What a horrible child.

"Which child? Lottie or the spoiled birdie who wanted to trade her bracelet for your life?"

Koa growled and scratched his ear with his back foot. The birdie.

Koa's voice rang clearly through Aurnia's head as the two of them scampered down the cramped hallways and back into the bustling kitchen. She stood to the side, making way for a young servant who was busy balancing a plate of roasted goose peppered with carrots and potatoes. They shared a small smile as Aurnia's hand quickly shot out to block Koa's paw which now hovered stealthily over a sauce boat filled to the brim with thick cream.

Aurnia hummed. "Gloria is passionate about the things she cares about. If only her father would direct that focus towards something a little more productive."

I still don't like her.

Aurnia chuckled and tapped the centre of his forehead. "Remember, don't let others and their unkindness cloud the goodwill you hold within you."

Aileen beckoned from the other side of the room, her hands busied by the two bowls of steaming soup that she handed over without much comment. Aurnia nodded a short thanks before placing the smaller bowl down onto the ground for Koa.

She watched Aileen bustle around the room. The older woman's soul glimmered with a fire that had been nurtured by the hands of time and with every word she uttered, Aurnia felt a pang of loneliness. Few people could manage to dole out so much care without giving up part of themselves. Yet Aileen moved easily amongst the people around her. Each of her suggestions was met with a smile, with one young woman even moving out of the way to let her fill a pie.

Someone chuckled and she turned to see one of the young men from earlier on emerge from behind the massive kitchen table with his left hand cupped over a small wooden box. He slowly approached, then stopped and looked at Aurnia. She only smiled and motioned for him to come closer. He flushed and knelt before Koa's bowl with a mischievous glint in his eyes. Koa uttered a low growl, looping his tail around the bowl protectively.

The man wasn't deterred. Instead beaming and skillfully whisking the bowl out from between Kao's waiting claws. "I did some thinking and decided that it wouldn't be fair to withhold something that you helped us catch." He unveiled the box with a small flourish and Aurnia could not help but grin. There was no harm in letting her tiny friend experience the finer things in life, and lobster was the perfect place to start.

The young man tipped the contents into Koa's bowl and the sinyo began to happily hop around the room. Aurnia laughed and turned to thank the young man but he only met her eye and shrugged. "The mayor wanted the lobster shredded and served in a soup. He won't notice if a few pieces are missing."

She nodded, thankful for the warmth that Aileen's turnip soup brought on. As much as the taste made her want to shrivel into her boots, Aurnia had to admit that the bustle of a kitchen reminded her of home. The time before the Great War often flooded her memories. But now she found herself longing for the laughter of her sisters.

Youngest of all daughters and touched by the gods. Her mother had always said she was lucky. But now Aurnia wasn't sure how much faith she had in her mother's confidence. The gods were finicky. Their gifts came with impossible conditions and as Aurnia had grown up, she'd begun to doubt her mother's role as the priestess of the Astos Mountains.

Aurnia pondered the long nights she'd spent alone, wandering and searching for the answers to the glowing frost that often coated the doors outside her mother's study. Her fingers twitched. It had always been cold around her mother and after one particularly successful night of snooping around, she had seen the glacial wolves pacing by her mother's feet. They had called to her, said a name she'd failed to recognise. Then a gust of wind pushed her out the door.

A sharp cough pulled her back into reality and Aurnia found herself staring into a pair of dull eyes. Aileen stood, arms folded, tightly clutching Aurnia's bag in her right hand. She handed it to Aurnia before tapping the stool with a disapproving sniff.

Aurnia looked down and flushed. A thin coat of ice had developed in the space where Aurnia's palm had been. She quickly moved to wipe it away before checking the bag to see that it had been filled with thick bread and grey cheese.

"Thank you." She quickly nodded and moved to get up but Aileen was faster. One hand was all it took to force Aurnia to remain seated. The old woman leaned in close. Her breath filled with the scent of clotting milk and day-old eggs.

"I don't need my eyes to know that you're upset. And I don't need to be your mother to tell you that emotions cloud judgement."

"Aileen..." Aurnia's voice was low against the clatter of the kitchen behind them. "I promised that I would come back in one piece. And here I am. Judgement has nothing to do with what I seek to do."

The old woman laughed. "Judgement has everything to do with why you're carrying that cursed stone with you."

"Stone?" Aurnia's voice trailed off as she struggled to figure out what Aileen was saying. Then her heart sank. "That stone was a gift from Agrona."

"You would trust a gift from Death?"

"I--I'd spoken to her as a child. My mother trusted her." Aurnia took a deep breath before looking Aileen in the eye. "I have no reason to doubt her intentions."

Aileen chortled and shook her head. "Trust her intentions? That thing is cruel. How you aren't bent over in pain I do not understand."

"There is no pain. The stone refuses to fulfil its purpose so I have to rely on the old ways to locate the stubborn goddess." Aurnia rose and pushed past the aged woman before her. Hamlin's garden had never been more appealing.

"Is that so?" Aileen brushed her hands over her flour covered apron and pulled the kitchen door open with a grimince. "Then let me make this clear, I don't care what you have been doing for the past few months, nor will I push for information that you aren't ready to give."

Aileen's voice followed her out into the still night air. And when Aurnia spun around to say goodbye, the tiny woman was there to hug her. "All I ask is that you remain cautious. Don't use the old tongue. I know you dragons have a penchant for it, but for the sake of your sister, don't risk it."

Aurnia looked away before slowly nodding.

"Now don't be like that. Magic isn't the solution to everything and you know that." Aileen reached over and patted her hand. "Don't hate me for saying this, but you need to consider asking your mother, or even your other sisters for help."

Aurnia scowled and she felt her scales bristle within her. "You know I cannot do that."

She took a deep breath, and pushed the burning sensation away. To transform in Hamlin's garden would only invite unnecessary trouble.

"Why not? This is a family crisis after all." The older woman Koa up and tucked him into a little pouch in Aurnia's bag. Her fingers deftly buttoned him safely into it and she smiled at the dragon's astonished expression.

"I took the liberty of sewing your friend a safe place to sit in while you go on your adventures. The stitching may be crude, but I can assure you that nothing will come undone."

Koa quickly chirped and Aurnia could not help but smile. "And for that, we both thank you."

Aileen nodded, then led Aurnia into a sheltered corner of the garden. She smiled and turned to gaze at the sky. "And now I believe it is now time for you to depart again?"

"Indeed."

Aurnia shifted and using a claw, gently adjusted her bag so that Koa would be sheltered from the gust of her wings. She gently wrapped her tail around Aileen with a small smile.

"I'll return as soon as I can."

Aileen remained silent then reached out to stroke the dragon's nose. "Just promise me that you won't forget that some of us still care."

"I won't."

With that Aurnia turned and leapt into the air. The cool night air slid comfortably beneath her wings as she climbed higher into the sky. She sighed in relief, ears flicking to listen to Koa's humming as he snuggled deeper into his pouch.

Aileen is nice.

"Hmm?" She looked down to see Koa fiddling with his toes.

Aileen is a nice lady.

Aurnia chuckled and nodded. "That she is. It's a pity that I never had the time to truly spend time with her."

She dipped to get behind a cloud, no longer caring about using an invisibility spell to avoid detection. As a child, she'd spent years looking up into the sky. In her mind's eye, every passing creature would become the great Nisulu that often once stood by Eris, the goddess of dreams. But once she'd learned to use her wings, she could see that the great birds of legend were nothing but clouds and the occasional scattered rainbow.

But for any child who was gazing at the stars that night, Aurnia sincerely hoped that the golden-eyed Nisulu would fill their dreams.

Aurnia had forgotten how much she'd hated the Molten Seas.

The air was thick with ash held prisoner by the clouds of noxious gas dancing freely across the plains before her. To her far left, a violent ocean of molten rock heaved with the force of a thousand worlds. Low rumbles reverberated from far beyond the horizon where clouds tinged with red flashed with fierce lightning. Aurnia tucked her aching wings along her back and wrinkled her nose. Gingerly she placed a foot on the cracked ground and hoped for the best but a plume of hot gas shot towards the sky. Koa yelped and buried himself further into her bag.

Why is the ground filled with sunlight?

"Sunlight?" Aurnia quickly considered shifting back into a human but quickly changed her mind. Dragon skin, while not universally heat proof, was thicker and would provide better protection against the lava filled cracks all around them. Even still, Aurnia was painfully aware that as the heat wormed its way into her body, her scales would begin the painful process of itching without an end. She flicked a claw, sending a small pebble bouncing along the ground. It fell into a crack with a hiss.

She gave a short laugh. "This light is not Sol's handiwork. There is little magic here, only the untamed will of the world. The sun god, while powerful, cannot control what is beyond the gifts bestowed upon him by the Great Mother."

Then what is the beast that howls about eating us?

"Beast?" She frowned and upon realising what he'd meant, shook her head with a small smile. "That sound you hear is not the cry of a hungry animal. Rather, the molten seas are young and unsure of what they want to be. Those noises you hear are nothing but the sound of the world trying to find a voice."

Gently she nuzzled his head in the hope of calming her friend and slowly his shaking was reduced to a quiet whimper. Koa shook his head and clamped his paws over his ears with a small yowl.

Were you that angry when you were born?

Aurnia pushed past a stunted bush, wincing as its tiny thorns brushed past her leg. "I never threw a fit as a child. My mother made sure of that." She paused to survey the shifting land around her before turning on her heels to examine the cracks. In a place like this, there was no rhyme or reason. So how was one person supposed to know where to start?

She gingerly pulled the map from her bag, then quickly decided against it when a bust of light sent glowing embers racing through the air. The goddess of death was last seen wandering these parts, and as strong as she was, Agrona would have needed a stronghold.

She gingerly pushed Koa out of the way to peer at the map from within her bag. If her eyes weren't deceiving her, her mother had marked out a small bend along the glimmering coastline.

She hummed a tune. Then flicked the map upside down and tried her best to orient it with the view before her. But to her dismay, it didn't help.

Koa wiggled and pulled himself up to look over Aurnia's hands. Then he tapped the paper with his tail. We can only go left or right. So we should pick one way to go and turn around if we still don't find your friend.

Having no better idea, Aurnia picked the dimmest spot on the horizon and began bounding along the coastline towards it. She moved quickly, deftly weaving between jutting rocks that shifted beneath her toes. Her legs strained to keep her upright, claws gripping into the soft ground that sank beneath her feet.

Cliffs, pockmarked with chiri nesting sites, rose steadily on her right. Aurnia wrinkled her nose. It seemed she had arrived at a fortunate time. The mayhem of the making season would have made it hard to navigate with desperate males and nervous parents vying to protect their interests.

Then suddenly her foot sunk too deep and a searing chill raced up her back leg.

Aurnia... Koa's head peeped out from above the edges of her bag.

They watched in horrified trepidation as the smouldering cracks around them widened to reveal thick magma flowing steadily. They rapidly snaked around her, crackling, branching and dividing until they formed an intricate web that encompassed all within.

Aurnia turned slowly, desperately trying to remember if she knew what would have caused such a strange pattern.

Then found herself flying, ears ringing as a tremendous roar filled the air. She yelped and spun clumsily in the air, scrambling and failing to land on her feet. She paused and felt for her bag, it was noticeably lighter and Koa's frightened squeals only stilled her thrumming heart. She quickly tossed out a thread of magic. His heartbeat thrummed steadily in reply and she breathed a sigh of relief when she caught sight of him huddled outside the blazing circle.

"I caught it!" Koa's voice rang clearly through her head and she saw the little sinyo standing proudly with Agrona's orb in his paws.

"What? I–" She blinked and quickly smiled. "Just stay there okay? I'll come get you."

She leapt into the air, wings at the ready just as Koa dipped into a low crouch with a growl. Sharp pain erupted along her spine and her world exploded into bitter dust and blazing sparks. Aurnia coughed and rolled to get away from the heavy grip on her tail. Her assailant flickered just outside her line of sight. She found herself slammed into the ground once again, this time inches away from a particularly thorny bush.

Dull pain thudded from the tip of her tail and she whirled around with a hiss only to have hot dust coat her vision, rendering her temporarily helpless. She shook it away, then cursed. It seemed Edona had deemed her unworthy of good fortune. Kylins, or as her mother liked to call them, the living flames of the deep, were a rare sight. Yet Aurnia had somehow managed to find one a whole head taller than her.