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Things were going well until Dylan began having nightmares. My fears about the mark were now confirmed. The moment I remembered what the mark was, who created it, I feared the worst. She was linked to him. And now she had gone missing. "Siegfrein." I hissed.

Arainya glanced at me, puzzled. "What?"

I didn't answer her. I didn't even attempt to touch the steaming bowl in front of me. The wise woman raised her bowl to her lips. "You need to eat. Starving yourself won't help her."

I clenched my hands together, my head pressed tightly against them. "It isn't just that."

Arainya grasped my shoulder, concern showing on her face. "What is it? Another memory?"

"I don't even know." I stood and smacked my fist against the wall. "It's like....I need to remember something. Something incredibly important." I turned and met her eyes. "Something about the events surrounding my death."

Her eyes were steady. "And...what do you...remember?"

"It's hazy." I looked out the window. "I remember you slamming to the ground. Me, shouting your name. And..." I rubbed my temples. "Amora..."

Arainya stiffened. "Amora...what about her? She died with the rest of the wolves." I could only shake my head. The dragoness paled, shocked beyond words.

The wise woman gazed at me evenly. "What happened, Ancient Soul?"

"That's what I can't remember." I snarled. My face softened. "Sorry. I need to be alone." I felt their eyes on me as I left without another word. I leapt into the air, my wings unfurling as I took to the sky. I forced myself to relax, willing my muscles to loosen. I felt myself change, and I closed my eyes as I regained my form. Landing high up on a mountain ledge, I gazed out at the valley before me. Flashes of forgotten ages passed before my eyes. I saw the valley when men first came to settle here, after I led them here after the Dark War. And I saw the valley before men came. This was the realm of dragonkind, where we had held rule for millennia.

I closed my eyes as the sun rose higher, its light shining upon my scales, which glimmered like fire. Again, the memory of the little girl, staring defiantly at a manticore, surfaced. Letting it flow, the same flashes that had been haunting me came again......

I glanced down at the wolf queen, at how she held herself with such regal grace. "Why have you called me, Queen of Wolves?" My voice rumbled like thunder, deep as the gorge that lay before us.

"I am troubled, Ancient Lord. The dreams keep coming, and I cannot make sense of them." She answered, and I noticed how the faint quiver in her voice.

"Speak, child, and if I can, I will help you. Holding the powers of a seeress is no easy path." I replied. "Tell me of your dreams." I lay down, curling myself into a comfortable position.

The wolf queen nibbled her knuckle in thought, and I sensed her trying to figure where to to begin. "I have a daughter." She said quietly. "I see myself holding her, but I am grieved by her birth. But it isn't because she was born...but more of how and why. I sense a presence. An ancient shadow is cast over us. The air is think with evil." She pressed her face against my scales. "I am frightened, Xenolath."

My eyes were soft as I looked down at her. "The future is difficult to understand. Who's to say that what you saw was nothing more than what could happen?"

"I don't know!" She cried. "This one...it feels different." She looked up at me. "I'm not sure if this one can be changed."

I raised my head and stared down into the valley. "Then we shall just have to meet whatever fate is in store for us. But know this, Amora. So long as I draw breath, I shall defend you and your kin."

She bowed. "Thank you, Ancient One. Thank you for the friendship you have bestowed on my people."

I slowly opened my eyes, the memory fresh in my mind. It didn't solve everything, but it answered a few questions at least. "So the shadow of evil has fallen, and yet I still am here." I spread my wings and began the flight back to the village.