Raeza climbed the ridge, offering her a fine command of the narrow gully-pass. Below, the caravan of human families creep onwards - including her adapted family, old Murdern and Seth, the small boy who never spoke. Ahead of her loomed a ruffian, a mountainous human with a vile sneer upon his face. His dagger and metal bracers made him a fitting match for Raeza's smaller, merely elf-sized sword. Caravan leader Wagind had been right. This was the perfect place for an ambush. Yet her vision had began shifting again - the curse of that golden dragon. She could see the fear and hatred roll down the man's face. He had heard Raeza called a Demon by the bandit lookout. He would fly at her with all his strength, to kill her before she could kill him. Glorious life then began to blaze around her - birds, mice ... humans. They all showed themselves to her dragon eyes; they laid raw their emotions for her to browse and to select. Her chest tightened. The hilt of her sword cried out at her hardening grasp. Then the ground shook, that noise rolling out to the far hills. Raeza could never hear the sound, she only felt it. It didn't come from her, but Murdern had described it as a massive roar ... a dragon's boast. The brigade blanched, fear washing away his anger. He fled, plunging into the scrub and away from the pass. Fresh anger and hatred washed over her senses, glowing from the other side of the pass. Turning, her eyes saw the glow of humans. Wagind and Petino were fighting two bandits, as a third bandit stood motionless in frothing terror, staring across at the small girl capable of such a deafening roar. In the distance, her eyes saw three more blazes drawing near, and by the fear and rage they brought she knew that they were bandits. Wagind and Petino were dead if they faced six alone. Unlike before, Raeza asked no one to offer her help; she was the help. She took five quick steps back from the edge, then sprinted with all her soul. The truth that no elf could jump such a raven never crossed her mind, nor did the truth that a winged dragon could cross it so easily. She leapt, unheard-things blowing her onwards. The only thought of the young elf-maiden: to see her small sword pierce the heart of these evil men trying to harm the only family she had left. Credits: [P8 and GIMP][Perenial Pokling for V4][Savana armor for V4][Wynter hair with Wytertide textures][CliffHanger rocks][LisaB oak and tall grass][Romany Wagon]