Flying into the cloud of magical energy made me a little apprehensive and if it had been my body, doing the flying, I would have increased the amount of frozen mist surrounding me, just to ward off the heat. Luckily, Lenore didn’t share my weakness to heat and was able to enter the cloud without any trouble.

The moment she did, we both realised that there was more going on than just the emanation of power, it almost hit me like a physical blow, despite being within my Hallow. I could feel Lenore react over our connection, the previously steady beat of her wings faltering for a moment when she, too, was affected. The cloud was more than just fiery Astral Power, I could feel a jumbled mess of emotions mixed into the power, frustration and anger, foremost amongst them. How I could feel them, especially with such clarity, I wasn’t sure, just as I had no idea where they were coming from. But I wanted to find out.

Lenore, following simple logic, aimed for the center of the cloud, what appeared to be a large rock formation on the valley-slope. The rocks looked ordinary to both of us, more of the light-coloured rock that had given the area its name, but the phenomenon going on around us told a different story. With a last flap of her wings, Lenore hopped onto one of the other rocks, looking down into the formation and what we saw was both interesting and incredibly disappointing.

Instead of the interesting magical entity we had hoped for, maybe some connection to the mythical phoenix-spirit the clan was supposed to have gotten their power from, something we might be able to exploit to help Lenore grow in power, what we got was rather mundane. Interesting and worthy of investigating, but sadly mundane nonetheless.

Beneath us, half-turned away from us, sat Dura Firebringer, quite literally fuming. Well, almost, there weren’t literal fumes coming out of her head but now, seeing her, both Lenore and I were able to put two and two together to ascertain that she was, in fact, the source of the cloud that had lured us here. Before we could decide what to do about stumbling upon an angry shaman in, what might be, her private retreat, the place where she could go to shut out the world and simply be, she let out an annoyed growl and punched the rock next to her, leaving a glowing trace of heat, as her magical power flowed with her annoyance.

The combination of childish annoyance, the taking out of her anger on an inanimate object, and quite impressive magical power, enough to cause rock to glow with heat, without any obvious effort, made me chuckle in my Hallow but sadly, my amusement was echoed by Lenore, making her let out an amused cackle.

The noise, quite obviously foreign and nearby, made Dura Firebringer spin around, emotions clearly visible on her face and radiating into the cloud around us. Anger and surprise, foremost but combined with a bit of embarrassment and annoyance. Both, Lenore and I, were still wondering just why we were able to feel those emotions so clearly, almost oppressive in their intensity. But for now, we had something else to deal with, a shaman who looked like she was about to start hurling fire towards Lenore’s certainly flammable form.

We exchanged opinions for a split second, discussing just how to deal with Dura Firebringer without destroying all hope we had regarding follow-up quests from the orcs or the still-outstanding reward we were owed. It reminded me that, in the future, we should nail down potential rewards with more specificity, simply a magical item was too vague a term.

In accordance to our short discussion, we decided that the best way to handle things was for me, in my persona as Morgana, to talk to Dura Firebringer. Other options we had considered was simply flying away, hoping that she didn’t realise who Lenore was or even playing dumb. Sadly, Lenore was convinced that the shaman was intelligent and knowledgeable enough to see through such a ruse, leaving communication as the only viable option and, as much as it pained me, the fact that Dura Firebringer and I had talked quite a bit before made me more suited to the task.

With a mental sigh, I pushed myself out of my Hallow, timing so that Lenore and I would simply switch places, only that for once, I didn’t try to emerge in a stable, kneeling position but simply sitting on the rock Lenore had perched on. It was similarly stable but didn’t allow quick movement out of the position, if necessary. Which was somewhat the point, to project an image of relaxation and casualness, making it clear that I wasn’t here to fight or confront her in any way. I had no desire in pushing an already agitated Fire-Spellcaster into a corner, that could only end badly.

Watching Dura Firebringer was amusing, her emotions obvious, both on her face and in the magic around us. Parsing the surrounding Astral Power with my own senses drove things home even harder, making me wonder just how well I would be able to parse things out, if I tried. Would I be able to taste the difference in emotions from the Astral Power she was radiating? Essentially allowing me to smell someone’s emotions? It was a curious idea and I had to stop myself from letting my tongue flick out, tasting the air and power. Instead, I simply watched Dura Firebringer’s face, as the anger gave way to surprise, followed by embarrassment and a bit of chagrin. It was almost adorable, how the powerful, normally confident, woman looked so much like a child caught with her hand in the cookie-jar.

For a moment, neither of us acted or spoke, the heat and power around us pressing in on me, making me break out in sweat. Without letting my eyes stray from her face, I reached out, using twilight caused by the sun vanishing behind the mountains around us, to create a chilling shroud for me. It wasn’t my usual mist, not with my ideas regarding the opposite nature of our elements and the effect they had on our emotions. There was the potential that she’d see it as a challenge, if nothing was further from my mind. But Darkness, especially the softer form that were shadows and the sheltering twilight, seemed to be more appropriate. The shroud helped, assuaging the heat but also shutting out the emotions pressing in on me.

“It is you…” she muttered, her voice soft but conflicted.

“Indeed. You are agitated.” I stated the obvious, not quite sure what to say, so I simply waited for a moment, silently observing. She let out a wry chuckle and I could feel the pressure on my shroud recede a little.

“What gave me away? The shouting? The fact that we returned home, after winning a major victory only to be welcomed by vicious rumours and lies?” as she spoke, the pressure increased again, as her voice got louder with every word, only to suddenly deflate, like a popped balloon.

“It wasn’t supposed to be like that. I wanted to show everyone that I wasn’t just powerful but that I was able to handle and control my power. That I would do what is necessary but that I don’t just use my magic to power through and burn down every obstacle.” she continued, her voice now barely audible. At the same time, she seemed to shrink, her shoulders slumping as she sat back down, looking defeated.

Now certain that I wouldn’t get incinerated if I approached closer, I hopped down from my perch, easily landing near her. She looked up, barely meeting my eyes, and there were tears forming in her eyes. There was a part of me that sang at the look on her face, the defeat and the weakness. The previous desire to smother her bright flame returned, the flame was barely flickering any longer, easily extinguished. But at the same time, I recognised the look, it was one I had seen before. Far too often, when looking into the mirror. Loneliness.

As sympathy welled up within me, I moved over next to her, to simply offer a, for lack of better term, human presence. For a moment, I considered sitting next to her but decided against it, taking up a spot nearby but on a different rock, simply waiting for her to continue.

“I wanted this time to be different, you know? I thought I would finally have my triumphant return home, to show people that I was worth respecting, that my flame could nurture, as well as burn.” her voice, when she continued to speak, was wistful, making me think that her mind was miles away.

“What happened the first time, if you don’t mind me asking?” I asked, curious what she was alluding to. If ‘this time’ should have been different, there had to be a time before, hadn’t there? Her eyes closed for a moment and when they opened again, she looked past me. Not at the rock behind me, but just into space, staring back through time, into the world of her memories.