"Maaaamaaa?" The confused girl called again, louder this time. She scrunched up her tiny face, as the last of the crystal casing crumbled into chalk on top of her. The girl grumbled gibberish to herself, blinking and winking as she wiped it off with her pudgy little hands.

Dasha moved to block the girl's view of her mother, spreading her tattered wings for extra cover.

"Sweetling, you need to come with me now. Your... Your mama told me to, okay?"

The girl hopped up, wobbling slightly as she walked over to Dasha, completely accepting of this. Young enough that it didn't occur to her otherwise. It made Dasha's heart ache in a funny, flip-flop sort of way.

"Red?" The girl curiously asked, as she pointed at the plague marks streaking through Dasha's black wings.

Ah, so she didn't know or understand what those were yet.

"Yes. Red." Dasha nodded, too drained to start crying again, which was probably for the best. She slipped her muddy fingers around the girl's tiny, chalky hand, and slowly guided her out of the cavern.

"What's your name, sweetling?"

"Fia!" The girl proudly announced.

"Fia's nice, but it's a nickname. What's your full name?"

Fia stared up at her, eyes dark and uncomprehending.

Dasha tried to explain further. "Is it short for Fiarre or Finari or Filla or something else?"

"Uhhh... I dunno." Fia shrugged, wholly unconcerned. Her name was Fia. That was what Mama had called her.

Dasha didn't think she had the energy for this sort of discussion right now. The trek continued in silence, save for the soft shuffle of their feet over the sandy cavern stones.

Eventually, they heard footsteps echoing towards them.

"Noonin!"

"Dash- Ahuh?" Noonin gaped at the small child.

For her part, Fia was hiding behind Dasha, afraid of this stranger. It struck Dasha as odd, given how trusting she'd been earlier, but now was not the time to unravel that particular mystery.

"Long story, you first." Dasha quietly muttered.

"I found the exit. That's literally all. It's this way."

"Oh."

Dasha sighed, and quietly told him as much of what happened as she could without young Fia overhearing. Fia was determined to stick close to Dasha but avoid Noonin, so it was easier and harder than expected, as the girl kept dodging and weaving around her.

It was a long walk out.

But finally, fresh air filtered into the stagnant cave, and they were greeted by warm rays of sunlight on a cold and bitter day. Dasha hugged Fia closer. The mountains were no place to let a child wander off.

Noonin squinted at their surroundings. Rocky terrain and sparse shrubbery, with grey-green fuzz covering everything and mist fogging up the distance.

"Do you see anything?" He asked, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the light.

Dasha sucked in a breath as she looked around. The wind sent her torn wing flapping uncontrollably, making her hiss in pain as she tried to hold it still.

"No, nothing."

Getting lost was a death sentence out here.

Dasha yelped, as something warm brushed her injured wing.

"Fia, get away from there!"

Fia looked up at her with watery eyes.

"Why isn't it fixing? Everything else fixes." She sniffled, wiping her nose with a glowing palm.

Dasha looked at Noonin, wide eyed.

Noonin looked at Dasha, slack-jawed.

"She's a mage."

"Children can't be mages."

Noonin pointed at Fia. "That is mage craft. Right there."

"Children don't have the capacity... Noonin she's too young! This is dangerous! It could hurt her-"

"Dasha, you're scaring the girl."

Right. Dasha took a deep breath.

It didn't hurt.

Confused, she took another.

She spun in a semi-circle, inspecting herself under the clear light of day.

"Uhh... Dasha? What are ya doing there?"

"I'm not hurt. I mean, I'm still hurt, but not as hurt. I mean-" Flustered, Dasha waved at herself and Fia.

Fia was mostly staring at them, confused.

Noonin rubbed his head, wincing as he hit a sore patch of scales. Yeah, this day just kept getting better and better.

In the end, they chose a direction and started walking, if only because going was better than staying.

"Hey Noonin, do ya think these pieces of scrap- I mean, perfectly up-to-date radios- could reach Krell?"

Noonin took one look at her and laughed.

Then he took both radios and started to tinker with them. Couldn't hurt to try, right?

"OW!"

"Noonin..."

"No comment." The man flatly replied, sticking a burnt finger into his mouth.

Fia giggled, as she watched the adults banter.

"It's not funny."

"...It's a little funny."

"Dasha, I love you. Shut up before I push you off this mountain."

"Ah, not in front of little ears!" She teased in a sing-song voice.

"Really? I wasn't cussing or anything!"

"Dark humor is inappropriate for children." She insisted, hand still tight around Fia's.

"Disagree."

"Fine, you can argue it out with Youna when we get back home."

Dasha cringed the second the words left her mouth.

Noonin just gave her a weak smile, before looking at the ground.

The conversation was pretty much murdered after that.

No one said anything about mages or mothers or monsters. They just quietly tried to navigate the misty mountain terrain, freezing up at every distant shape or sound. Even Fia, who didn't fully understand the situation, had picked up on the tension. She got over her shyness of Noonin quickly enough, hugging him or Dasha as they walked.

Another Gyr- Or perhaps the very same one- Soared overhead as they huddled beneath a small outcropping like scared mice. Dasha wrapped her wings around the others as they pressed against the rocks. Noonin could practically taste the thick, dusty smell that clung to her hair from the cavern. Fia squeezed her eyes tightly shut.

The three of them waited, for the monster to pass, for its shadow to be lifted, for the landscape to be clear again.

They counted heartbeats and deep breaths, and then they moved on. There was no end to be seen, not to the fog, and not to the mountainside. Dasha wiped cold sweat out of her eyes for what seemed like the hundredth time, as she looked up and around them. Fia had long ago been passed to Noonin, for safety's sake, but at this point, they all needed to rest. Fia flopped onto the ground and the rest followed suit. Dasha patted herself dry on the grass, keeping a fair distance away from the child. If Fia caught the plague...

They rested for as long as they dared, then they started onwards. It wasn’t long before Dasha's eyes widened.

"There!" She whispered, pointing in the distance. The faint outline of a metal spire rose out of the mist.

"Woo!" Noonin cheered, as quietly but as enthusiastically as possible.

Dasha felt something tug on her wing. She looked down to see Fia staring back up at her. The girl pointed to the tower.

"Is Mama there?"

Dasha winced. Strengthened by their new hope of survival, and whatever worrying mage craft that Fia had worked earlier, she scooped up the little girl, balancing her against her hip as they walked.

"Sweetling..." She sighed, cradling her good wing around Fia. "There's something you should know about your mama..."

Noonin pretended not to hear the rest of the conversation. Someone needed to keep an eye out for monsters as they traveled.

Mercifully enough, any monsters kept their distance, as the group traced the route from one spire to the next, until they reached the small underground bunker where the spire maintenance workers were expected to sleep and live for the next season while on the job.

Dasha, Noonin, and Krell had only been about halfway through their term.

Noonin fumbled with turning the hatch door open. He couldn't do it with one hand. Dasha set Fia down, and the young girl curled up on a rock, ducking her head in her arms.

Wishing she could do anything to make the miserable child feel better, Dasha sighed and stepped up to the hatch. The rusty metal wheel squealed loudly as she forced it open, revealing a rickety ladder that led downwards in the narrow shaft beneath.

"Ey! Krell, ya down there?" She called, as she stepped inside and climbed down into the gloomy bunker.

Silence.

Krell could be anywhere, really. He didn’t have to be down in the bunker.

Dasha felt her stomach flip. Her eyes weren't adjusting to the dark.

"Don't come down here!" She yelled, as she heard Noonin's boot upon the ladder.

"Okay? Why, what's wrong?" Noonin's muffled voice echoed down from above.

Dasha didn’t answer. Something smelled wrong too. She reached for the heavy metal pipe they kept at the ladder's base, along with the lamp and matches that only Krell would normally have reason to use.

Because of course, the bunker didn’t have any better lighting provided. That would be a 'waste of money' and all.

Not finding the lamp or the matches, Dasha gripped the pipe tightly with both hands, quietly creeping forwards. She heard glass crunch underfoot. Ah. That would be the lamp.

As she went further into the unnatural dark, the smell thickened, hanging heavily in the air. Something warm and liquid squished beneath her boots.

Dasha knew that whatever this was, it could not be good. But she had to be sure Krell wasn't down here. She would never forgive herself if he needed her help and she abandoned him.

Shoving away the thousands of worst-case scenarios stampeding through her brain, Dasha took another wary step forwards. Her hand caught on something sticky, strands of it peeling away as she pulled back.

In the darkness, something scuttled.

Dasha didn't know how she knew, not when it was pitch black and completely soundless. But she knew.

A rush of air to the right was her only warning, before something large and furry tackled her to the ground.