Serena's POV:

The Dranek paused as he turned his head towards the trees and gave several loud whistles. He slowly unsheathed his sword before carefully putting it down in the grass. He also put his bow and arrows on the grass.

The Dranek watched me for a moment before slowly walking towards me in a non-threatening manner. I backed up a few more steps in confusion. I had no idea what he was doing or what to expect. His chest armor and arm guards clearly showed that he was a fighter. I knew his strength outranked mine by leagues. He wouldn't need weapons to kill me.

Rustling in the trees around me alerted me to more arrivals. Three other unarmed Dranek were slowly approaching from different directions. I stopped where I was, shaking slightly in nerves. There was nowhere for me to go. I thought this race left a path open for others to run through? I was quite surrounded.

"Easy, we mean you no harm." My eyes darted over to a smaller female approaching from the side. Her soft high-pitched voice was clear.

The other three stopped, but this female continued forward slowly with her empty hands visible. She wore more clothing than the male, although her shirt was closer to a halter top and her leggings only went halfway down to her knees. They all towered over me with their height, which didn't help with my nerves.

She approached slowly, obviously trying to keep from alarming me further. "I am Saphira. We will not harm you. This forest is dangerous for one such as yourself to be wandering around in alone. You were obviously separated from your group and you are quite some distance behind our lines. What is your name?"

They were probably quite curious as to how an unarmed non-combatant like myself had managed to get past the battlefront. I hadn't even been aware that I was on the wrong side of the battle line, and there was no way to escape them. Perhaps they would take it easy on me if I cooperated. They hadn't attacked me on sight at any rate.

I ducked my head nervously, "I'm Serena." The bond was twisting with my nerves, I hoped that it wasn't affecting Darien too much. His temper was not an easy thing for others to bear. My heart throbbed at the thought of him.

Saphira's eyes reminded me of a cat, although they were more of a golden-amber shade. They had an odd glitter to them, like sunlight hitting a clear glass marble. A quick glance at the other three watching showed that it was a trait likely shared by all Dranek.

"Pleased to meet you. Please allow us to escort you to our camp. Honest, none will harm a singer."

That startled me, although I didn't show it. I had not been singing, so why had she called me a singer? There was no way to decline gracefully, and I had to admit that their approach was preferable to being forcefully bound and hauled back for an interrogation. I nodded slowly, although I was sure they saw my uneasiness.

Saphira gestured to the path and I started walking. The other three ranged around us further out as they alertly watched the trees. Saphira walked beside me while giving me some space, "How did you get so far out here?"

I had expected that question. My voice was quiet, but I was sure that their hearing was excellent, "I am not entirely sure. I got separated from my mate when some rat-like creatures attacked our group, although I eventually managed to escape. I wasn't aware that I was south of the battle line."

I left the Queen and her people out of the discussion, lest they try to attack them. They could kill as many of the rat creatures as they wanted as far as I was concerned. Saphira's eyes focused on me, "Chosen mate or soulmate?"

They knew about soulmates? Apparently, they did. Hopefully, I didn't jump out of the frying pan and into the fire. "Soulmate."

She frowned in concern, "Being apart isn't good for soulmates. Doesn't the separation hurt?"

My wince was involuntary and spoke for me. I had been apart from Darien for over half a day now and my heart was far too aware of that fact. I turned away slightly to compose myself. She watched me in sympathy, "What does he look like? Do you know where he might be?"

I knew they had no chance of harming Darien, so I spoke freely, "He is about average height with dark brown hair and blue eyes. His name is Darien, and he will be in a bad mood since the last time he saw me was when I fell into a hole. He is in that direction, probably north of the Tarulk war camp." I pointed towards where the bond was pulling.

Saphira glanced at one man pointedly and flicked one of her pointed ears. He disappeared into the trees. She turned back to me, "We will send scouts north to see if we can locate him for you."

I didn't understand her concern, although she seemed quite genuine. I spoke hesitantly, "Can I ask why you would do this for me?"

Saphira looked at me for a long moment before commenting, "You have never encountered our people before, have you?"

I shook my head. She nodded thoughtfully, "I was wondering about that. Any singer who has encountered Dranek before is never scared of us. Our race values singers and fiercely defends them from any threat. You need your mate, so we will find him."

I was more confused than before. She didn't seem to have any problem with my questions. In fact, she seemed relieved that I was talking with her at all. I tried again, hesitant about the topic I was picking, "May I ask why you call me a singer?"

Her golden eyes blinked in surprise before she tilted her head and examined me. My nervousness grew under her gaze, although she wasn't hostile or aggressive. It was more like I had taken her by surprise.

She spoke slowly, "A rather rare ability occasionally appears now and again. The one who has it is able to amplify or even reverse processes in the natural world to some degree. They do so by singing special songs. We call those people singers."

This was creepy. She had described my song magic almost perfectly and had somehow attached that label to me when I had only spoken two words. She had no doubt at all either. I was still cautious though, "How are you so certain that I have this ability?"

She glanced at me in partial amusement, probably aware that I knew of my ability, but was checking their story. I had never been good at lying...

"To any Dranek, a singer's eyes glow. It is quite unmistakable. All children are taught to watch for the signs and what they mean. We haven't come across a singer for several centuries, but any will know what you are the moment they see your eyes."

If my eyes glowed in the same fashion that a Tarulk's did in my sight, then it was no wonder that she was so certain. They seemed to know a lot about my ability though... "I have never heard of another person with this ability. What else do you know about it?"

Her face was thoughtful as we kept walking. The other two remained silent as they kept a close eye on our surroundings.

"Any with this ability lose their ability to fight or defend themselves, which is why we are protective of singers. The ability and tendencies do vary slightly depending on the race of the singer. In general, the songs the singers prefer to sing usually help improve the world in small ways. Most love gardening and the natural world since the untouched wilderness is normally more in balance and the singers subconsciously sense that."

If I had ever written a journal, then I would have been certain that this oddly personable and likable blue-skinned lady had studied it. I nodded slowly, "I have felt that."

Saphira nodded, more relaxed now that I wasn't practically shaking in my shoes. "Now you know that you have nothing to fear of any Dranek. Our camp is just up ahead."

We rounded one last bend and tents came into sight. I was nervous, but decided to trust Saphira's claim. Saphira never left my side as she guided me through the camp. The camp struck me as being much smaller than I had thought it would be. Tents were scattered around and it didn't look like any of them were used for sleeping. They had food, supplies, or other things in them.

Movement above caught my attention and I blinked in surprise as I noticed that several hammocks hung in the large trees. Numerous Dranek were relaxing on the tree branches as opposed to on the ground. More than half of their camp was in the trees. It was all I could do to not gawk in astonishment.

Any who spotted me did a double take before they watched me with curiosity and excitement. They seemed delighted to see me.

It was a stark contrast to any Tarulk I had come across, but it still made me a bit uneasy. I wasn't used to being the center of attention - and I had certainly caught their attention. Thankfully, most were polite enough to not stare.

Saphira guided me to a tent and passed me a plate with some food before leading me to a wood stump by a campfire. She also had a plate for herself as she sat on a log. She nodded to the plate in my hands, "Those foods should be safe for you, but it would be wise to purify them just in case."

Talk about being put on the spot. I was hungry though, I hadn't eaten anything since that piece of fruit at breakfast and it had to be near lunch by now. I felt more self-conscious about humming since they actually knew what the hum was. It hadn't been as bad with the Tarulk since they had no clue what I was doing.

There were only a handful of Dranek in sight, although Saphira was the only one near me. The food looked good. The temptation and lack of observers made me a bit less self-conscious. I hummed the purification spell and it ran its course in the usual ten seconds without making any changes. The Dranek had been correct, everything on my plate had been safe for me.

I took a bite of the food as Saphira also ate. I asked, "How did you know which foods might be safe for me?"

She tilted her head, "Dranek are fairly in tune with the world around us. We can look at an animal and can tell which foods it usually eats. When I consider you, some foods just seem wrong, as if they don't fit. If you don't mind me asking, you were not born on this world, were you?"

Any Tarulk knew the answer to that, so it wasn't exactly a secret. I shook my head, "No. I only recently came here."

She nodded in contemplation, "Earth, correct? I believe that is the only planet that humans are still found on."

I nodded in surprise. How did they know about my planet? Apparently, they were also able to tell me apart from the Tarulk. I had not expected that. The food was good and I glanced around at the occasional passing Dranek as I ate.

They were all rather similar in appearance, and each of them sported light ice blue skin. They all had the same short dark blue hair in a combed-back style. I could also see that they had a ridge of hair going down their spine all the way to the tip of their tufted tail.

They could climb like squirrels and were very much at home in the trees. They were also quite good at disappearing into the foliage. Their light armor was mostly greens, browns, and light blues that blended in beautifully with the forest.

A handful of rather heavily armed Dranek joined us around the fire. Their weapons made me nervous at first, but their expressions held no threat when they glanced at me. They looked more protective than anything else as they watched our surroundings.

We finished our food and Saphira turned to me, "We have warm showers here if you want to clean up."

I was still covered in mud from my involuntary trip underground, so getting clean sounded really tempting. I replied, "I would like that, thank you."

Saphira rose to her feet and guided me through the camp. The handful of armed Dranek ranged around us, ensuring that no possible danger could approach unseen. Considering we were in the middle of their camp, this confused me.

We stopped at a tent for a few moments and the Dranek female there miraculously managed to produce clean clothing that fit me. It was a style I had seen the Tarulk wear, but certainly I wasn't about to complain. Considering that I had not seen any Dranek wearing anything similar to my clothing, not to mention the difference in size, it was rather startling to say the least.

Saphira guided me to another tent, "The shower is in there. No one will enter it once you close the flap, so you can rest easy. I will be back in a bit, but take your time. If you need anything, just call, these five will be nearby."

I nodded shyly before entering the tent. It would be some time before I got accustomed to this race who seemed rather thrilled to have found me. It took me a bit to work out the foreign shower controls, but the warm water was worth it.

My heart ached and I wondered if they would actually be able to find Darien since he was in what the Dranek would consider to be enemy territory. Looking for a brown-haired man with a bad temper somewhere to the north wasn't exactly the best clues to go on. I missed him so much...