Torrin lost the trail as rain poured down from above. They'd been slowly proceeding at a snail's pace, trying to gather any further clues as dark clouds had gathered above them. It wasn't the first time it had rained in the elven pocket dimension, but this downpour came at the worst of times. Torrin lamented his bad luck, but grudgingly called their advance to a halt.

"No way we'll find them in this," Torrin said.

"I agree. What terrible timing." Tillien responded, not sounding all too put out by the turn of events.

Torrin watched the elf sidelong for a long moment. Was Tillien glad we wouldn't catch up with whoever had left the trail? Did he not want to figure out what was going on? Torrin wasn't sure of the answer, but decided it wasn't worth questioning his friend over. Tillien had been through a lot recently, so Torrin didn't want to badger him unnecessarily.

Putting away his annoyance, he set out an empty barrel to gather some of the water, paced a few feet away and lifted a dome around them. Torrin took the time to harden the structure, and make it as dry and secure as he could, only leaving a small space in the side for fresh air to flow into. A bit of walking around inside and the wet, grassy earth was replaced with fresh dirt from beneath the sopping top layer.

"We have to assume they're heading toward the fire temple, anyway. Our pace has slowed significantly from trying to follow their trail. Now this storm..." Torrin sighed.

Tillien cracked a smile, "It'll be fine, Rin. We'll catch up to them eventually. Even if they're warning Dawn and the others, what good would that do them?"

"You're right. I know you're right. But, still," Torrin rubbed the heels of his palms across his face, smearing mud unknowingly, "I just want this to be over. All of it."

Tillien leaned over and placed his hand on Torrin's shoulder, "I know. And it will be. But you've got to remember that this is still dangerous, no matter how strong you are. Maybe taking a little time would be for the best, anyway."

Torrin shrugged off the hand, wanting to snap at his friend. Wanted to rage, and tell him he didn't have time. Tell him lives were at stake, and the longer it took for him to figure all of this out, the more people that would be hurt. He turned a fierce glare onto Tillien that wilted instantly.

Torrin huffed out a frustrated breath, "Yeah, maybe so. It's not like they can leave this realm until the two years have passed. I just feel so... Useless. Like I have no control over the situation, no matter how strong I get."

Tillien nodded, his face sympathetic, "I get that. When I was..." The elf stopped, taking a long, ragged breath, and tried again, "When I was trapped by Yawnel... Held hostage... I felt powerless. Was powerless. But I knew that you'd eventually show up and knock some sense into him, so I never gave up. I know that you'll figure all of this out, Rin."

Torrin's eyes prickled. He wanted to say something smart or encouraging, let his friend know that everything was going to be fine. That he would find a way to fix all of this. But he really didn't know if he would.

A small, dark and selfish part of him didn't know if he wanted to. It told him a truth that he knew all too well, but chose to ignore, time and time again. That he didn't care about the kingdom, the elves, or his old world. That he wasn't honorable, or a hero. That he wanted revenge, plain and simple. Wanted to hurt Virtus like he'd been hurt. Torrin shook the thoughts away, turning his attention back to Tillien.

"Yeah. We will." Torrin said softly, turning away from his friend.

He lay out a few furs around the domed space and lay down. Something within him hungered, and he tried his best to shut out the sensation. He'd gotten good at ignoring it, but it was still there, adding fuel to the fire that was his terrible mood. After a while of wrestling with his conflicting emotions, he slept.

The storm had passed by the morning. Tillien and Torrin woke quickly, taking care of their morning routines, and began trudging over the marshy grassland. Torrin tried to talk, laugh, and joke with Tillien, but soon found his heart wasn't in it. His thoughts from the previous night weighed on him uncomfortably, wrapping around him like a wet blanket. Tillien seemed to catch his sour mood like a virus. The pair ran on in silence.

The day passed and they trained, sparring before retiring for the night. The next morning, Torrin still couldn't find it in himself to generate any cheer. Not only were his thoughts still darker than night, he could feel the strange sense of hunger growing within him. The hunger tore at his guts, made his core ache, his temples throb with pain. Caused his patience to wear ever thinner. Torrin needed to figure out what this hunger was before it drove him mad.

He'd already eaten, far more than his fill. He'd made sure his thirst was quenched frequently. Out of desperation, he tried absorbing ambient mana with his core's rune, trying to satisfy the hunger with mana. It took the edge off, but his mana core was soon too full to continue absorbing anymore. He tried willing his Saen core to spin, to absorb more mana, to do anything, but it sat there as indifferent to his troubles as ever. He condensed the mana he had, shoving it into the Saen core to make more room.

At that, the hunger abated slightly. Was the feeling of hunger actually coming from his Saen core? Torrin was unsure, but vowed to himself that he would make sure to keep it sated from now on. As if a veil had been lifted, with the hunger gone, Torrin felt his thoughts clear as well. The sense of dread and impotence evaporated.

Torrin smiled, looking to Tillien, "I think it's going to be a good day."

Tillien looked confused at Torrin's complete change in mood, but gave a sheepish smile in return, "I think so too."

By mid-day, they arrived at what could only be the entrance to the fire temple. They'd noticed a large boulder some distance away from them that morning, but upon reaching it, they realized that it was nearly a mountain in its own right. It didn't rise from the earth like a hill or mountain, but seemed placed there. The boulder had to be a mile across and a hundred feet tall.

A set of steps were carved into the side of it, winding from the ground all the way to the top of the boulder, cutting back on itself in places. Torrin looked to Tillien, who nodded at him. It was time to face Dawn and the fire mages.

They wound their way up the stairs, eventually making it to the top. Torrin looked across the expanse. He was thoroughly confused. There was nothing but a mossy layer atop the enormous boulder. He didn't see anything that would indicate that this was part of the fire temple.

"Are you sure we're at the right place?" Torrin asked.

Tillien shrugged, just as confused, "This should be it. I've obviously never been here, nor seen the temple from afar, so I can't be sure. But, this should definitely be the place."

Torrin's eyes continued their sweeping search. He began striding along the edge of the boulder. The earth and wind temples seemed to be constructions, but the water temple hadn't been. With that in mind, Torrin began looking for any sort of doorway, or latch, or something. There had to be something here, why else would there be a staircase leading up here?

Activating his mana sight, Torrin felt abashed. A long, erratic stream of fire mana was seeping from a spot some distance away. He tapped Tillien on the arm to get his attention, before pointing.

"What is it?" The elf asked.

"I think the entrance is over there, come on. There's fire mana coming from that spot." Torrin replied.

The duo traveled another hundred yards, and came to a stop. The fire mana Torrin had noticed was coming from a fissure in the surface of the gigantic boulder. Surrounding the fissure, the boulder was incredibly smooth, no moss or lichen, no plants drifting from cracks in its surface. It was like there used to be something here, but it had been completely erased.

The crack was wide enough for them to easily fit into, at the same time if necessary. Torrin looked down, but only found inky darkness. With a shrug, he coalesced a fireball with the ambient fire mana using the spell he'd learned while trapped in Nim's pocket dimension.

He altered the gathered fireball, shaping and hardening it into a floating orb. He sent the orb down the fissure, dropping it in like a coin in a well, and was surprised when it began bouncing along a set of stairs inside the crack. Torrin and Tillien looked at one another.

"Alright, Tillien. You stay up here and keep an eye out for any of the other elves." Torrin said firmly.

Tillien looked about to argue, but Torrin raised a hand, "Tillien. I don't exactly know how strong those fire mages are, and we'll be in a place almost exclusively filled with fire mana. I'm unsure if you can even survive in there, much less help fight. Stay here and keep watch, and take this in case of an emergency."

Torrin held out his hand, handing one of his last remaining vials containing Grams' super healing potion to the elf, "That's the potion I used on you before. It should be able to heal almost anything."

Tillien took the vial, cradling it like the most precious, fragile baby, "Thank you, Rin... Please, be safe in there."

Torrin inclined his chin to the elf, "You be safe out here, as well."

Torrin turned back to the fissure and took a deep breath. His heart was racing, trying to pound its way out of his chest. He was nervous. He shook his arms out and stepped up to the fissure, creating another light orb.

Under the shining glow of the orb, Torrin slowly made his way into the fissure, his legs inside, his belly scraping against the crack's lip. A twenty foot drop led to the stairs he'd seen before. After gripping the edge of the chasm, his arms fully extended, he infused his legs with Saen and fell.

He landed on one of the stairs, his knees bending and absorbing the shock easily. His newest small orb of light followed him like a pet, its glow causing eerie shadows to play deeper along his path. The stairs descended for what felt like ages, twisting back on themselves from time to time. A growing heat could be felt on his skin, the air permeated with fire mana. Torrin could also feel something else, something...Strange.

He couldn't put his finger on it, but it felt as if the shadows were watching him, waiting for him to slip up so they could attack. Torrin shook his head wryly, wondering what was coming over him. Worrying about shadows watching and attacking him seemed silly, he berated himself, trying to focus his mind back on the task at hand. Back on finding the elves.

His will spread around him, trying to get a sense of any danger. He was surprised when the shadows actually buffeted back his attempts to penetrate them. 'Okay, so maybe it's not silly to think the shadows are watching me,' Torrin thought, a deep sense of unease beginning to take root.

Torrin made another light orb and sent it skittering down the steps below him. He watched intently as the orb bounced, hit a wall, and continued down a twist in the stairway, out of his sight. Torrin breathed deep, trying to still his anxious heart.

"Nothing to do but keep going," Torrin mumbled to himself, his sword appearing in his hand.

Torrin made it to the wall where the stairs twisted once more on themselves, and led his peek around the corner with his light orb. More stairs. But in the distance, a light? 'Is that them?' Torrin wondered.

He kept his breathing even, dismissing his light orb into the ether. His steps were less sure now, but he kept a steady and light pace, the balls of his feet hardly touching the steps as he moved. An impressive feat with the added weight from Grams' spell. The darkness was oppressive, a near-physical force weighing on his shoulders like a heavy mantle.

A screeching hiss to his right had him turning, leading with his sword. An impact on his blade, a pained shriek, fire racing up his arm as his flesh parted before some sort of sharp claw or talon. Torrin saw two, small, green flames that added to his confusion. Saen infused his entire being, his sword arm waving, while his off-hand coalesced a fireball so he could see, mana steeping his brain.

A creature came into sharp relief. Some sort of twisted amalgamation between a bird and a ferret, or squirrel, maybe, but enlarged and with deadly talons. Its face looked like a squirrel, but held a beak. Its body was squat like a chicken, but it was furry, a long bushy tail fluffing behind it. A few feathers hung in ragged clumps. Its eyes were hollow pits filled with a disturbing, green flame in each.

Torrin balked, unsure of what the thing was. He was prompted into motion as the thing flew at him, leading with its sharp beak, its body curled so its razor talons would arrive shortly after. Torrin slashed his sword forward, meeting the creature half way. The squirrel-bird's face split from the blow, the rest of its body following as Torrin's sword cleaved it in two.

Gasping for breath, more from shock than pain, Torrin scanned the furrows along his arm. Deep rivulets had been drawn across his skin, blood welling and overflowing from the trenches. A push of Saen seemed to help slow the bleeding, but it was much harder than usual to heal. Inky darkness flowed from the wound, like tainted blood. He watched in confusion and amazement as the wound finally cleansed itself and closed.

'What in all the hells is going on?' Torrin thought wearily. He quickly set himself to making a proper mana shield around him. It was a struggle to gather enough earth mana to reinforce it, but he knew it would be necessary. He cursed himself for not thinking ahead, but shook it off and focused on the path forward.

His eyes alighted on the strange creature's corpse near his feet, and with a thought he swept it into his ring. He'd take a look at it later. His gaze fixed on the dim light below him, some hundred feet below. Torrin moved down the stairs carefully, this time keeping his light orb summoned. With the help of the orb, he now saw that the shadows were indeed moving slightly, as if they were alive.

What was that creature? Are the shadows really moving like that, as if on their own? Everything happening was slowly wearing at his mind, but he kept himself on task, ignoring the nagging questions he kept posing to himself. He was only forty feet or so from the lit opening when another monster appeared from the shadows. This time, Torrin was prepared as he'd noticed the shadows moving strangely to his right.

What he wasn't prepared for, was what appeared. It was some twisted creature. It looked like a mole, its face was that of a mole, at least, and its body was large, but squat, almost squished-looking and its hide looked normal as well. Thick, dark fur, surely enhanced with earth mana. But that's where the similarities ended. Instead of its usual stubby arms and claws, perfect for digging, it had thick, trunk-like legs, like that of a giant bear. The mole-bear took up the entire tunnel as its glowing-green-flame-eyes took in Torrin.

"Just... Why..." Torrin grumbled, unsure of the purpose of the beast, or creature, or whatever it was. The mole-bear lifted its head and squealed. The sound was somewhere between a yowling cat and a person crying. It was the strangest sound Torrin had ever heard, and it sent a chill down his spine.

The creature lowered its gaze, if it could see at all, back to Torrin and he felt the stairs shift below him. The creature was trying to turn the stairs into a slide of sorts, that would send Torrin hurtling right into its slavering maw. The lack of earth mana must have prevented it from doing so right away, or the twisted creature lacked a firm control of its previous abilities, for it took a long shuddering moment for the stairs to change.

In that time, Torrin decided it wasn't worth it. He'd held up his hand and gathered a mana bomb, sending it hurtling at the disgusting creature. The bomb blew up directly on the mole-bears head, the force of the blow disintegrating the entire head of the beast, and most of its torso, sending the surviving half of its lower-body hurtling down the stairs, end over end. A glistening trail of putrid black-blood lined the steps below.

"Fuck. That." Torrin mumbled aloud, shaking his head. No way was he about to fight that thing in this cramped tunnel. Torrin was surprised to see that his mana bomb hadn't damaged the tunnels at all, not even a crack.

He turned his gaze to the opening below, his gaze intent and focused. He stepped carefully down the steps, his bare feet squelching in the sizzling blood. 'Sizzling?' Torrin wondered, his gaze turning back to the steps. His mind hadn't registered how hot it had become the further down he went, but now that the thought crossed his mind, he could feel his Saen being drained slightly into his bare feet, preventing them from burning to a crisp.

Taking a moment, Torrin sat on the burning steps, the enchantments in his pants preventing them from instantly sparking into a blaze, and put on some boots once more. They were sturdy, and enchanted for durability as well, so they should hold up for a while under the heat of the stairs.

Gathering himself once more, Torrin began his descent again, closing the distance to the opening in moments. All at once, the shadows around him writhed, flowed from the walls, gathering like a wave, and shot across the opening before him, racing through the cavern the opening led to and disappearing. Torrin stood in stark disbelief at what he'd seen. What was going on in this temple?

Torrin turned back to the stairs he'd traversed, and saw that they were no longer covered in inky darkness. Mana-lamps lined the walls every twenty steps or so, lighting the way downward. Had the creatures been some sort of challenge from the fire temple? Or were they something else?

Torrin gathered his breath, his heart finally slowing to a somewhat normal pace, no longer pummeling his chest. His eyes roamed the cavern before him. Stalactites and Stalagmites dotted the place like displaced fangs from the maw of some giant beast. Water somehow dripped down the stone-icicles above, hitting the floor and sizzling. The cavern was massive, and he'd need to walk into it to see more details. The dim lighting he'd seen before came from small rivers of flowing lava.

The heat of the place would have cooked him alive if he didn't have Saen enhancing him, and a mana shield surrounding his body. Even now, he was finding it hard to catch a full breath without his throat feeling slightly seared.

If Dawn and the fire mages had brought others here like he'd been told, where were they? There was no way any of the other elves could survive down here. The thought made Torrin's guts twist, but he pushed it away. Clearing his mind of everything but moving forward cautiously, Torrin walked into the massive, scalding cavern.