She knelt and tightened the laces with conviction. While the shoes were stiff and tight after years going barefoot in the grove, these shoes could be filled with shards of glass for all comfort mattered in this moment.

She snatched up the travel jacket, tossing it over her shoulder and hurried to the main atrium, tripping over her shoes as she went.

She found Zaramir there, working on a complex ritual sigil. There were two stuffed travel packs propped against the window overlooking the maze.

He didn’t look up from his work, sensing her presence or perhaps having heard her ungraceful shuffling on the way there, “I’m nearly done with the sigil. Grab the candles.” He instructed, nodding a head toward the table.

She obliged by grabbing an armful of candles, unlike the ones used for the last ritual, these were a deep purple, matching the sigil he was drawing on the floor, “These are a different color.” She noted aloud.

He gave an affirming nod, “They’re a different alchemical composition. These ritual candles aren’t normal candles, like the last ones were. Without you having the necessary runebinds, this ritual will require sacrificial components. In our case those candles are made from the tallow of Pauper’s Grave Swine. These wax charcoals are as well.”

She held the candles away from her body. Pauper’s Grave Swine; Pigs fed the bodies of the poor and unknown. Their flesh was only used as alchemical ingredients like these, but if at all possible would be substituted for less dour inclusions.

Zaramir stood up, “There, the sigil is complete. I trust you remember where to place those.”

She swiftly placed the candles at the intersections of lines, getting them out of her hands as quickly as possible and Zaramir lit them nearly as quickly.

“Before we leave,” Zaramir told her as the candles began burning down, filling the room with a sickly sweetness. “You should be made aware of some effects of ritual travel. Travel like this is typically reserved for great distances or, in our case, travel in and out of temporal pockets.”

He began snuffing out the candles that were burnt to the point they needed to be, “When you get back to space where time moves usually, you’ll feel some unpleasant side effects. But don’t worry, it will be uncomfortable but not life threatening. I have to admit, I don’t know how intense they may be. Kyrian would leave the maze frequently, at least once a week, so his body often didn’t receive much temporal shock, but you’ve been trapped here… How long was it?”

“I’m not sure,” She replied, trying to recall the number of seasons that had passed. “It’s hard to keep track. Around 50 years I would guess.”

“In that case, I can theorize that the temporal shock would be great, but I can’t promise how much so. I’ve had to leave at most once every few years and it’s a bit exhausting, but I don’t need to remind you that we have very different magical compositions. Nothing in my study indicates it would cause any permanent damage, but you have to know that I can say with near absolute certainty it will be unpleasant.” He finished with the candles. “Are you ready?”

She nodded, feeling concerned but not afraid. If he said it wouldn’t be permanent, there’s nothing to worry about. Right?

He headed to the center of the sigil, “Put on your jacket and stand here.” He indicated the spot in front of him within the central most shape of the sigil.

She pulled on the coat, feeling immediately too warm. As she crossed to the place he’d shown her, he grabbed the travel packs and placed them within the shape they stood in.

There was very little space within the center of the sigil, “Turn around.” he instructed.

She turned to face away from him, and felt his hands on her shoulders. He pulled her closer, so her entire body was within the central most shape of the sigil. The space was so tight, that her shoulders brushed his chest.

“Alright, don't move, keep your arms close to your body” he instructed.

She held perfectly still as he spoke words in a language she didn't understand. The candles relit, burning down to the sigil line instantly, the flames catching the wax line ablaze in purple flame. She felt no heat, but could see the room beyond melting and morphing in front of her vision. Then, as quickly as it started, it was over and they were elsewhere.

She didn’t have time to examine her surroundings as her legs buckled underneath her. All the blood went straight to her head. Her neck and shoulders ached from the sudden shift in pressure. Her stomach felt full of fire, scalding the bottom of her ribs and up her throat. Her heart felt as though it had been wrung like a wet rag.

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Arms wrapped around her, catching her in her fall, and lowering her slowly to the ground as she desperately tried to catch her breath, cold sweat forming all over her body. Her vision was blurred.

She felt hands grasp hers and sudden relief radiated up her arms and across her body. She took a much needed deep breath as everything came back into focus.

She had been caught by Zaramir as she collapsed, her body reseted against his. They were both sitting uncomfortably on a gravel road in the middle of unfamiliar woods.

“Did that recovery spell work?” He questioned, his hand still grasping hers.

He pushed herself off him, “Yes. Thank You.” She muttered awkwardly as she stood up, legs unsteady.

“I realize now I didn't give quite enough warning as to what temporal shock would entail, I apologize.” He released her hand, standing up brushing the road dust from the back of his pants.

“Hey there!” A sudden voice called. She turned around quickly, her eyes going wide as she spotted him. A human. An old man, a farmer, but he might as well have been the king for how grateful she was to see him.

He hobbled up to them with his simply carved walking stick, kicking up dust with each strike into the ground.

“Are you alright? I saw you take that tumble.” Deep wrinkles formed at the corners of his eyes from years of happiness as he offered a sympathetic smile.

She was at a loss for words. The first human she’d seen in 50 years, between this and her recoverish shock of temporal travel, her lips wouldn’t form words.

Luckily Zaramir was in no such shock and a cover story came easily to him, “My apologies, I slipped on the gravel and I'm afraid I took her down with me. I’m fine. Are you, Miss Cora?”

His question shook her out of her dazed wonderment, “Yes. Yes, I’m fine,” She replied, turning to the old man with a grin so wide it probably frightened him. “Thank you for asking.”

“Good to hear.” He replied, his smile wavering ever so slightly in response to her uncomfortable attentiveness. “I must go but good luck on your travels.”

“You as well, sir.” Corabelle called behind him as he hobbled off in the opposite direction around the curve of the path. \

She turned to Zaramir, “He didn’t see us just appear out of nowhere?” She questioned.

“I incorporated a distortion field into the ritual. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary to him.” He answered. “But I wasn’t just asking for his benefit. Are you truly alright now? Because we have a long journey to the next major city and it would be inconvenient to have to collapse halfway there.” There was a teasing tone in his voice, but it was overshadowed by a seriousness hiding behind his nonchalant features.

“Just a bit tired, but I'll wake right up as we walk.” She replied honestly with a smile she hoped was reassuring. “Where are we going by the way?”

“We’re heading down the southern coast, I’ll check with the registry of the Houses of Magic and if we’re lucky I’ll be able to find one that had a recent disaster with fire magic. That would be the easiest place to find a fire elemental.” He replied picking up the packs off the ground. “If that doesn’t pan out we’ll have to get more creative in our search. Now we should get moving so we reach the kingdom by nightfall.”

She took one of the packs from him before he could protest, slinging it on to her back, “Well we should get going then.”

The air smelled of evergreen as they walked. She inhaled deep breaths of the cool, fresh aroma. The trees stretched beautifully long, though not very pronounced, shadows over the path, muted by the thin grey clouds blanketing the sky. The breeze was cool and crisp. There wasn’t a hint of death in the air. Species of bird she hadn’t heard in decades sung off in the distance. The last remaining insects of the warm seasons chirped around them.

A dazzling blue butterfly fluttered past. Butterflies never lived long in the maze; Drawn to the blazing flowers and quickly incarcerated, like many insects that found their way into the deadly domain.

She had to refrain from following it off into the woods as it disappeared into the trees. Somewhere off to her left she could hear a quickly rushing river.

She’d missed the sounds of nature, normal nature. She’d missed truly fresh air. She’d missed trees like this. Not hedges, not an artificially created landscape. It was an gloomy day, and the air felt like rain, but it was still the nicest day she’d experienced in ages.

The day seemed to go by so quickly. The sun crossed overhead and the sky was darkening with approaching dusk before she knew it. Rain started to fall as the grey clouds took on an orange tint with sunset, chilling the air further. Each gust of wind that blew up the sleeves of her coat made her shiver.

“I think we should find somewhere to stop for the night.” Zaramir stated unexpectedly.

“Don’t you want to get to the kingdom today?” She questioned, rubbing the chill from her arms.

“I was hoping we would but, with the rain, it’s only going to get colder as the sun goes down.”

In spite of the cold, she was slightly disappointed. This was the first nice rain that didn’t come with crippling lightning she’d seen in a long time as well, “Do you know somewhere nearby?”

“There’s a village not far from here. If I recall they have a tavern with a few rooms available to rent out for the night. We can stay there.”

“If you’d like, but I could keep going and we could get to the kingdom.” She offered.

“I think it would be best to get out of the rain.”

She tucked her freezing finger into her sleeves, “Alright then. Lead the way.”