The Titan´s Plain was the closest place Demadara had to her image of the blissful afterlife. All around them was nothing but a sea of tall fresh grass extending across the horizon. The further they walked, the more the mountains behind them faded from view.

With nobody but Timae around, she took off her hood and let the sunlight warm her face. The winds out here were powerful, and when it met them head-on, the women struggled to advance.

But what a world it was! No foes, no chains, no burdens except a loyal fox. There was but a single problem, raining on this perfect day.

Her stomach wouldn't quiet down. Every time it rumbled she winced and started to look around, only to see not a single sign of life.

"I am sorry, my lord. I would have thought there to be more wildlife around at this time of year, but it would seem we passed them by."

Timae´s ears were lowering as she spoke.The fox woman made sure to always be two steps behind her lord as they walked, whenever Demadara halted, if even for a moment, so did she.

"The people on the streets used to love telling horror stories about this place. 'The ocean on land' they called it, with all types and kinds of beasts roaming about." Demdara shook her head and scoffed. "Just more lies."

With longing she stared off into the distance, at the small black dot up in the sky. Likely just a bird, though her hunger turned to surprise as the dot grew in size. Surprise turned to worry, then shock as large, unbound wings came into view.

Timae grasped Demadara and pushed her to the ground, throwing herself on top of her. "Don't move!"

She struggled to move her head, unwilling to let the creature out of her sights.

With every beat of wing a howling gale formed around them, and the screech of the creature had them cover their ears in pain.

It was a great bird, larger than anything Demadara had thought even possible. Not a single page in her late master´s bestiary had even hinted that such a creature had ever existed, least of all right above them!

The sun darkened as the bird´s wings blocked it, but they were in luck. The shadow passed, the wind died down as the titanic creature sailed past over them. They were not it´s prey.

The woman struggled back on their feet, and while Timae was busy to smoothe the bushy hair of her tails, Demadara was already on the march after the bird.

"My, my lord! You cannot seriously mean to follow it!"

Demadara rose her right hand into the air, her index finger pointing to the sky.

"It either is returning home, so we can beat it up and eat it, or it found prey larger than us, in case we can beat and eat it and whatever they are hunting. The only fear I have is it will escape before I get my hands on that oversized feathered feast!"

Her left was gripping the Heart, and Timae struggled to keep up with the run that Demadara was getting into.

She heard Timae say or cry something, but the blood pumped too loudly for her to hear. Her muscles became warm, her heart beat faster, and she had to do her best to not start laughing her precious air away.

No chains, no tricks, only a hunt with a single outcome: Eat or be eaten. Why could not all the world be this simple, this fair, this good?

In the distance smoke came into view. Surprising, but not enough for Demadara to slow down. Her body was roaring, a machine fed by the unending supply of the Heart.

What had been mere black spots on the horizon came into view, and it was here that her feet finally slowed down and Timae could catch up with her. The fox woman had to put her hands on her thighs, completely out of breath.

Before them laid the remains of what had once been an imperial caravan. Great metal and wooden wagons had been pushed over, grass and ground were covered in crimson.

Atop the main wagon was the great bird, it´s beak dug deep into the body of a massive oxen. It eyed the two for just a moment, it´s eye, almost the size of Demadara´s head, pinned on the Heart at her side.

It let out another loud screech before beating it´s wings and taking off, dropping the dead oxen only to carry it in it´s claws.

"Oh no, oh no you don't!"

Demadara rushed forward, her teeth bit together as the bird took to the air. Her right hand felt warmer and warmer, the dreadful sound of flickering flames finally pulling her out of the thrill.

Her right was covered in flames, expanding further and further into a great ball of fire.

Her body moved before she could think. Left foot forward, left shoulder facing the beast. Right arm outstretched, past the shoulder. Her scream was one of both fear and anger as she sent the massive orb flying toward the beast.

It moved closer and closer, but the arc was off, it passed the bird and went further up above it, a small miniature sun in the sky.

The screaming in her mind slowly died out, giving her enough room to reach her hand out. She had missed, but it was her creation still, hers to control. No matter how repulsive and terrifying the fires were, she could feel the connection they had.

She clenched her hand to a fist, and the orb of fire erupted. The little flames that had made up the greater whole now flew back towards the ground, and they landed all across the great bird´s back.

It cried out, flapping it´s wings and losing altitude as the flames devoured it´s feathers, but whatever survival instinct was driving the beast´s mind, it was stronger than her attack. The bird staid it´s course, swiftly vanishing from view.

Demadara shook her hand over and over, muttering curse after curse under her panting breath.

"Fire, why did it have to be fire huh?!"

She grabbed the heart with both her hands trembling hands, her reflection on it´s flawless surface only exasbarated her anger.

"You're some eternal all-doing wonder thing and all you can think of to turn that oversized chicken into a meal is to set me on fire, just on whose side are you even on?"

Timae watched her with lowered ears, looking around the empty field. Nobody was there to help her. So she slowly stepped up to her lord, still screaming at the Heart.

"My, my lord, if I may, I do not think the heart decided upon the spell. By all accounts, it was most likely a part of yourself that decided on it to be the best course of action, and from how badly you injured the beast I would say it was a great one!"

The smile she had tried to put on along with her praise vanished within a moment as Demadara´s anger now fell onto her.

"Are you crazy? Me, fire, have you any idea, in what twisted world could you, ugh, forget it, forget it!"

She turned her back and started marching off towards the broken caravan.

The bodies strewn about were mangled in a way too brutish, too many pieces were missing for it to be a raid of inhumans. Perhaps a roving band of predators. Most corpses were already pale, there was no sign of fire damage anywhere.

Demadara saw a golden glimmer from the half-open door of one of the wagons, and she could not contain herself. She pulled it wide open, and her eyes shone as bright as the stars.

Gold. Gold everywhere. Ancient coins, strange objects of inhuman cults and religions, and bars upon bars of solid, shining gold.

Her head whipped from side to side, looking for any form of bag, and when she could not find one she jumped out, breezing past a shocked and now stumbling Timae.

"Get bags, I don't care where, there's so much gold in there, we are rich, I tell you, we are rich!"

She was now jumping from wagon to wagon, inspecting every corpse she could find. The next wagon only held books, she could barely read the covers, so they were useless. The next had her stop for a moment. It was the food cart. Dried meat, fish, bread, the smell was making her mouth water. But she passed it.

Not a single guard or other corpse had a damn container with them. She finally reached the last wagon, and when she opened it, all she found was disappointment.

The wagon was near empty, save for a single small box. It was encased in a socket, resting atop a large slab of marble, with four chains keeping the box from moving and possibly falling out of place.

It was nothing compared to the treasures that she had just seen earlier, but regardless she still stepped in. Bent across the stone slab was the corpse of a woman, her hand resting on the ominous box. She pushed it aside and was already reaching out.

Had she learned nothing? She pulled her hand back. Touching clearly important artifacts without knowing what they did was the first and easiest way for any apprentice to leave this world, if they were lucky.

For the first time Demadara regretted leaving the books of her master behind as she inspected the box more closely. She could make out the runes, she understood their purpose: Warding off magical disturbances as well as keeping whatever was inside contained. But that gave her not a clue as to what was being contained.

The wards did at least look fairly strong, and the chains had nothing to do with it. So she slowly removed them and picked the box up. It was an easy fit around her hands, and weighed basically nothing.

"What is this? You kept me in the dark for a long time, are we there yet?"

Demadara almost dropped the box outright. So whatever was inside could talk.

"Oh I can do much more than talk, girl. So I take it that my jailers met a gruesome and untimely end? Wonderful. Though it seems you have not the slightest idea what you are holding there, isn't it girl? Just some raider or treasure hunter I take it?"

Her eyes narrowed. The books had been light on spirits. She had not imagined them to be this chatty.

"Oh come now, When you don't get someone to talk to for two hundred years outside of dull and repetitive interrogations, any small conversation starts to look appealing, no? So, you look to be pretty strong, dependable, good hearted. Why not smash this little box and free me? There's a nice pretty gem in here as well that would go very well with your eyes."

Timae had caught up with her, carrying two large bags over her shoulder. "My lord, my lord! I have found a great stash of food, as well as the bags you desired. My lord?"

The fox woman´s eyes darted from Demadara to the box, with growing concern.

"And why exactly would I be dumb enough to let out a being I have no knowledge of?" Demadara rose an eyebrow at the box.

"Well look at you, girl. Tall, strong, in the prime of your youth, what could you possibly have to fear from a little voice in a box, hm? If you killed these imperial scholar idiots then we're certainly on the same team, we at least have the same enemies. I could be rather useful."

Demadara´s hand ran down across the Heart. What did it say of spirits again. Immune to the physical world unless they chose to be, resistant go magics outside of the profound. Her lips turned to a smirk.

"Well, I'll be the judge of that."

The voice in the box began to sound surprised, then worried.

"Wait wait, what are you talking about, hey what's this power you're using, hey I think that is way, way more than you need to-"

The faint silver glow around Demadara´s right hand had grown further and further. Her fingers clenched around the box.

And it shattered.

Out of it spread a cloud of black smoke, with a large purple jewel in it´s centre, about the size of a chicken egg. Demadara could see the flash of a woman´s face, eyes widened in horror as her hand gripped tightly around it.

The darkness around them began to take a humanoid shape, with the jewel at it´s heart. It twisted and flailed it´s limbs while screeching in a loud and echoing voice.

"Let me go you crazy hag, don't you people have any respect for your elders, ah, ouch, ouch, are you trying to get me killed, wait, wait."

Small cracks were starting to show around the jewel, and the high-pitched curses turned to a blind whimper.

"Listen I'll, I'll tell you everything, I'll do everything just, don't break it, don't break it, I did not live for four hundred years to die in the middle of nowhere!"

Demadara slowly relaxed her grip, and stared into the two blue lights that made up the shadow´s eyes.

"You're going to tell me everything I want to know, exactly how you are going to be of use to me, and if I don't like what you have to say, or the way you say it, I am going to send you straight to the Reaper, spirit. Now, what is your name."

The shadow rose it´s arms in the air and sighed in defeat.

"I am Parsae. Mother of modern magic, alchemy, crystals and pretty much everything else Aeterna wanted me to make. Until she didn't need me anymore and shoved my beautiful soul into this damn box."