head, mind becalmed by meditation, and met Alomar's sneering gaze. "And you are still a rude dragon!" she said defiantly.

"Oooh, a comeback!" Alomar roared in mock surprise. He turned his head. "Hey, broodmates, this one can at least bite!" The other dragons rumbled with laughter again. Veralla shrank a little, yet kept her stare on Alomar.

"Honestly, I can't see why you're so special," the white-and-blue dragon continued, his words dripping contempt. "Everybody praises you and your pitiful attempts at becoming a Knight, while I, the fiercest of all surviving dragons on this deusforsaken planet, get completely ignored. It baffles my mind. What, do they expect you're going to win the war? You can't even fly or breathe fire. There's no way you are more important than me."

"Well, it is simple," Veralla said plainly. "You are very incompetent at being a Radiant Knight. That is why you are being ignored."

Alomar flinched as if she had slapped him across the snout, and raised his head back, momentarily silent.

"Void damn, the whelp touched a nerve," a yellow-scaled dragon guffawed behind Alomar. "She's probably gonna start lecturing you any minute now."

"Keep your maw closed, Rebel!" Alomar hissed, casting a murderous glance. The yellow dragon bowed her head, cowed. Alomar turned his attention back to Veralla. "Don't dare provoke me, little runt. I can smother you with merely a wingtip."

"Why? Because you are too stupid to defeat me with words?" she challenged.

Alomar snarled furiously. His wings flared, making his figure look enormous and terrifying. "I told you," he growled. "Don't. Provoke. Me. Or I shall put you in your place, you insolent whelp."

For a moment, Veralla became afraid. But that fear lasted only for an instant, banished by a much more powerful feeling. It surged like a tidal wave, sweeping her whole being. She recognized it; it was her battlefury. She fought the sensation down, focusing her mind as Glawlrhain had told her. She did not want to hurt Alomar, even if he was bad to her and said nasty things. Yet at the same time, she would not let him hurt her. She stood upright and raised her foreclaws in the fighting stance she had learned during training, staring with determination.

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Alomar hrrr–ed deeply, amused. "My, my! Are you going to fight me, runt?"

"No, I will not fight you," Veralla said, "because I do not want to hurt or kill you. But I shall defend myself."

Alomar's expression suddenly became dark. "Spoken like a true Knight," he said, baring his sharp teeth. "Very well then, let me show you what happens when the heroic talk is over..."

He was interrupted by a whipcrack of leathery wings. The small, sinuous form of Glawlrhain rapidly descended toward the lake, and landed between them. "That's enough, Alomar," the training master said, voice stern. "Have your drink and be gone. Until I say otherwise, you're going to satiate your thirst only from a maker."

"Or what're you going to do, Glawlrhain?" Alomar hissed, narrowing his eyes. "Raise the alarm and hope someone who's actually a match for me comes in time?"

"I'll warn you only one more time. Leave. Stay away from the gardens from this point on."

"I'm not scared of you, coward," Alomar said. "I've heard the stories that are talked behind your back. How you'd remained behind during the Starblaze, and hadn't been on an off-world mission for decades. How you've refused to fight, because your feelings have been hurt. You're a tiny, insignificant excuse for a dragon, just like the runt you're trying to protect. The elders probably made you a training master as some form of a joke."

Glawlrhain did not say anything. Instead, he bent low, spreading his wings slightly, holding his tail high for balance, his whole body communicating he was ready for battle.

Alomar growled. "I think I've tolerated this Order for long enough," he said. "Time to show you what real power is." He supported himself with his foreclaw, and stood upright on his hindlegs.

Veralla's breath caught in her throat. Standing upright, Alomar loomed in a dreadful manner, completely overshadowing her and Glawlrhain. The training master was much larger than her, yet Alomar was at least ten times bigger than him. Alomar inhaled deeply, preparing to use his firebreath.

Glawlrhain lunged.

She barely saw him move. He hurled like lightning straight at Alomar. The larger dragon roared in surprise, and swiped clumsily with his huge claw. The training master twisted, effortlessly avoiding the attack, and rammed his foreclaw's elbow into Alomar's chest. Alomar staggered, roaring again, and tried to buffet Glawlrhain with his wing. Glawlrhain dodged in mid-air, rushing upward with gravity-defying grace, and swept his tail across Alomar's snout. The impact whipped the larger dragon's head to the side, stunning him.

Glawlrhain began to fall, stretching his hindleg into a downward kick, and the soles of his claw slammed full-force into the knee of his opponent. Alomar's hindleg buckled and he toppled to the ground with a crash, roaring in pain.

Without pause, Glawlrhain lunged again, hitting Alomar with close-fisted claws in a dozen seemingly random places. The onslaught happened in a blur. Then Glawlrhain flapped his wings once in a backward dash, and halted in the same pose Veralla had taken moments before.

The whole fight had lasted mere seconds.

Hater, Scorn, Discord, and Rebel stood frozen in place, watching in disbelief. Alomar groaned and tried to rise, but immediately collapsed again with a pained growl. "I... I... I lost!" he hissed through clenched teeth. "How... it's impossible for you to move so fast!"

"Unlike you, I am Awakened to the wisdom of the Fire Eternal," Glawlrhain said calmly. "If you had stayed and truly completed your training as a Radiant Knight, you would've found the light of the Goddess and the Celestial Way, too."

"I... you... You mean I could've been an aethereal! Egg-suckers! You didn't Awaken me on purpose!"

Glawlrhain relaxed and stepped down on all fours. "You didn't finish your training," he repeated. "Even after becoming a Radiant Knight, it takes many years for one to reach the pinnacle of their potential. In your case you squandered it... it wasn't your fault, but it was your choice. Since the situation is dire, you shall remain in the Order. But you have a lot to learn, Alomar. You can start by giving a positive example to those who follow you so blindly.

"Now go. As I said, don't come to the gardens anymore."

"But I... c-can't move!" Alomar said, and thrashed around, snarling in pain. "It h-hurts even when I s-speak!"

"You'll be fine after a few hours," Glawlrhain said. "You can still control your gravitic field. Use it to help your broodmates." The training master looked at Alomar's gang. "Take him away."

The other dragons muttered in submissive agreement. The yellow-scaled Rebel shouldered Alomar over her back and they all took flight, and left. Glawlrhain turned to Veralla.

"Are you okay, young one?" he asked.

"Yes, I am all right," she said. She felt strangely disappointed. "Why did you hurt Alomar?"

"I didn't," Glawlrhain objected mildly. "He hurt himself."

"But you struck him! I saw that!"

"True, I did strike at Alomar," the training master nodded. "But it was his desire to hurt you which made him fight with me. In essence, by attacking me, he physically manifested his intention to hurt, and I merely reflected that manifestation back at him.

"Yet I didn't add my own hurting, and neither did I kill him. If I had done so, then the cycle of pain would have persisted, and in time it would have affected me – either through Alomar, or in some other cosmic form. So I kept myself aware of my actions and took only those steps necessary to protect you.

"As for Alomar's injuries, he'll recover completely in short time – while being reminded about the consequences of his particular choice."

"So by hurting Alomar you would have hurt yourself in way? That sounds... as if you and Alomar are connected somehow," Veralla said, thinking. "Like being siblings, only... on a deeper level? Does this mean the rest of us are connected, too? Everyone in the entire world, perhaps?"

Glawlrhain grinned, showing his fangs. "Very astute questions, young one. You already demonstrate quite the insight about the Way's philosophy without even knowing so. I regret we didn't start your training with its teachings, as any fresh Knight does. I shall tell Tehalix to correct that mistake at once. I'll even talk to Magus Dei to give you a few lectures himself."

"All right," she said. "I am looking forward to learn about the Celestial Way! But I want to ask: Why Alomar wanted to hurt me? He is a Radiant Knight! He must know about connectedness, yes?"

Glawlrhain let out a hrrr–ing sigh. "Alomar is bitter because of his memories of the past. Though he'd never admit it, Stamat's lessons still resonate strongly in him, even after he rejected them. He is arrogant and dismissive toward everyone out of spite, yet because of his conflicted feelings he envies anyone who shows virtue or receives the admiration of others. I think the fact our Order was nearly wiped out by Ferrtau made him bolder than usual. I thought he at least realized the enormity of the catastrophe we all face and thus wouldn't cause any further trouble."

"But why do those other dragons follow Alomar? And why they have such strange names?"

"Ah," Glawlrhain said. His amber eyes became sad. "Those four follow him because he raised them. Alomar stole their eggs after he abandoned Stamat, and hid them until they hatched. We found out too late and by then he had spent weeks with them, so they followed only him. We forgave him and let all of them stay at the Shard, but after that incident we revoked all of Alomar's access rights, except for the food makers."

"But how did Alomar steal those eggs?" Veralla asked, lashing her tail. "Were they not protected by their mothers and fathers?"

"Their parents died during the Starblaze," Glawlrhain said quietly.

"The... Starblaze?"

"Seek not about that tragedy, young one. Your hearts are already heavy enough."