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Majenko stops the dragoness from spitting fire, as he stays between them and spreads his wings lightly, growling. “She is still my friend. I don't want you to hurt her. Or her family and friends."

The dragoness sighs and turns her head away for a moment.

Kayda screeches at young dragon again, who sits down non threateningly on the other side.

“She says that any human can only control one phoenix at a time. Even the Kerrins." He blinks, then asks “What is a Kerrin?"

River ignores him, though, and keeps circling around them. If she lets them go, it would cost her her status. And if the human returns with more of his kind, it surely will cost them far more.

Kin meanwhile tugs Zaiyas beak to his head with those strings. She curiously follows.

“While they are focused on us, may be your friend could get the mirror? Kayda goes through with me, and you fly away with the mirror?"

She sounds excited at first, but then sad “That can work! But.. I cant fly, not until my wing grew back fully. May be.. I can hide in the lava until then."

Her head turns to the little phoenix, who tilts her head, then waddles to the carpenters head and plops down beside him.

“Majenko? I don't think your friends will let us go. Are you willing to help? You don't have to do it openly, just.. bring that black oval thing there over to my human's head and drop it. But be careful and only touch the edges, else they will know what is happening.“

His head perks up. A long time, since he heard the phoenix's voice in his head. He nods excitedly, happy to help AND play a trick on the adults.

Since he got ignored whenever he talked to them anyway, he wanders casually over to the lake for a moment, then turns around to return to the humans head. His tail wrapped around the rock-like object, carefully forming a circle to not touch the middle areas. He sniffs again, but jerks back as Kin reaches out to pet his snout.

“How can you be so afraid?"

He snorts “I am not afraid of you! Just... careful!" He moves closer again, may be he is a bit scared – but there is no way he would admit that!

“I don't think the human can move. He probably will die to the burns anyway. May be just leave him?" As before, they ignore him. He steps back, seemingly curious about the human, when Zaiya steps over Kin again, careful to not touch the mirror with her tail feathers or tails.

“Will you let us go, if I promise that we wont return to hurt anyone?"

The dragoness sighs “Your word counts, but you cannot speak for a human. Even if you claim it to be your human."

Kin groans, as her feathers rub over his burned back, then again as Kayda picks his good hand up with her beak to touch the mirror with it, then with her beak.

It takes a few seconds for the dragons to realize, that both are gone. If not for the small phoenix, they probably wouldn't have noticed the carpenters disappearance at all.

Zaiya smiles “My promise still stands and I DO speak for my human. Not that he could hurt you anyway." She gets up and picks up the mirror carefully in her beak and takes a jump into the air, but its more like an uncontrolled glide to the edge of the island followed by a bad crash.

The old dragon jumps to his paws and pounces after her, his maw closing over her tail feathers only. She hisses at him as she climbs back to her feet but keeps going towards the edge and drops sideways into the lake of hot, liquid stone.

He spits out the feathers and another tail and curses.

“How did they do this?"

Now River hisses “Sorcerer... it must be. She hid his runes! Search for them!"

“We will not find them in the lake and we cannot stay in there for long, unlike her."

Majenko lies down and listens to their rambling, VERY amused.

Kin wakes up by the small bird nudging his head.

He can hear his parents calls very quietly, as if behind several windows. He tries to sit up, but quickly stops, when the pain in his back hits him.

It feels like the skin on his back has turned into one burning, firm mantle. Whenever any limb moves, it gets pulled and uncountable needles of agony piercing down all over his back. Well, that's probably a good thing, if he can feel the pain, it can't be that bad, right?

How did he run away like this earlier? He gets sleepy again, but every time he closes his eyes, the beak nudges his head until he opens them again.

“I need.. rest... “

Then Zaiya flops down in front of the mirror. Her left wing, still missing a good portion. With only one tail, she waddles in front of him to look into his face. Many of the red speckles across her face and body are being reformed quickly, but the wing will take hours.

She is shocked to see his back turned into a mass of black and red bubbles, while his arm just looks... charred. She still manages to smile. The little phoenix nestled down beside his head by now, ready to nudge him if he tries to sleep again.

He still doesn't understand anything his parents shout, as if he was under water with them shouting from above the surface.

But Zaiya does. Her aura flares around them.

She realizes how serious his injuries are. Fury blossoms in her once more, but its quickly pushed away, when he tries to reach her beak with his good arm. She can see how he tries to conceal and ignore the pain and she quickly rests her head on the ground so he could pet her beak.

“I am sorry. I.. tri... I “

He pulls at the hook of her beak with surprising strength and only slightly shakes his head, smiling.

“I guess.. I failed my first spell. I need to practice. “

She looks relived and sad at the same time. “Yes. I will gladly help you, warn me when you go for it next time, though! But first you have to heal. “

“...says the one, that lost half her wing." He mumbles tiredly. “Can they.. chase us here?"

She smirks, a light playfulness creeps into her voice again. “Of course, once they realize how we escaped, then dive to the bottom of the lake, which they might be able to do for a few moments, then find the mirror blindly, which took me eight days while searching down there for hours on hours every day."

He sighs, his ears still not working properly. It is good, that she speaks in his mind. His parents sound far away.

Kayda gets to her feet now and waddles over to them, chirping, probably telling them what happened.

She keeps Kin awake for several hours. At one point, he asked her to shift a bit, so he could see her wing healing, which she does as her only movement during that time.

“you know, I still get a sick feeling, when I remember the picture where you lost your wing, no matter how often you emphasize on it not being a problem compared to the loss of your power afterwards." He takes a deep, painful breath “I don't know if I want to do that to you.. drain power."

She laughs at that “You realize, that I am far more powerful then I was back then AND more importantly, what you do feels like a poke with a finger against those metal armors Loren often wears, while what the Kerrin did was more like one of those large machines, that shoot pointy tree trunks..."

His voice sounds hurt, but he grins at her “Hey, are you saying I am too weak? Next time I wont hold back!"

She grins playfully back “Good. I will judge your effort then."

Something in her voice is off, but he cant put a finger on it. “You mischievous chicken are planning something. Tell me..."

“May be. But why would I tell you before? There is no fun in that. Lucky for you, I will let that insult slide, human." She nudges his face lightly with her beak “This time."

“Darn, then I have to try it again later, so I can see what will happen...."

“Is that curiosity or a death wish?"

“Curiosity. Ill make sure to grab one of your tails before I try again."

She hisses “Not fair!"

He grins and rubs along the ridge that connects her beak with the feathered part of her face. She probably goes easy on him, because of the injuries. He wont hear that often from her.

They stay there, resting for more then a full day, before Kin could move decently again.

It was interesting to watch the bright, red liquid form back into the wing before. It isn't like growing back part by part, more like modeling clay forming itself. The only single part that seem to grow are her feathers. Else there is no bone or muscle visibly forming, just the red liquid pushing further and further outwards.

Zaiya is comfortable to let him sleep after four or five hours. The bubbles on his back look like they will fall off soon, and the black scabs all over his body comes loose in several spots, where new skin is regrowing. His arm looks far worse, though. There are no more bubbles on it, just burned skin and flesh. This will probably take far more time to fully heal, but she is confident now, that he wont have any lasting injuries. Again, she is very proud and happy to have shared the Kar'ahn with him. Their normal bond would most likely not have been enough there. She rubs the tip her he beak against his cheek absentmindedly. And their little bird was a great help too, she had nestled down near the two silhouettes and keeps talking to them. She wonders about what they are talking for a while, before closing her eyes. Deep in thought, she soon drifts off to sleep too.

When the phoenix wakes up, Kin sits at her neck, leaning against her, and scratching her head.

“Good morning, chicken!"

She growls at him and yawns “You know, you wont get any soup if you try to cook this chicken. No water left in your pot afterwards.

He nudges her beak and points to the rest of burned skin where he was lying before he fell asleep.

“Why are these not burning away in your aura?"

She coos when he nudges the three feathers on her head. “They are still connected. It takes some time to be cut off 'you'. Until then, they count as a part of you. Can you move?"

“Jupp." He gets up and pulls out her wing – with his hands, to her dismay, but she doesn't resist anyway.

“You seem good again!"

She looks at him, irritated “I mean if you are well again." The firmness in her voice makes him look at her, then he looks down. She must have thought he would die there or close to doing so.

Kin sits down at her head again and pulls her it into his lap.

“Yes, I am good. My arm hurts when I move it, my back feels.. foreign.. but doesn't hurt. I am sorry, for being so.. ignorant. I think, I mean. Thank you for what you did yesterday." He plants a kiss on the top of her head and she coos, eyes closed as he bends the feathers again.

“I think, we can go home now, can we?"She inspects his back carefully, even rubbing lightly along it with her beak. He flinches, when a piece of still attached scab comes loose.

“Ow.. I am fine. Really."

She keeps eyeing his back for a few more moments, then nods slowly.

“Yes, I think so." Then her voice gets softer “Does it still hurt?"

He shakes his head and looks away, which earns him a shove by her beak.

“You are a bad liar. I will try to glide most of the time. If you need rest, you will tell me." She turns her head to stare at him with one eye, not allowing any backtalk.

He grins and hugs her neck “May be I just don't WANT to lie to you."

She nestles down again, when he buries his face in her neck feathers. They both could use a little time to rest. In peace. Another adventure gone wrong for her, she thinks sadly. But again, there has something good come from it as she stares at Kayda happily chirping at the silhouettes.

“Kin?" Aiden says. Its good to finally hear them clearly again.

“Kin... You HAVE to look for Michael. If you look at your little bird, she has a darkness inside her. May be it is nothing, may be it is. He should know something. Please be careful with the King, though. “

Zaiya turns to look at their daughter. He is right, there is a small black spot on her chest. Kayda stays completely still and silent, while her mother inspects the spot, even tries to nibble it away as she would some kind of dirt.

Now Kin joins them to say goodbye to his parents for now and to check on his daughter too. His father is right, there is a tiny spot on her chest. He reaches out to poke it.

It feels normal, just feathers as every other spot too. He finds it slightly funny, how both birds follow his hand with their heads.

“It feels normal. Same temperature, not harder or softer. May be it is nothing." He cant hide the worry in his voice, though. “May be... we can ask Vedh to take a look. If its some kind of spell, may be he can cancel it?"

“I .. don't know. It is still scary to think of gryphons. Remember, a phoenix IS magic. And they can negate magic at will. May be they can even hurt or kill us."

The carpenter tugs the feathers on her head “Even more reason to make friends with them!"

..and may be, they can really help Kayda with whatever this is. Zaiya knows, the lava lake is just half a days flight north of the city on the dam, in the hawkriders Kingdom. But non of them ever comes to the lakes, due to the dragons living there. They usually even take a detour to avoid the lakes when going to Amaya.

Kin meanwhile keeps stroking her head, caught in his own thoughts. Even if the king isn't upset about them humiliating him, he sure as heck wont help them easily. Asking nicely might not work, so the best way probably would be to just go or fly there and search for that mage by themselves. The carpenter doesn't want any more bad blood between them either.

“Hopefully, the gryphons can help. We can still search for that guy afterwards, but at least we wont have to worry about this anymore then". He pokes Kayda again.

“Does it hurt?"

She chirps.

“Will you be able to talk in my mind some time too?"

She chirps again.

He sighs “Can you nod for yes, and shake your head for no?" She blinks, then her eyes gleam a bit. They are the same color as her coat – like white light – similar to Zaiyas eyes during that strange immortality ritual, but not scary. More controlled, warmer.

She chirps again and the edges behind her beak pull up in a smile. Zaiya giggles “Ok, enough for now. You can have more fun with my human later. She said 'no', 'when I feel like it' and 'when I feel like it'"

He grins and rubs the little birds head “Definitely your mothers chick." He playfully looks at Zaiya “Chick-en, get it?", which earns him another playful shove.

Her voice is serious, when she talks again. “I will go out first, and you keep the strings on my head lightly. Once I start shaking it for more then a few seconds, you can come through. Do not touch it before.. wait, no, you just stay here, I will get you, once its save." He opens his mouth, but she interrupts him before he even gets one word out. “No buts."

“Ok." He replies sheepishly. “You can be really bossy, if you want to, you know that? “

“Only if I have to." She doesn't enjoy it, but she will not let him get to the brink of death a third time in not even two weeks.

“Ok. You have until I slept twice. I'll not stay here forever, waiting, while may be something bad happened to you."

She glares back “If something that bad happens, you wont be able to help anyway!"

He takes a step back and sits down, as if struck physically. That hurt. A lot. “But I want to be there with you then, at least.“ The rational part of his mind tries to tell him, that she just doesn't want to loose him, but for now, his pride pushes that part away.

The phoenix looks like she is about to cry, then lovingly rubs her beak against his cheek. He doesn't pull away, but doesn't reach out for her either, then she waddles back to the portal.

“The same goes for you, Kayda, stay here with him."

Even his parents are quiet for now.

Zaiya touches the portal, then immediately gets sucked into it and spit out to the bottom of the lava lake. The phoenix carefully picks up the mirror with her beak and slowly swims to what she thinks is south. She hopes the dragons stopped looking for them, but just in case they didn't, she wants a small head start. Once in the air, they have no way of catching her anyway. She feels sad at the argument, but she felt it was needed. She gladly would play the 'pet', when its safe, but definitely will not allow some stupid mistake to happen from over eagerness or pride. Still, she shouldn't have said that. He can do far more then she gave him credit for back there. Just not against dragons or sorcerers. And... he may have nearly died twice the last two weeks, but she herself got humbled twice too. Kerrin AND dragons, both beat her – and with ease too. And his idea actually got them out from the dragons. And probably out of the tower too. Rikka wouldn't have let them go that easily anyway. Why would she?

The phoenix waddles along the ground as fast as the thick liquid permits. She smiles as she notices the ground rising, probably close to the surface. She needs some air soon and can't help but wonder why. Another mystery that probably never will get solved. Hopefully. The bird shivers, when she thinks back to the 'scholar' from the past and how she learned about most facts about her physiology that she knows. The phoenix carefully sticks her head above the surface to scan her surroundings.

She hisses. The dragons are still looking around the area where they disappeared. Oh well. Following the plan then, she thinks grimly. Zaiya waddles out then quickly takes wing to speed eastwards, her aura still off.

The dragons either didn't notice or ignored her as she flies quickly away. Once the lake area is out of sight, she turns south and inspects the ground for a nice spot to land on. Something rocky, preferably. She glides towards the hill area that will lead into the mountain with the gryphon aerie on top and on its foot, Amaya, the city on the dam.

It takes her only a few minutes with her superior eyesight to find a decent dent in the hill, that will give them some protection against the weather. She dives low, as if diving for prey, then flies close to the treetop until she can land on the spot she saw from above.

It is a beautiful area, a tiny cave in the hillside and a marvelous view over the forests down below. There even are a few large birds on the horizon, probably a hawkrider patrol from Eagleholm.

She puts down the mirror, then nudges it to go inside.

Kayda and Kin used the time to sleep. His head resting on her side, while her head rests on his chest. She watches them for a moment, then searches for the silhouettes of his parents, but they are gone. Strange. The phoenix lies down beside them to not wake them and closes her eyes too. Just a little more sleep before heading out. She doesn't realize how exhausted she was before falling asleep.

When Zaiya wakes up, Kin was leaning against her side, stroking her neck softly and Kayda flapping her wings a bit away from them.

“Good morning Zaiya. I am sorry for ignoring common sense yest..."

He gets pushed on his back by her neck and she rubs against his chest. “No, Kin, I am sorry. I said mean things that were not true. I was scared."

He pushes her up playfully “We both were scared. But we all survived and are good again. Don't worry, you cant always play the pet chicken. You have to let out the p..."

His turn to get interrupted again, as she playfully bites his arm.

“Oh now, she got my arm, the pain! What am I gonna do."

She grins “Silly human. Where are your parents?"

Kin frowns “I don't know, they disappeared shortly after you left. I didn't see them again afterwards. Is it safe to go now?"

The phoenix nods and pulls him to his feet, when he holds on to her beak.

Her grin turns broader “Yes. I found a nice place to rest, master.", then she laughs as she sees his face.

“Careful, some day it might get to my head, when you call me that."

She just nips his arm. “That is the day, when I turn into a chicken."

“Touche", then both laugh.

“Kayda, lets go." Again, the little phoenix just waddles over to them, no complain or anything. He cant help but wonder what is going on in her head. One by one, they go through the portal to get to the spot she found with the mirror.

“So.. we go to the gryphons? Or better.. lets get a gryphon we know first. Might be better to have Vedh speak for us, instead of some strangers jump into the middle of magic-stealing bunches of talons and beaks."

Zaiya blinks “That... fits the situation pretty well, Kin."

Kayda chirps at them. And Zaiya laughs.

“What did she say?"

His phoenix grins “She says, she wants you to fly with her this time."

Kin tilts his head “I.. um.. are you sure?" He stares at the little bird. She isn't even his height when standing up – including the feathers on her head. She spreads her wings, to emphasize her demand.

“Ok... um.. how about, you hop onto my arm, and we see if you can lift me, then we see." He offers his arm, and the light phoenix flaps up on it, grasping it carefully with her talons, then beats her wings to try and lift off in a controlled way.

Her mother has told her, that she should be larger by now, stronger. But she is still so small. Something is not right, may be, her strength grew – but not her body. May be she could try this and prove that she could do more then waddle around and follow them. She starts panting, as she puts more and more effort into lifting him. But he wont move a bit. As if glued to the ground. She lets out a cry and gives herself another push, before dropping down into his arms. Too heavy for him to hold her properly, he topples over and lands on the ground, with her on his chest. Her head sinks sadly, but she perks up when his hands pet her head. She is weak. And somehow she doesn't get stronger. But why? Because of the black spot? It doesn't hurt or feel any different then the rest of her body.

“Heey. It is ok. Don't worry about it. You.. will get stronger, at some point. Right? Give yourself a little more time. PLUS! Look at me, you are already stronger then I am. And you just hatched! We all have our qualities." He points at Zaiya, who watches curiously “She is strong enough to carry us both. You are quick to deflect incoming dangers – AND quick to make friends with dragons too!"

He slows down as he is caught by his phoenix gaze once more. Her curious look quickly turns to a smile and she lies down. It is a prefect way for her to understand what he is up to.

“He is right. Come, I can carry you both, then you can fly together too. May be you accumulate power differently. You are not burning with heat either. We have to find out. Well, he is..." She turns to the playful, mocking tone once more. “Since.. I am just the glorified beast of burden!"

That makes him stop “What..? NO! You.. actually.. if you wanted to, you could gather followers. Get worshiped as a voice of the sun itself!"

She giggles and he blushes, when he realizes, that she was joking again. Then she nips at his ear “And.. what would that do? Why would I need that?"

He grits his teeth, but keeps playing along “They could tend to your needs, make fires to feed you, make you feel good and do whatever you have them do?"

She focuses her voice on him alone now “..and put berries into my beak? Keep me warm?"

“If you wanted them to? Not that they.. wait a second..."

She grins and lifts her head again. “I guess, one 'worshiper' is good enough for me." Satisfied with the change of color on his face, she nudges the little phoenix to get her to move again. “Lets go!"

It takes him a few moments to get back his bearings and climb onto her back. Shortly after he is on, Kayda lands too. He cant ignore the tiny red specks the little ones talons leave on Zaiyas back. He shivers, but considering it doesn't hurt her. “Are you... holding on with your talons? That is not .. you shouldn't hurt anyone if you can avoid it.". Kayda blinks, then tries to sit down without holding on, looking guilty.

Zaiya blinks “It is ok. She has to somehow hold on. “

“How about this. You hold on to my arms while we fly?" Zaiya stays quiet, curious about what he has in mind but not looking into him. She will fly low at first, in case he falls.

The small phoenix flaps her wings to grasp his wrists carefully, then settles down on her mothers neck while Kin grabs a few feathers to hold on himself. Zaiya inspects them closely before nodding, satisfied about their position. She spreads her wings and takes a few strong beats upwards before actually flying forward. It seems to work well, except, she wont get any head scratches. She frowns, but the city on the dam isn't far anyway.

“You really need more hands, human." Is the only thing his phoenix says during the thirty minute flight up the hillside and towards the city. Once at the level, Zaiya actually rides an updraft on the spot for a few seconds to marvel the view.

The whole forest is back. Not fully, of course, but the trees look like – may be six months to a year old. Those elves know their gardening.

The rest of the meadows not so much. The good people of Amaya put down seeds and the first green saplings poke through the ground.

Zaiya hisses quietly, when a loud screech from the marketplace sounds. They made it half way, when Vedh flies up to greet them.

The gryphons flying got decent again, as his tail feathers started growing back.

“Mrs. Phoenix! I .. saw you and thought I would bring some clothes for your human."

She thinks for a moment, then looks back at Kin, then sighs and switches to 'friendly' “Thank you, Vedh. That.. helps. “

Kin giggles “Thank you, Zaiya. Does that make me Mr. Phoenix?"

She looks confused for a moment, then laughs “I think, that is too generic, and .. I like the paradox of 'Woodsmith' better – in combination with phoenix."

They all land, and Kayda is quick to look at the gryphon.

He nudges her playfully and she nibbles his beak, then starts chirping at him, but the gryphon looks confused. “I am sorry.. but.. I don't understand? Oh.. yes, I can see that, …."

While Kin puts on the standard gray linen clothes, Zaiya waddles over to them.

“You can see the black spot, can you? And I don't mean with your eyes."

Kayda raises her head to give better access and Vedh looks curious “Yes. Something is there, that.. doesn't feel like it belongs."

Zaiya sighs, half in relief, have in desperation “Can you.... I mean, could you remove that? Without hurting her? “

Vedh sniffs at the spot again. “No, I still don't know how to do that. But there is a very old hen at the aerie, she may know something. She is … very difficult, though. Barely talks to any other gryphon and no one else. Only sleeps, hunts and does some kind of flight practices no one can make sense of. It is said, that she is like that for over 200 years. Ridiculous, we don't get that old. And it is said, that she didn't take any mate during that time either, no matter how many or how strong the males were. She beat them all. It will be hard to convince her."

Zaiya sighs and closes her eyes. “Do you think, I should go there without my human then?"

Vedh tilts his head “May be... but her ears work fine. Everyone up there knows about you since you um... removed the bandits."

Great, she didn't just burn down the whole food supply and forest of the city, now she possibly removed the best chance to help Kayda. She sighs again and lies down. Her dark thoughts get interrupted when her carpenter pulls her head up lightly by the feathers on her head.

“No need to despair! We still got that other guy in the castle, if the gryphons can't help."

She nods slowly, but sounds tired with her eyes still closed “Yes."

“Listen, Bird." He pulls her head up by her beak and she opens her eyes sadly, staring at him. He rarely speaks this serious. “It may have been a bit uncontrolled, but you did a good thing there. The people living there wont have to fear the next day anymore. Always on the lookout for someone to steal the food, that was meant for their kids. The little food they get from very few caravans coming up there AND the fields they work. In a few months, everything will be back to normal and much better. You helped them greatly there."

Now Vedh chimes in “He is right, most people may feel uneasy at the thought of your power, some are even afraid of you. But ALL of them appreciate what you have done for us. These magic things they used, most likely would have killed even me. And you took them out all by yourself with only.." He stops himself as Zaiya stares at him intently, then blinks.

“I don't want people to be afraid of me."

Kin runs his hands over her head “You remember, that once the people of your village were afraid of you too. You changed that."

The phoenix closes her eyes again. “No, you changed that."

He smiles and plants a kiss on top of her beak “No, I may have helped, but your behavior changed that. When people see Akira for the first time, people are afraid too. He is huge, strong, could crush a mans skull with his hand. But once they get to know him, they love him. And don't tell me about control. Do you have ANY idea, how often we have to repair his stuff, doors, tools even chairs! Just because his grip was a bit strong once and he broke it? Your strength may be more dangerous, but you did a very good job holding it in check to not hurt anyone you didn't want to. You even managed to save the villagers you didn't know, when Rikka FORCED you to kill everyone. I have felt the pain when those strings get tugged. I don't think anyone would have the will to take that just for some forest-meadow animal. I … guess.. that's a decent comparison. To phoenixes, humans must be like that."

Her eyes slowly opened during his speech and were staring at his, not into him, though.

“And.. you cant give up. I.. need you." At that he leans forward to rest his head on hers and she holds still, cooing softly.

Both Vedh and Kayda stare at them, quietly, for a few moments before Vedh gives her a playful nudge. “That was something we should not tell anyone. Ok?"

Kayda blinks, shrugs, then hesitantly chirps her agreement.

Zaiya rubs her carpenters side “Thank you. I think, I am good to go now." She stretches a bit, as if just woken up, then lies down. Kayda decides to fly herself this time, so Zaiya gets a few more moments of head scratches.

They follow Vedh, who flies towards what he calls 'the barracks', whatever that is. At least, one side of the building has a large opening, broad enough for probably Zaiya to fly through with a nest inside.

“That is my nest.“ Vedh explains proudly. “Ethan. I mean, the captain had that build for me." He takes a turn to the left and lands slightly insecure in front of the building with Kayda close behind.

The little phoenix waddles right down some stairs that lead to a small area with a few boats tied to land. There is also another set of stairs leading straight into the water – of course, that's what the little one is curious about.

Zaiya screeches something at her and Kayda raises her head and chirps something in return. The phoenix is still nervous, but lets her be. For now. Once she unloaded her human, she waddles to Kayda, chirping softly at her.

“I guess.. I'll talk to the captain. See how he feels. Is his arm healing?"

Vedh looks a bit sad “The doctor says, he wont be able to use it as he used to, but he ignores them."

Kin nods and enters through the door the gryphon pointed him to. “I will stay outside. I am still on duty!" He exclaims proudly.

Ethan, the guard captain grins at him. “So the city savior's human visits us, hu?"

He looks well rested. His shield arm is still in a sling and heavily bandaged. From the color, they have been changed recently.

“Don't worry, it will heal. I don't care about what the doctor says, can't change it anyway. So, what can I do for you?"

The carpenter nods “Nothing! We just came to visit – actually on our way to the aerie. We ran into a bit of trouble with dragons." He coughs, but still smiles. “No need to worry, we got away.. somehow... and they aren't chasing us."

Ethan closes his mouth again “That's good to hear. Well.. the aerie. Since Vedh became a part of our guard, the relationship with them went up quiet a bit. They are still distant, but definitely better then before. May be you and your bird can add a bit more to that, if you go up there. Talking about ..."

He stops and looks around a bit “I.. wanted to ask you something rather personal. If that's ok..."

Kin blinks, confused “I.. um.. sure? I don't HAVE to answer, right?"

Ethan laughs “Of course not. There are .. rumors... did you.. with the fire bird...? Does that work?"

Kins face turns to a nice shade of scarlet – that probably is answer enough already, but he decides to answer truthfully anyway. He takes a deep breath before doing so.

“Yes. The smaller phoenix out there is our.. daughter, I guess you can say so, even with birds."

Ethan smiles brightly “Do not worry, I don't judge. I was just... too curious for my own good."

“It is fine. I blocked every conversion going into this direction so far – far too long. “ He talked to Akira, but the smith didn't push the issue. He didn't care what the two did. The villagers SEEMED to not care either, but they didn't take it seriously anyway. Then it just spills out of him. “We just.. match perfectly. At least, from my point of view. She is just.. beautiful, lovely and so very reliant. I would have no trouble jumping from top of a mountain because I know, she would catch me no matter what. Powerful and at the same time gentle. Playfully joking and teasing but at the same time, far more caring then anyone I have ever met. I think, she broke her neck to safe me once. And you saw how she was trying to block all those spells from the bandits. I don't think I have ever seen a better person. Even back before we met, she was forced to burn down our village, and she managed to do the run without any villager dying by just.. avoiding the ones in her fiery path."

He stops, when something behind them clacks on the ground.

“...Vedh.. you shouldn't listen in on.." Kin doesn't get further, a crack of wood behind him is the last warning he gets, then he is bowled over from behind and buried in feathers, while his head is being taken into a giant beak and assaulted by a dry tongue. How he actually fell on his back instead of his front.. he has no idea. One arm pinned under the bird, the other one he can free with some effort to reach for his phoenix neck.

Ethan laughs loudly “I guess, that is one happy bird there. I can tell you, MY guards don't listen in on confident conversations. At least, not conversations I have. Especially MY bird. Yours obviously is less well... trained.. and likes to listen in..." He teases. Zaiya doesn't listen, obviously too happy. She went still on top of him, eyes closed and her head resting next to his.

Kin still cant move, except the hand he just wrestled out from under his bird.

“Um... Zaiya...?"

She ignores him, chirping happily as if sleeping and having a nice dream.

“Sorry Ethan. She never did that before.. at least not.. like that in the office of someone else."

Ethan laughs loudly – which again gets ignored by the phoenix. “The three biggest lies.... 'she just wants to play', 'she doesn't bite' and 'sorry, she never did that before'. Don't worry, friend. Ill just go back to my paperwork. “ He looks down on his desk, then his stomach grumbles. “Actually... I think, ill get some lunch."

Kin giggles “Mind the tails. Unless you want to wake her up AND go for your second lie."

Kayda watches the water in front of her. Curiously, she dips her beak in over and over again to watch how the ripples move. Vedh left her, but still watches from the sky as he glides in lazy circles, patrolling the area.

She dips her whole head in and holds it down as long as she can, then pulls it out. Not a single drop sticks to her feathers, head or beak. She tried drinking, but it just tastes like nothing.

“Mommy? What is that bird there? Can we pet it?"

She looks up and tilts her head at the human woman with her two kids. She was about as tall as Kin, slightly stronger with short hair and dark blue eyes. She wears a noble looking traveling outfit, so probably not from here. Her two kids on the other hand wear well used, thick cloths with tons of holes in them.

The two children give an excited shout, as Kayda dives into the water head first while Vedh gives a shocked screech of alarm from above and dives down. Before he can land where the little phoenix was watching the water, she resurfaces and paddles around like a swan. Her coloring beside the white beak actually fits that well too. She looks VERY pleased and happy, chirping at him excitedly.

“But.. your feathers will get wet! You .. “ He stares at her, as she dives again, to show him how all the water just... avoids her. Then paddles to the stairs but stays in the water.

“That is.. AWESOME! I wish I could do that. You know, I fell in there once and nearly drowned. My feathers were soaked and I barely kept floating. It took 8 guards and a few others over an hour to pull me out. Ethan even jumped in to push me to the stairs. But when I was there, I was too exhausted and cold to walk out myself."

Kayda looks as proud as can be. Not even her mother could do that! And the cold and water didn't bother her at all. Unlike Zaiya.

“Mommy? Can we ask to ride the swan? Please!"

A hefty discussion starts above them on the normal walkway between two kids and their mother, but.. it is obvious, that the kids are used to get what they want.

Kayda watches them with growing interest and a gleam in her eyes. She chirps at Vedh excitedly, who again, doesn't understand anything and shakes his head. She stares at the kids and once she got their attention, she nods firmly, pointing at her back with her beak.

Two excited kids completely ignore their mothers cries of protest and rush down to the water. They throw off their shoes and walk down the stairs, the girl actually gets there first and jumps on the little phoenix.

She blinks as she is pushed away from the land when the kid lands on her back. She unfolds her wings to hold her balance and sinks in about half. Still far from drowning or sinking fully, so she quickly paddles back to the stairs. The mother is close to the boy now, who desperately takes the stairs to get closer to escape the clutch of their mother.

Then Kaydas beak goes underwater to help him up on her back too. With the weight of both pressing down on her back, she is nearly submerged by three quarters of her body.

The mother cries out again in fear as the bird quickly paddles them away from her. The little phoenix feels safe. Not overconfident. She doesn't know HOW it works, but her position in the water is secure, no danger of rolling or sinking. She happily paddles them around, not too far away, but still out of reach. Vedh comforts the mother meanwhile, assuring her, that he would jump in himself, if they should be in danger.

“I would like to see that wall! Did you know? Someone supposedly shot a cannonball at it!"

Kayda looks back at them.

“Do you think the nice bird can understand us? That's a nod! Yay!"

“Of course they can, dummy! They are just as smart as you and me, didn't you listen to Master Garnol's lessons?"

Zaiya really fell asleep. She was so happy about what she heard. He told her all of that on several occasions, but hearing it outside a normal conversation... with someone else privately, touched her even more.

She raises her head and stares at Kin, still awake.

“You know... I need to breath too!" He exclaims jokingly, which earns him a loving nip to the nose.

“And we came here to talk to the four legged birds!" then he adds quietly “I am glad that made you happy. I meant every single word."

She rests her head down beside his again and stays quiet for a few more minutes, while he tugs and plays with the feathers on her neck – he cant comfortably reach the ones on her head.

“Ok, Kin, lets get up then.“ She does so and stares at him, eyes still gleaming.

“So... you want to go to the gryphons alone? If it increases our chances you should."

“No, I wont. You are my human and if someone doesn't like it, its their problem." She states firmly.

“Actually... it would be our problem. We want something..."

“Then you just use that … charm... your parents were talking about!"

He sighs “Then they use those gryphon talons... or that other ability."

She shakes her head and smiles “No, you convinced me. They wont do that. Not without reason. “ Then adds “Right?"

He smiles and nods “Right!" He climbs to his feet and wants to leave when he stares at the door.

The frame was pushed outward, broken, as if a certain, much too large bird squeezed through – and the door lost. “I think, he will need the service of a carpenter. I could fix it while you are up there?"

Zaiya shakes her head “No, I want you to come along. You stood by me, now the least I can do is do the same!" She nudges him through the door.

“But the door...."

“I am sure, someone else will gladly fix it. Can't have their savior do work like that, can they?"

“The human of their savior." He corrects her, but leaves nonetheless.

When Zaiya pokes her head out, about to squeeze through, she sees Kayda paddling around on the water with the two kids on her back – and their mother with Vedh.

“What.. is KAYDA!" Then she screeches and the little phoenix turns her head, chirping something at her, but not swimming towards the stairs.

The bird squeezes through the door, then flaps her wings twice before grabbing Kin with one leg and quickly flies next to Vedh and the woman. The wind caused by her wings add quiet some waves to the lakes surface, but Kayda doesn't seem distressed at all, not even her passengers are, even though she turns her head to make sure non of them slides off her.

She chirps again.

Zaiya answers with a mix of anxiety and coolness in her voice “I can see that you are carrying two humans now. “

Vedh nudges her and she actually doesn't hiss at him. “She has been paddling around for more then an hour now."

At that, the phoenix slumps to the ground. “Really?" Then adds quieter “Wow."

Kin nudges the woman now “You see... this bird really dislikes water... and the one with your children is her daughter."

She looks up in surprise “Why.. dislike water?"

He scratches his head, embarrassed. He still doesn't want to reveal Zaiyas real origin “Well.. she um... nearly drowned once. She stays away as far as possible."

“And she is your hawk or..? I am from Eagleholm." She extends her hand at him “Sakura Windsworth. I own one of the largest stables at Castle Greenfeather. Not that horses are a big thing there." She smiles.

Eagleholm is the capital of the northern kingdom with the same name. It started as a castle of crusading knights, eager to test themselves against the dragons from Lavaridge. But the times of knights was soon over, probably because of their dragon hunting. It is said, that the castle got burned down 1200 years ago. In the ruins, giant hawks started to build their nests. For a century or so, they were completely undisturbed. Until half a dozen outcast humans tried to move into the castle. Some rumors say, they tamed the giant hawks, but more educated people know, that the hawks aren't just beasts. They made a pact with the humans, and soon, the first hawkriders were born. More people moved to the castle and over centuries, it became the city it is today. They claimed the untamed land where the deeply religious kingdom of Pagan was located there before. Thanks to their pact with the hawks, they quickly become a formidable power and easily claimed their seat beside the other eleven kingdoms of Taha. Unlike most other kingdoms, though, they still don't seem to make any plans to conquer any more land. Not even Lavaridge. Rumors say, they even have a deal with the dragons – to leave each other alone. Truth is, there aren't that many people in that kingdom. There is only the capital, no other town. Every single person is trained in archery and close combat and nearly most people are bonded to one of the giant birds. These give them a considerable military force, despite their low numbers. There were two invasions of Eagleholm from both kingdoms north of them. Horror stories about the massacres. Half of the attacking armies died to the arrows raining down from above. While the hawks themselves are nimble enough to dodge any incoming projectile large enough to reach them. The attackers that were still alive and not running, got cut down by razor sharp talons and beaks. It is said, that the people of Eagleholm cannot be hit in melee combat, so highly developed is their martial prowess and they are trained as soon as they can stand and maintain a strict training schedule for their whole life. But during both fights, they didn't even have to dismount their birds. There were only 3 deaths on Eagleholms side during the second invasion, when the attackers brought magic users. One hawk got killed by a lightning bolt and his rider died to the fall. The second hawk got her left wing burned and fell to her death, but managed to safe her rider from the same fate during the fall. They crashed in the middle of the enemies ground formation. The attackers stopped to stare for the time. He dismounted his dead bird, then mourned for several minutes before drawing his blade while no one dared moving – not even the other hawkriders in the sky shot arrows down at that time. He kept staring at the attackers. It is said, that there was only sadness in his eyes, no hate. But the look of that soldier alone, made many enemies run in fear – that and the stories about their invincibility in combat. Instead of attacking, though, the soldier committed some kind of ritual suicide. That's when an unknown figure stepped into the battle on side of Eagleholms combatants. One of the greatest sorcerers only known as 'The Wanderer' appeared on the battlefield. He is said to fly on a hawk with pure white feathers and emerald eyes. Of course, most of that is just... stories. But fact is: With the help of that mage, the second wave of attackers got beaten back and no one ever dared attacking Eagleholm again afterwards.

Kin grins at the little phoenix who finally paddles towards them. She tries to walk out, but both kids are too heavy for her, so she begrudgingly has to wait for them to get off. The boy pats her head to thank her, while the girl gives Kayda's neck a big hug.

“You aren't from Eagleholm, are you? Else I would ask if your little one already has a human."

Kin smiles, while Zaiya isn't sure, if she should be offended or honored. “No, and these two aren't the kind of hawks you know. Both of your children seem to be courageous, though. They will both be great hawkriders some day!"

The woman bows “You are accustomed to our ways, are you?"

Kin laughs “No, sadly not. I was trying to be nice, that's all. And I think, you did a great service to our daughter." The little phoenix stands proudly beside her mother now, who … is just glad she got out of the water. Kin wonders where the woman's hawk might be.. or if she has non, but doesn't dare to ask. Sakura raises an eyebrow at his last sentence, but stays quiet about it. “May be, some day, you can visit Eagleholm. You are welcome to visit the stables."

Then she gets overwhelmed by her children talking about their experience.

Kin grins “Kids... these days."

Kayda chirps at him and before Zaiya can translate, he answers – he can already guess what it was about.

“Yes, I am very proud of you. You may not grow as fast as your mother does, but you can swim in water." The little phoenix seems to grow at that praise. Two happy birds on one day.

A very successful day.