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Suluksati had decided, refreshed by a new day and a mostly full stomach, that she would continue to search for Samael's clan. She was fairly sure that they would not like her, or Sam for that matter when she told them the truth about herself, but if she was easily dissuaded by hopelessness, she would not be on the quest she was on.

It was with a good mood that she set out again, soaring over the warm sands in the bright, goddess-blessed light of day. The sun baked her freshly groomed feathers into fluffy warmth, covering her scars nicely as they poofed outwards and hiding her wiry form. She caught the scent of khehora on the winds once again. Despite her terrors of the last few days, and despite her self imposed loneliness, she still loved her own kind and hoped to see Samael again. She soared towards them, feeling optimistic..

She found them soon enough - a Kiandri khehora with two Gaili at his tail. They seemed calm - a good sign. There were no dragons about - another good sign. She soared in on silent, adept wings, landing effortlessly nearby to approachthem from the ground.

"How goes your morning?" she called out, arranging her wings on her back until they were comfortable.

"Well!" called back the Kiandri. He was an older Khehora, his scales dulled with age, though his eyes were sharp and intelligent. Suluksati had always liked her elders, and as she approached, she felt comfortable around him. The other two Gaili, however, were not comfortable with her. In fact, they seemed strikingly familiar. For a moment, a not very pleasant moment, she thought they were the Khehora that she had met a few days earlier, the ones that had tried to 'teach her a lesson'. But they were not - they just looked very similar. Relatives, perhaps. "And yours?"

"That depends, Elder." she said, lowering her head respectfully, "I'm looking for a friend's clan. Do you know Samael? He is a Khehorian, a Gaili..."

The old Khehora nodded kindly, "Yes. I know him. He leads our clan. Who might you be, friend of Samaels?"

"Suluksati." she said, her muscles relaxing somewhat. This Khehora knew Samael, and a friend of a friend could well be a friend. And... well... she needed more friends. "I am an Aedaun. No clan." She hadn't seen her family in a long time.

The elder gave her a warm look. "So you are Suluksati. We know of you and were told to welcome you... We are heading back now, to our clan. Will you join us?"

"Yes!" she said, delightedly, "Of course!"

The Gaili shifted uncomfortably, giving her uneasy looks. "Shaman? Didn't Nokri say something about an Aedaun with white feathers...?"

The old Khehora cut him off with a snap of his teeth. "I don't particularly care what your clutchmate said." he snapped, "Nokri is always saying something, and you all chatter along with him. Don't you think for yourselves? One would think Nokri did all your thinking for the lot of you!"

The two Gaili hung their heads and were quiet. The old Khehora began to walk again, swishing his tail invitingly.

They walked for a while, conversing about Serenia - the old Khehora was interested in the other lands. Mostly though, they traveled in silence. Suluksati was starting to relax when she felt a very familiar sensation of static building up in her feathers. She looked to the Kiandri in front of her, but he was not using his magic.

That left two options: Other kiandri khehora in the area, either out to raid two leggers and other kheora or, hopefully, minding their own business. Or dragons. She hoped it was not dragons. The day was going so well - she didn't want it to end with dead dragons. She said nothing and kept walking, hoping that it was no more than charged air.

She was, sadly, wrong. Out of the dunes leapt a small pack of Kiandri dragons, their claws shimmering as they electrified the very air. Suluksati choked, throwing up a magical shield as the Gaili hunkered down to the safety of their element. The elder khehora snarled an order, uneffected by the shocking air, and the two Gaili leapt into action. As the Kiandri dragons returned to a battle formation, spears of earth were flung at them, only to shatter on Suluksati's shields. "Run!" she shouted, "We must run! Let us not have any more of this senseless violence!" A dragon dove at her, its claws skittering off of her shield. The elder khehora gave her a strange look before pouncing with surprising agility on the dragon's back. The gaili clutchmates, though... they looked at her with a knowing and hostile gaze. She felt their recognition like a solid object slamming into her. They knew her, now.

There was nothing Suluksati could do about that. Or, about the dragon that crashed into one of them as they were distracted. It crushed the young khehora's head with a lucky strike, the body twitching, electrified, before lying, far too still, on the ground. That was when Suluksati knew there was no hope for this battle either. As the remaining young khehora screamed and attacked the dragon, she looked for the third dragon.

She saw it, stalking up behind the elder, hoping to catch him off guard and kill him. She decided not to let that happen. She threw a shield around the old Kiandri, blasting the sneaking dragon with a beam of light before pouncing in. She tore at it, finally managing to slice open its throat. As it writhed, its lifeblood leaking away, she turned to the other battles. The Khehora were holding her own, and she found it hard to tell whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. She felt numb and unreal. There was no good or bad - just things.

So, she did a thing herself. A few things. Summoning up her power, she cast healing spells of soothing, glittering light, restoring the khehora as she tried to block the dragons blows with her shields.
please... she prayed, Please, dragons... just fly away. It will do you no good to fight, just fly away.... The battle became a blur to her as she approached the dead khehora. Of course, the dragons would not fly away. They never had before, and they never would.

Eventually the dragons were vanquished, silence reigning in their stead. The victorious and bloody elder and his guard turned to find Suluksati sitting, wings arched, over the body...