Winter 4995, 28 Ginmoth

Shon managed to wake up with the dawn, as usual, feeling better than the night before. He felt even better after running around the block a few times and doing his drills before packing for the mission and taking a quick shower. By the time he was done everyone was already in the kitchen, eating a breakfast that Tristen had prepared for them. Or, nearly everyone.

Shon took his seat in silence and made his plate before arching an eyebrow at Oswall's empty place.

No one was looking at him. Ryuuko twittered in his ear and Shon realized, yet again, that for the last year he'd been so uncommunicative that it was no wonder that no one expected him to participate at breakfast. Shon cleared his throat, and four faces looked up in shocked curiosity, "Oswall?" he asked.

They recovered quickly. Alena sighed, pushing her plate away, "He never came home..."

Ebonwing waved a dismissive hand, "He'll meet us at the guild."

"He'd better," Tristen added.

Ranto was eating with his notebook already out on the table. He waved his half-finished bacon at Shon and asked, "What happened yesterday afternoon when you saw him last?"

They all looked to Shon for an answer he didn't want to give. Sensing the reason behind his hesitation, Ryuuko took flight to snatch the bacon from Ranito's fingers, thus distracting everyone as the Mage cursed and grabbed his fork to wave at the dragon.

Tristen wasn't distracted for long however and prompted, "Master Sergeant?"

The use of his rank made it harder for Shon to truly dodge the answer, "We discussed his commission." he said vaguely.

Alena still looked concerned but Ebonwing reached over to pat her shoulder, assuring them again, "I'm sure he'll meet us at the Guild."

She was right. Oswall was waiting for them in the gate room, his lip stuffed with tobacco and spitting into his flask. He didn't say anything as they entered, completely ignoring Ebonwing's teasing about him staying out all night with lady friends, and only grumbled, "Let's get this over with..." as the Mage on duty started opening the gate for them.

Tristen furrowed his brow down at Oswall, but the Rogue didn't even ask why they were going to Shutha or anything about the lead that pointed them there as he usually would. Ebonwing went quiet, stopping her teasing and stepping back to stand beside Shon and tilt her head at Os. Alena watched him, chewing on her lower lip before asking for him, "So... now that we're all here... what changed? Why Shutha?"

Now that he was paying attention, Shon realized that socializing was far more like combat than he'd thought. Everyone had grown accustomed to certain behaviors from each member, and they didn't really know what to do when one suddenly stopped filling their role. Shon watched as the group's social dynamics were slowly beginning to fray with their uncertainty.

Tristen coughed into his fist, looking away from Oswall to answer, "We received intel of Warlock activity as well as a hint where to look."

Ryuuko purred at Shon, sending him a wordless message that he needed to keep trying, interrupting his concern over what his own assumed role in the group might be. Shutha was a Hengist province, for the most part, and everyone knew Shon had met with Tristen the day before, so he decided there would be little risk in his knowledge and added, "We need to follow the path of a storm." He eyed Oswall, who was staring a hole through the wall where the gate would appear, and finished, "They are experimenting on Sorcerers again." Os spit into his flask and didn't respond.

Ebonwing slapped Shon on the back, shocking him enough to actually make him sway a fraction, "You're still talking to us! Nice."

Alena beamed up at him, whispering, "It is nice."

Shon ran a hand over his head but managed to mumble, "I'm trying..."

Oswall huffed, grumbling, "Don't bother."

"Os!" Alena gasped at him.

The gate opened to the capital city of Shutha and Oswall shook his head, adding, "It's creepy." before walking through and leaving them all in shocked silence.

Ebonwing hurried after him, calling, "What crawled up your ass and died?"

Shon could just barely make out Oswall's growled answer as the rest followed, "My patience."

Tristen took command, cutting off Ebonwing's retort as the gate shrunk back into a diamond and crumbled behind them, "Oswall and Ranito will stay in the Guild, Alena and Ebonwing will go to the Grove of Cathbad, and Shon and I will go to the Temple of Hengist. I sent messages out yesterday so you should be expected. Gather what information you can on any missing persons, particularly Sorcerers, as well as all weather activities over the last year. We'll meet at the Temple of Saint Giorgos and compare notes."

With jobs to do, talk of Oswall's odd behavior fell by the wayside as everyone put on their mission faces and went their separate ways. Shon could only pray that this shift in the group wouldn't expand to actual combat, where it could get people killed.

Shutha, also known as the Southern Wood, was an ancient forest, with massive trees that the cities and villages built around rather than clearing. The canopy of branches cast the city in constant shade, even bare as they were in winter, and made it feel truly alive in a way completely divorced from the human population. The exterior stone walls protecting the capital were built from one tree to another, millennia ago. Over the years the Druids of the Grove of Cathbad assisted the trees in growing around the nearest stones, increasing the wall's stability and using the trees themselves as living battlements.

Shon and Tristen were met with their first surprise before they even spoke up at the Temple of Hengist. They entered the clerk's office when the Cleric on duty stood from his desk asking, "Sir Tristen?" Tristen nodded, having been expected, but the Cleric looked nervous, saying, "We received a... um... message for you early this morning." He came to the bar separating them from the clerks' desks and slid a paper that looked like it had been crumpled, then flattened again, toward Tristen.

As Tristen read, he continued, "Your requested documents are waiting in the-"

But Tristen interrupted him, "Who gave you this? When?"

The Hengist Cleric actually snapped to attention, doing his best to explain, "We don't know, Sir. It was wadded up with a rock and thrown at our guards from a nearby roof before dawn. It hit him on the head, and they didn't see the person. We searched the building and questioned the occupants but they didn't see anything either. If you like, we could bring them in an-"

"That won't be necessary." Tristen sighed. He passed the note to Shon and mumbled to him under his breath, "Does she have no subtlety at all?"

Shon arched his eyebrow at his commander but his questions were answered as he read the note, 'To the kingdom team. They've been taking unawaked teens. Not just from here. You probably won't find anything. Don't take too long looking.' and a drawing of a lily.

Ryuuko twittered a dragon giggle down at the note and when Shon looked up he found Tristen staring at him. Shon shrugged, saying only, "She's getting better at drawing the flower..." handing the note back.

Tristen crumpled it in his fist, quoting Oswall, "Blasted woman. She could at least tell us where they are." Shon could only shrug again, assuming Lily had a reason.

They retrieved their requested documents and spent some time expanding their search into missing children and teens. There wasn't much, no more than expected in a given province over a decade. Most missing children were attributed to being runaways, but they spent some extra time looking back into the families of as many as they could, finding at least three that were descended from Sorcerers.

When they reported to the Temple of Saint Giorgos they found that the others had only just arrived themselves, having taken extra time to expand their own research after similar notes had been 'delivered'. One was stabbed into the Guild door with a dagger, and the other tied to a stray cat and set loose in the open Grove chapel.

"Well... we got them at least," Ebonwing said with a shrug after telling her story.

"I don't know why she won't just come talk to us. If she's helping then we won't-" Alena started.

Oswall huffed, loudly, but didn't say anything, spitting into his flask again, and Ranito scoffed, saying, "Don't be foolish, Miss Alena, of course we would try to bring her in. Especially in the capital where we have a Guild and Temple to Saint Giorgos able to hold her."

Tristen was reading their notes, and Ryuuko hissed so Shon added in her defense, "If she's seen helping us by the Warlocks she won't be able to help in future." Tristen looked up to narrow his eyes at Shon but didn't argue, reminding Shon that he needed to balance his efforts at staying social with keeping the required secrets.

In just as clipped explanations, the note to the Guild said that the Warlocks had been recruiting elderly Sorcerers, willingly. And the one to the Grove specified that their tower was near the path of a magical storm a few months previous. Both urged them not to take their time, and a fourth showed up as they were laying out their respective files and unrolling a map of the province. A young Cleric of Saint Giorgos came nervously in and bowed to Tristen, handing over the note and explaining that they'd just found it wedged in some bread delivered that morning for their lunch. It read: 'To the kingdom team. Meet me in Everbough.'

Ebonwing snickered while Tristen sat and tried to massage a headache away. "Okay, I know she kicked me hard last time, but I think I like her." the Druid declared.

"Shon's right though," Alena pointed out, "This is really risky for her. So why?"

Ranito laid out all four notes on the table and took out his notebook, hypothesizing, "Probably trying to make up for getting in the way last time." he sprinkled some sand over the notes, then over his notebook, chanting and magically copying them exactly from one to the other.

Oswall finally spoke up, "So we go to Everbough. Tomorrow?" he directed the last to Tristen, who nodded. Oswall stood and moved for his room, grumbling, "I'm going to bed."

"We aren't done, Staff Sergeant," Tristen called to him.

Oswall stopped, turning around but only asking, "And what do you expect me to do? The woman gave us all the information we need. This is a Hengist province, have the soldier boy draw up a path. Or, if you want to do it right, have the Grove representative do it. They're the real power here." He turned back for his room, opening the door and waving over his shoulder, "Let me know if you need a spy or anything killed quietly." before stepping in and closing it in their stunned faces.

Ebonwing spun on Shon, pointing an accusing finger at him, "Okay, what the hell happened?"

Shon blinked at her, but Ryuuko let out a sad whistle, its wings drooping and showing Shon an image of Madam Lilian holding Oswall's hand. Shon shook his head rather than lie. If Oswall wanted anyone to know, he would be the one to tell them.

"This isn't normal..." Alena whispered.

Tristen stood, glaring at the closed door and Shon stood too, putting out an arm to stop the Paladin, whispering "Just give him his space." Tristen moved his glare to Shon but Shon continued, "We can take care of this part without him." Everyone needed a break once and a while.

It didn't take long. They knew exactly where to go after all, and no one was feeling particularly social after Oswall's behavior. Shon followed Ryuuko's prompting as best he could, interjecting his input even when, in his opinion, it wasn't necessary. By the time Shon was able to retreat to his own room, he was feeling nearly as snippy and anti-social as Oswall was behaving. 'There has got to be an easier way...' he complained mentally to Ryuuko.

The little dragon nuzzled his cheek, sending him an image of Lily and Veon-Zih, both talkative and social people and the only examples they really had for how to make friends. Then it curled into a ball on his back as Shon collapsed to lay on his stomach with a groan.

***

Lily got back to the Central Talon shortly after her meeting with Sasha, and actually managed to get some sleep before Rose glaring at her from across the room woke her up. After assuring the worried woman -her worry showing as anger- that everything had gone fine, no harm done and message delivered, Lily finally settled down to business making plans for dealing with the Shutha Talon.

Feeling calmer than she had in months, Lily listened to what information Rose could give, and presented her idea to get the team where they needed to be. It wasn't going to be easy, as Rose didn't know exactly where the Talon was, having always been transported there magically. So, armed with a whispering stone and her new illusion necklace, Lily assigned Rose the task of figuring out at least the nearest town to the tower, while Lily herself, accompanied by Rose's loyal henchman, was transported to the capital of Shutha by a particularly mad -and more importantly mute- Warlock.

She'd arrived well before dawn, and after beating her brain for only a few minutes, Lily decided that direct was the best way to go. She was quite proud of the ideas she'd come up with to deliver the information. Stabbing the Mages Guild door and hitting the Paladin on the head were particularly satisfying, both emotionally and in that they were the most likely to work. The rock actually had Lily seriously considering taking up the sling as a secondary weapon.

The Warlock Journeyman got quite a few scratches in the effort, but the cat plan made Lily giggle. Until the Druids just asked it to calm down and took the note without fuss. Oh well, maybe she could use that one on the Mages next time.

After, she'd wandered the city until the sun rose, finding the tailors Ebonwing had told her about. While the Warlock waited nervously outside, disguised as a Mage, Lily went in and fawned over the amazing clothes, all for practical wear and excellently made. She bought a few pairs of loose leather pants and commissioned a dress similar to Ebonwing's.

By the time she was done, Rose magically whispered to her the information she needed and Lily set about trying to come up with another way to get that into the right hands. She was just considering using the rock idea again when she wandered by the baker's, where they were loading a wagon for deliveries around the city, each basket clearly labeled.

"Quite a productive day wouldn't you say?" Lily asked the Warlock as she wiped bread crumbs off her fingers. She hadn't been in this good of a mood in ages, the only thing that would've made it better would be if she actually liked the person she was talking to.

The Warlock's beady eyes darted around and he mumbled, "As you say, Firewyrm..."

"Lily," Lily corrected him automatically, then sighed. She might not be the best at undercover work, but at least she didn't give them away by being so suspiciously nervous. "Well, we're done here, you can go ahead and take me to Rose now."

The Warlock sagged in relief and Lily rolled her eyes, leading the way into a deserted alley so he could cut the hole through reality to the Shutha Talon. They appeared beside Rose in the Windwyrm's old room.

Taking off her necklace, Lily greeted Rose with, "Well, that was fun, but it'll be so much easier when I can just talk to them."

Rose scoffed, but didn't argue that particular fact, instead asking, "Do you really think they'll be able to handle this? The Talon is only down one journeyman and I can't get them to tell me what else they have defending the tower."

Lily shrugged, "That's still eight against five. We'll be fine."

"We... eight..." Rose stuttered, then threw up her hands, "We are not helping them! The entire point was that we keep our hands clean of this entire thing. We've already done far too much."

But Lily just yawned, striding past the befuddled dragon towards the door, "Okay, seven against five. You don't have to help if you don't want to. Now, let's start looking for this missing Wind dragon. We've got a week before the team shows up in Everbough..." Lily stopped at the door, looking over her shoulder at Rose's slack jaw, "Could you at least get me there in time?"

Rose closed her mouth and didn't answer, looking Lily over until she turned all the way around to tilt her head at the waterwoman. When Rose spoke it was quietly, "Are we a team, Lily?"

Lily opened her mouth to answer but hesitated. Were they? They worked together on a regular basis, her last job was the first Lily had done alone, but working with Rose didn't feel anything like working with Master Velona or Tuth or Shon... To try and buy herself more time Lily forced a smirk and said, "I'm pretty sure with only two of us we'd be called partners."

Rose didn't roll her eyes or scoff or glare, she merely tilted her head to the side much as Lily had done and spoke to her Journeyman, her eyes never leaving Lily, "Wait outside Cairn. Let us know if anyone comes looking for us."

The Warlock bowed low, "Yes mistress." and rushed to obey, squeezing past Lily to open the door into the basement hall.

Rose sighed, breaking eye contact and sitting in the one chair in the room, she gestured for the bed and told Lily, "We need to talk."

Lily took a deep breath and let it out slowly through pursed lips. Trying to look unconcerned as she walked to the bed, she said, "Now this is ominous... are you breaking up with me?" She tried to smile but Rose didn't return it, saying only,

"That depends on you."

Lily sucked in another breath, sitting and leaning over to rest her elbows on her knees, she gripped her hands together, saying, "That's not very reassuring..."

Rose sighed, "I've never worked with a team before-"

"The Warlocks-" Lily tried to interrupt, but Rose finally showed some of her usually haughty nature and waved a dismissive hand at the door,

"Underlings and smiling enemies, every one of them. I have been alone. At the top, true, but alone nonetheless. I've had to be very careful, not only with what I say but how I say it, manipulating where I can and cautiously gathering information to further my goals. Even when those goals coincide with theirs. I'd never seen combat outside casual training until I started leaving the tower with you."

She cocked her head at Lily again, "You on the other hand have worked with those you consider near equals, even a mentor. Tell me, did you always try to lead the way with them in everything too? Pursuing every whim and jeopardizing future work with your employers with your snark? Disregarding your companion's inputs and skills? Is this normal for teamwork?"

Lily flinched, looking down at her hands to play nervously with her fingers. No... "Sometimes..." she answered honestly, "But only when it was something really important to me. They knew I wouldn't be stopped in those cases but... they didn't come up very often." And even when they did she trusted her companions to know her well enough to work with her so she would still get what she wanted. If it was important to her, they made it important to them. Because they cared about her. She remembered Master Velona's gentle smacks across her chest with the back of her hand, admonishing Lily to be polite and hold her tongue. And how she almost always listened, because deep down she knew they were all on the same page.

She looked up at Rose and tried to apologize, feeling truly guilty, "I'm sorry Rose. But this is different, it-" But Rose shook her head,

"What do you want, Lily. When all of this is over, how do you want it to end?"

Lily took a deep breath, leaning back on her hands to look up at the torn cloth ceiling of the Windwyrm's abandoned bed, exactly like Lily's old one, only green instead of red, "I want to be free again. To travel the kingdom with Shon, seeing everything, tasting every food and drink, and experiencing everything with him beside me. And then after we've done it all we can pick our favorite place and maybe settle down for a little while, for as long as we want. Then we'll... We'll just do whatever we want. When we want. On a case-by-case basis." Together...

She looked back at Rose, expecting her to roll her eyes or wave a dismissive hand again, but Rose just sighed and explained, "What I want is to revive our species. To regain my true form. Then I'll do much the same. I'll fly the kingdom skies, swim in every river, lake, and ocean. And once I've seen it all I will find a home for myself, probably on the coast, and live each day as it comes, doing whatever tickles my fancy, with no one able to stop me." She sighed again, "Neither of us will be able to get what we want if Ryuugen recreates the world, and right now the Warlocks are the only ones trying to stop that from happening. They are the only ones who can speak with him or know his plans. I truly believe that working with them is our only chance to get what we both want."

Lily leaned forward once more, "It's too late to go back on this plan now, Rose. It was your idea."

But once again Rose shook her head and waved a dismissive hand, "No. This Talon must be stopped. Destroyed." She cocked her head at Lily's curious look and asked, "What do you know about gardening, Lily?"

Lily shrugged, "Nothing. It kinda requires that you stay in one place long enough for something to grow."

Rose squared her already straight shoulders and scooted even further forward on her chair. She lifted her hands and water formed on the ground between them in the form of a swirling liquid tree, "Let me explain then. Sometimes, you need to prune your plant, cut off the parts that are either causing damage to the plant as a whole or just aren't growing the way you want them to." As Lily watched, a few of the lower branches of Rose's water tree fell free to splash on the ground and sprinkle Lily's boots. "If the Warlock organization were a tree then this would be a branch that needs to be pruned. So it doesn't continue to damage the rest. Not only did they keep our sister prisoner, they're doing experiments on Sorcerer familiars. Familiars! It's completely pointless. They had an actual dragon in their custody and instead of trying to further that work, they kidnap children and the elderly? It is both risky and needlessly cruel-"

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"As opposed to needfully cruel?" Lily interrupted narrowing her eyes at Rose.

Rose sighed and let her tree splash to the ground, soaking the floor and washing the leaves and sticks still littering the ground to the corners of the little room. "Yes." She answered bluntly, "I would sacrifice a hundred humans, a thousand, if it meant achieving my goal. Wouldn't you?"

Lily watched as the water quickly dried, but shook her head, "No... such sacrifices would make achieving mine impossible. Shon would never forgive me for that. And my goal only works if he's by my side." She looked up to lock Rose's eyes with her own, "And that's why I also have to fight with them when I can. Even if we achieve everything else, if I'm only ever an enemy to the kingdom then even when this is over I'll never be free."

Rose's shoulders slumped and she rubbed her head, but said, "I understand. Alright, but I'm not helping. If anything goes even a little wrong and one of them escapes then I won't be able to continue with the Warlocks and we won't achieve our goal." She looked up at Lily again and smiled, "So I ask you again, Lily. Are we a team? Will you start working with me, instead of against me, so we can both get what we want?"

Lily wanted to say yes. She really did. But... "What does that mean to you, Rose? I'm not like your henchmen. I won't obey without question and trust you with my fate any more than I will anyone else." There was only one, possibly two, she trusted enough for that.

Rose's smile deepened, "Of course you won't, you're a dragon, my equal. But we have two different skill sets, and I think it's about time we both start using them properly. We can't have another incident like Shaloon, just as much as we can't continue to stay out of the conflict between the kingdom and those Warlocks who are too far gone to be of use. What that means to me is that we need to start playing to our respective strengths and compensating for each other's weaknesses. No offense, but you are not at all diplomatic or subtle."

Lily laughed, "True."

"And I," Rose continued, resting her hand over her heart, "Have little real combat experience and no experience with the kingdom. I propose that from now on you allow me to deal with the Warlocks and their research. I'm already trying to find out more on the fridge group's alternative of bringing the dragon gods in to solve our problem for us. You can be the field operative, the boots on the ground-"

Lily interrupted Rose again by clapping her hands and jumping to her feet with a little hop of excitement, "I get to be the muscle! Oooo I can channel my inner Shon and stand behind you glaring at everyone until they listen to you?!"

Rose tilted her head at Lily, "What kind of man is Shon anyway?"

Lily snickered, "You'll see soon enough. We're going to meet them in Everbough and you can talk to the team to let them know what they need to know and that they have allies on the inside." Lily danced in place in excitement. She'd logically known she had Rose and wasn't really alone, but that never stopped her from feeling alone. Now that feeling seemed to have been banished. Now that they were finally working as a team.

"I'll be all quiet and brooding and let you know anything I learn or plan before I do it," Lily stopped grinning and held up a finger, "But I can't just stop my snark out of the blue. It would be really suspicious and I'm not entirely sure I can..."

Rose grinned and stood, holding out a hand to Lily, "Very well. And I will let you know my plans whenever I can. Though I may have to change them at a moment's notice, and in those cases, I ask you to trust me."

Lily stared down at Rose's offered hand and finally took it. "You should know by now that I'll only be betrayed once, Rose." Lily squeezed her fingers, their magic sizzling.

Rose squeezed her back, "You don't have to worry about that. So long as we both want the same thing."

Lily shook their hands, "It's a deal then. And I should tell you I had one more thing I wanted to do before leaving..."

Lily let Rose in on her plan and Rose even helped her with it. They had just finished the preparations when Rose's Warlock knocked on the door and cracked it open to warn them, "The Archmage is here looking for you, Mistress."

Something in Rose shifted, like a switch had been triggered. She turned her nose up and scoffed, all haughty pride once more, "Very well, we'll come to the door, I don't want them in here again." The Warlock bowed and stepped aside, allowing Rose to take a single step outside the Windwyrm's room. Lily hovered just over her right shoulder, crossing her arms while trying to glare and resist grinning at the same time.

The Warlock Archmage didn't seem to notice. He was an old man, with a hunched back and what looked like a glass eye with no pupil that swirled in every color. It reminded Lily of Shaloon, which made it much easier for her to glare.

"It's about time you're both here." He spoke in draconic and sniffed as though suffering from allergies.

Lily interrupted him before he could continue, "I don't get paid enough to work on holidays." Rose shot a look over her shoulder but Lily just shrugged. She'd warned that she couldn't stop all her snark.

The Warlock glared at Lily but Rose just shook her head, and asked, "Did you acquire the item I requested?"

The Warlock sniffed, whipping his nose with his palm, and answering, "Yes, Waterwyrm. And more. We used the time you demanded to finish crafting an item to help you find the Windwyrm."

Lily shrugged again, "So it all worked out in the end."

The Warlock snapped and Lily hoped she managed to hide her flinch as he snarled, "We needed to use all but one of her samples for it! It wouldn't have been necessary if you had been prompt in starting your search."

"What's done is done." Rose interjected, holding her hand out to the Warlock, "The control?"

The Warlock whipped his nose again and used that hand to reach into his robes to pull out a small box. Rose stared at it in his dirty palm and took out a handkerchief to grab it from him, her nose curled in disgust. Lily longed to ask what it was but could manage to hold her tongue until they were alone. Which apparently wasn't about to happen any time soon.

Turning his back on them, the Warlock waved them down the hall, "Follow me. We have one scale left to show you where she is now, and the item should point you in the proper direction."

They didn't have to follow him far. The Warlock stopped at the first door in the basement, opening it and looking inside for only a moment, showing four flat tables with corpses laid out on them, before closing it again and beginning to chant. He placed his fingers in the groove between the door and the jam and traced its border. His fingers trailed purple light dotted with silver stars that expanded and widened as he moved until it filled the entire door like the night sky. Or a Warlock gate. But unlike a Warlock gate, he didn't step through it, he turned the knob and opened the door that now led to a completely different room.

The room was round and the same diameter as the tower proper. It had five sconces of different metals around the walls, each holding a flame of a different color. Gold held a vivid red flame, copper a bright green, bronze had a black flame that somehow managed to cast light, brass a blue fire, and silver with a white flame that somehow managed not to be blinding.

At least they stick to a theme... Lily managed to resist thinking out loud. The room also held a bed, desk, wardrobe, large bookshelf, and massive oval mirror. So it was someone's room.

The Warlock went straight for the desk first, opening a box on it while Rose whispered to Lily in common, anticipating her question, "It's the leading Archmage's room. An extra-dimensional space, only the Warlocks know how to open it and they can use any door in the tower to do so."

"Fancy," Lily whispered back.

The Warlock turned back to them and held out a doll, small enough to fit in the palm of Lily's hand. Rose waved to Lily and he handed it to her. It was simple cloth, with no fingers or toes and only emerald buttons sewn on for eyes. But its hair was real, and copper, and it had green scales embedded in the cloth flesh that split into a V on the face, one point on the tops and bottoms of the eyes that merged at the temples and snaked around the naked body splitting into V's again at the ends of the arms and legs. A poppet of the Windwyrm.

"Okay... this is cute," Lily whispered to Rose.

Rose merely nodded in acknowledgment while the Warlock instructed Lily, "Ask, 'where are you?' and it will point the way."

Lily held her palm flat and tried, "Where are you?" the doll stood on her palm and pointed with its right arm to the south. So it's like the Mage's compass... Lily thought, filing that away to share with Rose later. That could be a problem if they'd made ones for the two of them. Lily somehow doubted they could throw the calibration off with too much magic use as they could with the compasses.

"It will only be able to show you the direction, once you get closer you will need to look manually. To help with that, I have one more thing for you." He turned his back on them again and stood before the mirror. He held another emerald scale in his pinched fingers and rubbing it began to chant over the glass.

Rose pursed her lips, her slit eyes locked on the mirror as it seemed to fill with clouds. As the dragons watched the clouds cleared to show the very tower they were in, complete with multiple downed trees and significant damage from the north side. Then, like a flying bird, the image moved over the treetops of the Southernwood. It passed over a snow-covered mountain range before showing even larger trees draped with vines and dripping with rain before circling back to the mountains and zooming into a cave. Lily got only a brief glimpse of the Windwyrm sitting before a small fire before the image seemed to settle inside her, showing the cave as if from her eyes.

Across from Her, on the other side of the fire, sat another woman, with dark skin, vibrant violet eyes, and a colorful winged snake wrapped around her neck.

The Warlock's glass eye swirled faster, then settled for a moment on emerald before he hissed between clenched teeth, "Chosen..."

Lily cocked her head in curiosity and Rose asked, "What?" but he didn't answer, didn't seem to realize that they were still there.

The scene continued to play out in the mirror. The violet-eyed woman asked in common, "So what do you plan to do? You can't go to the kingdom, they'll just lock you up like the Warlocks."

The dragon sighed, staring down at Her hands, and Her two stripes of emerald scales on each. When She answered it was in draconic, "I still have no idea what you're saying, but I'm going to pretend that you asked what I want for dinner. Stew, I think. Or..." She moved, laying down on Her belly to look out the cave entrance where the rain fell in thick sheets, "Maybe you asked what I plan to do now? That's easy. Whatever I want."

Rose took in a hissing breath, whispering, "She doesn't speak common?"

In the mirror, their Wind sister continued to talk mostly to Herself, "I'll start by exploring this new forest. It's so different from the one with my tower! I love it. And now that my power is free I can fly through the branches and make it my own. I'll get to know it inside and out..."

The violet-eyed woman sighed, rubbing her forehead in frustration and answering in common, "I don't understand what you're saying..."

"Rose..." Lily growled, clenching the doll in her fist and barely resisting setting it on fire, "I'm getting angry..." she warned. She needed to get out of this tower before she did something foolish.

Rose nodded, whispering back, "I understand. I don't think our wayward sister wants to come back." She turned her head only slightly to eye Lily and the doll in her fist before she nodded again, "Wait until we're far enough away."

The Warlock continued to seem oblivious to the whispered talk behind him, but they both snapped their mouths shut when he sighed, letting his hand drop, the scale falling to dust on the floor. "She is in Talkar. Still in the mountains, it seems." He turned back to them, "You shouldn't have any trouble passing over them with the item we provided. I'll want it back when this mission is over."

Rose smiled with more teeth than necessary, and answered, "Of course, Archmage." A blatant lie that the Warlock didn't seem to notice.

He waved his hands in a shooing motion, "Well get to it then. It is on the roof."

Lily saw Rose's eye twitch at the childish dismissal and cleared her throat. Rose cleared her expression in a blink and said, "Actually, Lily was hoping to see the Sorcerers you have in residence before we leave. It shouldn't take long."

The Warlock sniffed, deep and gross, and spat on the floor at Lily's name. Once again Lily had to resist setting something on fire, "Why?" he sneered at her.

Lily painted on a sickly sweet smile, "Well, I'm a Sorcerer of a sort. I figured I could talk to them about cooperating."

"Very well." He whipped his nose again and waved a dismissive hand, "They were brought together in the room at the end of the hall while we make repairs. Be quick about it."

Rose spun on her heel to head out the door, Lily falling into step just behind her, enjoying the game of playing the 'muscle' at least. Once back in the hall Rose gestured for her Journeyman, still by the Windwyrm's door, and instructed him, "Rest here until you can make another portal, then go home. I'll send for you when I need you." She held her hand out to Lily who dug through her bag to find the whispering stone before handing it over to the man. To Lily, Rose said, "Finish your business with the children then meet me on the roof."

Lily tried to mimic Shon, snapping to attention but saluting Rose with her left hand. Rose rolled her eyes and Lily snickered, before turning around and heading down the hall to the room on the end.

She tried to keep her mind busy running through different scenarios that might face her when she saw the Sorcerers. It was the only thing that kept her from dwelling too much on how much like her own tower this one was, including the smell of straw and sounds of animals from the side rooms.

She entered the room at the end of the hall and found it filled with cages. For a flash, she saw her treasures again. But that was only a memory. In a blink, the beautiful beasts with colorful scales and shining fur were replaced by frightened-looking teenagers, each with binding jewelry appropriate to their element.

Lily scanned their tired faces, counting and making note of how the Warlocks had grouped them by element. There were more water and earth Sorcerers than the others, with five each. Wind was the next with four, then fire with three. And one lonely cell with only one occupant. The girl looked to be about fourteen with platinum blond hair and pale snow-white skin. she sat on her bed, -taking up most of the small cage- her legs held tight to her chest and her face pressed into her knees. They'd actually managed to find an ice Sorcerer.

One of the fires, an older boy, found his courage first as Lily walked towards the lonely ice girl. "Who are you? Our new jailor? Come with fresh torture tactics?" he snarled at Lily.

Lily rolled her eyes without looking at him but answered as she walked, "Nope. Fire Sorcerer." she held up a hand and lit a fire in the air above her palm, "I just had a few things I wanted to talk to you guys about before I left."

Lily knelt before the ice cage and whispered, "Why didn't they put you in with fires?" the girl looked up and rubbed the armbands on her biceps, silver studded with diamonds, but didn't answer.

The fire-boy answered for her, "She isn't fire, dumbass."

Lily finally looked his way, cocking her head at him, "You are very rude." she looked back to the ice girl who curled tighter into herself, "She's clearly ice. But you can't hurt her and she can't hurt you."

The boy scoffed, "We're still hot, they couldn't seal that."

But Lily was more intent on the girl's whispered answer, "... I hurt everyone..."

Lily reached her hand between the bars, the lonely cage was small enough that she could reach all the way to the girl's face, "I highly doubt that," Lily whispered to her, cupping her cheek and sighing at the familiar cool feeling on her palm.

The girl tried to jerk away, but there was nowhere to go, and soon she was staring wide-eyed at Lily. Her eyes were the same pale blue as Shon's and made Lily smile. "You're not getting colder..." the girl whispered.

Lily shook her head, "Nope. And I think it's refreshing. You'll soon meet a man a lot like you and you'll see he can hurt people, bad people, but he also works with others, as friends and companions. You could do that too, if you train hard enough." Lily giggled, thinking of Shon still, "You'll probably be an even better Sorcerer than he is." Considering he refused to train that part of himself. Foolish man.

The fire-boy wasn't done being rude. He scoffed again, "We're never getting out of here. Your bosses will keep us until we're old enough to die like those that were here before."

The youngest of them, about ten or eleven started to cry. Lily sighed, letting her fingers slip slowly off the ice Sorcerer's chin before she stood and moved for the fire cage. The other two scurried as far away from her as they could but the boy tilted his chin up. "You're awfully defiant for someone so defeatist," Lily told him.

He tried to spit at her, but Lily tilted her head to the side, dodging the brunt of the wad. He snarled at her, moving closer to the bars, "Just because I accept the facts doesn't mean I'm going to make it easy for you."

Lily hummed then lashed out, grabbing him by the collar and pulling him to slam against the bars. He gasped and she leaned close enough to press her nose to his. He was warm, but she was hot and he gasped again, trying to pull away and failing. Lily spoke loud enough for everyone to hear, "Keep that defiance. It will come in handy soon enough." She continued in a whisper, "But you need to learn to control that temper. You're one of the oldest; the others look up to you."

She let him go and he fell back on his butt, scooting back and rubbing his neck before looking down with a curious "huh?"

Lily turned her back on him before he could ask about the note she'd wedged under his collar. She addressed the room at large, "You're all Sorcerers, and if you want to avoid being tattooed in the future you need to learn to control your power. Separate it from your emotions. I know from personal experience that the lessons the Guild offers won't help you with that. Start with meditation instead. Center yourself and count your breaths, feel your energy and your power and try to separate the two..."

"What's the point!" one of the earth Sorcerers called. "We're sealed".

Lily grinned, "We'll see." She shook her head, "But I'm out of time. I'll see you guys later, probably in... about a week?" she moved for the door and waved at them as she opened it. "Until then, be good." She left, heading for the roof and Rose.

***

Ryan looked down at the note as the strange woman left their prison. He unfolded it as his fellow fire Sorcerers gathered around to read over his shoulder, 'Trust the man with cold eyes. He brings hope, but stay out of his way. I'll see you on the outside.'

"What?" he asked, while Megin took the note to read again before running to the bars to pass it to the earth Sorcerers beside them.

"Does this mean we're going to be saved?" an earth girl asked.

"What?! What does it say?!" one of the water boys called out.

One of the earth boys read it out loud so the air and water folks on the other side could know too. "We can't let the Warlocks know..." an air boy said.

"But what if it's a trap?" a water girl asked.

"A trap for what? We're already captured." one of the earth boys countered.

"It's not a trap." Emma, the ice girl spoke up, crawling to the edge of her small cage. "Trust her. They're coming for us."

***

Rose waited for Lily on the roof of the tower. She should've had that heart-to-heart with the woman months ago. Already the air seemed to be clearer between them, like they were a real team. Or what she imagined a team would be.

She knelt on a rug on the rooftop as Lily's golden head popped out the trap door followed quickly by the rest of her. "So where is this item you ordered?" she asked. walking around the perimeter of the empty tower and looking over the parapets.

Rose just hummed, smiling to herself as she opened the box the filthy Warlock had given her. She pulled from it a circlet crafted of copper and emerald and placed it on her forehead.

Lily moved to stand in front of her, hands on hips and tilting her head down at Rose. "That's pretty. What does it do?"

"I recommend you sit down." was all Rose said, causing Lily to tilt her head to the other side, but not sit. Rose giggled. All she had to do was think and the rug rose into the air.

Lily let out a startled 'Eep!', and wobbled, but managed not to fall. Then she laughed out loud, finally plopping heavily down, making the flying carpet undulate like water. Rose directed the carpet south, in case they were being watched.

It was almost like she was back to how she was supposed to be. Flying through the sky under her own direction, if not her own power. Rose's heart ached with the desire to feel wings on her back, riding the winds instead of fighting them as the carpet did.

Lily stood again, spreading her arms wide and turning so the wind blew her hair back from her face, and Rose saw the longing in her as well. Would Lily take back her form too? Eventually? Perhaps once this Shon died of old age while they stayed young for thousands of years? Assuming they still aged as dragons...

"We definitely aren't giving this back," Lily shouted against the wind.

"Definitely," Rose agreed and tried to suppress a shiver. It was much colder than she expected up here, or maybe it was just the winter.

Lily noticed, and nimbly walked around Rose to stand behind her. She sat, resting her warm back against Rose's, warming her instantly. "Thank you," Rose told her.

"Anytime," Lily answered, then dug through her bag. Rose looked over her shoulder to see Lily take out the doll. "It really is a shame. It's so cute..." Lily lamented.

Rose sighed, "Yes but it's also made of her samples, even if we can deactivate it, they can probably just repair it."

"Yeah..." Lily sighed, then burned the doll, letting the ashes trail off behind them in the wind. The Windwyrm would keep her newfound freedom.

Rose took them south far enough that she was sure the Warlocks wouldn't be able to see them turn north once more -if they happened to be watching. They flew over the bare branchy canopy that was the Southernwood of Shutha in winter until they reached the path of the storm.

The magical storm had triggered two massive tornadoes. It would take hundreds of years to grow the forest back where it was lost, even with the help of the Druids from the Grove. Until then, it was like a canyon cut into the mass of trees. Filled with nothing more than kindling and broken boulders.

Lily lay on her belly to look over the edge as they flew over the destruction. "They really are getting worse aren't they?" she asked.

Rose sighed, "Yes and no. They're no worse, but they're more frequent and will only be more so the closer it gets to the time Ryuugen decides to recreate everything."

Lily hummed, sitting up to resume leaning against Rose, "So even if he doesn't do that, we'll still have to contend with the storms..."

"Perhaps," Rose answered, "The leading theory, believed proven in Yanao, is that if the dragons come back then their returned magic will stabilize the storms and they'll stop. Them being gone, and their magic draining from where they once lived, is what causes them in the first place."

Lily finished Rose's thought, "So even if the kingdom can stop Ryuugen, we still need to bring back dragons to stop the storms." Rose could only nod. If that's what it took to convince others to revive her species then so be it. She wanted them back because they never should've been killed in the first place.

They returned to undamaged forest and flew back and forth along it until they found a village built in the trees, and were careful to make note of its location in relation to the tower on the other side of the destruction.

Rose landed the carpet far enough that they wouldn't be seen and Lily helped roll it up and wrestle it into Rose's bag of holding. As they did, Lily said, "Since we're a team now and splitting the load, I'll handle everything in town."

Rose nodded. Though giving up such control made her nervous, Rose knew Lily had all the experience here. She donned a thick cloak, bringing up the hood to hide her face. Lily just rolled her eyes, striding proudly up to the village's wooden gates with her scales and golden hair clear for everyone to see.

Rangers from the Grove of Cathbad leveled their arrows at the two of them and Rose had to will her heart to stop pounding in her ears. Lily just cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted up to them, "Hey! Is this Everbough?"

One Ranger waved to the others to lower their bows and called back, "What business have you in Everbough?"

"The kingdom's sending some people here to meet with us in a week or so. From the capital." She reached into her bag and the bows came up again. But Lily just pulled out her papers and waved them in the air, "I have papers." She elbowed Rose who quickly pulled out her own, forged, papers.

The lead Ranger nodded down at them and disappeared behind the wall. A moment later he pushed the gate open and held out a hand for their papers. Lily handed hers over, and took Rose's before she could pull it away. He checked them both, eyeing Lily's scales, then nodded, "Welcome to Everbough ladies."

Lily walked confidently through the gate, while Rose hurried to follow, feeling lost. "How did you know they would let us in?" she hissed.

Lily shrugged, "Why wouldn't they? This is a small village, they don't even have a Temple or a Guild, and I'm pretty sure they're the only ones actively looking for us. So we just have to avoid the bigger cities." Lily shrugged again, "And that's just for another year or two. Gate guards are low-ranked enlisted, they don't get paid enough to keep track of wanted people if it isn't a new poster."

Still, Rose pulled her cloak tighter as they walked up the steep steps to the buildings and bridges built in the trees. Lily took them to the largest of them, wrapped around a huge trunk and with a second level built separately above it. It turned out to be the local pub and inn and Lily strode right up to the bar, ignoring the whispers of the patrons that followed and taking a seat to talk to the proprietor.

"Hi." She waved, though he was right in front of her, "We're here to meet with some people coming from the kingdom. We'll need two rooms and food for about a week. Oh, and another room to meet them in when they get here. And they'll need six rooms once they're here."

The barman grunted, eyeing Rose in her cloak, "That's near all my rooms. How'll you be paying?"

Lily waved a dismissive hand, "The kingdom will pay when they get here."

Rose nearly choked, "Lily, what are you..."

But the barman just shook his head, "I don't take promises, little miss."

"What about collateral?" Lily asked, her smile never fading. She reached into her bag and produced the illusion necklace the Warlocks had given her. A priceless magical item. Rose reached out to grab Lily's hand, her magic making an audible sizzle and distracting the barman from the necklace.

"What are you doing?" Rose hissed at her, "That is invaluable, you can't just..."

"It's mine." Lily said, pulling free and smiling at the barman, "and it's just insurance. You hold this, and if they don't pay when they get here you can keep it. If they do then I get it back."

To Rose's horror, he nodded and Lily dropped it in his hand, "Very well, miss..." He eyed Rose but finished, "Lily."

Damn it... Rose silently chided herself. She'd intended to use aliases.

The barman continued to eye Rose and she tried to sink further into her cloak as the patrons continued to whisper. Then her hood was pulled off and she let out an involuntary squeak. The proprietor blinked rapidly, looking from Rose to Lily, while Lily smiled, letting go of Rose's hood and patting her on the shoulder, "This is Rose by the way, and I think we'll start off with your personal favorite meal followed by a bath, I can handle heating it."

The barman looked between them again while the patron's whispers rose to what sounded like a roar in Rose's ears. Everyone was staring at her and her strange hair and scales, she was sure of it. They would know... they would... The barman asked, "Those aren't criminal tattoos are they?" he narrowed his eyes at their scales.

Rose glared daggers at Lily, who never stopped smiling. Lily answered, "Nope. One moment." Then she turned around, hopping off her stool and addressing the rest of the bar loudly, "Hi! My name is Lily, and this is Rose. We are Sorcerers, with clearance, and our stripes are scales not tattoos. Our hair is real too if you want a closer look. They are the result of some very interesting magical experiments that I sadly don't have the brainpower to try and explain. We don't bite." She turned back to the barkeep and sat back down, finishing with, "So, what would you say is your specialty here?"

Thus started the weeklong stay in Everbough with Lily. With her genuine enthusiasm and loud praise for his food and drink, Lily made fast friends with the barman. It also helped that they racked up the largest bill they could, taking advantage of every luxury the little inn could provide. Only at the end of it did Rose finally manage to relax and could admit to herself how nice it was to actually feel free.