Sir Deltus the Mighty

**Chapter 1**

"...At a certain point in time, there was a proud race known for its draconic heritage, Astounding wings, their gray blue skin, and their taste for human flesh. However, after fifty years of their rain, they all disguised themselves, adapting human forms and went into hiding in plain sight. nobody knows how many there are, but they always seemed to have a quote that they once used to be sure they were not human. 'Thespin thar et kon tharmas besla thespin tharmas' they would say. nobody has ever known what it meant..."

Sir Deltus got up, putting his book down. It was time to hunt. He grabbed his Armor, Great bow, Spear, and then proceeded to leave camp. He did not see anything for miles, which would be a bad sign, however, he felt at peace like this. No threats, all peace... However, he knew that it would not keep this way for long, and moved on, to far less friendly grounds.

He knew what dwelt here. Dragons, for one, which were his preferred game, and also wraiths, werewolves, griffons, and, of course, other hunters, who wished to be the greatest, no matter the cost. However, they were rare. He thought about that one time he killed another hunter. it did not feel what one would call 'good' to kill one, and yet... He had these strange... Urges whenever he saw the corpse. He had already pillaged what loot the body had. What more did he seem to want from it?

All of these thoughts stopped once he heard a roar. a dragon, no doubt it was close. He instantly slammed his spear into the round, and Armor of ice coated his own, in which he ran like a blood hound toward the source of the noise. He noticed another hunter was already fighting it. And yet, he was not phased even slightly by the concept that this hunter might be more experienced than him. As he ran over, the hunter turned to him, and said:

"Hello there! You're still human, right?" right before being pinned down by the massive lizard.

If any response come from Deltus, it was a slight nod.

"Then you're an ally! Give me a hand, would ya?"

Deltus thought this sounded fair and lunged up at the Dragon. With a skull shattering CRUNCH, he punched it. It got up for a moment, stunned, before being stabbed several times by the other hunter. Deltus noticed the spear he was holding. it was covered in a mixture Highly effective against such beasts.

It fatally poisoned the thing almost instantly, in which it flew up into the air, faltered, then crashed into one of the massive ravines scouring the area. The other hunter smiled. Now that Deltus had a good look at him, he noted his features, in case they met again. A bald head, Reinforced plated leather Armor, a large shield with the emblem of two menacing white eyes on it, and, of course, his spear.

"Call me Patcher." Said the hunter.

"Deltus." The knight answered. It was probably the first word he'd said today.

"Ah, I'll be sure to remember that name... Let's head to the corpse, shall we?"

As they approached, Patcher looked down, and looked very, very excited.

"I still can't comprehend how we'd get back up, however, it's in pretty good condition, though! you should have a look at the treasure!"

As Deltus began to look down, however, he felt someone kick him from behind. And, as he fell, he suddenly knew who had done it. It was Patcher! Deltus knew his true scheme now, and recalled the first rule of hunting: get all the loot you can, even if it's at the expense of other hunters.

"I hardly even care about the dragon compared to you! I wish I'd thought of it when I first saw you!!! It's going to be the trinkets I'll be stealing from your corpse! That's the real treasure!" The rival hunter shouted down at Deltus, before Patcher began laughing as he walked off, presumably to await Deltus starving to death. Deltus knew he had to find a way out...

**Chapter 2**

Deltus knew that he could get out somehow, however he was quite unsure how he would do so for the moment being. He could probably climb the thing, but if Patcher was waiting at the top, it was another big fall for him. The ravine seemed to span out forever, and he had fallen at least 50 feet. *Wait... 50 feet...* Deltus thought to himself. There was no way he could have fallen 50 feet. Unless... Deltus shook all of these thoughts out of his head instantly when he heard something in the distance...

*Is this a road?* He thought to himself. However, it did not sound like a chariot. It sounded more like... Singing? Yes, it was singing. He could not tell who or what was singing, however something was indeed singing, it sounded almost mournful in some ways, yet it seemed to sing of happy things, a beauty he had never comprehended before.

However, Deltus did not have time to admire the singing, and should be moving toward it. Deltus moved towards the noise, cautious on what it might be, only to fall unconscious form the fall he had taken.

Deltus awoke.He notaced he could not hear the singing anymore, however, he noticed two knights looking down at him.

"You all right?" Asked one of them. Deltus did not react, but rather simply got up, and begun to walk toward the chariot.

"Uh... I'll take that as a yes." When the knights said this, Deltus stopped for a second, then continued to walk toward the chariot. He did not have time for this and needed to get straight to the point.

"Have you met a hunter named Patcher?" He asked the two knights, without looking at them.

"I think you should save our questions for *her,* pal. Hunters aren't our expertise." One of the knights answered in a snide, silky voice that made Deltus want to punch him.

*Does that idiot not see where I am walking?* Deltus thought, though this did not stall his pace. Even though the chariot's curtains were up, however, and Deltus could not make out who was inside.

"Hello there, warrior. You appear in need of help. Perhaps I could get you out form here?" Said the figure within it. She spoke in close to a wispier, however it still had much authority and power to it, like a great serpent, silently hissing before its strike. Deltus, suspecting this was likely a queen or princess from another land, Bent down and bowed on one knee formally.

"Yes. You have my thanks." He muttered. If he was gaining information from royalty, he was going to have to save the questions for later.

"Good." Said the figure, her eyes glinting at him from the darkness of her chariot. All it took for Deltus to understand was a slight beckon from her hand, and Deltus got into one of the chariot compartments.

As they travailed, they soon enough went out of the ravine and into into a cold, icy glacier, where the only noise that could be heard was the quiet blowing of the wind. Deltus glanced, looked, then stared... This felt like a true home... Everything felt so... Perfect.

"At last..." Said the figure within the chariot.

"We're here."

Deltus observed as the woman got out and her knights put the chariot to a halt. To Deltus, she had the look of somebody with so much more to them then met the eye. She wore sleeveless, snow white robes, a long, iron scepter with a marvelous red gem whiten it, and had incredibly long blue hair, which hid most of her face in the shadows, reminding Deltus of a waterfall within an icy glacier. He then saw her eyes twinkle in his direction, as she made a slight dignified bow in his direction.

"I am Princess Tharchilla of Keit-Karan. You?"

"...Sir Deltus of..." Deltus never had a home, ever since he was a child, he always was moving camp.

"Deltus, adopted son of the Hercules line." He finished.

"That's OK, I know how that feels. I have observed you for quite some time!" Tharchilla said happily. Deltus let out a low, disapproving growl. He didn't have time for jokes. Tharchilla shifted uncomfortably and looked over at him.

"Yeah... Not actually. Guards?" At this the guards immediately walked away from their presence. At first Deltus thought that her guards were even ruder than he'd thought, however Tharchilla's lack of reaction at this probably meant that the guards were used to her asking them to leave.

Out of nowhere, she laughed briefly and then walked over to Deltus and spoke to him, staring off into the tundra.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" She said. Deltus nodded in agreement, though slowly. Tharchilla turned her head over to him, and spoke in a whisper to him.

"Thespin thar et kon tharmas besla thespin tharmas..."

Deltus stopped dead. It was now that he knew what she was, and what has going on...

**Chapter 3**

Deltus backed off, the eyes beneath his visor locking with Tharchilla's. Staring at the mysterious woman in front of him, he was more then aware that she didn't look like a monster, though the creatures could take human form. However he never expected one to take the form of a princess.

"Is something wrong, Deltus?" Tharchilla said, raising an eyebrow. Her most welcoming personality made Deltus frankly feel annoyed, as he was anything but one for small talk. All that mattered was that he had never fought one of these creatures before, and he certainly would not be dying to one.

"I give you one chance to get out of my sight, witch." Deltus stated, his tone grim. Tharchilla's expression turned to one of annoyance.

"*Witch*? You wound me, Deltus. I might be somebody unlike anyone you've ever seen before, but I'm not a fiendish sorceress who makes dark pacts with travelers only to ruin their lives! ...I do have self-respect, after all!"

Deltus did not say anything. Though calling her a witch was for him more of a throwaway insult than anything else, he hadn't expected it to personally offend her. *Perhaps she was not the evil typ*-There was no time for these thoughts. He had only a skeleton of an idea what he was up against, and he could not let the fact that she might have taken an insult personally or that she happens to have looks on her side get in the way of that. She was of monstrous heritage, and he was a monster slayer. He was Deltus the mighty.

He did not say anything, though the movement his spear made spoke volumes. He charged forward, and Tharchilla simply cocked her head to one side, gave Deltus a *'really?'* look, and suddenly made a huge wall of ice in front of her. Deltus knew, having a bit of cryomancy himself, that trying to break through this wall would be useless, and began to move around the wall.

"If we're fighting, can't we do it at later?" Tharchilla asked polity.

Deltus let out a low, disapproving growl while shaking his head, however Tharchilla pressed on.

"Can I at least get changed first?"

Now it was Deltus's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"I'm not an uncultured swine, you know." Tharchilla simply stated, almost answering his thought pattern. Then, just before he could do anything, huge walls of ice surrounded him, and the monster simply said:

"Thank you!" As though he had said yes to her question, which was a request that was about to be thoroughly denied.

*FINE.* Deltus thought to himself as he leaned against one of the walls. He was not even going to attempt an escape for this. He had already had a bad enough day.

*I... Suppose that it would... Be very inefficient to fight in a dress like that.* Thoughts like this rambled on in Deltus's head more as an excuse for letting a monstrosity not only lock him in a cell of sorts, but only do to change her clothes mid battle as insult to injury.

For about a minute, Deltus leaned against the wall, looking at the slowly setting sun. Only when he heard Tharchilla yawn and say "Alright, I'm ready!" did he muster his strength and punch the cell so hard that the whole thing shattered. Only to see a very surprised Tharchilla in some most unnatural getup. It was a strange yet organized combo of shawls and capes, coming in many layers, making some of them have their purple color shine against the fading sun, and some layers of robe seem dark as the shadows themselves. Tharchilla cocked her head to one side.

"I'd say it looks pretty nice; don't you think?" She asked. Deltus was no talker, but he was going to be blunt here:

"It looks like you're a monster with an alien fashion sense." Tharchilla frowned at this comment, and then sighed.

"Well in that case, Deltus, you might like this a bit better..." She closed her eyes and smiled. Deltus was wondering why he hadn't killed her ten minutes ago. Then came the point where even Deltus's interest was caught. Her skin was turning a bright, radiant blue... To ice. and in seconds, she seemed to be a shimmering statue of ice, crystals sometimes breaking off in less organized patterns.

Deltus slowly reached forward, curiously reaching to touch the odd statue. Before his finger even made contact with it, however, something far more intimidating than the princess he had just met emerged from the statue. An oddly shaped mask adorned her face, astounding wings flexed and swiped, threatening to rip all that went near them in two, her gray blue skin shining brightly wherever light hit it, and becoming dark as night wherever it was not.

Deltus actually really liked her new look. The curve of those double-lightning horns is actually pretty at-

"What... Is... HAPPENING TO ME TODAY!?" Deltus suddenly roared. He had had it. This was just another monster he was going to kill. Hang the mask on the wall maybe. *But why kill something like that?* *I must kill it. It is my duty. It must have put some sort of curse on me.*

"Fall, creature..." He said quietly, before lunging forward and using his spear in his preferred brutal style, which made it more of a smashing weapon than a thrusting weapon. At this, Tharchilla used her long staff to block the attack, and while Deltus knew that though her build was strong, he was stronger than some stupid monster with ice powers.

He almost smiled as he looked into the monster’s eyes as he rained blow after blow. Although the shape of the mask made her eyes look fierce and confident, he could see, deep in her eyes, fear. The knowledge that this would be her final battle.

He slammed the scepter out of her hand and broke the ice formations that she summoned with as much ferocity as he could muster. Suddenly, however, she lunged forward as he felt blinding pain in his chest; her claws had torn through part of his armor like butter. Grunting, he slashed into her side with his spear, making her utter an awful screech and collapse. He slowly let out a mirthless growl and slowly raised his spear. This creatures time for games, and life, was to be over in a few seconds.

**Chapter 4**

Tharchilla suddenly whipped out a crimson crystal and threw it at Deltus just as he was beginning to thrust his spear down, in which he instantly tried to block it, but failed. Strangely, he did not feel any pain when it hit him. It clattered to the ground, emitting a strange red glow as he stared. Then he felt weaker than he had before... Calmer... Then cold. First at his toes, then creeping up his legs. Briefly using cryomancy to doff part of his leggings, he saw that it had turned to ice.

*No.* Deltus thought, *Impossible! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING.* Desperately, he threw off his helmet, furiously charging forth, getting slower and slower as his body began to freeze over. He noticed Tharchilla slowly getting up, saying,

"I'm never wrong, Deltus... J-Just... W-Wait... And see w-what you and I b-both are..." In a fury at these words, Deltus was a split second away from throwing his spear at her before becoming a full statue of ice in plate mail. And then, to Deltus at least, the world exploded.

\*\*\*

Deltus awoke in a large bedroom, garbed in a bathrobe and a huge blanket. He got up and spread his wings out, scanning for threats. Then he stopped dead. Shaking, he turned his head to see two enormous blue-grey wings beside him, with Deltus himself being their owner. Looking down, he saw he had blue-grey skin, too. And the long, protruding spikes organized along his body, like Tharchilla's, but longer and sharper. His hands were long claws, and his face... Was a mask. In a fury, he let out a roar that echoed what felt like miles. The glass around him shook and cracked, and the room quaked. he was a monster. He always had been. His natural cryomancy, his stupendous strength... All part of him being what he sought to destroy. Collapsing in a heap, Deltus clawed at his face angrily, but did not scar it. He felt angry and confused as his wings folded about him miserably.

"I see you're awake." Said a figure leaning against the wall in a snide, clever voice. Deltus slowly got up to realize that he had also gotten taller in his transformation. He was now about twelve feet, to be specific.

"If you want to apologize, Tharchilla is in her room." The figure interrupted before he could say anything. The person slowly and smugly crossed his arms while walking out from the shadows. It was another monster, and it was the same type as he currently was. The person spread out his wings proudly.

"Impressive I know. A build like this runs in my family. You could probably tell just by looking!" Deltus did not respond. He was some three or four feet taller than him, and here he was, acting like he was some sort of deity in mortal flesh. Then the strange monster before him burst out laughing.

"I DO NOT BELIEVE I JUST SAID THAT ALL WITH A STRAIGHT FACE! Heh... Got you, didn't I? I'm Sir Prantos, brother of lady Celtra and princess Tharchilla. And you're Deltus, I take it?" Deltus only nodded. So this was a whole family of monsters. But then again, perhaps these were not as bad of people as he had expected. He had wounded this man's sister, and here he was, treating him like a welcome guest... Perhaps...

"I need some time to myself." Deltus said quietly. Prantos slowly nodded and walked out of the room.

\*\*\*

Tharchilla leaned back, letting out another low, drawn-out hiss. It did not take long for a Draigis injury to heal, but she had to admit the pain did not fade quickly. Sighing, she got up from her bed and finished the letter she was writing in between her huge flinches of pain before collapsing onto her bed again. She felt happy with what she had written and walked over toward the door. Opening it, she chuckled to herself as she looked at the 'broken hall' in her castle. This was a bit of a joke to her and her siblings, as it was never repaired. This made it the perfect spot to spread out their wings and fly out above the city, where prey was plenty. Noticing her brother Prantos standing there, and that she was in no flying condition, she said:

"Prantos."

"Sister." He answered in in his casual, smug tonality. Although she hated it when he used this tone, she did not have the time to curse at him, or even punch him.

"Deliver this message to Deltus. I wish to join him in a hunt." She said, almost collapsing but supporting herself on one of the statues strewn about the hall. Prantos rolled his eyes.

"OK... Noted. I'll do that." Then he had a twinkle in his eye of inspiration.

"W-A-I-T can I go on the hunt too?" He snapped. Tharchilla glared at him.

"That depends if you ***deliver the message.***"

Prantos did not look happy at all with this answer but took the note anyway. They all knew that Deltus was a potential new Draigis to their pack, and this was an offer they could not afford to pass up. But Tharchilla knew far more than her siblings. She had seen his brutal, rip-and-tear nature. This gave her a... Mild liking Deltus. Prantos did not know what was in the letter, and if he did, him and her sister would never let her live it down.

\*\*\*

Deltus was still thinking. Questions and angry thoughts raced left and right in his head. All he wanted was somebody to sort it out. And, just then, Prantos came back into the room.

"A boon letter for Sir Deltus of nowhere from Princess Tharchilla of Keit-Karan..." He said, the crack on his mask reminding Deltus of a never fading smirk. Deltus was not sure if he wanted to read what was inside.

He wondered if it was a curse, or perhaps just a personal offense. Or perhaps she felt he was too valuable to offend? Did she even like him? Did he really want to read the potential poison inside this letter? Or perhaps refusing would be too much for him? Thoughts like this bounced around in his head as he slowly, unthinkingly opened it, and once he laid his eyes upon it, he could not help but to read the message through and through.

*Dear Deltus,*

*I am sorry if I did you harm, and I hope you forgive me that I harmed you. I still hope we can be friends and wish to meet you at the broken hall. There I can help teach you the basics of your true nature and explain everything. Your human life was a lie. You have always been one of us, and hope I can reveal to you your new, true life as alpha of the tundra. If you have a wish on who to hunt first with me, you may ask, and together, we can take on anything.*

*Love, Tharchilla Martha Kait.*

Deltus stopped. And then thought. He could play along for now, but at the moment, she had got his attention. He wanted to see just how much of a 'lie' his human life truly was.

**Chapter 5**

Deltus stepped forth and knocked on the door. He knew that from here, he would know far more about himself then he was ever meant to know. He would know why he felt so at home in the tundra, and why he was such a vicious predator without any knowledge of it. Tharchilla opened the door, her blue hair being as radiant in the moonlight as it always was, before limping over to the bed and collapsing on it.

"Ah... So happy to see you here, Deltus. Are you ready for your first... Wait, you are a monster hunter!" She then burst out laughing at her blunder. *At least she caught that*. Deltus thought to himself. However, being a man to go straight to the point, got sat down and asked his question:

"I want to hear about what you are."

"What *we* are, Deltus. We are long forgotten creatures, who play a role in this society as the alpha predator. You might have felt some urges to... Hm... Eat other hunters? Is that a scenario that happens to you? Well, if you *did* feel like eating people, that is what's going on, it's your alpha predator side acting up... Your draigis side. Or perhaps you had some strange, natural ice magic? It's natural all right... Part of your heritage!" Deltus slowly nodded his head. he felt like he understood a bit more now.

"So then, now Deltus... In your true form, what would you like to hunt first?" Deltus thought. He did not want any friendly hunters dead. *Perhaps... Hunters... Wait... Oh yes...*

"I know who." Said Deltus, his mask expressionless. And yet he felt so much beneath the mask...

**\*\*\***

Deltus swooped about, gradually getting better at flying as the night went on. It was pretty fun, a feeling that he seldom openly expressed. But as always, he acted as cold as the tundra during his practice.

"Keep going, Deltus! Celtra and I really believe you can do this on your first night, no beforehand practice, going throw-you-into-the-ocean-and-yell-'swim!' sort of training!" Prantos shouted from his perch, his sister by his side making similar cheers.

"I've had harder training down south!" Deltus called back. Just then, he heard Tharchilla, who was flying beside him, swear quietly as a figure slowly drifted into view. From what Deltus could see, it was just a shaggy old man dressed in black entering their natural flight range. What was most confusing was that after having stated her frustration, Tharchilla flew down to the elderly man and landed a few feet in front of him, standing tall, her wings spread out. Instinctively, Deltus did the same. The old man looked at Deltus and raised an eyebrow, though did not seem to have a hint of fear in any of the aged features of his face.

"New friends?" He asked.

"Indeed."

"I see. And you are..."

"This is Deltus. He isn't much of a talker." Tharchilla finished as a quick summary. The old man smirked slightly.

"Ah, then perhaps I should get you acquainted with me, Deltus. I am the Old Artist, the man who made the drawings and sculptures along the walls of Kait-Karan's fortress. You will be seeing me more later, but you seem rather busy right now." After ending this introduction, Tharchilla suddenly spread out her wings and, getting rather exited, bent over to the Old Artist, and whispered something in his ear.

"I will say you look sort of cute together, but I'd need to have Deltus's approval before doing that." The Old Artist answered at a completely normal volume, holding his chin and giving a ghost of a smile as he did so. Deltus spread out his wings in mortification but did not say anything.

"Er... You seem ready to fly, Deltus... Now shall we go?" Said Tharchilla hastily. Deltus slowly nodded at her and spread out his wings, as the two took off together towards Deltus's original camp, where he had started the day. Deltus enjoyed the powerful feeling of the wind in his claws. And soon, he would put them to good use. Only now did he think to himself that perhaps he needed to turn a new way in life, perhaps being a royal guard or something. Yes, that sounded like a good idea.

**\*\*\***

Deltus and Tharchilla landed side by side in the land of monsters, where he had last met the man who had betrayed him. Slowly, he walked towards the tent he had last put up, where he could hear some rustling.

He let out a low growl, but there was no response, until Patcher slowly got out of the tent and froze.

"Oh, You! I... Now, let's just calm down, talk about things!" Deltus did not stop moving, keeping a slow, imposing walk toward him.

"I did you wrong, but I-I didn't mean it! These... Temptations... They can... Well... Overcome me..." None of these excuses stalled Deltus in the slightest, However, as he held out his hand, a long halberd of ice forming into his grasp. He did not say anything, though the expression on his mask fit his attitude perfectly. Tharchilla perched nearby, watching happily.

"Patcher, I wish I could say I'm sorry, but you messed with Deltus, and he has a way of dealing with those who betray him." Stated Tharchilla calmly. Patcher pulled out his spear and shield, slowly walking backward as a tense silence filled the air.

Then, Deltus charged.

Using slash after slash he hacked away at Patcher's shield, chunks of it flying off as he did so. Slashing him back further and further, before cutting his already broken shield in two, with Patcher now on the edge of a far larger ravine then the one Deltus had fallen down.

Then, Patcher grinned, shining something over his spear, before thrusting it at Deltus. The mixture used to instantly slay dragons.

Deltus did not respond, and caught the spear out of mid air, before shattering it. He readied his halberd, then cut Patcher in two in one clean swoop, his remains tumbling down the ravine. Deltus looked down as the two halves tumbled into the darkness, landing with a rather bothersome *crunch.*

"Nice job Deltus." Commented Tharchilla. Deltus was personally not sure what to think. Perhaps he could have negotiated...

"There's no need to feel guilty, Deltus. It's the natural order of things. We're the predators, and he was the prey." Deltus slowly turned to her.

"Yes..." He said, then spread out his wings and gestured to her that now it was time to leave this place. Tharchilla nodded and spread out her wings, as the two once again flew off into the night.

As they flew, Deltus looked over at Tharchilla, and asked her a question that had been on his mind for a little while now:

"Tharchilla. You've changed the way I think. I shall leave my monster hunting career, and, should you choose to accept, help you and your clan." Tharchilla would probably be smiling at him if she could.

"It would be an honor Deltus... What would you like to do?"

"You were injured by me when you tried to help me. I wish for such pain to come to you again. Allow me to become your bodyguard."

"...Yes, Deltus. I would like a personal guard, in fact, I want a guard of great power and might... I would love it if you could do that, Deltus." For once, Deltus felt at peace. He owed her a great debt, going through that trouble to make him truly, well... Him. This was a family of good people, and they had saved him. Blissfully, Deltus soared with the princess towards Kait-Karan, his new, true home.

**Epilogue**

Deltus put on his helmet, slowly turning over at the mirror. Tharchilla was smiling, and if she was being her true self, her wings would be twitching with excitement.

"It was forged by the finest smiths in all the north... What do you think?" She asked. Deltus did not like to speak, but if she wanted a conversation, he could afford it.

"Thanks."

Tharchilla smirked, a brief confusion passing her face before she remembered that she was speaking to Deltus, who always spoke like this when he needed to speak.

Deltus then walked out from his chamber, and looked about the streets. Plenty amounts of prey cheered him on the streets, though none of them looked particularly difficult to hunt, he was more focused on the promotion at hand. Once he arrived before the apparent king, who had most likely adopted Tharchilla due to the fact that he looked very nice to eat, he held out his sword in front of Deltus.

"Sir Deltus, do you swear to protect the princess Tharchilla, no matter what danger comes for her?" The king questioned.

"Yes."

"Do you swear to never do her any harm, and do all she asks within reason?" The king pressed on.

"Yes."

"And do you swear, no matter what happens to you, to avenge any injury done to Tharchilla by multiplying it tenfold upon the offender?" He stated, tilting his blade slightly.

"Yes... I do."

"Sir Deltus... adopted heir of the Hercules line... I knight you, from here on out, as the protector of my eldest daughter, Tharchilla." The ruler stated finally. Deltus looked up. And slowly turned over to Tharchilla. For once, even if beneath his helmet, her and his eyes met, as the two smiled at each other.

**END**