A small ten year old girl walked through the desert all by herself. She had a dark blue cloak wrapped around her protecting her from the sun’s harsh rays. On her back was a backpack filled to the brim with supplies and food. She had a relatively large canteen attached to her belt with a leather strap. The canteen was filled with water for her trip through the desert. The girl had black long tangled hair and dark brown eyes. On her feet was brown boots that had holes in it. Occasionally as she walked, she had to pour out the sand out of the shoe. Luckily, she had bought some socks and so her feet were protected somewhat from the hot sand. She had a map in her hands and was following where it directed her to go. Most would get lost at this point. But the girl wasn’t too concerned. The girl was Salene Coletta. This would happen and she would do her best to get through it. Otherwise she would die. It was as simple as that in her mind. Besides she came with as much food and water that she could carry. She had also done plenty of research before coming about this desert and what its dangers were along with how to properly cross it. Of course, she could have just used her Gate Travel spell and gone straight to her destination. But that would have been too easy.

Besides Salene wanted to see if she could cross the desert on her own. She did everything else on her own so she might as well tried this. There was orange yellow sand as far as Salene could see and sand occasionally blew about. Salene reached to her canteen of water and took a sip. The cool water slide down her dry throat and made her feel a lot better. She wasn’t concerned about the amount of water since she planned on making a portal to fetch some real quick when she needed it. Magic was a wonderful thing. Her eyes spotted something peculiar. It was a strange kind of plant. It was a cluster of brown stems with yellow flowers on it. This plant was next to another one that had a spiky thing growing on a white flower. Salene didn’t get close to these plants but opened up her information journal and flipped to one of its pages. Her information journal was a large book that had all the information she had learned from the knowledge of Chiang and from what she has discovered so far.

The journal was very large and a quarter of its pages was filled but there was a lot more to write down on them. Especially since Salene writes neatly but very small to save space. The page that she stopped at was titled -Desert Plants-. Underneath it was as much information that she could find about these types of plants. She found the description that matched the white flower plant and began to draw the plant. Then she went to the description that matched the yellow flower plant and drew that one. It was best to stay away from the plants so Salene kept her distance and went around these plants.

In the distance she could see a bunch of figures coming closer. They could be bandits. Salene put away her information journal then cast a spell on herself to make her and everything on her completely invisible. It was called the spell of invisibility and had the most creative name since the Spell of Strength. Salene was careful to make sure she wouldn’t be run into when the figures came closer. She was correct about her guess of them being bandits. They stopped at where she had been earlier and looked around.

“Maybe it was a mirage?” One of the bandits guessed, “Such a small person would never come into the desert on their own anyway.”

The rest of the bandits seemed to agree with him. They all had horses to ride on and each of them had their own water along with plenty of weapons. Salene was glad she decided to be invisible instead of trying to fight them directly. It would have turned out poorly.

“Lets head back to camp. I want to make sure that the slaves are secure when we get them across the desert.” The bandit leader said.

They turned their horses and began to ride back. The horses were going at a walking pace rather than a running pace since there wouldn’t be enough water to give them when they got back to the camp. Or at least that is the reasoning Salene guessed. The little girl was very angry at the moment. She heard the word slaves and was instantly mad. Instead of heading to the Rosenite City as fast as she could to tell them about this, she decided to go ahead and follow them on her own. Like a brilliant genius. Of course, Salene had a plan. As long as she held up this invisibility spell, it should work. Salene began to follow the tracks of the bandits, who had already left at this point. If she needed to she would use her Gate Travel spell to catch up with them in case they got too far ahead.

She took a piece of wrapped dried food and ate it. It was crunchy but would fill her up enough. Her legs were only a little tired but with all the traveling she had been doing, it was nothing compared to worse cases. She could remember one time when she was walking across the Bohar plains and was trying to cross it in a day. It didn’t go well to say the least. She ended up being so tired she could barely get a campsite put together. But that was not now. Right now she was doing fine and could walk for a long while. She came across a white flowered plant that had no yellow flowered plants around it. Which was rare but did happen occasionally. The white flower plants there were few but had fruits. Perhaps the fruits would prove to be useful later. Salene carefully picked the fruits from the white flower plant and wrapped it up in leather. Then she placed it in her bag in a corner that was far away from her own food.. Salene knew very well that the fruits were poisoned. However, people who owned and sold slaves did not deserve mercy from anybody. Besides, she would be careful with how she used them. Perhaps she would find somebody along the way who would be able to help her. Or at least give her a lift so she wouldn’t have to use any more magic than necessary. 

A war had rung out across the lands of Revaliir. Thankfully, it had come to an end with a result that all could come to terms with. It had been exhaustive, but L’van had found some positivity from it all. There had been a proof that the dragonriders were an asset to the outside cultures. Only a handful of cultures knew of the bonded group of humans and their dragons. It was a long standing tradition that were for those few selected. To show their quality in front of a goddess, well that was quite the honor indeed. L’van grinned boyishly beneath his warm mask. Googles protected his eyes from the harsh cold wind as the rider sat atop his dragon’s leather neck. – What is it that makes you so pleased with yourself, - Naurth asked through their telepathic link. L’van couldn’t hold back the chuckle and a pat on the dragon’s white neck. ”I was thinking about how we possibly gained favor with a powerful goddess, just by being us. I’m proud of our work, Naurth. Can’t I be happy about it?” The dragon snorted and rolled his giant jeweled eyes.

Another laugh escaped him, but he made no other attempt to bother his companion. Large sweeps of the dragon’s wings kept them aloft above the desert. The Harena Desert afforded the rider some warmer air in the high altitude they flew within. They were on another delivery run. It was faster to blink between locations, but the pair did enjoy their flights. Naurth dipped his wings to bring them out of the higher atmosphere. He began to slowly swing back and forth in an effort to alleviate the boredom of just a straight flight.

L’van shifted in the riding gear to look at the landscape below. There were a group of riders that were taking their time a distance ahead. What made L’van curious was the following tracks in the sand behind them. There was no evidence of person there, and yet there were tracks in the sand of footsteps following the riders. ”What the…? The rider tapped Naurth’s neck to indicate something was up. One quick deep dip of the dragon’s wings brought them towards the earth.

As they neared the ground, Naurth threw his legs forward and backwinged to slow the descent. In a practiced move, the dragon landed gracefully a small distance from the tracks. - There is a person there, but a powerful spell is being used, - he explained to his bond. L’van unhooked himself from the riding gear to slide to the ground. Boots hitting the ground sent a small tuft of sand in the air. The rider pulled down the mask cover his face and then his googles next. ”Hello? Who is there?{/b] He took a few steps away from Naurth, though the dragon curled his neck down with his jeweled eyes focused on the last set of tracks. He would not let his attention stray from the protection of his rider.

Salene was coming with some sort of plan. She would have to be cautious but at the same time, she would not just let them get away with this. Her eyes were filled with anger. The whole slave thing obviously bothered her but it wasn’t even just that. These were people with lots of power at their hands. They had the ability to leave the desert and go somewhere else. Where it would be easier to survive. And yet they stayed here and took advantage of those who did not have enough money to buy protection. That is what enraged her. They could leave and have a better life at any point yet they stayed to capture people who probably couldn’t afford fancy protection and then use them to get money. That was unforgivable. Salene knew how it felt to be sold off and to suffer in exchange for somebody else’s happiness. So she intended to get to their camp and cause these robber’s downfall.

Suddenly she heard somebody speak in the distance. Salene spun around to see a man with a dragon. Her eyes lost its anger and instead lit up with fascination. It was a dragon! And a person. But there was a dragon! She had read all about dragons and their human riders in some books from the Temple Library before but this was the first time that she had actually seen one. Thousands of questions began to race through her mind. How long did it really take for a dragon and the dragon’s person to become friends? Did the dragon give it’s rider any sort of special abilities? How exactly were they connected? If the dragon dies what happened to the rider? What about if something happened to the rider? All of these questions and more began filling her head. But then she realized that a giant dragon and his rider stopping in the middle of the desert and talking to seemingly nobody would seem suspicious and might draw attention. The last thing that Salene wanted right now was to have attention thrown onto her. She was trying to be sneaky! So she walked a little bit closer to the two so that she would not have to shout or be extremely loud. However, Salene was careful to keep her distance from the rider since he did have a looming dragon behind him that was probably very protective.

“There is nobody here. “ Salene said to the two trying to make her voice sound more mysterious, ¨You are just having a mirage. Go away.“

There. Now her problem would be solved. But…then she wouldn’t be able to ask the two any questions later. Salene had a choice. Either to get those bandits or to attain the information that she wanted. Then she realized she could still try to get both.

“Actually, stay. But don’t make any noises or sounds. And stop being so visible. This is still a mirage but the mirage wants to ask you questions after the mirage is done hunting bandits.“ Salene said trying to keep her voice seemingly mysterious and otherworldly.

She ended up sounding like a child imitating a ghost. There. Now Salene would be able to return after she was done and ask all the questions she liked. Her feet turned around and she began to continue walking after these bandits. Salene didn’t even think of asking the dragon or his rider for any help in taking these bandits down. Although she was a very intelligent girl, asking for help was not her specialty. Actually, socializing and anything to do with that was not her specialty. 

Dragon nose twitched quickly as he sniffed the air for the one that was cloaked in a spell. His cranium lowered to just hoovering above the warm sands to stare at the child. There seemed to be an amused look within his jeweled orbs as she looked at her. He could not see her, but the scent was unmistakable. Naurth said nothing to his bonded rider about the girl, for he found the situation quite humorous. The dragon wished to see what would unfold with the interaction. L’van on the other hand could only use the sight of the tracks in the sand to have a clue of what was before them. The rider had to admit that his curiosity usually got him in trouble, but there was always a bit of fun in pushing things to the edge.

A ‘mysterious’ voice voiced that there was no one present and to go away. L’van recoiled his head slightly and did everything to cover the laugh that was threatening to come forth. Naurth’s eyes began to whirl a pale blue of amusement. The day was going to be much more interesting than the pair originally had thought. ”No one is here? Oh….well, that makes our stop a little frivolous and completely unnecessary. What was I thinking?” L’van rubbed the back of his neck before giving an exaggrated shrug. ”What a waste.” Words were now given in a heavy sigh as he turned to Naurth. The rider stuffed his gloves in his belt to pat the soft leather hide. ”I guess we have to get back to our boring delivery again.”

His back was to the ‘mirage,’ but he glanced over his shoulder. A bemused look was upon his lips as another set of instructions were given. ”Bandits you say, mirage? Well, we must help you on your quest. Naurth, take to the skies and scout out these bandits. Leave no shadow,” he instructed out loud for the benefit of Mirage (the girl was now titled). Naurth tilted his head to the side before giving a large bat of his wings to send himself launching into the air. Sand swirled in small twisters as the white dragon flew to hide in the sun while flying. L’van smiled up at his bond before turning back to the mirage.

”I’m just a normal traveler walking allll on my own.” He hooked his thumbs in his belt while beginning to walk in the same direction. ”So Mirage, what did these bandits do? Naurth and I wish to be of service. By the way, my name is L’van. I want to be polite to mysterious mirage. I have traveled much already in my life, and this is my first time in this situation! I am quite excited.”

Trusting the dragon would be a difficult thing to do. Giant lizards or giant anything that could eat you were not to be trusted until proven otherwise. Just like how people were to not be trusted at all. A person could betray or poison or get a little to stabby with a knife. But it seemed that the little girl had successfully fooled the dragon and his rider, or so she believed. She was annoyed that this stranger had decided to call her mirage. Salene disliked nicknames. For now she would ignore it since the alternative would be to tell him her real name. He had not earned that level of trust quite yet. Wings of the dragon flapped into the air sending swirls of sand directly at the little girl. She ducked for cover. Leaving imprintment of a child in the sand, she stood up.

“Yeah right. You’re normal and I’m the empress of the world.” Sarcasm practically dripped from her voice.

However she could understand the stranger’s enthusiasm. If she had seen a mirage like herself, she would have been fascinated.

“Fine. I’ll let you come.” She said, “The bandits that we are going after are slave owners. They travel around the desert and catch people to turn them into slaves. When we go there, we will have to be careful to not hurt the slaves if we want to free them. Since there are only three of us, charging in recklessly is not a good idea. Since they could use the slaves as hostages. We will have to be sneaky about this. Which is why I used an invi- I mean which is why me, a mirage, is best at any sneak attacks. I have some poisonous fruits. If you can help me find a way to juice it, I can drip the juice into their food. One bite from the fruit is enough to kill. "

"So a few drops should be enough. It’ll take only a little bit before they realize that their guys are dying because of the food. I plan on going after the leaders with this poison. When their leaders are down then we can start a fight. Without their leaders they will be thrown into chaos. While I’m doing this with the poison, you need to steal the horses and any carriages found. We need to get the slaves out of there as soon as possible. After that is when we will strike. If your dragon roars it should be enough to make them freak out. In the middle of the chaos, I’ll be using lockpicks to set the slaves free. You will have to fight with your dragon as a distraction. Once the slaves are free, I will join you in battle.”

She had no issue in joining them to fight. As long as she had her magic with her. Magic was the only way somebody as small as her could fight. Speed and quick hits were the best tactics she could use without using magic. Salene took a few more steps then stopped and turned back to L’van.

“Also, if you die, I will personally go down to the underworld, find you and slap you across the face for dying. Then I’ll have to look for a way to resurrect you.”