"When the Shade is finally put to rest, the greatest stress on nature will be gone. When he is gone, we'll finally be able to have time we can use for our own means," Shadowbinder said.

""If you don't mind me asking, how do you know Mayumi," Kial asked, fallowing after Goldenscale, "We never actually got to meet her when she livied outside this forest. We only really had about two days to talk with her before Archen attacked her."

"And time is something that never ends.  We can only hope that he does get destroyed." Moonlight said.  "It is a 50/50 chance that he might still live."

"Mayumi is my adoptive mother.  But before that she fixed my leg since it didn't work right, then she found Frost, who was my adoptive dad but he died a while ago, and then after they decided to become mates, they adopted me since I was still an orphan." she explained.

"I've been doing some research on him, delving into his history, and I can say that if he gets destroyed now, he wont be comming back. He came to this world in the same way Mayumi did, only on his own accord. He hangs in this world as a wondering spirit bend on regaining enough power to claim a mortal body," Shadowbinder said, "If he is destroyed, his spirit will be forced back into the cycle of life to start again once more. He does have a name other than the Shade howeveer. One only he and Mayumi know."

"Please telm e if I'm delving too deep here, but would you mind telling us what you know of Frost," Miru asked, "I can understand if you wish not to speak of him. It is hard to speak of those who have passed when they are so close."

"I will see if I can somehow learn this name.  It is best to try and learn what name he has now so we can better figure out a way to destroy him." she said with a nod.

Goldenscale's ears went back.  "He was a kind and caring father who always tried doing what was best for others.  He was also the only other shape-shifter I knew, other than myself and he helped me with so much in the short time I was there.  He liked making things a surprise, like when he became the leader of the council and decided to keep it a secret so that he cod tell me.  He knew what he was doing, and he was strong.  He was also the one that had introduced me to Mayumi.  The day he found me he took me to see her and everything became wonderful..." she said, staring off at nothing in particular as she spoke.  Her ears were flat against her head, but were more towards the sides than completely back.  After a while, they finally approached the large moss covered stone.  "Here we are." she said.

"I only got as much information as I did because he still leaves a shadow in his wake. I've heard him speak of many things, and seen him perform some mighty feats in necromancy. The cloud that surounds him is composed of many flying creatures he has raised," Shadowbinder said, "I'll fill you and everyone else in as I find out more about him."

"Thank you for leading us, and for telling us about Frost. He sounds like he was a greats person," Miru said, placing a hand on the boulder, "I sense that this place holds some great importance to Mayumi. There's something similar to her burried here."

"That something would be my first mate, Kor. This is his burrial site. I only asked Goldenscale to bring you here because it was the closest location I could quickly get to," Mayumi said, dawning dark red armor that covered most of her body and the leading edges of her wings. "If I remember, there was eight of you. Goldenscale, would you have any information on why there is only seven," she asked, looking to Goldenscale.

"That would be best.  Thank you for your help." Moonlight said to the Shadowbinder.  "We can use any bit of information we can about him."

Goldenscale was surprised to see Mayumi in all that armor and was frightened by it.  Wearing armor always made her think something bad was going to happen.  At hearing the question she squeaked.  "Well, um, he made me angry and, well, Ahnah killed him and I uh, free all his companions..." she stammered quietly.

"Do not be afaid Goldenscale, I only waer this armor out of distrust of humans. As for the one you dealt with, that is all I need to know of him. He is gone, nothing more needs to be known," Mayumi said, using a claw to pull the visor on her helmet up, "Now, which one of you would like to try to earn my trust first?"

"Mayumi, that would be unneeded. They're all good people. They're trying to preserve nature just as much as you or Goldenscale," Ahnah said, landing on top of the boulder, "You can ask Goldenscale herself. She's even made friends with one of their throdama. These beastkeepers work alongside their companions."

"Is that so? Goldenscale, i would rather not drag you into this, but is what Ahnah says true," Mayumi asked.

Goldenscale nodded.  "Yes it is true.  I can see the trust they have for each other in their auras...  and I have become friends with one of their Thordama scouts.  Though he says he doesn't have a name, I know how to find him." she said.

"OK, I'll give them a chance, but I wish to speak with each of them separately. They will each have a chance to speak for themselves," Mayumi said, "I will wait for you inside the boulder. There is a spell to hide hallow inside." With a nod to the keepers, Mayumi stepped over to the boulder before pushing through."

A moment passed bafore one of the keeprs went in.

"I'm glad you two have a good standing with her.Seeing Mayumi in that armor is quite unsettling," Kial said, blinking as Miru vanished into the boulder, "By the way, how long do you plan on staying in town?"

"I've never seen her in armor before, it frightens me more because wearing armor makes me think that something bad's going to happen." she said.  "I axtually have no idea how long we're going to stay, though I know it won't be for very long." she said with a shrug.

"We'll only be staying till we can find more information on our goal. We've only got a very limited amount of information as we sit," Ahnah said, climbing off the boulder to stand next to Goldenscale.

"Well, you're both free to look through our libraries. You might find something worth your time there," Kial said, pausing a moment to look back and see Nathan playing with the hatchling, "Anyways, I was think that if you're going to stay a little longer, you might teach Nathan a few things about nature. Whaat better a teach than one that has lived their life in constant expose to their field?"

Goldenscale smiled when Ahnah joined her.  "I could probably help him.  I sorta have no idea what I'm looking for, so I might split up helping Ahnah and Nathan if I were to do that.  Either way, we have to use our time wisely." she said.

"It's just as important to do something that takes our minds of the main goal. Thinking too much about it can cause us to become obsessed with it. It's never good to become obsessed over anything, even if that something is a good cause," Ahnah said, nuzzling Goldenscale's shoulder, "If it helps, we can take turns teaching Nathan and looking for information."

"Don't worry too much about teaching Nathan, I just though you might want to help," Kial said with a smile, "Once we're done talking with Mayumi, we'll be heading back to town ourselves. I'll personally be talking with Nathan's mother about his pottential as a keeper."

"Well then, we will both help teach Nathan." she said before doing the same with Ahnah.  "From what I've heard, she might not let him become a keeper."

"That's why I'm going to talk with her. She shouldn't be too much of a problem once she gets direct word from us," Kial said, watching as Miru exited the boulder and another entered, "Mayumi will be another obsticle we'll have to work with. I'd rather work with her than against her."