Dawnlark Plains Many things will change.

Adventuring had once been her most prized ability. To be able to escape to new vistas, meet new beings, experience new things — and then she found the maplewood. Her time as a Phoenix had been memorable and Tavi had learned a lot; she hadn't understood loss until she had been removed from its ranks, though. She hadn't understood Ukko until this very moment either. The thought of her faraway friend made her hear seize - and then she thought of Reek. Of how he must feel, being left behind. She worried for him despite telling herself not to be. Although Tavi put a day or two of wandering between herself and the Larksong, she couldn't remove her mind from that place. Her heart lingered there - pieces of it anyway - and the more she distanced herself, the more frightened she became.

What sort of life could she provide for these children?

The land gave way to wetness, to marsh, and she had to focus on her route more than the pain of her departure, lest she become moored in the muck. The more Tavi wandered the wetter she got, until her round sides were partly submerged. Even the heat of the sun was not enough to ease the chill — and then, with a shift of the wind, things became immeasurably worse. The familiar scent of sulfur lit upon the airway and she, raising her head with a sudden interest despite her growing exhaustion, recognized it. A dragon was the last thing she needed right now. Her heart began to thud in her chest, and Tavi sought the firmness of roots as she scrambled for solidity beneath her. She managed to squeeze her top half upon an exposed patch of damp stone beside an old tree, but by the time she hoisted herself chest-high upon it, the stranger was nearer.

It huffed at her, and she turned sporadically to meet it — her eyes like saucers and her teeth baring a hasty, frantic grin. Stay back she wanted to shout; but all that came from her was a whistling growl.