I believe it may be time to discuss Garen.

As an immortal entity, his existence is one of shockingly little discussion. Perhaps many believe that we have already learned everything there is to know regarding him, but I remain certain we know very little indeed.

As any child knows, he slew the four Monarchs some twenty or thirty thousand years ago, an event so unprecedented it remains relevant even today. His existing presence assists with that. Aside from the Monarchs, Garen is startlingly left out of history. It seems as though he appeared, killed the Monarchs, and simply… stayed at home, incredulous as that may seem.

It makes one wonder what his motive is.

-Daro D’Vari, part-time landscaper

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Miro stared back at the small army of slimes surrounding it with no small amount of nervousness. Some of them were on fire, a few were spreading frost around themselves, and a few had partially melted through the floor. Even more were covered in a thin layer of stone and dirt, constantly rearranging itself. One particularly large slime was a strange purple color, white sparks flitting throughout its layers. Miro could’ve sworn it saw a comet fly across its surface. Yet another sole specimen was entirely clear, with a single black point in its center.

The two things all of them had in common were that they were all more or less spheres, and that they were motionless. The entire room was silent and still, with only the creak of the building’s shifting frame.

Avynne poked her head through the hole in the ceiling Miro had caused. “Miro? Are you - oh.”

Her eyes widened as she saw the slimes. En masse, they turned upwards to look at her, and the silence extended for a moment.

And then ended abruptly, as all of them scattered. Squeezing under cracks and hurling themselves through doorways (and in the case of the purple slime, disappearing with a loud pop), the slimes had all but vanished in a matter of seconds, save for one small fire slime.

Avynne pulled herself through the hole and lightly dropped to the floor, bending her knees to absorb the landing. The fire slime jerked away at the sudden motion, but still didn’t leave.

Miro stared at it. It was… something felt familiar.

“How did I miss this?” Avynne wondered out loud, looking for more slimes under the counter. Miro spotted a few of them sneak up the wall just behind her and immediately wanted to know if it could replicate the movement.

Sliding forward, the small fire slime tentatively burbled. There were no words, but Miro understood what the intent behind the sound was.

Miro figured it out quite suddenly. This was the slime it’d freed from the cage in Olivai’s tower!

Rolling forward, Miro burbled a pleasant greeting in reply, and the fire slime happily bumped into Miro. The physical contact was oddly invigorating, like a sudden burst of uncharacteristic optimism.

Avynne walked over and crouched next to them, watching it curiously. The fire slime bounced away, startled. Miro reassured it with a soothing chirp, and it warily returned to its position.

“I have never seen a fire slime this close,” Avynne said softly. She reached a wing out, but hesitated a short distance away.

The fire slime eyed her for a moment, then seemed to come to a decision. Sharply inhaling, it puffed its mouth out in two tiny cheek-like mounds, and suddenly extinguished. Still glowing a gentle red, it slowly cooled to a dark purple.

Avynne carefully petted it and slowly smiled. “It is quite soft. Not as soft as you,” She hastily added, noticing Miro freeze. “Although it does feel like a pillow,” She added under her breath. Miro glared at her, but most of its attention was still centered on the fire slime.

“Should we name it?” She asked. Unamused, Miro gave her an exasperated stare, and she laughed quietly. “Do you think it would like the name Fime?”

The fire slime doubtfully looked up at her, not that Avynne was able to recognize it. “Fime it is!” She decided, and gave Fime another pat.

Releasing its breath in a huff, Fime ignited once again, and Avynne hastily backed away. “I didn’t know the flames could go out.”

Miro looked around the building, examining it a little closer. Slime tracks led up the walls and across the ceiling. Ivy hung from the ceiling, draping across the walls and dangling from the second floor. The air itself was cool and thick with moisture rising from the puddles on the floor, dense humidity infusing the whole room.

It was oddly comfortable, and Miro instinctively knew that this was the ideal habitat for a slime such as itself. Whether or not the other slimes would allow Miro to drop by from time to time would be another matter entirely. They seemed to dislike Avynne, but Miro was confident that they would one day grow to like her as much as it did. Olivai might be a different story - Miro could only hope that she wouldn’t try to purify them the moment she saw the place. Although the building could use a little cleaning…

Avynne brushed her clothes off, looking around. “This is a large building.” The feathers between her eyes scrunched together. “I have been living in the forest for almost a year now. How did I miss this?”

Miro didn’t know and didn’t particularly care. It was here and that was what mattered.

Avynne started suddenly. Miro and Fime both swung around to look at her. In a panic, she told Miro, “I have to go to work! It’s almost morning!”

Miro hastily zoomed over to her, and she carefully seized it in her talons. Fime looked alarmed as she lifted off, wings pumping. Looking up to the sky, Avynne and Miro simultaneously realized that none of the holes in the ceiling were anywhere near large enough to fit Avynne’s wingspan.

Setting Miro down, Avynne hurried towards one of the doors, paused, and looked to another. “Where is the exit?!” She asked frantically.

To Miro’s surprise, Fime released a loud whistle and rolled for one of the doorways. Miro and Avynne shot a glance at each other, and then followed the brightly flaming slime.

It rolled through the spacious hallways, keeping to one side. Avynne had to run lightly to avoid crashing through the rotten wood, and Miro was careful to stick right behind Fime.

Miro saw a doorway up ahead. One of the doors was hanging by a single hinge and the other was nowhere to be seen, but sunlight streamed through it, which meant it led to the outdoors.

Bursting outside, Miro impatiently waited for Avynne to follow. She stumbled through the doors a moment later, wings already spreading out. “Miro, we have to go!”

Grabbing it in her talons, she pumped her wings and rapidly headed away from the ground. Miro watched Fime stare after them before going back into the abandoned building. Seconds later, the trees around the building dripped several hundred slimes onto the ground, which then shot inside.

Miro, it decided, would definitely have to come back.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It didn’t take long to return to Caro Lias. Avynne’s tree had been closer than Miro thought, and the mountain was far larger than it could have ever guessed.

The mountain didn’t seem to shrink in the slightest as they flew away from it, no matter how much Miro craned to watch. It just stretched higher and higher, so far into the sky that clouds melted into its sides and rippled around it.

Miro tried to imagine what it would be like to exist as a mountain. To be so massive and solid that clouds had to move around you.

Would it be lonely?

Perhaps the mountain could make friends with birds. Maybe some of them flew higher than clouds as well.

Miro resolved to become the mountain’s friend at some point, so long as it was possible to begin with.

Caro Lias approached quickly, and Avynne slowed down. Once they were close enough to the ground, she carefully dropped Miro and stumbled to a stop. Glancing at the gradually igniting horizon, she gave Miro a hasty pat and approached the gate.

The man leaning against the wall glanced up at them. “Avynne, good to see you. Cutting it a bit close, though.”

Avynne gave him a small smile. “It is good to see you as well, Bodre. Can you open the door?”

Bodre indicated Miro. “In a minute. I think you’ve got a stowaway.”

Miro burbled loudly, just in case she had forgotten it was there. Avynne explained, “This is Miro. It is Olivai’s slime.”

Bodre nodded slowly, clearly confused. “She’s keepin’ a slime?”

Rolling closer, Miro gave Bodre an inquisitive sniff. His scent tasted hard and thick, but not unpleasant. It was a similar texture to the stale bread Otto had given Miro not so long ago.

Bodre shrugged, pulling a lever. “Seems tame enough. Have yourself a good day.”

The iron-bound gate slowly opened, the sound of grinding coming from the walls and floor. Miro whistled quietly, impressed by whatever was opening the door. And it was all connected to a stick in the ground, no less!

“You too, Bodre.” Avynne walked past him, Miro close behind. Bodre pulled the lever again, and the gate ground shut.

Without waiting any further, Avynne went straight for one of the streetlights on the side of the road. A candle inside beamed light over the cobbled road, its flame flickering and dancing behind the glass.

Pulling the hatch on the fluted glass box open, she braced herself, shot an arm in, and extinguished the flame. She released a barely audible chirp of pain, shaking her claws and shutting the hatch.

Miro stared at her as she clambered down from the streetlight, moving onto the next one. She was going to have to do that for every light in Caro Lias? How were her feathers not burnt?

Climbing up another streetlight, she pulled the hatch open and prepared to shove her arm in again. Before she could, Miro bounced straight into the small of her back. She yelped loudly, toppling onto the road and flailing her wings about for a moment.

Hurrying to test its theory before she regained her balance, Miro did the highest bounce it’d managed yet and just barely landed on the edge of the lantern’s box.

Avynne looked up just in time to see Miro eat the flame. It was spicy and without substance, a rancid aftertaste following shortly afterward. The fire was made of too much air to really eat, but Miro could more or less inhale it without too much issue. It wasn’t as hot as the fire slime had been, but the taste was far worse.

Wrinkling distastefully, Miro hopped down from the streetlight. Avynne was staring at it wide-eyed. “You can eat fire too?”

Miro bobbed happily, and Avynne thought for a moment. She blinked as she thought of something. “You… wish to help me extinguish the lights?”

Miro nodded as hard as it could. It didn’t have Olivai’s candle-quenching ability, but it had an appetite, and it was willing to use that instead.

Avynne brushed herself off, straightening. “There are many lights to put out. This is going to take a while.” A moment later, she added, “Thank you.”

Bumping up against her leg, Miro fiercely rolled onto the next lamp. If it was going to take a while, then it’d have to figure out how to eat fire even quicker.