Zalia was sitting on one of Glemp’s benches watching them work. It looked to her like they were trying to recreate whatever experiment they had been working on that she had destroyed the day before.
They were due to leave today but Zalia didn’t want to go without saying goodbye.
“I’m sorry for knocking that over yesterday.”
“No, no worries are needed. Not the most of import, no."
Zalia sighed.
“Well, I’m glad I didn’t ruin anything.”
Glemp put down what they were working on and turned to her.
“I know you do not like that we will not join you but you must understand, yes, that we need to stay here."
“You… must stay here?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Glemp looked at her for a long time, their eyes flicking between both of hers.
“Come.”
Zalia furrowed her brow, following the much shorter Glemp out of their workshop.
“What are you showing me?”
It was a few minutes of walking before they replied.
“You need only see to understand, yes.”
Oddly, they took her on a path that she recognised. The last time she had left the mountain Glemp had taken her down to the very bottom to grab some of the plant that was Flame-root before she had. Now, however, she could create as much of the plant as she wanted simply by growing it herself. They started descending down the stairs to the floor-level chamber.
“I didn’t see anything strange last time we went down here,”
“You did not know how to look, no.”
“I did not know how to look…”
Last time Glemp had taken her down there they had said it was for a gift, or something of the likes. She had assumed that meant the Flame-root, but had it really been for something different? Had they been testing her?
They both stepped up to the little doorway before the chamber and once again Zalia felt the heat from being this close to the lava source. It was significantly cooler than the last time she had been there though, a result of her Heat resistance being so much higher in rank rather than the actual temperature being lower.
Rather than ask what Glemp wanted her to see, a question she felt they would not answer, she tried to look closely into the chamber.
At first, she saw nothing out of the ordinary. The pits of lava were calm and still, Flame-root grew out of the stone and the air shimmered with heat.
It was odd, not like she would expect a volcano to be like but she didn’t really know how the laws and forces of nature worked in a world of magic. She knew enough to know that natural ecosystems formed their own sort of balance by the magic emanating from them. A place of nature was self sustaining.
As she watched, she slowly came to understand what Glemp had brought her here for.
“Is… is one of the spirits in there?”
Glemp nodded.
“Like the starlight wolf?”
“The wolf has visited before, yes, like the wolf."
It made sense to her then. The starlight wolf had said that the older gods, spirits, of nature were slowly becoming that which they encompassed in their power. This one must have been a spirit of fire and stone, something of the sorts.
She could see and feel it now, a vague aura that was almost indistinguishable from the heat permeating the mountain. A force of nature, strong as the mountain it stood within, its heat creating the home in which Glemp’s people lived… perhaps even making Glemp’s people themselves.
They had said they were formed from Heat and Stone, just as their name states. She had never questioned that, assuming it to be themselves who created new Heat and Stone denizens. What if it was the powerful spirit that lived here who did that?
“Why were your people made Glemp?”
Glemp looked up at her with unblinking red eyes.
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“Why? No why. No, no no there is no why except the why we make ourselves."
Despite the revelation, it made a sort of sense to Zalia. They had always been more… in touch with nature than the other races, even the Bathar. They were unified in purpose, as if each Heat and Stone denizen was only part of a greater whole. Perhaps that metaphor wasn’t so much metaphorical as literal. Perhaps they literally were part of a greater whole.
“May… may I speak to it?”
“You already are."
“Then, why, why really, won’t you join the war?” she whispered.
“We are the heat and the stone, yes. We do not take part in wars or politics. No, no we are a force of nature, not an army to be commanded. You may take refuge in the heat and stone but the heat and stone will not rise to fight at your bidding, Druid. Not yet, at least.”
The voice came from Glemp, except, it wasn’t Glemp. The voice was different, deeper, much deeper. The voice grated and flowed, its timbre somehow both rough and smooth.
“Not yet?” she thought.
“Then… will you rise to fight at another time?”
“You listen but you do not understand. We are a force, Zalia of the Druids, not a being to be bargained with.”
Her brows furrowed, an anger burning within her much like the lava in the pits.
“Then will you let those demons invade this world and destroy all nature?” she snapped.
“We can not simply stand up and stop them, it is not in our nature. Stone moves slowly, over hundreds, thousands of years. Do not think of us as callous or cruel, Zalia of the Druids. We simply are as we are. We have been so since the beginning and we shall be till the end."
“Then is there nothing you can do? Nothing you will give to aid in this fight other than refuge for those who cannot?”
There was silence then. A minute, two, passed before they spoke again. Slowly indeed.
“Bring the one you call Ember to me. Her namesake is that of heat and her morals are of stone, solid and unyielding. Protective of those in her care and a fiery demise to those who oppose her. We will grant a blessing. We can give no more than this.”
A blessing. Another blessing, that was. She was pretty sure these blessings were an extreme rarity yet was about to witness her fourth one. No one had disturbed these spirits of nature for a long, long time however so that might be having an impact on events.
“I… I will. I will return shortly.”
Zalia turned about and dashed up the stairs.
She sprinted her way up through the mountain, past Heat and Stone denizens that had greeted her with hostility when she had first entered this mountain but now treated her with respect at best, indifference at worst. Up she went until she burst out onto the mountainside where the houses built for refugees were placed.
She wasn’t sure why they were built out here in the cold and not the warmth within but now was not the time for such questions.
She exploded into Zen’s house and her eyes quickly found Ember’s.
Ember's expression turned to one of worry and there was an edge to her voice.
“What’s wrong?”
Zalia wasn't even slightly out of breath despite the run.
“Nothing, come, I’ll explain."
As Ember joined her, she moved back towards the mountain with an urgent step, though walking so she could explain.
As she did, Ember listened attentively and said not a word until Zalia told her that the spirit wanted to bless her.
“Bless me!?”
“Yes.”
“I... don’t know how to feel about that,” Ember murmured.
“Will you turn it down?”
“Is that an option?”
“Of course, I honestly don’t think the spirit will care either way."
Ember's step slowed for but a moment, confusion obvious on her face.
“Then why is it doing this?”
Zalia had been wondering that herself.
“I think, despite its many assurances otherwise, there is a little bit of… a person in there. Whoever or whatever that spirit was before, it has returned to the nature and power it was born from but I think a little bit of its self remains yet."
“And… is it safe for me to accept this blessing?”
“I think if it meant to harm us, it could do so very easily whether we consent or not. I’ve felt the aura of a being similar and I’m certain it could have been rid of us at any time we were in its mountain.”
“That was before you bothered it though."
Zalia didn’t respond. She knew Ember wasn’t wrong about that.
“Look, I know the starlight wolf sent us up here for a reason. I thought that reason was Zen and partly it is but maybe it knew I might have a chance of convincing this spirit to help. It told me that a few of the other nature spirits would rather be rid of humans than help them but I feel it would have told us if this was one of them. Besides, why would it allow all these refugees here if it didn’t care and want to help in some way?”
“Alright, those are good points. I’ll accept it. Anything that can help fend off this invasion is good,” Ember agreed as she moved down the steps behind Zalia,” besides, can’t let you hoard all the blessings, can I?”
Ember chuckled but Zalia could hear the nervousness in it so she turned around and took both of Ember's hands, giving her an assuring smile.
“Look, it's going to be alright. The blessings I have gotten so far have been beyond helpful and have most likely kept me alive. Besides, you might finally get that heirloom armour you wanted so bad."
Ember smiled back.
“Well, now that you mention that, what are we waiting for?”
Zalia dropped Ember’s hands and they dashed off again.
It wasn’t long before they reached the bottom, Glemp still waiting for them there.
“Are you ready?”
Ember, still wearing her armour, looked nervously at Zalia.
“Yes."
“Then let us begin.”
A warm glow began to emanate from Ember as a halo of light formed around her.