The next morning, our day started at an accustomed, early hour. We quickly made our way downstairs, wolfing down the meagre breakfast served by an intimidated innkeeper. Afterwards, it was time to leave town before there was more trouble.

Together we summoned our mounts and hurried away from the inn. Leaving through the gates was easy; they had a guard there but didn't actually close them at night.

In the fresh air away from town, I was unsure if we had even a reason to leave this swiftly, nothing had happened after all. Yes, I had smacked some local drunk into the floor but I had done so without causing permanent harm. At the end of the day, it mattered little - we were gone, and I highly doubted that I would voluntarily return.

We continued our journey south, letting our mounts pick their path and direction. Mainly, Sigmir and Hringur lead with Elding happily plodding behind the bigger horse. Out of curiosity, I asked her about the Spirit-Realm and their normal existence. The two of them were Nature-Spirits, normally living in an world similar to Mundus, only it was fully inhabited by spirits. Interestingly, there was little difference between the spirits in their natural habitat and mortals, spirits could be killed there and eaten, just like mortal beasts could be eaten here. However a Spirit in our world was safe, it could not be truly harmed. They could be summoned with Astral Power because the given Astral Power was, as they called it, refined, in their world the Astral River was stronger, giving them more power but they could only refine a small amount of it. When I asked him if there were also realms of Elemental-Spirits compared to them being Nature-Spirits, I got quite interesting information. Nature-Spirits had small parts of every element with some elements being slightly stronger than the rest. For example the two equine spirits had more earth and wind than water and fire.

When they were in the Spirit-Realm, it was truly survival of the fittest; every spirit was able to devour others taking their essence into themselves to strengthen their being.

To me, it sounded as if there were multiple different 'echoes' of Mundus, the first housing the Nature-Spirits and further down the road the elemental-spirits. Maybe there was even a 'lower' realm that housed the cycle of souls I had heard about. It was an interesting concept overall.

During our talks, I watched the endless pine forest go by. If not for the mountain-range to our right and the sun overhead, we may as well have moved in circles. Slowly but surely, I was getting fed up with the region.

The first night, we spent under an overhang, sheltered from wind and snow. Ylva came out, disgruntled that she was unable to keep up with the two spirits and had to hang out within her Hallow. She made up for her annoyance by hunting for dinner, scaring up some smaller game and letting Sigmir and me prepare it. It was funny, Ylva now preferred her meals skinned, gutted and de-boned but uncooked. The rest of her catch, I turned into a stew for Sigmir and me. Lenore didn't eat, according to her it was unnecessary as long as she was within her Hallow and she was not a huge fan of the cold. She could live with it but with the warm Hallow I provided, she chose not to.

On the next day, we made it to the vicinity of Mount Yugid, shortly before nightfall. We decided to scout Mount Yugid during the night. If Firebirds were not named without any sense at all, they had to have a connection to the element of fire, so the dark of night should help us spot and avoid them.

Walking up the mountain was quite easy thanks to the stars giving enough light to let my low-light vision guide me. Sigmir had some more troubles but she was easily able to follow me and stay on my tracks. We closed in on the crest of a ridge and looking over it, we saw something unexpected. The cliffs formed a crater and multiple eyrie had been built into the cliffs, each inhabited by a large, red bird with a plumage reminding me of flickering flames. What was truly unexpected however was the bonfire in the middle, seemingly burning without fuel and the humanoid figure dancing around it.

As I looked closer at the figure, I was spellbound by her beauty. It was as if everything within me called to join her dance, to lose myself in the moment and enjoy the fiery passions she invoked.

I felt like a passenger in my own body as I hastily made my way down to the crater, barely aware that Sigmir was moving next to me and that the birds around me had started to make an unholy racket.

When we got down, the dancing woman looked us over and gestured for us to join her dance.

Together, we danced, Sigmir, I and this woman, round and round in the fire-light. I felt something tugging at me and became aware that the fire was moving with us, flickering, jumping as if it was dancing with us.

No!

Why would I want to dance with the fire? A primal part of me rebelled, fire was not for me. If I danced, I'd dance with Snow, with Ice, with the Storm.

I was unable to stop dancing but I was able to let go. My Astral Power gushed out of me and the surroundings changed. First, mist gathered around me, swirling around me, pushing back the fire-light, caressing me and letting me caress Sigmir as the dance changed. No longer was it a dance around the fire, now the woman danced with the fire and Sigmir and I danced with the mist.

We danced faster, the mist turning into snow and ice, floating around us and then I felt Lenore flap her wings in my mind and I knew how to turn the flurrying snow into a blizzard.

The snow sped up with my urging, twisting, swirling faster and faster, moving with the flames, pushing them back. I felt myself becoming one with the blizzard and I felt Sigmir join me, not with her body or her mind, I was sure I was feeling her soul joining the blizzard together with me. I reached for her, as if taking her hand and she accepted. We joined together, not in body or mind, but our souls danced together.

Our dance became faster, the woman let out a clear, joyful laughter, speeding up with us, challenging us and together, we accepted. The fire sprung up, leaving the spot it had burned before and flaring up, joining the woman in her dance, like the blizzard danced with Sigmir and me.

When I saw the shadows whirl around us, I called for them, letting them join us in our dance, creating a counterpoint to the flickering fire-light. I felt my mind expand, felt the blizzard push back against the fire but at the same time, join the winds the woman had called into her dance.

It became a truly magic dance, the fire and the light were only guided by the woman, the ice and the shadows were guided by me as Sigmir let me lead. And between both, the storm moved with both of us, bridging the differences and letting us feel each other. The howling of the storm changed, becoming music for our dance, singing a song of ice and fire.

I lost myself in the dance, in the magic similar to the feeling I had in the beginning but I knew that embracing the blizzard would not harm me. I felt it's embrace and knew that it was safe to let go.

We must have danced through the night; our dance only wound down as the light of the false dawn slowly crept over the walls of the crater. I became aware again and the blizzard departed, leaving me tired but excited. The fire also died down, leaving warmth and silence behind.

Now that the dance was over, I felt the exhaustion hit me, but it must have been a lot worse for Sigmir - she stumbled, and I had to steady her or she might have fallen. Together, we looked at the woman we had just danced the night away with.

She looked regal, her hair red like the morning sun with orange highlights flickering within it like small, glowing embers. Calling her anything but beautiful would be a grave insult but it was no gentle beauty it was the beauty of a predator, like a lioness lounging in the sun or an eagle riding the wind. Her gown was made out of a flowing, white material, hugging her like a glove.

“Now, normally I would be quite upset that someone sneaked into my territory, like thieves in the night. But you joined me in my dance and I now know the two of you. You may call me Samodiva.”