"Here you are, Mother", her son's familiar voice spoke up, causing Shari to turn backwards in surprise. "We have been looking for you."

"Did something happen?", she inquired instantly, letting her eyes wander to her husband, who had also appeared.

"That's what I was going to ask you", her husband Berin replied, jumping jerkily up the rock on which Shari had made herself comfortable. "It's still your favorite hiding place up here, I see."

"Not really a good hiding place if you found me so easily."

"We've been looking for you for almost an hour", Rafiki muttered in annoyance, climbing up as well before sitting down next to her and letting his gaze fall over the gloomy landscape. Before their feet stretched the wasteland of Tsuke, home to hundreds of thousands of creatures that had multiplied massively over the last century. Not much was visible, however, as the fog denied them a good view of the land.

"Sorry about that, you two... I just wanted to... think a bit in peace."

"So something did happen", Berin spoke up quietly, crossing his arms in front of his chest and looking off into the distance. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd been up here. They had been up here often when they were younger, but they had not been up here since the confrontation between Shari and Hosik. So it had certainly been several decades, which was why Berin had also visited this place last. "Since the visit of the children in our house, you've been pretty quiet. Have you had to think about him again?"

"In fact, for once I wasn't worried about Hosik today, I was worried about Menkam."

"Menkam?", Berin repeated in surprise.

"Who is Menkam?", her son inquired instead.

"A childhood friend of your mother's, you might say", Berin explained, looking down at his wife, who made no reply to the statement, so he continued. "Menkam was a warrior who used to be relatively well known. He was an excellent fighter and therefore a fairly popular figure here in town. Your mother included. She often escaped from the estate to see him back then."

"So, more of a childhood sweetheart?"

"No, not a childhood sweetheart", Shari replied. "More like a mentor and a good friend. Menkam is a good 20 years older than me and was one of the few people I could talk to about pretty much anything. When your grandmother passed away and your grandfather devoted his attention to your Uncle Hosik, Menkam was the only one who was there for me. To me, he was something of a hero."

"She never told Menkam who she was", Berin added a moment later. "When your grandfather Phaseen passed away and the fight happened, Menkam had joined Hosik and left town, followed by a trail of corpses."

"He went into hiding, like the rest", Rafiki completed the statement, to which his father nodded and remained silent. All three of them turned their gaze to the distance, letting the thought that had been with them since they were alive sink in. Since the increased activity of the dragons, however, the thought had taken such a strong hold that many residents showed fear of showing themselves on the surface. There was a rumor among them that Hosik and his people were still alive, probably the reason to why there had been such pressure on their family in recent years.

"When I saw the children today, I had to think back to that time and I wonder if he is still alive and how he is doing", the chairwoman finally confessed, followed by a soft sigh. "I'd be interested to know if he's still such a celebrated warrior, with dozens of students chasing after him every day in hopes of winning him over as a teacher."

"If he's still alive, he probably is. Menkam is probably the most stubborn warrior I've ever come across", Berin confirmed with a nod.

"Did you know Menkam, Father?", Rafiki inquired curiously.

"I knew him a little, yes. In my younger years, I was friends with a boy named Guos, who later became a disciple of Menkam. That had granted me the opportunity to meet Menkam in person", Berin lifted, putting on a scowl at his next words. "He didn't like me much and told Guos not to meet with me anymore because I was negatively influencing him. Yet he never gave me a chance to prove myself."

"Yes... Menkam was a bit stubborn. I have to agree with that", Shari confirmed, tugging at her husband's pants with her hand to indirectly prompt him to finally sit down. "After Menkam left us, the residents also stopped worshiping him so much, often equating him with the treachery of the Paserus and the Kamas."

"And in the meantime, they hushed it up as if he had never existed."

"Just as they did then", the woman added with a sad look. "I always thought that the situation was difficult even then, but somehow nothing has ever really changed."

"For many, the war is just too fresh. It will change when the next generation gets old enough", Berin announced, casting his gaze to his son, who sheepishly avoided it. "If they can eventually get it together to play by the rules."

"Yes, yes... father", Rafiki murmured sheepishly.

"Have you gone over the walls again?", Shari inquired sharply, giving Rafiki a stern look, while Berin confirmed the question in the background. "For Really... you're like Hosik. When he was your age, he used to break out and leave town all the time too. Your grandfather was always furious when he had to send the search party after him. You're not a child anymore, Rafiki."

"And yet you won't let me live my own life. I'm 19 years old now - when will I be allowed to join the warriors and officially leave the city?"

"When we think you can defend yourself on your own. You know exactly how dangerous it is out there."

"You're just afraid the dragons will get too close", Rafiki replied flippantly, crossing his arms in front of his chest in a huff. "I mean, I know myself how dangerous it is to leave the city. But ever since the dragons started showing up in Tsuke, it almost seems like you guys never want me to leave."

"The dragons are not to be trifled with, Rafiki. No one messes with them willingly."

"Not even uncle Hosik?"

"Not even Hosik", Shari countered. "The dragons are the end of the food chain. If they really wanted to, you could destroy our city in minutes. You're aware of that, I hope."

"I know", Rafiki replied sulkily, but didn't look over at his parents. "It just bugs me to see all my friends leaving town regularly to go hunting, while I'm downright stuck here."

"Rafiki please", Shari raised, which abruptly gave Rafiki goosebumps. "Let's not get into that again."

"I'm just saying that..." raised Rafiki, but was interrupted by a slight tremor. Surprised, he held onto the rock with his hands and glanced briefly at his parents before following their horrified gazes into the distance. At the same time, a strong wind beat against his body so that he was thrown backwards down the rock and, surprised, tried to gain a foothold somewhere. His father jerkily grabbed his foot and pulled him to him while holding his wife in his other hand. Frozen, the family looked to the east as a tremendous bang reached their town, waking all the sleeping spirits.

Before his eyes, something happened that Rafiki had never seen before in his life. The fog was literally pushed back and suddenly the sky became so clear that he could see the sea. At least what he thought was the sea. It took him a moment to realize that he had set his sights on the Holy Island of Velence. A huge wave shot past the island as if someone had dropped a large stone. At a distance, Rafiki couldn't estimate how big the blast was, but since he could see it from the city, it meant that it was at least the size of the mountain they were on. It was hard to imagine what it might be like on the ground.

His body was frozen as he gazed stunned at the center of the blast. It had not only torn a huge hole in the sea, but also in the cloud cover above. This allowed the light of the moon to illuminate the darkness with its rays. Only then did he recognize the dozens of dragons that rose into the sky and flew above their island.

"By the demons...", Rafiki muttered in utter horror, feeling his mother reach for his hand. "... was that... the attack of a dragon?"

"We should get out of here. Now", Berin commanded, yanking his wife and son to their feet. Rather panicked, he held them both with his hands and dragged them back the way they had come. Rafiki stumbled after him, his gaze still glued to the spectacle in the distance.

"Father! Was that a dragon?"

"What do you think? A human certainly isn't capable of that!", Berin roared back, pushing his wife first along the narrow ledge that led to the wooden elevator.

"Have you seen him? The dragon responsible for this?", Shari inquired nervously, clinging to the wall as usual as she carefully pushed herself along the high precipice.

"No", Berin replied. "That just came out of nowhere."

With an elegant leap, Shari landed on the wooden floor and walked to the other end before Berin and Rafiki followed her. Without comment, she pulled the lever and let the elevator descend, while she shakily held onto the terrain and glanced toward the waterfall. A rock seemed to have shifted, because instead of a single storm, the waterfall had now split into two, hitting the footpath that led to the top of the mountain.

"What do you think they attacked?", Shari brought out, giving her man a deadly serious look. "Do you think someone approached the sacred island?"

"It looked like it was much farther east."

"Further east?"

"Yes, almost as if it happened behind the island."

"So a dragon attacked Altona? Why?", Rafiki interjected irritated. The Holy Island and Altona was half an eternity away from their current position. How powerful was the explosion if they felt the quake even here? The whole continent must have felt that shock wave. And if they noticed it here in Tsuke, then with absolute certainty also the Altonas and the Sylvers. Probably even the Frignezers.

"I don't know. Maybe a human upset the dragons."

"Didn't you mean that the humans would avoid the dragons?"

"How should I know what the humans think?"

"And why...?"

"I don't know, Rafiki", the man interrupted him abruptly. "Stop asking me these questions, I can't tell you what happened either."

"Calm down", Shari interrupted, stepping between the two men. "It doesn't matter who or what is responsible. The city comes first. Once we're down there, we need to find out immediately if there were any casualties and if anyone saw any dragons nearby. Rafiki, I want you to go into town and get an overview of the situation. Berin, you gather your warriors and join Rafiki. Organize an evacuation and get everyone out of their homes."

"You're going to bring them to the surface?", Rafiki replied in shock.

"Better than being crushed by the weight of the rocks if that happens again. Can you do it?"

Rafiki paused and looked at his father, who also seemed to have his doubts. Without comment, the two men looked at each other, but nodded resolutely to each other and bowed simultaneously to the woman.

"Very well, Chairman Shari."

"Good, I'll send for the scouts, gather information and talk to the leaders. If you learn anything that you think is important to me, make sure I get that information. For the time being, we are assuming that dragons will attack us."