Mindy had set one foot on the mountain trail before trouble came by to stop her.

Darian was there, with the red crystal firmly grasped in one hand, a fireball taking form in the other. "Back off, Mindy. Stop this search already. The Source of Magic is evil. You can't use it."

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"That's only what Doom tells you. Have you even seen it? Do you even know what it is, yourself?" Mindy shot back. "We can't give up! We have a chance to stop the war before it happens, save countless lives… and we've already come this far! We can't stop now!"

"The war has already begun. Haven't you heard? Even I've heard of it, and I'm basically a hermit's apprentice." Darian informed her. "It's already too late to stop the war."

"It's… already started?!" Mindy gasped. "Then we have to stop it! We have to find the Source and tell them they don't need to fight any more…"

"What makes you think that the Source would be of any help in ending the war peacefully? It's much more likely to drive them into an even bigger frenzy fighting over it."

"We can figure out 'how' after we get it." Mindy took another step up the mountain.

"Don't!" Darian shot the fireball onto the path directly in front of Mindy. "There must be a reason why Doom refuses to go anywhere near the Source or to let anyone else get to it! Think about it!"

"I think he just wants you to get some combat experience." Mindy scoffed. "Some sort of tempering training."

"Are you confusing Doom with Remian?"

"What do you mean?"

"Isn't that why he sent you out here on your own? For tempering?"

"That's not it!"

But was it? Mindy herself wasn't sure. When she stopped to think about it, that really did sound like something Remian would do.

But it was necessary, wasn't it? Otherwise, he would surely have picked something more doable, less dangerous, like a solo trip to trade with the Sea People, or a trip to the Rain Sultanate to pick up more of his family, some cousins or some such…

Sending her deep into the Wildlands with just a motley crew like this just seemed like a lot. "For a tempering trip, this seems like far too much for a twelve year-old girl to handle!"

"You can do it." Darian said, with confidence. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have come out here to stop you."

Was it strange that Mindy found his faith in her oddly encouraging? Especially when he was trying to stop her?

"If you're determined to stop me, then you better be prepared! I'm not going to hold back!" Mindy threatened.

"Chirp!" Aeyrie said in support. [Me too!]

Which reminded Mindy. "Where's Har'es-dras? Waiting to swoop down on us somewhere?"

Darian grimaced. "He's… not coming."

"Not coming?" Mindy echoed, blinking.

"Chirp!!" Aeyrie burst out laughing.

Mindy looked at her and quickly realized why. "He's afraid of the Roc!"

That was a bird that ate dragons and Bog Serpents, after all.

Darian was alone, without his backup. Mindy was without her airs.h.i.+p, the magi, the knights, the priest, and her mentor. But at least she still had Aeyrie.

And he still had the red crystal.

Mindy grimaced. "I might really have to kiss him this time."

Darian took a wary step back. Electricity arced around him threateningly. "I'm not going to fall for the same trick twice!"

Mindy lunged. Darian darted to one side. "Vines!"

Thick, strong vines burst out of the ground, tangling her feet. Mindy tripped, would have fallen, but she was already half-wrapped up in plant-ropes before she could even hit the ground. Eyes, narrowed, she pulled out a scroll. "Wind!"

A powerful stream of air hammered at Darian. This wasn't a gentle breeze sort of wind; this was a jet-stream burst designed as an emergency propellent for airs.h.i.+ps. Darian wasn't dumb enough to try and block it; he leapt high, jumping over the directed stream and faced Mindy from six feet above ground level…

BAM! Aeyrie struck. The Eagle Princess swooped down on Darian the way eagles do upon their prey. She rammed into him from behind, claws extended, but he was far too heavy for her to simply sweep away, and as a result, they both went flying forward, right into Mindy.

Mindy saw them approaching uncontrollably, and her eyes fastened on the red crystal. If she could just get her hands on it, get that away from him…

NOW! As they got close enough, Mindy made an all-out desperate grab for the crystal.

BANG! Everything crashed together at the same time. Mindy had a bare moment to exult in successfully grabbing that crystal when Darian rammed straight into her uncontrollably, eyes wide, the two of them coming together face to face, lip to lip…

She had a bare moment to realize that they really did kiss before their heads collided painfully, and everything went black.

***

[Uh… whoops…?] Aeyrie looked at the two humans lying unconscious in the tangled vine together and blinked. [What do I do now?]

Well, they were here to see Gramps, right? Aeyrie hesitated over those two humans for a bit, but then she saw the guy wearing metal come out of the fog, and decided they were going to be okay.

Since she didn't have to worry about Mindy any more, all Aeyrie had to do was fly up the mountain herself. She might not be able to make it all in one go, perhaps taking breaks several times before she got close enough to call to Gramps psionically, but she could definitely fly up a lot faster than Mindy could climb.

There was n.o.body to stop her any more. No Darian, no Har'es-dras, no Dad, n.o.body. Chirping happily to herself, Aeyrie went to see Gramps.

***

Professor Alexei was dreaming of accidentally ending up in a steam bath together with a certain good-looking female lecturer at the College of Magi when he was very rudely and very suddenly s.n.a.t.c.hed right out of his dream.

"Wha…?!" Alexei gasped and breathed in clean air, caught up in claws that were far, far too big to hold just a single frail human being in their grasp. "WHOA…!"

He looked up only to see that it was night-time, or something. Everything was entirely dark, those claws were all he could make out, talons large enough to hold a house in their grasp, almost gingerly carrying one little human being in a cage-like pinch.

There was someone in the other claw, it seemed. Alexei couldn't see him very clearly, but he wasn't the only one being hauled away like this.

But the shape of the claws and the fact that they were flying clued him in. The creature that caught him out of the fog was a bird. Gigantic didn't even begin to describe it. The size of it! This bird totally blotted out the sky and the sun. Alexei had been outright convinced it was night time just a few moments ago.

Then, just as suddenly, they swooped down and he was dropped. Alexei didn't have time to scream before he landed in the mud, only then realizing that he'd been released just a couple of feet above the soft marshland.

"Alexei!" Father Petrov was there, helping him to his feet. Nearby was one of the students, dropped into the mud like himself; Sir Ivan was helping him up. "You made it!"

"What… how…?" Alexei stumbled. "Where…?"

"We're clear of the Bog. It's the Roc King. The Eagle Princess managed to ask it for help." Father Petrov explained. "But… I'm sorry, Alexei. A few of us didn't make it."

"How… how many?" Alexei asked.

"Three. We lost three." Father Petrov said.

Then there was a huge crash, and the whole earth shook, or at least that's how it felt to Alexei. Whole trees fell over as a mountain-like figure descended and two monstrously huge claws sunk deep onto the ground.

"What does it want?" Alexei gasped.

"Um…" Father Petrov hesitated, turning to the Eagle Princess.

"Chirp." She said.

"I think he's offering to give us a ride." Father Petrov told him.