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The journey through the farmlands south of Trent remained mild. The road was an easy one to travel, wide, straight, and well maintained through mostly flat grasslands. Well prepared and experienced, Damian and Garrick faced no great threats or challenges along their way. Rain came and went, though the storms were rarely severe. They met other travelers along the road frequently, most of whom were friendly and the rest properly subdued by the sight of Garrick riding Brenadier.

Conversation filled Damian's days, though she spoke but little herself. She learned much from Garrick, however, as he told her things Domino hadn't known, or didn't mention. The geography of the land, political boundaries, and the subject she was most interested in, magic. Having been schooled in magic for his own knightly training, he knew much of the theories and philosophies behind it, even if he couldn't cast a spell himself. He knew where many of the kingdom's quietly run magic schools were located, common magi that sorcerors-in-training created spirit bonds with, and even had memorized a few incantations to summon a spirit through conjury, though without proper training, the words meant little coming from him. It was enough for Damian to know that her own abilities were not the abomination she had grown up to believe. However, the more she learned about the difficulty of summoning a magus, forging a spirit bond, or casting a spell, the more she realized how amazing and inexplicable her power was.

Garrick told her as much as he knew about the krolmins, which was little enough. The nocturnal creatures were elusive and tended to avoid humans entirely, preferring, to her surprise, a more peaceful existence. They were far more intelligent than she had thought, debatably as much as humans, though they chose a simpler life sustained by the natural world around them. They had once been populous throughout the realm, but as human development progressed further into what used to be wild country, they were driven off the land. Their only remaining habitat was the Orthys Mountains. The thought gave her chills. It was a small mountain range that ran northwest from Aether, room enough to hide many but all of it only a few weeks' ride to the town. Of all the places that the creatures could live, their population had always been fewer than a score of leagues from her home.

It was then that she realized something peculiar about the krolmins. Garrick mentioned that they were magically inclined and the fact that they hadn't cast any spells during the confrontation in Trent baffled him. It was true that they hadn't used magic when they attacked her and Garrick in the town square, nor, she realized, when they attacked Aether. She wondered why she had been so certain they could use magic, and why they hadn't. It was a mystery neither of them had answers to, and the conversation drifted into silence as they both sat pondering it.

Never far from her mind was Garrick's kiss. The memory of it alone set her heart racing and she could hardly look at him without thinking of it. He had not approached her in that way since. At once, she was relieved and disappointed by that. She ached for him to comfort and care for her as he had that night even as it bothered her that she had grown so attached to him.

What bothered her most were his regular attempts to get her to open up. She felt uncomfortable letting him in her personal life and sharing things that previously belonged to only her and her father. When she had traveled to Trent with Domino, the mercenary had asked few questions. He only knew what she was willing to reveal and she could have been anything she wanted to be. And Domino, with no background she knew of at the time, was anything she wanted him to be, a friend made just for her in that dark time of her life. She still pined for Domino, as much as she tried to tell herself that he was gone, just like her father and all the people she once knew in Aether.

Still, the knight's smiles and laughs were hard not to share and she grew slowly warmer to him as the journey progressed. As much as she often wished to be alone, Garrick's company was comforting, and she knew she could have done much worse. The fact alone that he had not given a second thought to the danger he was in simply being with her spoke volumes about his character. He was a kind and worthy companion and made a difficult time in her life easier to bear.

Eight days had passed since they left Trent. Relhan was long over and Damian had made the depressing realization that this chaotic period was her life now. It saddened her a little less each day as in the face of homelessness, the loss of her only family, and an uncertain future, she wasn't alone, and she had hope. By Garrick's estimates, they were over halfway to Dresdin, making far better time than she had going through the forest to Trent. She didn't know what was going to happen in Dresdin, but the journey itself gave her something to wait for and anticipate, and that helped to soothe her.

They set up camp in a small cluster of trees a stone's throw from the river, sheltered from sight of the road by a hill. Though the travelers they had met along the road during their journey had been kind, Garrick tended to remain awake through the night and sleep in the saddle as they rode. She felt uneasy trying to sleep while he sat a few paces away, only wondering what was on his mind as he sat awake through the night, but she began to grow used to it.

The evening's rain left the ground damp and softened by the leaves that carpeted the grove. It was still an uncomfortable bedding and she missed the feather bed of the Yawning Bear, and even more, her own bed at a home now destroyed. Gazing into the crackling flames before her, all she could think about was the fire that consumed her childhood home and killed her neighbors.

She rolled over with a shiver, facing away from the fire as she tried to fight the dreamlike memories of the attack from resurfacing. Each time she relived that night, she ended in Domino's arms, and each time she longed for Garrick's, simply to convince her that it hadn't happened again. The flashbacks became more infrequent the farther the incident receded into the past, but when they did surface, they never failed to chill her to the bone.

Breathing in shallow gasps, she tried to focus on the more physical chill of her cloak and dress, still damp from the rain earlier. The flashback was averted, as it commonly was, but she trembled from the threat of it for a long time.

She hadn't realized she had fallen asleep when something nudged her awake, but the fire had guttered out and the embers faded almost to nothing. Darkness blanketed the land and she could barely make out Garrick's armoured leg standing beside her. Still sore from the day of riding, she struggled to push herself to her elbows.

Groggily, she asked, "What..."

"Shh," he cut in quietly. Blinking sleep from her eyes, Damian peered up at him curiously. His spear was drawn and his face solemn as he gazed into the trees ahead. Feeling a tickle of fear in her heart, she raised herself to her hands and followed his eyes. Her vision soon adjusted to the deep night, fed by a crescent moon. She drew in a startled gasp. At the edge of the trees, several krolmins stood staring hard at them.

A shiver ran through Damian's body as she scrambled to her feet and turned, but she froze before taking another step. More krolmins waited beyond the trees past where Hope shuffled nervously against her halter and Brenadier stood impassively staring at the intruders. Trembling, Damian backed into the knight. The pale-skinned, dark-winged creatures had them surrounded. As she watched, more of them glided in from above and landed beside the others, forming a ring around her and Garrick.

"W-what," she whimpered over Garrick's shoulder, "what should we..."

"Wait," he answered quietly. "They're not attacking us. They may have something else in mind." The statement only frightened her more. Her breath sped as she took in the sight of all the creatures standing less than ten paces away in every direction. Dappled moonlight created twisted shadows over their pale, lanky bodies, marked with tattoos and framed by shadowy wings and tails. They stood still as statues as their eyes bored unblinking into hers. Feeling cold from the sight of so many yellow eyes, she turned her head and leaned it against Garrick's back.

Suddenly, movement to the side from the wide gap in the trees where they had entered the grove caught her attention. The krolmins parted as another swept in and landed behind the circle. No other krolmins remained in the air. The last one to arrive walked through the path between the others. Damian grasped Garrick's cloak anxiously. Unlike the other krolmins, this one wore a large headdress of white feathers with strings of many-colored beads falling on either side of its face down to its sharply defined ribs. Its locks of pitch-black hair hung down nearly to its waist with moonstones and hematite woven regularly within. A leather mantle covered its shoulders with intricate blue-white markings covering the garment and more white feathers lining it. The loincloth it wore had more feathers attached to it than any other, all of them white. A sharpened steel dagger with a hilt of copper hung at its waist, finer than any weapon she had yet see one of the creatures brandish. Its body was bonier than the rest and its face wrinkled. The krolmins it passed as it walked through bowed reverently to it.

Damian clutched Garrick's arm beneath his spaulder with a tight grasp as the apparent leader of the krolmins passed the ring and stepped towards them. It stopped a few paces past the other krolmins, gazing at her and the knight. Not a word was spoken nor a sound made. Silence wreathed over the land like a fog, spreading out for miles. The krolmins seemed to be made of stone and Damian dared not breathe to break the silence. She wanted to look to Garrick for reassurance, but she couldn't tear her gaze away from the feathered krolmin.

Finally, the krolmin lifted its head and spoke.

"I am Orok'Ti, great shaman."

The creature spoke with a throaty, gravelly voice and seemed to struggle with the words. Its pronunciation had been correct, but the words were heavily accented and it was clear that it couldn't speak Fanerian very well.

The knight spoke slowly in response, using simple words and enunciating them clearly. "I am Garrick Magni, and this..."

"Damyan Syres," the shaman responded in its thick accent. Damian's heart skipped a beat. "I know."

Garrick seemed unfazed. "And how do you know that?"

"Because I birth her." Damian reeled back with a gasp.

"W-what?" she uttered. "He can't mean..." Garrick laid a steadying hand on her arm, silencing her. His eyes never left Orok'Ti.

Calmly, Garrick asked, "What do you mean by that?" The shaman turned its head to focus solely on Damian. A shiver snaked up her spine in that deep yellow gaze.

"You not know tale?" Orok'Ti stated. Garrick glanced over his shoulder at Damian. She met his gaze fearfully, her golden eyes denying the charge with terrified vehemence. The knight met the shaman's eyes again.

"Please," Garrick offered, "tell us." The shaman glanced between them for a moment, then shuffled his feet as he began his story. Damian listened intently, afraid but entranced.

"Many year ago, man and woman come to mountain, flee attack from other human. Woman big with child, bad hurt. Them no hurt us, offer gift." The shaman motioned to the curved dagger hanging at its waist. Damian's gaze locked on it, her eyes wide. "We take them in. We try help woman, but she no live. Man beg us save child, I use spell. Girl born yellow eye. Man fear, and run." Tearing her eyes away from the knife, she gazed at the shaman. The other krolmins remained absolutely still, never speaking nor moving as their leader told his tale, and she had momentarily forgotten they were there.

"After that day, we no use magic. Other man come to mountain and hurt us, we no can fight back. We pray creator, but no answer. Then, strange beast come, ask for girl with yellow eye, we know she reason magic gone." Damian and Garrick exchanged a curious glance at the mention of a 'strange beast.'

"Damyan have magic," Orok'Ti stated. "Damyan have us magic. That why we hunt you." It felt as if her stomach dropped out of her body with the shaman's words.

"I didn't..." she attempted. The knight laid a hand over her shoulder, a welcome touch against such a dire situation.

"What do you think Damian has done?" he asked. "And how do you mean to get your magic use back?" The krolmin shook his head, beads rattling in his hair with the movement.

"We not know," he responded. "But she key get it back. We need us magic. Damyan give us magic." Damian shook her head and backed away a step.

"I-I can't..."

"We cannot do that," Garrick stated calmly. "We do not know how." The shaman tried to reply, but Garrick held up a hand. "Please. We want to help you, but there is nothing that we can do on our own." He could have been speaking to another statue in a ring of them, but Garrick remained focused and resolute. The knight spoke carefully.

"We are going to the next town to find out why Damian has your magic," he continued. "We will speak to one of our mages so that we can help you. Give us the chance to do this and I swear to you, we will do everything in our power to restore your ability to use magic." The shaman moved forward a step.

"We wait long enough," he answered. "We hunt girl too long, hurt too much. She come with us." He barked a quick command in foreign words and the krolmins began moving in towards them. Damian pressed herself against Garrick, her heart pounding against her ribcage.

"Wait," the knight snapped in a deep, threatening voice. The shaman stopped and all the other krolmins did with him. "If you try to take her by force, we will fight back and we will hurt your people. I am certain you want no more blood shed." He tightened his grip on his spear. The point laid casually against the ground, but ready to fly. The shaman narrowed his eyes. "We want the same. Give us the chance to speak with our mage. I swear to you that we will not deceive you. We will be quite willing to help restore your magic if you allow us to seek help to do so." Garrick finished and an unsettled silence fell over the scene.

A long moment passed with not so much as a cough to break the stillness. The shaman and all the krolmins gazed at Damian and Garrick, unmoving. Damian's eyes darted fearfully about the circle, the shaman, and Garrick, but the knight stared implacably at Orok'Ti, each utterly still. Even Brenadier and Hope failed to move. The night lay heavily over the grove, a wall of silence caving them in. Damian's fear rose with each passing moment.

Finally, the shaman raised his head. "We watch you. You speak mage, give us back magic." With one last foreign word, he turned and the ring of krolmins dispersed. Damian's entire body trembled as she watched them leave, none of them questioning the shaman nor even giving her and Garrick a second glance. Away from the trees, they began running and leapt into the air, flapping their wings hard as they tried to return to the sky from whence they came. The shaman was the last to leave. By the time the white feathers accenting his meager garb faded from view, the night sky was empty.

Soon, Damian, Garrick, and the horses were alone again. Trembling, Damian fell to her knees, the tears she didn't realize she had been holding back streaming down her face. Replacing his spear in its harness over his back, Garrick knelt beside her.

"Well, I've bought us some time," he remarked as he gazed into the distance where the shaman had disappeared. "I hope it'll be enough." Damian wiped her eyes with shaking hands.

"What do we do?" she uttered. The knight laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Sleep. We have a long way to travel still."