Four days had passed since she had returned to her “home”, if one could call the carving in a cliff’s side a home. Her first outting in twenty years had not gone well, and as such, she had not left again, nor had she planned to, not anymore.

The books she’d collected her years before isolation were so swiftly proven to be outdated. They detailed nothing of her experience outside the safe walls of her “home”. How she expected to learn of such things without experience and without up-to-date books on the subjects, was an oversight, but she wouldn’t go out without preparation again- not even to acquire the things she needed for said preparation.

She failed to see the lack of intelligence in that thought, but she did at least know a few things, and that was a start. Perhaps nothing concrete, but she still counted it.

The violent creatures she’d encountered seemed familiar. On her way back home that night, she had gotten to thinking. She’d read on races whilst researching what she was meant to be—human. And what she was—Elemental. She could recall one in particular that seemed fitting. Going back through the pages she had, she knew what she’d faced.

Sékan: A breed of human brought about by the stupidity of a selfish man and an unknown curse. Blood was what they fed off of, and it was necessary for survival lest the infected starve to death. Greatly susceptible to heat.

Truly an interesting story, if she were to be entirely honest. How one man could blame the entire elven race for his own folly, she didn’t know, and it was made worse by the fact that scholars weren’t even entirely sure the curse he’d found was elven. It was his own fault he could not read the language, and entirely his fault he cursed himself after reading it anyway.

Odd, selfish creatures humans tended to be, but even with that fact, Tya couldn’t exactly understand why they needed to be so brutally slaughtered. The High Queen had referred to them as cattle, which she’d read about as well.

Cattle: Bovine creatures, generally raised and slaughtered for consumption.

Had those outside her home had their views so twisted in such a time?

Twenty years prior, Tya was admittedly not focused on politics, but such news certainly would have made it to her somehow. Her home village of Erathae may have been a little one, but many passed through on their way to Evoles’ northern desert. Many had traveled from all over the country, and yet no news as big as that ever came through.

Again, she had not focused on politics, only the building of the body she now wore over her true self…

Simply from what she’d experienced, she had made her assumptions about the entire situation:

Sékan had taken hold of the monarchy in Evoles, and their new High Queen sought to turn humans into cattle for her own kind.

But such a thing still brought one question to Tya’s mind: Why?

Yes, food seemed to be important for humans—

The Elemental paused to make a mental note of that. She had not eaten whilst in the city. If she had another outing, perhaps she should try such a thing to better fit in—

Food was important to both humans and Sékan alike. Most living creatures, in fact. But there were better means of acquiring it, were there not? A book once told her of a fellow that chose to survive solely off plants they harvested, as meat seemed too cruel. If one could do that, perhaps others could as well?

...She knew nothing of a Sékan’s body aside from the fact that blood was necessary. Knowing that meant they evidently couldn’t survive off harvested fruits and vegetables.

She let out a sigh as she sifted over possibilities in her mind. There were many that seemed better than violence, but they all seemed quite lacking even with the little knowledge she had. To supply food to an entire race must be difficult, and as such, part of her could very well understand the High Queen’s actions. To dehumanize and eradicate one race for another’s gain seemed contradictory though.

For four days she’d thought of her experience, but for the first time her thoughts came to a halt.

She straightened, chin raising with a grimace cast toward the entrance of her home, from which a sound had just echoed- a familiar one. Hooves against the dirt and the rattling of reins and saddle as a horse was dismounted.

Someone was there. Whether on purpose or simply spotting a cave in which they may seek shelter, Tya didn’t care. She did not like intruders, though admittedly her home was not officially claimed as her own. It was rather unfair of her to be offended that someone would barge into an unmarked cave while out in the wilderness, but perhaps she wasn’t what people referred to as reasonable.

Tya moved from behind the worn wooden desk that bowed with the weight of a profuse amount of books. A hand rose and fire sparked in her palm before taking her forearm up in a flame.

“This cave is occupied. I suggest you find shelter elsewhere; I do not like to share.” She called as if it was rehearsed. She’d been there for years after all. This wasn’t the first time.

The sound of footsteps changed from grass to stone. Despite her warning, they had indeed stepped inside.

Though her fire gathered, swirling in her hand to take a loose shape of a ball, it was not yet cast forward. She recalled one unfortunate old man who had hurried to get out of the rain and not heard her warning. He was very nearly set aflame because his hearing was severely dulled. When he informed Tya of this, though she was wary to believe him, she allowed him to stay until the storm passed. He and his steed then went safely on their way, but not before teaching Tya something useful should another like him come by.

Soon enough, a woman rounded the curve that opened into the larger space that Tya occupied. She flinched, standing still as her eyes set on the fire in Tya’s hand.

Tya’s free hand rose, two fingers out and together while the others curled in. When she was sure the stranger could see her, her hand moved in the general shape of a ‘u’.

The hard of hearing man had indeed taught her something useful, so others like him would not be harmed: how to tell people to leave without the use of words.

This woman, however, only held both hands out as if to show surrender to Tya.

“I-I have come to speak to you.” The woman spoke softly, in a manner Tya could tell was meant to be soothing. She didn’t care for the tone, but the words themselves prompted her to take a closer look at the intruder. Her clothing was not that of a normal traveler, now that Tya thought about it.

A pink top that appeared to be made of soft, flowing fabric, impractical for travel as it may get snagged on anything nearby, and heeled shoes that would not fare well if on-foot-travel was necessary. Her blonde hair was clean and left down, and actually finely done with braids from the side that met in the back, bound by a long red ribbon that had mixed in with a single loose curl that lay over her shoulder.

After studying the woman, Tya finally said, “I don’t accept visitors”.

The woman withdrew with surprise. Her mouth opened, a soundless word leaving her as alarmed eyes flickered around the cave's furnishings. It took a moment for her to wash away how taken aback she was by the bluntness of the statement, but when she did, she tried “It’s… very important?”

Tya waved a hand in dismissal, her attention shifting back to the books on the desk behind her. “That’s wonderful. I don’t care. Please leave.”

Panicked, both hands flew up as if the gesture alone would stop Tya’s refusal. “N-No, please, will you listen?”

“Absolutely not.”

She went silent again, but made no move to leave. When Tya saw this, she flicked the hand that was not in fact on fire expectantly toward the mouth of the cave to shoo her as if she hadn't heard the rejection.

It seemed as if the woman wanted to break, but soon enough her expression hardened. Trying to hide the shake in her voice, she said “I will not leave until you listen to me.”

“Well then you should certainly hope you’re fire resistant.” The fire in Tya’s hand was cast forward, and the woman hurried to fall back, though the dodge wasn’t necessary. The aim was poor, and her fire jerked a bit too far to the left to hit the intended target.

Instead, it just crashed against the wall, leaving a large blackened mark in the stone.

The two stared at it for a moment, but this was broken when Tya let out an aggravated sigh. Her shoulders slumped forward slightly, and she raised the same hand again, the preparation repeating so another ball of fire could be made.

The target looked back, her expression clearly reading ‘Really?’. “Your aim is poor, must you really try twice? All I need to do is step to the side!” She exaggeratedly motioned to the ground.

“You really think it wise to insult the woman trying to kill you?”

“You’re doing an awful job at trying to kill me, you can’t even cast at me!”

Another weak flame was thrown forward, this one coming much closer. It would have actually hit, if the woman wouldn’t have squealed and moved away at the last second.

For a moment the fellow blonde seemed as if she was going to say something- going to snap at her, but she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She tried to calm herself before saying “perhaps if you’d just listen, this would go better.”

The words clearly not having sunk in at all, Tya replied “perhaps if you’d just leave, this would go better.”

“Are you actually a child?!” The stranger’s voice had to have gone up a few octaves at that point.

“If I’m so frustrating, get out of my home!”

“I told you what I have to say is important!”

Tya’s hand was once again up in a flame, and the woman’s jaw clenched. Again, she took a deep breath, but she allowed her emerald eyes to remain on the fire.

“I have come to ask of you, an important task. It’s relating to that” she pointed at the fire, “and what you did the other day in town.”

“That was a city.” Tya corrected, eliciting another sigh from the other.

“There is no real difference between city and town.”

“City is much larger than a town.”

“Yes, commonly accepted, but if you’re going to be pedantic, which you seem to be overly so, then there’s no—Why am I arguing about this? I had a mission!” She groaned, her hands moving to the sides of her head. Tya’s eyes narrowed a bit as she listened to the woman speak quietly about how frustrating this was, but she soon straightened and clasped her hands together. “I have come to ask for your help.”

“The answer is no.”

“You haven’t even heard me out!”

“You’re right.”

The stranger completely brushed off the refusal, and continued to speak: “The people of Evoles are being treated poorly by the High Queen—“

“Oh, I never would have come to such a conclusion. Walk into the city on a random day and be dragged away after watching others be killed. I don’t consider that poor treatment at all.”

The other woman watched her, obviously unamused. She remained quiet for a second just to let that expression really sink in. “They are being treated poorly by the High Queen, whose power is unmatched among the community.”

At that point, Tya had just elected to ignore her. The fire was not scaring her off, and though she wouldn’t admit it aloud, her aim was too terrible to actually do damage thanks to the shake in her hands. So in the most mature response possible, she decided that, perhaps if she pretended the intruder wasn’t there, she’d actually disappear.

Tya closed her hand, allowing the flame to extinguish, then she moved back to the desk, letting her fingers trail over the spines of a couple of worn books until she found what she wanted. She tugged it out of the pile and opened it.

The woman, however, did not stop. Instead, she approached the desk, looking over for a moment to see what it was Tya had grabbed. A book of magic, one that told how to control and contain ability as well as strengthen through meditation and concentration.

“Her race provides that she is immortal until she is killed.” The woman leaned back against the stone walls, preparing to continue but was once again interrupted.

“That’s not immortality.”

She did indeed hear what was said, but it was obvious she was no longer listening to the corrections Tya was making. “No one is able to get close to her because of her position and those she has surrounded herself wi—“

“How did you find me?” Listening or not, that didn’t stop Tya from trying to interrupt.

Again, she paused, gaze dropping to the ground as shame rose her shoulders. “...I had you followed when I saw the damage you did.”

“Ah. That’s unsettling.”

“You are important.”

“Even more so.”

Again she stopped to calm herself, then she picked up where she left off. “She is very well guarded, and their abilities grant them power over anyone who tries to fight them. We have been training mages in elemental magic in secret, but progress is slow. We had searched for others who may be able to help, but came up empty handed until you fell into our laps. So I have come to ask you for your assistance.”

Tya slumped, a blank gaze on the wall in front of her. She inhaled deeply, shivered, then held her breath. An odd thing for a human to do, but necessary for one like her. Too much oxygen would fuel the fire inside to the point her human form may be broken, especially given the fact that she was becoming increasingly aggravated.

Aggravated indeed, this woman seemed equally as stubborn as she was. She had shown no sign of leaving, and Tya’s resistance meant nothing to her. Of course, she wasn’t about to change her mind, but Tya realized that, at the very least, she could get information.

“Who are you, exactly? You and the ‘we’ you speak of.” Tya pushed her book forward to show she’d temporarily disengaged from the reading. In reality, she hadn’t been able to start because of the incessant talking, but the stranger didn’t need to know that.

“I am Lillia Caibre. I am the Princess of Evoles. And we are… well we are an unnamed resistance against my mother.”

“Why exactly is it your mother is so… crazy?” For lack of a better word.

“She desires a spot among the Council…”

Tya’s brow furrowed. The Council. Creative. She had to wonder if she’d read about something so blandly named and just hadn’t recalled what it was.

Rather than being argumentative, she cocked her head to the side with curiosity.

“Have… You not heard of the Council?” Lillia asked.

Tya did not respond, instead she remained silent and watched with actual interest at that point.

The Princess rolled her eyes, arms crossing rather informally over her chest. “They are the closest bloodline to Primordial Sékan, and think themselves stronger than all others. They ‘govern’ the Sékan.”

Primordial, she said. Tya had read of those.

Primordial Sékan: Those turned by the first to be infected, Banbhan. The foolish man who had brought the ‘elven’ curse upon himself. A Primordial Sékan held the strongest strains of Sékism, as it mixed with magic, but nowadays only fragments of that strand existed.

“So she shall kill an entire race to put herself among a Sékan government?” She preferred the thought that the High Queen was in fact trying to care for her race, not so much put herself in a higher position of power. What more could she desire? She already ran a country, albeit poorly.

“Enslave, more like. To keep cattle, to breed them and supply food to the Sékan.” So in some way, she was trying to care for her race, but her reasoning was still selfish. How unpleasant.

“Why only humans?”

“I… am not sure. I believe it has to do with the mixture of blood?” Lillia’s brow furrowed as she thought over the question. “Elven blood is too potent with its concentration of magic. I’ve heard it sickens some. And hybrid’s blood is mixed with animal blood, which I know is not nutritious to them.”

Tya nodded then, seeming to understand.

Lillia straightened, letting her arms fall to her sides again. “So you're questioning it, and you’re less hostile… Does that mean you’ll help?”

“Of course not, I already told you my answer was no.”

All hope that had built up in the few moments between Lillia’s asking the question and Tya’s answer died immediately, and honestly she almost looked as if she was about to cry. Not that Tya cared.

For a moment, Lillia looked to the floor, but soon her expression twisted to one of anger again. “W-Well then I’ll have to have you arrested for treason!”

The threat did make Tya falter for a moment. The thought of being ripped from her home was a concerning one, but she was quick to realize how little sense that made. “Treason? And my charges, Princess? Refusal to kill the High Queen? By definition, that makes no sense.” Tya moved to tug her book back down in front of her.

Lillia’s angered response was to stomp her foot. She quickly realized the childishness of her actions it seemed, and because of that, she did her calming technique once more. She took in a deep breath and clasped her hands, attempting to regain some semblance of regality. Which did not at all show in her tone as she accused through gritted teeth “You are impossible!”

“And from what you’ve told me, you are doomed.”

Lillia shook her head, finally starting toward the entrance. “Perhaps it’s better to not put the fate of our country in the hands of someone like you.”

“Here I thought you’d never catch on!”

And with that, the Princess furiously exited. Tya heard the rustling of reins and saddle once more, then hooves begin off. The sound faded fast, letting her know that she was left alone in peace again.

She exhaled shortly, then inhaled and held her breath once more. Calming, she returned to her book.

Her mind was put to ease now that her question had been answered. She was sure others may come up if she thought on the situation, but she truly didn’t quite care. Her curiosity thus far had been sated. Whatever was happening outside of those walls was not of her concern. It would work itself out in one side’s favor, or the other, and Tya was part of neither party, so it didn’t at all affect her.

In her mind, the situation was dealt with and over, but she soon found that was not the case to others.

This realization was brought by the terrifying, frigid sensation of fluid over her false body as she lay in bed later that night.

Water rushed over her, drenching her body entirely. Displeasing to a normal human, but to her, it was near devastating. The fire inside was thinly veiled by this flesh shell. Water upon the fire would physically hurt not the body everyone saw, but her true self—a volcanic rock that acted much like a brain did for any living creature.

She could not ignite, meaning she could not defend herself and fight against those that had come for her.

Cloaked figures drug her from her bed, dowsed and shaken. In quick succession, she was tossed into the back of a carriage, joined by two of the people, and then they took off. All before she could even realize she needed to physically fight back, fire or not.