Only a few feet away from the cave, strung up on a pike was Sombrana.  Weakened and powerless by the Shackles of Binding, she had hung there for a long time…barely conscious.  Her hatred and anger kept her alive, kept her strength up just enough – enough so that when the ambush and following battle had taken place, she was able to look up in time to see the dragon team make their escape into the night.  Her fury rose within her at the last sight she saw: Red had looked deep in her eyes, yet kept her pace as she made her escape.  Whatever they were doing there, it was obvious it was not to rescue her.

Rage began to boil within her…a rage that sparked a surge of strength within.  The chaos that erupted from the fray gave Sombrana the moment she needed to act on her rage – the dirt beneath her pike had been loosened and her perch had been jarred repeatedly by the hordes of tiger warriors advancing past her.  It was just enough for the pike to finally gave way and fall over.  With every ounce of strength she could draw, Sombrana slid the rope that had bound her to the pike off it and slowly crawled her way into the forest and into freedom.  The shackles were still binding her, slowly sucking even her newfound energy away.  She didn’t care.  She would find a way out of the shackles once she was somewhere else.   She had to get away.  Fortune must have been smiling on her that night; as the commotion caused by the ambush was enough that no one noticed her slink off into the darkness.

Several weeks passed.  Red and the remaining members of her team had been disciplined severely for their failure and loss of Flare.  Meanwhile, Kilani was nowhere to be found.  Believing the dragons had succeeded in their objective, Kess began forming a plan of her own for revenge.  Kess brought together her fellow warriors Riah and Shie to help her lead a massive attack that would decimate all of us who stood in their path.  Fueled by anger and misjudgment, Kess formed a small army and - together with Riah and Shie - led them onward towards our kingdom.  They would never reach their destination…

As they approached a small clearing to rest, the trio was blown back by a force of immense concentration.  They stumbled back, the army behind them stunned and in awe.  A lone silhouette emerged from the clearing, the shadows slowly receding to reveal what appeared to be an individual of tiger heritage. 

The figure’s voice seemed to come from everywhere.  It simply said:  “YOU WILL HOLD!”

Kess staggered in astonishment at the figure standing before her.  It could not be…

It was her sister, Kilani…