[That area is the territory of the Flame Emperor. I shouldn't enter uninvited.] the Roc King hesitated.

[Gramps! My friend is in danger! She needs me!] Aeyrie was half-frantic.

[Fine. I will take you there… but I will not linger.] the great Roc decided.

So it was that Aeyrie was rushed over, in mere minutes covering the distance the expedition took a day to sneak through. She was unceremoniously dropped off in mid-air and left to her own wings as her Gramps casually returned as if his intrusion upon the Flame Emperor's domain was nothing more than a slip of the wind and the wing…

Aeyrie meanwhile found Mindy in a queer sort of sneaking tug-of-war with Darian, a rope, a wolfcat cub, and a tree.

[Uh… should I come back later?] Aeyrie asked, undecided.

[HELP!!] Mindy struggled. [He's trying to take me home!]

[Aww. That's so sweet.]

[Context, Aeyrie, context! I need to finish this expedition and he's trying to stop me! Help me out here!]

[I'd worry more about the Rhinotle rampaging around over there than the boy trying to keep you safe…] Aeyrie mentioned.

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[Me too, but that's besides the point! The expedition must go on! We can't give up now! We've come so far already, we must be close!]

[You're already inside the territory of the Flame Emperor. Not even Gramps would dare come in this deep if I hadn't begged him.]

[Great. Thanks. Now, will you do something?]

[What can I do? You're too heavy for me to grab and fly off with. You know that. What do you expect me to do?]

[I don't know! Something! Anything!]

[Fine!] Aeyrie pounced on the wolfcat cub and grabbed the little fellow right off his paws.

"YIP!" Vigil yelped, suddenly caught away by the Eagle Princess.

[Human! I have your wolfcat! Follow me if you ever want to see your friend alive again!] Aeyrie flew off to the north with Vigil in her claws.

"Vigil!" Darian gasped. "She's taking him hostage?!"

"What's it going to be, Darian? Waste time trying to stop me, or rescue your Comrade?" Mindy barked.

Darian hesitated just a few heartbeats more, then growled, "I'll be back!"

He dashed off after Aeyrie and Vigil.

Mindy seized her chance and ran for it. As quietly and as nimbly as she could, she headed for the thickest tree cover in the area, and all but dove into the undergrowth in seconds.

All alone, she hid as the beast tore up the remains of the camp. Everyone else had already fled and scattered, but Mindy didn't try to call out or look for them. It was just too dangerous right now.

"I should have eaten more fish…" she whispered to herself, as she crawled her way through the bushes, stealthily heading south toward the increasingly dense mana.

***

That night, Mindy slept under a pile of leaves in a hollow trunk. She was awoken, groggy and hungry and needing to relieve herself, by the sense of something approaching her hollow.

Suddenly fearful, she sprang fiercely into defensive action, letting out as great a roar as she could manage, pouncing forward aggressively, desperate to scare away whatever predator intended to have her for breakfast…

"CHIRP!!" the 'predator' visiting her fell over backwards, fluffy wings flailing, both legs waving helplessly in the air. "Chirp, chirp!"

It was a chick. A red one. Small enough to fit in Mindy's hand, soft and fluffy and round, with a round head and wide, terrified eyes. It looked like it was about to faint, what with Mindy pouncing fiercely on it out of the utter blue.

"Shh! Quiet!" Mindy shut its beak with her fingers, then looked around outside, eyes wide. "We don't want to attract predators!"

The little bird froze. It, too, glanced around nervously.

But the morning was quiet. If Mindy's yell had indeed drawn attention, maybe it hadn't been enough to pinpoint her location.

After a while, she relaxed and heaved a sigh of relief. Releasing the chick, Mindy sat back down and leaned against the inside of the trunk tiredly. "Whew."

"Chirp." The fluffy red chick eyed her inquisitively.

"Sorry. I thought you wanted to eat me." Mindy said, letting out a small chuckle. "But I guess you're just looking for grubs and worms for breakfast." She gestured at the ground vaguely. "Go right ahead."

The chick eyed her warily, studied the ground a bit, then turned back to her and looked at her up and down very, very curiously.

"Stop that. I don't have anything for you." Mindy said, feeling around in her pockets, wondering if perhaps she'd forgotten a biscuit or some crumbs or even a piece of fish in them…

But no. All she had in her pockets were a compa.s.s, a feather and Darian's red mana crystal. Looking at those three things in her hand, Mindy shook her head. "See? Nothing to eat."

The little red chick came over, sniffing the feather warily.

"It's from a friend of mine. I didn't steal it." Mindy said defensively. "Aeyrie gave it to me. We're friends. Friends." She emphasized.

The red chick looked at her. Mindy looked back.

Then, as quick as lightning, the little thing pounced on the red mana crystal and ate it.

***

"NOOOO!" Mindy yelped, hurriedly keeping the compa.s.s and the feather before the fluffy critter could eat those too. "Give it back! Spit it out! Bad bird! BAD BIRD!!"

That was a red mana crystal! It contained as much energy as a hundred blue mana crystals, or ten thousand yellow mana crystals! That one crystal alone could power the entire Red Fang for months, maybe years to come! With the price of mana skyrocketing everywhere, she could have sold that crystal for millions and millions of Lir! That kind of money could be enough to buy an entire new Sky Galleon! Mindy even had thoughts that if the expedition truly failed, if they could not find the Source of Magic, at the very least, they would have found a resource of magic in that one crystal that could possibly have made it worth all their trouble in the end…

But before Mindy could even seriously consider it, the crystal was gone. Disappeared in a quick gulp down the gullet of a little bird small enough for her to squeeze in her hands and choke to an untimely demise…

As was currently the case.

"Ch…ir…p!" the red chick gasped, flailing, face turning purplish, one wing tapping Mindy's tightened fist in surrender. It let out a breathless plea. "Ch..irrrppp!"

"Ugh." Mindy relaxed her grip. "I guess it's already gone down. Maybe it's better to let you live and wait for you to p.o.o.p it out than strangle you now and later have to cut your carca.s.s open."

Plus, she didn't have a knife. Cutting the bird open would be rather tricky without one. Were there any nice sharp pieces of stone nearby…?

"Chirp…" the little bird breathed, flopping down in relief. Then, it made as if to leave the hollow.

"Nuh-uh. You're not going anywhere." Mindy said sharply.

"Ch…irp?" the bird blinked at her, scared.

"You're not leaving my sight until you p.o.o.p my crystal out! Until then, you're coming with me!"