Xylia saw sunlight. Tears started streaming out of her eyes as her feet began flying across the floor. Even after escaping the drake, it was a perilous journey through the caves to reach the entrance to Mt. Fugra. She was lucky she had Merry next to her the whole time.

She stepped out into the open, the hard rocks giving way to soft sand and scraggy grass. Off in the distance, she could see Rofvil, standing the same as it ever was. The air felt a delightfully pleasant temperature on her face. It was still hot, after being in such a cold cave for so long, anything above freezing would feel warm, but it was colder than the hot volcano.

She collapsed to the ground. Outside of the cave, nothing dangerous would attack her. Her tears wouldn’t stop as she thought about the face of Kyla, Garlo, Slyvia, Steevie, and everyone else back at home waiting for her. She laughed at the thought of having real food, sleeping in an actual bed, and not having to spend every day at the end of one of two extreme temperatures!

Her laughter only slowed when she imagined showing Merry off to her sister. She looked back at the cave entrance, where Merry was waving Xylia’s old knife in a victory dance. “You’re…not going to come with me, are you?” Xylia realized. Throughout the entire experience, she felt like she had gained true friends, in Merry and Edwin. She had expected that Merry would come with her; come live with her. It still hadn’t fully set in that what might have been Edwins last moments were spent protecting her, even though she saw it with her own eyes.

Merry stopped dancing and looked at her. They nodded, pointing at where the dungeon would be and themselves. Their duty was the dungeon.

“Right…” Xylia nodded and quickly snatched Merry up into a hug. “Thank you…for everything.” Tears washed onto Merry as they patted Xylia on the arm. They would’ve patted their back, but their arms were too short.

Merry jumped on the ground once the hug was over. ‘Come visit sometime!’ She mimed. Before Xylia could hesitate, they added ‘After we deal with those guys!’

Xylia nodded, a few tears shaking loose. “Yeah…I’ll try!” She said, half laughing at how cute Merry looked with their brave little stance.

Honestly, she had no intention of ever going through the volcano deal again, but she would love to meet the dungeon again on better terms.

Xylia wiped her tears away as they both waved goodbye. She watched Merry’s form disappear into the darkness of the caves. Xylia took one last look at the mountain before starting the last leg home.

She had been walking for a short while when she saw a camel rider approaching. She thought she recognized the rider, but they were a felixi. The issue was that felixis tended to look the same, since felixis used their sense of smell to tell each other part. But as the camel drew closer, she recognized the squashy he was wearing.

“Uncle?”

The felixi jumped off the camel and skidded next to her. Yep, that was him. No one else was that flamboyant in Rofvil.

“Xylia! There you are! How’s my fav-woah there! Easy!” Steevie said as Xylia tackled him into a hug. She didn’t respond coherently as she simply sobbed into his shoulder.

After she calmed down enough, they both got on his camel and headed back to town. She tried to tell him where she was but he stopped her, saying “Here’s some advice from your Ol’ uncle, the best part about telling a story isn’t telling it twice. Wait ‘til we’re back at Garlo’s then you can tell everyone, okay?” Xylia nodded and simply allowed the short ride to go in silence.

Slyvia waved them back and a small crowd had formed out of the people worried for Xylia and those who had missed Steevie on his first go around. That crowd parted as Kyla stumbled towards them. She wobbled with a drunken haze that hadn’t cleared in the time Steevie had been gone.

Xylia immediately jumped off the camel and ran towards her sister, both tackling each other in a massive hug. “Don’t you ever leave me again!” Kyla cried. Xylia didn’t respond as she sobbed into someone’s arms for the third time that day.

Whatever quarrel between them was long forgotten.

It was eventually decided to allow to wait until tomorrow to hear Xylia’s story so the ragged girl could relax for a little bit. After a hot meal and a long rest, Xylia was curled up safely in her bed. For the first time in days, she was able to sleep peacefully.

~~~~~~

The salamander hissed at the interlopers. They’d burn! They’d all burn to the ground!

The misshapen foxes nipped at his face. The cold had done something to them, twisting them to monstrous forms of sickening blue. It made their blood boil.

The grand mander roared. It was dying. The extra burnable looking one had intervened. How they hated it.

The Large One roared at the little mander. The little mander hissed flaming vile at the awful foxes unlike their own. The foxes backed away from the flames like all things should. The little mander took the opportunity to run, retreating deep into the mountain.

Fire spewed from every crack and the air sizzled with heat.

Lizards lazily loaded in lofty ledges, staring down at those beneath them literally and figuratively with a burning disinterest.

That included the little mander, who screeched, roared and hissed at everything.

They ignored it, instead fighting between themselves for the heat. The hot points were shrinking, day by day and only the top manders got the hot.

They weren’t sure how, but they knew the cold was to blame.

They’d burn it to the ground. The greater mander wawa there, he’d burn the ashes and return the heat!

The little mander hissed and roared the death of the greater mander.

That inflamed their rage.

Other greater manders began to bellow. Flames burst from snouts. Wings of the greatest manders beat.

The mountain erupted with the inflamed boiling rage of the great broodflame.

The cold would burn!

The cold would burn to the ground!

The cold would burn to the burn!

The idea burned into their memories, the flames consumed them, as it would the cold…

Oh the cold would burn…