Everyone's first reaction was shock. Then skepticism.

  "I swear, I'm not lying. I actually saw it," Ael pleaded.

  "Who would go through all the trouble of chipping away at a mountain until they have a house? That's stupid enough for just a single house, let alone an entire city." Kay was the most skeptical of the group. Despite all the wonder their own powers could give, he doubted that four or so earth users would just pull rock out of a mountain to conveniently leave the shape of a house.

  Ael crossed his arms and sarcastically deflated his friend's comment. "Oh, and I suppose the 300-feet high buildings in Broomfurrugh were just rock pillars, and all the builders just added steel beams to make it feel more like home. I mean who would build a multi-story residence just for the increasingly fast-growing population?"

  "That's different," Kay defended. "From your descriptions of Broomfurrugh, it's a given that people are gonna fill it up. In Broomfurrugh, people come in so fast that they have to build. Not here though, I mean this is the middle of nowhere. No one's coming, as far as I can tell."

  "It might not have always been the middle of nowhere," Ael pointed out. "The invention of airships left a lot of roads in disrepair, this could've been an active road a few hundred years ago."

  Ray broke up the squabbling just as the group was starting to lean in Ael's favor. "If you two are done proving how little clout either of you posses, I think I detect another Returnie in the city."

  Ziggy shrugged. "Well I guess that settles it."

  They four set off without another word. An almost imperceptible wedge was driven between Kay and Ael. They would never look at each other directly in the eye. This would set a somber mood were it not for Ziggy's terribly off-key warbling. This seemed to smooth things over a bit between the two, so after a few songs Ael and Kay joined in on the attempt to deafen any people or animals unfortunate enough to be nearby.

  Ael looked around the landscape, trying to memorize every picturesque view, longing to savor the sights before him. He pondered silently where he could go were he not tasked with freeing the Stars, he quickly stopped this train of thought. The future will take care of itself, he reminded himself.

  Kay was still trying to wrap his head around how much the world had changed. Like I would know, he bitterly realised. Ziggy wouldn't either, he was born to the monks and I was adopted without any memories. That diverted his thoughts more toward his own past rather than the world's. Just what exactly were the monks hiding for all those years? Despite all his curiosity, all his searching, and all his inquiries, the monks never told him anything about his past. No memories would resurface either, so he was left pastless.

  Ziggy's thoughts were less serious, and more oriented with the song he was desperately trying to remain in-key for.

  Everything seemed relatively normal and quiet for what seemed like a long time. The long awaited ending to Ziggy's travel song was interrupted by an ear-splitting caterwaul from above. The four looked to the skies trying to identify what could make such a terrible noise.

  A deep scarlet figure gliding overhead told them the answer. Rozita was the first to identify it, as well as the first to act.

  "Dragon!" She exclaimed. She ran to find shelter, tapping the boys on the back to get them to follow her. They frantically ran to an overhang of rocks.

  The dragon descended, it's enormous wings creating a mild gust. Far away, it could be discarded from notice as simply an odd colored large bird. Up close, it was a giant reptilian furnace with a wingspan that was about as long as a redwood was tall. It had a head that was similar in structure to a crocodile or a shark, but was much larger than either. four powerfully built legs supported its frame, and from the ends of these legs came large paws with razor sharp laws.

  It's exotically-colored eyes scanned the hillside for the source of the delicious meat it smelled earlier. A dragon could do many things, but see through solid rock and stone it could not. It could however, smoke out prey.

  It took a long, slow breath, almost like it was taunting the poor souls it was about to char to a crisp.

  "I may have a very stupid idea," Rozita said as the behemoth drew in air.

  When the blood colored reptile exhaled, it spat fire like a train engine. Rozita leaped in front of the searing stream of flame.

  True to her half-formed theory, she was completely unharmed. Even her clothes were sparred the burns she logically should have sustained.

  The dragon seemingly did a double take at what it had just witnessed. It defied everything the dragon once held as solid fact. If a human is blasted by a scorching inferno, there should be nothing left but delicious, smoke-flavored ashes, yet here stood a female who was blazed by the dragon and stood unharmed.

  Rozita felt proud of herself in that moment. The dragon was visibly taken aback. She then ignited a small fire in her right palm. Raising her hand high, she pushed a considerable amount of power into the fire. It rose and flashed like a pilar.

  The dragon saw the flames, and lowered its snout to Rozita as a sign of respect. It then took off into the sky.

  The three boys came out of their hiding place. "Okay, first of all," Ziggy breathed, "AHHHHHHH-HHHHHHHHHHH! Second of all, What was the deal with you and the dragon? After you made a big signal flare, it just backed off."

  Rosita smiled. "Before I went to live with my Grandma, I took an introductory course on Wyrmology."

  "I've hoo'ed the what-now?" Kay asked, his confusion apparent.

  "Wyrmology," Ael repeated. "It's a subset of biology. Specifically, the study of wyrms, which includes drakes, dragons, wyverns, and leviathans."

  "So, let me get this straight," Ziggy said.  "Since enough people were adequately crazy to get close to dragons and study them, people started calling it a science?"

  "More or less," Rozita answered. "I remember that most wyrms are territorial and only go on long trips if there running out food or are in the middle of mating season. I thought that if I could show it that it was on our territory, it would back off."

  "From the looks of things, it worked," Ael said smiling.

  The four renewed their voyage to the city of stone with newfound enthusiasm. They theorized that since Rozita didn't burn, the others would be immune to their respective elements as well. Ziggy provided further proof by saying he got struck by lightning on the mountaintops before Ael found him.

  At last, the city of stone came into view. "See, Kay," Ael said with a smug grin. "I told you I wasn't making it up. Here it is, a city carved right into the mountain."

  Kay sighed. "Alright then, you win. This is a marvel of architecture. How long do you think it took to carve all this?"

  Ziggy thought. "Hey, Ray? Do you know if there were any people like us wen this place was being built?"

  "There were people who linked up with Stars all over the place, that's why a lot of legends detail people living to around 700 or so. Thing is, most of them were alive when they linked up, so I'd say that you four are unique cases."

  "So that means that this could've taken anywhere from decades to days to make."

  "Interesting," Ael said. "Say, Halo, now that we're in the city, do you think you can give a precise location on our Returnie?"

  Halo chirped, "Sure! Just give me second. I'm picking up two-no, wait, my bad- one signature up in the northern wing of the city."

  Kay surprisingly took the lead. He seemed know where he was headed. Nobody questioned how, but Ael resolve to ask him about it later. As much as Ael liked his friend, there were a few things that seemed just a little bit off.

  Seeing the size of the city, Ziggy was awestruck. "I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting his place to be so big. I' starting to think that this took more than just a few days to carve or pull. Even with earth users, this had to take a few years to build."

  "I'm surprised you know so much about architecture, Ziggy," Rozita stated. "Where did you learn?"

  Ziggy laughed. "I hated reading, but I loved stories. A few times, mostly when I couldn't pay attention, the monks had me read the instructions that the monastery was built from. The message they were trying to get across was focus and discipline. I guess some of it accidentally stuck."

  "Accidentally?"

  Kay laughed. "Oh yeah. He made it his personal mission to forget everything that was aught to him. He was planning to make it big as an ukulele player and prove it to everyone that you couldn't use what the monks taught in everyday life."

  Ael smiled. "You can play the ukulele?"

  Ziggy grinned bashfully. "Yeah, I could, but the problem is that I haven't practiced in a few hundred years. If we do get an ukulele I'll have to try to remember."

  Kay stopped the group in their tracks. "There she is." He pointed down the street. Everyone turned their heads to see a young woman with dark brown skin striding toward them. She had a green vest with a black shirt underneath, and loose-fitting green parachute pants with golden embroideries.

  "Excuse me," she called out. "Have you guys seen anyone else around here? I've been looking for a few people."

  Kay strode forward. "Afraid not. There isn't another living soul for miles."

  She sighed. "I was afraid this would be the case. So, what brings you people to this place?"

  Ael answered. "We're looking for someone. This might be a bit of a non-sequitur but how old are you?"

  She looked at them cautiously. "What's that got to do with anything?" 

  Ziggy answered for Ael. "I'm guessing mid-twenties. Give or take a few hundred years or so."

  Ael was going to reach behind give Ziggy a light tap upside the head when, to his and everyone else's surprise, she laughed. "Few hundred?" She asked as she casually strode forward, "Where did you come up with that idea?"

  "Oh, just this little wisp of lightning that's been following me around for a few days." Now, Ael really did smack Ziggy upside the head. "Ow!" Ziggy exclaimed as he messaged his head. "My skull isn't made of iron, you know!"

  The tanned girl stopped in her tracks, a look of vague disappointment had dragged her smile into the abyss. "So it's true," she stated. "You people really are like me." 

  Nobody answered. Nobody needed to answer. Silence was probably the best course as she took in this information. She now wore a look of determination. "My name is Terra, and as long as there's a chance to restore my people, nothing will stop me."

  "You four seem like good people." The four in question smiled. That is,until a weapon slid into her hand. "Which is why I'm sorry that I have to do this,"