"You've been awfully quiet, Einervaene. Do you know what happened here?" Brewbrt asked as ash and soot-covered rubble crunched under my boots. But I did not want to answer him so I just looked away. Only to find more reminders of one of my worst failures. And I sighed as it all came back to me.

We didn't even need to come out here, what I wanted was the power at Anvil-Peak. Yet, I had somehow guided us around the mountain in its entirety and we had instead wandered upon Nin's homeland. And right now, we were both walking through the still-hot ruins of Tobaballe. A city I never knew but remembered well for what Nin became that day...

I have no way of knowing if this was always a part of him. But, on that day, those couple of years ago... I saw the same kind of behaviour that consumed him after Larishazza was attacked. The monster everyone talked about seemed very real for that brief moment.

"Well, I am just going to go out and say it, but, that fire wyvern's corpse certainly establishes some details." Brewbrt comments as he brings up another thing I ignored him over.

"And what is that?" I asked him quietly as I came upon some strangely marked bricks. Yet, I was quick to figure out what the marks were. So I moved away from it and instead chose to keep on walking. The ash and fire just kept carrying on, however.

There was seemingly no end to the combined destruction caused by us and that wyvern...

"Were you perchance pursued by a fire wyvern to this place? There's no magic out here beyond the residue which practically poisons this land." Brewbrt hypothesizes as we walk up a pile of mostly melted rubble. Only to find ourselves staring down at an endless horizon of dead plants and animals. What made it worse as well was how intact a lot of the bodies were.

We'd caused such damage that nothing could even come by afterwards just to eat them...

"There was a fire wyvern already here, I don't know. But, me, Nin, and my friend that you have never met... We fought it. And we failed to stop it from destroying not just Nin's home... But so much of this land." I explain to him. And although I gestured to wilted fields and lifeless bodies. I was more so pointing at the many other cities that were lost.

Nin was so desperate to stop that creature from getting to his home... It didn't matter whose home was destroyed, so long as it wasn't his. And I wasn't strong enough to help him realise that. I may have only just made things worse...

I sent us over the mountains that circle this land, yet, that was it. I didn't slay the wyvern then and there or bring it away from Nin's home. I just got in the way. Probably damning his home to a fiery demise.

"I know it is probably not what you want to hear. But, I find it intriguing how Nin came from here."

"I don't know what I want to hear. Yet, I share that same line of thought. Nin was strong, for a while, he seemed stronger than even me. Now I am not trying to say that I ever was, but, Nin's lack of familiarity with magic just gave him a lot more presence when I first met him."

"Understandable, he did just sort of let it flow. Though, I can't imagine going back here in that state did him many favours."

"He knew that, and beyond those mountains, he flushed it all out of his body. He just wanted a chance to go back home and he was willing to give up all his power to do it." I tell him, pondering at the same time if I'd be willing to do the same.

"Some people just don't want power, but that is not you." Brewbrt said as he slid down a deathly hill.

"What I seek is not this way, I just, found myself coming here, I guess." I comment ashamedly.

"There's nothing to be ashamed about, Einervaene. Sometimes we do just wonder."

"I know, but I still cannot let go of the failures from the day this all happened."

"You're alive and you beat the wyvern, Einervaene."

"But I didn't save Nin's home. The two might be unrelated but I cannot help but feel that if I actually killed the wyvern that day, before it reached Tobaballe, Nin would've turned out differently."

"People are complex creatures, Einervaene. Don't start trying to shoulder his pain as well as yours."

"All I had to do was not let that wyvern get to the site behind us. And I couldn't even manage that..."

"No, but, you did save some of his home." he then pointed out as we finally came across land that still had life in it. Long gone were any glory days, though. It was clear that our battle and our intrusion here had wreaked havoc upon them. Magic was so forcefully exerted upon this isolated land and the results were lethal.

"I feel... Magic out there." I utter as I start to carefully move out of the wastes and towards a field. A field with a strange black circle at its centre.

"Einervaene, where're you headed?" Brewbrt called out as I reached the black circle. And I gasped when I saw what lied there at its centre. Clearly undisturbed since it got there.

"My old hat..." I let out as I bent down to pick it up.

"Leave that behind?" he joked as he arrived into the black circle.

"In a way." I answer as I remembered how it flew away when the battle reached the great heights far above us. And although it was designed for a different outfit, I still put it on.

"So what now? You still want to wander for a bit more?"

"No," I start off with as I remind myself of the danger we cause to this land, "we should get going to where we actually need to be." I tell him as I start to head back towards the gap Tobaballe once occupied. And although I had no love for this land as it was not mine. I was glad that I could at least help remove the poison we had given it.

"So can I get an idea of what we're looking for, now? I was hoping when you started to head here that we had found it." Brewbrt asked as he rose an arm.

"Sorry, I just don't want to spoil the surprise. So, again, you'll know when we get there." I tell him once again, smiling gently as frustration came onto his face.

"Ah, of course, the first landmark in an endless waste." he grumbles as he launches into the air on a spire of erupting magic. And once I felt like I had moved far enough away, I did something similar.

.

.

.

"We really should be finding shelter." Brewbrt complained to me as we kept on moving even as the sky roared. But, that only made me smile as it meant that we were headed in the right direction!

"Not when we are so close!" I tell him just before a golden flash sends shivers up my spine. That was lightning!

"Close to being killed by whatever beast lives in these lands!?" he exclaims as we stumble about this odd mountain on an otherwise flat wasteland.

"There is no beast!" I remind him excitedly as I felt the strong power of the mountain call out to me. A kind of feeling he simply just would not have.

"There's nothing else out here powerful enough to cause..." he began to complain once more as we finished rounding about the odd mountain.

"Surprise." I quietly say after briefly looking back at him before the beautiful sight caught my eyes again. And on top of the awe I had for this sight. I felt hopeful for once in my despair-filled life. The power I sought was still here and it was still roaring for the world to hear.

I just couldn't help it even after having seen it all before. The bubbling sea of molten gold that shimmered with power as lightning lashed out against it. The distinct shadow of the iconic peak that this mountain had! It was the closest I could ever get to home, really...

"You're quieter than I expected." I then commented once I fixed my bad case of slack-jaw.

"So this is where it was." he huffed in bemusement as he seemingly got over it.

"Wait, really!? That's it...?" I let out in shock as I watched him do what he had just done.

"What's what?"

"This is THE Anvil-Peak and you just huff...!?" I gawk out of sheer shock.

"Just huff? Einervaene. I am in as much awe as one could ever be, really. Not to mention, I feel like my heart would give out if I just howled in triumph at finally finding it."

"You once looked for this mountain?"

"Yes, with your mother. It was her dream to find that mountain so she could literally catch lightning in a bottle."

"So that she could bring good fortune to all she cared about." I recall as my heart flutters and my hand goes to my chest.

"Obviously, we never found the mountain. But, if you have a bottle, now might be the time."

"Unfortunately, I did not come here to do that." I tell him.

"Alright, we'll ask if that man down there has one."

"Huh?" I let out before we both realize what he had just said. And, he was right, at the very edge of the lake of gold. There was a man in tattered black robes and went with the wind coming from the mountain. But where had that wind even come from...?

The wasteland behind us had no such thing at all! It was a dry, empty space with nothing disturbing it! But now we were coming face-to-face with a harsh wind that threatened to send cooling droplets of gold at us. The very edges of the sea acted as if they were water in rough weather!

"HEY! GET BACK FROM THERE!" Brewbrt yelled against the wind as many of the crashing waves threatened to engulf this man.

"BE CAREFUL!" I shouted to Brewbrt as he suddenly dropped the bag to run at the man. Clearly to save his life but something interfered. And a powerful bolt struck down and sent him flying back. Yet, before I could scream for his safety, Brewbrt athletically got back up.

"Thurnmourer, stay out of this!" he cursed as the storm above seemingly concentrated around us. And for some reason, the man out there, turned around to face us. With another lightning bolt aimed at Brewbrt carrying the gale back at him. Knocking down the hood and cloth strands he had covering his face.

"What the..." I let out for some reason or another as I stared at that man's features. His slick back black hair with a peculiar gold shimmer. His eyes that glowed as bright as the storm above! And his char-stained skin...

"Will you come here, please." somebody whispered. Yet, going by the sudden, inexplicit movements I found myself performing. It must've been this strange man at the sea's edge.

"EINERVAENE!" Brewbrt shouted as more lightning got in his way. But now, it was keeping him away from me as well as this man. This strange man who I felt an instinctive feeling to kneel before. Yet, of all the movements my possessed body performed, that was not one of them.

"Wh-Who are you...?" I asked the strange man as I got a clearer look at his well-formed frame and hard jawline. He did not answer me, though, even though he showed how clearly he had heard it.

"Thunder." he then answered as he started to walk away from the mountain. A mighty roar then sounded out behind him, as if to confirm his name. I even found myself walking away with him. Only to be tackled away by Brewbrt the moment some distance was made.

"ALRIGHT, YOU BASTARD! LET'S GO!" Brewbrt roared defensively as I shook the cloudy haze from my head. Only to start coughing as Brewbrt's magic swirled violently about. Bringing this land its first, and, as far as I could really say, natural winds.

"It's not safe here, grab your things and come with me to hide." Thunder told us as he began to head back the way we had come around from.

"Not safe here...? Did you not realise where you were standing!?" I pointed out to him only to find myself aghast as a dust storm rolled in from the other side of the mountain.

"That's not a natural one... It's coming in too fast! MOVE!" Brewbrt let out before he roared. And as he finished, large boulders began to smash along the dusty ground before they broke apart later.

"WE'RE NOT GOING TO MAKE IT!" I cried as the storm that was formerly and seemingly hours away suddenly fell upon us. Yet, somehow, we managed to just barely make it back behind the mountain.

"Crazy bastard..." Brewbrt let out as a figure was lit up from within the thick of the storm.

"Thunder!?" I called out in worry before that same man appeared before us as if he had not just been within that storm.

"ALRIGHT, ANSWERS, NOW!" Brewbrt roared after he suddenly smashed Thunder against the mountain side. Yet, despite how easily he had seemingly done it, Thunder was showing no signs of care. He seemed to be only apathetic at what had just happened.

"I am not your enemy." he told us as Brewbrt's spell-covered hand got closer to him.

"Consider me your biggest sceptic, then!" he snapped before I interfered.

"Enough!" I told the pair of them as I did my best to pry them apart. But, I never got far until Brewbrt relinquished the grip himself.

"What did he do to you!?" Brewbrt then suddenly asked me with assertive aggression. Rough, but caring hands then began to assail me before seemingly comical actions took place.

"I'm fine! I-I'm fine!" I repeated to him before he moved me away from Thunder suddenly.

"What did you do to her!? I went to save you from that damn bubbling mess and instead you mess with her head!?"

"I am sorry, I did not mean to."

"Yeah, right, all of this stuff only started happening when we tried to get involved with you!"

"You interrupted my conversation."

"With who!?"

"Lightning." Thunder answered as he slowly sat down on a flat-topped boulder.

"Lightning... You spoke with lightning..." Brewbrt scoffed as he crossed his armoured arms.

"No, he's telling the truth..." I quietly pointed out, although I wasn't actually sure myself.

"I told you to get out of her head!" he spat angrily!

"No, Brewbrt! I mean it! It's how I came to realise that there was a power that could help me here! The storm up there is alive!" I try to explain to him.

"Alive..." he repeated before he groaned dismissively. Yet, he seemed to accept it before he began to dig about his bag.

"What're you-"

"Looking for the tents!" he snapped back at me, causing me to flinch.

"I am sorry for any friction." Thunder said to us as I turned to him.

"It's fine... I guess he must've gotten a little too close to that lightning..." I comment as I start to shiver just from it striking across the sky again. Its power was so vast and Brewbrt dodged several that nearly struck him. I think he had every right to be a little on edge after that.

Along with all the other strange things that have happened.

"I have to admit, though, I was not expecting mo- others to come here." Thunder went on to say.

"We weren't expecting someone to already be here, far in the other direction there is a whole city which walls in its people so they stay away."

"I am familiar with that place, it holds many memories for me." he explained.

"You were born there?" I guessed with an unsure smile. I hope he at least appreciated my attempt at keeping our relations lukewarm at the very least.

"No, I was born far before that city ever came to be even in its most insignificant state. My memories come from what I have done there."

Brewbrt then sharply scoffs suddenly, "Yes, as if you suicidal edge-dropper!"

"I must admit as well, Thunder, being that old is quite impossible."

"You will learn that your understandings of the world are quite bad well enough." he told us as he got up and moved over to Brewbrt.

"You trying to start something!?" Brewbrt challenged as magic spears began to form overhead.

"No, I was going to offer to sort out your tents myself."

"Only got the one, buddy."

"Your deception could use some work." Thunder commented with a mild tone before he dug into the bag and brought out another.

"So I have to share one?" I asked as that other one was the one I had used.

"I'll just sleep in my armour, Einervaene, so there'll be room. Oh, wait, I forgot, you aren't staying in our tent." Brewbrt pointed out to Thunder before he failed to move the soot-covered man.

"I did not intend to overstay my welcome. Besides, it might be for the best so that I may speak some more with Lightning."

"Anything you say, Immortal Idiot."

"An idiot I have been, to betray my friend the way I did." Thunder recalled sorrowfully as he teetered on the mountain's edge. Just daring the violent dust storm to come around and take him.

"So the storm up there is alive?"

"He is, and he is one of the greatest friends you could ever have."

"Would he be open to having me as a friend?" I asked idly as I swirly a boot tip against the disturbed gravel below.

"I am sure he would, even if it was only to shame me." Thunder told me with a smile as he patted my shoulder.

"So... Uh, how exactly would I go about befriending a lightning storm?" I then asked as I glanced upwards at the staggeringly violent weather.

"We would need to cross the Molten Sea first, reach the Anvil-Peak. Then, we would climb its sides using the path I have worn down over the millennia-"

"Cut it out already!" interrupted Brewbrt with a harsh snap.

"-and once we have reached the top, then you may speak to him in as clear a situation as any other."

"Is there some kind of ship you have perhaps made to cross all that melted metal?"

"Somehow, the thought never crossed my mind. So, obviously, no, there is no ship. Instead, I could guide you through the path I always take. Where the gold will part for us."

"I suppose we'll have to trust you..."

"I am sorry, what!? Trust him!? He's a madman that nearly got you killed!" Brewbrt aggressively pointed out as he got up and got between us.

"He apologised for whatever it was he did! Besides, we can't blame him when neither of us were exactly expecting more than themselves to be there!"

"Oh, so because he said sorry I can get your mother's forgiveness when I have to go to her with news of your death!? A DEATH I FAILED TO PREVENT AFTER PROMISING NOT ONLY YOU BUT HER AS WELL!?" he ranted and rambled before he roared.

And I backed away from him, scared of the power he was leaking as he did so, "Brewbrt..."

"You are here for another?" Thunder asked as he turned around.

"Yes, my mother is in danger and, from a trip that took place a couple of years ago. I encountered Lightning somewhat intimately and I have come to understand that the power here can counteract the deadly yet obscene laws my mother has been placed under." I explained.

"Hm, a just cause, that, should it be true would help you warm up to Lightning. Once it is a proven circumstance."

"I don't... I don't see how I am meant to prove such a thing when all I can offer is my own testimony..."

"The laws you cite to me are of storm purity, no?"

"Y-Yes..." I let out, surprised he was able to catch on to it or even knew about it. This man despite the signs of lightning magic about him was clearly not Eusorochiian. Something that made it all the stranger as sensing his magic, he just felt so pure!

"For a moment, let me see." he told me as he suddenly guided me to a seat. My hand and some of my arm were in his grasp and his attentive eyes stared at my nervously concealed palm.

"S-Should I take the glove off?" I asked him as he began to pry the palm out of its shell.

"I only need to see your magic, so, please, spark for me." he ordered as if he were a doctor. And, I did as I was told, watching with ever more severe self-doubt and nervousness as he seemed almost disgusted by the blue he saw.

"You can just let it out... I've grown used to the comments." I lied. How could I ever not be troubled by them? My life had been forever changed by this one, single problem.

"Yours is a strange condition, it behaves like lightning yet somehow you lack the distinct feel of it."

"That makes no sense... My mother is a powerful noble ruling over a vast swathe of land! My father is the same, right, Brewbrt!?"

"Yes, he is a colonial lord in his own right."

"THEN HOW CAN I JUST LACK THE 'DISTINCT FEEL' OF IT!?" I demanded to know with a fearful scream.

"Magic is far more complex than just being one of the first gifts your parents give to you. However great or small."

"You don't know why I am this way, do you...?" I asked him with despair. Choosing to trust in his judgment when his aura felt the way it did.

"I do, but, I will withhold that information for the moment until I am certain you can handle it better."

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"That just makes me worry more..."

"It is nothing to worry about, I assure you." Thunder told me as he came to a stop once again by the dust storm's unwelcoming edge.

"Yeah, right..." I muttered as I once again came to terms with the kind of freak I was. I mean, what else could I be when I lacked the distinct gold that the rest of my family had!? People weaker than me had golden lightning yet mine matched the colour of lesser people... Those further away from the Lightning Mountain's embrace.

"As many reasons as I have to doubt this man, Einervaene. I think you should try holding out hope for what he said." Brewbrt told me softly as he patted the back of my hand. A hand which I scared off by sending some volts down towards it.

"There's nothing to hold out hope for except for the power that I will take from that mountain!"

"Lower the aggression in your tone." Thunder warned as a particularly powerful bolt of lightning struck overhead.

"So, anyway, Thunder..." Brewbrt slurred out, "If this Lightning is your friend, that lightning right above us, why does it not kill us right now. Rather than trapping us in this dust storm!?"

"He is restraining his anger. This is his warning to go away." Thunder clarified.

"Well, tell him we aren't going to be leaving any time soon." Brewbrt told him with a snort at the end.

"He will take that into account." Thunder comments after glancing skywards.

"So now what? We wait for the dust storm to die down before we head to this spot you speak of?"

"Yes." Thunder answer efficiently as I groan.

"Board games it is, then." I say as the stones I was fiddling with rolled out onto the ground where I had picked them up.

"My family likes board games." Thunder remarked as he sat down on a rock that I could've sworn was not flat-topped an eye-blink ago.

"Do you have any preferences?" I asked as I pulled out the one closest to the top of Brewbrt's bag.

"If I can create something, I enjoy them quite a lot."

"Well, this one is not really creating but..."

"Victory is a pride-nurturing creation." Thunder confidently told me as he smirked a little as I prepared the game board.

"That's... One way of looking at it, I suppose." I uttered as I slowly thought on how that would work. Eventually, I came to understand how one might consider it a creation. The plan you created as you played was your method. The actions the part placing and your hands were your tools.

"I also create defeat for you." he added, confusing me initially before I realised how quickly he had won the game.

"How did I...?" I asked myself out loud as I saw where he had placed his pieces. I should've seen that coming miles away. It was the kind of tactic a young child thought was smart purely because it was a quick way to win against the moronic! Yet, I suppose it was smart when I fell for it...

"You were distracted." Brewbrt explained as he watched us somewhat from the boulder he was grouching on.

"I suppose I was." I dismissively say as I wiped away the confusion of defeat. I was thinking about stuff. So, naturally, with my focused returned... I would see only myself as a creator of victory!

"Okay, I have to admit, he outplayed you there quite well." Brewbrt then commented with surprise as I sorted out my slack jaw. Seeing my defeated side from this view made me feel stupid... It was just basically a more complicated version of what he had done the first time!

"I... I... Don't... I refuse to play!" I complained as I crossed my arms. Bittering glaring at a nearby stone before Thunder moved the board over to Brewbrt.

"Care for a game?" Thunder asked him, seemingly catching his interest for a moment before he turned away.

"Beat it." Brewbrt answered eventually as he leaned back and enjoyed whatever it was he was looking at. Though, my first guess was that he was just watching the dust storm. Like maybe how I used to watch the waves during my lonely voyage to this land...

"You strike me as the kind of man who'd prefer something more engaging."

"I'll strike you in a moment..." Brewbrt grumbled as he suddenly turned around and started to play. Yet, sore from my prior defeat, I moved towards Brewbrt, hoping he could win.

"Maybe you could..." I soon uttered before I shook my head as the pair took their turns again and again.

"You are a veteran of many trials, no?" Thunder asked him as Brewbrt seemingly avoided most of the traps that I had fallen into.

"And obviously, I am not withheld by them." Brewbrt smirked confidently as he moved his piece for what seemed to be the final time.

"Yet even at your best, it was still possible to be overwhelmed. And age has not been kind." Thunder pointed out before his final move corrected the mistake Brewbrt had made.

"How..." I let out with even greater confusion as I had been watching that from a different perspective! I was not the one playing, so how did I get roped into whatever misdirection Thunder clearly employed!

"Are you cheating!?" Brewbrt accused as a fist went into a nearby rock. Oddly enough as well, despite damaging it severely, his magic did not cause any form of eruption. Even with all this magic power above us, it was so well-contained and barely leaked out if at all!

"Incorrect." Thunder commented with a very brief, cocky smile.

"Alright... Uh, I'll move your pieces, then." I say as I interrupt any attempt by either of them to touch the board. And with a little guidance as I hastily went about it, I prepared the board once again.

"An odd demand, to construct something while being told to make it as the commissioner wants it. We all make as we please, our route of least resistance as it is. But, some want it done their way and still get the same result." Thunder rambled after the pair had commented, snapped or just simply whispered their desired moves.

"I am a bit lost right now..." I say after having taken in so many orders for what piece had to go where and do what.

"Then let my victory guide you home." Thunder let out as he leaned back against the air.

"Son of a..." Brewbrt growled before he got up and went to the other side of our enclosed space.

"You are very good at this game, Thunder. Do you ever get tired of winning?" I asked him as I decided to put the game away. I don't think any of us but him were particularly interested in playing right now.

"This is rare for me, my family are very good at this. Then again, we've all had time to practice." Thunder explained before he flicked in a missing piece just before I properly closed the case.

"Show off." was all I had to say as I took the game back to the bag. However, I decided to just leave it on the bag. As I had no idea when this dust storm would end and we would need all the entertainment we could get.

"I know it is not in line with this past hour or whatever, but, even before we met Thunder and Lightning I suppose. Were you ever certain you could get this power?" Brewbrt asked me as he looked out at the wasteland further down the mountain's side.

"I don't know... Even now, with him here. I don't think I was ever sure we would leave victorious. Frankly, I feel like we're going to die." I fearfully admit.

"I have to admit, I have felt the same way since I saw that mountain." he told me with a sigh before he tried to bottle it all up.

"The best we can do is at least try, right? For Mother?" I asked him as some certainty tried to come back to us both.

A firm hand then grasped my shoulder, "Yes, for Eratheen."

"It feels like we're talking about a stranger when you say Mother's name." I point out with a smile.

"Then this stranger is one of the most important people we will ever know. A dear friend, and a loving mother." he told me as he returned the smile and let go of me.

"Do you think it is possible, for me to get this power, so I can save her?" I asked him uncertainly, despite having just voiced my own doubts not that long ago. Even he had voiced doubts at the same time...

"I do." he answered with a simple smile.

.

.

.

"The storm is finally dissipating!" I let out excitedly as I crawl out of my tent.

"Don't worry about packing it up, it's not like anyone will steal it." Brewbrt then tells me as he walks past me. His helmet and loose gear were in his hands before they steadily got placed where they needed to be.

"You don't think you'll need any of it?" I asked as I took note of the many different pieces of equipment that he had. Then, as he did that, I glanced over at the massively changed landscape. All that debris and disturbed gravel had become dunes that had formed far away from our current campsite.

"It is better to travel light, only take what you need to ensure your safety." Thunder clarified as he crunched up to us.

"There's no monsters or beasts on this mountain... Right?" I decided to ask having heard that. Wearily glancing over at my staff after having heard that.

"Depending on how you come to view Lightning, but otherwise, no. Weapons will not be needed if you can cast independently of them." he explained.

"Then I'll leave this here..." I let out as I plant the staff into the loose gravel. Leaning it against a nearby rock on top of that so I did not come back to a fallen, dusty pole.

"And you, Brewbrt? Can you make do without the armour?" Thunder asked as he approached the elderly man. Only for said man to blast a light spell at him so they would maintain some distance. And I frowned at that action.

"Brewbrt, we need to trust him." I say as I move closer to my mother's friend.

"I'll trust him when you descend that mountain with the power to save your mother." he sternly replies before he glares at Thunder in the prelude to our departure.

"I am sorry for any friction." I whisper to Thunder as Brewbrt went ahead of us.

"It's fine. He cares for you and our introduction was what it was. If I must prove myself to earn his trust, then I shall. And from its creation, an unbreakable bond."

"You like to speak about creation a lot." I point out, no matter how annoyingly obvious it might've been to him.

"As a craftsman, I am naturally inclined to do so." Thunder says back to me with a very slight smile.

"Then, I pray to the gods and goddesses that we see a well-made safe passage ahead of us." I tell him, returning the smile that he gave me.

"I am sure they will hear you clearly and grant that." Thunder told me as his expression hardened as well as his fists. And as he started to catch up with a growingly cautious Brewbrt. I found myself slowing down so I could take in the mountain once again. And, as I did so, I saw how the storm behaved.

It was like a wild predator that had just found itself a meal. Teeth were bared and hunger flashed across its features. Of course, this was a storm, so it did so with long strikes and booming thunder. Some of the bolts that came down as well struck me as almost warning-like.

Which, having heard Thunder's words since we started camping with him... I knew very much that these were, in fact, warning strikes. Yet, I couldn't help but feel meek at the destruction they had left. Large gashes had been carved out of the earth and the molten gold quickly filled the new space.

"Is it not safe enough for Brewbrt to fly us over?" I decided to ask after gulping at the sight of a popping bubble. And the less I thought on how the heat was the least worrying issue, the better.

"Lightning would strike you before you could so much as get off the ground. The route must be taken." Thunder answered as he seemingly wandered the coastline aimlessly.

"Well? Where is it!?" Brewbrt demanded to know as he stepped forward. Only to take a jump back like I did when lightning suddenly shot at Thunder.

"LOO-" I began to scream before Thunder wrestled the bolt towards the sea. And, from the high spot I found myself on, I found an odd thought cross my mind. The way the lightning shot out across that sea reminded me of asaminra. A game which required a loosely similar action...

"Come, stick close to me and do not lose your way. Ignore the temptation."

"Temptation?" I repeat to myself before I took Brewbrt's hand so I could descend into the jaggedly parted sea with the pair of them.

"Quickly now." Thunder called back to us just before the gold began to fill out the immediate space I had just been in.

"What the..." I squeaked as the gold slowly poured in from behind us.

"Einervaene, come on, stay close." Brewbrt cautioned as we started to run. Only to come to a halt when we saw the brisk pace Thunder was moving at.

"Don't we need to...!?" I asked him, increasingly on edge at the slow and strange way the gold came in about us.

"No, it is safer to move slowly. You lose focus when you hurry."

"The gold is filling in!"

"Yes, slowly, match my pace and you'll be fine." Thunder pointed out as we did just that. And while the gap that his trick had created was wide. I could still feel the heat of the gold as if I was right up against it. It hurt to be in this place on top of it being unbearably uncomfortable.

"Alright, if we are able to be so calm about it. What are the temptations you spoke of a moment ago?" Brewbrt demanded to know as he cautiously eyed the sides and our recently trodden path.

"Whispers and songs." Thunder answered as we came upon a crossroad of all places.

"Well!?" Brewbrt urged as the gold came in from behind us. Yet, for some reason, Thunder was still.

"Patience..." he encouraged despite what was now rushing in from behind us all of a sudden.

"IT'S COMING!" I screamed just before it suddenly came to a halt. With all but one of the splitting paths suffering a similar fate. And, the old pace returned, but now I did so with a particularly disturbed heart.

"Some forewarning, maybe." Brewbrt growled at Thunder who ignored him completely.

"If we get close enough, we should be able to just fly out..." I tell Brewbrt as we collectively eyed the molten metal at our sides.

"Do not stop." Thunder then said for some reason despite none of us having done so.

"But we haven't..." I started to say before a gentle ringing began to flow towards us before it bounced back at us.

"Trust your eyes, focus on me for I am truth." Thunder told us once we stopped looking back at where the ringing was loudest. Yet, I struggled to hear him over all this ringing and I felt like I needed to hear some of it again. But at the same time, I could see that he needed to focus...

'Trust your eyes' is what I heard clearly.

"So just focus, can't be hard, right?" I nervously asked myself before squealing when a bubble of gold popped near me.

"Go, go." Brewbrt urged as he did his best to protectively wrap his arms around me.

"Einervaene..." something then ringed out when we reached another crossroads.

"I'm fine, it's fine." I told Brewbrt as I loosened myself from his grip. And, well, confused was putting it lightly. I knew that voice all too well but it made no sense for me to hear it out here of all places.

"Einervaene! Help me!" my mother's voice sang of all things before a limb briefly appeared at the end of the path. And when I turned around, the other two were still waiting for the true path to be revealed. And, interestingly, only the paths behind me were closing, their left.

They were closing in a clockwise motion and I saw that hand! Thunder said to trust my eyes so whatever I saw was real! So, having already figured it out, I went after that hand with haste. Steadily moving up into a careful sprint.

"HELLO!? WHO'S THERE!" I called out as loud as I could as I tried to find whoever it was I saw. But, all of a sudden, I found myself coming to a screeching halt. A surge of fear suddenly shot into me as I came face-to-face with a wall of molten gold. And, thankfully, when I fell, I fell the opposite way.

Then, I quickly scrambled to my feet and went back the other way. That was my fault, I should have gone slower like Thunder said. But, where was he? Where was Brewbrt!?

"Guys...?" I called out meekly as I came to the realisation that I had been isolated and trapped. Both my original path and my former destination were closing in on me. Strange as it was to think this way, I was thankful it was moving as slowly as it was. As that gave me time to think.

So, with the brief moment of clarity that I was able to give myself, I headed down another path. This way very likely being where the other two had gone down! So I breathed a sigh of relief only to lock up when I saw where it led to. And fear began to leave every pore of my body.

"H-Huh!?" I let out as I slowly stepped back, "Where are you two... BREWBRT! THUNDER! WHERE ARE YOU!?" I wailed like a baby.

Tears were building up rapidly and the heat was getting closer all around me. And, as it got closer, I screamed more and more. Was this really going to be it? Mother would never see me again and she would have to live knowing a place she dreamed of killed me!?

"SOMEBODY HELP ME!" I cried as I started to erratically blast magic at the hungry mass of molten metal.

.

.

.

"Einervaene!?" I let out as a voice screamed out across the top of the sea.

"Don't." Thunder warned before I lashed out at him. Striking him point-blank in the face with my fist.

"YOU'RE A DAMN IDIOT IF YOU THINK I AM GOING TO LISTEN TO YOU!" I roared at him before I shot up into the sky until I was high enough to survey the landscape. And if this 'Lightning' wanted to attack me, then let it! It would not stop me from finding Eratheen's daughter! I would not fail to keep my promise to either.

And to acknowledge my divulsion from the path, Lightning lashed out at me...

"You think I'm scared of you!" I spat back challengingly as I threw a bomb of wind at it. Dodging and weaving through whatever was left until I caught sight of an isolated pocket. One that flashed erratically blue!

Einervaene!

"SOMEBODY PLEASE!" she cried just as the gold tightened its metallic noose.

"STAY STILL, EINERVAENE! I-" I began to call out to her before a bolt struck me right on the back. And I roared in pain before I luckily crashed down into that same pocket as her. I think the impact even pushed the gold back somewhat.

"BREWBRT! I'M SORRY! I THOUGHT I WAS HEADED THE RIGHT WAY!"

"It's... AH! It's fine..." I struggled to get out as I registered both the power of that lightning's magic and the heat it left behind.

"I'm sorry... Now we're both going t-"

"Quiet!" I snap at her as I get back up, growling at every sudden burst of pain as I did so. Then, after briefly seeing how quickly we were being enclosed upon. I grabbed Einervaene and prepared to fly once again. Yet, for some reason, I found myself dragged down by all this pain and I couldn't focus.

"Let me get on your back!" Einervaene urged.

"No! If you waste your magic on me then you're as good as dead! Don't worry about me, ju-AHHHHHHHH!" I tried to explain to her before the gold sloshed across my foot. And, like a gun to start a race, I blasted off into the air with a gold-soaked foot.

"BREWBRT!" she screamed at me as she likely looked back at my newly weighted foot.

"Save your mother, you hear?" I tell her calmly as bring my arms back to throw her.

"LOOK OUT!" she screams as the sky roars like it had never done before.

"YOU LISTEN TO ME! YOU WILL NOT HAVE HER!" I roared back at the sky after quickly tossing Einervaene aside. And, once I felt like she had gone far enough away, I cocked back my arms and called upon as much magic as I could. I would make it clear that I was the threat and gather all of its attention...

And it all seemed to slow down as I watched those bolts come closer... They'd pierce right through me like this...

"YOU WILL NOT HAVE HER!" I repeated as emerald light started to clash against the golden lightning. And as thunder boomed, my voice cracked and strained as all I could pour was forced out against the storm. A barrage of power that sent out shockwaves powerful enough to disturb the molten sea below!

"BREWBRT!" Einervaene cried as she suddenly appeared out of a blue bolt.

"You... Idiot..." I struggled to get out as my vision started to flicker. Then, but a moment later, I shot back up to my feet after a sudden bang.

"You two made it despite failing to follow my heed." that bastard Thunder commented as he stepped out of the sea with nary a scratch on him.

"Just be quiet..." I hissed at him as my eyes looked down at my gold-encrusted foot.

"Hold on I'll try an-"

"No, it's cooled solid. My foot won't make the bend even if it wasn't there. I'll just have to put up with it." I told her before I had to give her a sudden shove to make sure she didn't give me her magic.

"You're badly injured!" she snapped at me with red-rimmed eyes.

"So long as you are safe..." I gasped out to her after I finished pushing myself up against the rocks.

"If it is rest you need, let us head inside the cave." Thunder told us as he gestured towards our new shelter.

"Go on, Einervaene, I'll follow you through." I tell her before I stare out at the storm. It didn't lash out at us for some reason. Even though we were still outside...

"Honour binds him to not strike now, but do not believe that he has not learned from Jaadagoren." Thunder comments before he goes into the cave himself.

"To think I would find a superior in a storm of all things..." I grumbled as I tried to pick myself up. Only to look back up at the sky as a low rumble filled the air and the storm calmed down slightly. It made me blink and double-check, I have to admit. But I must've been seeing things because that storm was still volatile.

"Hey, Brewbrt, there's a whole campsite in here! Thunder says it's his and that it is stocked!"

"Medicine?" I asked as it was what I needed to most right now.

"He doesn't have any..." she lets out as her head slinks down.

"Don't beat yourself up over it, a hot brew will do me for the moment." I chuckle as right now my body was burning in several key spots.

"Do you need help taking the armour off?" she asked me.

"No, I think it might be best to keep it on right now." I tell her as I look back at the storm.

"But your injuries!"

"Will be fine, don't worry." I tell her as I pat her shoulder in an effort to calm the fearful girl. And, I made a point of keeping a calm, somewhat stoic face so she did not have to see my own fear. She didn't need this right now.

"Alright... I'll make sure your soup is packed with as much magic as it can be, though!" she tells me with a determined stomp before she got to looking about the cave for whatever it is she might've needed.

.

.

.

"I was quite surprised you know, to see Lightning let you live." Thunder commented as my tired eyes looked out at the world beyond our cave. I had no idea if it was day or night, frankly. All this lightning above reflecting off of the gold made it bright and moody regardless.

"Let me live?" I asked with a snort, "I live because I was strong enough to do so."

"I am positive that you are strong, very strong. But, Lightning is far beyond anything you have ever or will face, Brewbrt." Thunder remarked as he moved out closer to the exit. However, I did not have that luxury when Einervaene had fallen asleep against my side. There were my injuries too, though.

And maybe a gold-encrusted foot trapped in armour as well...

"What's far beyond me is how you think you can convince me of anything you have said."

"I have shown that there was a path. I have proven that I know the way. And everything I warned about occurred with you two." he shrugged.

"You know what I mean with your claims of age and all this other stuff! The storm lashed out at me because it seeks magic! Notice how it doesn't reach out for the magicless soil beyond the very edge!?" I snap at him before I huff out some more of my frustration.

"Then I don't know how to explain it to you."

"Give it a rest, you're a knowledgeable man but you are no millennia-old being." I tell him before I roll my eyes. Then, I looked down at Einervaene to make sure her slumber had not been disturbed by my voice.

"I am not your enemy." he then told me as he came back into the cave.

"I am aware." I tell him as I made a point to make sure my gaze did not head in his direction.

"But despite my knowledge being proven true, you still struggle to trust me."

"My introduction to you was watching your runaway power nearly get the one I am supposed to be protecting killed!"

"You are not her father?"

"No, not that has anything to do with the current moment."

"You'll have to forgive me for the divulsion, then. I am just curious as to how someone like you comes to care about her so much."

"What in the name of all the annoying gods up in the sky does that mean!?"

"Do not get angry, please. I do not mean to offend."

"Just shut up, then. Keep to yourself." I tell him before I bring my attention back to Einervaene.

And, watching her the way I did put my mind along the same tracks as his. I just risked ending my life for a girl I barely knew. But, I suppose it was never for her at all. Everything I have done since those first letters came to me was for the sake of Eratheen.

A dear friend of mine that I have done much with over the course of my life. One who I met in rather awkward circumstances a long time ago. But, that did not matter much in the long run it seems. Then we parted ways because she had duties elsewhere.

I missed her... I missed all of those I travelled with. That mechanical know-it-all we found deep underground. The old coot who galloped about far before any of us got up and so many others.

In some ways, I suppose. I wanted to keep Einervaene safe so, when she headed back, I could come back with her. Having that excuse I needed to go and see her in terms that would work for her. And, as we walked into their estate, Eratheen would be smiling and happy.

Unlike if I had failed earlier...

So being struck by such a storm mattered little. Having this foot of mine forever stuck in gold didn't matter. I needed to keep Eratheen's smile alive. Just like I idly promised her so long ago.

But with time, that once half-serious promise had turned into something quite else. With great reluctance I let Einervaene head out with Nin and now I feel like I made the wrong choice. Or, maybe, the right one as she came back to me for help... Foul a thought as it was.

"I wonder how your mother would've caught a lightning bolt in a bottle anyhow." I let out quietly as I tried to distract myself from my more selfish desires.

"I could show you." Thunder commented, clearly having heard it.

"What did I say..." I began to utter as I curled up a fist.

"And to prove I can, here are the first few of those bottles that ever came to be." Thunder went on to say, having ignored my words so he could open up a hand-carved shelf.

"Well, I'll be..." I let out with some awe as I saw the finely crafted bottles arrayed across the shelf. Each one had a strand of lightning that desperately fought to escape. Of course, it was all in vain.

"Here, for your eyes." Thunder said as he passed one down to me.

"Waionr..." I read aloud before I looked up at him.

"Who it is for."

"I don't think the God of War needs a good luck charm." I sneer before I lean back slightly.

"I know that he does... Maybe not now, but I have seen times where he has needed it and many others."

"Alright, I'll bite you damn crackling annoyance, what is one of these moments?"

"You wish to know?"

"Why else would I ask?" gesturing as I said that.

"Very well, rest her head gently and come with me."

"Where...?" I let out as I did the first half of what was asked of me. Before I then looked outside, cautious of what he might suggest.

"Deeper into the cave." Thunder revealed as stone shifted and revealed a dimly lit path.

"Your cave is surrounded by a moat of molten metal and a precisely spiteful lightning storm. I don't think you need to have secret passages."

"It wasn't secret." Thunder said to me as he looked back with a confused expression.

"Just move."

"And, here is where I can show you." he tells me once I finish hobbling into a vast cave segment with a large clear pool of water. There was a bright light deep within but it was only enough to make the ceiling pattern-covered.

"So there's an Ibenorrocon here?" I asked as there would've been no way otherwise for him to interact with the water. He clearly had his blood full of the same kind of magic as Einervaene back there.

"There is no one from the Deserts of the Mobile Pillar here."

"Strange nickname." I remark before he started to do something with the water. So, at the very least I was quick to judge his abilities.

"What is stranger for you will lie within the water." he tells me as he suddenly grabs the back of my head to send a powerful shock down my spine.

"GAH!" I let out before he suddenly slammed me into the water. However, when he did so, I found myself suddenly flipping out onto a solid surface somehow.

"And over there, you will see why I have made such a charm." Thunder pointed out as I followed where his arm pointed.

"That's... Grim..." was all I could think to say as I gazed out at the hovering corpses and the black void they did so in. Beneath us, some kind of incomplete metal construct and further below was a planet. Ours...?

"That is your home yes, as is this mine." Thunder commented as he tapped his foot on the metal construct.

"So this is the Orbital-Halo..." I muttered before I returned my gaze towards where he pointed.

"And out there, is the Fourteen-Headed Beast." he pointed out with a trembling voice. A clear mixture of remorse, anger and severity.

"And the other one?" I asked as I barely followed the exceptional fighter that desperately fought off the thirteen snake-like heads lashing out at him.

"My younger brother, Waionr." Thunder answered with a voice that rumbled like his namesake before a bright flash from beyond the curvature caught my eyes. A mass of lightning had appeared out of nowhere and it was shooting out for the beast.

"And when Mesofunderod shattered, Creation spilled out in directed vengeance..." I recalled as a loud and clean snap reverberated throughout the empty space I found myself in. Shortly thereafter, a gold-armoured figure came to be and it struggled to keep a violent bolt of lightning secure.

Yet, with one mighty throw, it seemingly destroyed the beast!

"AH! WHAT THE!?" I let out before I started to violently cough as water dripped down my face.

"Mighty as we be, few can contend with Might itself." Thunder cryptically told me as he tenderly picked up the bottle once again.

"Wait... Back in that... Illusion..." I start to say before using a brief blast of magic to dry my face, "You mentioned something..."

"You ask about my family?"

"What does a claim like that mean...? Waionr is your brother?"

"It is exactly as the claim means." was all he seemingly had to say before he went back out towards the cave we had been in prior.

"Thurnmourer...?" I asked myself as I recall how Thunder disappeared the moment that mass of lightning appeared. But, I just shook my head and clicked my tongue. An illusionary pool of water was just that, an illusion.

"Now, to show you how to do it." Thunder mumbled as he began to bring out various tools.

"No empty bottles about?" I asked him while staring at just that.

"I need a freshly made one, and, a bit of thunder-gold." he explains before he suddenly cracks off a chunk of the gold on my foot.

"Couldn't have taken it all off?" I remark as I return to sitting down. His little snatch and grab had set my injuries off once again. I could tolerate the sensitivity of walking, but to be struck by an object like that tickled me in the worst way.

"Now, who do you wish for this bottle to be dedicated to?" Thunder asked me with a clear degree of urgency.

"Era..." I started to say before I looked back at the girl who suddenly whimpered, "Einervane."

"Very well." Thunder acknowledged as he began to chisel out a name onto the fragile glass. His skill at crafting clear as the lightning bolts in the sky behind us. Despite working with thin glass, he masterfully used heavy tools to do his work. Then, with a gentle, slam, he placed it upon a stone surface.

"Now what?"

"You must go out there and catch a strand." he told me as he picked up the bottle once more to then give to me.

"Never trust the crazy man at the edge of a molten sea..." I mutter before I dismiss my worries. If Eratheen once thought she could do this, then I would probably be able to do it. Yet, as if the storm heard my thoughts, it lashed out very close to the cave entrance.

"Now is your chance! He offers himself to you!" Thunder urged excitedly.

"I repeat myself." I sigh as I slowly make my way out into the open air near where a seemingly endless lightning bolt surged. But, in doing so, I felt too worried to get any closer. In this suit of armour... With this gold on my foot.

It would cook me alive!

"Hurry!" Thunder urged once again as he seemingly took up position to deny me reentry into the cave.

"You better not stop me..." I tell him as some of my fear came up to my face. I have been directly hit by this these things and have fought against them! I knew how lethal they were unlike him! He's probably gotten too used to that path of his...

Yet, for the sake of Einervaene, even if this might've been worthless. I moved forward until I reached the lightning bolt, now resembling more of a tree than anything. And slowly, oh so very slowly... I brought the bottle opening towards a branch and held it there.

Flinching when I suddenly felt an instinctive need to jerk the bottle down. Yet, to my surprise, a strand of the storm had snapped off and rattled about the bottle. And in that same moment, Thunder ran up to me and slammed a lid on the bottle before he yanked me inside.

"Appreciated..." I let out with a nervous shiver as that once, somewhat peaceful bolt began to violently lash out before vanishing.

"It is now ready for her when you feel the need to give it to her."

"A present for when she wakes up." I say with a smile as I looked down at the fragile glass and its mysterious contents. If this would help keep her safe, then I would gladly give it to her. And even if it didn't actually do anything, I would give it to her still. Because it once meant a lot to Eratheen, and I bet it meant a lot to her as well.

Yet, I also found myself guilty of breaking a promise...

"At least I can prove it is real, my friend." I say to myself, hoping it would be enough to ease my conscience.