What’s moved?” Snowstorm says, looking to me with confusion and almost as much worry as Smokewind does as a baseline. Despite being a chunky mass of magma, Smokewind has the bravery of a gecko.

  “Yesterday, I saw something down there.” I explain to snowstorm, who now sits beside me, looking out to the wilderness. Its a fairly cloudless day, and the sun shines down like an angry god. It makes EVERYTHING reflective. The ocean is all too shiny right now. “It was a reflective thing. Maybe glass or metal. But I don't know. I didn't check it out.” Snowstorm looks like hes thinking. And he doesn't seem to like the ideas he's coming up with.

  “Lets go check it out.” He finally says, looking not too excited about the idea. “But we should tell Darkness or Smokewind fir- hey! Get back here!” Im already flying down there. Snowstorm catches up quickly and settles into a glide beside me as we hover over the reflective thing. Then… its gone!

  “The shiny thing is gone!” I say, surprised.

  “”I can see that, soot nose.” He snaps back. “Gone, or just covered up.” I dive down to get a closer look. I slam down into the foliage with an “Oof” and hear a sound I didn't expect. A shout of surprise. Though a more squeaky one, like its from a smaller pair of lungs. I turn to where the sound came from but… there’s nobody there. Though… there is SOMETHING there.

  “Abhor, you idiot!” Snowstorm shouts down at me. He grips onto the trunk of a tree when he lands, his wing-grippers sink in deep to hold him up. Those things are made to grip into chunks of dense ice. No wonder the tree doesn't stand a chance.

  “There's nothing here. Where did the thing go?” Snowstorm muses, sniffing around.

  “Come look at this.” I say, looking down at the something I found. Its a weird little metal thing. It looks like a flat cube, but with a tube on the front. There are lots of crystals on it. It looks like something you are meant to look through. And it reflects the light. Was this the thing that was dropped?

  “Its a scrying camera!” Snowstorm tells me, shocked. “These things are stupid expensive and require mana to use.” I pick it up in one hand and look through the lens. Its hard to look through considering it seems to be made for much smaller eyes.“What's it do?” I ask, pointing it at a tree. Nothing happens.

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  “Point it at me.” Snowstorm says to me and I do. Immediately a system screen pops up.

  Name:Snowstorm

  [Locked]

  Titles:Frostbreaker, knowledgeer, study master

  Strength:18

  Durability:18

  Speed:19

  Stamina:19

  Intelligence:25

  [locked]:0

  Species:[Locked]

  Skills: Heat vision(low), enhanced intelligence(medium), knowledge intake(low), cold resistance(high[Max]), photographic memory(Medium), swimming skills(low), split thought(Low), body temperature reduction(Medium), [Locked]

  “Woah, I can see your stats.” I tell Snowstorm, who nods. “You have a lot more skills then me, and an extra title.” Snowstorm nods.

  “You get titles by the system recognizing your acheivements and granting them to you. My best skill is definitely split thought. It lets me think about 2 things at once, but right now its not strong enough for combat. Anyway, we are getting off track.” Snowstorm peers down at the little contraption in my claws. “This is definitely a human contraption.” He says finally.

  “Really?” I ask, my eyes widening. The closest human settlement is supposed to be miles away. “How do you know?”

  “Because not only is it too small for dragons, but it also has a logo on the edge. Dragons don't bother branding their stuff. Nor do Elementals or Dragonborns.” I nod at that. It makes sense. “Is there anything you saw that could help us?” Snowstorm asked, gesturing around. I think for a moment. I didn't see anything, but…

  "I did hear something.” I say eventually. Snowstorm perks up at that.

  “Really? You did something useful for once?”

  “Shut up if you want me to tell you.”“Fine.” I take a moment to recall what it sounded like.“It was kind of a dragons shout of surprise, you know? Like a yelp, but it sounded like it came from something small. When I looked, there was nothing. I did hear the thump of this thing dropping though.” I personally don't think it's that useful of information, but Snowstorm definitely does, judging form his expression. An expression that is slowly getting more and more worried.

  “Definitely a human. But… why send a human so far to scry us? Why scry us at all? It’s not like we are hoarding some sort of ancient treasure or something… But still, a human this far away? Why send a person instead of a scouting drone?”

  “What if…” I hesitate, but barrel on anyway.

  “What if its because they didn't have to go far?” It sounds stupid coming out of my mouth, but Snowstorm freezes up.

  “You said you saw them here before this, right?” I nod.“Once. I saw the glimmer of the scry-thing.”“Scrying camera.” He corrects me, practically on instinct. “But… if you say them before… that was yesterday, right?”

  “Yeah, it was.” I look through the foliage. This area has no twigs, no fallen branches, nothing. And its like that for a wings-distance around here. Like someone cleaned it up and moved it for easier movement. Snowstorm noticed too.

  “They have been here a while, likely longer then when you last saw them.” Snowstorm says.

  “That means they must have had to sleep here. And if they had to sleep here, that means they had a home base. Those scrying crystals are expensive, and since their technologies aren't recognized by the system, scrying tools don't work through them. They needed someone to do this themselves and report back to… someone.”

  “Do you think there are more of them?” I ask, worried now.

  “Think? No, I'm certain.” Snowstorm says grimly. “Humans dont waste money. They are worse then dragons in that regard. Giving a human valuable resources like this, they had to be sure they were protected. The best way to do that? More humans.” Snowstorm immediately turns back to the mountain. “We need to tell the guardi-” He stops mid-sentence. His eyes are wide with a lot of worry. I stop too. I Slowly turn. That is when I pick up on the scent… of smoke.