CHAPTER 3
The sun blinded Sakari as she woke up the next morning, her back popped as she sat up from the stone ground she lay on. Ferain was still asleep after she put out the coals that still smoldered in the fire pit. She gently stirred the young feline. “Come on Ferain, time to get going.” She whispered.
It took a while before the cougar got up and ready. When he gave the okay that he was ready to go, they continued north, following a river that ran down the mountains from the spring. There were very few words between them through the trip. The mountains slowly became hills and the red dirt was turned white with snow. The stream they had followed was frozen over but the occasional breaks in the ice showed that it still flowed. The hills turned into a forest of trees. There were no leaves on the branches. Rather there was a thick coating of ice over the trunks and branches, giving them the look of a giant crystals sticking out of the snow.
Sakari gave a gasp as her foot hit a deep patch of snow, making her fall in to her waist. She freed herself of the dense snow and continued forward, being much more careful where she stepped. “Watch out up here, Ferain. It's getting deeper.” She turned to watch him fall into the same patch she had, sinking up to his chest. She ran back and dug him out of the powdery drift and pulled him off to the side. “What's wrong with you. You have to pay attention.” She barked at him suddenly. She instantly regretted this as the young feline started to shake.
“I-I'm sorry, Sakari. I'm-” he chocked back a sob. “I'm of no use. I just keep getting in the way. I couldn't help him. I can't do anything to help anyone!” He pulled away and curled up.
The wolf's heart froze in her chest. She sighed sadly. “It's not your fault, Ferain. Even with the best magic I don't Think--” She cut herself short. “It's not your fault, You're doing your best, and that's all I can ask from you. You'll get stronger. It takes time, don't worry.” She smiled encouragingly.
He looked up at her, still trembling lightly. After a long moment, he nodded, a soft smile returning to his muzzle. “Thank you, Sakari. I'll-I'll keep trying.”
With that they stood back up and began their way to the next village. Little did they know, they were being watched. Sakari came to a pause in her step as she caught the sound of something snapping in the distance. She figured it was an animal until a different snap sounded and an arrow shot past her, narrowly missing her ear and buried into a tree. There was only a second before the ground below them collapsed and dropped them into a rather large hole, causing the snow half burying them.
Sakari looked up as the crunching of the snow signaled and approaching creature. Snow fell into the pit as a tall wolf came to the edge. “Hey! Can we get some help.”  Her jaw dropped as he was joined by more wolves and foxes, bows drawn and aimed at the two of them. 
“Toss your weapons up here, And we'll get you out of there.” The wolf said shortly.
“O-Our weapons?” She received a nod from the wolf. “F-Ferain, give it to them.” the wolfess said and reached down to her waist, pulling her sheathed katana from her belt and tossed it up onto the ground at between the canines above her. Ferain's knife joining hers in the snow.
The wolf dropped the end of a rope into the snow to allow them to climb up. The strangers didn't waste any time tying their hands behind their back and around their chests. Being pushed forward, they were led through the woods on a trail packed down from use. They were marched into the small village that was built in the  middle of a large clearing. Sakari lowered her ears as she looked around, piles of broken and burnt logs stood in the snow. Foxes, wolves and snow leopards working in pulling the charred remains of their houses apart and building the new cabins in their place.
Sakari felt the stares as the were paraded through the village to a giant cabin. Shoved through the doors, they almost gasped at the difference in temperature. In the hearth  roared a fire, filling the cabin with a bright light and warmth. A wolf stood by it, hunched over to turn the logs. Looking above the mantle, Sakari saw a woven tapestry with the same scene as the tablet she'd seen in Heirtol, each dragon having its own color now.
“Madam, Yulya. We found these two walking outside the village.” The wolf in charge said and brought Sakari and Ferain forward into the light before handing her the two weapons.
The wolfess looked over the katana and dagger for a few moments, humming lightly to herself. “You may untie them. They are not a threat.” She said. Yulya was an older looking wolfess, her red and black fur was slowly starting to turn gray like her hair. She wore a long, emerald green robe over her form, gold patterns embroidered down the front and arms of her robe. A darker green sash hung from her neck, tipped with similar gold patterns. “You two are looking for the dragon that attacked our village, are you not?” She said as she handed back their weapons.
“Y-Yes, how did you know that?” Sakari said, bowing lightly as she took her sword back.
“There's a scratch on your blade. He left the same ones.” She said and looked down at the katana.
Sakari pulled her sword out and did in fact find a scratch on the metal, running from the middle of the blade up towards the tip. “I-I hadn't noticed that.” She felt her heart sink as she looked at the mark on her sword for a bit longer before sheathing it once more. “Zerataph is...I think he's collecting the dragons of legend. He's already captured three. He destroyed Heirtol and...”
“And almost did the same to Azul.” Yulya said. “We were lucky. But he's not going to stop is he?” 
Sakari shook her head.
“Then there's just one thing left that we could do.” She motioned up towards the tapestry. “We have got to look for the sword of the heavens. As legend tells, the dragon that stopped the king eons ago sealed itself into that sword and was hidden at the center of the continent. With that we'll be able to use the goddess dragon's power and stop him.” She said looking at the sword at the bottom center of the frame. 
“Even if we had that. Will we really stand a chance. He leveled Heirtol and at HaiKhan, I couldn't stand a chance against him.” Sakari stepped forward.
“Everyone has their weakness young one. You must be patient and the answer will come.” She said.
Sakari blushed at Yulya's words and stepped back. “O-Okay.” She said after a long period of silence. “We-we will need to resupply and then we'll continue our journey.” 
Yulya looked over Sakari and Ferain before nodded. “Very well. I'll see what we can do. Please follow me.” She said and reached to grab her staff from beside the fireplace and turned to exit the cabin. She lead them away from the village to where another large building sat. Dark smoke billowing out of the chimney. Walking in they were hit b a much stronger heat coming from two forges near the back of the building where a pair of snow leopards were pounding on glowing steel. 
A vixen sitting at the counter quickly stood up and smiled. “Afternoon, Madam Yulya. What can I do for you today?
The elder wolf smiled in return. “I just need some armor and a weapon for the young warriors here.” She waved towards Sakari and Ferain behind her.
“I-I'm okay, Ferain needs something though.” Sakari interjected, making the young feline blush as the attention was turned towards him.
“Hmm. I don't have any armor that would fit a warrior that small.” The vixen tried to stifle her giggles through her words. “But I have a weapon that he can use.” She ducked behind the counter, coming back up with a short bow and a quiver of arrows, handing them to Yulya. “If you need some practice, there is a range out back.”
“Thank you.” Yulya smiled and passed the bow to Ferain before leading them out the back of the shop to a large flat area where much of the snow had been shoveled to form a wall behind a row of training dummies and targets. “Alright, Have you ever shot a bow before?” Ferain shook his head. “I figured as much.” The elder wolfess chuckled and took the bow. “You hold the bow like this, and then nock an arrow onto the string. Then you pull back, looking down the shaft of the arrow. Breath in to steady yourself. Then breath out and release.” She showed him, going step by step. Breathing in and exhaling as the arrow flew from the bowstring, she shot a near perfect bulls-eye in the chest of one of the dummies. “Take as much time as you need. We'll let you stay tonight before sending you after Zerataph.” She said as she handed the bow back to Ferain and walked back to join Sakari and let the mountain lion practice. “Cute Kitten. Guessing he's not yours?” She teased Sakari.
“N-No! Uhm, no, he's not. I found him in Heirtol. One of the lucky ones.” She said with low ears. “He said he's from Ternal, but I'm not so sure about his past.” A crunch of snow behind her made Sakari turn around, finding there wasn't anyone behind her. She sighed and turned back to watch Ferain. He wasn't practicing long, but his grouping was already very good despite his obvious nervousness of holding a weapon. “It's going to be a long while before we're able to face Zerataph again...” Sakari sighed.
“You both are young. Have a lot of learning to do.” Yulya said and lifted her staff, swinging the gnarled end down behind Sakari.
The younger lupine barked and pulled her tail out of the way, hearing a solid thwack behind her, followed by a sharp yip. Stepping back, she saw a vixen crouched in the snow, rubbing the top of her head.
“Dammit mom.” She whined, picking up snow and rubbing it into her rosy red hair. After a moment she stood up with a groan. She was about as tall as the elder wolfess. Her bright red-orange fur covered in a black tunic and matching leggings. A leather belt around her thin waist held several pouches. Over her shoulders as a blue cloak, the hood flipped back behind her. The young vixen looked to be a few years older than Ferain and was very beautiful already.
“Keelya, you know better than to steal within the village. And watch your mouth.” Yulya growled sternly at the young vixen. “Sakari, this is my daughter, Keelya.” 
Sakari could only nod as Keelya flashed a quick, halfhearted grin before turning back to the elder wolfess. “So who are they?” 
“They're the ones that the hunting group found outside of town. They're  Not staying long, they're hunting the dragon that attacked us.”
“Oh? Can I go too, mom?” 
Yulya blinked at her daughter's sudden enthusiasm. “P-Please, Keelya, you're far too young. This is going to be way too dangerous.” 
“Then why does that puma get to go?” She pointed to Ferain who was gathering his arrows out of the straw target.
Her mother was at a loss of words at this point. After a moment of pause, she turned to Sakari. “You...wouldn't mind having two more join your travels, would you?”
Sakari looked at the two, blinking as she tried to take everything in at once. “Uhm. N-No not at all. The more the merrier.” The red wolf smiled softly.
“Excellent. We'll leave first thing tomorrow.” She said with as much enthusiasm as her daughter had. The retired to Yulya's cabin for the night, feasting and telling stories. They were up before the sun even peaked over the ice forest. After resupplying, the party began the trip south towards the center of the continent. The snow slowly became shallow, eventually sitting just over a their paws. Ferain was walking ahead of the older women, talking idly with Keelya.
“You both be careful up there.” Yulya called out to them. The young vixen rolled her eyes and scoffed, making her mother sigh heavily. “That girl is so...huff. She was always such a good girl. If only her father was...” Yulya trailed off.
“What happened?” Sakari asked before becoming flustered, her tail flailing around behind her. 
The graying wolfess chuckled at her. “It's perfectly alright. When her father was alive, she would spend all day with him as he took care of the village. But since we were located right next to the north coast, we were always being under attack from pirates. We were able to keep our ground for a long time. But one day, when Keelya was about twelve, a giant fleet came in and attacked. It decimated us. Not as bad as when Zerataph attacked, but we were much smaller then. Keelya and I were getting out with the other women and children. She had manged to sneak off to find my husband, he fought to protect her, but fell right in front of her. 
When we came back to the village, I found her under  my husband. He managed to save her even from beyond the grave. Ever since, she's grown distant. She started stealing around the village, acting out. But she's still a cub, she'll be okay.” Yulya watched her daughter turn. Her bright blue eyes glaring daggers into the two wolves, her large ears flat against her head.
Sakari quickly looked away, her ears flattened out to the side as she avoided the vixen's stare. “That's...I'm sorry to hear...they sounded close” She stuttered. “I never had my mother around. She'd died giving birth to me. And I've nothing to really remember her apart from stories that my father told me, and a melted katana.” She said, a light smile coming across her muzzle as she remembered the stories her father would tell.
Their conversation was interrupted when they heard the mountain lion gasp and call them over before coming to a halt. They walked up next to the young kits and their jaws dropped. A giant rift had opened across the land. The group was barely able to see the opposite side in the distance, and the sheer cliffs gave way to darkness, save a small pinprick of light glowing dimly red. Sakari's eyes were wide at the sight. “W-What could have done this? D-did Zerataph...?” She mumbled as she stared into the weak light at the bottom. “I-It looks like it goes all of the way through the planet.” She added with a whimper.
“With Heritol's dragon...he could have done this easily. That's the power the dragons have.” Yulya said and pulled Keelya back from the edge. “We'll have to circle around it and stop at Opochtli to resupply. It's going to take us longer than what we prepared for.” She turned to begin the walk to the east, holding her daughter's hand as the vixen looked into the fissure.
Sakari stood petrified as she looked into the canyon, her eyes locked onto the sliver of light at the bottom, her body starting to shake.
“Sakari, Are you okay?” Ferain asked, his round ears flat against his head as he reached out to touch her arm.
“It's impossible.” She said, flinching as his small hands touched her forearm. “There's no way we can fight him. He's grown too strong...there's nothing we can do.”
“But the sword. Once we get that, we'll have the upper hand. We'll get him-”
“Where you there at HaiKhan. What happened to the dragon. To Nempus!” She barked at him. “He's destroyed nearly two cities. He's too strong. I-I can't do it.” She started to shake harder as she broke down in front of the other three.
“Sakari...” Ferain whispered, following behind her, his tail curling up between his legs as he walked. “You can't stop now. You've given us so much courage. Without you, none of us would be here. You're the one that leads us. If you leave now...then there really will be no chance. But together....” He whispered and stopped just as she did.
The red wolf looked down, her pointed ears laid flat against her helmet, tail tucked between her legs. “I...Ferain.” She turned around to look at the rest of the group. “Do you mean that?!” She whispered after a few moments of silence.
Ferain smiled softly and nodded.
She quickly and gently wrapped her arms around the younger feline, giving him a gentle hug. “Thank you, Ferain. I'm sorry...” She held him for a long few moments before letting go. “Let's go. With you all with me, there's still some hope.” She said with renewed spirit as they began to walk towards the east once again, following the ravine.