The Chief stood up and drew a large shaft from behind his throne. At the end of the shaft was a large spearhead with a black-stained tip. It looked particularly deadly. Turning to Bianca, Chief Penn resumed his authoritative tone. "Bianca, I am going to prepare for battle. You are to accompany Captain Bastian and bring Amadeus and his friends back to White Harrow. You leave the moment the Captain has given his troops deployment orders. I and the other captains will lead the troops to White Harrow tonight. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir," Bianca responded with a salute.

"And don't forget to return their weapons. They must as well make themselves useful when the fighting starts."

Leading them out, Bianca brought Amadeus and his companions to the Aviary, where most of the Eadren were stabled. The air smelled different in the Aviary – a distinct blend of one part bird and one part hay. Near the entrance, they found Bastian. He was fully dressed in his Avianath armor and feeding his Eadren from the palm of his hand. "There you go Bob, that's a good boy." He patted the Eadren lovingly with his other hand.

"Your Eadren's name is Bob?" Rei asked playfully. "Does he have a last name? Bob the terrible? Bob the mighty? Bob the destroyer?"

"Told you we should have thrown him down the cliff," Bianca reminded her brother. He ignored the both of them.

"Amadeus, can I have a word with you?" Bastian stood up and wiped his hands on a piece of cloth. "Alone." He added as he gestured for Amadeus to follow him outside of the Aviary.

"I'll be right back," Amadeus called out to his companions and followed Bastian out. They walked past the rows and rows of wooden posts where Eadrens had been leashed to. Hay cluttered the floor to serve as warm bedding for the animals. Wooden buckets at the side of each post served as drinking troughs for the Eadren. As they passed, the Eadrens cooed at them and flapped their wings.

Soon both Bastian and Amadeus were back outside in the cold. The winds blew strongly against them, and the already cold atmosphere felt even colder. Amadeus shivered; it felt like someone had dumped a bucket of snow down his tunic.

"That Rokuth with you," Bastian started. "Why does he call you master?"

Amadeus glanced at Bastian questioningly. Why is he interested in One? "Well, I found him in the Rokuth town near here. He was battling in the arena, and losing badly. When I found out he was going to die, I couldn't just let things be y'know? So I traded for him with Chief Dabos of the Rokuth."

"Chief Dabos? He does love his 'biznas'..." grinned Bastian.

Amadeus laughed and nodded. "Yes, he is quite the character. He told me if I ever went back to his town, he would crush me."

"Well, we have something in common then. He said the same thing to me too. What got him so provoked?"

"Well, since I traded for One, there was no one to finish the fight with the other Rokuth. So, he threw me into the arena. I guess he wasn't happy when I survived."

"You beat a Rokuth in a one-on-one fight?" Bastian raised his voice in disbelief as he eyeballed Amadeus from head to toe. The skinny commoner standing next to him defeating a Rokuth? Even veteran Avianath riders were not foolish enough to go one-on-one with a Rokuth. They were born and bred for battle. Rokuths were a standard three to one formation – every Avianath rider knew that.

"Well... yes. I had to. If I didn't, what would happen to all the commoners in White Harrow? They would be wiped out."

Bastian pursed his lips. Amadeus had said it with such sincerity and simplicity. He just had to do it, so he did. It was a fact. What an interesting commoner. Moments passed as they walked silently past a row of tents, leaving two sets of footprints in the snow. A group of children stared oddly at Amadeus as they walked past. Not many outsiders came to the Jagged Peaks, and Amadeus stood out like a sore thumb. They whispered to each other in hushed tones with curiosity in their eyes.

Bastian was the first to break the silence. "There's something you should know about that Rokuth you call One. There's more to him than meets the eye."

Amadeus looked inquiringly Bastian. His laidback demeanor was replaced by one of seriousness. He must want to tell me something very important. "Go on then, don't keep me in suspense. What should I know about him?"

"Have you ever noticed the rock on his back?"

"Sure," replied Amadeus. "I know it's really tiny compared to the ones on the other Rokuths. That wasn't why I traded for him. I did it because I value life. A life is valuable, it doesn't matter whose it is."

"Here's the thing; it's small, but that's not why I asked you about it."

"So... why do you ask about it?" Curiosity welled up inside Amadeus, who was now hooked on his every word.

"The rock, it's black and shiny. There's only one substance in the world like that – Palladium."

"Palla-what?"

"Palladium," repeated Bastian. "It's a very rare metal that is denser than anything else known to man."

"I've never heard of it. How do you know about its existence?"

"Not many do. Our researchers discovered it when we were studying compounds that could counter the extremely dense icicles forged in Izenth. We still have no idea how the Izenth forge those ridiculously tough icicles and yet keep them so light. Those icicles are tougher than any other metal in the known world; except for Palladium of course."

"Why do you make all your equipment with silver then? Wouldn't it make sense to make everything with Palladium? You'd be unstoppable."

Bastian smiled knowingly. "Yes, that would seem like the obvious way to go. We couldn't do that for two reasons. Firstly, Palladium is very rare. Even the amount strapped to One's back would take many years to find and extract. Secondly, Palladium is extremely dense. If I wore an armor made of Palladium it would crush every bone in my body."

"So, what you are saying is that One's rock..."

"... is heavier and larger than any other possible boulder strapped to any Rokuth's back." Bastian nodded as he finished Amadeus' sentence for him.

"But that means that..."

"Yes, One may just be the strongest Rokuth in the world. No, scratch that - the strongest being in the world."

Amadeus eyes widened. One didn't need saving at all. He wasn't weak. He could have crushed Thudza by himself easily but instead chose to be beaten. "So that's how One defeated the Onyx Assassin so easily," he muttered to himself.

"There is one man in our tribe that is strong enough to wield Palladium – Chief Penn. On the legendary spear – the Blackbird, there is a trace amount of Palladium..." Bastian bent down to pick up a tiny pebble, the size of a pea. He rolled it between his fingers to show Amadeus. "Just about this much was forged into the silver tip of the Blackbird. Due to how heavy Palladium is, the spear is no longer balanced. Many Avianath have tried, but no one else had both the strength and skill to wield the Blackbird, only Chief Penn."

Amadeus nodded silently, wondering if One knew of the immense power he possessed. Above him, the sun shone brightly,

"Come on. It's already midday. Let's head back to the Aviary. We should leave now if we want to make it back before the sun sets; it's half a day's ride from here."

When Amadeus and Bastian made it back to the Aviary, there was a commotion inside as Eadren squawked and fluttered their wings violently.

"What's going on in here?" Bastian asked, running to the source of the disturbance. Amadeus followed closely behind him.

"Deb can't seem to carry the Rokuth," Bianca frowned at her Eadren. "I have no idea what's up with her."

"He's too heavy," Bastian laughed. "Look at what's strapped on his back, sis."

"What do you mean, it's just a black ro..." Bianca gasped, unable to finish her sentence.

"You got it now," Bastian nodded. "We'll need to take two of the spare Eadren to carry him."

"Are you sure two Eadren can carry him? That Palladium on his back looks huge."

"Eadren are extremely strong. I'm pretty sure two Eadren can carry him. We'll use the carrier to even out the load," Bastian replied while pointing at a yoke attached to a wooden frame and straps. "Come, I'll help you hook them up."

The Avianath sibilngs fumbled with the yoke beams and straps for several minutes before they managed to secure two unwilling Eadrens.

"Bianca, are you sure One can sit on them?" asked One worriedly. "One not want to hurt another Eadren."

"Another?" Bastian asked.

"Uhh... yeah. He kind of broke one of the Eadren's backs earlier," Bianca explained. "Thankfully it wasn't Deb or I'd break his back!"

"Okay, get on the carrier One." Bastian gestured for him to climb on. One hesitantly swung one leg over the carrier to climb on. It creaked under his weight but held steady. The two Eadrens eyed One nervously as he sat on the carrier.

"One is on!" One cheered enthusiastically.

Izumi let out a sigh of relief, thankful that the carrier worked and no other Eadrens were injured by them today. She had a soft spot for animals.

"Okay Bianca, the two Izenth's are with you. I'll take Amadeus. Get on your mounts!" Bastian commanded in an authoritative tone. Everyone mounted up quickly, sensing the urgency in his voice. Amadeus climbed onto Bob and sat behind Bastian. He held onto the saddle to steady himself.

"You aren't afraid of flying are you?" Bastian turned back to ask Amadeus.

"Are you kidding? I've flown many times before."

Bastian raised an eyebrow questioningly. "I'm not even going to ask." He whipped the reins and his Eadren soared into the sun. 

Author's Note: As promised, a little insight on One before we head back to White Harrow. I wonder what Amadeus will find when he is back?