"And I agree, which is the only reason she is still with us,” Shea added.

“Well I still disagree and you all know why obviously!” Marion burst, scaring a small flock of birds nearby. Quil and Shea’s silence in matters like these was normally a strong indicator to Marion that whoever else was nearby had been caught up on whatever the topic was, in this case, her proposal to travel to the Old Country and find the Hall of Torvin.

“Marion, you cannot let your guilt guide your actions. Even to travel to the entrance would take us at least two weeks and at least another three before we returned to the road to Densai on foot. And Jason isn’t the only one who is unable to safely fly,” Sarre reminded his old friend gently, “We need to return to Torvis and speak with the Monarchs first.”

Marion sighed, her anger ebbing a little before she noticed that both Quil and Joyce were remaining uncharacteristically silent, especially Quil who always seemed to have something to say. And they still had not disclosed why they had left Jason behind.

“Quil, you and Joyce have yet to explain why you left Jason alone. And since you’re the one we left in charge, I think you need to explain,” Marion pointedly asked.

Now that Quil was finally under Marion’s burning gaze, Manus relaxed, noticing that the girl he held was starting to show signs of waking up, or dreaming as she shifted in his arms and her breathing quickened then slowed. He did not have the talent for reading others that Marion had and on that note, he was poor at reading anyone or anything in general, which is why he had been placed with Sarre and Quil for his training as a scout or even a solider given he was an excellent flyer, but he had made little progress. So he eagerly listened to what Quil had to say, hoping his choice to take the girl with them was indeed the correct one.

Shea had yet to hear Quil’s explanation as well, but only since he insisted that Marion be present as she was now. So with a deep breath, he explained what he saw of the change and powers Jason had exhibited, the encounter with the plagued creature, Joyce’s deductions thanks to her ability and finally that he believed that the girl was the creature.

“You let Manus bring back a Plagued? And the one that led this attack?” Shea yelled at Quil who was now beyond furious.

“She was the creature,” Quil emphasized, unwilling to concede to the collective anger of the group, as any Advisor should, “Joyce confirmed with me on the way here that there were no remnants of the plague she carried left. It is likely Jason was able to save her and with what Marion said about her power being nearly identical to Jason’s and the connection Joyce sensed between them must be why he did. And…it is why we have to travel to the Old Country. To Alathienis.”

As Quil said what was known as the sacred name of the Old Country, its real name of Alathienis, the group immediately knew the level seriousness and importance Quil gave to traveling to the Old Country. To refer to its actual name wasn’t forbidden, but to use it casually in any circumstance was a grave offense. Therefore it was only used when needed for academic-related work and in Quil’s case, as an Advisor and one of the foremost experts on their history, was meant to fully validate and support Marion’s previous theories.

This caught Marion completely off-guard, cocking her head back and eyes widening at what Quil just said, “I…I didn’t think you would even consider it. You’ve always been against returning, some say to a fault. Why now?”

Quil looked up into the now dimly lit branches of the forest above, glimpsing an odd looking bird as it took off, warbling as if to announce the dawning of the day and to Quil the start of what he sensed would be a journey that would last much longer than a few months to home.

“Because I can’t deny what I’ve seen. And for what is ahead of us it will call for new ways of doing things and new ways of thinking, starting with abolishing our oldest fears and a long overdue homecoming. The Hall of Torvin should no longer be neglected.”

All the dragons looked at Quil, Shea the most intently, the most worried, before agreeing that this was what needed to be done. Quil looked over at Jason and then the girl, noting her dark complexion and that the tattered and well-worn rags she wore had been the farthest thing from rags, the material a rich, dark purple with the threads of distinctive silver embroidery still clinging to the garment’s hem and sleeves that even this amount of damage could not hide. Purple and silver with the arc of a wave and a pearl protected in its crest, the symbols of the family Layan. The Royals among royals, the most powerful human family in all of Avonous, the South Alliance and soon the powerful ocean dwelling county to the west known as Marsaria. And somehow one of this family had become a fire hatchling just like Jason. Quil knew her being chosen could not have been an accident and neither was her finding them and Jason saving her. It was not an option to put off finding out what and who these two really were anymore.

To Quil’s relief no one else had figured out that the girl was of the family Layan, but Jason would right away since he was formerly of the King’s Guard. And if anyone among them thought that explaining why they should accept a former dragon slayer as one of their own was going to be hard, explaining why a Layan should be was suicide. The history between the dragons and the Layan predated Torvin and it was a history that even made Quil visibly shutter. But this made finding her and in the condition she was in, was extremely important. To capture a dragon or have a fire hatchling in their midst would be one of the greatest victories and cruelties house Layan could achieve. This girl would have never been cast out; she had broken out. But first Quil had to make sure that neither Jason nor the girl revealed she was from Layan, not until after they had reached the Old Country and had more answers.

So in continuing to that end, Quil said, “But we should all rest and the girl should be tended too. Marion, do you have spare human clothes stashed here too? I’m worried the garment she is dressed in will be insufficient in keeping her dry or warm.”

Marion nodded, “Yes, they’re some of Joyce’s older ones but they look like they would fit her fine. I also have a few special cloaks that a friend of mine in Torvis made waterproof and are threaded with one of my special metals for protection.”

“Well prepared as always I see,” Quil said with a slight smile, “Manus, you can hand her to Marion so she can dress her. Otherwise, I think it is best we bed down and sleep before the hatchlings wake.”

Everyone nodded with Sarre adding, “We should probably rest in our natural form and set up a defensive perimeter with Manus and Marion turning whatever will provide protection into metal and stone. I can alter the landscape to help hide us. And being this deep in the woods, humans will be the least of our worries.”

“And we should travel in our counselor form. It won’t be as fast but it we be less noticeable from above and we will be able to travel by day rather than night,” Joyce also added.

“Then let’s finally call an end to this day,” Quil said as the dragons changed into their natural forms, with Sarre and Manus altering the camp for better protection and Marion as well after she changed the girl into an old brown dress and wrapped her in two of the cloaks as she felt too cold. They huddled around inside the camp with Sarre, Manus, and Marion on the outside, Shea and Quil in the interior with Joyce, Jason, and the girl at the center, all now asleep. But none of them noticed the pair of bright blue eyes watching them in the canopy above their owner flew away with another elongated warble.