They resumed their journey, traveling without the least bit of hurry and stopping over now and then to eat and rest. During their seventh night together, they decided to camp in a clearing between a cluster of trees so that they could light a fire at the center to keep away any hostile animals. After the fire had been lighted, and everyone settled, Kisa immediately resumed her favorite pastime: hearing the stories of her companions.

After trying to get Celeste to open up for the past few days, she had given up and turned her attention back to Conrad, for there were some things that she wanted to ask him.

"Conrad, wouldn't your family get worried about your leaving so abruptly? And with an 'enemy' at that?" She looked at him curiously, "I'm sure it escaped nobody's notice that you disappeared at the exact same night that a prisoner escaped. Not to mention the convenience of someone in your position of letting a prisoner free and slipping through the tight security of your clan,"

Conrad kept silent for a while, holding a stick and busying himself by with the bonfire. When he finally spoke, there was a little sadness in his voice, "I don't think they'll mind, my father and brothers..." His voice trailed off and he paused for a moment, "What I am to them is an unnecessary burden, that's why they're all so eager to send me off to work and train." His fingers tightened around the stick he held, and he stared resolutely at the fire, oblivious to the concerned look that Kisa was giving him.

Celeste was turned away from the fire, casting a dark shadow on her face. Nonetheless, she listened to his story quietly as her wolf had turned watchfully towards him, sensing the turmoil in his voice.

Conrad determinedly continued, "When I resolved to leave that night, before coming to you, Kisa, I had no problems leaving the clan or my family. My father is a rather wealthy land owner in our territory, and I have always been opposed to his harsh ways. He would starve our slaves, have them whipped to death, accuse them of stealing so that we could purge out their every belonging until they could never leave us... It wasn't right. My brothers are just like him too... they were always cruel to everybody, even to me."

Kisa nodded sympathetically, "I understand. I probably would have left too, if I had such a family."

Conrad finally lifted his eyes from the fire and smiled at Kisa. "I'm glad I met both of you. I've always known the face of cruelty and greed, but you both convinced me that improvement is possible." he turned his head to smile at Celeste as well, for though she rarely spoke, she had made it clear that she respected, and even liked and trusted her two new companions. And although they knew very little about her, both Conrad and Kisa had grown very fond of their new friend because, on the rare occasions that she did talk, most of what she would say were either very meaningful, unnoticeably significant or utterly amusing.

Celeste, somewhat distractedly, suddenly spoke, "Why didn't you ever fight them then?"

Conrad thought of the heartless and cruel ways of the Serpent Clan, his expression hardening a bit. "I wanted to help bring change to the world, especially in my clan. We are far too harsh, even our own clansmen feel the wrath of our brutal system. It shouldn't be that way," he muttered, his voice filled with sorrow, "I felt that my clan was losing it's humanity and it's ability to feel for suffering. Instead, it was consumed by their desire for carnage, so much so that during the time of peace, they had no choice but to turn their hunger for blood on themselves, their own kin. I was a witness to all this suffering and I couldn't bear it any longer. Unfortunately, I realized that this way of thinking has become a way of life for us, and on my own I was powerless to instill change. I've constantly sought out how I could possibly do it, and this is the answer I've found," the young man answered sincerely.

Celeste spoke again, "How astonishing: an elite of the Serpent feeling that the system, the prevalent reality of his existence which he was even trained to obey is, in fact, wrong. Especially since you have known no other alternative."

Conrad smiled sadly again. "Well, I've had certain instances in my life that are not at all common. I guess this is what paid the price for my awareness." His voice drifted a bit as though lost in deep thought. "It was much too high a price, but I don't think it could have happened any other way..."

Kisa put a reassuring hand on his arm as Conrad began his story. "Ever since I was very young, I lived with my family, a father and mother, and two older brothers. My father had descended from a long line of Ronins and had inherited a rather sizeable piece of land near our territory's water source. My mother, a fan geisha who retired upon marrying my father, had always opposed his cruel ways, but she had also been always afraid of him. She bore him three sons, but I had won her favor. She gave special notice to me, her only comfort in a home that had become her prison. She talked to me often of the cruelty my father believed in, and I could see how much the suffering of others pained her as well. She was an intelligent woman, and she had told me more than once that I would succeed where she failed. She wanted change, but she knew herself incapable of such, and thus she trained me. She was the only one who ever really cared about me. Then when I was a few years old, she suffered a torturous and slow demise as a result of a mysterious disease, leaving me alone against a world at odds with my beliefs. My brothers seemed to resent me for this, and they constantly bullied and beat me up. My father thought it stupid to concern oneself with the feelings of others, and he thought me weak and cowardly for showing kindness and compassion..." Conrad paused for a long time, trying to pacify his emotions. Kisa was speechless and Celeste had again turned away.

After a long deafening pause, the young man continued, "As soon as my mother died, my father had us brothers trained for a high-ranking position in the future. There I got to see for myself the horrible suffering of my fellow clansmen, and I grew more determined to fulfill my mother's wishes."

Conrad clenched his fists and with a painful expression, he looked down, "This has opened my eyes to my clan's cruelty, which is why I finally had to leave,"

Kisa suddenly stood up and surprised Conrad with a comforting hug. "Don't worry, I promise I won't let you down,"

Conrad smiled fondly beyond the grief, but remained quiet.

Celeste sat in silence, watching them intently before she sensed movement a few distances away. She turned to its direction, attempting to see through the darkness of the forest.

"Enemies," She said to her two companions to warn them.

They looked up and listened. After a while, noise accompanying the disturbance became clear and was approaching, so the three stood and prepared themselves for battle.

A large group of drunken bandits suddenly appeared from behind the trees. Celeste's wolf made an angry growl as Kisa studied them carefully, soon realizing that these were different from the ones who kidnapped her. These bandits, upon noticing the three, rushed to attack, their intoxication robbing them of reason.

Unfortunately, since Kisa looked the weakest of the three, a big number of them chose to attack her. So armed with her sword, she tried to fight them all, and was successful, to an extent. But they were much too numerous for her to keep defending herself. Soon, she had begun to receive cuts and pierces in many parts of her body with swords she failed to block, and lacerations and the punctures had begun to weaken her.

Sensing Kisa's predicament, her two allies attempted to help her.

"Kisa!" Conrad yelled, "Hold on!" He tried desperately to fight of the bandits around him, but there was still a rather great number.

Celeste, on the other hand, noticed the she was near Conrad, and fighting furiously, managed to approach him and stand with her back against his. "Conrad, fight them off. I'll try to heal Kisa,"

Conrad nodded, wasting no time with questions, and they inched little by little towards their companion, with Celeste's eyes closed in concentration while chanting. Suddenly, Celeste's eye flew open and she glanced at the weakening Kisa.

"It's not working!" She exclaimed, her green eyes wide with horror.

Conrad immediately replied, "Okay, your turn. Fight them off and I'll try something,"

Celeste turned to face the bandits, and with LongTail helping her she fought to keep them from attacking Conrad.

Quickly, he grabbed the chain that was hanging on his belt and deftly hooked both ends to a small ring on the handles of each of his two swords. He then threw this towards the bandits surrounding Kisa, and concentrating, he closed his eyes and dropped his hands to his side. Suddenly, a strong gust of wind flew from all directions, coming together to maneuver the heavy weapon as it flew in a great circle and disemboweled enemies.

A great number of bandits were killed by this swift attack, but the rest dodged the attack and attacked more fiercely then ever. Kisa, who had previously been on her knees, her legs exhausted and weak from the beating, had been splattered by a great amount of blood, and the sight caused her to tremble even more in her panicked state. Some bandits charged about wildly, almost crashing and falling on Kisa, making her scream in surprise and fear.

The young Dragon was unaware of her two companions, who were quickly advancing and approaching her. She was quickly losing blood and her mind was aware only of her weakening state, the numbness of her feet, the trembling of her body, the coldness all around her. She could also feel the hard thudding of her heart, too fast and too loud that she felt her chest would burst. All these rose up in her consciousness, filling her with dread, fear and desperation. Suddenly, an image came to mind, of a flame burning strongly, urging and calling out to her, until her head began to throb as well.

"This is too much," She whispered, beginning to sob and dropping her weapon. She bent down to the ground, amidst the chaotic mob and the frenzying blades hitting her, and put her arms over her head. Tears of desperation in her eyes, she began to scream. Screaming to extinguish the pain, to remove the confusion, to destroy the fear.

Suddenly, with a bright flash, a ring of blazing fire ignited around her and flew outwards, killing every one of the bandits that threatened it's sender. Miraculously, both Conrad and Celeste were unharmed.

Once the two had realized what had happened, they both turned their astonished gaze to Kisa, who was lying on the ground, having fainted from the exertion, but fully healed and unharmed.

Neither of them spoke for a long time, both relieving oneself of the trauma of the event and of Kisa's close encounter with death. Everything was quiet and both of them were thinking, trying to comprehend everything that had happened.

Celeste then stood up to look out into the forest, "I will be leaving you both tonight,"

Conrad looked at her in surprise, "You're leaving us despite having witnessed what had just happened?! Kisa needs more help and protection that what I can give her!"

The other shook her head. "I've seen you both together. You care very much about her, I am certain. I am sure you care enough about her to protect her, even at the cost of your life, just as you've sacrificed everything for her and her cause. Such affection could not possibly render you incapable."

Conrad nodded, flustered at having been easily predicted. "But still, why can't you stay?" he persisted, "Why must it be just me? For all the emotions in the world, I could still fail and so could she."

"With Kisa's new power, it will be difficult for an ominous danger to succeed." Celeste replied, studying Conrad. He had an unsatisfied expression on his face. She settled down the ground and sat facing him.

"You ask why I can't stay." She looked at him with her intense green eyes, "After seeing you in battle, I've come to be painfully aware of my inadequacies, for my failure almost cost us a life that should not have had to be in peril. I should have been able to heal her, but I failed. For this reason, I must return to my clan and resume what I had left hanging. I shall complete my training and come back to join both of you as a better healer and warrior,"

Conrad was silent as she continued, "Don't worry. Kisa's destiny is great, and she will live long enough to fulfill it. I know this for a fact for I have inherited the gifts of the Wolf Clan's ancient druidesses. I see things and feel things more acutely than others, often before they happen, for I was born from the direct bloodline of the druidesses who predicted the legendary breaking of the world. I've felt for some time now, that something important is going to happen, but never before as strongly as when I am with Kisa. She is an important person, a key figure to an occurrence that will change everyone's destinies. That is why I trusted her outright and, consequently, trusted you as well."

Conrad nodded, but still continued to argue, "If you know all this, then why don't you guide Kisa? She needs someone to help her understand what she must do. I will protect her at the cost of my life, if necessary, but you must help her understand her destiny. You cannot expect me to do that as well. Especially as you know how I feel for her and how these emotions may cause me to pull her towards safety instead of destiny,"

Celeste smiled, "She does need a guide, and I will offer myself as one to her when the right time comes, but not at present. I have been watching Kisa, and I know she's been having dreams. I know these dreams come to you often as well."

Conrad looked up in surprise.

"Yes, dreams of flames and riddles. Muddled by a distant whisper, a whisper that comes and goes like the passing wind." She nodded at the other, "I know of these because I have them too. But Kisa's dreams are much clearer and tangible to her than ours are. This will be sufficient enough to guide her for now. It will reveal itself in time, and when it does, it will be the right time. And I will come, as many others will, to aid her when this time comes."

Conrad frowned, deep in thought. "Yes, I suppose that is how it should be, isn't it?"

Celeste nodded. "Yes. And clearly, it is not yet time for me to join you both. You would have defeated those bandits even without my presence. If I stay, my failures will only burden rather than aid you. I promise to return once I will be strong enough to contribute and not weigh you down,"

And with that, Conrad acquiesced. Celeste stayed and watched over Kisa until dusk, when she was to leave.

Conrad walked her, a distance away from their settlement, leaving LongTail back there to watch over the girl in deep slumber. Celeste had decided to leave her wolf with them until she would come to get him back. They walked up to a small clearing of trees where she was to move on alone. She then faced the young Serpent with sincere eyes, "Take care of her, Conrad. Her destiny will hold the salvation of so many. I give you my word that I will someday join you both again,"

"I can say nothing else, but thank you, for it is disheartening to bid farewell to someone I will soon see again," He gave her a respectful bow and watched as she turned and left, the shadows claiming her within their endless pools of darkness.