"Riche Cheval changed the date of the ball."

Aelwen and Gerel's family looked up in surprise at the intrusion of Chieftess Arwista, who stood stiffly at the entrance of the tent.

The morning had been full for Aelwen. After she and Delku had relayed their newly acquired information to Beveri, Kera, and Gerel, the group had made their plans for the journey at a feverous pace. Now, with Arwista's new piece of intel, their minds stressed at the thought of having to alter them even more.

"...To what time!?" Kera asked, slamming a fist onto the ground.

"This Saturday. Considering it is Tuesday, I would suggest you all pack your belongings in a hurry," Arwista said. "Due to the thwarting of a recent attack on Clovendale, the Lord has decided to host the ball sooner in order to celebrate." The Chieftess scribbled furiously on her ever-present notepad before swiftly tearing out a page and handing it to Delku. Then, realizing her mistake, gave it to Beveri instead.

"Listed on that paper is the list of candidates I feel would be most appropriate to accompany the young Aelwen on her journey. Please take it with a pinch of sobriety, I know some of the people on it my be... less than to what you may consider as a standard."

Beveri raised an eyebrow. "The first one is Jane Florence. You mean the fairy inventor? She's mad."

Kera groaned. "Anyone but her. Please."

"Why should be bring her?" Aelwen asked innocently.

Gerel and Aelwen sat next to one another. Back in human form, the older boy now had Shifter ears and a golden streak. In order for none in the village to suspect anything, Kera had promptly dyed his hair just as she did her own, then hidden his ears under a hat. His eyes had great bags underneath them, a prominent bit of proof telling of his breadth of exhaustion. Arms wrapped around his knees, he huddled within himself, letting Aelwen gently place a hand upon his shoulder.

"Her assistance in transformations would be quite unparalleled. She's one of the best in the art that we have, not to mention her geological knowledge would be essential in finding the weaknesses in certain dragon's scales. After all, knowing if an enemy's scales were diamond or sapphire would be a great difference indeed." Arwista tucked her pencil behind her ear before whipping it out again and making a few more notes.

"She will come," Delku stated plainly. "Your case had been made and is a good one at that."

"The next is Erno Cornice. I think we can safely say this makes sense," Beveri said.

"Yes. Since Aelwen will not have time to finish any kind of appropriate training before leaving, I assumed it would be appropriate to bring along one of her teachers... not to mention an extremely experienced combat mage," Arwista said.

Delku nodded, grunting his approval. Aelwen also agreed the idea.

Beveri looked back to the list. "Kera Kevani-"

"Well of course! No way in hell I'd not be coming." Kera smirked, cracking her knuckles. "Honestly..."

So they DO have a last name, Aelwen thought.

"Kera-" Arwista started.

"Deathsong," Kera corrected.

Arwista ignored her. "-is, obviously, experienced in this kind of undercover work, as well as combat."

Aelwen found it hard to imagine Kera participating in any kind of undercover work, let alone being good at it.

Beveri nodded and moved down the list. "Shev Moreno," she said to Aelwen's delight.

Leaping to her feet, Kera cried, "Yes!" before sinking back down onto the floor. "Y-yea. I agree."

Clearing her throat, Arwista continued her line of reason. "Mr. Moreno is clearly an adept cook and hunter. My only concern regarding him is his... lack of self control during a certain phase of the moon."

Kera's face blanched, suddenly growing very serious. "I'll keep him under control, Ma'am.

Aelwen suddenly was filled with doubt. Gerel raised an eyebrow.

One name left on the list, Beveri read aloud: "Kotuya Kevani." Her tongue froze at the last word, mouth half open in surprise.

Delku gripped his staff tightly. "Kotuya? Why would you wish for him to go?"

Gerel? Aelwen thought. Surely she does not know about his current predicament, or the plans we've made regarding cleansing him. Why did she suggest him above anyone else?

At this, Arwista closed the tent flaps behind her. Her sharp gaze circled the room before landing on Gerel, then flicking to a large scroll pinned to the tent's canvas. She promptly ripped the scroll off. Underneath was the painting of Aelwen, Gerel, and their dragon forms.

The room became deathly silent.

"Though my secretary may be terrible at notekeeping, he certainly earns his wages from his uncanny ability to be my eyes and ears over the whole encampment." Arwista rose her chin haughtily. "Imagine my surprise when he reported a fanciful story about Kotuya Kevani secretly being a golden dragon who, at any moment, could be possessed by Cainen! Why, I could scarcely believe the tale."

Aelwen's brows lowered, her mouth twisting into a frown.

Arwista's sharply manicured nails scratched over the painted golden scales of Gerel's dragon. "Now, however, I am fully convinced." Her head whipped around, facing Gerel. "The boy must leave this encampment. Permanently."

Beveri gasped, instinctively moving herself before Gerel as if to protect him from Arwista's gaze. "You can't be serious!" she cried. A hot bubble of anger rose in Aelwen's throat.

"I am. After all, we knew this was coming someday, didn't we? The history of the Koana is SURELY known to the encampment's historian, is it not?" Arwista glared heatedly at Delku, who withered under her stare as if he could see it.

"Y-yes, but..." he stammered, for once being at a loss for words.

"What is she talking about?" Aelwen asked.

"No! My little brother is not banished! I was- we were gonna take him along anyway!" Kera cried, also opting to stand between Gerel and Arwista.

Once again ignoring Kera, Arwista continued, her voice low yet sharp. "His very presence is a real danger to this place, this sanctuary. To have him possessed again would be... catastrophic. It may already be too late." Her voice gave off an unusual quaver. "His memories of this location must be wiped, and he will be escorted from this area tonight when the rest of you leave." She took an empty glass memory ball from a bag at her side and placed it on the low table in the center of the room. "Have comfort in the fact that he is only being banished," she whispered threateningly before leaving the tent.

Gerel put his head in his hands, his body growing cold and still. Aelwen and Beveri hugged him, just were shrugged off.

"What did she mean, we were expecting this?" Aelwen asked Delku coldly. "Did you know this would happen?"

Delku rubbed his forehead, sighing.

"Well!?" Kera demanded.

"...Before the rule of Liriel, or even Kaleign, the Koana were a very isolated tribe living in the far north," Delku started, "Long ago, we were the first group of peoples Cainen revealed himself to after betraying Auria. We revered him, and through an oath- a curse wrought of our blood, we pledged one of our children in each generation would be free for him to use as a vessel to walk the earth. Ever since Liriel's takeover, however, it never occurred again. We assumed it was because Liriel may have been chosen as the vessel instead..."

"But we... we were wrong. I thought the gold scales couldn't mean... I wanted to prove to myself and to Kotuya that Cainen hadn't..." Beveri broke into tears, hands covering her eyes as she heaved. Delku grasped her hand tightly.

Gerel stood up. He grabbed the memory ball off of the table and pressed it to his forehead. A flash came from it before it arced with bolts of electricity. Gerel tossed it to the floor, the glass shattering and the electricity dispersing.

"There. Now I have no damn idea where this village is or how to get to it." He turned sharply, exiting the tent.

Gerel couldn't be found for the rest of the day. Even after going to his favorite clearing, Aelwen came away empty-handed. The members of the expedition were all told of their mission, and they promptly began their packing.

Sitting quietly in her tent, Aelwen packed her small selection of clothes, books, and other little things into a satchel that had been provided to her. Placing her wide-brimmed sun hat atop her head, she peeked outside. The sun was still fairly high in the sky. Dusk would not be for another few hours.

She set herself down on her bed and extracted her sketchbook from her bag. All day her mind had been worrying itself with stress and trying to solve all of the problems that currently ailed her. She began drawing to try to relax herself again. Even then, stray unwanted thoughts crept in.

I am her daughter. Raised by her, coddled by her. Aelwen thought as she pressed her pencil down hard on the paper. Does she feel no love for me, after fifteen years? Am I that worthless that I offer no significance save as a puppet? Her pencil tore through the paper. She cursed under her breath, then immediately felt shameful for doing so. What a queen. Puts her own want of the throne over her people. Father would have never condoned it. In fact... he was the only one who really taught me anything of value when it came to being a ruler. Mother never cared. She threw her pencil across the room with a grunt, hoping it would provide some catharsis. It didn't. Auria damn her.

"Woah! Easy there, princess. I just wanted to bring you some food."

Aelwen looked up to see a shadow at the entrance of her tent, directly where the pencil had hit.

"Come in."

Shev entered cautiously. He carried a mutton sandwich in one hand and a tankard of water in the other, which he set on the table. He stood there awkwardly for a moment.

"Hey, uh, Kera's been telling me about some of the stuff that has been going on," he said quietly. "Just wanted to tell you that... it'll be ok. Kera and I have got your back. I'm really sorry about everything."

He walked out of the tent quickly.

Aelwen ate her dinner in silence, chewing on both mutton and thoughts.

As dusk fell, Aelwen met up with Shev and Kera by the waterfall. They made several comments about the journey ahead and how to most efficiently reach Clovendale before the week's end.

Erno joined them soon after. He carried several tomes and a hefty backpack. He nodded upon seeing the group, contributing to their chatter.

It was several minutes later, once the sun dipped almost completely under the horizon, that Jane was spotted. She flew daintily between the colorful tents with only a small purse in hand. It was then that the group noticed the fairy flying behind her, laden with baggage. Scruffy black hair covered his eyes completely, making Aelwen wonder how he could see. He wore a dirty vest and ragged dress pants covered in various liquids.

Jane waved to the group. "Hello~!" she cried. "I'm so excited for this! It's been so long since I've been on a super secret mission. Listen, I was hoping if perhaps it would be alright if we make just a tiiiny little detour to Ceruby City before we head off to-"

"Just to let you know, your little doormat of a cousin can't come along to carry your stuff. You're gonna have to carry it yourself," Kera said.

"I'm not a doormat!" Jane's cousin cried. "She's blackmailing me!"

"Oh, and we definitely aren't going to Ceruby City," Aelwen continued. "We're kind of on a time limit here, and I also would rather not almost die again."

Sniffing in disdain and disappointment, Jane snatched her baggage away from her cousin and carried them herself for only a moment before suddenly transforming. In the blink of an eye she became a full-size centauress, her luggage changing size with her. Her coat was the reddish color of her hair, while her hooves were covered by big tufts of fur. She plopped her things on her back like saddlebags, then turned to face the group.

"Hey, you said you would be working on a way to disguise Aelwen. What did you come up with?" Kera asked as Jane's cousin flew off, relieved.

"Ah! Yes, thank you for reminding me. The most obvious answer I found was to turn her into non-humanoid creatures, such as a pegasus or gryffon. We'll be going to Clovendale, after all. It would be only fitting. Having her be in dragon form obviously wouldn't fly! Ha HA!" Jane chortled at her joke before clearing her throat and getting back to business. "Anyway, yes, that is my solution."

Aelwen held up a hand to pause her. "But, if I'm going to be at a ball, I'll have to dance, right? I only know how to dance on... well... two legs."

The confident smile disappeared off of Jane's face. "Ah. Well, there are a few bipedal animalistic races . I'll just have to research the one that will fit best with the situation. I've brought the Fairy's Essential Guide to All Known Intelligent Races, so I'm sure I'll come up with something."

A figure appeared at the corner of Aelwen's eye.

"Gerel!" she cried as the Koanan walked towards them. His hat had been thrown off, his hair tousled and posture hunched over. He stopped at the edge of the group, their eyes glued to him.

"Kotuya! Your ears!" Erno exclaimed in awe. "Does that mean you've-"

Kera quickly shushed him, motioning him to not mention the topic. He raised an eyebrow in confusion before halting his tongue.

Aelwen stood beside Gerel, looking into his eyes for any signs of his previous joy. His stare seemed almost dead.

"Don't worry. We're going to fix this. I promise no spirits will ever take who we are away from us." Aelwen whispered as she placed her hand on his. For the first time that day, he returned her gaze. "Don't leave me, ok? We've got to keep hope." Aelwen attempted a smile, though her own heart held the same grief as his.

Beveri was spotted making her way to the group, holding a small chest that contained Cheval's memory orb within. She handed it to Kera, who put it within one of her packs. The mother looked as if she was about to cry as she gazed at her son.

"Kotuya, please be safe. I know you are frustrated, but please... just remember us as you journey on." Hands shaking, she gave Gerel a jar of the purple ointment they both used so often. "I don't... I don't want things to turn out for you as they did my sister," she said so softly Aelwen could barely make it out.

Beveri nodded at the others, hugged a begrudging Kera, and whispered her goodbyes to Aelwen before quickly walking away.

"...Let's go," said Kera finally.

The group made their way to the waterfall. Gerel had a blindfold tied around his eyes. Once everyone had squeezed within, Shev sang a few lines of the melody Gerel had played on his violin. Kera had to cover Gerel's ears so he wouldn't know the song.

As the light

fades

Through a crimson

Sky

Our people give

Praise

As mourn' gives way

To night

And we will

Stand

Never letting

Go

Of those that we

Love

Only letting courage

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