"Give me your cloak." Talamayas leaned in to whisper to Shan, and his general removed his outer layer. It was no real secret that the leader of the Sol's was always bare chested and bore distinct, red tattoos of the sun on his chest and claws on his abdomen. Covering himself was the best he could do before he approached, and the boy snapped his gaze up as soon as Shan and he passed the wall of whipping sand.

"Oh, hello," the boy said innocently, shading his eyes with a hand and taking in Talamayas appearance–albeit hunched so he was less intimidating and covered neck to foot with Shan's brown cloak.

"Are you lost?" Talamayas asked gently, unsure of what he was dealing with but loath to kill the boy if he was one of Wren's people. Their loss had hurt his mate enough, and killing one of the stranglers who'd escaped their death decree would inflict all of those wounds again. It was best to proceed with caution.

"Yeah, a little. I knew where I was going, but then I got turned around in the dunes chasing after a Jerboa. I've never seen something so tiny before, and I went further than where I was supposed to." A light, despairing chuckle came from the boys lips, and he dropped his cowl as the winds ebbed, tucking his long hair behind his ears so he could see the men ahead of him.

Most men needed no more than a halfhearted glance before they recognized Tala and ran for the hills, but the boy took his time, running his eyes over his tanned face and crimson eyes before glancing back to Shan, who'd placed his glaive back in its back holster. It was as if the boy had never seen one of the desert people before, and curiosity shined where there should be fear, which meant he did not recognize them, not as the leaders they were nor even as vampires.

How sheltered must he be to not know the face of his people's killers on sight? This one was young, likely no older than fourteen or fifteen by his build and the youth of his light grey eyes, but any Song taught such children before they could walk solidly the dangers of vampire kind. If he was chasing mice out into the dunes, then he certainly had little knowledge of how perilous the deserts could be, let alone the dark creatures that inhabited it.

"Perhaps I can help you find your way home?" Talamayas offered. "Do you know where you were headed?"

The boy opened his mouth, a squeak of frustration escaped, and he lifted a hand to his chin in contemplation. "I did, but now I don't." The scent of fear finally penetrated as he lifted his eyes to Talamayas' and fully registered their crimson hue.

The boy shoved his hands out toward Tala so quickly that Shan reached for his glaive, but the boy could do little damage with his wrist's up. Small glyphs marred what should be smooth, light skin, and his arms shook as he dropped to his knees in the sands.

"M-my magic is sealed, so I cannot harm you." the boy sputtered into the ground.

Talamayas didn't know how to respond, overcome with pity for the trembling creature at his feet. Those were no slight markings burned into his flesh. They were thick with magic and dug deep into his soul, blocking all magic, not just the chains that Councilman Nicholas Arc had taken from Wren. Wren had accepted the loss of his chain magic in order to satisfy the vampire council as well as start life anew with Talamayas, but this boy likely wasn't given a choice.

"I'm not going to harm you nor did I intend to," Talamayas said as softly as he could manage, crouching and placing one hand against the sands and an arm on his legs. The granules seared Tala's skin, meaning the boy must be in pain kneeling against them, even with the layers of fabric separating wrapping his legs.

"I-I see." The boy's shoulders hunched in as he raised his eyes warily, flinching as if Tala were about to strike him. "I am sorry. I have never met a vampire before, so I did not know you were one nor much about you. My father said that if I ever encountered one in the sands that they'd kill me without hesitation for what I am. He sealed my magic as a baby in hopes that it would not lead to my death. My uncle didn't agree because it left me defenseless, but ultimately, it wasn't his decision." The boy was flat out rambling, and Shan ran a hand up his face in the same pity Talamayas held.

The boy was so nervous that he was giving away information that he should not be. If his uncle and father lived, then there were more Songs, and if a Jerboa was a rare sight, then he lived in one of a few truly waterless areas of the deserts. It narrowed down where he'd come from exponentially, as well as letting them know that they'd face full grown and trained Songs if they advanced.

"You are vampires, right?" the boy asked, uncertain as he gave Talamayas another long once over. He didn't seem to believe that they had yet to murder him, which was a fair thought considering. Prior to allowing Wren into his life, Tala would not have hesitated. "I mean you must be if I do not remember where my home is. My father placed a memory spell on me, so that if I ever encountered vampire kind I would forget the way back. That way I couldn't lead death to our people."

"I am a vampire, yes, but I am not going to harm you, nor do I care for following you back to your people. I merely wished to help you." The words were true, at least about his intention to begin with.

After hearing that the boy's father was hiding him instead of pruning him to be a killer, Tala could deduce that some of the remaining Songs did not wish for vengeance, at least not using their lines. But others, like his uncle who wanted them to know how to wield chains must still hope for their demise. Talamayas' people were in danger, but the Songs had also been around for decades without accosting them. They could be biding time as they strengthened or just be hiding and subsisting. Either way, they couldn't let this boy walk back out into the sands. The storms wouldn't die down any time soon, and he'd die of dehydration and heat stroke before he found his way back.

"If you'd like, I know a place where the sands are kinder and the Jerboa populate, since I cannot return you home," Talamayas offered, seeing no reason to stifle the curiosity of his young mind, a luxury most mage children lost early on to war and conflict.

"Really?" The boy jumped to his feet, and Talamayas took in his excitement still crouched on the ground. Most mages when they feared him held the emotion for life. It was unusual for one to drop it completely for such enthusiasm. "I would like that. I'm Cadence Song." Cadence thrust a hand out to Talamayas, and he offered his own for a careful handshake. Tala wasn't normally much for touching mages, but it would be cruel to leave him just sitting there.

"Tala," Talamayas offered his name as Cadence tucked his cloak around himself in preparation to travel. The boy wasn't trained as a mage at all, dropping his gaze from the two threats ahead to make sure the cloak wound tightly around him and his hood covered his ears from the sands. "Shan, return home. I can handle the boy."

Shan narrowed his eyes but complied, leaving them in the dunes as Talamayas led the boy down toward the oasis. His general's caution was deserved since this boy's kin could come looking for him at any time, but if they hadn't yet, they likely wouldn't immediately. By the time they realized Cadence was missing, they'd know that getting him back would be no a simple search and rescue. Nothing happened in this desert that Talamayas didn't sense, as he had this child. The Songs would know the vampires had their child.

The trail through the sands was difficult, a hard march up the dunes, and Talamayas cringed as Cadence rolled down one. That was until the boy got up with a laugh and repeated the process down the next. While the sands could be soft piled like that, they were also quite hard, hot, and sharp. Cadence didn't seem to mind and navigated them like he'd lived his whole life in the desert, which meant the Songs had been hiding in Talamayas' territory all this time. Where better to shelter than the last place Talamayas would expect to find them. Still, he'd know if they'd disguised themselves among the nomads or lived above ground, so they must have settled below in the caverns.

There were not a lot of places in the sands where the earth grew hard enough for such formations, which narrowed down their location further. If Vice were here, he'd have the man patrolling and searching already, invisible to detection and safe where the Sols would not be if Tala utilized his men. But Vice was gone. For now, all he could do was humor this child, and he would speak with Wren on his return. The oasis came into view ahead, and the thin line of trees divided the calm waters from the worst of the sandstorm as Cadence skipped closer.

"There are so many!" Cadence's eyes brightened as he looked over the Jerboa frolicking near the shore. While they normally preferred areas with little vegetation to avoid predators and competitors, they also came to the oases during the harsher seasons.

Cadence groaned as he tried to trap a Jerboa and it hopped away like a tiny kangaroo. Talamayas couldn't help but smile, and he raised a hand to use his flame magic to corral a few. They avoided the heat until they were backed into the boy's hands, and he whooped with delight when he managed to catch one. Even then, his hands were gentle, stroking between the animal's long ears and rubbing a finger against its cheek. That lasted all of a few moments before the Jerboa bit him, and he let it go with a yelp.

The boy smiled, sucking on the bite before heading down through the oasis plants. Many animals congregated here since Talamayas forwent using it, relying instead on their well system that gathered water from deeper reservoirs. They also had the upper pools of the underground cave system that formed the baths further downstream. This oasis was seldom visited by humans, so it was lush with life and clarity that the boy enjoyed as he trounced through the water and threw it up on his face. Poor kid must be overheated after wandering the sands so long.

"Do you have any interest in seeing the cliffs?" Talamayas asked, coming up to the side of the waters. Cadence stood up tall, flopping his now moist red hair to the side with a wide smile, but he cocked his head as if questioning Talamayas' motive. Like he might shove the kid off one. "The sun will be setting soon and the horizon lights with fire as it sinks," Talamayas clarified.

"Could we make it in time?" The boy looked to the sinking sun and turned to see no rock formations near them.

"This way." Talamayas led the boy out to a nook in the rocks near the edge of the oasis. "If you know the right places within the inhibitors, transportation magic can be used to move quicker. Talamayas dropped his hand to the boy's shoulder, and Cadence jumped out of skin, but the contact was necessary to whisk him away with dark magic.

They arrived on the other side of the desert where it rolled into rocky cliffs and gorges, and Cadence took off with the naivety only a child could. On the edge of the world, he leaned over the precipice, wobbling back from the steep drop before he looked up to the dim setting sun. The thick sands rising from the season shaded the horizon enough for human eyes to gaze without damage, but it wasn't so thick as to obscure the beauty. The gasp of wonder had Talamayas chest tingling with affection that was dangerous to feel toward a Song, no matter how young. If he cared for the boy, it could very well lead to his death, his people's death, yet for Wren, he didn't want to harm him.

"We should get inside before night falls," Talamayas said, remaining a few feet behind the boy. It was enough to give him space, but not so much that he couldn't grab him if he got too close to the cliff edge.

Cadence swung around, his red hair sifting through the air in a roll identical to Wren's when he turned, and a shadow lingered in his eyes, unspoken fear of entering a vampire's castle as a Song. Perhaps a direction and purpose would assuage some of his fear.

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