ACT I

The Fires of Hinos

Two weeks later

The City of Gold https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdgoDPutrIs&list=PLS19zOYsmnkwokOUuQC0Kw0M8HAdtWVYj&index=50

A constant murmur reverberated through the busy streets of the beautiful city of Jiron. Violins, drums, and attractive belly dancers entertained thousands of people browsing through the hundreds of eastern markets. The streets were so crowded everywhere that the guards were forced to stand watch on rooftops and watchtowers. Spices, wine, exotic fruit, Jiron was the only place in Oryn to lure so many traders and foreigners. Of course, a perfect place for mischief to happen. Among the busy crowds was a young woman, squeezing herself through everyone in a hurry, wearing a purple ornate hood that shrouded everything but her amber eyes. Rudely pushing around everyone so she could move forward, she still felt like she needed to apologize every time.

"Sorry. Excuse me, excuse me."

Every once in a while, someone would yell back at her, but she ignored it, looking behind her sometimes. Sweat rolled down her forehead, stinging into her eyes when she suddenly bumped into a large camel, forcing a gasp out of her. The camel was being prepped by a trader who didn't even see her, but she had to keep moving. Nudging more people out of the way, she walked around the camel into a narrow alleyway, escaping the claustrophobic feeling. Scanning her environment at first, she leaned her back against a sandstone wall and removed her cloth mask, taking deep, relieved breaths. Unlike all the other olive and tan-skinned people around, hers was pale and red from sunburn.

"Damnit.." she cursed, looking towards the crowd at the exit of the alleyway, "This isn't going to work."

Looking around further, an idea slipped in her mind when looking at the wall she leaned onto. After rubbing the sweat from her hands off her pants, she grabbed a piece of wood sticking out the wall and began climbing it. She'd obviously done this before, knowing what to grab and what not, skillfully jamming her feet into cracks and using her knife to make cuts into the sandstone herself if there was nothing to grab anymore. In only a few minutes, she reached the rooftop, out of breath. "Okay, now to avoid all these guards," she muttered to herself, keeping a low profile and raising her silk face mask again. She sauntered along the edge of the roof, scanning the thick crowd down below. But even when concentrated on what she was doing, the giant palace in the distance caught her eyes anyway. It towered above everything else, and the sun shone on its massive, domed roofs made of pure gold that reflected the light as some beacon that travellers could see from miles away into the desert. The beacon of Jiron. No wonder roaming the roofs was forbidden. People would kill to see the palace from up here. Shrugging off the distraction, the young woman continued, spotting her target in the crowd. A nervous man in white robes, constantly looking over his shoulders, squeezing himself through the crowd. "There you are.." she growled, furrowing her eyebrows. Swiftly, she skipped between houses, jumping across alleyways and ensuring the guards around her faced the other direction before moving on. Keeping an eye on the man, she suddenly noticed someone else on a rooftop across the street in brown leather greaves and corset, with a green scarf wrapped around her shoulders and head serving as a hood as well. "Elynn.." the girl muttered, watching her grab an arrow from her quiver and nock it into her bow.

"No!" the young woman gestured, the padded leather armoured girl on the other side lowered her bow in confusion. The masked girl kept following the man, trying to look for a way down, but it seemed impossible to do so without grabbing too much attention. Then she finally might have found a way to get down when seeing a ladder on the other side of the street. But then, the only thing that she couldn't afford to happen, happened. A yelling guard alerted a few others, ordering her to stop in the local language. "Barees emyo sika!"

"Screw it!" she pumped herself up as she took a few steps back before dashing towards the edge of the roof and leaping off, aiming towards the fleeing man. Time almost seemed to slow down for her as she fell from the sky, wind whistling past her ears before smacking down onto the man with her entire weight, shoving people off their feet, and rolling on the floor herself, causing commotion around her. Winded and recovering, she pushed herself up while the man tried to do the same, ignoring all the angry and shouting locals around them. She stumbled towards him and grabbed him by his collar, pulling him into the alleyway behind a corner. The man was terrified as she pinned him against the wall, removing her mask.

"You're a hard man to catch. Remember me?" she asked angrily, "Yes, you do." she grabbed her knife and held it against his throat. "Where is our gold? We know you stole it from us."

"I-I don't know, lady!" the man stuttered, barely speaking the common tongue. It made her only angrier as she pushed the edge of her knife deeper into his skin, drawing blood. "Our gold!"

"I d-don't have, lady! B-but, wait! I have other thing very interesting!" the man's voice shook, and sweat rolled down his olive skin.

"I don't care. I need my gold!" the girl growled. By now, Elynn showed up behind the corner as well, out of breath. "There you are! What in Ara's name was that, Kiera?" Elynn was as pale as Kiera, but she had ocean blue eyes instead and a more oval face. "The guards are clearing the street because of that stunt you did. We need to get out of here, now."

"He still has our gold," Kiera growled, glaring the man in his eyes.

"Screw that gold. Unless you want to end up in the Red Garden, we need to leave. They don't take too kindly to roof runners.."

Kiera grunted, rolling her eyes. "What is that other thing you mentioned?"

The man let out a breath of relief and became excited. "Yes, yes! Please, take this. I buy with your gold! Much worth!" he dug into his pocket and took out a small black diamond-shaped gem.

"Don't tell me you wasted all of our gold on this," Kiera growled, growing angrier by the second. The man placed it in her hand. "This is key to the Hinos. You know the legend."

Kiera peered at Elynn, who kept watching nervously around the corner, seeing a pair of guards point towards the alleyway. "Kiera, if we stay any longer, we won't be going anywhere at all."

Knowing Elynn was right, Kiera removed her knife from the man's throat and grabbed him by the collar. "You're coming with us, and don't you dare scream for the guards because I will slit your throat before you can open your mouth."

The three went deeper into the alley, passing thugs and starving people. And for the great city of Jiron, one would think they were in the foulest of slums by the horrible stench of feces and urine lingering around. Elynn led the way, scouting ahead to avoid guards as they exited the alley on the other side, blending into the massive crowd. At this point, they had to yell to hear each other, among the loud shouting and muttering of the traders and crowds.

"This city is a damn maze!" Elynn grunted, trying to look over people's shoulders and politely nudging them aside. It took them almost half an hour to finally find the stables. Kiera went up to her white warhorse and took his reins. "Hello, Ghost." Kiera smiled, rubbing his nose before correcting his leather saddle and climbing on his back. She reached out her hand to the man. "You, climb."

The man grabbed her hand, and she pulled him up behind her. "I can still kill you from here, just so you know," Kiera informed as she looked at Elynn, who just finished preparing her own black horse as well.

"Shadow's ready," Elynn said.

"Let's go then," Kiera nodded, tapping her feet and dusting off with Elynn, riding towards the exit. Luckily enough, they weren't stopped by the guards. A vast desert greeted them when they left the city, with a row of traders and wanderers leaving and entering the city through the main road. When they were far enough from the city, Kiera and Elynn rode away from the busy road towards a cluster of tall rocks and took a halt there. Elynn jumped off Shadow and pulled the man off of Kiera's horse. "Alright, now it's time to talk." she grunted, taking her dagger from the sheath on her lower back, "How much is this gem worth?"

In the meantime, Kiera dismounted, removing her scarf and using it to rub the sweat off her face, letting Elynn do the talking.

"The t'shia I buy this gem from, don't know what it is, but I know. Don't sell this. Go east of here and follow the mountains to an old, broken city. Treasure there. This gem is the key, I promise." the man eagerly said. The word 'treasure' caught Kiera's attention. "What kind of treasure?"

"Are you really buying this?" Elynn looked over her shoulders to Kiera.

"It's worth a shot. What other choice do we have? Stay here in the city? We definitely can't after this." Kiera said, holding her hands on her hips, changing her gaze to the local. "What kind of treasure?"

"History." the man gleamed, "And everything else it left behind..."

Kiera glanced at her friend to see what she was thinking, but she did the same. "Give me the gem," Kiera ordered. The man carefully placed it on her hand and took a step back, but Kiera wasn't done yet. "How far east?"

"Two moons." the man said, "The city will be easy to see."

Kiera clenched her fist around the gem. "How do you know all of this?"

"It told me." the man replied, looking at Kiera's clenched fist. Not quite sure what he meant, Kiera pointed her head towards the distance. "Get out of here."

She didn't have to say that twice as the man bolted. Elynn sighed. "I really hope we didn't get deceived by an old man."

"We will not be able to show our faces in this city for a long time," Kiera added.

"We were in a hurry. It was that or nothing." Elynn reassured her friend.

"Yeah.." Kiera softly said, opening her hand and looking at the gem. "It does feel warm. I don't think he was lying. He swindled someone with our gold so he could do this himself."

"We're losing light." Elynn looked towards the orange sky, "Best we set camp up here. These rocks will shield us from the cold night's breeze."

"Sounds like a plan," Kiera muttered, still drawn to the gem, her eyes fixed on it. She couldn't place it anywhere, but the gem made her feel a strange sense of familiarity. As if she had seen it before, but she was sure she hadn't. The gem had black smoke swirling around inside as it tried to find a way to escape. Suddenly, Elynn's voice startled her, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Kiera! Hellooo?" Elynn waved towards her.

"What?" Kiera replied, shrugging off the alluring energy from the artifact.

"I said; you okay with setting up the bedrolls? I'll go get the things for a fire."

"Sure!" Kiera said, putting the artifact in her pocket before taking off her backpack and detaching her bedroll from it.

A few hours passed, and night fell upon the lands of Volaria. While it was scorching hot during the day, the deserts were cold at night. An orange gleam bounced off the rocks where Kiera and Elynn's camp was settled, and a crackling fire stood in between the two girls, with dancing flames and embers floating into the sky. Kiera sat back against a rock with one knee raised, munching down on a cooked chicken leg. "I'm glad we got these in the city before we had to flee," she said with her mouth full.

Elynn, who just finished hers, smiled. "This won't be enough for tomorrow, though. We'll have to hunt whatever we can or find a village." The fire flickered in her ocean-blue eyes.

"We will be fine," Kiera said, taking another bite.

"I really hope that man spoke true." Elynn said, "If there really is a treasure of an ancient people, we'll be rich, Kiera. We will never have to scrape by again." she smiled, looking at Kiera, thinking for a moment. "What would you do?"

"Hmm.." Kiera hummed, more concentrating on her chicken leg than anything else, licking her fingers. "I would go back to Etheon and make sure my mother gets a share. She always wanted to be a highborn lady of a castle. Maybe with that much gold, she could find favour of a lord."

Hearing that put a wide grin on Elynn's face, tilting her head a bit. "And what about you? Would you get yourself some handsome lord? Get lots of heirs?" she giggled.

Kiera smiled but shook her head, swallowing the last meat off her chicken leg and throwing it in the fire. "Not for me." she sighed, "Too many responsibilities. I don't even trust myself, how am I supposed to lead hundreds of people? And besides, I don't need power." she pointed to the ground, "This is what I like. Finding my own happiness out there. No amount of gold can give that to me."

Elynn lay sideways on her bedroll, supporting herself with her hand on her cheek. "Admirable!" she smiled, "I would go back to Elvaeron. I have abandoned my family for far too long. I just cannot return without anything to offer. That's not how it works over there. Then I might finally become a High Elf and be granted the ability to practice magic."

"Ooo~, fancy!" Kiera giggled before looking into the fire. There was a pause, and her smile faded a little. "This is the first time I imagined us being so far away from each other. I don't know how I feel about that."

Elynn took a stick and poked into the fire, matching Kiera's mood. "You can always come along."

Kiera smiled weakly and sighed. "As much as I want to, I can't. There's a lot of tension between the Empire and the Kingdoms of Vraleth. I have to be here for my family when these lands decline into war. Especially for my little brother."

"That's okay," Elynn replied softly, looking at Kiera with dilated pupils. "That is very noble of you."

"I left my mother and brother alone with my monster of a father. It's the least I can do." Kiera said.

"He left you no choice." Elynn tried to reassure her, putting up a smile.

"Maybe..." Kiera shrugged.

"You should get some sleep," Elynn said, throwing her poking stick in the fire too, casting a few embers. "I'll keep the first watch."

Kiera yawned. "You sure?"

"Mhm!" Elynn hummed approvingly. Kiera laid down on her back and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath while her arm rested on her forehead. Elynn looked at her for a moment and smiled. "Sleep well."

Meanwhile, somewhere unknown, a flaming torch lay on the ground in front of the mouth of a cave. The flames were the only source of light that extinguished the darkness of the night, blackening the dirt underneath. It lay there for a while until someone approached, out of breath, when a hand picked it up in a hurry. It was the same man who stole Kiera and Elynn's gold, looking behind him in fear before entering the cave, lighting up the corridor in front of him with his flickering light. Beads of sweat rolled down his wrinkling, olive face, and the pupils of his brown eyes were dilated. He shuffled through the cave in sand-covered sandals, noticing strange, ancient drawings on the damp, rocky walls. All sorts of shapes, from circles to interlocked triangles, and swirly shapes surrounding depictions of unknown creatures.

The man didn't wander around aimlessly, though. He clearly knew where he was going, instantly taking the right turns when his path divided, ignoring all the other options. He kept walking quickly until he reached a more open area decorated with standing torches lighting up the cave room. A stream of water ran through the middle of it, generating a calming sound of trickling water echoing around the room. The drawings were even denser here, as almost every inch of the rocky walls were occupied. Some of them made a little bit more sense, like the part where hundreds of humanoid creatures bowed in front of a man holding a rose or many depictions of death. This place felt like a lair, and the man felt it. He halted in the middle of the room, placing his torch on the ground and looking into pitch-black darkness where the light of the torches couldn't reach. With an almost audible swallow and shaking hands, the man raised his voice.

"I found it. But I don't have it." his shaky voice reverberated. And then, out of that darkness, emerged a deep, hissing voice. As if it were from a snake.

"You don't have it?" the mysterious voice asked, having a metallic rasp to it.

"I-I almost did, but it was stolen from me." the man stuttered.

The darkness remained silent. Instead, footsteps emerged from it, making the man step back in fear. Out of that darkness stepped a tall, fully robed man in a golden mask. His hands were behind his back, and his black robes covered his entire body. The light of the torches glistened in the steel pauldrons that protected his shoulders, and his red tabard with a black rose painted on it kept everything neatly tied together. "Who has it?" he asked.

"Two girls, Master." the old man said, "I'm not as young as I used to be. They threatened to kill me if I didn't hand over the Key. But I didn't come with empty hands."

A mysterious, indigo coloured smoke oozed from the eyes of the mask. "Speak."

"They will do the job for us, Master." the man said, "They are seekers of treasure. I lead them right to the sunken city. All we have to do is wait for them, and then you can finally claim what is yours."

The masked man stepped towards him without saying anything back and took off his mask, revealing a white scaled, lizard-like face. The slit pupils of his violet eyes gazed and zeroed in on the older man. "I have waited five-thousand years for this. You have my gratitude, human. But I will not let a pair of thief scum get their hands on the one thing that will help my people be reborn."

Then, without any warning, the Hinos grabbed the man by his head and sucked the life out of him in a split of a second. He didn't even have the chance to scream as his lifeless husk crumbled to the ground. Looking down on the body, the Hinos clenched his fists. "Itt'k seku vrema..."

And thus, began my story.

The following day, the sun rose from the horizon. Today, the wind picked up, sending dust devils to roam the drought lands and whipping up sand into the air in miniature whirlwinds. Kiera and Elynn began their journey to the sunken city on Ghost and Shadow, riding down a tall dune at a walking pace while their clothes fluttered in the wind. Kiera reached into her saddlebag to take out her leather canteen, unscrewing it and taking a few sips before closing it again. "How are you on your water?"

"I can last until nightfall," Elynn answered, feeding an apple to Shadow, who happily accepted it, nickering. "Good boy!"

"If I'm right, we should reach a village today," Kiera said, squaring her eyes to look further into the distance and scanning the horizon.

"Aye, as long as we don't run into the Merronir tribes." worried Elynn.

"They usually stick to the mountains. If we stay away from those, we should be okay. But you're right; we should keep our guard up anyway." Kiera reassured, calmly holding the reins.

And so, the two girls travelled for hours on end, traversing the vast desert in hopes of finding a village before night fell. But the further the day passed, the stronger the wind became. And they still hadn't found a place to rest yet. Kiera grew concerned, having her face mask pulled up to shield herself from the sand that soared through the air almost horizontally.

"Fuck this wind!" Kiera yelled, noticing Ghost had trouble walking forward as the sand stung his eyes.

"We need to find shelter now!" Elynn shouted back, pulling her hood further down to keep more sand from stinging her face, but Kiera could barely hear her.

"Of course, this is my fucking luck a sandstorm strikes us on the first day of travelling!" Kiera grumbled.

"What?" Elynn yelled when all of a sudden, her horse staggered and whined loudly, almost throwing her off his back. "Woah! Shadow, calm down!" He trampled around nervously and began disobeying his rider in fear.

"Hold on!" Kiera shouted, ordering Ghost to come closer to Shadow, to the point where they almost touched each other. Doing that seemed to calm Shadow down a little. "Keep them close to each other," Kiera said, coughing. "If it gets worse, we'll have to stop and hunker down!"

But despite their attempts to calm down Elynn's horse, he began panicking again, kicking around and scaring Ghost, forcing Kiera to keep some more distance. "Control him, Elynn!"

"I can't! Shadow!" Elynn screamed before he began taking off with her into the dense dust clouds.

"Elynn, jump off! It's not worth it!" Kiera yelled, worried to death. "Elynn!" But she was gone, disappeared into the storm.

"Fuck!" she huffed, whipping her feet to pull Ghost into a gallop. "Come on, Ghost, you can do this!" Completely disoriented, she tried to call for her friend. "Elynn! Elynn, where are you?!" This whole situation was terrible, and Kiera knew it. She looked around frantically. "Elynn!" But the storm only grew worse, leaving her no choice but to stop. The rushing wind was so loud she couldn't hear herself think anymore, and the sand pierced through her clothing. Huffing in adrenaline, she jumped off Ghost and held onto the reins, letting him lay down. Her hands were shaking while she took off her backpack and took out her bedroll, unrolling it to place it down on top of her and her horse. "Okay..okay.." Kiera tried to comfort herself, laying down on the sand and covering her head, cuddling up with Ghost as tightly as she could, and protecting his face. "We'll be okay, Ghost...we'll be okay." Kiera whimpered, nearly hyperventilating. For a moment there, memories began flashing through her mind...

Five years ago...

The sun shone above the massive capital of Etheon, High Harbour. Housing the biggest port in the world, this city was the centre of the Empire's naval activities. Hundreds of ships used this port every day for trade or transport. Perfect for Kiera to draw all those ships in her journal because the roof of her parental home overlooked the entire harbour. Every day she'd climb up to the top and draw, and she wouldn't ever miss a day, even on that bright, sunny day back then. A giant warship filled with troops of the house Thornsvale sailed into the bay, bearing red sails with a set of thorny black flowers as their sigil.

"Look at you." Kiera smiled, her shoulder level hair softly flying in the summer breeze. She carefully outlined the 'man of war', observing the ship as fast as she could before it took off again. Suddenly, a voice emerged from down below.

"Kiera! Get off the roof! How often do I have to tell you you're going to fall someday?!" It was her mother, carrying a metal pot underneath her armpit. Kiera, being a fifteen-year-old girl, probably rolled her eyes at everything.

"Ugh, I'm not going to fall, mother!" she argued back.

"I said get off!" her mother raised her voice, "There are better places to draw, and you know it! Supper is nearly ready too!"

"Alright, alright, I'm coming!" Kiera groaned, shutting her book and putting it in her little bag before wrapping it around her shoulder. Before climbing down, she looked towards her missed opportunity for a good drawing again. Still, Kiera noticed a new pair of ships approaching the bay. With sails and sigils she never saw before. She had to shrug it off and climb down, skillfully using the cracks and stones in the walls to get to the ground. Upon entering the house, the mouth-watering aroma of beef stew greeted her. Her father and brother already sat down by the table, conversing.

"Now, hunting boars, that's a whole different story. Don't let their size fool you..." While her father taught her brother about hunting animals, Kiera took her bag off her shoulder and placed it down next to the door before walking by them, catching her father's attention. He was a big and hairy man, donning a full beard. "...have to shoot them before they see you. Hey, Kiera. How were your knitting lessons today?"

Kiera stopped and sighed. "I don't know, father. Great, is that what you want me to say?"

"Those skills will come in handy when you grow older, my dear. And there's nothing wrong with knitting," he said, sneaking a smile at her brother. Kiera rolled her eyes and nodded like she was offended.

"Right, it's obvious who the favourite child is here." she nipped before sitting down at the table next to her brother, only a boy of eight.

"Come on, Kiera, you know that's not true." her father tried to reassure her, but she wasn't even listening anymore. Instead, she diverted her attention to her little brother.

"Aidan, you know what I saw today sailing in Shark's Bay?"

"What?" Aidan said, anticipating her answer.

"A giant ship of House Thornsvale with at least a hundred troops on board!" Kiera smiled. Her brother perked up, gleaming. "Really? What are they doing here?"

Kiera shrugged. "I don't know. They might be on a diplomatic quest. Something you will have to do as a lord someday." she then turned to her father, "Come to think of it, I saw a couple of ships approach the bay with sigils I've never seen before. Some kind of tree surrounded by vines."

It seemed like her father knew what she was talking about, glancing at his son. "It's the Elves. They come all the way down here to exile disgraced nobles. It's part of their tradition. They leave them here, alone until they can prove worthy of setting foot in their lands again." he shook his head in anger, "Damned Elves, they can keep their scum."

"Bryce!" Kiera's mother raised her voice when she walked in with a steaming pot of stew. "You're talking to our children."

"It's fine, mother." Kiera smiled, watching her place the pot on the table.

Kiera gasped and woke up, the sand crusted her eyelashes together, and sand covered her entire body, despite shielding herself and Ghost with her bedroll. The sandstorm had passed. There was only a strong wind, but the worst was over. Immediately tasting all the sand in her mouth, she spat it out and gagged, feeling sand in her throat. Trying to clear it all up, she spat again and tried to get up, nudging Ghost. "Ghost, let's go."

Ghost exhaled heavily, shaking off the sand off his head before cluttering up. More sand rolled off his back. "You good?" Kiera asked, brushing him with her hands. When she heard the distant drum of hooves, she turned her head to see two horse riders approaching her, leaving a cloud of dust behind them. She reached behind her back to grab her bow, but then she sighed in relief when she saw who it was. It was Elynn and another man she didn't know.

"Kiera!" Elynn shouted when she reached her friend, halting in front of Kiera with the strange dark-skinned man, only dressed in thin rags, wearing a wooden staff on his back. Elynn jumped off and hugged Kiera tight, locking her chin over her shoulder. "I'm so glad you're okay."

Kiera hugged back and smiled, chuckling softly, "Easy now. I won't die that easily."

Elynn stopped to look at her friend with her gleaming ocean blue eyes. "You better." she turned to the man. "He is from a village not far from here. He helped me find you, even though it was really hard. The head of the village allowed us to rest and recover."

Kiera sighed in relief. "That's good." and looked at the man, nodding thankfully. "Semí"

The villager returned the nod and smiled before Elynn returned to Shadow, hopping onto him. "Right, let's get back to the village and get you some proper rest."

Kiera couldn't agree more as she did the same, ruffling through Ghost's manes. "You good, Ghost?"

Ghost snorted, firmly stomping the ground with his left leg. Kiera, Elynn and the man rode towards the village with a nudge of their feet. It only took a few minutes of galloping to reach it, seeing a handful of round sandstone houses, almost like igloos, and a series of tents next to an oasis, hosting a small lake and some palm trees. Some villagers eyed them as they entered on horseback, while others didn't pay attention. Most of them were busy dusting out their houses and clothes as the man led the two girls to a tent underneath a palm tree.

"Does he speak the common tongue?" Kiera asked Elynn.

"Not these locals, but you know some Volarian, don't you?" Elynn smiled, hopping off Shadow and hitching his reins to a pole. Kiera did the same and smiled back. "Only a little bit."

The man used his staff to help him walk, pointing towards the tent with a friendly little bow. Kiera walked up towards him, remaining in a calm and timid posture. "Sí jemo..uhm..trehi?"

The man chuckled, supporting himself with his two hands on his staff. "Trahi. Sé." the man nodded.

"Trahi! Yes!" Kiera smiled, reaching into her belt pouch, taking out a handful of gold coins, and offering it to him. "Trahi!" she repeated. The villager shook his head and closed Kiera's hand, smiling with his eyes. "Keep." he then pointed towards the lake before making washing and drinking gestures.

"Semí," Kiera said and bowed, holding her hand on her heart. The man nodded back and walked away.

When Kiera looked back at Elynn, her expression said enough, raising only one eyebrow. "Look at you. I'm impressed," Elynn said before nudging her friend. "Come, let's get you some water."

Kiera couldn't agree more, and right when she was about to follow Elynn to the lake, something else caught her eye, all the way into the far distance outside the village. It looked like a man or woman's silhouette, just standing there doing nothing on top of the dune where the girls came from. Hearing Elynn shout pulled her out of it. "Kiera! What are you waiting for?" she was already about twenty feet away.

"Yes, sorry, I'm coming!" Kiera replied, finally following Elynn after taking one last gaze at the mysterious figure, but it had disappeared.

"You alright?" Elynn asked, chomping down on an apple.

Kiera decided it could've just been a mirage and shrugged it off, releasing her tension. "Yes, I'm alright. Just a little bit shook from that sandstorm."

By then, they had reached the lake. The water was crystal clear, surrounded by clusters of palm trees. It was a welcoming sight in the middle of such a barren desert.

"Okay! You do your things, and I'll be at the tent, making preparations for tomorrow." Elynn said with a mouth full of apple, "Oh, and watch for the water snakes."

Kiera instinctively pulled back from the water with wide eyes when she heard the word snake. "What?!" But Elynn just started laughing. Kiera groaned and punched her friend's arm. "You're a cunt. You know that?"

"A cunt who saved your ass back there in the desert!" Elynn chuckled, kicking sand towards Kiera, who shielded her face with her hands and spat out when some of it got into her mouth. "Ugh, Elynn, leave, you stinking bugrat!"

With a last chuckle, Elynn left Kiera to her business and headed towards the tent. Kiera shook her head, brushing sand off her face and then taking off her boots. Doing so hurt, and it was immediately apparent when she revealed her blistered and chapped feet. She winced a little bit in pain and inhaled through her teeth. She then took off the rest of her clothes and slowly descended into the cold water. Living in the scorching heat for weeks to finally dip her entire body in the cold and clean water felt refreshing beyond measure. She released a sigh of relief when she wasn't feeling any pain from her sunburnt skin and blistered feet for a while. She could stay in the water for days if she wanted to, floating around on her back and looking towards the clear blue sky. "ir..a" Kiera gasped and stopped paddling, looking around her frantically when she thought someone talked to her in the middle of the lake. But there was no one there.

"Am I going crazy?" Kiera softly said to herself, swimming back to the edge.

"..ira.." There it was again, a bit louder this time. She got out of the water and took her pants to dip them in the water, but then she saw a light in her pocket, emitting through the fabric. She took it out, and it was the black gem, shining brighter than ever.

"Kiera," the whisper was clear now. It was the gem calling her name. Out of sheer confusion and disbelief, she dropped it into the sand, taking a few steps back and releasing a faint "What?".

"Do you hear us, Kiera?" the gem whispered inside Kiera's head.

"Get out of my head," Kiera responded with a shaky voice.

"We do not mean you any harm, Kiera. We merely want you to hear us out."

Kiera tried to ignore it as she puts on her soaked pants, muttering to herself. "Great, now I'm talking to a stupid crystal. Snap out of it, Kiera. It's not real." she then began putting on her tunic, "You're just tired. It's been hard out there in the desert." but despite her effort, she couldn't escape the voice in her head.

"We are not your imagination. We are not a creation of your fatigue."

Finally, Kiera gave in and turned back to the crystal laying in the sand, tying up the threads of her tunic to fasten it on her body. "What do you want? Who are you? Why is a gem talking to me in my head?"

Neru's theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDNoRTFNExk

The gem emitted an even brighter light. "We are Neru. For five thousand years, we have waited to meet someone like you. We have had many owners; alas, none were the soul we were looking for. We manipulated, deceived, hated, loved, guided, and protected all to find you, Kiera."

Kiera sceptically looked around to make sure no one was watching her. "Why me? None of this makes any sense."

"We need you, Kiera. Because you are different. Whatever burns within you holds the key to the survival of your people."

"My...people?" Kiera took a step closer, still puzzled about everything. "I still do not understand why me? I am a lowly thief, only hunting for a treasure because it could make me rich. I am nothing to this world."

"You are everything to this world, Kiera." the gem said, "Soon, you will understand. We feel what you feel, we know what you know, and more. We see your memories. Your desire for wealth is not the only reason why you chose to pursue this secret. You have a desire for adventure, and you have a natural draw to the crystal. To us. We know you felt it, too."

Kiera wanted to deny it, but she knew they were right. The gem always drew her towards it as soon as she touched it right from the start, back in Jiron. Instead, she remained silent. A thousand thoughts were racing through her mind, and she understood none. She looked at her hands, and they were shaking.

"What does this mean?" Kiera asked, totally forgetting about her disbelief at the existence of the voice.

"In time, you will see." Neru said, "For now, continue your journey to the ancient ruins. You will find more answers there. Your people are running out of time."

The gem's light dimmed, but Kiera had so many more questions. "Wait, no. What do you mean my people are in danger?" Kiera grabbed the gem from the sand and blew off the sand with her mouth, looking at it closely. She turned around, looking at her tent in the distance, watching Elynn make a fireplace. Only then did she notice the stinging pain of muddy sand all over the blisters on her feet. "Ow, ow! Fuck!" she leaned on a palm tree's trunk to stand on one leg, trying to brush her foot clean.

"What just happened?" she said to herself.