An hour before dawn, most of Caerel was still asleep, safe in their homes and dreaming of better days. Even Draketooth mountain was quiet, the earliest of risers just starting to stir in their caves. There was a streak of purple and green in the dim predawn light as a flitwit soared up on feathered wings, reversing course and plunging back into the leafy canopy with a low whistle. As sleepy hands began to stoke the fires on the lower levels and wake the kitchens up bit by bit, there was one lamp burning brightly on the upper council floors.

Of course, it wasn’t a question of being an early riser—Sergeant Keltor had simply been awake all night.

Choosing a team for a mission of this nature was a delicate process, to say the least. She couldn’t pick fresh-faced greenhorns, but neither could she take the most seasoned riders away from the island in a time of need. They had to be good, but not absolutely vital to the dragonriders—and above all, they had to want to help. There was no room for anything but dedication on a trip like this—their success might well hinge on the devotion of these riders. So she chose carefully—riders she’d seen in action, whether or not they were aware of her scrutiny, and none of them were the privileged type who bonded with a dragon just to uphold a family legacy, or tried once and gave up. No, these were riders to the core, and that was exactly what she needed.

Anara sighed, dropping her quill and kneading the bridge of her nose. She leaned back from the desk with a jaw-cracking yawn, and after one more glance at the list in front of her, she stood abruptly. No more stalling—she’d chosen well, she hoped, and worrying over a name or two wouldn’t help. The summons, written in her usual concise style, had already been sent out yesterday morning, courtesy of one of the smaller flitwits, to the selected riders—If willing, come to the lesser council chamber soon after sunrise, packed for a long journey. Sarge Keltor. She’d left the reasons deliberately vague—she really didn’t need word getting out ahead of time—but she hoped her chosen few would be curious enough to investigate.

She could sense Inirath stirring as she strode to the outer door and made a quick detour, taking the short passage to the outermost and largest room of her suite. It was a large cavern, with one side open to the mountainside, cold winds occasionally gusting in. It was quite warm inside, however, because most of the room was taken up by the shining silver bulk of a dragon.

Anara could feel her hair crackling with static as she approached her partner, and when she reached the great head—almost as large as she was—one gleaming eye opened to watch her. A sense of sleepy contentment rolled over her, and it was only long practice that kept Anara from yawning again in response. She scratched a favorite spot behind an eye ridge and Inirath huffed, hot air blowing Anara’s hair from her face.

“Lazy beast,” the councilor muttered, but she couldn’t quite keep the smile from her face as she got a distinct sense of acceptance from the dragon. She stepped back as Inirath stretched, claws grinding and throwing up sparks as she extended to her full length and settled back down, expansive wings fluttering every so slightly. Simply by habit, Anara glanced over to the pegs carved straight from the stone and the leather riding harness that hung from it, idly checking each connection. Inirath caught the direction of her thoughts and both eyes opened, her head raising slightly off her forepaws in anticipation of a ride.

“Not yet, girl,” Anara said absentmindedly, stroking a hand over the dragon’s oddly warm, steel-smooth nose. “Later. Soon. Have to get the others first.” Her dragon huffed again, this time in irritation, and went back to the important business of sleeping through the entire day.

Anara snorted, and with one last scratch at the base of the horns, resumed her roundabout path to the council chambers. She intended to be the last one there—if she arrived to a brawl, well, at least she’d know ahead of time that there would be issues.

Now...well, it was up to the riders whether or not to show.

Down in the dark woods of Caerel, where the sun barely shined and everything looked like some horror movie waiting to happen, there was an oddly well built and welcoming house. Odd for the place where most in Caerel dared not set foot, due to its... 'exotic' appearance. However one person lives there, Magnus, a dragonrider whos appearance could only be described as "unsettling", what with his gothic looking robes and metallic skull mask, with vials filled with various colored liquids along his belt, one would mistake him for some demonic soultaker when he was in fact an Alchemist. He lived int he forest, mostly due to the strange plants and minerals that could be found there, plus its closeness to the shore of the island, a bright place that contrasts the dreary forest, where his dragon, Light, liked to hang out.

The two of them were packing up various satchels, one full of liquids, while another had medical supplies and a few more with various lab equipment. "Its rare for us to get summoned. They usually don't wanna deal with us." Magnus said to Light as he was checking one of the bags to make sure he had everything. "Considering it usually ends with something being set on fire or exploding, I can't imagine why." Light said snickering, grabbing a bag with her tail. "Hey, alchemy isn't an exact science! Especially with that clear stuff. Man that stuff is unstable." Magnus retorted, having just put a vial with clear liquid labeled "EXTREME DANGER" in a padded case, putting the small case away from everything else. One day he'd find a way to stabilize that compound, and when he did...
"C'mon, lets get going! It'll be nice to go somewhere new for a change!" Light said, shifting her wings. With everything accounted for, Magnus climbed up onto her back and with a low 'woosh', the two of them were off to respond to the summons.

Rolf was overeager, as was Forge. The two were staying at Draketooth when the message arrived by Flitwit, and Rolf already had his saddle ready, though he left Forge naked until the time came. He had assured the dragon he would be back soon, and that they would be in for a trip. He didn't know much more himself, but it sounded like it was time to fly, and far.

Rolf was the first to arrive in the smaller council room. He supposed he should be surprised, he traveled light and was ready to go within minutes of receiving the message. Forge and his bags were already read to go, and could be harnessed and flying in a few minutes more. He took a seat in the stark room, leaning back in cavalier fashion and waited.

"Hey! Rus! On me! Igy! Over here!" Pete said as he snapped his fingers to his dragon. It was early morning and that meant training with the Twins. He had been doing this for years now so it was not second nature for him. He almost needed to do it every day. It was his pattern just as reading to them at night was. Today he was training them to focus. Pete had set up a machine to make noise to distract them as he moved around them. The ideas was that they needed to focus on him instead of all the literal bells and whistles. So far it had been going so well. They were focusing on Pete only. Eventually he decided that it was enough so he turned off the machine. "Good job you two! " He said as they rushed him. He knocked him over as he tripped to the ground. The pair started to laugh by bobbing their heads and smiling at Pete.

"Haha you two. Let's get going. We need to go meet with the council or something." He said remembering the message he had gotten earlier. He quickly jumped onto their saddle. "Alright let's head there boys." He said as the Twins lifted off to the mountains. Once there, Pete hopped off and walked into the council room. He did not know if the Twins would fit so they went off to their cave in the mountain. Pete walked in and flopped down on the chair. He really was not the type to start talking at random.

*Cabhan had been asleep when the letter had arrived. As he woke up and left his room after he gets dressed and spots it. With a questioning look since his parents normally didn't send him letters often and he didn't know very many other people well enough for them to send him letters he walks over to it and carefully opens it. As he reads he blinks. Interesting... they want me to help. Well Sapphy will be thrilled With a small smile he stands and walks outside with the letter in his hand. Not seeing the dragon outside yet he puts two fingers of his free hand into his mouth and sharply whistles, a few seconds later Sapphire runs out of the stables bouncing like a thrilled puppy skidding to a stop in front of Cabhan waves of excitement rolling off of the dragon.* "hey sapphy... guess what? We're going on an adventure" *The dragon bounces excited and runs to the stables running back a few seconds later with his riding gear in his mouth his furred tail waving back and forth muffled chirping to be heard around the saddle. With a chuckle he rubs the dragon's nose and puts on his riding gear and swings onto it the eager dragon takes off as quick as he can*

*When the destination comes into view he guides Sapphire to the entrance and slides off heading inside with the bouncy furry dragon with pricked ears following him. Since Sapphire is smaller he can actually fit into the place (with ducking) with his rider and that makes him even happier. Cabhan sits in an open seat while he dragon starts snuffling about including sniffing the others already there and chirping at the the two men before going back to snuffling about*

As Light and Magnus flew towards the council room, they gazed at the dim twilight creeping over the horizon, reflecting off the mist from the forest below. "Don't get distracted and fly into a tree." Magnus said, giving a little chuckle as he patted Light. "And you don't drop one of those vials by accident again. Pretty sure I can still see the quicksilver from last time." Light replied, sticking out her tongue.

Due to their distance from the mountain, it took them some time to get there. When they arrived, Magnus made his way to the meeting chamber while Light flew around to try to find a window to peek in. As he entered the room, he noticed that three riders had already come. "Well, I guess we're early then? Thats surprising." he muttered to himself, his grim visage moving to a nearby chair. He looked around the room, waving a hello to the few people who were already there. He wondered if any of them would be brave enough to say hello back, most people he found were put off by his outfit.

*Cabhan looks over at the new arrival, pulls off his own face covering and waves back with a smile. Sapphire looks up and chirps trotting over; he snuffles Magnus. Sapphire pulls his head back with a snort and starts walking around Magnus snuffling him some more taking in all the odd smells of this one. Sapphire ends up back to the side he started and chirps at him again his head tilted to the side. Cabhan stands and walks over to his dragon chuckling somewhat as he walks* "Sorry about that... Hi I'm Cabhan and the dragon that just throughly sniffed you is Sapphire." *Holds out his hand for a handshake with a smile knowing by the man's outfit that being greeted like this was probably near the bottom of his expectations*

Kaisen was definitely not a morning person. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he was bonded to a nocturnal dragon. Or maybe he was just lazy.

His days usually didn’t begin until late noon, but today, his body begged to differ. The sun had barely risen, and he found himself sitting upright on the bed, wide awake. After a few attempts at getting more sleep, all failed of course, he finally decided to give up and got up. Putting on an old linen shirt that was lying crumped at the foot of his bed, Kaisen yawned as he stretched languidly, stiff joints cracking loudly.

By the time Kaisen made it to the kitchen, the flame inside his fireplace had retreated beneath the ashes, leaving behind glowing embers. He absent-mindedly pushed a few more logs inside the brick maw, watching as the wood was consumed by fire. He felt like a drink, maybe some herbal tea, and put a sauce pan with water inside, before turning to the cabinet where he kept the dry tea leaves. Breakfasts had always been a bit of a luxury to him, since it was around lunchtime when he often got up. His stomach grumbled, and as if on cue, he turned to the larder, contemplating. After a few short moments, he sighed. Right, there were stuffs in there, but none of them was actually edible. He shuddered at the thought of facing whatever ancient evil hidden behind those wooden doors, so tea would have to do.

Moments later, Kaisen waltzed out of his front door, steaming mug in hand. It was one of those slow days, where no hunting parties were heading out into the forest and there were still enough coins in his purse to feed him for another couple of days, so he usually did nothing but sleep and lazing about with Wisp. His thoughts came to halt as he noticed a sealed envelope on his front porch. Picking it up, Kaisen turned it over his hands, then ripped it open to get to the content inside. Surprisingly, it was a letter from the council. He had dealings with them in the past, sure, but never any real personal connections among riders. The letter was quite straight to the point, someone wanted him for a long trip and he was expected at Draketooth mountain tomorrow. For what reason though, the letter had conveniently neglected to mention. His eyebrows knitted together, Kaisen examined the letter one last time to make sure he didn’t miss anything. There was doubt, for all he knew the letter could be an elaborate hoax, but then again, also curiosity. Only one way to find out, it seemed.

The morning after, Kaisen found himself standing right under the treehouse where Mist called home, glancing up at the wooden structure. It was late afternoon, his dragon should be up and about. Hopefully. Instead of calling out, which was a futile gesture, he knew from experience, Kaisen just picked up a rock and chucked it right at the wooden house. It hit something, then a deep wail later, Wisp poked its head out of the structure, teeth bared in mock anger. He beckoned, and his sleepy companion slipped out, landing in front of him after a few lazy wingbeats.

“Hey buddy. How’s your beauty sleep?”- He put a gloved hand over Wisp’s scaly head, grinning.

The dragon only grumbled low in its throat, pushing his snout against Kaisen’s chest. Hunger slipped through their bond. Kaisen laughed softly, reaching into his bag for an apple, which was quickly lost into the gaping maw. It was hard, getting his nocturnal companion up at this hour in the morning. But if he wanted to get anywhere on time, it would have to do. Hopefully, the bribe in food was enough.

Hours later, Kaisen arrived at Draketooth mountain. The ride was surprisingly smooth, given how Wisp was prone to crazy maneuvers when he was feeling cranky. Kaisen turned and looked at the numerous chambers craved into the rock, racking through his memories for the room in question. It took a while, but he managed.

“There, Wisp. That one.”- He indicated with one finger.-“Slowly. No funn-“

The dragon suddenly lunged for the room, then stopped short by the window. The momentum sent Kaisen reeling, his chin collided with the scaly head, rattling his brain. Satisfaction seeped through their bond.

“Guess I deserved that.”-Kaisen grumbled, rubbing his chin gingerly as he turned to scanned the room. There was already people there, four men to be exact. Or at least he thought, there was this one person in a mask and rather strange outfit. Kaisen kept his expression mild, his blue eyes scanned the room as he slowly stepped inside. Behind him, Wisp hung onto the large window with his front claws, head cocked and bright eyes followed his rider. Two men were talking, while the other two was standing in their respective corner. Not feeling particularly chatty, Kaisen simply looked around the room, then grabbing a chair so he could sit by the window with his dragon.

“So did you all get invited to the mysterious adventure? Just want to make sure I’m in the right room.”- He did say out loud to no one in particular, a light smile on his lips as he dragged the chair with him. A Flitwit was also in the room, its fuzzy coat caught his eyes. He held out a hand, beckoning.

Light was having trouble trying to find a window with a good vantage to see the entire room from, one of the advantages of having a building built into a mountain she thought. Eventually she settled for one where she could get a good glimpse at Magnus who was currently being sniffed by a Flitwit, Light glaring at it for a moment. Soon after, a starscale dropped off a rider by an adjacent window and hung out around there. Things were getting busy, she thought.

Magnus was a bit surprised that when the next person who walked in greeted him in a friendly manner, of course his mask left very little impression of any emotion. The dragon sniffing him however was a bit strange. Magnus checked his dragon nip vial to see if it had gotten cracked or not. It wasn't, must to his relief. Grabbing the newcomers hand and shaking it, he said. "Hello Cabhan, my name is Magnus. You certainly are fearless aren't you?"

And yet another newcomer came in, this time from a window and being deposited by a Starscale, Magnus making note of that fact in case he needed some scales. "Yes. I don't know for what, but it'll be fun non the less." Magnus replied at the new mans question if he was in the correct meeting spot.

"Hello Cabhan, my name is Magnus. You certainly are fearless aren't you?" *Cabhan nods his head to the name and completes the handshake before shaking his head.* "Wouldn't say fearless, just curious" *Much like his dragon, but to a lesser degree. After hearing the newcomer he turns and smiles* "Mysterious adventure is correct, and this would appear to be the correct room"

*Sapphire seeing the beckoning hand, pricks his ears forward, chirps, then happily trots over to Kaisen. When he reaches him, the happy dragon proceeds in sniffing him starting with the outstretched hand and going from there. Cabhan chuckles, then walks over to Kaisen and sits in the seat next to him.*

The room was filling with riders and Rolf decided it would be a bit of a crowded adventure after all. But then, once they took to the sky things would get a bit roomier. He smirked but said nothing at the exchange between the masked rider and the one whose dragon followed them in. Fearless? Did the man think he was frightening?

He walked to the one who had flown right up to the window and entered there. Rolf extended a hand, free of his usual glove, and introduced himself. "Rolf White, rider of Forge."

Sergeant Keltor's arrival was heralded by the sharp sound of boot heels on stone. She paused on the doorway, taking in the riders mid-conversation, rolls of paper tucked under her arms. She frowned slightly, glancing from rider to rider, before nodding sharply to herself and entering the room fully.

"Good morning," she said, voice echoing in the stone room. Anara strode to the stone table, setting down the parchment sharply but not yet unfurling it, continuing on in her usual brisk manner. "You're all acquainted with each other, I hope? If not—do so. There's little time to waste and even less awkwardness allowed."

She glanced from rider to rider in turn, her frown deepening ever so slightly as she noted the oddities of each rider—streaked hair in one, a full mask in another (she'd have to get Crackle to remove that soon). However, she didn't seem aggravated, just considering.

"To the point," Anara finally said after a long moment of silence. "You all know me as a councilor. The aim of the council is to protect Caerel. The latest matter of debate—how to protect from a change in the air?" She braced her hands on the table, leaning over it and looking at the riders seriously.

"My question for you—how far do you think we should go to fix this?" Hopefully, that would put them off kilter, push them into answering honestly—it was a rare day indeed when an esteemed councilor called on individual riders to comment on the state of the island.

Kaisen laughed softly, rubbing the Flitwit’s coarse coat affectionately. Besides him, Wisp simply looked on, head tilted, star-colored eyes looking at the Flitwit intendedly. He felt a nudge through their bond, curiosity and confusion.

“You have never seen a Flitwit before, haven’t you?”- He turned to grin at his companion - “They are small, but they are really, really fast. Like really fast. Maybe I should set up a race for you sometimes?”

Wisp leant his head against the window sill, eyes narrowed to slits, as if he was going to sleep. But of course, he could feel the dragon’s confidence and anticipation. Cocky thing. Not that he didn’t have any faith in his companion’s ability, but Flitwits were notorious for their speed. Feeling his doubt, Wisp grumbled low in his throat, pushing his snout against Kaisen’s side and nipping the shawl gently.

He patted the Flitwit a few more times, watching the dragon’s rider out of the corner of his eyes as the man took his seat near him. Soon enough, another man walked over to him and offered him his hand. He looked up at Rolf White, the rider of Forge, then back down at the man’s extended hand. A smile quickly lifted the corners of his lips as he returned the gesture, though he didn’t remove his gloves for the handshake.

“Kaisen, but you can call me Kai.”- His blue eyes scanned the man briefly. Dark hair and dark eyes, not an uncommon color for a resident of Caerel. He looked somewhat in his early twenties, nothing unusual about either his appearance or his mannerisms. Unlike some other riders in this room. His eyes flicked briefly to the masked man. He wondered what the purpose of that odd outfit, though his thoughts didn’t linger on that particular subject for long. Chances were, he wouldn’t care either way.

It was then, a woman stepped in the room, the sharp clicks of boots on the floor announcing her arrival. Kaisen turned, watching her sure strides as she entered. She had that stiff, no-non-sense air of commanding officers about her, so he assumed she was here to brief them about their super secret mission. As the woman drew closer though, Kaisen felt familiarity tugged at the back of his mind. He knew her. His blue eyes narrowed as he tried to place the imagines, searching for the curly black hair and honey-colored eyes among the library of his memories. And there it was. Sarge. The thunder rider. One of Caerel’s most prominent voices, often the subject of heated discussions and the cause of drunken brawls back in the tavern near his mother’s shop. He had seen her in person a few times, mostly when he was passing through the barrack for some random errands. Then again, if their little mission warranted such a figure, maybe it wasn’t that little at all.

His questions were soon answered with more questions, and that left Kaisen far from satisfied. The vagueness of this whole ordeal was bothering him. The promise of a mysterious adventure in their letters he could get behind, but now that they were all here, Kaisen didn’t see any more reason to beat around bush.

“So we are here to discuss the weather? Fair enough.”- He shrugged, tone devoid of any emotion, but the tight set of his jaws betrayed his frustration. –“The whole island is kinda dying as we speak. The forest out in Mount Dagna is a dry, crumbling mess, and don’t even let me get started on the swamp. You want to do something drastic, do it now. Isn’t that what you call us here for?”

*Sapphire chirps at Kaisen seeming to understand him perfectly, and even seems excited about the challenge. with a happy satisfied chirp the dragon trots over to the side of his rider and sits, his tail curling about his feet.*

*With a small smile Cabhan puts his hand Sapphires fur, something he seems to do subconsciously. Feeling more comfortable, he even pulls down his hood exposing the white blond hair with purple and blue streaks. Before he could say anything more to Kaisen, he heard the metallic clicks of boots causing him to look in that direction. He watches her movements assessing the seriousness of the situation then nods, becoming more serious himself to the point where even Sapphire seems to have a more quiet demeanor. Looking straight at the councilor he responds.*
"Clearly we need outside help, so if we start with asking places closet to us and work our way up, maybe we can find a people who knows how to help and can advise us" *He seems... calmer and more serious, a trait that hardly ever comes out in him unless it is called upon him. Sapphire gives a soft chirp in agreement.*

As a few other riders socialized, in came a woman who declared herself as the one who summoned them here. While secretly not a huge fan of the council, more so because of the massive drought, at least this member showed they wanted it fixed. If it was for power or out of the want to help he didn't know, but he shrugged to himself, it was a problem that needed to be fixed anyway.

"I'm not a meteorologist." Magnus began, glancing at Light through the windows. "But there is a good chance that one of the other islands has been stealing the rain somehow. I mean, dragons are a thing, and they can do some crazy things. One could be stealing the rain or something." He said. After a pause of thought he continued, the others having chimed in by now. "Or one of the islands has discovered a way to make it rain, taking our rain away or something. I wouldn't be surprised if such a compound exists. Either way, its probably a problem with a dragon we don't know anything about here, or something on one of the other islands. Either way, we should get this fixed, the dry air here isn't good for anyone."

Oberon had been busy that night, packing away his items for this long journey mentioned in the letter. He could only speculate that Keltor needed a team of riders but for what? Exploration? Finding a cure for this blight? He was not to sure but he guessed the answer would be found at the council chamber. He'd have to leave immediately and fly through night to make it in time, not like he hadn't done that before. Actually, he quite enjoyed the solace of the night atop Sicarus. They seemed to be almost invisible under the stars, which could allow for stealthy operations when needed.

Once he was ready, he locked the door to his house, touching the wood one last time as he had no idea when he would see it again. After a moment he went to the swamp. Once it had as far as the horizon but now he could see the border, met with parched earth. He whistled and within a couple of minutes, Sicarus arrived before him, gliding down to land.

He stroked Sicarus upon his head saying, "Well, what say we have an adventure, perhaps to save this swamp of yours in the process. We fly to Draketooth for a meeting in the morning. Lets go."

Oberon put on his helmet and departed his home, not knowing if he was going to be any help for this journey.

----

Time passed almost slowly but the sunrise was beautiful as always on that crisp morning. Though the light only revealed what was happening below, whole stretches of land were turning brown and once mighty rivers were becoming streams. It was very illuminating but also horrifying.

Sicarus finally made it to Draketooth Mountain and searching for a bit, they finally found the small council chambers. Though he had left a long time ago, he noted things really hadn't changed that much, at least from what he could see. He dismounted Sicarus and left him at the entrance, and to that the dragon flopped down and began to snooze, he wished he could do the same. He made his way to the doors, massive in size and upon opening them he saw several people, chief among them was the sergeant.

He respectfully bowed, then said, "Oberon Rontan, at your service."

The walk to the council chamber had been a familiar one for Gideon. It was one he'd taken quite a few times in his dragon riding career, answering for some questionable deeds he'd committed throughout his life. Of course, he was generally found innocent if not disliked by most. Despite how others may feel about him, Gideon hadn't really felt any sort of hostility towards them. They were his countrymen after all and that was where his loyalties lied. Lysander had opted to dig around rather than follow Gideon into the mountain, and neither had a problem with that choice. Once inside the cavernous area, Gideon found himself feeling more at home than in the open air - a side effect of being bonded with Lysander for so long.

Gideon walked upright, furthering his giantlike stature, and moved with a sense of authority. His black cloak trailed lightly on the stone floor and his hood rests on his head, casting a shadow on his face. His boots made very little sound despite all the weight they were supporting and Gideon's gait remained steady and rhythmic. He had no doubt he was already late, but the familiar buzz in his head origination from his waterskin cast away most of his worries. Anara, at most, would be slightly annoyed at his less-than-punctual arrival and at best, would appreciate his presence in her team. As he approached the door, he let his hood drop and took another drink from his pouch.

When the door opened, Gideon maintained what he thought was a neutral expression but what others would describe as an annoyed scowl. He quickly counted seven others and recognized the hardened features of Anara. Clearly they had already begun to discuss the matter at hand, but his entrance would've caught the attention of some of them nonetheless. He nodded towards Anara after what he thought was making eye contact and went to sit in an unoccupied chair. Gideon leaned his warhammer against the side of his seat and sat equally upright as his stance and faced the other members.

A final thought crossed Gideon's mind: Why is everyone so damn young?

Anara nodded to herself, acknowledging the undercurrent of frustration and desperation in the room. She'd been frustrated and desperate ever since this drought started. She nodded to Gideon when he sat at the table, checking over the list in her mind once more and frowning slightly when she registered that some were missing, but they had no more time to waste. The winds were changing—today would be the last good day to try and cross the seas for months, and Caerel didn't have months to spare. She glanced at the dragons in the room, forehead creasing ever so slightly—this time in envy at the closeness of dragon and rider instead of concern—and leaned forward. Instead of responding immediately, she reached for one of the parchment rolls, and with a flick of her hand flattened the material against the table.

What was revealed was indeed a rarity—one of the few maps on Caerel that extended beyond the island's shores. While maps of the island itself were a common request for a scribe, this one was neither common nor newly printed, a coveted relic in the Council's keeping. The parchment was cracked and yellowed at the edges, the ink slightly faded, even though it was obvious it had been well cared for over the decades, perhaps even centuries. Different colors of ink lined its surface—black for land masses, blue for water currents, red for wind patterns, and different shaded areas to indicate climate. There were several notes, written in different hands and faded to different degrees, tacked onto the heavy parchment in various places. Caerel only took up one small corner of the map, but there were three other islands drawn in the other four corners.

"Perhaps the better question would have been, what are you in particular prepared to do," Anara said, eyes on the map. With the lightest of touches against the paper, she traced a route from the tiny triangle that indicated Draketooth Mountain to the nearest island—Kendrigan—from there to the others, Qiandr and Kullath, and then...off the edge of the map. "Are you prepared to fly for hundreds of miles in hopes of finding something that could help?"

She leaned back into her usual military straight posture, letting the other riders get a better look at the map—and the distances involved. "You know how...precarious the situation is." She nodded to Kaisen in particular. "Dragonriders haven't left Caerel in a hundred years—but no one ever wrote down why that is, why the tradition of staying islandbound started. We know there are other islands out there—possibly even more than the three on this map—and to put things frankly? Desperate times call for desperate measures, and these are desperate times."

Keltor took a deep breath, folding her hands behind her back and looking the riders in the eye. "Little is certain—how long we will be away, what trials we might face, if the other islands will even let us land. I know this is a massive undertaking to ask of you, but I do not hesitate to ask—on my behalf, on the council's, on the behalf of Caerel itself. All I can hope is that you'll accept—because if we leave, we leave in an hour's time."

*Cabhan takes this all in, the map, the proposal, everything and looks at sapphire. The dragon's eyes are filled with wonder as he stares at the map, his ears pricked forward as he listens. Canhan stands and takes a deep breath before speaking.* "My dragon and I will join you for however long it is required" *He gives a small bow before sitting back down. Sapphire gives a small agreeing chirp, excitement clear in his eyes.*

Magnus looked at the newcommers, listened to Anara's plan, and looked at the map. It made sense there were other islands, especially with the odd things that he and Light found on the beach from time to time. However until now he didn't know where the islands were. He glanced at Light, who winked back at hearing what Anara had said. "Well, Light and I are ready whenever. I've got my lab packed and everything, and she'll love to see new places, same as I. Maybe I'll find some new compounds." Magnus said, giving a slight bow.