Elhyra's request came at dawn, spoken in her quiet, luminous voice. Selina was the first to hear it, and though the rules were strict in the Black Post, even she hesitated before refusing her.
Moments later, Theomar emerged from his quarters with Keel perched stubbornly on his shoulder. He rubbed his temples as Elhyra repeated the request.
"Two days?" he said. "Outside?"
Elhyra nodded once, calm as ever. "They need more than drills and walls."
He grunted. "If you're vouching for them… fine. Two days. But stay out of trouble."
Elhyra's smile softened the air itself. "They're children, not weapons."
The words drifted into the hall.
Midarion froze. Reikika stopped slicing fruit mid-motion. The message reached them at the same time.
"You're taking us outside?" Midarion blurted.
Reikika's lips parted, eyes widening, kitchen knife slipping from her hand.
Elhyra nodded once.
Midarion let out a sound that wasn't quite a laugh and not quite a scream, somewhere between joy and disbelief. He grabbed Keel instinctively from Theomar's shoulder.
Selina crossed her arms. "He stays here."
Midarion instantly hugged the hatchling to his chest. "No. He'll be scared alone. And—and he deserves to see the world! He'll be good, I swear!"
"Midarion—"
"Selina," Elhyra interrupted gently, "I will take responsibility."
Selina bit her lip, then gave in. "Fine. But if even one person sees that dragon—"
"They won't," Elhyra assured.
Midarion grinned so wide it looked painful. Reikika's joy came more quietly— a trembling smile, a tiny gasp, a whisper:
"We're really… leaving?"
Elhyra placed a hand on their heads. "Get your cloaks. The world is waiting."
— — —
They left at sunrise. Mist curled around the Black Post like sighing ghosts as the iron gates opened. Midarion stepped forward first, almost reverently. He had escaped a laboratory, survived the wilds, fought for breath in the Black Post…but stepping outside without running for his life felt unreal.
Reikika walked close to Elhyra, her hand occasionally brushing the woman's robes like she was checking she was real.
Keel chirped impatiently inside his cage.
"Shh," Midarion whispered. "We're going on an adventure."
They crossed the vast rust-colored plains of Arechi, the lawless lands where wanderers, mercenaries, merchants, and fugitives shared the same dust. No one paid them any particular mind—just another trio and among them a child carrying a suspiciously noisy "exotic pet."
But Elhyra had a way of walking that made people give her space without realizing why. Not fear. Not awe. Just…instinct.
Midarion tried to mimic her walk. It made Reikika snort softly. "Stop trying to look like a warrior. You're twelve."
"You're nine! You don't have the right to judge!"
She only smiled, amused and exasperated the way only Reikika could be.
— — —
The market of Arechi appeared like an explosion of color in the desert. Hundreds of tents formed a maze of fabrics dyed in every shade imaginable. The air pulsed with shouts, laughter, clanging metal, sizzling spices, haggling, threats, music, promises and lies.
Midarion's jaw dropped. "By the stars…"
The smell hit him next— grilled meat, hot oil, incense, dust, fruit, sweat, leather, metal polish. He inhaled everything like it was a treasure.
Reikika walked carefully at first, overwhelmed but curious. Her eyes darted from merchant to sculpture to animal to tapestry. Her hand never strayed too far from Elhyra's robe.
A tanned vendor leaned over a pile of shimmering trinkets. "Little lady! Want to try a charm that brings luck?"
Reikika hesitated.
Elhyra's gentle voice cut through. "She's already in good hands."
The vendor backed off instantly, apologizing.
Midarion whispered to Reikika, "She's like magic."
"She's just… Elhyra," Reikika murmured.But she said it with quiet devotion.
They explored for hours. Elhyra bought them sweets, fruit, strange mechanical toys, small drinks flavored with spices Midarion couldn't pronounce.
Midarion stopped at every booth, talked too much, touched anything he wasn't supposed to, tripped twice, nearly dropped Keel's cage three times, and accidentally offended a mercenary by asking if his sword was fake.
"Kid," the mercenary grunted, "you've got guts."
"No, no, please don't fight him—" Reikika panicked.
Elhyra stepped forward, a hand lightly raised. The mercenary immediately bowed. "My apologies, Guardian."
Midarion whispered, "I want that kind of power."
"You're loud," Reikika corrected. "That's not power."
"You're short."
"You're immature."
"You're—"
"You two," Elhyra said softly, "eat before you argue yourselves into a coma."
They ate roasted skewers at a stall where the cook flirted with Elhyra so aggressively he burned half his food. Reikika giggled every time he stuttered.
Midarion tugged her sleeve. "Do you think she likes him?"
"No."
— — —
As the sun fell lower, Elhyra guided them toward the ruins.
The land shifted—noise fading, ground elevating, wind whispering through the hollow bones of ancient stone structures. Some were collapsed. Others stood like timeless giants.
Reikika sensed it first. "There's… something here."
Elhyra's smile held a hint of melancholy. "You feel the presence of what once was."
They walked deeper until the ruins rose around them like a forgotten kingdom. Tall pillars covered in strange, swirling carvings. Broken domes. Fractured archways. A staircase leading nowhere.
Midarion shivered. "Who lived here?"
"People who were closer to the stars than we are today," Elhyra said. "Their civilization didn't fall. It ascended."
Reikika frowned. "Ascended?"
"To what awaits beyond mortal sight."
Midarion had no idea what that meant, but it sounded amazing.
They climbed the ruins, explored corners filled with echoes of ancient power, and found a mosaic of a star-shaped symbol the size of a house.
Reikika crouched, tracing it with a finger. "It feels warm."
Midarion sat beside her. "Do you think… one day… we'll do something that lasts this long?"
Reikika gave him a small, rare smile. "Maybe."
Elhyra looked at them then—two children born in suffering yet glowing with life—and her voice softened more than it ever had.
"You already have."
— — —
Night fell slowly, like a curtain of violet silk. They reached a quiet hill overlooking the market. Elhyra lit a small lantern. Keel fluttered his wings inside the cage, chirping at the fireflies.
Midarion leaned against Elhyra, exhausted and blissful. Reikika sat on her other side, eyes half-closed but stubbornly awake.
"Did you enjoy your day?" Elhyra asked.
Midarion answered instantly. "Best day of my life."
Reikika nodded fiercely. "Mine too."
Elhyra wrapped an arm around each of them. "Good. Tomorrow, I will show you something greater."
Midarion's eyes widened. "Greater than this?"
"Much."
Reikika whispered, "Where?"
Elhyra smiled, gaze lifted to the stars."To a place where the sky remembers its first guardians."
Midarion didn't understand.Reikika didn't either.But both felt a thrill run through them.
Elhyra looked at their tired, glowing faces.
"Sleep," she whispered. "Tomorrow, you meet the Skyfather."
Midarion blinked up. "Who's that?"
Elhyra stroked their hair, her voice fading into the breeze.
"A dragon whose wings once casted shadows over continents."
Midarion's breath caught. Reikika's eyes widened.
And under the starlight, with Keel chirping softly, the children fell asleep between the arms of the woman who had saved their lives—unaware that tomorrow, they would meet a legend carved from the bones of the sky.