Two days ago Jayce had woken and felt a strange urge to head south. He asked Graym to come with him. He felt something was wrong, but he had no idea what it was. But he knew they had to go. All that first day they flew south passing cities and towns and small villages. Everything looked normal, but the further south they flew, the more troubled Jayce felt.
" Do you feel it Graym?" He asked. " I don't know how to describe it. It's like a feeling of doom and depression."
" Yes," Graym said flying next to him. " I feel pain and its getting worse the further we go."
" How bad is it?" Jayce asked.
" Don't worry about me." He said. " I can handle it."
" Then we go on," Jayce said. " I want to know where it leads."
That night they made camp in a clearing. Graym hunted while Jayce built a fire and found a stream and got water for them to drink. Graym returned with a deer they butchered and made their dinner. Having flown all day, they were famished and ate the whole thing.
" I can't believe we ate all of that," Graym said rubbing his stomach.
" I know." Jayce smiled. " Sometimes im shocked at the amount I can eat. Jandar says im bottomless."
They laughed at that then fixed tea to drink. Suddenly Jayce stopped to listen.
" What is it?" Graym asked.
" Shhhhh, listen." He told him. But there was nothing. The forest was quick. No crickets, or insects. No animal sounds or the rustling of the tress. It was silent
" I've never been in such a quiet forest." Jayce looked at Graym.
" Strange," Graym said.
" If I wasn't so tired, I wouldn't stay here," Jayce told him. " We sleep in shifts. you first, I'll wake you in a few hours. Get some rest."
Graym opened his bedroll and made himself as comfortable as he could. It didn't take long before he fell asleep. Jayce put himself in a position to meditate and sat with his ears alert for any disturbance. The next morning Graym woke Jayce from a sound sleep at dawn. He really didn't like being in this forest. There was something wrong with this quiet place. He wanted to leave as soon as possible. After washing up at the stream and a lite breakfast they were off back into the sky. That morning they both felt even worse. They noticed there were no birds flying in the sky. Jayce could find no animals in the forest. The air even smelled strange. Finally, they saw a small village below them. But there was nothing moving down there. Then they saw the dead cattle.
" Look!" Jayce pointed at them. All over the field were dead cattle. Twenty or thirty of them.
" Lets land," Jayce called to Graym. " I want to see what happened here."
So down they went. On the ground, they walked through the field. It looked like the cattle had just dropped dead. There was no sign that any animals had come along and fed on them. And there should have been. Jayce knew there had to be wolves in the area. but none had come to feed. Over in the corner of the field, they found two dead dogs, then they saw many squirrels and rabbits.
" I don't like this," Graym said.
" Neither do I." Said Jayce. " Come on. I want to check the village."
As they walked through the village they checked each house. All the people were dead. There was no one living soul in the village. Jayce stopped to check the bodies. There was no sign of trauma on the bodies. Again, no bite mark or anything that could show how they died. That means it wasn't vampires.
" What could have done this? A sickness maybe?"
" I don't think so," Graym told him. " There would be some sign of sickness. Vomit, sores, discoloration, something. Their arent even any flies, and these people have been dead awhile now."
"Let's get out of here." Together they ran and launched themselves into the sky. Back in the air they moved on. Soon they came across a few more towns and villages in the same condition, everyone was dead.
" There's something really bad happening here. We better get back and warn Rage and Jandar." Turning back toward home, Jayce called out to Jandar. But there was no answer. They were to far away.
" We have to hurry Graym," Jayce said. " This thing whatever it is is heading for home."
They weren't going to stop anymore and now they were going to fly as fast as they could. There were a lot of people counting on them. All the way back Jayce and Graym called out again and again. It took them hours before they finally got and answer. [Jayce, Where are you?] Dreik asked. [Jandars been asking for you.]
[ Tell him we have a problem.]
[ Great, another one] Dreik moaned. [ What is it?]
[ This is serious Dreik! There's something coming out of the south, and it's killing everything it passes.]
Dreik was silent for a second. He knew whatever Jayce was talking about, it was real and on its way.
[ Tell me what you found.]
[ Less then two days south we found every town and village full of dead people. And I mean everyone's dead, Dreik.] Jayce sent. { There's something coming, something really bad. Tell them now. We'll be back tonight.]
[ I will pass this on.] He said. [ You better hurry back. We're going to need you.]
At the gates of New Keanna, Aramis, Jax, and Atol appeared. Aramis was glad to be back at what he now considered his home. He knew he couldn't stay long, she was out there and now that he remembered, he had to find her.
" This is a nice little place," Atol said. " This is where the dragons are?"
[ Yes.]Jax told him. [ You want to know something? I could be happy here with them.]
" I don't understand." Atol stopped. "You're a god, you can be anywhere you want, do anything you want. Enjoy ever celebration all over the world. But you'd rather be here with them?"
" These people are so different then most mortals," Aramis said walking through New Keanna. " First, they accept everyone as they are no matter what they are. Look there."
Aramis pointed to an ogre, sweeping the streets of all debris from the day before. There were children all around him playing. One was riding on his shoulder, giggling and laughing. He had the biggest smile on his face. A carriage came rambling down the lane and he stopped it and got the kids out of the way before it moved on.
" They let their children be around him?" Atol asked. " Tha'st not very smart."
[ That ogre would die before harming any of those children.] Jax told him. [ Two of those kids belong to dragons as a matter of fact. He's the best babysitter here. Those children couldn't be safer anywhere else.]
" The point is these people all trust each other, and work with each other to make New Keanna great. We have all kinds here. Dragons, werewolves, vampires, an ogre, witches. all living in peace." Aramis stopped in front of the manor. " After this is all over. If we win, stay for a while and see. The god of love should witness New keanna."
" I just might do that." He said.
Suddenly the doors to the manor burst open and Ono came running out right into Jax. [Hey what's your hurry.] He sent. Ono looked up at him and a little surprised.
" Aramis, Jack!!" He smiled. " Your back!!"
" Yes, we're back. where's Jandar and Rage?"
"They're in Prafa," Ono said. " You better come, I think she is involved. Ariel and some of the other dragons will fly us there."
" No need," Aramis told him. " We'll meet you there."
And off they went in a cloud of dust leaving Ono standing the with a surprised look in his eyes.
