"Clearly this is the place you should have been first," Wren said.

Raytris promised Myles that Captain Wren would have her fearful, but that prophecy had not yet come to pass. Myles was still bound as Wren led her, Raytris, and the band of Obsidian Hunters to an unimposing looking place, where Verdant Colony grunt workers filed paperwork. A few heads turned up at a captain and a commander appearing, as well as a group of Obsidian Hunters with a prisoner in tow. They didn't dare say anything though.

In Kit's letters to Myles, she wrote that she was working in a place like this. Myles hated to think of Kit toiling away in a place like this.

"Not to question your judgment, Captain," Raytris said.

"Then don't," Wren said.

"But shouldn't we be someplace more...on the field?" Raytris asked.

Wren sneered as she stopped, whirling on a heel to stand face to face with Raytris.

"You wish to pick up the trail of the ancient ones, yes? Particularly the path you've been following? The lead that, correct me if I'm wrong, that you lost when the sword left your possession?" Wren said.

"You are correct, Captain," Raytris said, looking downward.

Wren looked very pleased as she continued leading the group down the plain hallways. Myles looked around for anything that could be useful, but it was just boring Verdant Colony interiors, nothing hanging on the walls, no rooms visible that could give her any info.

All she had added benefit to Wren bringing them here; Raytris was clearly confused, and all her hype about Wren being this terrifying figure fell flat so far. Myles hoped she was deeply embarrassed about this, that brought her a bit of comfort.

"Here we are," Wren said, arriving at a plain door that looked like all the others in this place. But when she opened it, a cold wind blew from inside that sent shivers to Myles' very core.

It felt like stepping into another world. The drab offices and stations outside gave way to a rome that was all stone, and had a glowing pit in its center. Wren approached the pit.

"What is this?" Raytris asked.

"You have your means to chase the remnant traces of the ancient ones, your books, slabs, abandoned places, and I have my own." Wren said. "This is one of them."

Wren knelt down and whispered to the pit. Myles almost laughed at the silence that followed, but a horrid gurgling noise came from below, seemingly in response to Wren. Something bubbled and brewed, Myles could hear it, but she couldn't tell what.

"I see," Wren said. She rose and nodded at Raytris.

"Make the creature bleed," Wren said. "Jiru demands sacrifice."

"Gladly," Raytris said. She took Myles by her arms and before Myles could react, Raytris slashed a blade at her forearm. It wasn't a deep wound, but it stung. Wren made Raytris bring Myles closer to the pit. Myles stared into the abyss as her blood fell into it. The glow changed from a sickly green to a darker grayish hue.

"Show us where the igniter is," Wren said.

Smoke billowed up from the pit. In it, images began to flash. Blurry at first, but they quickly became clearer. Myles gasped when she saw a girl.

"Kit..." Myles said.

Myles' stomach felt like it did a backflip into a deep pit. Her sister was safe. Kit got the sword. They didn't appear to be in the Colony controlled city. She was with Esther, and someone else, and...a dragon?

"And there you have it," Wren said. "We just need to find out where they are, deal with them, and retrieve the sword."

"That's not possible," Raytris said. "We spent weeks figuring out where the sword was, and you just...? Wished for it?"

Myles almost snapped that she was the one who did all of the work there, but knew that would result in more of her blood spilling.

"My powers far exceed yours," Wren said.

She grinned at Myles, who was still staring at the girl who was blatantly family.

"Is that someone important to you? A sibling, perhaps? Oh, don't worry, I'll let you see her," Wren said. "And as soon as you're reunited, I'll let you watch as I kill her where she stands."

**

For as long as Kit had known Sora, she had no idea they were hiding a dragon. She watched the two as the group sat around a fire, with Sora brewing an apple cider.

“I didn’t think we’d make it this far, to be honest.” Sora said. “I don’t know what I want."

"You have to have some kind of goal," Serril said.

“I want to find my family.” Kit said softly.

“I’ll drink to that.” Sora said. They gave everyone a mug and poured the hot cider into it.

 Kit took a sip, it was warm, with a taste of apple and butter that was incredibly soothing in the cold. A shiver went down her spine; she couldn't help feeling like they were being watched.

To fight the feeling, Kit wandered around a bit. Her footsteps crunched in the snow. Her city’s winters were always mild, so they all tried to enjoy the rare snowstorms as much as they could. This place already was more snow than she was used to seeing. She relished every crunch her shoes made in the fluff all around.

It was the kind of snowfall where clumped together flakes crashed down, painting the world in their silence. She thought the latest building she passed looked just like the temple they'd used Ihli's sword in. Curiously, it made her feel like she was floating. She stepped into the gardens around the building, now just gray stone benches, boxes, and pillars at peace with being buried under the white haze.

“Someone…”

Kit heard a voice. It almost sounded like laughter at first. Kit cautiously walked forward until she saw a line of blood, violently against the peace of the storm. Kit could only barely make out that the voice wasn't laughing, but crying when a thud interrupted the noise. Then silence again.

“Hello?” Kit's eyes suddenly wouldn’t open, and her voice was gone. she tried to shout for help but couldn’t.

A far cry from the dream greeted her when she snapped awake. It was warm now, and there was no snow in the room she had been sleeping in. It took a few seconds of haziness to piece together how she got there.

Sora had found a decent enough building to rest in once we got over how the only blankets in the building were as stiff as boards. And that the beds were basically just stone slabs. So she got some real great sleep that night.

Serril volunteered to stay up and keep watch, as according to him he'd gotten a lot of sleeping done while stuck in the box waiting for Sora to let him out. The dragon noticed that Kit was the first awake of the group.

"Bad dream?" Serril asked.

"Y-yeah," Kit said.

Serril confirmed to us that the ship was beyond repair. It wasn’t a huge loss for Kit, she'd have been OK with never flying again, especially in that thing. They were stuck walking from here on out.

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