Areiya pulled Kiera into her tent and made her sit on a chair. Kiera wanted to say something, but her friend was so worked up that she didn't even have the chance to say anything.

"Stop speaking the common tongue and just remain silent. It's better to have a mysterious Sinha than an outsider. Act like a queen, and I will try to get us out of this situation as soon as possible. But whatever you do, don't stare into the warriors' eyes for too long. In these tribes, it means you're challenging them for a fight-" Areiya started brushing Kiera's hair and changing the subject when the tribe leader walked in with his warriors.

"Ra'gija minjo akka re'kne mejah." (Your hair looks wonderful today.) Areiya said with a smile. The chief approached Kiera and crouched down to her level.

"Sinha, please forgive me. It was rude of me to force you to fight. I am Dakehl Merronir. Do I have the honor to know yours?"

Kiera took a glimpse of Areiya, who stood in the background with beads of sweat on her face. She looked back at the leader with her amber eyes.

"Ayska," Kiera said.

"Chehni nomos." (Beautiful name.) Merronir said, "I will leave you be. Our chekehl (maidens) will bring you what you desire."

Kiera nodded as the chief rose up, leaving the tent with his warriors. Areiya released a deep sigh. "That was close...you really couldn't think of a Volarian name yourself?" she smiled nervously.

"Don't make me think what would've happened if I didn't meet Ayska..." Kiera said, looking pale.

"Stay here, they will come back. I'll scout the area and try to find a way to get out of here by nightfall." Areiya wanted to leave, but Kiera stopped her.

"Wait...I can't fight. What if they realize I'm just a northern impostor? I can't just let them kill me..." Kiera said with a dulled expression.

"It won't come to that if you stay here and remain mysterious, I promise. I can't teach you here, but I will when we get out of here."

"-If..we get out of here." Kiera corrected her.

"When..we get out of here, Kiera. Trust me for once." Areiya said before leaving the tent. Kiera was left alone, with her eyes darting around the tent. Her heart pumped with adrenaline ever since she got here. Unfortunately, her body finally ran out of adrenaline as she felt a wave of exhaustion hit herself harshly, and then patiently, she waited for Areiya's return.

Valmir's ship approached the Forbidden Land as dusk settled in. His sails had skeleton themed angels painted on them. An eerie, yet powerful symbolism of his reputation as the Angel of Death. Lanterns hung from the bow of the ship. He wore black leather gear, mixed with red cloth underneath. Tight boots and his hip scarf topped it off. His loose black hair fluttered with the sea breeze.

"Loosen the anchor and release the rowboat!" Valmir shouted as he left the helm and stepped off the stairs to the main deck. He helped his crew get the rowboat on water and turned his attention to one of his crew members.

"You'll be in charge of the Harbinger. Keep her ready to sail tomorrow. I'm not leaving this place until I have what we need. But if I don't return, you know what happened to me."

The sailor nodded. "Aye..captain."

Valmir stepped on the rowboat with a burning torch, and a crew member rowed him towards the shore.

A while later, the double doors of Saenna's throne room opened with a loud squeak. A pair of guards walked in as she sat on her throne. Beautiful like always, wearing a blue gown with the usual wing-like cloak, made from woven feather-like, textured fabric. She also wore her necklace, made of blue and white gemstones. Her advisor stood beside her as well as some royal guards along the pillars of the hall.

The entering guards escorted Valmir in the room. Saenna's expression was somewhat unexpected. She furrowed her eyebrows as her lips parted.

"Valmir," Saenna said.

"Sister," Valmir replied with a smile. He looked around the throne room, nodding in encouragement. Saenna stood up and turned her gaze at her guards. "Could you leave us alone for a moment?"

"Impressive...and fancy." Valmir said while the guards were leaving, "Makes me wonder how you managed to build this entire city without anyone else outside the Forbidden Land knowing about it, let alone get all the resources from this forsaken land."

"This land is not forsaken." Saenna defended herself, "This city was rebuilt from the ruins of the ancient Arm'eison people. I obviously had help...every single citizen of Lunaria stands behind me. Without them, this wouldn't have been possible. In turn, I let them live a peaceful life away from western troubles."

"Aye.." Valmir mumbled. Saenna looked at him with squinting eyes.

"That's why you're here, aren't you?" she asked.

"I'm surprised you still know me too well," Valmir smirked.

"Well, whatever it is, you can forget it. People already seem to find this place with no trouble. I don't want to put them in any more danger. Hence why I decided to flee from everything." The queen said.

"I know, sister. But what if I have something greater than..this..to offer?" Valmir asked.

"First tell me why you need my help. For as long as I remember, you're a pirate who fled from the same family to lead a different life. Looking at you now, that hasn't changed."

Valmir nodded and lowered his head. "It hasn't. But I made a deal with the Flames of Dawn. If I help them overthrow our uncle, they will grant the other pirates and me a land of our own, and lots of gold."

Saenna stood up from her throne and walked down the steps, looking around the hall. "Look around you. I already have all of that. I made an army just in case people want to take what's mine. I'm not starting a war."

The pirate captain sighed. "There's already a war. Look, I understand. I really do...but without your help, this rebellion will not succeed. You know his army will keep growing, and one day he will be here at your doorstep as well. This time, you won't have that big of an advantage anymore."

"The more time Areyn takes to raise his army, the more time for me to do the same," Saenna answered with a stern look. Valmir took an impatient step closer.

"Come on, Saenna. Don't you get it? Once Oryn is free from our uncle, your people will have all the land they need. If you really care about them, you-"

"I do care." Saenna interrupted him with tensed facial muscles.

"Then join us and end this." Valmir insisted, furrowing his brows.

"I will not." Saenna growled while also taking a step closer, glaring Valmir in his eyes, "I will let you sleep in the inn tonight, but I want you to leave before the next sunset, is that understood?"

Valmir remained silent while looking in the queen's eyes as well. She could tell he was disappointed, but she just couldn't do it. He turned around and started walking away. "You're making a grave mistake," he mumbled.

A starry night sky veiled over Vardehk. Kiera just had her last visitor in her tent, a woman who offered one of the many gifts Kiera received. She only thanked with a nod and smile, and when the visitor left the canopy, she almost fell asleep when Areiya finally returned. She was in a hurry.

"It's time, I know a way out. Come."

Kiera expected this to happen, but for some reason, this still caught her off-guard. "Right now?"

"Yes, right now. Come on!" Areiya answered, but she suddenly froze in place and perked her head up. Horns. Blazing horns in the distance.

"What is that?" Kiera asked, a shiver in her voice.

"I think we're either in luck or deep shit," Areiya said.

"What do you mean?" Kiera asked. Her breath quickened, and her eyes widened.

"This tribe is being attacked. But it might be my own people."

What nobody expected was their tent instantly catching fire when a stampede of screaming horse riders passed by. Areiya pulled Kiera out of the tent, and chaos ensued. Mounted warrior slaughtered everyone on their path. , and a warrior attacked the two fleeing girls, charging them on his horse.

Areiya grabbed her curved sword and fixed herself in position, spreading her legs. "Stay back!"

The warrior held up his sword and screamed at them as he charged, but Areiya tackled his horse by cutting off its leg. A loud painful scream of the horse followed as the warrior crashed into the ground. It was now between Areiya and the warrior. He swiftly stood up and swung his sword towards her when she deflected it with screeching steel. She pushed the warrior with great force and feinted her swing, when, in fact, she intended to plunge the sword through his body. With succession. Her sword came out through his back, and then she retracted it, pushing his lifeless body on the ground.

"Follow me!" she yelled with blood on her face. There were fighting tribal warriors left and right, and ordinary tribe villagers were running around in panic. Areiya ran through the narrow sandy streets, trying to avoid everyone.

Kiera heard those shouts again, but this time...with voices of despair and agony. "Sinha!"

They were calling for her name, but she couldn't do anything at all. And then, once again, they faced another one of the attackers. This time, unmounted.

Out of breath, Areiya tried to communicate with the warrior. "Se'li Melachir?" (Are you Melachir?)

The warrior nodded, and that's when Areiya smiled again. "Si mi akka derin'ia Melachir, ensi mi'a. Sa medi anslavi. Si mi Dageima Areiya." (I'm Melachir as well, she is with me. We were captured. I am Warrior Areiya.)

"Rema san minja." the warrior smirked and left.

"Alright, this changes everything! Come, we need to find horses!" Areiya shouted.

"Right behind you!" fretted Kiera. The girls made their way through burning bloody chaos. Horses without mounters ran around in panic everywhere.

Areiya saw a group of horses stuck between collapsed tents, flailing in panic with loud whinnies. She approached them and started driving them out. "Hya!" she shouted, "Grab the black one!"

Kiera caught the horse by his reins and managed to climb on his back in this chaos. The horse still followed his own will. But Kiera tried to calm him down, and it was slightly working, even though she was tense herself.

"Easy now, buddy! Easy.."

Areiya got her own horse under control as well. "I hope you know how to ride a horse! Don't fall behind!"

"Just get us out of here!" Kiera yelled, a squeak in her voice revealed her intense fear once again. Horses ran by on fire, and the entire city turned into a slaughter field. Areiya took out her bow while riding her horse, ready to shoot anybody trying to get in her way.

Embers filled the air, burning on their skin as they plowed through the tainted sands. Areiya's worries then became a reality when some of her own people charged her and Kiera with horses. She had no other choice but to nock two arrows at once and fire at the attackers. The first one she hit in the shoulder, who fell off his horse, while the second arrow pierced straight through the other one's throat. What she didn't keep in mind is that the horses didn't lose any momentum, bashing into Kiera's horse and throwing her off into the sand.

"Kiera!" Areiya yelled, turning back immediately.

The harsh landing made Kiera winded for a moment as she struggled to breathe. Areiya jumped off her horse and ran towards Kiera, but she didn't see the warrior at her side, who tackled her into the ground.

If you could ever describe a sticky situation to be in, this moment would be one of them. Caught off-guard, Areiya struggled herself while Kiera was utterly defenseless. Kiera managed to pull herself up, noticing the warrior was on top of Areiya, trying to choke her. She took a look at the sword in her scabbard, and when she decided to unsheathe it, she saw another warrior running towards her.

Her heart skipped a beat, and the warrior's beastly expression only struck more fear into her. The warrior suddenly threw a knife, which struck Kiera's shoulder. She released a painful yelp, and then the warrior bashed her off her feet. Whimpering, she crawled backward with one of her hands on the handle of the knife as the warrior circled around her with a smirk and out of breath.

"Qi'si ne Sinha.." (You're no Sinha...)

In the meantime, Areiya still struggled to fight the warrior as he was choking her. Her face turned blue when she finally got the idea of grabbing a handful of sand and throwing it in his eyes. The tides immediately turned as the tribal warrioress punched the man's face before throwing him off of her and finishing him off with her sword. She couldn't do anything else as she had to recover, coughing until she realized Kiera was about to be executed in front of her eyes.

She approached the warrior and dug her sword in his back while screaming, letting blood splatter all over her and Kiera. Areiya threw away the body and crouched before her friend, noticing the knife that was stuck in her shoulder.

"Don't pull that out yet, we have to go now!" she yelled, pulling up Kiera and wrapping Kiera's arm around her neck to support her.

"I'm not leaving you again, I swear." Areiya groaned while walking through the battlefield.

Kiera smiled weakly. "I'll hold you onto that."

And then, at last, they reached the outskirts of the city. While chaos still ensued behind them, the desert in front of them was dark and silent.

"We'll stay put here until the fight is over. Let's just hope my people win. Let me patch you up now." Areiya said out of breath, crouching in front of Kiera.

Valmir stayed in a room of the local inn. He had a view of the entire lower city as the moon shone brightly. The moon also seemed slightly bigger as usual as well in this place. A lit candle livened up his cozy room on the corner of his nightstand. He was drinking a glass of wine when someone knocked on his door.

He sighed and stood up from the squeaking chair, heading over to the door to open it. When he opened it, two guards stood in his doorway.

"Apologies to disturb you, my lord. Our queen requests your presence at her personal quarters." one of the guards said, his voice rasping through the metal helmet.

"About time she changed her mind..." Valmir mumbled, "Lead the way."

He closed the door behind him and followed the guards to Saenna's castle. It was always such a pain in the arse to climb the hundreds of steps. When they finally entered the keep, the guards escorted Valmir to Saenna's tower. Only a door separated them now. One of the guards knocked on her door. The door opened, revealing the gorgeous queen Saenna in her bright blue evening gown.

"Ah, Valmir. Come on in," she said, letting him come in. She turned to the guards. "Continue guarding my door."

Her room was neatly decorated with golden trinkets and flowers. Candles lit up her room. "Take a seat," she said, pointing at the round table with two chairs.

"Why did you need me to come here, Saenna?" Valmir asked, not yet sitting in his chair.

Something bothered her. "I may consider to help you," Saenna said, sitting down in her chair and resting her arm on the table. Valmir didn't quite expect this, and his brows drew together as he slowly sat in his chair as well.

"How did you change your mind so quickly? You seemed quite keen on turning down my request."

"Valmir, look into my perspective. I got everything I always wanted. My own people, my own banner, my own castle, even my own city. I secretly ship food and resources from Volaria and Etheon. For years I thought I was invisible...safe and unable to be harmed. Until people started showing up every day coming to this place as if it has never been hidden at all."

Valmir paused for a moment. "What do you want me to do?"

"I'm scared, Valmir. I may have a big army, and I did send a message to my uncle that if he ever tries to set foot in Lunarion again, I will burn him down to the ground...but what if he actually lays siege? I can't think about it...about my people having to go through that."

"Then join us. Marlock has a plan about...convincing the slaves to rebel. Just think about it. It's genius. If every single slave rises up against their masters, we won't even need our own armies. That's their only weakness. Numbers. But we need back up armies just in case his plan doesn't work."

"Wait...Marlock?" Saenna asked, interrupting Valmir.

"Sorry. He's our rebellion leader. He's a good lad, but we don't have enough men to face our uncle. Not without you."

Saenna stood up and paced towards her window, looking over her city with the bright moon lighting it up. "I can't believe I would ever say these words...but you have my support."

Valmir smirked. "Our rebellion, now."

He stood up as well, "Welcome to the Flames of Dawn, sister. It's going to be a lot more interesting from now on." and headed over to a jug of wine and filled two glasses.

"I'd say we drink to that." he said, handing her a glass and raising his, "To the future death of our beloved uncle."

Saenna raised her glass as well with a soft smile.

The next morning, the sun rose in the Silent Waste of Volaria. An entire horde of mounted warriors traveled through the sands. So were Kiera and Areiya. Kiera took off her dragon armor and replaced it with a brown painted leather vest and horsehair leggings cinched by a bronze medallion belt, similar to Areiya's apparel. Her shoulder was wrapped up with a cloth that was already bloodied again from the wound. The two girls followed the horde as if it was their own. For Areiya, that was exactly the case.

"I can already feel it getting hotter. My skin is already burnt by the sun," Kiera said as her horse whinnied.

"Only a few days and you'll be used to the heat. I'll get some salve for your skin when we reach Melachoron." Areiya said. She then looked around the sandstone arches and mountains. "Talking about Melachoron, I recognize this. I think we're here. Come!" she said, tapping her horse with her feet with a loud "Hya!" to command it into galloping. Kiera did the same, following the tribal girl to the front of the horde.

She noticed Areiya halted on top of a hill. "Come look at this!"

When Kiera joined her view, her eyes gleamed to the stretching city across the full horizon. This time, it wasn't just tents, but sandstone houses as well. There were actual streets. This place must have been twice as big as Vardehk was. No wonder the Melachir tribes destroyed them so easily.

"This place is amazing, Areiya."

"I told you! Welcome to my home! Now let's convince my people to join our cause shall we?"