Aqila stayed in Pyroc for a couple of days before leaving for Theyra. Her mind was swirling in a sea of thoughts. She needed to voice her opinions. She felt the pressurized sensation behind her eyes, "Ugh, I need to have a vision."

She pulled twice on the reins of her dasher, signaling for Talon to fly faster. It was midday. Talon needed to rest, and Aqila had to get to the desert without being seen by any other Landkeeper. The desert dunes of Theyra came into sight rather quickly. Aqila shook her head a bit. She felt this vision coming on the horizon yesterday, and now it was ready to be seen. This intense pressure is not usual except for the worst of visions. This deeply troubled her.

As the mud houses of the sparsely populated desert town came into view, Aqila landed Talon, her loyal Great Gray, with extreme ease. Despite being a Windmaster, she was safe in this part of Theyra. Talon stayed a few paces behind her as she set eyes on the library. It was a one-story building that stretched far left and right. "Alright, Talon, stay here until I come back, but if you need to hunt, feel free." The bird squawked as if he understood his rider completely. The door of the library was a thick hunter-green piece of fabric. Aqila pulled at the curtain and let herself in.

"Good afternoon," she called out in her usual slightly raspy voice. The library was dimly lit, creating a unique, cozy ambiance. There were bookshelves filled to the brim everywhere. The smell of paper and ink delighted Aqila's nostrils. It was easy to get lost in such a plethora of information. There were stacks of scrolls to her left and charts to her right. Aqila slowly continued inside. She wasn't sure if her friend and his family were busy.

"It's about time. I was about to dock you for being late. That would have been unfortunate for your flawless record," a deep voice boomed from behind her.

Aqila laughed, "Am I ever late, Bo?" She turned around to see her not-so-tall friend.

"Don't give me that look just because you're a few inches taller than me," the Landkeeper folded his arms and raised his dark brown eyebrows.

"I am more than just a mere few inches taller than you, just saying." Aqila handed over her seven books. The Landkeeper accepted them and walked behind the main counter. His sage green eyes focused on recording the books Aqila returned.

"Were they good reads, young scholar?"

"Of course, they were, Boaz. I don't think your family can have a horrible book here," Aqila replied as she walked around the library.

"So you say you haven't had to log in the recent poetry collections in the romance category. Complete garbage if you ask me," Boaz replied, rolling his hooded, sage eyes. He wasn't very tall, not even reaching six feet. However, Boaz was very broad and burly-shouldered as well as naturally muscular. His fawn, brown skin complemented his dark brown hair, which was short with gentle waves. He carefully observed his long-time friend before saying, "If you need to have a vision, feel free. No one else is here besides my parents. They are in the record room, and my siblings are at school."

"Thanks," Aqila replied almost absent-mindedly.

"What's wrong, Storm?"

"This vision, I think it's a death vision, and I've had a death vision one other time before. They are incredibly painful and awfully vivid. I've been trying to calm myself and be at peace, so the images will come," Aqila stopped at a book as she spoke.

"Well, my friend, I can't help you in that department. Wait, that book's not up your alley. Try this, 'Sign of Fire.' It's a good mystery," Boaz walked over and handed her the book.

Aqila laughed, "Speaking of fire, I met the Golden Eyed Legend a few days ago in Pyroc."

Boaz raised his short, thick eyebrows, "Really now? Isn't that something?"

"It really was. His name is Jai, and he has the trademark golden eyes. They were surprisingly gentle, though-" she abruptly stopped to massage her temples. "That's not good. The pressure intensified when I thought about Jai. The death vision could be about him! I have to try and get the images from this vision," Aqila became frustrated.

"Okay, okay, Storm, you know that when you force it, sometimes the vision goes away completely. Do you know where the Legend was going," Boaz asked to calm his Windmaster friend.

"Not really? I gave Sheraga a message about Agnes wanting to fight Pyroc, and I told him and Jai the location of Agnes' headquarters. But Sheraga will meet with Tora, and I saw that in a vision last week. But nothing about Jai. Wait! I feel it," Aqila slowly turned her head and went outside.

Boaz took a deep breath, "Wow, that was a lot. Hope everything's going to be okay." An image of a Landkeeper woman with moss green eyes appeared before him, saying, "It's almost time." Then she disappeared.

"Ugh, I really don't like it when they do that. Almost time for what?" Boaz pondered over the woman's statement. He could not figure out exactly what she meant. The woman reappeared as he went back to grab the books Aqila returned. "The world will know soon." Boaz turned to the golden brown-skinned woman. "Ila, the world will know what soon? What is it almost time for?" Ila never moved. She just slowly disappeared. Boaz, still puzzled, proceeded to put the books away on their respective shelves.

Outside Aqila walked hastily away from the library. She didn't like having visions near the mud homes. This part of the desert was not heavily populated. True, however, that did not change the fact that she was still a Windmaster in Landkeeper territory. One wrong move could plunge the two people back into war. As her people's next seer, Aqila could not afford to be that careless. Struggling to see what was right in front of her, she continued for nearly twenty minutes until she could see the dunes bordering Ember. She took a deep breath, "This is for Jai," she said aloud. She began to focus on the areas where the pressure was stemming from. The sight was calling her, the sensation taking over her.

The sand was feverishly hot from the sun's rays, and Aqila was a decent distance from the library. She sat straight up on the fiery sand, legs folded. Her hands were gently laying on her knees and palms open and upward facing. She focused on her breathing, allowing the sight to claim her. As she breathed deeper, the images she asked for finally appeared.

She saw Jai, Arrow, and their friends, the Flamethrowers. They were all at Agnes' headquarters. There was an attack. They were fighting with Agnes' soldiers! Aqila saw a fork in her vision. One fork, they all escaped safety, taking refuge in the desert. She saw rich brown skin, a man. He had hazel eyes. It was Tora! They take refuge with Tora! Then images changed. In the second part of the fork, that fork, people died. Aqila searched the images for Jai. She saw the death of people she didn't know. Then she saw Sheraga and Jai, followed by blood. Aqila opened her silver eyes. Her heart skipped a beat. Then a shooting pain in her neck. Her head felt like it was spinning. She couldn't focus. Her voice, she couldn't speak, and her body began to go numb. The desert grew fuzzy, then gray, then nothing at all.

Chestnut complexioned hands pulled Aqila's long body onto the back of an oversized cat. Its fur was spotted with multiple shades of gray and black. A snow leopard. Long off, black hair became tangled around Aqila. "Ugh, this girl is a giant. Whatever, she knows who the Legend is, and that's all I need," the girl's voice spoke softly to herself. She struggled to fasten Aqila onto her snow leopard. The big cat was highly irritable in the desert.

"Calm down, Mika. The sooner I tie her on, the sooner we can leave," she cooed in the cat's ear. Mika was still following the instructions of her rider. The woman tied Aqila up and mounted the snow leopard. "Good girl, Mika. Let's go!" The young woman turned back, her dark blue eyes looking around to see if anyone saw her, but no one was in sight. The big cat and its rider continued to quickly run away from the desert dunes.

Boaz was inside. He was working to organize his parents' end-of-month bills when he heard Talon squawking. "That's unusual," Boaz peeked outside and saw the Great Gray Owl puffing himself up in irritation. He walked towards it, but it became aggressive. Aqila didn't tie him down. If he was hungry, the bird could have hunted for himself. Boaz shrugged it off and went back inside. As soon as he sat down, a tall man appeared and whispered, "She's gone."

"Who, Aqila? She's outside. You know, having one of her visions," Boaz replied to the tall gray-eyed man. He turned away from him only for the man to appear again. "She's gone," he repeated.

Boaz walked outside, passed the raging owl, and continued into the desert. He had never received a message like that before. He knew Aqila would never sit near the mud houses and have a vision. She had a habit of walking until she could see the dunes on the border of Theyra and Lower Ember. He walked to her usual spot, but she wasn't there.

"Aqila! You okay!" There was no answer. If she's in the middle of a vision, she won't answer. Her senses are a bit impaired when sight comes to her. So she wouldn't answer. Boaz thought to himself. He shook his head and turned around. It had only been like twenty minutes since he last saw her. She was probably fine. He turned on his heels only to see the gray-eyed man again, "She's gone." Boaz's heart began to race. He ran back to the library, kicking up sand in his wake.

"Aqila!" He pulled the green curtain as he entered. A middle-aged, sage-eyed man appeared from the back of the library.

"Bo, what's wrong?"

"Dad, have you seen Aqila," Boaz asked.

His father rubbed the back of his bald head with a mellow brown, veiny hand, "I heard her come in, but I haven't seen her at all. Maybe she left already."

Boaz shook his head, "She wouldn't have left without Talon. He's outside." Boaz's heart began to sink. The gray-eyed man was right. Aqila was gone. Slowly walking to his father, he said, "I have to go. Something happened to her on our land. I have to get help. Aqila was speaking of having an important vision about-"

"Bo, no!" His father, equal in height and breadth, grabbed his son's shoulders, "Listen to me, whatever she told you, tell no other Landkeeper! You're right, you have to go. Go to the Windmasters, meet them head-on. We don't want to start another war. Tell them everything you know. If she dies, the cycle of seers could be broken. This moment right here, what you do right now, will bring peace or war. I'll tell your mother, go."

His father hurriedly grabbed a bag from one of the bookshelves and started filling it. "Get some extra clothes, and I'll get some food." The pair scurried around the library until the sack was semi-filled.

"Thanks, dad," Boaz touched his father's shoulder before rushing out the door. When he looked at Talon, he began to squawk unrelentlessly. "Talon, take it easy. Aqila will be back soon, I promise." He ran to the back of the library and set up his sand raft. A large plank of wood is attached to a mast with a cloth to catch the wind. He tied his sack onto the lowest part of the mast. Boaz led his raft to the front of the library. The wind was still today, but luckily for Boaz, the Universe gifted him in abundance. "No wind, huh? Well, sand ability will have to make due, thank you, Heavens," Boaz praised as he mounted his raft. He spread his fingers and leaned his body weight forward. The motion of his hands began to pull the sand behind him. The raft moved faster as he gained momentum. If he kept up this pace, Boaz knew that he could reach the border of Kashmala in two hours. Heavens, please be with her, wherever she is. Let no harm come to her. I don't know what she saw but spare the Legend too. He silently prayed to the Universe to extend its protection.