Pushing a lock of their sunshine blonde hair out of their eyes, Sheik Visagar looked to the tattoo of their mother's family crest on the inside of their wrist. Although not royalty by any stretch of the imagination, their mother's family had long used the runic bleeding eye to denote themselves as mourners of the loss of magic that had been inflicted upon Bolfodier by their own ancestor. But after nearly two millennia, perhaps that time was about to come to an end. Sheik had spent their entire adult life scouring all of Bolfodier in the hopes that they'd find the people needed to help in the quest to return the full might of Bolfodier's magic to it.

Although, why they'd chosen to start their recruitment with the feared Queen of the Night, the fabled queen of the Ladies of the Night, Jazabel Zelda Kanta baffled even Sheik.

Countless tales from the past centuries recounted how Jazabel showed up unannounced on unsuspecting towns across Bolfodier, wreaking havoc and destruction, as she laid blessings of the Night and killed those that had offended her in equal measure. She was said to appear as if from nowhere, a tornado of ravens dispersing as she'd strut up to the too terrified citizens in the leather and mesh of her people. Many tales said that there was always someone either brave or foolish enough to try and stand between the scared townsfolk and the Night Queen; the tales also said that the fate of those souls was too horrid to tell. Sheik hoped that when the time came for them to meet and petition Queen Jazabel's that she was at least open to their proposal and request. If they could convince the most feared woman in all of Bolfodier to join their cause, then convincing the other's chosen by destiny would be as an easy a venture as walking to one's local market for a loaf of bread and some fruit.

Pulling themself from their musings, Sheik took stock of their surroundings. The fire they had made to cook their dinner was in dire need of another piece of wood or two if it was to keep going. The wind rustling the trees at the edge of the clearing made their shadows move in ways that made Sheik think there was animals or people hidden just out of sight. The cloudless sky allowed for the pale moon's light to illuminate the field that Sheik had made their camp for the night. The scaping of what sounded like stones against each other, drew Sheik's attention behind them.

Looming large, on an outcropping of rock a few dozen paces back and up the hill, was a wolf that even at this distance Sheik thought would be twice as big as they were. As stealthily as possible, Sheik tried to pull out one of the exploding nuts that was in his back pouch. Not foolish enough to think that the wolf didn't know that they were there, Sheik wanted to at least have a way to escape safely. But when the wolf gave a howl and a half dozen or so more appeared in the clearing, emerging from the trees or longer grass, Sheik knew that they were not getting away from this without at least a few cuts or scratches. Silently, the wolves drew ever closer, seeming to take their time as they awaited the order to attack from their leader, which seemed to be the wolf at Sheik's back.

Hearing a rustle behind them, Sheik turned just in time to see the wolf which had stayed atop the rock outcropping was now leaping high into the air over Sheik's head. Landing with barely a sound, the wolf's tail swished across the ground causing dirt to be sprayed into the dying fire and seeming to extinguish it completely. Turning to face them, Sheik saw that the wolf's right eye had a horrible gash running through it. Its face was quite calm, if a wolf's face could be said to be calm as it looked upon its prey of man, as the wolf seated itself across from Sheik on the other side of the now dead fire. The light from the moon made the wolf's fur to appear either white as the moon itself, or as black as the shadows that surrounded the clearing. Confused by what was happening and why, Sheik started to shift their eyes from the wolf seating itself in front of them to the rest of the pack, as well as the dancing shadows in the distance.

After a few moments of nothing happening, another howl pierced the night and caused Sheik to jump in fright. Turning to the sound, half hoping, half fearing, that they'd discover another pack seeming to lay claim to them, Sheik was quite baffled as they saw yet another wolf standing atop the rock outcropping. This one quite clearly smaller than the first, but still clearly bigger than those that followed it into the clearing. Just as confusingly, this pack seemed to calmly walk towards Sheik's makeshift campsite, fully enclosing them in. Compounding shock upon surprise further still, the new pack's leader calmly walked up to the first wolf and rubbed its body as close as it could against it the first. Sheik couldn't shake the image of a woman in a bar trying to get a man who was very much not interested to be interested in her. For its part, the larger wolf seemed to have adopted the expression of someone having to put up with someone they despised. Once the two wolves were seated side by side, they simultaneously seemed to try and stand on their back legs.

Flabbergasted by the sight before them, Sheik watched as the smaller wolf seemed to turn into a woman. Averting their eyes in a sense of modest decorum, Sheik saw the woman was rather slight of build, with black hair that fell to her breasts encased in a black leather and mesh outfit that could hardly be called clothes by any stretch of the imagination. Her small chest was covered by the leather and mesh in the form of a leaping wolf. Her golden-brown eyes were slightly narrow and had the distinct slant of the people of either the Insel Islands or Clowia, Sheik couldn't be sure.

But the stranger transformation seemed to be the bigger wolf's. As it was about half way standing, the wolf seemed to have crumbled into a ball and jerkily convulse as it rolled in the dirt. Sheik, too shocked to move, watched in horrid fascination as the large wolf seemed to have its bones snap and reform into those of a human, its fur retract into its skin, until only the panting, sweating form of a man with a similar black leather and mesh outfit lay upon the ground. But where the girl had a leaping wolf across her chest, the man seemed to have a crude depiction of a wolf's head cover the majority of his chest. Still in shock over the ordeal, Sheik tried to get up and go to comfort the man before them that was clearly in distress if his face was anything to go by.

But as they took a step towards the man, a harsh growling could be heard from the wolves that had come into the clearing with him. But it wasn't that that made Sheik pause in their tracks, it was the girl's words. "Please do not offer any assistance." Her voice was sadder than Sheik would have thought necessary for such a simple command. "He's a very proud man, and despises anyone who tries to lessen his pain." Nodding, Sheik tried to think of which of the four Insel Islands the girl's accent denoted her being from.

As the man stood beside the woman, the pain of his transformation seeming to have fled, Sheik saw him gesture with his hands at her. Comprehending that the man was communicating in a similar vein to how the deaf did, Sheik watched as they tried to see if they could recognize any of the hand movements that he used. But the interaction was short lived, as less than minute into the communication, the woman turned to them.

"We apologize for the theatrics, traveller, but my cohort is right in pointing out that you seem to be heading straight for Pandora's Tomb. Queen Jazabel does not take kindly to those that intrude on the surrounding area of her seat of power and birthright." The woman barely took her eyes off the man as she spoke calmly to Sheik; Sheik thought that she looked upon him with a sense of love, but they couldn't be sure. "If you would tell us what it is you are looking for, we would more than likely be able to point you on your way and escort you to the edge of our borders as quickly as we could. Our wolves are quite fast and know this land better than anyone."

As she finished, the woman turned to look at Sheik and gave them a gentle yet unsettling smile. Bowing slightly to the two of them, Sheik said, "My apologies, Dark Lady, but I cannot. For it is the Night Queen herself that I seek. It's my hope to gain her favour and assistance in my quest to redeem my ancestor and restore the magic that was once so populace throughout Bolfodier." Sheik hoped that their truthful answer would at least spare them any punishment or retribution from the fearsome queen for their crimes.

Looking behind them for the first time since her transformation, the woman waved one of the wolves forward, causing a brown furred wolf to silently but quickly walk forward. Circling her once as it rubbed itself lovingly around her legs the wolf looked to its mistress as she gave a short set of gurgles and grunts that were the language of the Night. As she finished what they assumed to be instructions, Sheik was slightly humoured to hear the woman give a quiet howl before the wolf sprinted off into the forest. Turning back to them, the Lady of the Night spoke again, "I've sent my fastest lieutenant to Pandora's Tomb, with word of your request for an audience with Queen Jazabel. Whether she grants or denies your request, we shall know soon enough. In the mean time, might I request that I share your fire and company? Very few people seek out an audience with her Darkness, I'm curious as to what it is your ancestor did to warrant such a… sweeping measure."

Returning to their seat, Sheik offered their arm out to indicate that the Lady could join them. As she sat, the wolves that had entered the clearing with her began to cozy up to her and the fire. Sheik put a few thin sticks and dried tuffs of grass onto the fire before striking it with their flint to bring it back to flame. Sitting down, they looked to the Lady across from them, before giving a weary glance to her companion, who Sheik could only assume was a Lord of the Night, though they had never heard of such a thing. Trying not to be rude, Sheik spoke to him, "Would you like to join us?"

Rather than respond, the man just turned away with a scowl carved across his face, walking to his pack of wolves. "I apologize for Greystone," the Lady of the Night said. "He doesn't take to those in the Night's fold well, let alone those outside it. He's not really that bad, once you get to know him, he just never really lets that happen. Though I wish he would, he'd be happier if he did."

"I wasn't aware that a man could become a…Lord of the Night," Sheik questioned.

"They can't; Greystone is a special exception that the Night Queen took great pains in procuring. But we should not discuss the intricacies of Sir Greystone's personage, the Queen has all but forbidden it," the Lady of the Night explained. "Oh, where are my manners; please forgive me and allow me to introduce myself: I am Lady Mai-la Lee, of the Ladies of the Night."

"Sheik Visagar," they offered in return, receiving a small friendly smile in response. A silence fell over them as they introduced themselves. As they looked into the growing fire, Sheik continued, "You wanted to know why I seek the Night Queen."

"Yes," Lady Mai-la answered. "That is most curious, most men wish to never gaze upon her face for fear they should either insult her beauty or station and find themselves a feast for the crows."

"I'm not a man," they said.

"Oh, but- "she stopped herself, as she gazed upon Sheik's form closer. "Oh, my apologies! I haven't ever come across someone like you in my travels, and just assumed…please forgive my assumptions." Sheik waved off her concern as it was something that they had dealt with for a while now. "Now, I am most curious as to your quest, Sheik Visagar."

"I'm trying to redeem my ancestor by returning magic to all of Bolfodier," they explained.

"You said that, but redeem them from what? And how does returning magic to a land that has it already redeem your ancestor?" Lady Mai-la inquired.

Rather than giving her a straight answer, Sheik showed her their wrist with the runic bleeding eye tattoo. When she continued to be confused, they simply said, "My ancestor was Lucius Ovapasch."

"The man who sacrificed himself to end the time of the Taint?" she questioned.

"The man who did what he could to rectify the mistake he'd made in causing the Taint," Sheik revealed. "As a boy he stumbled upon the Cave of Hagan and activated two crystals of restrained magic, one that froze him in time for twenty-five years; the other turned the world into quillum, and drained the magic from the world for half a century. Lucius' sacrifice at the Sanctuary of Darkefyre only stopped the draining of magic from the world. The magic is still trapped and awaiting the time when it can be released. I've spent my life researching how to accomplish such a task, and won't give up until I've accomplished it. That is what I need Queen Jazabel's help with, along with the help of a few others. I want to return the full range of magic to Bolfodier."

Sheik looked to Mai-la Lee, wanting to see and judge her reaction to this revelation. But if they were hoping for a more expressive response than just a raised eyebrow, they were to be disappointed. "Well, I wish you luck in your quest, Sheik Visagar. Perhaps, should you succeed, we may actually get to see the return of those creatures that went extinct due to the lack of magic in the world: the Navkiri, or maybe even the thanogriffs. The return of the fullness of magic to Bolfodier, would indeed be something to strive for." Despite her calm and neutral face, Sheik could see that this prospect greatly intrigued the Lady of the Night.

But before they could thank Lady Mai-la, all three of them turned to the sky as their attention was captured by the cawing of a bird in the distance. Seeming to come from the same place Sheik knew Pandora's Tomb to roughly be, they looked to their two companions of the Night's fold. Greystone seemed to quickly sign Mai-la before he straddled one of his wolves and disappearing into the surrounding forest with barely a sound. Meeting the Lady of the Night's eyes, Sheik couldn't discern what was going through her mind and if the raven's caw had signaled a continuance of hope for their mission or if they were to be politely removed from the area. "Congratulations Sheik Visagar, it seems that you get to quest another day."

Standing up, she once again spoke to her wolves in that gurgling, grunting dialogue of hers. After a moment of silence, Sheik looked to her. "Forgive my impudence, Dark Lady, but I don't suppose that caw also told you that the Night Queen agreed to hear my plea," they asked.

Looking to Sheik with a piercing gaze in her golden-brown eyes, Lady Mai-la cryptically said, "Yes it did tell me." Before Sheik could respond, the woman seemed to emit a bright light that caused them to be blinded for a moment. And when they could see again, they found that Mai-la had returned to her wolf form, as on the other side of the fire now sat a large wolf with grey and white fur.

Standing and walking over to them, Sheik swallowed the fear that rose in their throat at realizing that the wolf before them was nearly as tall as they were as her nose came up to their shoulder. But when the wolf that was Lady Mai-la lowered its front legs as if bowing to Sheik, they were surprised by what the gesture seemed to imply. "You want me to ride you?" they asked for clarification. Looking into the wolf's eyes, they saw it wink at them and Sheik took this as a sign that to be ridden was indeed the wolf's intention. More to themself rather than the wolf that was the Lady of the Night, Sheik whispered, "If you say so," before they climbed atop the large wolf's shoulders and gripped to its mane in a secure but not too tight grip. Once they were situated as comfortably as they could be, the wolf surprised Sheik as she threw her head back before giving a quick howl.

And just as quick as Sir Greystone's pack, Lady Mai-la's took off into the woods towards Pandora's Tomb.

A/N: So, I've decided to challenge myself a bit with this story by having the main character be non-binary. Not being part of the NB crowd, I hope that I don't unintentionally write them as coming across as male/female or just as a bad character, so please if you or someone you know is NB, let me know if Sheik is a good representation and/or that I haven't mixed up their pronouns so that I can give a more accurate account of this path of life. If it makes a difference, Sheik is intended to be written as having been born female before coming out as NB.