Today was a busy day. First, I had to go to the Saddler to take care of everything dragon-related. Then, I would go on patrol together with Kindle and Iserth. Exciting! When we returned, I would go back to the arena with my Eimid and Aros, like yesterday.

The boy who had attacked me was sitting in The Pit. Aros had told me that Tristian considered himself quite something, even though he had never crossed the line that far before.

Normally it is not accepted for guild members to attack each other (only during trainings Brutheo would turn a blind eye) and for that act, there are two possible punishments:

1) the death penalty

2) banishment.

Brutheo could easily kill traitors, but not Aros. He just can't do it. The leader often has a hard time. Kindle told me during the bonfire party that Brutheo gave his spirit to Aros after his death, so Brutheo was in his head every second, and came forward when he felt like it. Tristian would appear in the Dragon Hall tomorrow for his trial. Yes, attacking other members was taken very seriously. Aros had been acting like an overprotective mother lately. He seemed to be present everywhere I went, 'by accident'. He kept a close eye on me, whether I was hanging around with Kindle, Rex, Rellian or whoever. I don't like it when people are always looking over my shoulder and pointing out to me when I do something wrong.After my appointment with the Saddler, I went to my meet-up with Kindle and his companion. As usual, Aros was watching from a distance, leaning against a tree, his hawkish gaze fixed on our little patrol. Kindle gave me an encouraging nod and took off with Iserth. I looked apprehensively at the white dragon standing next to me. It looked at me with his ice-blue eyes expectantly. I looked up: there was Kindle circling around on his fire dragon, a silhouette in the distance. Hesitantly I put my hand on the saddle, stuck my foot in one of the stirrups and looked at Eimid. The wind dragon was rumbling, and he seemed to be encouraging me. I sighed deeply and propped myself up against the ground. Eimid took off. Kindle laughed loudly and I clutched tightly at the saddle. We were flying. I saw Eastborne slowly fade away until it was a tiny dot in the distance. I carefully relaxed. Kindle was looking straight ahead. We were flying towards the sea again.

No special things happened. Kindle showed me the borders of the different guilds. The blue guild, Riverfort, owned a huge network of rivers, waterfalls and streams. The yellow guild, Goldvein, lived in a tundra-like area, which reminded me of the savannas in Africa. The red guild, Glimmerfelt, lived in more hilly and mountainous terrain. The brown guild, Oakencall, controlled the small swamp and spruce forests that surrounded it. Our guild had the jungle and a good portion of the coast. Ecra, or at least this part, was neatly divided.

After our tour, we returned to base camp. By now I'd become more used to the presence of the flying reptile, which I would have to consider a pet, protector, and friend. We landed on the strip of grass at the edge of the camp. The first thing I noticed was the hustle and bustle, the tumult, and the tension in the village. What happened? As soon as we descended, Aros and Rellian came running towards me.

"Tristian! He's escaped!"

What???

Aros began his story. He was in the forest with Rellian and Rex when he heard the commotion. When they came back to the centre of the village, the cell door of the pit had been broken open and Tristian escaped with his gang. The guard was discovered injured. 

"We have to find them!", I said, "they can't just get away with this, can they?". Kindle angrily shook his head. "You don't understand. They're as good as dead now. They're smart and stupid at the same time: probably went off the path to avoid us, and ran into a Vortexia by now." Aros seemed to silently agree with him. "We should try!", I said again. I looked desperately at Rellian, whose forehead was drawn into wrinkles from pondering. He nodded. "Yes, we have to try. They left with barely any weapons; we can tell by our weapons inventory. Maybe we can still save them. I can lead a search patrol."

Aros looked thoughtfully at the dragon grower. "You're right." I looked up happily, ready to counter anything that would get in the way. However, that feeling was quickly squashed by the guild leader. "Nena, you stay here in the camp with me. Rellian, take Rexus with you for sure. Pick out a few other members over fifteen yourself. Come back after two hours, in case you don't find anyone." Rellian nodded and then ran off back into the crowd to look for Rexus and a few other people. Damn. I looked at the immense crowd. "Does anyone know where he ran off to?", Kindle wanted to know. A boy pointed to the forest to the east of the camp, "He fled towards Tuynn Bay, which unfortunately is where most of the Vortexiae are, both for us and for him." I shivered. Every guild had one or more herds in their areas. If they could catch Tristian, he would become a Vortexia himself if he were bitten. we had stripped him of his weapons and without protection he would not get far. I secretly hoped that his friends were smart enough and that they had at least taken one weapon with them.

Aros joined the conversation, looking at the sun, which was already sinking behind the Dragon Hall. It looked like we weren't going to the arena today.  "No one is allowed to go outside the center of the village, understand?"

He looked at me with emphasis. 'As if I would leave now,' I thought to myself. "Come, you sleep in the Dragon Hall for now." When I looked at him strangely, he continued, "What, would you rather sleep in one cabin with the rest of the Dragon Riders?" I mimicked a puke sound and despite the situation, we laughed. I hoped that no one from the patrol would get hurt. And despite my anger, I hoped they could also bring Tristian back in one piece. I took one last look at the centre of Eastborne. At the edges of the glade, giant torches were lit to scare off the Vortexiae, who could not stand fire and light. I followed Kindle to the Dragon Hall with Aros' gaze piercing my back. 

We walked up another spiral staircase that led to the private rooms and storage rooms. The youngest children also slept here in several barracks. Kindle led me into a private bedroom with only one bed. 

"I'm going out now, with Aros; that's my duty. Try to get some sleep."

I sat down wearily on the bed. "Please wake me up when they are back, please..."

Kindle hesitated briefly, but then nodded resolutely. He gave me a quick hug and then left the room. My dreams were filled with monsters I had never seen. I woke up very often, bathing in sweat, and listened intently, waiting for the patrol to return. But it remained silent. I looked at the clock: more than two hours had already passed. They should have been back by now. With a sigh, I sat up and got up to get a glass of water. I had been too lazy to change, so I was still wearing my clothes from the day before.

Suddenly, I heard a shout outside, followed by more noise and people talking.I dropped my glass and ran to the stairs, almost falling off, to the outside world. They were back!  They were back! They were ba...

The small patrol dragged three bodies to the group of boys who had remained awake. Kindle held his hand in front of his mouth. They had been beaten up terribly, their bodies ripped open and emptied, unrecognizable. I swallowed my disgust. There was one body too few. Rexus spoke to Aros: "There was nothing left of Tristian... he belongs to the Vortex now." Aros looked at the bodies, clearly holding back tears to stay strong for the other crying boys. "Get the burning pyre ready...I don't want our brothers to come back from the dead."

Aros and Kindle walked away with the other boys and the bodies. It was safest that they were burned. I was glad they didn't notice that I had heard everything.

"H-Hey...I'm in a situation..."

I was startled when I saw Rellian. He had his hands clasped around his wrist, from which blood was clearly seeping.  How did no one notice him? I ran up to him and grabbed him just fast enough before he sat down on the ground. "What happened?", I asked urgently, fear racing through my body. "Hey, hey, everything's okay...", said Rellian, "I tripped...., over a stone, yeah, I tripped...".

I clenched my jaw, "I don't believe a word of it, don't even try."

Rellian slowly let go of his wrist. Teeth marks became visible around his entire forearm. I drew away pale. He made himself smaller and sobbed. "Please don't tell them anything, please, I'm not going to get sick, I promise, I promise please..." His words fizzled out as I embraced him. "Please, please..." He kept whispering.