Having completed their objectives, the three girls were faced with the obvious next recourse of finding their way back to safety. With their supply of flasks running low, and even their masks starting to fray, the situation was growing quickly desperate.

One thing that remained fortunate was that Riyxia’s full abilities had been restored, an additional resource that would be essential in their escape at this point. Liyuzhe however was being kept out of the loop at this point, so even Ayzherie was unaware of their success.. all that she knew was that Riyxia had found something and they were now going back. Given the terms of their circumstances, there wasn’t a good opportunity to ask any questions either. This had Riyxia in a position of silence, but she was actually surprised how calming the air around her felt as a spectre. What was also strange was how tangible the purple stone appeared to Riyxia’s spectre, she could neither possess it with her spectre nor could she even pass through it. The stone almost seemed like a tangible and solid fragment of astral essence.. maybe it even was.

One very obvious issue was that the path back up was a lot more complicated than their original descent, mostly because of that explicit shift in direction. This was even more concerning when in contact with the surfaces around them tended to inflict substantial injury. Any gear they had been wearing to protect their hands was already long destroyed by this point, and their footwear wasn’t exactly doing very well either. Walking at least minimized contact with their surroundings, but climbing tended to cause some considerable injury. The rare occasions where they had needed to climb down so far had already left its mark on the three, climbing up would be an agony that could put them in peril. This was the sort of quandary that had left Riyxia perplexed the moment they had faced their first significant climb. Liyuzhe however wasn’t hesitating, waiting would put them in even greater danger, so she was doing her best to press forward despite the fear of pain.

“Oh hells, whatever.” Riyxia sighed, coming to her own decision. She suddenly picked up Ayzherie with one arm, grabbing Liyuzhe with the other before she could begin her direct climb. With both of them carried securely, Riyxia leapt up the entire distance using her augmented strength. After being set down, Liyuzhe turned a perplexed look towards Riyxia, wondering why a solution like that hadn’t simply been attempted far sooner. Riyxia was even in some pretty bad shape at this point, it would have even been less painful to do this before her arms were left this injured. Liyuzhe even reflected upon all the records she’d been exposed to on the same subject, the original conflict on the sands, Riyxia’s escape from the floating fortress, even any public display of events occurring afterwards... Riyxia had always freely made use of her augmentation with no worries of consequence. Liyuzhe had noticed that Riyxia had been keeping things rather normal while in the cavern, but Liyuzhe had just expected that there were either issues with the climate that impaired her reckless usage, or that her augmentations were denied to her much the same as their instruments. But it appears her assumptions were wrong, something else was at work here, something else had changed. However, the only thing she could think of was…

“So, that’s why your search was so important, something had happened to that little flame of your’s? I can see why you were hesitating at that climb then too, it’s smart to worry about exposing information to people you can’t trust. It seems our meeting was more than just coincidence, we actually had a very similar vision in mind. Make sure you take a moment to comfort your subordinate, she was probably having a hard time keeping quiet with worry, and it’s always important to have your team properly organized. I might actually also recommend carrying her in the future when she needs rest after those flasks of her’s, it would save us considerable time in the process. At this point, I would actually feel ashamed for having the one gift present that has the least return in this situation.. if not for the fact that I know it remains my one backup solution to ensure I wasn’t abandoned down here. Why I remain in your care is anyone’s guess, in all honesty, I only hope that your reasons have more to do with an understanding that holding on to your own will is far better than having it taken from you.. rather than a blind ambition to just keep helping out someone who is in need.” Liyuzhe stepped away for a moment, checking her own thoughts to ensure she knew the exact path to retrace their steps, providing an opportunity for Riyxia to talk with Ayzherie in the process. Liyuzhe hadn’t gone far, the cool effects of the flask discouraging that idea, but it was still something.

“Yes, things are much better now, all back to normal. Thank you for your help, by the way.” “Ah, so back to being outclassed again, that really didn’t last long. Make sure to keep that thing safe, it might be useful to have around. But you know, that Liyuzhe is a strange one, treating you like a hated enemy in one moment, then a close friend in the next.” “Oh, well, I probably just remind her of someone she used to know.” “You get along with her about as well though.” “Ah, well, maybe there’s just a few things that seem a bit familiar about her as well, probably from a past lifetime or something. Either way, she’s crazy.. and not the Sryine-kind of crazy either, it takes a special kind of crazy to think harnessing beasts is smart. That’s why we’ll have to be on guard, especially once we get out of here.” Riyxia cut the conversation with that, motioning to Ayzherie that it was time to keep going. Liyuzhe nodded, aware that Riyxia had at least been careful to not say anything that exposed any further details, a smart move on her part. That most of the conversation had been about opinions involving her was something she was trying to ignore, it wasn’t her place after all. … a bit familiar, was she..? A lifetime ago.. maybe it really was that long for some people…

The three kept going at that point, no longer intent on stopping for anything. Anyone who needed a break was simply carried by Riyxia, with both being carried at once when the path became a hazardous climb. This didn’t give Riyxia time for a break for herself, but keeping herself augmented the whole time gave the perspective of moving at a regular pace as being almost too easy. More so, the effective fuel source she had packed away left her feeling almost restless as a result, like she always had more energy than she could make use of. Her body was where most of the wear and tear was taking place, her injuries simply getting worse as they got closer to their escape. The others were even taking their own supply of injuries, with Liyuzhe insisting at one point that wasted effort healing her simply wouldn’t be practical when Riyxia’s state was still much worse, claiming she was herself made of tougher stuff and thus she could deal with her own injuries once back with her own companions. With Ayzherie not wanting to fall behind in matters either, Riyxia’s healing suddenly fell out of use.

Still a distance from the exit, Ayzherie’s final flask faded away the last of its comfort. At this point, their masks had started to feel as just a weight on their face than anything actually useful, the important parts of it having frayed apart long ago. Liyuzhe put away the remnants of the three masks as the girls were left to face the heat without any special protection remaining. Even their footwear had started to give way, leading to serious direct burns upon all six feet present. By this point though, they had passed the last of the jumps they would need to face, it was just a mad dash for the exit. Liyuzhe took the lead, knowing with certainty the fastest way out. None of the three girls were doing that well anymore, even Riyxia’s augmented ability.. even having plenty of energy left.. she was still faced with the other limitations of her physical body in this climate. She might not be natural in this augmented state, not the way people thought of, but her augmented environment wasn’t all that ‘natural’ either for much of the same reasons.

Pressing upon the last vestiges of their strength, the three girls eventually passed through a colorful opening, finding themselves at last under a familiar sky. The three girls thus rushed off of the black stone, taking to the safe cool recluse of the sand after the last stone. Riyzia and Ayzherie sat down in the cool sand, finally getting a moment to relax. After that generous moment, Riyxia turned to find Liyuzhe was already in her power armor, the suit itself venting a cool mist as it’s barrier came to full life. Oh, of course Liyuzhe would have taken to the situation with such practicality like that, especially if it dealt with two problems at once. Riyxia pulled out her own Comset, the device not initially responding properly.. probably due to suffering in all of that heat or something. Liyuzhe in the meanwhile kept making adjustments with her own power suit, opening a communication channel to her own companions.

“Ieqyisa, good news, it's done. How have things been on your side.. and why do I hear voices in the background. Wait, what? Why are those two with you? My word, unbelievable. Yes, I am here with the Successor, but I wouldn’t say things are as grim as you’re making it sound, I think in fact that both of us have suffered our own fair share in those depths. Look, could you hold on a moment, I’ll get right back to you.” Liyuzhe put her call on hold, turning her attention back to Ryixia. “It seems your two companions have been keeping busy in your absence, you should definitely be proud of them. I’ll arrange for them to be given a route here to your side, then you had best take the opportunity to rest and recover from your injuries. With this, our little agreement will come to an end, and we will be parting ways. However, given the circumstances, it would be important to both keep you from our trail and ensure you don’t become blinded into more of that trust. After all, your friends aren’t the only ones who can threaten the safety of another’s camp. After you’re done resting, you had best be ready for it.” Liyuzhe was back to being a danger, as she switched back to the call she had placed on hold. Riyxia perked up in alarm, uncertain in how she should react. She was really worn down, but she knew such threats were not idle. Had she just played right into Liyuzhe’s hands?

“Hello, sorry. Yeah, so listen carefully. After telling your guests there that their Riyxia here is in some immediate need of medical care out here at the base of this obsidian mountain, open a gate for us to make a prompt exchange. We have a lot of things to discuss.” Liyuzhe waited for her instructions to be passed, as she ended the call. After a moment, she noticed that Sryine and Vwyx had suddenly appeared, and then a portal had opened for the passage. It was the same order she had requested, but it still didn’t exactly make sense to her how it was even possible. More things to investigate later. Liyuzhe stepped through the portal herself, catching a glance from Riyxia as she left. It was a novel experience working with such opportunities, but she couldn’t be distracted any further, there were so many things to do at this point. Testing, for one, they needed a good practical test for their accomplishments, and she had one such test already in mind.

Vwyx ran to Riyxia’s side, administering repairs as quickly as she was capable. Sryine meanwhile took account of the circumstances they had arrived to face, Liyuzhe having quickly retreated, Ayzherie not appearing to be doing so smoothly herself. Despite all things, there wasn’t even a single sign of conflict.. just what had left everything in this state? While Ayzherie focused her attention in getting her Comset working, Sryine took account of the nature of all the damage and injury, all burn marks without any exceptions. The injuries didn’t exactly look like regular burn marks, but they didn’t resemble the burns from the source either.. maybe more something in between. A sign of Celese’s wrath if one got too close to its secrets, a sign of the might of a planetary trace itself. In that moment, the tallest elf in the group.. still blossoming in the force of her own augmented lightning.. felt very small indeed.

Having had her damaged body repaired reasonably well in that quick moment, Riyxia turned her own augmented healing to Ayzherie, knowing they didn’t have much time left. Liyuzhe would not have let such a threat sit to words alone, something was about to happen, they had to be ready. She made sure to pass her own Comset to Vwyx, so that it could perhaps be repaired by someone with the gift for it. Vwyx started working on the headset in the meanwhile, not initially certain why the thing wasn’t even working.. other than some heat problems, it still looked to be in good condition. Despite all probability, it was actually Ayzherie that got her own Comset working faster, the thing starting up and going stable while Vwyx searched the other Comset for any remaining problems. Everyone stopped when Ayzherie gasped, pointing off into the distance. The other three girls turned, their own natural vision almost obscured with a shimmering blanket due to the proximity of the flame. Riyxia herself blinked a bit, having become accustomed to seeing through the density of the flame after being submersed in it in even more quantities. It was strange, it was like she wasn’t seeing the flames here, but instead a field of sparks of the flame way off in the distance. Except.. that didn’t make any sense at all.

Sryine turned to her own Comset and checked for a reading of the flame, the illusionist knowing better than to simply trust her own eyes. The gear reported that there was indeed a mist of the flame that they were already engulfed in, even more existing in the direction of the black rocks. However, in the distance, well beyond the regular circle of the venting flames, were countless tiny others.. and they were even moving in a flow.. all in the direction of their camp. Her own eyes could even see the faint motion in the distance, the shimmer on the sands appearing to slowly flow off in the distance. Exactly what the hells was going on, it didn’t make sense at all. Seeing everyone’s frustration, Riyxia took back her own Comset, having finished healing Ayzherie’s wounds. After a few more moments, the little headgear stopped resisting and finally started cooperating. Once its startup had completed, Riyxia took account of the same scenery Sryine had herself witnessed.

“I wonder if this has anything to do with what Liyuzhe was doing around here.” “What was she doing anyway, we learned she was setting up a filter, and that it involved the astral flame, but we’ve got very little more than that to work with.” “A filter? Was that the setup she took care of before. Oh by the divine!! Did she just tap into the astral flame!?! Is she even half aware just how dangerous that is? Did she learn nothing from the dangers she just endured.. about how dangerous direct contact can actually be? The woman thinks she can just pull from the flame as another source of power, much like how people pull from the gift.. but it isn’t that simple. Such pure exposure is too much for anyone to endure, she has no chance in controlling a power like this!” Riyxia’s outrage didn’t even seem to be related to her augmentation by Vwyx’s perspective, it was purely of natural origins. Vwyx was at a loss too, hearing this news, it actually seemed all too impossible.. even despite the truths of her own flame.

“Riyxia, you’re only looking at the one level, check for vital signatures too. Those traces of the flame are moving along at the exact same pace and position as a series of beasts.” “Wait, was that her plan the whole time, to use her collection of beasts as a test bed for the traces she drew from the flame? So that’s what she meant by a threat we had to be ready for. She’s setting flame-augmented beasts on our camp.” Ayzherie nodded, coming to much the same conclusion as Ryixia. Vwyx and Sryine were both stunned, both knowing how hard it was to deal with a rampaging host of the flame. “We need to get back to camp, to figure out what we can do about this mess. Ayzherie, your first priority will be to get everyone evacuated, it’s a good thing we chose to bring the windcrafts after all. If we can take to the skies, we will have many more options, but I wouldn’t count on that making things safe. If any of those beasts break free, we’ll have an augmented beast in the mountains, and if they reach the other side.. Windvale will be faced with a threat it would have never seen before. Sryine, Vwyx, we have to keep this problem contained, either kill them all or force Liyuzhe to pull them all away.” Riyxia was still working out the finer details of this mess, things had suddenly blown completely out of proportion. She knew helping Liyuzhe would be something she would regret later.. but she would have never expected it to be this bad.

“Not to be the bearer of more bad news, but.. we did learn something that might kinda be involved in all of this. Ieqyisa had been using her gates to network together Liyuzhe’s own work, something we had never understood at the time. Apparently, just one wouldn’t be enough. Meanwhile, they had uncovered a lot of details involved with Khyzae’s final moments, something which would have only occured in one place.. and I can only think of one other alternative to the vent found here.” “Schorlwood Village! By the divine, if they lost a beast there… Actually, even if they didn’t involve the beasts in that side of things, even just the threat of the flame could be bad. Look around, this is what happens when the flame here is left free to vent. The forest will become a desolate wasteland if the flame is given such an opportunity. There would be nothing left of the village but a pale ash-blown sand.” Sryine’s news was even more alarming for Riyxia, building up just how serious the situation was becoming to yet another level. Just how bad could things get?

“By the divine, that would be the worst-case scenario!” “Uh, Ayzherie, while we three really dislike the idea of having the village we know lost to the flame, I’m not sure we can be selfish enough to call that a worst-case…” “You haven’t been paying attention to Eqriuxzl’s research, have you? His original world-destruction fears were founded because the flame tears upon the world veil itself when left to go out of control. If two locations were to go out of control, both being linked, it would cause a hole in the veil spanning the entire distance between both locations. That in turn could create an equally large vent, presenting the flame in enough intensity to expose the entire world to its vigor. Death would run rampant all across Celese, unbridaled, ending all life for our world. Honestly, that’s not even accounting for the dangers of opening a hole in the veil itself with that size, the consequences could be even more dramatic. Hadn’t Khyzae’s original accident involved piercing the veil of the world.. so wouldn’t that not only expose the world to a massive unbridaled death from the world’s flame, but even possibly open a gigantic passage to the source itself? The scale of destruction is probably immeasurable…” Ayzherie was shaking in her own terror, the weight of obligation extending far beyond her own capabilities. Trying to save a single city from a hoard of beasts was a big deal for her, but something she had been up to. Saving the entire world from absolute obliteration was a whole different matter.

Riyxia knew however that this wasn't the time to lose their cool, there was still time to stop things from going to that degree of danger. First they would have to deal with the threat on their doorstep, then they would have to confront Liyuzhe and put an absolute stop to this chain of destruction.