Ghosts of dancing dragon couples swirled through Aelwen's dreams before her nose was unceremoniously poked by a finger. Multiple times. She gave a snort before opening her eyes and seeing Gerel's face before her. He motioned for her to be quiet just as she opened her mouth to spout an indignant complaint. With a roll of her eyes, she dropped her voice to a whisper.

"What is it?"

Gerel jerked his head towards the fields of reddish-brown grasses leading up to the mountains and eventually the volcano. Two dots of light graced the landscape. Like tiny tongues of flame they wove and dashed through the grass blades, moving very unpredictably. Cocking her head, Aelwen looked closer. She could now see a familiar shape near the flames. It was Devin.

"What's he doing over there? Who is carrying those flames?" Aelwen said in a panic, her voice dangerously close to rising above a whisper.

Gerel shrugged. "Let's follow him. See what he's doing."

"Should we wake the others?" Aelwen ventured.

"If it's an emergency, yes. From the way those flames are moving, I think they might just be phoenixes. Maybe Devin wanted to take a look at them."

Aelwen nodded. She and Gerel quietly stalked through the grasses, moving closer to Devin and the mysterious flickers of light. Aelwen tucked her injured leg up and walked as silently as she could on three legs. They moved behind a moss-covered boulder near the scene and peeked around its edge.

It was then that the sight before them became clear.

Aelwen's eyes widened as she finally registered what the flames really were. Two small tiger cubs with little feathered wings played among the grasses. The were made of fire and embers, tiny trails of smoke rising up from their tails like tiny matches freshly lit. They giggled and shrieked as they tackled one another, one biting the other's ear before the other twisted its head back and swiped a burning paw behind it. As soon as they saw Devin approach them, they stopped mid-fight, one with a tail hanging from its mouth.

"Oh. Hi!" said the bigger cub, her voice sugary sweet. "You're a dragon!"

"Woah! You're a kid dragon! A kid like us!" said the smaller, a boy with a feisty tone.

Devin nodded. His solemn face caused the tiger cubs to pause a moment.

"You look sad. Did your momma yell at you?" asked the boy.

Devin looked down, still refusing to speak.

"That's ok. We can help you feel better. Wanna play with us?" The girl offered. She crouched as if about to pounce. "We were playing Kana and Demon. My brother was the demon and I was the Kana. You should play too!"

Aelwen glanced at Gerel and mouthed the word Kana? She pointed at the cubs, her face coated in a look of surprise.

Gerel nodded back, his brows raised in shock.

As shocked as Aelwen was to see Kana for the first time, the first thought that forming into her mind was how ridiculously cute they were. The next was questioning why in Eveanor they were there, and third was how Devin was going to respond.

The young prince's glance traveled between the two cubs before landing squarely on his paws. His downtrodden posture eventually gave way to an emotion Aelwen hadn't seen on the boy before. His tail began to wag a bit and his ears flicked forward. He nodded at the cubs, a small, earnest smile slowly appearing on his snout.

Aelwen's heart skipped a beat as she watched Devin begin to play with the cubs. They leapt through the grasses and pounced on one another, laughing as if schoolmate friends. The boy cub bared his fangs and growled at his two companions, his flaming fur poofed up to make himself look bigger.

"I am the demon general Talorchotl of Cainen's Legions! I am evil evil evil! Super evil! Mega evil! How will you defeat me, stupid Kana?" The cub roared.

The female cub licked her paw before smoothing down her ruffled feathers. She stood proudly on the rock before her, tail waving gracefully behind.

"I am the great Kana Bai Hu! With my power, I will burn you up into a pile of ashes! Then I will take those ashes and freeze them, so you'll be both burned and freezing! Ha ha!" She pointed a paw at Devin. "And this is my silent dragon friend, the great King Jesoph! He will kill you with me and then take back his kingdom!"

Aelwen's ears perked up at the sound of her father's name.

Devin bared his teeth as well before pouncing on the 'demon' cub. The girl cub soon joined in. They swatted at each other, bit tails, and spit flames (save for Devin, who was not yet old enough to breath fire).

"AUUuuuGh! It's not fair! Two against one!" said the Great Demon General Talorchotl. "Jiao, the dragon should be on my side-!"

"Ah-ha!" The girl cub, who was now dubbed Jiao, charged toward her brother, knocking him over before Devin pinned down his tail. Jiao followed up by play-biting the horrible demon's neck. "Dead! And so Bai Hu triumphs again!"

The demon stuck out his tongue, his wings hanging limp at his sides.

"I'll be the demon now!" Devin finally said, running in place in excitement. "I'm biggest, I can take both of you!"

"Oh, so you can talk!" Jiao exclaimed. "Huan and I thought you were a mute weirdo kid."

"Yea. But I guess you aren't that weird. Thanks for playing with us!" said Huan.

"You're the weird ones! I've never seen flaming tigers with wings before!" Devin cried.

"Oh, that's because we're Kana. We don't go outside of our home very much. Mama says that's because we're spirits. So I guess that means we gotta stay all mystical and mysterious and stuff," Huan stated before putting a claw up his nostril and scratching at whatever was inside.

"Well, dad told me that it's because we're angry with Auria, or at least we used to be. I don't know anymore," Jiao shook her head. "I think it's also cause' Cainen's demons are all over the place here. It's dangerous outside."

"Then what are you doing out here?" Devin asked, echoing Aelwen's thoughts.

"Hmm. Mama said she had to meet with another Kana. A peryton, I think. When she went outside she let us come too. She told us to stay here, so we did." Jiao nodded.

"Outside is boring," Huan said with a pout. "It looks just like home, except there's no houses and the volcano is all quiet and brown. No lava anywhere. You're the only fun thing we've seen here."

"I think the stars are nice," said Jiao, looking upward. "Not as many in the sky at home."

Devin's head tilted sideways, his ears perked up. "So if you've never been out here before, why weren't you scared to see me?"

"Little dragon kids aren't scary, silly! We can only be hurt by demons. You aren't a demon, plus we can sense you haven't used evil magic before, so you're fine," said Huan, giving a yawn and licking his paw. "Can we play again, now?"

"Wait a sec," Jiao said, her mouth forming into a frown. "Actually, I think you did have a demon on you at some point. He's gone from you now, though. He left you very recently. That's nice! I'm glad you got rid of him, those things are naaaasty!" She stuck her tongue out and made a gagging motion.

"What do you mean I had one?" Devin asked with a pout. "I never saw any!"

Jiao sighed. "You don't know much, do you? When people in your world have something wrong with them, sometimes a demon attaches itself to their spirit tree. Most times the person never notices, but the demon is able to do bad things to them, like make them guilty or angry or very, very sad. Sometimes they whisper in ears and make people do bad things."

"... I had one?" Devin questioned, mostly to himself.

"Yup! Can't tell what kind it was though. Maybe Mama can," Jiao said. "Anyway, I'm bored. Let's play again!"

Aelwen turned toward Gerel. "What do we do?" she mouthed, her paws up in confusion.

Gerel thought for a moment before shrugging and standing up. Aelwen frantically waved her arms to try to get him to sit down, but it was too late by that point. Gerel walked out from behind the rock.

"Hey there," he said with a casual wave.

Then, just as Aelwen had expected, Devin leapt back in surprise. "What are you doing here?" he cried, his face contorted in anger. "Don't follow me! Leave me alone!"

"Hey, hey, hey! Calm down. I'm not here to stop you or anything. Just wanted to make sure you were safe." Gerel turned his head to see the flaming cubs. "So, you're Kana, huh? It's nice to meet you-"

Suddenly, a flare of purple flames ignited along the cubs' spines and tails. They backed away from Gerel, their ember eyes widened and backs arched in fear. As one, they bolted away, their screams echoing across the field.

"MAMAA! MAAMAAA!" they cried.

"Woah! Wait!" Gerel cried, chasing after them. "I'm not gonna-"

Jiao spun around and breathed fire. The burst hit Gerel in the shoulder, and he stumbled to the ground in a grunt of pain.

Aelwen leapt out from behind the rock, watching as the cubs ran as fast as their little legs could carry them. She rushed over to Gerel, who used his magic to tend to the fresh burns. The smell of burnt skin caused Aelwen to gag.

"I'm fine. Easy fix," Gerel said with a grimace, nodding toward the cubs. "What do we do now? Guess they were lying about being afraid of people."

"Gerel... you know why they ran. What they sensed," Aelwen said solemnly.

Gerel turned his head away. "Wanted to see if they really could sense it, even if it was only on my dragon form," he mumbled.

A burst of light caused Aelwen to cover her eyes for a moment. When she looked up again, her voice caught in her throat. Beside the two cubs, near the edge of the field, stood a beautiful tigress of flame, her glowing wings covering her two children in protection. Her eyes were like points of pure fire, and they were pointed directly at Aelwen and Gerel, burning into their very souls. With a swish of her tail, she began to walk towards them, her gait steady and path direct.

Aelwen froze, her paw protectively on Gerel's arm. She stared back at the Kana tigress as she stood before them, her wings flared and head held high. Just as her cubs had, a line of purple fire had sprouted from her head to the tip of her tail. The flames licked and cracked wildly. Her cubs peeked out from behind her legs.

Devin backed away from the scene, hiding behind the same rock Aelwen had.

"We are followers of Auria," Aelwen stated. "We have come to meet with you. With the fire Kana." She gulped, her lips dry from the heat even as sweat beaded her brow. "My partner means no harm, he cannot hurt anyone while in human form. He--"

"Of all demons to have attached to you..." the tigress's voice rumbled, "...it had to be Cainen."

"Uh, I didn't choose that. My ancestors did, apparently," Gerel said, his face unamused.

"I am aware of the history of the Koana, and I also know why you are here, Princess."

Aelwen blinked in surprise. "You do?"

"The Kana have been in hiding for a long time, ever since Liriel released legions of demons into the world. It is dangerous for us to be out when we are so greatly outnumbered. I suppose, in that time, we grew disconnected with our creator." The tigress lifted her head. "But I can see that the winds are changing. One of Auria's Perytons just relayed to me a message about you and your friends. We are to help you."

"Aelwen! Gerel! We heard screams--"

Aelwen turned her head to see Jesoph, Erno, and Jane running up to them. Jesoph's eyes moved from Aelwen to the tigress. "Qianru Li!" he cried, stopping before the kana. The orange-purple light of her flames glinted on his claws.

The tigress looked Jesoph over. A warm smile cracked through her (ironically) cold exterior. "Your Highness." She gave a small bow.

Aelwen, Gerel, Erno and Jane looked at Jesoph expectantly, their curiosity practically bursting between them.

"She was Kaleign's guardian Kana. The last time I saw her was--"

"--At the Battle of Evanor's Fate. Please, we can talk more once we are inside my home. Daylight is coming, as with it the possibility of being seen. Follow me." Qianru curtly turned away, she and her cubs padding through the grasses as fireflies arose from where they walked.

She was Kaleign's guardian spirit? So Kana used to protect people? Did she know my mother personally, or did she guard many people at once? Was it because my mother was royal? Aelwen now realized just how many questions she'd be asking her father later. She hoped he wouldn't mind.

Jane flittered near Aelwen's ear as they followed. "Look at that fire! It isn't burning anything around it! How incredible is that! Fire Kana are beautiful!"

Aelwen nodded in agreement. "Definitely very pretty!" she said, whispering back. "I can't wait to see where they live."

Jane and Aelwen had a moment to smile broadly at the thought. Then Aelwen glanced back at Gerel, her brows knitting together.

"Alright?"

"Yeah. Just gotta keep healing it for a few more minutes. Those little guys pack a punch." Gerel grimaced.

"I'm sorry," said Jiao, "I thought you were mega evil." She gave a nervous smile.

Gerel's grimace grew deeper. "It's fine. Happens to all of us." He rolled his eyes after Jiao looked away.

Aelwen checked to make sure Devin was still with them. He trailed behind the group with a miffed expression, but still kept pace.

Qianru stopped on the edge of a wide, craggy pit that dropped down a ways before ending in a shallow pool. A large tunnel opened from the pool's shore and continued into blackness, the cave likely leading under the mountain standing before the group. The pit's perimeter was lined with long vines the same reddish color as the grasses. They dipped the long ways down into the pool below, their leafy masses spreading along the water's surface.

Leaping over the edge, Qianru landed gracefully in the pool below. Her flames licked the water, yet no steam arose. Her cubs followed suit, their tiny paws colliding with their mother's back. Qianru nodded for Aelwen to follow. Gerel clambered onto the princess' back before she spread her wings and attempted to glide down. Her splash landing didn't make either of the two now-soaked teens happy.

Once everyone had been blessed by the touch of freezing water (save for Jane, who daintily hovered over the whole mess), they continued on into the cave before them, along the span of which flowed a river that emptied into the pool. After only a minute of walking, the source of this was found: a waterfall two dragons high poured from a rocky shelf above.

A waterfall portal, I assume. Just like with the Koana.

Aelwen's assumption proved correct when Qianru and her cubs stepped under the pouring water and into the small enclosure behind. Gerel's confused look made Aelwen realize that he didn't remember anything about such portals. Because of his connection to Cainen, the High Chieftess of the Koana, Arwista, had ordered him to use a memory orb to forget the location of their encampment as well as how the portals to these pocket dimensions worked.

Behind the falls, a pair of deer antlers were stuck into the rocky crags. After everyone was gathered inside, Qianru nodded to her children. With a smile, they began to sing.

Cats of the west

Our fire burns strong

Into our holy battles

We charge headlong

May our quiet embers fall upon royal breast

Let warmth and light lead them to be blessed

Quiet steps on burning paws

Our prey's soul grows dimmer

They were foolish to stay

Now their ashes will simmer.

The first verse gave Aelwen a small start. It was uncannily similar to the song her mother had sung for her years ago, perhaps one of the only memories Aelwen still had of her. The melody of this song was different, though. She relegated her questions about the tune to the list of queries she planned to ask her father later.

Jane buzzed near Aelwen's ear, the excitement on her face infectious. Aelwen shared her grin as they all stepped out from the falls and into the domain of the Fire Kana.