Zalia sighed, putting down the chunk of wood. She was getting better at fine tuning her control, she could feel it. If she just kept working at it she knew she would get it eventually.

Boreal was laying on the ground nearby staring at her, having climbed down from the tree not five minutes after climbing up it. While Zalia definitely had more patience than her furry friend, she did understand how she felt. The odd eight hours they had to sit around while the others slept was quite boring. She was almost tempted to walk off and climb some trees herself but it was safer if they ensured the other two could sleep safely within the vault.

Meeting the Astar had been odd in a way that meeting the people of Endaria hadn't been. The Endarians were still human at least. These people had been odd, serene, quiet yet with an intensity about them that spoke in volume. Her own aura wasn’t something that had ever been visible to her, probably due to it being slightly reined in due to the Stealth passive and even further so with the effects of her armour.

She sighed.

“Boreal, do you have anything interesting to do?” she asked.

Boreal looked up at her, rolled over, closed her eyes and put her paw over her face.

“Alright then,” Zalia muttered.

Cheeky little cat.

She stored her chunk of wood, having given up on practicing with it for the day already.

⪼ ⪢ ℋ 𝒶𝓃𝒹 ℋ ⪡ ⪻

The next few days were spent in similar boredom, the plains and forests turning to the denser snowy forests as they entered a section of the north cold enough to sustain a coating of snow. Zalia had to work harder to keep Aylie warm yet her eyes were kept on the mountain that grew ever larger on the horizon. That was the goal of their journey, the home of Those Born of Heat and Stone and the first friend she had made in this world, Glemp.

She was the same rank as them now, though they very well might have ranked up to Silver in the time she had been away. It wouldn’t surprise her, with the amount of time they spent meticulously measuring and performing their alchemical studies was astounding. There wasn’t really much else for them to do all day though, stuck in the mountain.

She could see far, far above the mountain where the little wispy trails were left behind the wings of the flying creatures far above. She had thought them simply a formation of clouds the first time she had seen the mountain but knew them for what they were after travelling there for a short time. She also swore she saw the occasional flicker of movement on the mountaintop, though while her sight was excellent, it wasn’t quite good enough to see that far clearly.

She also noticed that Boreal often looked up at the wispy trails as well. Zalia wondered if she remembered the creatures that had taken her mother from her, the large birds that breathed ice, the ones responsible for the trails of clouds.

It was another two days before they finally reached the mountain, yet some odd sights she had seen from afar were confirmed as they did.

Along the outside of the mountain, many various structures had popped up. They looked to be made of obsidian, formed as if the flowing lava had cooled into the shape by design. That was very likely, considering the abilities of the race of people that lived inside. They also apparently lived outside the mountain now too, as she saw forms move between the structures along winding paths. There were also the odd streams of lava that flowed through the air behind the people moving along the mountain face.

Her astonishment at the new buildings was overcome by further surprise as they made it to the entrance she remembered. Well, it was definitely not as she remembered, that was for sure.

Where there had once been a smooth invisible door, sealed from the inside by stone bars that the people within controlled with their powers, there was now a fortress. High obsidian walls with towers atop, the crenellation spiked and the wall face rippling. It was a daunting sight, one she might have reconsidered approaching if she didn’t already know the people who lived inside.

“That’s a little different,” she murmured, staring from the edge of the forest towards the fortress.

It seemed that without the ice elementals scaring them away from the surface, Those Born of Heat and Stone were more than willing to spread their wings as it were.

“Just a little,” Ember agreed.

Aylie just shivered a little and Zalia helped warm her up, pulling the heat dissipating from her body and pushing it back into her body. Like a magical blanket.

“Well, we should go up and knock right?” Zalia suggested.

“Why would we knock?” Ember asked in confusion.

“So they know we’re there.”

“Why don’t we just yell at them?”

“... We could do that too,” Zalia conceded.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

She left the treeline and walked towards the walls. It was getting a little tiresome having to enter through all these walled fortresses as of late, but that was what happened when everything went to shit, demons roamed the lands and the world was being killed piece by piece.

“Hey, we would like to enter!” Zalia called up.

A little hooded head popped over the wall, looking down at her.

As the other three stepped up beside Zalia, the large gates began to glow slightly. They then swung open and a torrent of lava flowed from the entrance, forming a jagged wall around them. A dozen Heat and Stone denizens rushed out after it, each of them chanting in unison and controlling their own streams of lava. Then, to her surprise, six humans ran out and formed a shield wall, slowly approaching with spears pointed fowards.

Not having missed the little squeak Aylie had let out at the surprise, Zalia instinctively put a comforting arm around her head and shoulder, pulling her close.

“Um,” Zalia managed to get out.

“We really mean no harm!” Ember called.

“From where do you come?” one of the women in the shield wall called out.

“We’ve come from the rebellions war camp some distance east of the capital. I’m looking for a friend here, Glemp is their name. Have you heard of them?” Zalia asked.

The humans said nothing as some of the Heat and Stone denizens began chattering amongst themselves in that language Zalia didn’t understand. Then, one of them came forwards, lava still flowing around them.

“Have heard, yes. I will bring, yes, straight away,” they said.

“Ahh, ok, sounds good,” Zalia agreed.

She waited as the one that had talked ran off. The others stood still in formation, six humans in front and the Heat and Stone denizens split to either side.

“So, what exactly are other humans doing here?” Ember asked.

“We’re here for our own reasons. Surely you’ve noticed what the hell is happening in Endaria,” one of them said.

“We have,” Zalia said.

“Hey, do any of you know a Zen, by chance?” Ember asked.

There was silence for a long while, until the woman who had spoken first spoke up again.

“How do you know that name?” she asked.

Zalia’s heart skipped a beat. That was almost a confirmation.

Ember took a step forward.

“He is our friend, part of our team, once. Is he here? I can’t believe we didn’t think to look here when we were trying to find him. Of course he would have brought his family to somewhere safe,” she rambled, lost in her own thoughts.

As she took that step forward however, Zalia could see that the entire contingent of… soldiers in front of them tensed.

“Hey Ember, just relax a minute yeah? If he is here, he’s waited this long,” she said carefully.

Ember finally seemed to snap back to reality.

“Right, yeah.”

Soon, the Heat and Stone denizen that had run off came back, with another figure in tow. A figure Zalia remembered quite well.

Glemp - Silver rank.

“Glemp!” she called out.

“Zalia? No, no no no. I was told of your fall, yes, not alive,” Glemp said, walking up past the other Heat and Stone denizens.

“Very alive, actually. Come on, you know me better than that!” she said.

“Yes, if one was to perform something quite unlikely, yes, you would be them,” Glemp agreed, walking all the way up to her.

“Can we come in, then?” Zalia asked.

“Mmm, possible. Your hand, yes,” Glemp said, gesturing.

She hesitated, took her arm from Aylie’s shoulder and held it out palm up.

“What is this abou-” she started, “Ow fuck!”

Glemp had drawn a jagged obsidian blade and drawn it across her hand in a sharp gesture, staring into her eyes as they did so. Her healing quickly took care of the wound but she still shook her hand vigorously.

“What the hell?” she asked.

“Yes, not one of them. Real, yes, very real,” Glemp said.

She could hear their tone change from wary to warm, a little wobble in their voice. Had they missed her that much?

The thought brought warmth to her heart, so much so that she ignored the oddity of being stabbed and put her hand gently on her friend's shoulder.

“Of course I am, I wouldn’t die without saying goodbye first,” she said warmly.

Glemp let out a little clicking laugh and the other humans and Heat and Stone denizens let down their guard. She’d passed some kind of test.

“I’m a cousin of Zen's. I'll take you to him. I’ve heard quite a lot about you lot, though I didn’t dare believe it was actually you. From what he said, you’re meant to be dead Zalia,” the woman who had first spoken called over.

“A cousin!” Zalia exclaimed.

She didn’t know Zen had cousins.

“One of many, come on I’ll show you the way,” she said, gesturing for her to follow.

? - Iron rank.

While she wasn’t Bronze rank, the woman seemed to hold her weapon with practiced ease. A result of good training, or so Zalia thought.

She led their whole group through the cave entrance, one that Zalia remembered well, into the mountain. Aylie let out a sigh of relief at the warmth inside, actually going so far as to take off the thick jacket she wore as it got too hot. They were led up through winding passages until they came out of the mountain to the buildings on its side. Zalia gave a light laugh as Aylie had to put her jacket back on.

Around the mountain a short way, single file along a winding path, they were led to one particular building that was much larger than most. Zen’s cousin led them inside to a bustling hive of activity. There were at least ten people in the main room, some cooking, others cleaning, a few seated about. One older-looking fellow that reminded Zalia of Zen was sitting in the corner, working on a piece of leather with a thick needle and twine.

The person that brought Zalia’s attention almost immediately after catching all that, and kept it, was Zen. He was sitting on a chair with a young child that he was rocking to sleep.