"Make sure you contact Corvus if you run into any issues, and remember, go straight to Airus—no detours," Markion lectured as we walked over to where my team was waiting.

After the fire drake hunt was rescheduled for the week after the next respawn, it was decided that my team and I would travel to Airus a week early, while the others set out to search for the Hydra causing trouble west of Valonia.

“I’ll be fine; stop worrying so much. You do remember that we revive after death, right?” I reminded him, rolling my eyes.

"Yeah, right back here with us.” He grumbled. “And your team is also still set to the altar in the settlement near Valonia. So you need to avoid dying until after you've reset your bind point to Airus," my brother lectured.

I let out a light laugh in response, patting the bag at my waist. "Don't worry about that; Darius gave me a going-away present," I informed him cheerily.

Markion eyed my bag for a moment before he realized what I was implying and gave a slight nod. When I went to speak to the guild leader before leaving the camp, he had given me one of the guild's revival tokens, something that was only given to a gold-ranked team. Darius had used my personal position in the guild to justify giving me the token, even though my team was still a long way from reaching that rank, as we had only just managed to gain our silver ranking after hunting down a pod of sand whales.

It had taken killing an entire pod of five whales to earn the points needed to pull the team's contribution points out of the negatives and up to the two hundred and fifty points we needed to rank up. Though, our ranking was not helped when Pia got drunk with another hunting team and proceeded into Sēkrit, where she painted "Eternia rulez" on several banners put up by other guilds with a glowing pink paint.

Luckily, the adhesive was dissolvable with ethanol, so was able to be cleaned off by the perpetrators after they’d sobered up. Pia had idiotically decided to write her name on several tents, which made identifying her as one of the vandals rather easy.

Markion rubbed his hand over the back of his neck as he asked, "Are you absolutely certain that you don't need me to join you?"

"Yes," I said with a hint of impatience. "I'll be fine, I have my team with me and besides, you should stay here and help Corvus quash the Brotherhood."

Markion sighed. "Alright then," he said eventually.

Staring up at my brother, I hesitated before moving closer to him and doing my best to hug the large minotaur. Stepping back, I gave him a tentative smile, which he returned with a beaming one of his own. I didn't often indulge in physical displays of affection, but I knew how much it meant to him.

In the months since I had been placed inside the long-term immersion capsule, my relationship with my brother had only grown stronger. Without Markion and the guild, I don't think my transition into a digital life would have been as smooth as it was.

"Make sure you bring me back some Kalitherium ore from the Almer mines," Markion said.

"But Kip says Kalitherium is one of the hardest metals to mine, and the most expensive to buy," I complained.

"I don't need much; a little goes a long way, as I'll be using it to make Kaleel alloy."

"I'll think about it," I answered noncommittally, but I knew I would bring back as much ore as I could find for my brother.

Turning away from him, I moved to join my team, who had already hitched our horses to the wagons and were ready to depart. The two bay geldings, Kip and Rainy had ridden previously, would be staying with the guild, as both belonged to a hunting team who had remained in Sēkrit. This left us with only two horses, but I had luckily purchased a pair of wagons as part of my settlement.

Personally I’d wanted to use the portal that opened every three weeks to allow passage between the two cities, but we found the expense of bringing a wagon, or multiple wagons as was the case, to be rather exorbitant. If I had been wiser, I would have thought of this earlier before redeeming the wagon tokens, however hindsight won't help me in this situation.

Thankfully it only took a week to traverse the mountain pass between Valonia and Airus, or even less if you didn’t pause during the night. Which was why many traders choose this route to move their goods for trade between Airus and Valonia, thus saving on the cost of traveling via portal. This could be said for trade between most cities, with the exception of higher-value goods that were sent through the portals when one connected to the needed city.

Waving farewell to my brother, I scrambled up next to Rainy on the comfortable seat of the wagon. Glancing back at Markion, I felt a pang of guilt as I saw his crestfallen expression, his big green eyes were sad, like Leo’s were when I scolded him for misbehaving.

As Rainy flicked the reins to signal the horse to move forward, I turned away from my brother, focusing my gaze on the settlement in the distance. I could no longer bear to look at the slumped-shouldered form of the humanoid bull, or else I might break and offer to let him come.

Our journey was far from pleasant, as the rocky terrain proved to be relentless. Despite the enchantments put on our wagons for increased durability and comfort, we were still feeling every bump and jolt of the terrain. Fortunately, after what felt like an eternity, we eventually reached the trade route, providing us with a much smoother ride.

A few hours after our departure we arrived at the bustling trade town of Marak. It was a small desert settlement, with only a few people walking around the central square.

An orc woman sat behind a stall of fabric and trinkets, while behind her was an array of weapons. Three men sat in chairs outside one of the buildings on the square, smoking pipes and drinking from mugs.

The entire place seemed peaceful and idyllic... until I saw that sitting on top of one building were two armed guards with fierce expressions glaring down at us from their perch. As we trundled through town, they watched us with a subtle menace.

I turned to the Rainy and whispered, "Do you have any idea who those guys are?"

"No," replied the pink haired woman with a shake of her head. “Let’s hope they aren’t bandits checking us out to see if we're easy prey.”

Groaning, I leaned my head back and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Don’t jinx it, Rainy.” She giggled and I sighed in resignation. “If we get attacked I’m blaming you.”

We passed through the small settlement without any issues, and soon found ourselves on a well-worn road that led west. The sun was still low in the sky, but there was a harsh, bright light, as if the surface of the sun itself were burning across the desert sand.

After another hour of travel, the sun had set and we stopped for a light meal where we ate some bread and cheese with water from our flasks, before trundling on into the night, which was cool despite the day’s heat.

The evening hours were uneventful, and the moon rose as we got into our third hour of travel. Then I saw it: a light on the horizon, just a tiny pinprick of gold light in the darkness but bright enough to show me where it was.

“I see something ahead with my alchemic sight,” I said to Rainy, who glanced over at me.

“Is it big or small?”

I shrugged in reply. How was I meant to know? It was just a flicker of light.

We had been moving for some time when Kip said he thought he could see something ahead of us, located near where I saw the light.

"I see something ahead," he cautioned as the lead wagon slowed to a crawl. Squinting my eyes I spotted a few ominous shapes scattered about on the ground up ahead. "Could be bandits lying in ambush."

"Kadia, send Zosimos to scout ahead," Victoria called out from beside the dwarf.

Leaning back, I peered up at the roof of my wagon where the dark feathered bird was perched. "Zos, time to earn your keep."

"Caw," the bird answered in a low croaking voice, his beady eyes staring at me with no small amount of contempt.

"Please," I added, giving him a smile. "I’ll give you some jerky if you do."

With a loud "Caw" and some vigorous wing flapping, the crow disappeared over the edge of my wagon. I watched his flight path as he gracefully soared towards the shadows, sharply plunging down before gliding back up above them.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Not long after he came back, alighting on my shoulder and cawing loudly in my ear. “All’s clear.” I said, trusting that Zosimos wouldn’t steer us into danger unwarned.

We passed a little distance from the shadows, and Kip jumped down to check them out before rejoining the lead wagon. "It was a pair of corpses, already stripped of their belongings," he reported. "It won't be long before they become raptor food."

"How old do you think the bodies were?" I asked, glancing over at the dwarf sitting on the other wagon.

He shrugged, rubbing his chin. "It's hard to tell—we all disappear at different rates after death, depending on our power level. I suggest we keep Zos in the sky to keep a lookout; those two were killed by blades, not beasts. I'd wager it was bandits."

I sighed and looked over at Rainy, who sheepishly grinned at me. "You can only blame me if we get attacked," she said, wagging her finger in my direction.

However it seemed that luck was on our side; no attack came in the hours that followed the bodies discovery, and as dawn fully broke over the horizon, the Almer Mountains presented themselves to our eyes.

The Almer Mountains were a breathtaking sight as the morning sun rose in the sky. The majestic peaks loomed large, and I couldn't help but feel a sense of awe and relief wash over me. After months in the desert, I was ready for some new scenery.

We continued along the trail until late morning, then stopped to rest until the heat of the day passed.

After scouting the area for danger, Kip and Victoria lined the wagons up side by side and we strung a canvas covering between them to create a sheltered area for the horses to rest in the shade.

“Once we get into the mountains, I reckon we'll need to put sides on as well. That way, it'll give the horses some extra protection when we get higher and into the snow.” Kip suggested.

I nodded, watching him as he formed a stone trough out of sand, which the dwarf filled with water using a transmutation circle. I couldn't help but smile as I watched him work. His transmutation skills had gotten a lot stronger these past weeks.

“The snow looks lower down than I remember it,” Rainy said, using her hand to shield her eyes as she stared out towards the distant mountains.

"It's not surprising that there is snow on the mountains; it is winter, after all," I reminded the dryad.

"I hate the cold," the pink-haired woman said with a grimace.

"I’d rather the cold than the heat," I informed her with a light laugh.

She grumbled under her breath before clambering into the wagon. I remained outside, sitting beneath the shaded shelter as I waited for Leo to return from sniffing at a cactus in the distance.

Despite traveling through the night, I wasn't the slightest bit tired, so I elected to take the first watch. I pulled out a book from my expanded pouch and flipped through the pages until I found the one I was looking for.

Over the past few days, numerous disciples had prayed to ask me if there was something that could help them fight against the cold, but the only thing I could come up with was something I called a warming tincture, which was made by grinding Solarflower seeds and extracting the oil.

Consuming a tablespoon of oil would leave a person feeling as though they were sitting right beside a warm fire. Perfect for chilly mornings, and easy to make with the abundance of Solarflowers growing almost everywhere. I’d also improved the recipe by distilling the Solarflower seed oil to remove impurities and adding leaves from the fire berry bush into the oil.

Even though I hadn't given the disciples a recipe for a potion to keep them warm, I had provided them with clues as to which plants they should look into, so they could research and figure it out on their own. Instead of just providing the answers, I wanted to inspire them to think deeper and research more. This may help at least one of them discover a way to further enhance the oil quality.

The sound of snoring from the neighboring wagon let me know that at least two of my other teammates were sleeping. And as I attempted to focus on my reading, I tried to remember where I had put my sound-muffling earmuffs.

“Caw, caw!” Zosimos’s piercing cry shattered the silence, yanking me from my perusal of the worn book in my hands.

I jumped to my feet, book forgotten, and reached for my wagasa. Zosimos cawed anxiously, circling in the air above me as I emerged from between the wagons. Peering towards Zosimos, I readied myself for whatever may be coming whilst shouting for the others.

Rainy groggily stumbled out of our wagon, rubbing her eyes as she saw me standing at attention. In comparison to the dryad, Kip, Pia and Victoria barged out of the second wagon in a rush, shoving at each other in their haste to exit.

“I can’t see Zosimos, but I can still hear him.” I said as we moved out from beneath the canvas cover. “Over ther-” A hideous screech cut me off as a long taloned leg shot out of the nowhere and yanked Kip off his feet with a sweep of claws.

I watched in horror as he was wrenched up into the air before dropping, limp as a rag-doll, to the ground. Victoria shouted a battle cry and threw one of her shields on top of him but it was too late; Kip lay still in the shadow of our wagon, one arm torn from its socket, his blood soaking the hard ground.

“What the fuck is that thing!” Pia shouted, her spear held aloft as she stared upwards, but my focus was on Kip as Rainy sent vines snaking across the dirt in the dwarf’s direction, snaring him a net of green to drag him to the sheltered safety of the wagons.

“Foxy! Send out Pyr!” Victoria shouted, pulling my attention back to the conflict.

Forcing myself to look away from the dwarf whose life I could no longer feel through our team rings, I unleashed my fire wisp, sending the gelatinous blob up into the sky. Pyr shot through the sky like a comet, its brilliant flames trailing behind it. The flying beast screeched as it noticed the glowing creature streaking towards it, banking hard to right and away from the crow it had been chasing.

Pyr flew fearlessly towards the beast, the wisp gathering speed and power as it flew. When Pyr was just a few feet away, the wisp unleashed its fiery fury upon the monster, engulfing it in a searing blaze. The beast screamed and thrashed in agony as the flames burned its scaly hide. Pyr kept up the relentless attack until finally the creature gave one last shudder and plummeted to the ground, its mangled body smoldering on the sand.

"Nice work, foxy." said Pia, wiping sweat from her brow. I nodded as I looked at the tattered remains of the mysterious creature that had attacked us with such a swift and vicious attack.

What was this thing? The body was burned beyond recognition and I hadn't been able to get a good look at it before it was destroyed. I doubted that I would be able to identify it with my limited knowledge of the creatures of this world.

"What's that noise?" asked Pia suddenly, tilting her head as her dark furred ears twitched.

My ears twitched in an upward direction as I listened intently. There was a distant shrieking sound, punctuated by an unsettling growl. Whatever was making the sound was a fair distance away, but it was still getting closer.

I scanned the horizon quickly and only caught glimpses of six dark shapes far on the horizon, little more than specks flying above the mountain range.

“Er- Vicky? I think we’ve got problems.” Pia said, shifting nervously from foot to foot, her wide round eyes focused on the specks. “I think whatever Foxy just flash fired has friends. Do you think it was a dragon?”

“Don’t be over dramatic Pia.” Victoria snorted. “It was a juvenile Quetzalcoatlus.”

“So what do you want to do?” asked Pia. “We need to get out of here- but I don’t know how far we can run before these guys catch up with us.” She trailed off.

“Kip’s also dead,” Rainy reminded us.

I grimaced, glancing back at the dwarf’s body. “He’s going to be so annoyed when he revives.” I sighed, noting the damage to his leather armor. “My new armor!” I exclaimed in a low spoken mimic of the dwarfs' voice. “I paid a lot of gold for this armor!”

Pia huffed. “He didn’t pay a damn thing for it! I made that armor and he still hasn’t paid me for it.” She grumbled.

“Enough!” Victoria shouted, slashing a hand through the air. “We need to decide what we’re going to do about those.” She said, pointing towards the specks which were growing larger by the minute.

I shrugged, pointing at Pyr who was flying in lazy circles above our heads. “We should wait here and burn them. That's our best option. If we leave and they catch up to us, we risk the horses. At least here, they're mostly protected by the canvas roof.”

The sky was illuminated by a brilliant orange and yellow light as my fire wisp Pyr faced off against the flock of six Quetzalcoatlus. The wisp’s tiny form seemed so insignificant compared to their large, powerful wings, but its fire was enough to keep them at bay.

We all huddled in the shelter of our wagons, watching as he heroically kept the creatures away from us.

The sky darkened as Pyr continued to rage, and soon the air was thick with smoke. There was a loud thud nearby, and we turned to see one of the large pterosaurs lying on its side, thrashing wildly as it died.

“Pyr is totally the goat.” Pia whispered as Pyr’s flames engulfed yet another Quetzalcoatlus’s wings and it screamed in agony as it plummeted to the ground, burning to a crisp.

“Goat?”I looked away from the battle, glancing over at her with a frown. “Pyr’s a fire wisp not a goat.”

“Greatest of all time, Kads.” Rainy interjected as Pia snickered.

"He’s certainly something." Victoria said gruffly, as we watched our little hero chase down the last Quetzalcoatlus which was attempting to flee. “If it weren’t so dangerous I’d be inclined to use him more often.”

“It,” I corrected. “Pyr doesn’t have a discernible gender.”

“I think it's a girl,” Pia said with a grin. “Hell hath no fury and all that.”

I rolled my eyes. If anything I’d say Pyr felt more masculine. “Pyr is Pyr,” I said in reply, then inclined my head at the window. “And Pyr has just killed the last Quetzalcoatlus, so now I’ve got to keep it from killing all of you as well.” It wouldn’t be the first time my wisp turned on my team in its hunger for more fodder for its flames.

Pyr was flitting around the corpses in a frenzy, fiery sparks shooting off in all directions. I knew it was close to getting out of control and I had to act fast.

Slipping out of the wagon, I reached out with my mind towards Pyr, bringing the wisp zooming towards me. The fire wisp flew in wide circles around me, its flames burning a fiery ring in the sand. I closed my eyes and focused, trying to center myself.

I spoke softly, filling my voice with calming energy. "Come back to me, Pyr." I said, reaching out a hand. "Let your flames die down, and return."

My words seemed to have an effect. The wisp's flames began to diminish as it drew closer to me and it flew into the tip of my tail, the fire engulfing my fur for a brief second before dissipating.

"Good, well done, Pyr." I crooned. I was rewarded with a final burst of flame as the wisp disappeared from sight, and I allowed myself a sigh of relief.

"Damn!" I said to myself, catching my breath again. "That was close!" I leaned against the side of the wagon for support, taking a moment to direct the mana flowing into me from Pyr’s victims.

All in all, the Quetzalcoatlus attack was more boon than loss considering how much mana I’d gain from it.

Behind me I heard a familiar shout pierce the air. “My new armor!”

Okay, so maybe there had been some loss. I mentally corrected myself as I listened to a newly revived Kip bemoaning his damaged armor and complaining about bleeding to death after getting his arm ripped off.