Wildfire and Sand

The trio travelled for a great time under the light of the four moons, their faint blue glow only adding to the majesty of the dancing lights in front of them.

As they trekked, they noticed the great baobab trees and mounds of emerald termites gradually became less common, reducing to a few random stragglers that could only be seen far in the distance.

The beginning of the black sands were becoming so close the Golem could almost imagine what the grainy sand felt like under their hooves, such was the magnitude of their anticipation.

Even the ever-passive Emio seemed to grow antsy in their eagerness to see an ending to the sea of grass.

A spring entered their collective step as the party hastened their travels, spurred on by the gradual thinning of the dense grasses, a sign that the limitless fields were coming to an end.

Blinded by their enthusiasm, the Vessel didn’t see the approaching calamity until it was almost upon them.

At the very edge of the field, where the grass was starting to give way to the sandy abyss, there lay an abandoned carriage, crashed in the meadow.

The Golem had paid it little mind, merely making a note to investigate it when they passed.

Yet slowly, the lights of the desert began to make their way toward the derelict coach, attracted by what little metal could be found inside it.

And where the aurora gathered, lightning followed.

Wanderer only noticed the encroaching disaster when the congregating lights had reached their peak, no longer a intricate dance but a singular, shining light in the dark fields.

A blast of power that could be heard even from where the Vessel stood a great distance away, as the white lightning struck the ruined carriage with unmatched ferocity.

This did not concern Wanderer, they were, after all, still a great distance away from the desert and far out of the range of the bolt.

But the danger was not in the lightning, but in what it started.

It started as a smoulder, bought upon by the extreme heat of the thunder bolt, yet in the bone-dry field, it quickly spread to a raging wildfire.

Spurred on by a steady wind, the vast sea of grass lit like flash paper, in a instant, a wall of bright flames began racing through the land, devouring everything in its path.

At the sight of the oncoming wave of fire, the Golem turned to run only to be dissuaded by their Spirit, who pointed out that they had no hope of outrunning the flames.

In just a few moments since the disaster had started, it was almost a third of the way to Wanderer, moving far quicker than it had any right to.

Yet as their Spirit preached despair, they also spoke of hope.

At the disaster's origin, the fire had already gone out, cooling as fast as it had flared.

The Spirit pointed out that, while the flames were frightening, they also disappeared as quickly as they came, meaning that if the Golem were to stay on the road where no grass grew, the fire could pass them by with just a little pain.

A fleeting moment of relief shot through the Vessel, until they were informed of the true danger the flames imposed, by the tightening of grassy tendrils around them.

The verdestry’s whole body was doing something akin to shivering, their single eye darting around wildly, as if searching for a way to escape.

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“They are afraid”, Wanderer realised, it was an emotion seldom seen on the small monster, and it took little time to figure out why.

The Golem looked out into the field, seeing how easily the dry grass burned, how little heat was required to set it alight.

This very grass is what currently comprised the whole of the verdestry’s body, meaning that if Emio was even half as flammable as the fields around them, they had every right to be scared.

Joining the herbal creature in their frantic searching, the Vessel scoured the lands for some other plant or tree that Emio could take the form of, anything more fire-resistant than the tinder-dry grass they currently inhabited.

Yet there was nothing, the only plant visible being a lone baobab so far in the distance that not even Emio could reach it in time.

A quick glance northward revealed that the calamity was fast approaching, now only a matter of steps from reaching the trio.

With no more time to delay, the Vessel grabbed the small creature and dove to the ground with them, hoping they would realise what Wanderer was doing and retract their many tendrils as fast as they could.

Whether by luck or quick reflexes, the verdestry did as Wanderer hoped, curling into as small a ball as they could while the Golem lay their body over them and tried to shield them from the heat.

Scarcely a moment after Wanderer had dived down, a wall of hot air slammed into them, as a line of fire lit up the world on both sides of the road.

Four arms curled around Emio, attempting to shield them from any stray ember present in the outside world.

Wanderer risked a single glimpse toward the world around them and saw a sight that was as beautiful as it was destructive.

Great walls of fire lay to both sides, blacking out the rest of the world with their burning ferocity, while floating through the air there spun dazzling vortexes of red-hot embers, which floated up into the night.

Even the dull stone road on which they cowered had been brought to life by the calamity, shadows and light streaming on its surface, reflecting the roaring flames bordering it.

The whole affair was so magnificent that, despite the Golem being aware of the destruction that the wildfire and would go on to cause, and the danger it imposed on them in particular, they couldn't help but be grateful that they had seen this fleeting moment of beauty.

Yet just as quick as the fire had come, it went, its quick-burning fuel not enough to sustain its gluttony.

Despite this, Wanderer protected the verdestry for a great deal of time after the danger had left, fearing that a stray ember or spark left behind may set them alight.

Only when burnt fields occupied the Golem's vision as far as they could see and the whirling haze of light ash had died down did they relieve their hold on Emio.

Against the Vessel’s expectations, Emio did not wander away when they were released, instead continuing to cling tightly to Wanderer, apparently more traumatised by the event than the Golem thought.

It was an unusual sight for Wanderer, to see their herbal friend in fear even after the danger had left.

It disturbed them to see the verdestry, who mere moments ago was full of casual confidence now shivering in fear, wrapping their tendrils around the Golem like they would disappear.

Despite having only just risen, the Vessel sat back down, continuing on and entering the desert just didn’t feel right with their friend in such a state.

And so, among the now blackened fields, Wanderer rested, petting the small monster while waiting for them to calm down.

As they sat, they thought about the damage the fire would have caused, to people and animals, and wondered about the fact that they had not seen any ticks since the blaze, nor any of their corpses.

“These fires must happen often”, the Golem concluded.

The grass here lit like paper and burned quicker than they could run, even a simple spark would likely set it alight.

The animals must have some way of protecting themselves, they decided, Wanderer didn’t want to think about what would happen if they didn’t.

Gradually, Emio stopped shivering and loosened their grip as they calmed and by the time the many moons began their descent, the ball-like creature had recovered.

With a semi-enthusiastic Emio and an antsy Spirit, the Golem set out once again, wishing to quickly make up the little distance left between them and the desert sands.

As they approached, warm air began to drift toward them, radiating off the hot sands in such a way that it created a pleasant climate, countering the now cold night.

Eventually, they passed by the ruined carriage that caused the calamity, and (after a thorough check for oncoming lightning) found there to be little of use inside, anything that could have been useful having been ravaged by the heat.

And so, with cautious yet optimistic hearts, the trio took their first steps onto the hot black sands, and into the dancing lights of the night.