Ragh followed Aster as he stumbled through the streets. He pushed down around the arrow wound, applying pressure. It was a messy strike, the old arrow sticking out from between the rings of the chainmail. Aster glanced around quickly before slipping into an alleyway. There he sat down and ripped off his helmet, letting it clatter to the ground. He was sweaty and was breathing heavily.

¨Hit me through the chainmail. I would expect nothing less from even the shambling corpse of a platinum eye archer.¨ Aster pulled off his glove and hissed as he tested the wound with a light touch. ¨I knew we would make it through though, it was foretold after all.¨

¨The hail of arrows that struck you seems to make me think otherwise.¨ Ragh sat down next to Aster. He was tired as well but didn't close his eyes. He did not need to sleep after all. He thought back to the Worldroot Sanctuary and suddenly wanted to return. It was so peaceful compared to where he was now.

¨Little bumps in the road.¨ Aster chuckled as he wiggled the arrow around. He gasped in pain but grit his teeth. ¨Not lodged in the bone thankfully.¨ He said breathlessly.

Ragh helped Aster to extract the arrow. Slowly as to not lose the arrowhead in the arm, Ragh removed the shaft of the arrow. The wound was bleeding profusely. With a grunt of pain Aster leaned back against the wall. ¨Thank Yrena it hit my arm.¨

¨Though you look worse for wear yourself .¨ Aster gestured towards the arrows sticking out of Ragh´s armor. It looked as if he had been struck multiple times but in reality the arrows were simply sticking into gaps of his armor and in the gambeson underneath.

Ragh pulled each arrow from his armor, letting them clatter to the ground. Suddenly from Aster´s hand a flame the size of a candle was produced. In shock Ragh watched as Aster touched the wound with the dark red flame. He grit his teeth against the pain and allowed the flame to cauterize the wound. Then with a sigh he withdrew his hand.

¨What was that?¨ Ragh asked, gesturing towards his hand. It was strange to see someone produce flame from their hands to say the least.

¨The flame? That was my divinity.¨ Aster snapped his fingers again producing another wick of fire. It was flickering, illuminating the ever darkening alleyway with a dim light.

¨I have heard of divinity before but the man was not gracious enough to tell me what it was.¨ Ragh reached out to touch the flame, letting it heat his gauntlet before pulling away. He felt the light warmth from the fire contrasting against the temperature of the air which was rapidly cooling as the sun set.

¨I will tell you all about it after we get off the street.¨ Aster extinguished his charge, covering his hand with his glove. ¨It's best not to use fire at this time. Else the Flame Cacklers might be attracted to it. They are giant fire-seeking lizards if you didn't know.¨

¨Well, not sure what I was expecting… more undead perhaps?¨ Ragh wearily asked himself. Aster huffed in amusement before standing up slowly. He grabbed his greatsword and shouldered it.

¨Lets move into this building here.¨ Aster approached the door of a nearby building. The door was not in its frame and instead was thrown inward across the room. Thick claw marks marked the fallen door where it had then been snapped in half, leaving pieces of the door still hanging on their hinges.

¨Looks as good a place as any.¨ Aster walked into the room dusting off furniture and searching adjacent rooms for former residents. Thankfully nothing was found. There was an abundance of hanging green ivy in this room and a trickle of water dripping in from the ceiling.

Looking at the water made Ragh realize that he didn't need to drink. Then remembered what Aster said about the ring that the winter goddess gave him. It must cover food and water as well as age and disease. Such a gift was surely valuable to anyone, but perhaps it was too late considering the state of the city.

The two settled in for a cold night. Tonight it was even more bitter than the last. Frost was already forming on the pale armor that Ragh wore. The temperature was uncomfortable but his unique abilities allowed him to resist its effects. The same was not true for Aster who was already starting to shiver.

He was trying to get warm by rubbing his hands together but it didn't seem to be working. Aster swore under his breath before hesitantly letting his hands catch fire again. The flicker of warmth was a spot of comfort in the cold dark room.

¨Ah, so much better. I've never been this cold before.¨ Aster breathed new life into his shivering form as he held the flame. ¨I don't know how you are so unbothered by this cold Ragh.¨

Ragh remembered what he said about Flame Cacklers but Aster looked so miserable that he didn't say anything about it. As Ragh watched the flame he felt an intense sense of longing for something. He clutched his chest and looked down, the sorrowful feeling creeping up his throat.

¨W-What is divinity?¨ Ragh´s voice cracked just a bit as he forced the words out of his throat. ¨Good sir.¨ He added.

¨It's hard to explain.¨ Aster gazed into the flickering flame he held, he was much more soft spoken than usual. He appeared completely mesmerized by it, drawn in by its warmth yet ever aware of its ferocity. Even so it flickered, weak to the outside elements and yet supplied only by an unseen force. ¨It would be best to start at the beginning, since it doesn't appear I will be getting any sleep tonight. The woes from losing your bag of supplies I guess.¨

¨The tale is long so I will only tell you a part of it.¨ Aster began to speak, his usually coarse and confident voice now morphed into something of a storyteller. Low in wonder and full of mystique.

¨In the beginning of time there were two forces at work before even light and dark existed. That being creation and destruction. From this force gods were born, creatures whos creation is shrouded in mystery. Thus our gods came to be among all others created. They forged our realm known as Awyer.¨

¨Our gods were known as the dragon deities because the first thing they ever created were the dragons. Each dragon is born with a power that correlates with the gods. Emerelda, goddess of life, mother of green dragons. Valin, god of death, father of black dragons. Misgin, god of summer and father of red dragons. Denathis, god of darkness and father of obsidian dragons. Orroros, god of creation and father of platinum and silver dragons. Then there was Yrena, blessings upon her grace, that was the goddess of light and mother to all white dragons.¨

¨There were two gods who were different from the rest. Soveiriny, goddess of winter, secluded herself from the other gods and refused to give blessings to any creature. Then there was Zetathis who was filled with horrid cunning. He created the humans. These strange creatures were unlike anything the gods had seen before. They did not hold the gods blessing ever since their creation, left out to fend for themselves. But, they were able to take it from others.¨

¨The pieces of the gods that they bestowed upon their subjects is known as divinity. It is the driving force of life as well as rebirth after death. It makes rain fall when it needs to, it makes deserts dry up, it makes plants grow, it makes the world turn. Despite the humans pilfering of this vital source, the gods enjoyed watching these creatures because they reminded the gods of themselves.¨

¨It is unclear what happened when the gods decided to descend to Awyer to make contact with the humans. All we know is that contact has been lost ever since. . ¨Aster cleared his throat.

¨So to answer your question Ragh. Divinity is a piece of the gods power which keeps the world spinning. We as humans are able to take it for ourselves from other living creatures. It takes practice and training to tap into its power, and it is the sign that something is alive.¨ Aster touched his chest with a hand lightly. ¨You must be able to feel it within you.¨

Ragh did as told and tried to look within himself. As he thought about divinity, the force which made the world work, which the gods had bestowed upon every living thing besides humans… he felt longing. The longing feeling only grew until it encompassed him, his shoulders slumped and he leaned back against the wall heavily.

¨I don't feel anything.¨

¨Well, you must not have absorbed divinity yet from a living thing.¨ Aster rubbed his chin in thought. ¨It would be the only explanation, once you taste divinity it is impossible to get the feeling out of your chest.¨ The mystical tone Aster had been using before had all but disappeared.

Silence fell over the two as Ragh mulled over the story. It was strange that he had no feeling of divinity within him. It was clear that it existed considering the flame Aster produced. But when he focused on his chest he felt an intense feeling of longing. He felt empty. If what Aster said was true then he would need to absorb some of this divinity from other creatures. But if it had to be alive then he wouldn't be able to absorb divinity from the undead.

¨What are the undead then? How are they-¨ Ragh halted in what he was saying. Outside in the silent night he heard scuffling. He looked over to where Aster was hunched over the flame he held, cradling its warmth.

Aster looked up as Ragh stopped his question mid sentence. His hand dropped down to his greatsword which was laying on the floor. The flame he held was quickly extinguished leaving both of them in the dark.

Ragh´s grip tightened around the short spear he held. Slowly he stood up holding his shield protectively in front of him. The shuffling continued, until there was a presence. It couldn't be seen, but noise created by the thing was enough to tell Ragh that there was something there.

The creature hissed lowly, its presence coming closer. Aster relit the flame on his hands, purging the darkness in an instant. It traveled up the blade of his sword making it into a sort of torch.

Immediately the two could see the creature before them. It was a large rust colored scaled lizard around the size of a dog. Its eyes were two red blazing slits of fury, like twin rubies. It had thick muscular forearms as well as a long scaly tail. It hissed at the two of them as the fire from the sword ignited.

Its eyes strafed the room before locking onto the blazing sword. It hissed eagerly at the sight of the flame. Immediately the flame was snuffed out as if it had been covered with a blanket.

It could be heard racing forward, cackling loudly like a hyena. It was an obnoxious terrible sound, like someone laughing in your ear. There was a solid smack in the dark and the lizard hissed in pain. From its mouth a plume of fire came forth, scorching the stone directly in front of it. The flash of fire illuminated the room briefly.

A burst of adrenaline heightened Ragh´s senses as he raced forward. He ran in the dark before his foot hit the lizard. It hissed loudly and bit down onto his leg armor. Its teeth were unable to pierce the plate. Ragh stabbed downward, puncturing through flesh and cracking ribs. The lizard squirmed, letting out a heart wrenching scream like the sound of a dying dog. Ragh stabbed down again with his spear, blood coating his legs and weapon. He kept stabbing until it finally stopped making noise.

Slowly he stood up, leaving the corpse of the lizard on the ground. He couldn't see it but it was probably a gruesome sight. He had stabbed the thing multiple times after all.

¨Seems I can't get a break, though I guess its my fault for using fire.¨ Aster´s voice came from the darkness. His footsteps approached before he stood right next to Ragh. A faint red ball of light floated out of the corpse of the lizard.

¨Go on Ragh, take it. Its divinity.¨ Aster said.

Ragh kneeled down and reached for the red ball of light. It was like a wisp, so small and fragile out in the open air. Gingerly he caressed it before pulling it to his side. He held the ball and instinctively pushed it towards his chest. As he did so it seemed to slip through his fingers before returning to the corpse.

¨Well if you don't want it I will be taking it then.¨ Aster shrugged and grabbed the divinity, snatching it from the air. He brought it towards his chest and it quickly absorbed into him. ¨You must not be able to absorb fire divinity, rare but not unheard of.¨

Ragh wanted to stop him but stayed silent. He could feel the connection he had to the piece of divinity. But… something stopped the connection from forming. He could feel it connect with him but the divinity itself had nothing to connect to. It had simply drifted back to its former shell. He snapped out of his thoughts as Aster spoke.

¨We need to get out of here. There will be more Flame Cacklers coming. Their laugh attracts others like them.¨ Aster walked out the doorway and onto the open street. Ragh quickly followed, trying not to lose him in the dark.

He grabbed onto his shoulder as they raced off in a random direction. Their feet constantly bumped into miscellaneous objects and rubble on the ground. They were fumbling in the dark. Ragh kept a hand on the stone wall to guide him.

Hisses in the dark spurred their movement. They hid behind walls when shuffling boots passed by, undead legions ever on the prowl. Soon found a place to hide, another cold stone building.

Ragh didn't know where they were, but this time they were not going to use fire. Aster´s chattering teeth echoed in the room all night.