They entered the beasts' territory early the following morning after their encounter with Siralos. They roamed around aimlessly, following the beaten path though the trees. Pinzu spoke as they rode.

"I hear the Bear tribe isn't very hospitable. They frighten off most who come their way."

"Bear tribe eh?" Romel replied curiously.

"Yes. They are quite large, and very fierce wen angered. Actually, they are quite easy to anger as well. Most just make it a point to stay away from them when in this area."

Red raised an eyebrow, "I thought you said you hadn't been to the beast kingdom. How do you know so much?"

"Oh, I've heard quite a lot, and this is just 1 of a few of the tribes that inhabit the territory. There are several about which I know little."

"I think we met someone of the cat tribe once before. Her name was Tara. She resembled a panther" Romel commented.

"Sounds familiar. Did she carry a spear and have large green eyes?" Solaris asked.

"Yes actually" Romel answered, surprised. "It seems more memories are returning.

"I guess. I still don't remember much, I think, like most of what happened when I was little and stuff."

"You haven't known that since I've known you. No need to feel bad about that."

They continued riding at a more leisurely pace, since they seemed to have escaped Siralos for the moment. The eventually came to a small village at about midday.  The inhabitants were quite large, and didn't appear to be friendly. This suspicion was confirmed when one spotted them and spoke.

"What is your business here outsiders."

Red stepped back, slightly afraid. Pinzu stepped forward. "We are in search of the moon garden, would you know of its whereabouts, and possibly our whereabouts?"

"You are in teh village of the bear tribe, and why would anyone willingly go to that accursed place? I assume you are in a hurry to meet your end. Very well. It's to the southwest of here. Get whatever supplies you think you may need for this fool's errand of yours and be gone."

The party stared at each other and decided it would be best to leave quickly. They gathered enough food to last them for a day or so, while receiving glares from merely all they came across. They then quickly took their leave, heading southwest as instructed.

"What do you think he meant by the things he said? Romel asked.

"He obviously wanted us out, and not just him, we were getting unwelcome looks from pretty much everyone there." Red answered him.

"I meant about the 'accursed place" thing, and the fact that he sounded pretty certain that we would die."

"He meant exactly what he said. He thinks the place is cursed, and that we won't return alive. Not much else to it aside from the fact that we weren't welcome there." Pinzu stated.  They continued heading southwest, following the path as it became darker and creepier. "Looks like we are heading into more blight infested areas. Now you have your answer Romel." They rode slowly, deeper into the tainted forest. Their path became more difficult to find and follow. Their horses became restless and they all fought to keep control of the reigns. They paid little attention to the path ahead while trying to calm the horses. Suddenly Romel's horse reared up, catching him off guard, and sending him to the ground. They held their horses steady and inspected the area. They had reached a clearing, and a in its center sat a pedestal, much like the one from the Razanden Ruins.

"That looks quite familiar" Red said as she gazed at the pedestal. She looked over at Solaris, "Feel anything familiar, or unusual?"

"Just a bit, this place does seem a little familiar. i haven't been here before, that i remember, but the energy here feels quite similar to that of the ruins, not counting the dark prescience of course" he replied. He looked at the pedestal, then into the sky. He froze and pointed up.

Everyone's gaze followed the path of his finger, straight up above the pedestal. To their surprise, a phoenix was flying not too far above them. It burned brilliantly with a splendid display of red, orange, gold and yellow.  It looked down at them and spoke: "You have done well to make it this far, to the former place of the moon garden."
Romel picked himself up off the ground, and stood with a look of complete and utter disbelief. Everyone, including the horses, all seemed stunned by the sight and sound of the phoenix. The phoenix  took notice. "What's so surprising?"

Red pointed up at the phoenix and replied. "You! It's not every day you get to see a phoenix, nor did I know they could talk. I will admit, after meeting a talking dragon that didn't kill me, I'm not as surprised as I would've been a few weeks ago."

Romel looked up at the phoenix with an expression of surprise and annoyance. "You said the former place of the moon garden, right?"

"That would be correct" Replied the majestic bird as it flew above them. "This would be the resting place of the once sleeping Moon Guardian."

Romel raised an eyebrow. "Why do you make it sound like they are dead? We already came out here to find this moon garden place, which by the way SUCKS as far as gardens go. The weeds in my yard look better than this place! We traveled halfway across the continent to find information on this place, and we finally get here, and what's here? A bunch of dead grass, twisted trees and…" Growls and roars could be heard in the distance. The horses jumped and resumed being afraid. "….whatever the hell that was!" Romel finished his sentence almost as if it were planned. "Anyways we did not come here to see some grave, we came to find some answers, which i really hope you have!"

The phoenix continued flying above them, then gave a strong flap of its wings, sending a fireball at Romel's feet. Romel dodged and readied his weapon. he then noticed no one else doing the same. He returned to his previous spot and listened to the bird as it spoke "I understand that you are frustrated. However, you should be calmer about asking for things. The moon Guardian is not here, as you have noticed. They have gone elsewhere, though I know not where. If you were in search of this person, then I assume you know the danger your world is in."

"Yeah, goldilocks here is a Flame Keeper. He's somehow tied to all of this, or at least the way to fix it." Romel replied to the creature.

The phoenix nodded. "Then there is still hope. Now, I have a message for you. This world needs your help. The Moon Guardian has been released, so the leaders of this world are aware of the peril. Go to you kings and queens to see what may be done about the situation."

"Very well then" Pinzu nodded. "We shall make haste to our leaders. Would you happen to know the quickest route to Fujima?"

The phoenix nodded "I shall escort you. You have made it this far, no need to put you in more danger than need be at this time. That Flame keeper seems a bit…off at the moment anyways."

"Yeah, I'm apparently messing memories, and the ability to fight" Solaris said as he stared up at the phoenix, seemingly hypnotized by the flames.

"Very well then, follow me" The phoenix replied, as it led them north. It would occasionally give a strong wing flap, sending fireballs ahead of it as it flew. A roar of pain could be heard each time the phoenix did this. It cleared the way for them, until they exited the deformed area. They continued riding north and came to another beast village just before sunset. They bid the phoenix farewell as the village fell upon the horizon. They approached the village at a slow pace, still cautious from their last encounter with a beastman.

"Well, we got to meet a talking phoenix today. That's as crazy as the talking dragon" Red said, making small talk as they rode.

"Meh, you start to get used to unusual things after a while, at least I have" Romel replied. "I'm glad it wasn't a total loss on the trip though. We do have a direction to go to. Pinzu, what ruler would a half elf go to? Human or Elven? And what about you Solaris and Red"

Solaris looked confused, "I think I would actually have to report to Quasar, but since we all seem to know what I'm supposed to do, I don't see the point."

"We shall have to visit the human king anyway, for Red, and you. I doubt seeing the Elven queen could hurt much as well, I shall simply do whichever I prefer more. If they give me a hard time, I shall say I'm escorting a Flame Keeper." Pinzu answered, seeming quite sure of his plan.

"I'll go with what Pinzu said, I am 1 quarter elf after all." Red added.

"What village do you think that is up ahead?" Solaris said as he pulled a map out of his bag.

"Not whichever one you are thinking it is," Red answered as she flipped the map over in his hands. "You were holding in upside down."

"Oh" Solaris replied, blushing slightly. Everyone laughed as they reached the village edge. "They look kinda like…birds?" He said as he glanced at the inhabitants of the village.

"You would be right" said a voice from a house off to the right. "This is the avian tribe of the beastman." They looked at the strange creature. it had a sparrow's small beak, and red and green feathers randomly placed in its hair. Upon further inspection of the creature, it was noted to have have bird's feet, they were simply far larger than that of an average bird.

"They sound nicer than the bears, at least this one does." Red said optimistically.

"No one really likes the bear tribe," the creature whispered, "They're a bunch of meanie-heads."

Red, Romel, and Solaris all raised an eyebrow. Pinzu responded "Aye, that they are. I Trust you are more hospitable than they were."

"We shall do your best to make your stay a pleasant one." The birdperson said as they waved them over to the house. The party hitched their horses to a post and went inside.

"I have a feeling this is going to be quite an interesting rest stop" Romel said as he turned to his companions.

"Agreed, but I'm just glad we can actually rest for a little" Red answered. "I don't suppose they have feather pillows in this village."

The birdperson turned around, with its head tilted sideways. "No, we don't, for obvious reasons. My name is Aris, and before you ask, I am a girl, and we don't serve eggs for breakfast. Asking for that is the fastest way to get chased out of this village. That is your first and only warning." She pointed to her feet. "I've seen others use these. Trust me, the result isn't pretty if you make an avian mad". As she spoke she raised her large bird foot on a stool. The talons on it were easily large and sharp enough to cut through to bone.

Everyone's eyes widened at the sight of the lethal appendage. "So, not asking about eggs, pillows, or anything else that i think may piss you off". Red said, while still staring at the foot.

"Nicer than the bears they may be, but they are definitely as blunt and straightforward." Pinzu whispered to his comrades: "I don't plan on staying here long, I love eggs"

Red was awakened early the next morning by the most unusual "cock-a-doodle-do" she'd ever heard.  The air was filled with the sounds yelling, chirping, flapping and footsteps. As expected, she wasn't happy. She rolled over and covered her head with a cotton pillow. Her efforts proved to be completely useless against the clamor from outside and in the house. She got up and headed out of the room. She found Pinzu, he seemed to be quite awake, unlike her as she was still rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"What in the world is going on here?" she asked in an angrily-sleepy tone. "I hate being woken up early. Why are you up so early anyways?"

Pinzu looked at her in mild surprise "I'm old, I like waking up early, just kidding. I became used to waking up early while I lived in the mountains. I had to catch food and such."

Romel and Solaris entered the living room, both as confused and sleepy as Red was, though far less angry. Solaris leaned against the wall. They all laughed at his messier-than-usual hair. He looked up around the room "What's going on?"

The front door could be heard closing as Aris came back inside. Her hair was a mess as well, quite a change from the blonde, feathered lok she had the previous night. Her clothes were also noticeably tattered. "I'm terribly sorry. We avians normally wake up early, though not with this much commotion. Normally its just the odd sounding rooster types with their "cock-a-doodle-do".

"is everything OK?" Pinzu asked.

"Well, not really, but its not something you have to deal with." She replied, short of breath.

Red shot her an annoyed glance, "If its what woke us up, I'd say we DO have to deal with it in some way."

"Well, one of the Rooster families have some chicks, horrible little ones. They are running around the village causing trouble. They are faster than normal chickens and have somehow managed to avoid all attempts that have been made to catch them."

"Really? Cant you…fly…or something, I mean, you are avian beasts after all. Don't you transform into more…bird-like things or something?" Romel asked. He wasn't quite fully awake just yet.

"Well, we can, and they did. But they are FAST we haven't seen this kind of speed on the ground in years.  They even outrun most of the flyers in this village." Aris said as she shook her head in disgust.

Romel, Solaris, and Red all looked at each other. Pinzu raised his staff and started chanting. "This spell is called 'highwind'. It should close the speed gap. Going on a morning chicken hunt?"

"Not like we'll get much sleep anyways, we'd may as well help. How many of them are there?" Red asked.

"There were 8. 4 have already been caught. The remaining 4 are the fastest, and Streak is the fastest of them."

"So, we shouldn't hurt them, right?" Red asked with a slightly disappointed expression.

"Absolutely not! That particular family is quite distinguished around here. That's why we haven't been able to catch them as well. We are being careful not to hurt them."

"I bet I'll catch one before you guys will!" Romel said as he ran outside.

"Oh no you don't!" Red yelled as she ran after him. Solaris just shrugged, still looking confused and sleepy as he walked out, taking his time.

Solaris exited to see Red and Romel part ways, each chasing after one of the elusive chicken-person hybrids. Aris's description of their speed was no exaggeration, however with highwind cast on the already fast Red and Romel, they were outmatched as far as speed was concerned. They did however make Red and Romel look foolish with their knowledge of the village and evasiveness.

Solaris watched with a giggle as Red chased her target. They were quite evenly matched as Red was also used to dodging. Her and a blue and white feathered blur raced around the village, passing and evading each other. Occasionally a pointed bird foot could be seen approaching Red, who would dodge them with a smile on her face.

Red and the creature weaved in and out of buildings, around people, and anything else that should happen to find in their way. Red reached for the thing and plucked a feather or 2 as it evaded. It yelled "ouch, that hurt you know!" and retaliated with a slap to the face. Red give the bird person a look that Solaris swore would kill it as she reached for the creature again, this time catching it and tacking it to the ground. She held it down while the other villagers came to haul it away.

Red then turned her attention to Romel, who was running after a slightly slower, yet much stronger bird. They didn't do so much dodging as they did running into, over, and through things. A path of broken objects, snapped twigs and sitting people could be seen in their wake. They'd left their weapons at home, so Romel and the creature trade punches and wing slaps as they ran through the village. Romel took a punch and was dazed for a second as he ran. This made him run face first into…and through a thin wooden sign post. Red and Solaris cringed at the sight.

Solaris turned his attention away from the game of tag for a second to see another of the children running in his direction. He ran towards it and was upon it before he or the creature even realized it.  The bird realized the futility of its efforts and gave up. It was soon carried off by a number of villagers.

Romel caught back up with his target and tripped it, sending it face first into the ground and skidding to a stop on the dusty road. It wasn't the most elegant capture, but he'd done it. They all met back up in front of Aris's house. Streak looked down at them from across the road, from on top of another house.

"I thought chickens couldn't fly!?" Romel said, scratching his head.

Aris nodded, "they cant, but this isn't exactly a normal chicken. It's the eldest son of the Rooster family, as well as the fastest ground based avian in this village, and probably a large portion of the beast kingdom. His speed is said to be like that of a fast elf."

Red tied her hair back. Then I suppose I should get serious". She sprinted off towards Streak.

"Wait!" Aris called after her. Her yell wasn't heard, Red arrived just in front of Streak after jumping up a barrel to the roof, only to be met by a clawed kick to the back, which sent her down through the thatched roof.

Aris turned to Romel, who was already in pursuit of Streak as well who was already on the ground. Even despite the speed boost on the already fast Romel, the bird-man's reaction time and speed were still greater as it evaded and landed 2 kicks to Romel's right side, leaving him bleeding on his upper arm and lower leg. Romel kneeled from the pain of the strikes as he was wing-slapped in the back of the head. Solaris hear him mutter "Damn!" as he fell to the ground.

"So, what were you trying to tell us?" Solaris asked curiously as Pinzu made his way outside.

"Well, I was going to tell you that this is a trained warrior of this village as well, one of the strongest. He has a strong bloodline, and is easily one of the strongest and fastest of avian kind currently alive. They say he's a prodigy and would likely become a legend if given the circumstances."

"Oh, yeah, I think they should've stayed for that explanation" Solaris said as he watched the owners of the house that Red fell through, bring her out. Solaris looked at streak, who was staring back. "Why are you doing this again?"

"Cuz I'm bored and cuz I can!" replied the creature, quite arrogantly. "Like you can stop me anyways!" he said, spitting a seed at Solaris, who merely turned his head to the side to dodge it.

"Well, I guess I should at least try." Solaris walked calmly towards Streak, who quicky moved a few feet down the road. Pinzue headed over to Romel and Red while the bird was distracted by Solaris. He, along with the help of some of the villagers, brought them back to Aris's house where he healed their wounds and brought them back to consciousness.

"Damn, I just got my ass kicked by something that I'd normally consider dinner…if it were a regular chicken." Romel said while rubbing the back of his head.

"Now you see why I prefer roast duck" Red replied.

Aris shook her finger. "Fighting one of the duck avians.…in water…. is one of the quickest ways to defeat that I can think of. If you are heading north, I'd suspect you may have an issue crossing the river if you upset them. They live in the lake to the east of here, and in that river.

"I'll definitely keep that in mind. Let's just hope they are nice enough" Romel answered.
Back outside, Streak was dodging and evading needlessly as Solaris took his time following him. Streak quickly grew tired of this and became bolder, now coming quite close to Solaris, who unknown to him, really wasn't even trying to catch him. He ran circles around Solaris, just out of arm's reach. Solaris merely reached out and plucked a feather or 2 from his winged arm.

"Ouch, what the hell, how'd you catch me?!" The bird swung at Solaris with a weird mix of a wingslap and a punch. Solaris dodged narrowly. "Not so fast after all if you couldn't dodge that!" Streak taunted.

"But Ms. Aris said don't hurt you." Solaris replied meekly. "I woudn't want to upset her. That's why I left my sword inside. I'm not making this a fight."

"Either way, you aren't gonna be able to hurt me, let alone catch me!" replied the cocky Rooster.

Solaris seemed annoyed by the creature, and showed more anger than had been seen since his resurrection. "You knocked out my friends, and hurt your fellow villagers 'cuz you could'. I can't just do nothing about it. I'm going to try to catch you." Nova had activated.

"Pfffft, whatever!" Said streak as he jumped back, preparing for Solaris to do something. He hadn't noticed the glow just yet. Solaris merely stood there and turned to look in the direction of the creature. Romel, Red, Pinzu and Aris came outside. Their mouths gaped open upon seeing Solaris.

"That's something I hadn't seen in a while!" Romel said. Red simply nodded in agreement with tears in her eyes. Pinzu stared at the sight as well, while Aris sat clueless, yet in awe.

"What's happening?" She asked Red and Romel.

"You know of the Flame Keepers right?" Romel asked her.

She nodded as she watched Solaris take off with explosive speed. He stopped right in front of Streak, who stood there wide eyed in shock.

"What just happened?!" Streak asked himself.

"You were caught. Nothing more." Solaris said as he'd taken a firm hold of Streak's left wrist.

Streak managed to break free and bolted off. Solaris quickly gave chase, focusing on the creature as he caught up slowly. Streak looked behind him to see Solaris right on his heels. "What the hell are you man?!" he asked in awe and slight terror.

"A Flame Keeper." Solaris answered simply, "I'm not sure if that means much to you." They spoke as they ran, Solaris was now side by side with the creature. They raced around the village.

"I don't think I want to play this game with you" Solaris said as his shined with a slightly brighter glow than before. Streek's speed began to decrease slowly, yet surely. He was struggling to even keep running. Solaris slowed down as well without so much as taking his eyes off the creature.

"What's the matter? I haven't done anything yet." Solaris said, with a slightly confused look in his glowing eyes.

Streak just stood there in terror, he was now unable to move at all. "He caught up to me, easily…iin heavy armor at that..! I just don't understand.."

The villagers closed in around Solaris and Streak as they stood there. Solaris took his time walking calmly towards Streak, who was still not moving. The villagers got to Streak and bound his hands and feet, making sure he could not run. Yet the half a dozen of them were unable to move him.

"What's going on?" they asked amongst themselves.

Romel called Solaris back over to him. Solaris returned obediently and nova faded. Streak was flung high into the air as Solaris walked away. He made I back to Aris's house and simply asked over his rumbling stomach, "no eggs for breakfast right? What do we eat, I'm starving."

Aris pointed at Streak. Everone raised an eyebrow. "No way in hell we're eating a …whatever the hell that is!" Red shouted.

"I didn't mean we're eating Streak silly. Follow the villagers to the Rooster family's estate at the edge of the village. They shall see to it that you receive a proper reward for your efforts, as well as a breakfast fit for a king…that doesn't eat birds."

"About time, I'm starving!" Romel ran after the mob of villagers.

"Wait for us!" Pinzu shouted as he hurried along with his staff. Red turned to Solaris, gave him a hug, and ran off after Pinzu and Romel. Solaris looked back at Aris, who pointed in their direction. He followed them. Aris turned and started tending to their horses.

"Flame Keeper huh? So the legends are true. Good to know there's still hope for the world." She said as she fed Frost.

The 4 of them entered the Rooster estate, along with a small mob of villagers, as well as the 4 remaining miscreants, who were still bound. The villagers presented the children, as well as their captors, to their parents, who were noticeably discontent with the actions of their children.

A large rooster-person gazed down upon them. Romel had a difficult time avoiding laughing as he had the wattle of a rooster, and the same feathered arms which had hands at their ends. He also had the same large lethal chicken feet. "My name is Gerald" said the large rooster-man. "I haven't seen any of you around this village. I assume you are visitors."
Romel giggled slightly and the back of his head became lightly acquainted with the end of Pinzu's staff. "Behave yourself!" Pinzu whispered to him. Romel grabbed the back of his head, it was still sore from the smack he took earlier.

Red Spoke while the 2 were occupied, "Yes, we are passing through on our way to Fujima."
One of the villagers spoke up from behind, "These are the ones who captured the other half of the children!"

Streak spoke up, while still bound, "I'm NOT a child!"

Gerald turned to him. "Silence! I have had quite enough of your insolence as of late! You shall be turning 17 soon, and still have yet to learn proper respect, or even common decency! Leave my sight at once! I shall consider how to properly punish you for your actions. I know it was you who convinced the others to run amuck with you this morning." Streak's bindings were cut and he went off down a hallway. Gerald turned his attention back to the travelers.

"So it was you who I have to thank for bringing them back unharmed. Had it gone on much longer and we may have had to resort to force to capture my eldest son at least. He refuses to listen and has been much harder to deal with since he completion of his warrior training. I guess his success went to his head. Anyways, I need not concern you with my problems. I would like to thank you for bringing them back. You must be quite capable to have brought them back, and with minimal injuries I see."

"Well, we did have some help" Romel said, pointing to Pinzu who merely smiled and waved.
Solaris's stomach grumbled loudly enough to attract the attention of nearly everyone around him.

"I see you are hungry." Gerald said with a laugh. "You shall be our guests for breakfast. I hope it suits your tastes."

They were shortly shown to the dining hall, which was more spacious than expected, yet hardly large enough to fit the 4 extra guests, as well as the family of 10. Solaris, Romel, Pinzu, and Red all stared at the table in amazement. Before them sat a feast fit for a king…that didn't eat anything related to birds. Red nearly drooled at the sight of lamb, and sausage, and bacon. Romel watched as everyone started to dig into the food. He himself went after the large stack of pancakes which sat between him and Solaris. His fork collided with Solaris's as they each reached for pancakes at the same time. Romel went after a couple of pieces of toast instead, knowing of Solaris's appetite. Gerald merely called for more pancakes to be brought to toe table. They arrived a few moments later, and were quickly consumed by the remainder of people at the table.

"So, how is it you were so easily able to capture my children?" Gerald asked as he scratched his wattle. "I assume you were given notice of my eldest son's combat skill and running speed."

Streak grinned upon hearing the mention of himself. Solaris looked over in his direction, Streak looked down at his plate. Gerald raised an eyebrow at the sight. "What did you do to him young man?" Gerald asked Solaris.

"Nothing really, I just caught up to him, and he started slowing down."

Streak glared at Solaris. "What are you talking about?! I slowed down cuz I got heavy. I could hardly walk, let alone run! You did SOMETHING!"

Romel turned to Solaris, "The villagers did have a hard time moving him until you deactivated nova."

Solaris looked at Romel with a puzzled expression. "Nova?" Nearly everyone else, save Red and Pinzu, looked just as confused.

Pinzu spoke up. "Our friend Solaris here is a Flame Keeper. He has some abilities which aren't quite normal. He's the one who captured you son, as well as one of the others."

"I see." Gerald replied, seeming surprised, yet content with the explanation. "I'd thought the Flame Keepers, as well as the Moon Guardians, would just myths or at least extinct if they did ever exist. I suppose I shall have to take into consideration all I've heard about legends and the prophecy of destruction as well. But enough of that! Let's celebrate the safe return of my children, and eat hardy.

They all did so, and once they'd eaten their fill, Romel and Pinzu could were spotted sneaking leftovers into their bags. Gerald merely laughed. "You are stocking up as if you will be on the road for a while. Would you like to take some with you?"

The 2 of them nodded. Red just shook her head at them, just as a slice or 2 of lamb dropped from her hands. They all stood there, quite embarrassed. They were brought food, neatly wrapped and tied in bags, nearly more than they could carry. Gerald handed Solaris a small bag as they left the estate saying, "you look like a sensible one. Take care of yourselves out there, and take care of this. I hope it is of some help on your journey."

They returned to Aris's house and took a nap, still full from breakfast and tired from the game of high speed chicken tag. They woke up later and explored the village, as well as helped repair some of the damage they'd caused. The broken sign post was sent back to Gerald with an explanation of what happened to it, courtesy of the owner, and signed by Romel. Also included was the bill for the amount of replacing the sign. Their longest and most tiresome task was repairing the roof that Red was knocked through. They returned to Aris's that night and ate most of their leftovers, leaving snacks for when they would set out for Fujima, which was a 3 day ride away, at a casual pace. They retired early for the night, and slept through the awkward morning calls of the other various rooster-people of the village. After a light breakfast, they thanked Aris for her hospitality and took their leave, heading north for Fujima.

Romel asked Solaris after they left the village, "What is it that Gerald gave you?"

"I'm not sure" he said as he pulled the small bag from the larger bag and opened it. It was a small bag of coins, which helped since they were starting to run low. He placed it back in his bag and was pestered yet again by Romel.

"So, you don't remember nova? Is that old book still in there?"

Solaris peeked back into the bag. "There's a book, 2 knives, a map, and a circlet looking thing. Most of this stuff has been in here since we left the ruins with Quasar. What is half of this stuff for?"

Romel took the bag from him and pulled out the book. "This has a description of most of your abilities as a Flame Keeper. You never got around to reading it, not that you would remember now anyways. You have to activate nova to open it though, which you also can't seem to remember how to do."

"Can you help me remember, or show me how?"

"Not really. None of us are Flame Keepers. You're just special. You'll have to learn or remember on your own. Hopefully you will remember, you do seem to be remembering other things little by little."

"I guess. I'm still not sure what happened back in the village. I just focused on Streak, thinking he needed to slow down a bit. The next thing I know, he'd pretty much stopped running." Solaris scratched his head in confusion.

"I bet the answer is in the book. Just have to figure out how to activate nova at will so you can open it."

They continued on their journey, stopping and camping for an uneventful night. They awoke the next morning and ate the last of their leftovers from the village. They'd made it about halfway to Fujima when they came to a river, the same one Aris mentioned back in the village. They glanced across its banks.

"OK, so, there's a road that continues on the other side. How do we cross this thing?" Romel asked.

"There's supposed to be a bridge, or at least it seems there actually was one." Pinzu said, pointing his staff to a single pole sticking out of the water's surface near the middle of the river, and again at a few random pieces of damaged wood on the other side. He looked upstream. "There was a flood here apparently not too long ago. Those small broken tress are proof. I suppose the bridge shared the same fate."

"So the bridge got washed out. How are we crossing this, it looks like a strong current. Can the horses even make this?" Romel asked skeptically.

"Horses can swim you know. Watch" Pinzu dismounted and pet his horse, while pointing to the other side of the river. The horse walked off obediently in that direction and proceeded to swim the roughly 200 feet across the river. He pulled himself out at the other bank, a distance downstream.

"Well, that works, guess we'll just cross on horseback" Romel said as he started towards the water's edge.

"Not unless you want to risk tiring both you and your horse. That current is strong. If it doesn't tip you, which it likely would, then it'll tire you both and you'll find yourselves quite a distance downstream. This is if you even make it to the other side. Your horse goes alone. We'll go ourselves as well."

"Fine, whatever. Will you be able to make it?" Romel asked Pinzu.

"I shall, just send your horse over" Pinzu replied. He entered the water just as Romel's horse did, and swam alongside him, so as not to be carried away by the current. They made their way across the river.

Red dismounted and took Solaris's bag. She gave her horse the same instructions and placed his bag in the horse's mouth. She then sent her horse across. Solaris's bag stayed relatively dry in the horse's mouth, out of the water. Romel went alongside  it and they made it across safely.

"Well, that leaves just you,  me and Frost here." Red said as she turned to Sol. "Try not to get pushed too far downstream." Solaris just stood there looking at the water." What's wrong Sol?" She asked, smacking his back. He was knocked forward into the water. He stepped to catch himself, yet was a near a dropoff. He fell in, and was carried downstream. It became obvious very quickly by his helpless and frantic flailing that he couldn't swim.

Both Red and Frost jumped in and swam downstream to catch up to him. Red caught up quickly, yet was nearly drug down by the panicking Solaris. She looked down as Solaris began to sink and was forced to let him go or be pulled down as well. She released him, and took a deep breath, then dove down after him. upon reaching him she, saw the largest duck she'd ever seen. She glanced around her to see that there were several of these creatures surrounding them. A couple of them moved to Solaris and pushed him back in her direction. They then pushed both Red and Solaris back up to the surface where Frost was waiting.

Frost grabbed the collar of Solaris's armor and started to swim to shore along with Red. The large duck creatures stayed nearby, should something else happen. Red, Solaris, and Frost all made it to shore, relatively alive. Solaris was clinging to consciousness and spit out water as Red struggled to lift him to Frost's back. Frost simply stooped down to make things easier on her. Red led Frost back upstream with Solaris draped across his back. He spat and coughed water as they made their way back to Pinzu and Romel. Solaris was obviously weakened, and a bit shaken up by his ordeal, but was fine overall. They rested for a moment after their swim and let themselves dry for a bit.

Red just couldn't contain the question, "So, you can fly, fight all sorts of monsters, dragons, and bird-people, and do all sorts of other crazy amazing things… but you CAN'T swim? How did this happen, why didn't you tell us?!"

"I guess he missed that day's lesson in 'epic school'" Romel said with a laugh.

"I was just about to tell you, then I fell into the river" Solaris replied while staring at his feet. "I guess being of a sun-based people kinda makes me naturally weak against water. I don't think I've ever really been a fan of water, though I don't remember."

"After nearly drowning, I can't really blame you. It's a good thing those duck things showed up and helped out or that could've been far worse."

"Duck things?" Asked Romel.

"Yeah, when Solaris started to sink, I had to dive after him. We were both brought up by some duck people. I'm guessing it was the duck avian that Aris mentioned. And we also have Frost to thank as well. He made things easier once we got to the surface."

They all looked at Frost as they rode along. "Where did you find this horse?" Pinzu asked.

"Neil kept him at Azidon manor." Solaris replied

"He seems to like you enough." Romel added.

Red raised an eyebrow as she rode up behind Solaris. "Uhm, that 'he' is actually a 'she'"

Solaris stroked Frost's mane, "Sorry ma'am" he said. Frost neighed and nodded as if she understood and accepted the apology. Romel tried to apologize as well. Frost snorted and turned her head in the opposite direction. Red, Solaris and Pinzu laughed. "I guess she doesn't like you." Solaris chuckled.

Before they realized it, they were just southwest of Fujima, heading through the blight area. They came to the crater that Solaris made during their last encounter with Eber and decided to stop and take a moment to look arouond. Red had tears in her eyes as she remembered the battle. Romel kept himself occupied by clearing some of the debris lying in the path ahead of them. Solaris stood in the middle of the clearing, in nearly the exact same spot he'd stood last time. He remembered Eber, the fight, Fujima, and his last moments.

"I don't like it here." Solaris said with a saddened expression. He mounted Frost and rode up the path, leaving the others relatively speechless in the clearing.

"What's wrong with the boy?" Pinzu asked of the others.

"He died here. It's not exactly normal to come back to the place you died at. I guess he must've remembered some things as well" Red replied. "Let's get going, I'm not leaving him alone like this." She mounted her horse and rode to catch up. Pinzu and Romel did the same.

They all arrived at the western entrance to Fujima at about the same time. Solaris had stopped at the gate and stared in horror. "W-what happened here?"

They gazed upon the once glorious city. It now stood it partial ruin. They quickly made their way through piles of rubble and around some of the remaining injured people. They hoped King Isolad had answers, if he was even still alive.