Indis stared down at her hands. The trees, snow and ice around her didn’t register to her mind as she inspected the roughened, calloused hands. It was still strange seeing anything other than soft, smooth skin there.

She grabbed a bunch of her hair and pulled it around to the front, hacking at the long threads until it was cut short. The damn stuff was just getting much too inconvenient. She discarded the hair, throwing it to the side as she continued trudging through the snow.

It was quite peaceful out here, any sound dampened and all signs of life hidden by the snow. For this reason, she was beginning to understand why Zalia had enjoyed living out here by herself for so long. Of course, had it been a few months prior, Indis would have hated being out here away from her people.

“My people.”

She huffed in derision at the thought. Her people indeed.

Things were different now, her point of view changed by recent events. She wanted nothing to do with people anymore. People had betrayed her, throwing her out to the figurative wolves after everything she had done for them. Disposed of her after the years of her life that she had spent fending for them, giving of herself for them.

A chittering sound came from her left and Indis spun, blasting the noise with a bolt of lightning from the sky. The crack of thunder broke the serene peace of the snow-laden land and she watched the charred remains of a bird fall the last few feet from a tree that was now splintered itself.

She slowly lowered her hands, staring at the dead bird. Even this beautiful, natural place. She ruined even this.

When she’d arrived in the north, she had gone to see if Zen would take her in. Even Zen, young, naive, innocent Zen hadn’t wanted her there. He hadn’t said that outright, of course, but she could tell from his actions that her presence bothered him. So she had left.

“Where do I belong?”

The question continued to bother her, it had ever since the day of the vote. Where was home?

Another crack of thunder shook the sky and Indis looked up to see that a storm was brewing. Had she done that?

Either way, she needed to find shelter. But where?

Snow began to fall from the sky, slowly at first. It fell down thicker as Indis pushed through the already deep snow towards who knew what. A cave, perhaps, or a hollow of some sort.

The cold didn’t bother her usually, the time she had spent in the north prior lending her enough levels in Cold Resistance that the normal climate of the north couldn’t harm her. This cold was different, somehow. She felt chilled to the bone and began to shiver violently. Lightning arced across her body as she used it to warm herself, a strange but effective use of the ability.

Her struggle was only made worse as time passed. Lightning struck again to her left, a tree exploding at its impact. She ducked by instinct as a piece of wood shot by her face, impaling another tree to her right. Snow fell so thickly now that she struggled to see more than a few metres in each direction. Where had this storm come from?

There was a sound of a wingbeat, far away. Then another.

Indis shuddered and pushed through the snow with increased desperation. The wingbeats continued, growing louder and louder. She didn’t know what was making the sound but she didn’t want to find out.

She spotted a small icy cave entrance, just ahead. Only a few more metres. Then she felt a sharp pain in her foot as she stepped on something, followed by a slight burning sensation like poison.

A shadow fell across her as the beating of wings threw the wind into a cyclone. She had to hunker down, so close to the cave, lest the wind rip her away. Staring upwards, she could only see a form so massive it blocked out the sun, the glitter of scales as lightning exploded from the body of the creature. Snow whipped around her as another wingbeat blasted the land. She cringed down even further, trying to retreat into the snow around her even as it was pushed away by the beating of the massive creature's wings.

A hand grabbed her and she reactively arced lightning across her body. She heard a grunt of pain even as the hand continued to pull, dragging her out of the storm and into the cave. The hand let go as she whipped around to fight, preparing a lightning strike for whoever dared grab her like that.

She wasn’t prepared for what she saw.

It was a man, tall but not extremely so, lanky limbs and a pair of goggles over his eyes. He wore a shirt and shorts with nothing on his feet but pieces of wood strapped by leather. The man had the appearance of someone heading for the beach during summer, not someone in the cold, snowy north.

? - Bronze rank.

“W-who the fuck are you!?”

He stood there with his hands raised, the right one slightly scorched, obviously not in the market for another blast of lightning.

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“Hey, wait, I just saw you were- -there. I didn’t mean to surprise you.”

Indis narrowed her eyes, glaring at him until he backed up another step.

She could barely hear him over the wingbeats that continued outside, though they now faded into the distance.

He gestured further into the cave saying something about tea, pulled up the goggles, then backed up and turned to walk the way he had pointed.

The storm outside was weakening, apparently a localised effect around whatever that creature had been, so she could have left then and there. Something about the man drew her in, however. Perhaps it was the loneliness she felt, or the fact that he had invited her in rather than turn her away, as so many others had. Whatever it was, she warily followed him in.

There was a faint smell to the cave, like it had once been the home of some creature and the ice that coated the walls had a slight magical sensation to it. She inched forward, limping slightly as her foot healed, the tiny bit of poison already dealt with.

Poking her head around the final corner, she found the man crouched down next to a smokeless fire that had a pot of tea heating above it. The cold of the unnatural storm was fading from her bones but the warmth of the fire called to her all the same. She hesitantly joined the man by the fire, crouching down but not sitting. If he decided to attack, she would be prepared. She wore her battle robes still, an heirloom passed down through generations within her family.

Lightning Mage’s Battle Robes (Heirloom) - Bonded Gold rank.

Tin - Slightly increase damage and slightly decrease mana use of all lightning based abilities.

Iron - Foes struck by your lightning have their resistance to lightning reduced. This effect stacks.

Bronze - Lightning based abilities become exponentially stronger the longer you channel them.

Silver - Lightning controlled by you becomes more directed, changing course to jump from enemy to enemy rather than be attracted to the ground or other inanimate objects. Additionally, your magic cannot be dispelled or subdued.

Gold - Lightning controlled by you that strikes enemies stays for longer, arcing across their body for a time before fading. Additionally, you are immune to all lightning damage.

She had worn the robes since a very young age, gifted the Gold rank heirloom by her father.

The man across from her watched her as warily as she watched him, perhaps wondering if she was going to blast again.

“My name is Hedion,” the man offered.

She paused, uncertain, then decided to introduce herself.

“I’m La… Leyra.”

She almost introduced herself as Lady Indis, but that wasn’t really her anymore, was it? Without title, lands or even the remainders of a family left to her, could she really call herself nobility?

If he noticed her hesitation, he didn’t comment on it.

“Leyra, nice to meet you. Might I ask you what you’re doing out here?”

“I could ask you the same thing.”

He shrugged.

“Fair enough. I come out here regularly to collect different herbs and alchemical components that can only be found here.”

She saw no lie in the words and trusted her own instinct in that regard. It was true that there were particular items that could only be found here and she had even collected some of them herself the last time she had been here with Zalia, Ember and Zen.

“I’m looking for something.”

He tilted his head just slightly.

“What for? I might be able to help.”

“Myself,” she thought.

“I’d rather not say.”

He shrugged, indifferent.

“Alright, want some tea?”

She stared at it.

“What’s in it?”

He looked down, then back up, obviously realising she was suspicious of it.

“A particular herb that grows a bit further north than most like to travel. When brewed like this it has long lasting warming effects on the body.”

He poured a cup and held it out to her.

“You first,” she said.

He shrugged again, then drank a bit before proffering it to her once more.

She accepted the cup but waited, holding it and allowing the warmth of the drink to seep into her unshielded hands.

“What was that thing out there?” Leyra found herself asking.

The man, Hedion, looked towards where the cave arced up and around to the surface.

“I don’t fully know. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Leyra hadn’t either. She had a feeling that it was creatures like that which stopped the Endarian’s from spreading their borders further north, with similar reasons to the south. Sometimes, she wondered just how big the world was, how much of it they would never see.

She looked back at him, trying to decide if the tea was poisoned or not and he just had a resistance to it. Why would that be the case though? It wasn’t like he had been here brewing poisonous tea in the expectation of finding someone else out here. She took a sip.

It was good, relatively tasteless but she could feel the spreading warmth radiate through her body immediately. It was comforting

“It’s quite dangerous out here,” Hedion said.

Leyra shrugged.

“So?”

He hesitated a moment.

“Well, if you are looking for something, maybe I can help you? If you’d be up for helping me out a little along the way as well. There are a few creatures here that I’d rather not fight on my own.”

She thought about it for a moment. While the thought of being alone out here with a complete stranger was not a good one, he seemed… harmless. In fact, she was entirely sure that she could defeat the man in a fight if it came to it.

Besides, what else was she doing?

Maybe she could find a place to belong here, away from the people she had once sacrificed herself for who had then rejected her.

“Alright, I’ll give it a go.”