Sakura takes her leave with a bow, smiling. "Take care, I hope we can talk a bit more next time. Sadly, I should get going."

"We too, stay safe!"

Kin waits for Zaiya to let him on her back, but she is staring at the little phoenix, talking to her in private.

"That was really scary, please don't do that again."

"But.. look... the water doesn't stick to me!" Kayda dips her head into the water, then up and all the water just falls off her. "See?"

Zaiya stares at her baffled and unsure what to say. She lets out another cry of surprise, when the little phoenix dives back into the water head first. This time she stays at the stairs, though.

"Nothing! And I don't feel cold either."

Zaiyas head gets pulled down by her carpenter “Hello! Someone at home?”

She blinks “Yes.. I was trying to make sense of this.”

He smiles “I can see that. It is obvious, that no water or lava bothers her. But may be we should be careful about normal injuries. At least, until we talked to that .. expert... and may be, we can visit that friend of yours again.”

The little phoenix waddles out and plops down next to them again and chirps.

Zaiya sighs and lies down “She says, she is bored and if we could go now.”

Kin grins and pats Kaydas neck before climbing on his phoenix. “Sure.. that is what we came here for, isn't it?”

She takes to the air with the little one right behind and Vedh following a bit slower.

The mountain top looks more like a few green hills beside each other, some of them separated by deep cuts, some simply by a lower area and a lot of pillars in a pattern. Kin cant make out what they may once have formed, some of them missing pieces, some are only stumps. They are surrounded by pointy mountains on one side and completely open towards the south on the other. There is one large green, grassy hill-like area surrounded by steep fingers of mountain pointing to the sky. The northern side is another steep mountain with a few cave like holes. Any place large enough for a gryphon nest seems to have one. On the fingers, beneath them, the caves.. everywhere but the grassy area. And the bad news for Zaiya: Gryphons everywhere.

Zaiya starts shaking at the sight. Every single one could be a serious threat to any of them. Suddenly, all the bravado is gone and she tries to turn around.

“Bird.. no, we have to talk to them!”

She chirps sadly and flies another curve, following Vedh, who aims for the middle of the hilly area.

He lands with all the confidence Zaiya lacks right now. Even Kayda seems uncomfortable, scared, as she stays close to her mother. The large phoenix doesn't hiss or show any aggressive behavior as she often did with Vedh. Just looking around, staring at the nearby gryphons. There are at least eight around them, and more coming to see who the newcomers are.

The largest one of them steps forward. “I see, Vedh, you brought visitors. Are these the ones you were talking about? The powerful bird of fire with the useless human?”

Zaiya claps her beak, annoyed, but still stays timidly quiet with the little phoenix between her legs.

Kin steps forward. “Probably, even though I may not be as useless as you make it sound.”

“How? Humans are far too squishy to be a decent challenge. Unless in huge numbers. And you don't even wear these shiny covers and pointy things. The only humans that might prove a decent challenge are the air-painters, but you have not even one bit of magic in you.”

Kin is starting to get slightly annoyed at that and considers drawing SOMETHING just to prove him wrong. He glances at Zaiya, who actually cowers less now. Seems like she is getting upset too.

He sighs, then smirks at the gryphon. “If you say so....”

A surprised squawk from his phoenix warns him before her voice appears in his mind “I told you to warn me, before you do that again...”

Then he starts painting some runes in the air. Carefully concentrating on them to not mess up again.

The gryphon grins “Nice try. But you forget, that we can see magic. And your pretty scribbling had no effect.”

Darn, may be he got that wrong. He has to try one of the others next time.

“Fine. Ok. I may not be an … um...air-painter.. that's beside the point, though. We didn't come here to discuss my usefulness.”

The gryphon interrupts him “.. yes, you did. “ Then he takes a step forward and pushes the carpenter back a bit “Now tell me, what can you humans do. Beside building things. “ He looks at Vedh derogatorily, then turns back at Kin “You see, you inspired the hatchling there. He was talking about the northern kingdom and how the hawks and humans live in a partnership there. He thinks, it would be beneficial for us too. Mad thoughts of someone that barely broke out of his egg.”

He takes a step back to let Kin get back to his feet and waits.

“Oh.” Vedh looks at them, still confident. He didn't plan for it to make bad circumstances for these two. Three. “I.. am sorry about that, I just thought it was a good idea.”

Zaiya nudges the little phoenix a bit closer to Kin and follows.

The carpenter turns to an embarrassed looking Vedh and nods at him, before turning back to the gryphon he was talking to.

“Wait, you cant see that? You ask where humans can be useful, but don't have enough imagination to actually see ways for THAT? Wow...”

The gryphon glares “Do not belittle me, human, or I shall squeeze some respect into you...”

“You get what you give. Show respect and you will get respect. Easy as that. “ He actually expected to be interrupted again, and waits a moment, but the gryphon just stares at him like a cat that is ready to pounce.

“Fine then. I'll tell you the first thing that comes to mind. Thought, alone by having to tell you this, it shows that a human can be useful. “

Now the gryphon speaks up again, though. “I find it interesting already, how the powerful bird of fire is cowering behind the tiny human, though. Vedh? Why is...”

Now kin takes a step towards him, staring angrily. The gryphon is tempted to take a step back according to his body language, but resists the urge.

“So... you think its strange, that a bird made of magic is slightly nervous when surrounded by anti-magic birds? Interesting. You may be able to best most humans in one vs one combat, but..

“MOST humans? “ The gryphon roars in his face “I take ten of you any time.”

Zaiya takes another step forward, her head now above Kins, with Kayda accidentally bumping into him.

“You would loose. Exactly because of that. The humans know, you are more powerful and would search for a way to get around that. How about fighting in a narrow passage, where you cant use your wings? Ensnare your legs, so you cant use your talons? Fight in half darkness, where your eyes are useless, but theirs are still good? You think, by seeing their magical potential, you can still fight without seeing?”

He grows louder with every word and Zaiya seems to pierce through the gryphon with her gaze.

Kin shakes his head “No, you would loose.”

Unexpectedly, the gryphon again stays calm. That confuses Kin very much. He really thought he went too far with that.

“Back to the topic. What is a gryphons weak point? “

“None.”

The carpenter rolls his eyes “How would YOU fight another gryphon?”

“That's easy. I would fly higher above and then dive down at the gryphons back – the one that gets higher, wins.”

Now Kin nods “So that is your weak point. Your back. You cant defend yourself from such an attack. Either dodge or die. Now... if you would be strong enough to...”

He takes a break, to let that sink in, but again, he cant lure out a reaction.

“If the gryphon you want to attack would be strong enough to carry a human on its back, that human could shoot at you before you even attack – OR – aim for you with one of those pointy, shiny things we like to use. Would you dive into that from above?”

Now he finally shows a reaction, confusion. “Of course not, I would grab it and toss it away first.”

“Very good plan. Except.. you will loose your speed advantage if you stop for that AND … imagine YOU are the gryphon that gets attacked. Your human tells you about the attack. Your human didn't just stop the charge, but also gave you a few seconds to react to the attack from above.”

Now the gryphons expression changes to a slightly more respectful one.

“It would be enough time, to turn upside down and grab the other gryphon.”

Kin nods “Of course, you would have to make sure, your human is still secure. It does come with some more responsibility, but if you are strong enough to carry one you should be able to take care of one too, right?”

The gryphon grins “Well done, Kin Woodsmith. “

The carpenter leans back against Zaiya, slightly shocked. “I think... he played me. And I ...”

“You may call me Bryant. Yes, I wanted to see what you would do. I know, how frail humans are, I would advice against this behavior in general, but I am satisfied by your performance. I will grant Vedhs wish. For those, that are interested. We have been living in peace with the humans at the foot of our aerie for years. May be it is time to take that further. Now.. what is it you came here to us.”

Kin rubs through the feathers on Zaiyas neck “Sorry for giving no heads up again.”

“It is ok, if you keep doing that, I will get used to it. It helps to get rid of that awful memory too.”

Zaiya finally addresses the gryphon then “We came here to seek advice and help against foul magic.” She nudges Kayda in front of them, who isn't too thrilled about it.

“You see, our daughter has some kind of energy in there and we think, it may not belong there. If you could give us information about it – or – remove that, we would be very grateful.”

The gryphon stares at Kayda intently. The little phoenix lies down and shivers. She is really afraid, and kin puts his hand on her neck and sits down beside her to calm her a little.

“I can see it, but it is interwoven with herself. On a normal being, it would be easy to remove, but you two seem to be made entirely of magic. I do not think, I could pull out all the ends of the curse safely. I am pretty sure it is some kind of curse, but I cannot tell you what it exactly is. There is a very old gryphon living up there, on the highest hill with a little cave on it.” He sounds slightly upset when mentioning that. “May be she can help...”

Vedh walks beside them “I will show you to them, before I fly back to Amaya.”

He leads the phoenixes the short way up to another small, flat area of green.

“You see, the best nesting spots are distributed just like leadership is: The strongest gets the best. This gryphoness beat just about everyone. And easily too, but she refused to take leadership. That humiliated our current leader quiet a lot. She is also … strange. She does strange flight patterns half the day and hunts or rests the other half. It is said, she is doing that for over one hundred years. Ridiculous, since gryphons do not get that old. She rarely talks to any gryphon and is said to not talk to anyone else. She also didn't take any mate during all this time, adding more to the humiliation for the strongest male and current leader.”

“Ok. Well, there are human hermits too, that don't feel like dealing with other humans, so why not gryphons too?”

He slides down from Zaiyas back once they land and she bends down a bit, so he wont jump. She hates it, if someone jumps down and tries to make sure that doesn't happen ever since one of the Kids in Juniper broke her leg, when she jumped.

The area is clean, the little cave has one of the large bird nests in it. A few green and white feathers hang between the twigs and branches. More green then white, though. Except of a few speckles of blood, the area around is clean. She must bring her kills up here to eat and probably tosses the bones down from the hill to keep it clean. Kin wonders if all the gryphons do that. There must be quiet the graveyard at the bottom of the hill. If they decide to drop the remains into the lake at the dam, it could be nasty for all humans in the south that rely on the water.

Vedh speaks up “There.. look...”

All three follow his beak to see the gryphon they are looking for flying not far away beside the hill – above the abyss.

She is bright white colored. A real white unlike Kayda, shapes and forms of the feathers are still visible, thanks to the play of light and shadow. Even the feathers on her long tail are white. She swings around as if she does some kind of dance, defying gravity in ways that seem impossible. Mostly she looks like she sits on something, if not for the tail hanging down, all four legs stretched out rectangular from her body, while somehow keeping not just her balance with her wings, but also manages to move around. Kin watches in fascination.

“It looks, like she grasps something with her talons and swings whatever it is around. There, that looks like she tossed something up.”

The gryphon then falls backwards, belly up before lightly twisting to a normal position, wings folded against her body and diving to the ground at neck breaking speed before pulling back up and landing neatly without a sound in front of her cave.

“Phoenix... Human... “ She states indifferently.

Kin bows lightly “That was a beautiful performance.”

Now they can hear a hint of sadness in the birds voice “No, it wasn't. What do you want?”

He takes two steps towards her “Hello, my name is Kin Woodsmith, this is my partner Zaiya and our daughter, Kayda.”

The gryphons head turns to him and her eyes turn to slits. He slows down slightly.

“We would like to ask you to take a look at our daughter, we believe, there is a curse on her that we seek to remove. Without harming her.”

“You know, those two are magical power and not much else. Interfering with any part of that may be fatal for the other part. I can clean it away if you don't mind her dissipating”

“No, you wont do that.”

The gryphon hisses at him “Humans don't tell me what to do. Or not to do. It doesn't matter if you have a phoenix having your back. Even though...” She inspects Zaiya “This one looks scared.” She laughs with sadness “I am not afraid of your power. I could snuff you both out.”

Kin had enough now and punches her beak. “Stop talking about her like that, did your parents not teach you any respect? “

He wanted to say more, but in a blur of movement, far too fast even for Zaiya, the gryphoness pounces forward, topples him over and pins him down with a foot. A talon getting dangerously close to his left eye.

Now Zaiya steps forward “STOP! Please. “

The gryphon huffs, then her beak comes down at Kins head. This time, Zaiya is fast enough, though, and catches it with her own. Her voice now loud in their head “I said STOP. You will not harm my human. We came in peace, if you cannot help, we will leave again in peace.”

Kin was watching closely, he is sure to see a smile on the gryphoness face, only for a moment, but it surely was there. Then she steps down of him and turns around, slapping his chest with her tail.

“Fine, then, leave. I cannot help you. I...” She looks over her shoulder Zaiya. “I have the ability, but I do not know how to use it securely. I am sure, your chick would not survive it. “

As Kin gets helped up by Kayda, the gryphoness stares at Zaiya intently. “Watch.. carefully over them. Especially over your human. They are very prone to injury and death. You.. can loose him very quickly.” Then she curls up in her nest and ignores them.

Zaiya just stands there in confusion, long enough for Kin to actually climb on her back with the help of her left wing and feathers.

The gryphoness talked in her head. They shouldn't be able to do that. And she sounded so sad while doing so. As if she knew exactly what she was talking about. Zaiya is so dumbfounded, that she doesn't even notice her human nudging the feathers on her head for several seconds.

“Thank you, gryphon.”

“My name is Skyrah, Zaiya the phoenix. Yes, I know who you are.”

The gryphoness didn't even move her head. “Now leave me be.”

The phoenix nods slowly and turns around, still trying to make sense of everything.

She turns around and waddles to the side of the cave where a steep cliff leads down into a foggy, cloud filled valley.

She flies to pick up the mirror and jumps, followed quickly by their little bird and turns south, towards juniper.

“Kin.. I think, that gryphon is not evil or disrespectful. She is just sad. And she knows things. And she can talk in my head. She knew who I am...”

She coos as she finally notices him fondling the feathers on her head “Finally. I thought, those feathers are broken. You didn't react to them at all....”

“I.. the gryphon talked to me, in my mind. Like I do. But she shouldn't be able to... Kin.. they cant use magic, they are the opposite of magic. I don't understand this.”

He sprawls out on her “We probably shouldn't go there to ask her, I think. She wasn't very friendly.”

“You are wrong. She was. She just didn't show, for some reason.”

“Ok, Zaiya. We can think about that AFTER we fix Kayda. Right?”

“Right!” She gives them a push and flies along the aqueduct. Finally going home.

Half way there, Kayda fixes her gaze on something in the distance.

“Kin, I think, something is wrong. There are many people with metal cloths there. I can see two groups. One is south of the village with cloths on poles that show the symbol of the castle, the other one is twice the size and at the south entrance facing the others. Hold on.”

He only saw her accelerate once like that, when she tried to get out of the rain. His hands both hold a bunch of feathers and his legs press against her wing joints. He still feels like he might loose his grip any time from how fast she flies now. Kayda is falling back, but doesn't seem distressed – if anything, she is upset for not being able to follow along.

The phoenix's aura goes to a 'gentle warm', as if getting ready to set to full and she aims for the middle of both armies.

“If they attack us, I would like to apologize in advance for your cloths again.” She exclaims playfully. She didn't see any sorcerer in either army. Well.. she and her human might have met a few, but they are rare overall.

“I don't think we should go there, uh well,..”

“They cant get into my village. Don't worry, I will protect you.” She adds more serious, but instantly turns back to playful “And I cant have them attack my village. Right, master?”

There are two people, each flanked by two more, meeting in the middle of both groups.

Now that they are close enough for Kin so see something, he counts roughly one hundred on the kingdoms side and around two hundred fifty on the other side.

“It doesn't look right. Like a small army of our kingdom marches towards our village and the other army keeps them from attacking. Zaiya.. whats this? “

Below the aqueduct north of the village, there are four construct like siege engines. From what he has read, it must be catapults. Each drawn by a gryphon and flanked by another one, but they don't move as if hiding.

Then they are past the area and both armies start shouting as the phoenix lands in the middle. Many crossbows and bows aim at them, but non actually fires – this time.

“I think, that was a bad idea to fly in the middle... “ - but he grins.

All four bodyguards aim their lances at them and move in front of both talking persons. One has a similar armor as the one that lead the patrol to 'invite' the phoenix to their monarchs castle. The other has far more ornamented armor. The helm formed like an eagle, beak going down over her nose while the wings wrap neatly around her head. On her back, she wears two scabbards one very thin, the other seems to be short sword sized. Both look well made and beautiful. As is the armor. It looks almost delicate compared to the armor of the other soldiers, like a songbird between vultures. She looks up at the newcomers and her expression turns to one of worry.

The lieutenant on the other hand, smiles happily at them.

“There you are! The guardian of the village, that is, right? These people here were attacking your village and now seek to march on to take the kingdom!”

Zaiya stares at the woman, but still confused. Kin is about to dismount, but she keeps him on her back with her beak, then stares up to the sky, where Kayda is about to dive down. She stops a moment later and instead circles over the village.

The Carpenter gives in and stays, but leans on her neck”Then, why are you on this side of the village? It seems to me, that these attackers already went through the village, while you came too late to protect it.”

He cant recall to have seen any damage in the village at all. Very strange.

The woman sighs with relief. “That is true. We mean no harm to the villages. We went past many of them only here we met these men, harassing the citizens. “

“Lies! Why would we do that? These good people make sure Serenity City has water. It would could be fatal if they decide to..”

Kin interrupts him “May be it has something to do with hurt pride and this tiny bird?”

Now the lieutenant visible becomes nervous, then freezes and stammers something in fear as the phoenix stares into his eyes.

Zaiya speaks up to them for the first time. “So you aren't here because of the other army, but for us. Again.” She sounds tired, but also very upset and this time, he pulls her head feathers at once – by the strings. She giggles at that “Very good, human. Keep watching like that!”

“What is this.. demon spawn. “ The lieutenant takes a few steps back, then Zaiyas gaze focuses on the woman.

She will rip that sorry excuse for a king apart, for sending more goons their way. She cant read deep into peoples mind, but as she sees the foremost thoughts and basic plans of who was now her human, she just saw the same on the lieutenant: Fear, hope that they would buy his story, his orders to not be gentle with the village to set an example and to bring her back, with or without human. Dead or alive. Meanwhile, the woman doesn't show any fear. But in her mind... the phoenix can see that she is the queen of Vealan, the eastern kingdom of ice and snow. Just as Gavin told her, the nearby kingdoms were looking at Aiyana greedily. But non dared to attack due to the phoenix. The queen was the only one that got enough information to see when they were gone and decided to take the chance. But she is smart. She decided to make sure nothing happens to the villagers along the way – not only because the phoenix might return, but more importantly: They are needed for the water supply. Then the phoenix's mood becomes grim. The 'attackers' went in to help the villagers of HER town. The Kings men attacked them and hurt several of those that stood against them.

“Kin... Erza and Akira are badly hurt and she thinks they wont survive.”

After being released, the Queen stumbles back slightly from the experience and speaks up the first time. Her voice is soft, but with an undertone, that makes one thing clear: She is giving the orders and people follow them.

“We do not know this. My best doctor and a wandering wizard are attending to them.”

Kin looks perplexed “You have a sorcerer with you and go into battle without ..?”

Zaiya nudges her head back and whispers to him only “She has far more in her army, then one wizard, that she doesn't use yet. I.. consider to stand with her. Not because her chances could be good, but because she was kind to my village.”

Kin blinks unsure“If.. you say so?”

The lieutenant slowly has backed off with his bodyguards to his army.

“In the name of King Erthonas, I command you to get rid of these foul attackers!”

Kin immediately tugs Zaiyas strings again, expecting an outburst, but she only coos at his tugging, then laughs at them all.

“May be you didn't hear but your king himself demanded something similar like that. And my human told him his opinion about it. I guess, he is still waiting for my answer. I will tell you what I told him: I only answer to the sun itself and my human. My answer is a little more educated, but the meaning stays the same: No, thank you. I will not follow any orders from you, for your king is not mine.”

“Then you are a threat to the King and this land.”

The woman's eyes grow wide at the conversation between the lieutenant and the phoenix and she quickly waves for her soldiers to retreat and take position inside the village. The wall should give protection to many soldiers.

Zaiya is still amused, though, so her aura only flares up enough to reach the first rows of soldiers on both sides and she turns towards the Kings men.

Kin hugs her neck, happy about her control.

“Do you really want to do this?”

The soldiers get uneasy as the heat rises and the bird waddles towards them. The first rows are already turning to get away from the heat. The other rows resist at first until the heat slowly warms up their armor. It is far from dangerous, but the stories about her show of melting the castle walls in combination with the increasing temperature soon sends the first soldiers running. The result is amazing for the carpenter to watch. After the first soldiers breaks out to the sides, screaming “I don't want to burn!”, the whole formation crumbles and one after the other turns to run in panic. Every one running, makes two more turn and they in turn, rout more soldiers until the whole formation is broken and the soldiers gone.

“STAND! Cowards!” The lieutenant cries out, grabs a crossbow and shoots at them. Zaiya grins and raises her wing. She was keeping a close eye on the lieutenant and his army for any surprise shots. Her aura isn't enough to get rid of the bolt, so she shields her human with that instead. But the bolt wasn't fired at him, it gets embedded into her head, right behind her left eye.

Kin stares horrified at the bolt and reaches for it, but it quickly burns to ash, now that it is stuck in her body.

“ZAIYA!”

Her body flops to the ground as if she was a deer. A clean killing shot by the hunter. The lieutenant lets out a cry of triumph. A few of the soldiers turn to see and stop in the tracks, some even try to get back into a loose formation.

Then the phoenix pounces on the lieutenant, pinning him down with her left foot.

“Got you!”

Kin sags against her neck after nearly getting thrown off her when she pounced. “Dammit bird! Don't do that to me!”

“But you know.. how it works, right?”

He still glares “Yes, but that doesn't mean I don't worry.” He turns his head at the running soldiers. The few that seemed to rally quickly turned to follow their brethren when their lieutenant got jumped.

“May be, a gift for the Lady for helping your village, Zaiya?”

The Queen didn't retreat as much as she ordered her soldiers. Only her bodyguards stayed with her.

“This was.. impressive. “ She says to them, slightly reserved “I thank you, you prevented a lot of deaths today, but, in the end, these soldiers will rally at their castle, making the price to take that ultimately higher. Unless... I can convince you to help us there too?”

Zaiya growls “I don't care about your politics, as long as you leave my village and humans alone.”

But Kin tilts his head “There is one thing we need from that castle. Rumors say, there is a sorcerer held captive. We would like to talk to him, possibly free him.”

The queen nods. “Yes, Michael from Eagleholm. Very few know about this, how do you..?”

He grins “My parents told me to see him.”

Now she looks confused “Your parents? Do I know them then? What do you want with him?”

Zaiya listens with interest, her human has a point. If these humans take over the castle, they would avoid the most likely fruitless discussion about getting to the sorcerer. Or look for him while the whole castle tries to shoot them.

“We need to ask him about some... phoenix anatomy.”

She nods slowly “Then this is definitely the sorcerer you are looking for. I have no need for him and would have freed him anyway. After looking into his case. From what I hear, there is no reason for him to be locked away, but I will not let someone as powerful as him out of safekeeping if there might be danger. So you will help?”

Zaiya stares at Kin, then at the queen. “I... guess? After my human got rid of the fur in his face.”

Now the queen takes of her helmet and stares at them, dumbfounded. Kin was looking horrible compared to his usual, well groomed self. Two or three weeks... can easily make that happen.

She laughs at them “Is that bird your adopted mother or something?”

He laughs with her “No, worse... and.. may I introduce: Our daughter.”

Kayda waddles through the ranks of soldiers towards them, completely unimpressed by the army around them. She stares at the queen curiously, then chirps at her.

Zaiya looks slightly embarrassed “She.. says 'hello, humans'.”

The queen blinks and lowers herself slightly, then reaches out carefully to pet the little phoenix.

Kayda obviously likes that and leans into her hand, chirping again.

Zaiya sighs “Once you are old enough, you can pick a human, even that human. But you HAVE to talk to them first. May be they don't want that!”

Kin tugs the feathers on her head “Why would anyone not want ..” He stops as his phoenix stares at him firmly. “Uh... sorry... “.

Then his eyes grow wide.

“Wait.. you said …. we have to get back in the village, quick! Erza, Akira... hurry.”

It takes only a moment for the phoenix to grasp what he means before she speeds back the little distance to the village.

They land in front of Akiras forge and she sticks her head through the door.

“Empty..”

“May be Sophia... She has all the herbs that may be needed....”

He nearly slips down, as the phoenix jerks around and flaps towards the herbalists house at the exit of the hamlet. The voices inside the house tell them quickly, that they are at the right place and Kin slides off her back when she is halfway down at the ground.

“Don't.. jump! You may hurt...”

But he already is through the door, with her head only a moment behind.

After Sophia's herb-hut was burned down, they rebuild it a bit larger and more convenient. With more areas to dry the herbs and a few beds on the other side for sick or injured people.

They didn't build enough for this, though.

The whole ground is laid out with makeshift beds. Twelve people are lying on the ground with barely enough room to walk around them – unless one wants to go through the area with herbs hanging from sticks in the wall and now, all other furniture like tables and chairs cramped below them.

Sophia is pretty young for someone as knowledgeable as her, around thirty five, even though her face has deep furrows, making her look like an apple that was laying in the sun for days. No one but her knows, where this comes from. And she ignores any question directed at this. She is very helpful and kind if approached in the same manner. Dark blue eyes look at the patients with worry, as she steps from one to the next to check their bandages.

Two men do as she does, both wear a loose, green garb over what must be some light leather armor. Obviously the doctors of the army outside the gates.

The last person in the room sits on a chair, looking exhausted. He has shoulder long, dark brown hair and his eyes are closed, as if sleeping. He cant be more then twenty summers old. A little bag lies beside the chair, with several quills and an ink bottle beeing attached to the side of it, to not spoil the inside, if something should leak out.

Then Kin sees a cowering shape on the far left end of the room. From the armor, it must be Norsi. She also has a bloody bandage around her shoulder, but obviously refuses to lie down herself.

Kin aims for her, but the person on the chair grabs his arm. “Don't go there yet. Let her mourn in peace.”

The carpenter stares at him, confused until he realizes what that means. His neighbor and longtime friend, Erza, didn't make it.

He stares to the ground as the door gives a protesting crack, when Zaiya tries to get in a little more.

Sophie doesn't look up and there is no resentment in her voice “Hello, you two. They.. attacked us. At first, they demanded us to be disarmed. That ended in an argument, then they demanded us to hand over Zaiya. Even thought, they KNEW you both weren't here. At some point, it escalated. Queen Helina's scouts came right on time to jump in to help us. I don't know why they did it, but thanks to them, we only got injuries – some gravely, though. ” She motions behind her quietly to Norsi “Akira is the only one where we still aren't sure if he will make it. But he is asleep right now, leave him be.”

“We.. should have been here.”

But Sophia shakes her head “No, you cannot be here all the time. And they planned for this, they waited for this. Akira was sure about that. He thinks, that the king wants our guardian in his army. Due to his family having a bird similar to her in their emblem. By attacking us, he thinks to bully you into giving in.”

Kin reaches out to grab the phoenixes head feathers firmly, just in case she wants to visit the king right away.

She suppresses her anger, even though she sounds serious “Do not worry, I .. learned my lesson and I … try to let you decide before I go back to doing something out of anger. “

He shakes his head “He knows what you can do. He will definitely have something prepared for you.”

She tries to rise her head, as if she decided on something, and bumps against the ceiling loudly.

“We will go with that Queen.” just stating a fact without leaving any room for discussion, not that her carpenter objects anyway. They have to, not just because of the attack but also because of the little phoenixes condition. He pulls her head down to make her look into his eyes.

“We have to make something for Erza. Something good. Something for everyone first.”

Her head sinks at that comment from her human and she replies sadly “yes. We will. But.. first, we should give the injured a bit more time. “

They both leave the healers to their work, but the mage gets up from his chair to follow them. He looks very exhausted.

Zaiya nestles down in the middle of the road and stares at him for a few moments, before turning to Kin irritated. “I cant see his thoughts. That is the first human where it doesn't work.”

Kin nods, turns around and looks at the sorcerer “Hello, thank you for helping them.”

He smiles weakly “Not much I could do for Erza. I am Bart. “ He closes his eyes tiredly.

“I am sorry for your loss, if I can do something for you...”

Kin nods slowly “Thank you, but I think, you should rest. Do you have a bed yet?”

He shakes his head “My room is the road and my bed is the grass beside it, friend.”

Kin smiles “I suggest feathered beds, they are much more comfortable then grass.” At which Zaiya nudges his side in amusement. “I can offer you mine. The house is more like a storage chamber, but the path to the bed should be free. I'll just free the bed itself quickly. Come, ill show you.”

They both go down the road to the carpenters home and he opens the door. The house is still the same as before. Every free space seems to be occupied by tools, spare parts or even furniture. Only a small path towards the back is free. The carpenter quickly moves his stuff from the bed to the space around it and in front of the fireplace.

“Here, rest and feel at home.”

It surprises Kin, that he doesn't even look around. The person is foreign, Zaiya warned him, but he still is compelled to trust him. Strange, but after helping the village, he deserves a little trust. And even if the sorcerer would steal his stuff, he doesn't really care. There is nothing in there, that he needed for over a year now – nothing that could not be easily replaced.

“Are you hungry?”

“No thank you, just exhausted. I will rest a bit, then return to enchant more bandages. Where will you sleep?”

Kin grins “Feathered bed.” then adds a bit more grim “We will think about a funeral... something great...”

The Sorcerer laughs “Oh... now I get it. You are that carpenter with the hawk on fire. Well, thank you for your kindness.“

The carpenter nods and leaves right when a hand full of soldiers with the queen come up the path from the south. He bows lightly, while Zaiya tilts her head.

“Hello again.”

She smiles at the informal greeting, but doesn't seem to mind. “My men rest south of the village and I will send them to hunt. We have food for 2 more days, 3 if they can bring back enough food. If not, would you happen to have spare food?”

He blinks. The harvest was good, so much he knows, but... honestly, he didn't bother much with food since he met the firebird. “I think we have some, but I am not sure how much.”

She nods “I understand. I can't send any of my birds into the city to buy some. Just in case everything else fails, would you two mind going to the city to get rations?”

Zaiya laughs now, in a playful way “You want us to buy food from our kingdoms capital to feed your army, that wants to conquer it? Sure! I am in.” Then adds “If he is too.”

Kin shrugs “I don't care much for our 'king'. Even less, after what he did here. What will you do, once you take over?”

She raises an eyebrow “In the villages here? Nothing. I went through 7 different villages and all but this one were happy with how things work. Non of them cares about the big city enough to stand against us.”

Kin tilts his head “Yeeeaaahh.. sure. Simple villagers standing against hundreds of well armed men and war gryphons. Who would do that?”

Her mouth twists to a sneer, but her voice sounds more curious and approving “So you saw them, hu? I need to find better hiding spots next time. The villages want to be left alone and they are dedicated to their work. Even though.. the aqueduct here looks different to the other parts. You two don't have anything to do with that, do you?” She smiles, but her voice sounds curious and slightly dangerous.

Zaiya rests her head on her humans shoulder and replies calmly “And... what if we have?”

The queen shrugs “Nothing. I am just curious.” She wouldn't want to try and order THESE two to do anything after what happened earlier. Especially since she needs them soon. And anyway: As long as the water supply works, she wont make drastic changes. “You wanted to know what I will do: Nothing. We had a contract with your … pardon, the king. One third of our water comes from here. My kingdom may be full of snow and ice, but melting ice and snow costs a lot of energy, which is just as rare as food in my kingdom. We cannot sustain our need for water just from that on a long term since the river next to our capital dried out. Until we find the reason for that, we rely on your kingdoms support. The king broke the contract to 'renegotiate', driving the price up tremendously. The other kingdoms on our borders are just too far away and the routes are too dangerous to transport. If we are to trade with them, we could also go to our mountains and bring back more ice. “ She takes a break, scanning them for a moment, then adds “Plus.. his manners are that of a street pig and his mindset is that of an entitled brat.” This was a gamble, but from what she heard earlier on the battlefield, the queen assumes to get on the good side of them both like that.

The phoenix laughs “That sums up my impression about him pretty much. May be, we can take a look at your river?” She nudges against Kins head, nearly pushing him over, if he didn't have a hand on her head to hold on for balance.

“Once this all is over.. and Kayda.. where is she?”

The queen smiles “She was playing with a few of my soldiers, right now she is checking out the gryphons. She seems scared, but too curious to not look. Don't worry, all my soldiers are well trained. She will not be harmed.”

Zaiya looks not so sure. “gryphons...” She notices thoughtful.

The carpenter shrugs “How much do you want us to buy? You have quiet a lot of people there..”

She nods “Yes, I know. It depends on when you are ready to go. My men are happy about a day or 2 of rest, but if you want to leave now, we would. The faster, the better.” Just a little bit of pressure, but not more. And the castle will be prepared to defend by now anyway. She just hopes, that there wont be any problems with the city. Most likely not, though, since the castle is slightly east of the aqueduct with the city behind the castle from their side anyway. “ She smiles at his baffled expression “As you know, it has some advantages if you have birds that don't mind taking you up into the air to get a better look.”

“Ok, I guess, we will go shopping for you then.” He looks at Zaiya, to see if she changed her mind.

“Should we? It will be narrow but without your aura, people will think we are from Eagleholm. I don't have a saddle or anything to look more like them, though.” Zaiya's eyes narrow a bit, she isn't too fond of that.

The queen laughs “Half of them don't even use saddles or anything anyway. It hinders the birds ability to fly, even specific saddles will press down on the wings and the area above the muscles that move the wings. If you want the saddle to rest on other spots, it will press into them uncomfortably due to the lower bearing area. The saddles that they use are made in Vealan, that's why I know about it. And the hawks are confident to be able to catch their rider, if they fall. That's why you rarely see them flying within arrow range. They always try to get up to a decent altitude before doing anything to have enough time to react if one falls. Here you are. “ She hands him a bag of coins.

“I could just.. take that and fly away, though.”

She laughs “You could.” Then pats his free shoulder and walks past him towards Sophia's house.

“She is strange, but I like her far better then 'our' king.” Zaiya remarks.

“For now. We will see what happens AFTER she takes the castle.”

The phoenix nudges him to her side and lies down. “We will see. I don't care who has control of the castle, as long as they leave us alone. Our king did not, so I will gladly help this woman to... what do you say? Kick his butt?”

He nods as he gets comfortable and she launches them into the air towards the castle.