The hill that overlooked Aldley held a silent peace. The only sounds were made by the bubbling of the stream that wound its way down to the city and the breeze that rustled the leaves of the lone tree. A towering oak tree sat at the top to provide shade to any who wished to sit under its dense canopy. It stood silent, uncaring of the lovers who had sat beneath the tree, etching their names into the bark. Asher ran his hand along the names that marred ancient trunk like scars.

 He thought about looking for his own name, but decided against it. Instead he looked at some of the other names. It was a tradition of sorts for Aldley. If they truly believed they'd be together they'd come to the hill and scratch their name on the tree. Some of the names had been scratched out. Those had always sparked a curiosity in Asher. What had made the people so sure that they would be together scratch out the names written there? Had their love lost meaning? Was it someone else? Was it the death of their lover?

The subject of death weighed heavily on Asher's mind. Four dragons dead and Darian suspected Dazinara might be next. How could he let her know that not only is her friend dead, but someone killed three other dragons? How was she going to react? He hated the thought of seeing her like she was earlier that day. His thoughts were interrupted as a shadow passed overhead. Asher looked up, his eyes scanning the skies for tan underscales. To his surprise, he spotted white fur with a spiral pattern instead. 

It wasn't a dragon, but a gryphon.

Asher felt a smile tugging at his lips as the gryphon landed in front of him. The man seated in a saddle attached to a harness on the gryphon hopped off and gave Asher a small wave. He stood almost as tall as Asher. His long, neck-length hair was unaffected by the wind, a fact that Asher had always envied. A small metal cylinder the length of Asher's forearm was strapped to the rider's leg. The rider backed away from the gryphon, a limp in his step. For good reason too, for as soon as the gryphon was free of her rider, she bolted off towards Asher, and Asher felt his smile drop. He started shaking his head."No no no—OOF!" The gryphon barreled into him, tackling him to the ground. Her beak parted in a gryphon's version of a smile as she looked down at him.

"Heya Ash!" 

Asher groaned. "Hey Triss. S'been a while."

Triss bobbed her head up and down. "Mmhm! Too long!" 

“Now can you get off me before I suffocate?"

“I'm not that heavy“ Triss scoffed as she stepped off Asher and offered him a paw to help him to his feet. Asher accepted the offered limb and pulled himself up. By the time he dusted himself off, Triss' rider had approached the two of them.

"Why don't you ever greet me like that, Triss?" 

"Because I see your ugly mug every day? Asher's, on the other claw, I don't see that much," Triss answered without turning towards her rider.

"Did you just call me ugly?" Asher asked. 

"Probably. She calls everyone ugly." The man held out his hand. "Hey Asher." 

Asher grinned. "Hey Jackson."

"I do not call everyone ugly!" Triss glared at Jackson. 

"Oh, that's right. You don't call yourself ugly." Jackson said. 

Triss nodded affirmatively, a smile parting her beak. "Damn right! I'm stunning." She struck a pose and looked at Asher. "Don't you agree Ash?" While the colors of the gryphon were reminiscent to that of a sparrow, with a spiral pattern on her underside, there was only one answer. 

"No," Asher said, "That goes to my wife." 

"Aww," Jackson said, "That's sweet." He rested his hand on Triss' shoulder, the gryphon's pose deflated. "Well, I think you're stunning, if that's worth anything."

"Mmm." Triss nuzzled Jackson's arm. "I guess nothing can beat the appreciation of mates." She huffed. "Well, my ego's bruised now. Thanks for that. So, what brings you up here alone?" Asher sighed, and Triss turned to Jackson.

"I told you!"

"Wha—I didn't doubt you."

Asher stared at the two for a moment before telling them what was going on.

 **************************

Another silence fell over the glade, but this one wasn't peaceful. It was solemn. Asher looked between the two as the facts of the story sunk in.

Jackson was the first to react. He ran his hands through his hair. "Chrissake. That's...that's awful."

 "Terrible," Asher agreed. He turned to Triss who had been silent for the whole story. Her ears were pinned back against her head and she was clawing at the ground. 

"Poachers," she growled. "They are a scourge on Myria." 

"They are, but being angry right now won't do anything to help the situation," Jackson said as he limped over to Triss and placed a hand on her back. 

"I know," Triss huffed. "I just...poachers...we almost lost..."

Jackson rubbed her back. "I know, I know." A smile formed on his face. "I think I know something that would cheer you up."

"Hmm?" Triss sniffed and looked up at Jackson. "Here?" her eyes glinted mischievously. "I knew you were bold, but—" 

"Not that," Jackson interrupted the gryphon with a laugh. "What we bought from that..." he glanced at Asher, "traveling merchant."

"Oh!" Triss reached for one of the satchels attached to her harness. "Where is—here!" She pulled a misshapen ball of parchment out of her bag and handed it to Asher. 

Asher looked at the heavy lump in his hand, a frown forming on his face. He looked back up at Triss, a question forming on his tongue, and saw Jackson shaking his head at him. "Uh, thanks?"

Triss chirped a laugh. "It's not for you. We were looking for Dazinara, but we couldn't find her. You'll probably see her before we do, so give it to her for me when you see her. I wrapped it myself." 

Things became clear for Asher. He nodded with a smile "Of course, I'll do that."

A groan drew their attention to Jackson. He had sat down against the tree and was massaging his leg. Triss' ears splayed out, and she approached the sitting man, worry on her face. "You okay?"

Jackson rubbed his leg and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I think a storm is coming. A big one." They shared a look. Jackson tugged the sleeve of his shirt past his wrist and glanced at his arm before looking up into the sky. "We should get going. It's almost time for work." He pulled himself up and grinned. "After all, we don't want to lose our reputation." 

Triss snorted and poked Jackson in the chest. "You don't want to lose your reputation. I'm fine with being just an average messenger." 

"Ah, well with that reputation comes access to deliveries to the more exotic places on Myria, remember," Jackson said.

Triss clacked her beak. "I hate it when you're right. Alright, let's go." Jackson chuckled hopped onto the saddle. Triss looked at Asher. "Bye Ash. Give Dazinara my condolences." She took to the air, and as they flew away, Asher heard Jackson ask.

"So when am I ever going to meet Dazinara?" 

Asher chuckled as he watched the pair fly off to town. They had lightened his mood, and he felt content to sit down against the trunk of the tree and gaze down at his village. He wanted to go home, but Darian had told Asher that had some messages to send and that they needed to meet up to discuss more later. He didn't want to bring his wife into all this just yet. She had enough to worry about.

"Getting lost in your thoughts again?" Asher jumped as Dazinara's voice piped up behind him. How does a dragon of her size manage to land so silently? A quick glance to the sky showed that the he may have sat under the tree for longer than he thought. He turned around to greet her with a smile.

Her muzzle was coated in fresh blood.

Asher tore his eyes away from her and his stomach lurched. He covered his mouth and fought the urge to show her what he had eaten earlier that day. Dazinara's voice spoke up from behind him.

“Ash? What's—oh kravkuk! I'm so sorry." Asher just nodded his head. He took deep breaths as he tried to rein in his nausea. He heard Dazinara splashing in the stream behind him. 

Come on. You're fine. It's fine. Deep breath in, deep breath out. 

Slowly, his heart stopped racing, his stomach stopped hurting, and the world stopped spinning. He stood up straighter, and Dazinara spoke up from behind him

“I'm sorry. I went hunting and then I realized what time it was and came straight here."

Asher turned to look at Dazinara. Her face was now wet and free of blood. He reached up and rubbed her cheek. “Don't worry about it. No one got hurt." Asher smiled as she leaned into his hand. “I guess you want to hear what I learned. Oh! But first."

He held out the ball of parchment that Triss had handed him. Dazinara looked at the ball and tilted her head. "You...shouldn't have?" 

"I didn't," Jackson said. "It's a gift from Triss."

"She was here?" 

Asher nodded. "She was."

Dazinara gently took the gift from Asher's hands and unwrapped it. Under all the layers of paper and string was a small red metal dragon. "Oh, wow," she murmured. Asher leaned in closer to get a better look.

It was curled up as if it were sleeping, and its wings were tucked in neatly on its back. But what amazed Asher was the level of detail put into the dragon. Whoever made this small figure had made sure to carve out every single scale. Its horns stuck straight out and had a spiral groove etched into it.

"What are those?" Dazinara pointed to the fan-like features on its head. 

"I think those are frills."

Dazinara tossed her head with a snort. "Frills? Do they think that we're lizards? Next thing I know people will be expecting dragons to change color and spit acid instead of fire." 

"Those are oddly specific examples," Asher said. He gestured to the key that stuck out from the center of the dragon's back. "Should we see what this one does, then?" Dazinara nodded and started turning the key. 

Once it was wound up enough, the figure started clicking as its key unwound. The dragon stood up. A snarl formed on its face as it flared its wings out and roared silently into the sky. It then curled back up and went silent. 

"Well, they might not get the physical characteristics right, but that was a male posturing if I've ever seen one." Dazinara stared down at the small figure with a smile. She examined the figure closely. 

"What are you doing?" Asher asked. 

"I'm seeing if this thing was named. Most of the figures I collect have a name etched in it somewhere." Dazinara looked at the key. "Ah, here it is. Crimson." She nodded to herself and set the figure down. "Stay put, little Crimson." 

Asher chuckled. "I don't think it's going to move."

Dazinara snorted. "Of course not, I told him not to." 

Asher shook his head. "You're so weird."

"I respect your opinion, but I think that you should keep it to yourself." Dazinara's shoulders dropped and she huffed. "So, what did you learn?"

Oh, right.

Asher ran his hands through his hair as she settled down on her haunches. “Gods, Daz, it's bad. I don't know how to say this easily. Rakmelor isn't the only dragon that Darian—that's the name of the Slayer—is taking to Teros. There were skulls in the wagon, three of them. Darian...Darian thinks that someone in killing these dragons and skinning them. He figures the only reason Rakmelor wasn't skinned is because he got to him first."

Dazinara slammed a paw into the ground, tearing up a clod of dirt. “If I find the one doing this I am going to rip them apart," she snarled through bared teeth. Asher had never seen Dazinara so angry before. Despite her small size, she was still as terrifying as a dragon could be. He pitied the person who crossed her path.

“Sorry, but they're going to have to come with me, first." Darian was approaching from the town. Dazinara snapped her head towards the Slayer. He had changed into a light gray shirt and loose pair of black trousers. He raised his hands in a placating gesture as she glared at him. “Hey, save your ire for one who did this. We have to find out if they were killing on their own or if they were working with others." 

He grinned, his eyes flashing dangerously. “Don't worry, though. It'll be a dragon overseeing the interrogation. Depending on who you ask, their methods might be seen as inhumane, but they aren't human, and killing a dragon is a very grave offense. After that, their fate will also be decided by the dragons. You might still get your wish."

“Good." Dazinara growled. “I hope you catch him soon then."

Darian bowed his head. “I intend to. I've sent Aldley's fastest messenger to inform my superiors of my discoveries. I'll be staying here for a few days to keep an eye on things. But first, I have some questions for you. Have you noticed anything strange in the past few weeks?" 

Dazinara cocked her head to the side, her tail swishing methodically before she answered. “No. It's been quite boring, really. Not much has happened after I escorted the Kardeshan envoy through my territory."

Asher frowned. "Wait. Kardeshans? The people from the west? I thought that they wanted nothing to do with Terador?" 

Darian looked between the Dazinara and Asher for a moment, a frown on his face. "There's not much I can say..." He trailed off and looked at Dazinara. "Is he your Second?"

It was Asher's turn to frown. "Second? What's a Sec—"

"He is." Dazinara said with a nod. "He's the only one I'd trust to be mine." 

"Can you tell me what a Second is before we get any further?" Asher asked as he looked between Darian and Dazinara. 

"It's simple," Darian said. "She's chosen you to represent her if she's ever called to a meeting and she is unable to make it. As one, you gain access to all information Dazinara, here, is allowed to know. It also brings us back to the issue with the Kardeshans. They're scared."

The breeze had picked up, bringing a deep chill with it. A shiver ran up Asher's spine. Dazinara looked up into the sky, peering at the gathering clouds. As she kneaded at the ground, Asher was reminded of Jackson's words as he looked to the dark clouds overhead. A storm was coming.

"What scared them enough to bring them to us?" Asher asked.

Darian shrugged. "I haven't heard much, and what I've heard doesn't make sense. They're thinking it's something magical, which is why they came to us. Their reports are...strange. People have been going missing. Normally, that wouldn't cause such alarm. People go missing all the time. But recently, a whole town's population just disappeared. There were only a few survivors, and they all said the same thing: a darkness consumed their people."

Dazinara snapped her head down to look at Darian. "W-what? A darkness? Like...like shadows?" 

Darian nodded. "Yes, actually, I think most of the reports called them shadows. Why do you ask?" 

The shriek of a gryphon prevented Dazinara from speaking. Asher looked up and saw a black feathered gryphon circling above them. Slowly, the gryphon spiraled its way down until it landed in front of them. The gryphon had a rider, but there was no harness or patch marking them as messengers. The rider looked older than Asher with a well trimmed beard that had flecks of grey in it. The rider hopped off the gryphon with a groan. “Remind me not to fly long distances." He said to the gryphon as he put his hands on his lower back and leaned back until there was a series of pops.

“Mmm," the gryphon replied. It looked around at the group gathered before it settled down. 

The man looked at the gryphon. “Nothing?" He sighed. “Well, fair enough." He approached the group. “You must be Iridescent Whisper." He bowed his head to Dazinara. “A pleasure to meet you. I assume one of you is a Slayer, then?"

Darian stiffened at the question. “Why would you think that?" He asked.

The man smiled. “Well, because I had been informed that a Slayer had been seen heading back to Teros with a wagon containing the neighbouring territory's guardian. And considering that they didn't burn him when they found him, I figured that something was going on." He gestured to the gryphon behind him. “I figured it'd be in my best interest to help you figure out what's going on with our guardians, so Ripclaw here and I came to Aldley to give a hand. I think I may have the answer as to what is happening to these dragons."

Darian fixed his gaze on the man. “Who are you?"

“Ah, my apologies. My name is Taren." He bowed his head. 

“Alright, Taren," Darian crossed his arms. “Who do you think is killing these dragons?"

Taren smiled. “The Kardeshans."