Riyxia continued her flight, searching diligently for anything which she could consider familiar. At one point in her search, she discovered she didn’t even know in which direction she had come from, making locating the fortress all too impossible.

She was subtly compelled to pull out her cell in order to help provide directions, but in addition to worries if it would even have a connection, she was already occupied trying to just get the thing flying the way she wanted it to. She wasn’t even inclined to set free her spectre, her circumstances were demanding that much of her attention. However, it wasn’t missed on her how irrational that actually was. Her spectre was actually fairly independent, especially at this point, but most of her advantage would only remain if she commanded her spectre to help achieve her current activity. For example, she could probably let go of the controls, leave her body to focus on keeping the gift supplied, and instead possess the controls to steer in turn. If she needed more than two hands to work this thing, that might have even been a smart idea, but fortunately it really was rather simple. She was certain the whole thing was set up for her usage, it even had helpful tips sitting around for first-time usage, making everything really simple. At first, she had even really felt at home in the atmosphere, gliding above the clouds, feeling even closer to the stars above her, but by now the sun had risen with the wake of morning.

Considering the passage of time, it was actually surprising how little time had actually passed. Even getting her chance to rest unwillingly, the others would have only made it home somewhere around dawn at best, and that’s only if they weren’t already searching for her. That left her very concerned, even she herself was uncertain where she might have originally suspected she might have been held captive. However, at the very least, the most rational location to start would have been the city itself, as Liyuzhe had been reported to have been hiding in the city somewhere the whole time. But that then implied that her friends would have returned home and then set about beginning their search in all urgency. There was thus no telling what problems could be waiting for them in the city as they searched. Knowing this, she herself built up her own feeling of urgency in trying to figure out how to find her way home for herself. Off in the distance, she found a point where an expanse of trees ended at a stretch of mountains, but there was still no city in sight. There was a decent chance that the city could be along this edge between mountains and forests, but in which direction? She thought back to her first memories leaving the forest, passing near the hills of the mountains through a valley as they circled in for their approach. So the highest chance was that she would find the city if she followed the same style of approach from a much greater expanse. It was thus fortunate that she had spent much of that trip taking in the scenery.

After giving morning some more opportunities to progress, Riyxia finally spotted the familiar towers of the city off in the distance. It seemed her circumstances had fallen into her consideration, she would be left fortunate to have made a few correct turns near the end there. Even so, for the fortress to be that far off.. clearly the goal was to remain hidden. She continued her approach, realizing that her next obstacle would be in her landing. She knew she could always abandon her transportation, but there was a risk of it then crashing into something innocent. Her rage would always keep her safe, but it would impair her ability to control the course of the windcraft, which in turn would make any crash even more dramatic. She would have to then be careful, leaving her rage as a last moment resort only, and try to land somewhere in the mountains. As she continued her approach, she saw a cascade of lights surge upwards from a rocky plateau of the mountains, and the collection of people below. The lights almost appeared to provide a clear definitive approach for a landing on the plateau. However, she watched as the lights gradually repositioned themselves, correcting errors in its own design to build upon clarity. A magnificent display of this intensity, it would have only been possible had Sryine augmented her gift in preparation, and the corrections implied someone with some flight skills was helping her out. The plateau.. she couldn’t remember something like that sitting around that location, it could have only been designed artificially, and there was only one person she knew capable of such a dramatic feat. Riyxia flew around waiting for the lights in the air to stabilize, to ensure that all of the required corrections had been made, and then turned to follow the provided path in her approach. Keeping to the path even required her to slowly decrease the speed of the craft, until the bed of the craft was going too slow to keep in the air, leaving it to flutter softly to the ground not even a Uyn below it.

Having landed successfully, Riyxia stepped free from the windcraft and stretched her legs, seeing familiar faces rushing to her. In all consideration, flying was actually kind of fun, something she considered she might want to pick up doing more often. It gave her a subtle sense of nostalgia, considering her spectre form also drifted around in the air, just nowhere near as high or as freely. However, for now, she was glad to be back with her friends. She was initially surprised to find them waiting for her like that, only to gain understanding as Sryine recounted for her the events with Liyuzhe after she had been taken captive. So Liyuzhe had a mesmerizing gift, it did explain a few things. It was also concerning how much information Liyuzhe had managed to obtain in the process, plenty of details related to the Astral Flame. Sryine was even still depressed about how poorly that whole information trade had gone, even though both her and Vwyx had somehow managed to fall asleep even despite all of their stress. Ayzherie was present to make plenty of counter-notes on the skill of the two girls, herself having been the one providing flight corrections for Sryine’s gift. All of the guys were even present as well, though none of them knew what to say in the situation.

“Well, things aren’t all bad. They might have some information on the Astral Flame, but we got some in return.” Riyxia pulled out the book she had been keeping with her the entire trip and passed it to Sryine, who snatched it up eagerly with bright eyes. Even Ayzherie seemed impressed with such a turn of events, taking a moment to back off so that Riyxia could have her turn. Riyxia didn’t cover many of the details, she only mentioned how she was being diagnosed and how all of the readings had caused more confusion than answers. Then she mentioned her escape while Ieqyisa was distracted, including the confrontation when she had gotten caught, her rapid dodging required in turn, followed by the confrontation with the beast, and then Ieqyisa’s surrender. She ended with details regarding her flight, not skipping any of the details in that situation. It didn’t even dawn on her at first how she had effectively neglected any account of her new possession ability, including the special ability her spectre had with essences while she was enraged. By the time she had realized that such had occurred, she decided instead that maybe she would save such details for a more opportune moment, something better than on a rock in the wild of the mountains. Sryine had also realized that this might not be the best environment to open a new book, saving her present for later as she stashed it away. Both Vwyx and Ayzherie were however still curious as to why some of the accounts of details provided by Riyxia’s story didn’t seem to completely add up, her escape seeming to have been far too easy knowing their opponents, but notes about Ieqyisa being tired later in the story brought speculation around, leaving them to assume a lax in guard because of people sleeping. They were both well aware that Riyxia was very good at keeping watch, even while normal people slept.

“Oh, right, you would have had a busy night, maybe we should get you back to a safe bed so that you could actually get some rest.” “Oh, that’s alright, I got plenty of sleep while waiting for my chance to escape. Though.. I hope Ieqyisa at least managed to get some rest, I probably left her pretty worried after all of that. Chances are, she probably didn’t get any sleep at all overnight.” Ayzherie paused at this insight from Riyxia, Riyxia shrugging off her own concerns. Riyxia had just realized that she had probably best not worry about someone who had put her through all of such overnight problems, it was only a just return. Ayzherie however was perplexed as to how someone who had left their guard down had provided enough room for an escape and yet still never gotten a wink of sleep. Scouring over false data, that would be the only assumption left. Still the poor sense of security was still bothering her, certainly a group that contained beasts had a much better sense of security than that? Even if Riyxia had the strength to slay beasts when enraged, certainly it couldn’t have been that easy, could it? Ayzherie however wasn’t going to let much of this dwell in her mind, she was one of the ones present who hadn’t managed any sleep at all, and was eager to find her bed at last. Her two hunters were the only others who had achieved any sleep either, the other guys either having supported her in her piloting or had been a diligent study of records the whole flight and had denied himself of sleep without just cause.

Eqriuxzl even looked as tired as he should be, but seemed to be the only tired one not actually eager to find a bed. Overnight studies had haunted him on occasion with classes, especially once he’d involved himself in research he simply wasn’t willing to put down. Hearing that his instruments had been tampered with was thus still keeping him fully alert, and while he was interested in returning to a safe room, he was more intent on a desk within such a room than a bed. Just how much information had been stolen from him, it was an idea that still bothered him. He could account for almost any of his stored records on the Astral Flame being stolen, which is possibly why it was fortunate that most of his personal observations had been scribbles on paper rather than notes stored on an instrument. However, he was also worried about his own personal records, stuff from other instruments dawning even before all this Astral Flame incidents, stuff which in reality didn’t matter in the slightest considering the reality of things, but was still a personal affront to him. Some of his records were due to be submitted for a class project, stuff he had put a lot of hard work into. It was for this reason that, during their return trip, Eqriuxzl was the worst of them all, being both completely exhausted and otherwise completely distracted, while being visibly irritated and sorta noisy. It was this combination that proved to work completely against his favour.

While tampering with one of his instruments, Eqriuxzl was suddenly forced to drop it as he was pulled away quickly and suddenly by a beast that was stalking them from the cover of the stones. Being so tired, there was nothing he could do to resist, and being so loud made it really easy for him to be picked out. Realizing they were suddenly under attack, the others took account of their circumstances, both hunters drawing weapons while the non-combatants sought cover under Ayzherie’s guidance. Suddenly, another batch of beasts stepped in to cut off the people who had split away tired, Ayzherie having inadvertently drawn the others into a trap in her tired state. Dhyinze took aim at the first beast, only to find the beast turning to use its captive as a shield. Nuiqhyx was similarly in a bind, being unable to set a useful trap that wouldn’t have collateral damage. Vwyx and Sryine quickly adopted their augmented state, but found even their approach caused the beasts to threaten the lives of their captives. Riyxia didn’t even opt for her rage at this point, catching on as to how brilliant her opponent was behaving. These beasts were threatening the lives of half their team, clearly expecting their full surrender else there would be lives forfeited. More so, the beasts were mostly focused on the three girls who could augment.. it seemed even the wilderness spoke tales of their abilities. Riyxia set a hand on the shoulder of each girl, compelling them to stop. With this foe so much on guard, almost anything could end the lives of their companions.

“They are waiting for us to do anything like that, you’ll just be killing their captives if we make any such a move. I doubt they would even be comfortable if we disappeared.. although actually that might work. Vwyx, can you forge about five bladed weapons from stone, make them sharp and metallic. Sryine, once done, I’m going to ask you to make them invisible.. perfectly invisible, but wait for my signal.” Riyxia clearly had some kind of plan, but it didn’t make any sense to anyone. Both girls complied regardless, knowing Riyxia could be very clever sometimes. Vwyx pulled up the five stone glaives from the ground, making careful and unalarming motions in the process. Once formed, she started shifting the materials to a metallic sheen, nodding once her creations were strong and durable enough for whatever project would be given to them. Riyxia’s spectre stepped forward, touching one blade after the other, and almost simply vanishing for the last. Vwyx and Sryine however gasped in startlement, realizing they saw a very familiar shimmer in all five weapons. Riyxia then nodded to Sryine, who then realized it was her turn. Setting an illusion over all five blades, she made all five of them perfectly invisible. With all possible sensory of the blades lost, even a cut from the blades wouldn’t be noticed before injury set in.

However, even in their invisibility, it left that unerasable shimmer behind for Vwyx and Sryine to witness. It was this shimmer that appeared to suddenly drift up from the ground, rotate in the air, and drift off into different directions around them. Suddenly, the beasts holding captives fell dead to the floor, their backs having been split wide open. Other beasts moved to take up the captives in turn, only for them to be similarly cut down as well. Several beasts backed off, finding this having led to them being spared. The entire pack started to pick up on this idea, that they still had overstepped things with the great hunters, and they needed to immediately back down. Their leader never showed up this time, having taken account of the pack's withdrawal. Riyxia suspected that as long as she spared those willing to flee, the leader would leave them alone. With the pack withdrawn, Riyxia approached Eqriuxzl with his dropped instruments, offering them back to him with a smile. Most of the others were shocked as to how things had just happened without any reasonable cause or reason, but Vwyx and Sryine were staring directly at Riyxia, five shimmers in the air above her lending plenty of cause for how things could have happened. Riyxia returned Eqriuxzl to the others as he picked up one of the instruments designed to follow the astral flame, allowing him to also take account of the five traces of the astral flame floating over Riyxia. He followed them in their motion as they all set themselves harmlessly to the ground before Vwyx. Sryine took to the invitation, dispelling her illusion and revealing the five blades on the ground. Vwyx picked them up and started the process of returning them to the ground where she had taken them from. Eqriuxzl took the same opportunity to decide that maybe he needed to sleep on everything, as maybe approaching everything with a clear head would allow things to make more sense. Ayzherie might not have been able to spot the flame, but was aware of those who could, and the instruments that shared that ability. Following their expressions made it clear that Riyxia would have more she would have a need of explaining.

Even despite the growing questions, Riyxia kept quiet and just motioned for them to keep going. Ayzherie gave up on the matter, taking up Riyxia’s hint. She was tired, she probably looked tired, and there were plenty of mistakes being made because of such circumstances. This was not the best situation to get answers, and such answers could certainly wait for a better opportunity. For now, they would return home at last, maybe get some rest and relaxation, then delve into this new matter with a clear mind and figure out where to go from there. Sryine and Vwyx were still a touch resistive, but the others found sufficient reason to comply. Both girls however found Riyxia to be uncompromising in her resolution, so decided that further stories could wait until they were back in their shared room once again. Everyone carefully thus made their way back without further incident, and settled in to relax at last.

Fhyernx and Ieqyisa were shocked at the news Liyuzhe had suddenly dropped upon them, her efforts having finally brought her to the truth at last. Khyzae had died in an accident from her observatory, her body thrown from an explosion and otherwise smoldering in an intense flame. The other girls had returned with burns of their own, burns that had taken a year to recover from. Even her theory about Riyxia was proven true. All of this had been caused by the Astral Flame, a sacrificial fire that had left the three of them to pick up the pieces and figure things out. Ieqyisa was certain they should have everything she needed to reproduce the same experiment, but Liyuzhe denied such a request. They weren’t absolutely certain on the equipment that had been used, and even Fhyernx’s best attempts at a reproduction would leave them short of whatever Khyzae might have been able to achieve.. an achievement that had in turn killed her. They needed to first figure out how to make things less.. fatal. From there, they could look for a way this flame could be harnessed and controlled. It was fortunate that she had an armada of almost expendable beasts available to use in experiments with the flame, things far more expendable at least than her devoted friends still remaining at her side. Such beasts might even be the most capable of enduring such a flame in the end as well, so there would be no more sacrifices.

Liyuzhe set herself up in the observatory, all traces of the flame that had passed through the place having long gone, but the feeling of death left behind yet lingered, a feeling that was sadly nostalgic for all three of them, the last vestiges of a fallen friend. While getting herself setup in preparation for further research, her eyes suddenly caught the faint imprint of a crescent moon set into an otherwise un-notable alcove of the room, another sign of her fallen friend’s lasting presence that still remained with them.