Issari walked to the edge of the serpent's head. She gazed down upon the land—the mountainside where the slaves labored, the city of Goshar beyond, the scorching northern desert of her exile, and far in the south the fertile grasslands to which she would lead her people. She raised her arms high.

"Hear me, children of Eteer!" she called out. "I am Issari Seran, the Priestess in White, the Queen of Eteer, a dragon of Requiem. I've heard your cry and I will lead you to freedom, to safety, to a new home!"

The children of Eteer chanted her name. The Gosharian masters fled.

Issari smiled and leaped off the statue. Wings burst out from her back. White scales rose across her. She dived down the mountainside.

"Follow, children of Eteer! Follow me to freedom."

She landed at the base of the statue and resumed human form. The slaves crowded around her, reaching out to to touch her, to seek a blessing. She walked among them, smiling softly, and she held her hand high. The light rose from her amulet, a pillar reaching into the sky.

"Issari! Issari!" they chanted. "The Priestess in White!"

Tanin soared overhead, a red dragon roaring fire. Issari walked upon the earth, her light shining. A pillar of fire and a pillar of light led the children of Eteer from slavery and into the city of Goshar.

Between stone houses and columned temples, soldiers of the city raced forth to stop the children of Eteer. They wore armor and carried curved blades and round shields, and their faces twisted with fear and rage. Chariots rolled between them along the cobbled streets, their wheels scythed.

"Turn back, slaves!" their captain shouted. "You cannot pass. Goshar is forbidden to you."

Issari, walking at the lead of a great flock, smiled thinly. She wore a white cloak across her shoulders, a gift from a young slave boy, a raiment to hide the silks of the harem.

"We shall pass," she said. "And we will not dwell in Goshar but in the fertile lands beyond her walls. I have promised those lands to my people, to a people exiled and hurt, a people I have freed from the tyranny of Raem, from the devilry of the Demon Queen, and from the whips of Goshar. If you seek to stop us, I will free my people from your yoke too, soldiers of the city. Step aside and let us pass, or the light of Eteer and the fire of Requiem will flow across you. I've slain your lord, the Abina Sin-Naharosh. Step aside and I will show you mercy, for I am merciful."

She raised her hand high, and the pillar of light crackled.

And the soldiers of Goshar turned and fled before her.

"Issari! Issari!" her people chanted, tears in their eyes. Their voices rose in song. She walked at the head of the column, leading them through the city, as above the red dragon flew and roared.