Tigra and I left the alter of the goddess behind us, filled with an inner peace I hoped would remain there forever, but once we left this place of light and sacred animals, the dangers of the darkness would return.

“Do you know where they are?” asked Tigra.

“Yep,” I answered. “Through the wind, like I always know where you are even when I am not with you.”

“Keeping tabs,” she smirked.

I didn’t respond as we headed towards an open area where a great nest was, made from fallen trees, straw and feathers. I could already see a great bird of fire sitting up, communicating with my friends. I sent a guest of wind to signal to Link of our arrival.

“Great Lavem could you help us reach where we need to go.” Zack was at the front doing what he did as my second. “This forgotten palace you mentioned is far too high for us to reach.”

“I am not a servant of Animalia kind, nor do I bond with anyone,” she responded. “But…” She paused as I came to land, patting Dash’s shoulder, then patted Link on the back and finally rested my hand on Zack’s back, passing on the light that the goddess gave me.

“Hello.” I bowed.

“I can help you, but it will be a one-way trip, getting down you will need to figure out for yourselves,” she said.

“Perfect.” That went better than I thought.

“When do you wish to depart?” asked Lavem.

“As soon as possible,” I replied. “Rockray, please return to the emperor and tell the new information we’ve discovered, that soon his daughter will be back to normal.”

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“I had hoped to fight beside you,” admitted Rockray.

“Your responsibility is to the emperor, young Rockray.” Lavem responded. “In this time of darkness, he needs you.”

Rockray gazed at Lavem. “Alright, good luck Fang. I prey to the goddess for your victory.”

“She’s already giving us all the luck we need,” I smiled. “Lavem.”

Lavem exited her nest, showing off her huge size, bigger than even Raziel and Arata, her beautiful rich gold and red feathers gleamed with her ancient power.

“You may climb upon my back, young warriors.” She lowered herself as close to the ground as she could. I sent my team the rest of the way up, by boosting their jumps with my wind while Rockray headed off back the way we had come, back to Skyrus.

“Thank you for taking us.” Tigra went closer to Lavem.

“You are most welcome princess of Cathopia.” Lavem nudged her. “Come now child, a fateful battle awaits.”

I helped Tigra up on to Lavem’s back and joined them. Lavem stood tall, as we clung to her feathers, I felt a bit like an ant upon her back, as she stretched her great wings, taking flight in a moment.

A rush of wind blew all around as she speeded off, heading out from the paradise that these sacred animals called home. I felt relaxed and safe within her feathers, surrounded by her sacred power, her light, but what awaited us up within the heavens was something far darker.

“Why aren’t we taking Rockray?” asked Dash, his voice almost completely disappearing within the wing beat of Lavem wings.

“I wasn’t given enough light from the goddess to protect him too from what we’re heading into,” I replied.

“When did we receive such a blessing?” questioned Link.

“When I touched you, a few minutes ago,” I answered.

“What awaits us?” asked Zack.

“A place of darkness.” Tigra spoke. “Once the original palace of the Avem empire, now just a place of darkness, so the goddess gave us her light to protect us, Fang isn’t facing this one alone.”

I smiled. “There is a chance that Vali is there, so stay on guard, anything could happen considering how long the place has been filled with dark energy.” I felt nervous about what was ahead of us. The extra dark energy that Vali had built up within his condensed dark crystal could potentially make it tougher than my fight against Hashana, but this time I would not be alone.