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The Evacuation was in progress, what sheron and kargoth and kugel and whatever other ranch animals could be salvaged were en-route to Taliuma, along with the survivors that Raemos's parents had been able to find. They made a caravan of animals and people, stretching out for a long way, protected by Guardians and civilian warriors alike.

Raemos had heard that the mara did not attack large groups like this, and it made sense: they were rational, logical - the perfect soldier. They would not attack unless they were confident that they could handle the pushback. Even a large force of mara would find them difficult to take, and such a force would likely be seen long before they were an issue.

Raemos felt confident that they would be unmolested all the way to Taliuma, and would make it well within the day. He rode alongside the healed Betty on a loaned hastar, Vona and Sonia riding on top. "How is everything up there?" he called.

"Fine! The weather's great!" Vona called down, smiling. He smiled back, giving her a wave.

"Father's in the back, right?"

"Yes!" Sonia answered, "He wanted to take the rear guard."

"Allright!" Raemos wasn't going to argue that his father, still recovering from his injuries, should keep to the safer middle of their evacuation caravan. Mallew wouldn't listen, and would probably be fine anyway. Raemos waved at them and trotted down the line, checking the surroundings. Everything was fine and, he hoped, would continue to be fine, but he wasn't going to invite disaster by letting his guard down. A heat shimmer caught his gaze.

It was a desert, and heat shimmers were not unusual, but this one was concentrated near a single dune. "Hey!" he called to one of the guards, an orderite who had come from another nearby ranch - another man he'd never met before, a warrior. "I'm going to scout for a second, I'll be right back!" he spurred his hastar towards the anomaly.

He grimaced as he saw the bundle of scales, teeth, and claws hidden and shimmering with electricity behind the dune. Mara might be too logical and cautious to attack a large, well-protected caravan, but dragons had no such qualms. "Hey! you!" he shouted. They looked at him, regarding him as if he was an insect under their foot. The hastar whickered and stamped, and he patted its neck to soothe it. "Fight me!"

The dragons needed no provokation, roaring and leaping at him. Several years ago, he would have been nothing before the dragon's claws. Now, though, he was more than a match for the kiandri. He kicked his mount into a frothing run at them, dodging the sizzling bolts of their magic as they crashed lithely to the sand. He took out his wand, spinning his magic around it like thread before, with a gesture, he lashed it into their faces. "Lafahaz Gaolem..." he whispered, as the dragons struggled against the net-like dark miasma that contained them. He pushed the magic inwards, burning it into their joints and lungs and eyes, making sure they would stay down.

He drew his sword and charged, then, slashing one across the neck, than the other - coolly, methodically, and perfectly. He cleaned the blood off of his sword and sheathed it as the dragons - and the magic that had bound them - melted away into ash. He picked up the soul orbs and calmed his mount. "See?" he cooed at the still-nervous beast, "I handled it. You needn't have worried." He looked at the caravan - they had made progress and were a distance away, but not too far. He could easily catch up. He felt good - the dragons had not been difficult, but they could have done a lot of damage had they been allowed to attack. Now, that damage and its potentially tragic consequences would not come to pass.

He did not have time to pat himself on the back, however, as a bolt of shining holy light struck the sand next to him, blinding him. His mount bucked and ran, kicking him to the ground in the process. He coughed and held his aching stomach, struggling to his feet and drawing his sword. "Who goes there?!" he shouted, grimacing in pain.

"Greetings, Life form" rumbled a musical voice. Raemos turned to see a sparkling figure gliding easily towards him, "I am a Hoja de La Tierra, a weapon of the earth. You are an Oblivionite, are you not? We are both weapons..." it stopped, as if to wait for him to stand, "Shall we duel?"

Raemos grit his teeth, readying his sword warily. "I am not an Oblivionite." he said, striking out. The diamond mara blocked, the sunlight seeming to move within it like blood.

"Inconsistent" it said, striking with a hand. Raemos blocked it's blow with his sword, and saw that the hand was bladed. Everything on the mara was a blade, from its head to its body. He could feel his adrenaline begin to race through him, his breath coming fast. This would be a difficult fight. "You meet all the characteristics: lack of ocular organs, dark coloration, and use of dark magic. Conclusion..." It struck again, fast. "You are an Oblivionite."

"I am not an Oblivionite!" he snarled, striking at it again with his sword. He doubted he could damage it with the metal, though. He gathered his magic, looking for an opening to attack with it.

"Inconsistent." it said again, blocking with ease and attacking with speed and grace, "You meet the characteristics. You are." Raemos dodged back, feeling the mara's fist lightly graze him. He hissed as he was lightly stratched. If I had been a few seconds too late... he thought, My guts would... he stopped the thought there, focusing on the mara wholly and completely - his imagination was too good to be thinking about injury.

"I may meet all of your characteristics." he snarled, taking up a guard stance with his sword, his wand at the ready to channel his magic, "But I am not an Oblivionite."

"Inaccurate. It is conclusive: You are an Oblivionite. You are a fellow weapon, though you are magic instead of blade. Magia de la Umbra. Magic of the shadow." it said. Its voice was unemotional, like a bell, but Raemos felt cold anger at it's words.

"No." he said, lashing out with his sword. The mara blocked easily, but Raemos sent a slashing wave of magic through the sword to break against the shining crystal of the mara's hide. The lights within the mara daned and flailed as it reacted to his dark magic. "I refuse to acknowledge what you say. I am not an Oblivionite."

"Affirmation is inconsistant with evidence." it said, slamming it's fist into Raemos's stomach again. He doubled over and collapsed, gasping at the sudden, incredible pain and choking as something warm and wet and metallic struggled up his throat. "You are an oblivionite, and your remains will be brought back for study."

Raemos could do little more than watch the strange, shining shadow of the mara as it raised its bladed hand for a final blow.

"Get away from him you abomination!" a noise, as much a crunch as a clang, rang out, and Raemos saw another, more solid shadow join the Mara's, winged and ferocious and beautiful in a way that Raemos had not imagined shadows could be. The sound rang out again and again, and soon the mara and its shadow were no longer in Raemos's blurring vision. He felt himself picked up by strong, warm arms. "I've got you, boy." he heard, "I'll get you to your mother, don't you worry." and then Raemos's world was wind and the beat of feathered wings.