Running through the embering forest, I did my best to ignore the look on Renn’s face that was stuck in my mind.

She had looked terrified. Shocked. Hurt.

Why…?

Because once again our people were in danger…?

Because I had not invited her to join me?

Was she upset I had not kissed her goodbye…?

“Vim…!” I chastised myself as I leapt over a charred log. It didn’t have any flames upon it, but the heat it was radiating stung my lungs as I breathed the air around it in.

As I landed back onto the hard ground covered in ash, I kicked up burning cinders as I picked up my pace.

I wasn’t far now. A few hours and I’d reach their mountain. The little groove with a small waterfall, and trees with huge roots. The type that made traversing even a trodden path difficult.

Glancing at the burning, and burnt, trees around me as I ran… I realized those trees and their roots were likely gone now.

This fire had been thorough. The few trees still standing were only charred remains. Most had already fallen over, too brittle even after being scoured.

As I ran through smoke and flames, I found my mind drifting back to Renn and her expression.

That look confounded me. It bothered me. Far more than I should be allowing it.

But why…? What had happened? What had been wrong? Had this fire reminded her of something? Had someone said something that I hadn’t heard? I had been noticing that lately I’ve been a little… distracted.

I’ve always been a little inattentive. Even from my youth. But it’s gotten worse. I’ve noticed that I’ve even ignored Renn on a few occasions, getting lost in thought and…

A huge tree collapsed in a billow of smoke and ash in front of me. I didn’t hesitate nor slow as I ran right through. I jumped over the larger trunk, and through the thicker branches still burning. They cracked and shattered as if made of glass as I ran through them, scattering the fires and embers all over in the process.

Maybe I was just getting old. Too old. I mean… I was. Even I didn’t know how old I was anymore.

Maybe that was what was wrong with me. My exhaustion. Wounds reopening without reason. My mind going dull occasionally.

Maybe I was just growing old.

I scoffed and regretted it as hot ash filled my lungs. I groaned as I slowed a tad in my running, as my lungs immediately began to heal and expunge the burnt flesh and smoke. I spent a good few dozen steps spitting out clumps of blood and flesh.

See? I knew better than to inhale while inside a fire. This always happened when I did. It was annoying, not to mention it hurt and made everything taste like burnt toast for weeks and…

I picked up my pace as my lungs stopped protesting, or rather I got used to it, and I made sure not to take anymore deep breaths for awhile. I could force my lungs to adapt, by taking many long deep breaths, but it was a painful process and all it would do is cause me to have to have them adapt again once I entered a breathable location… which… well…

Should be soon…?

I frowned as I ran through a patch of not yet burned thickets and briars. They were smoldering, but not aflame or ash. The large pocket of green amidst the red and black of the world was an odd sight. I did my best to round the edges of the pocket of undamaged nature, but wasn’t able to completely. It was large enough that rounding it completely would have added miles to the distance I needed to run.

Running through the still alive, but dry, bushes and shrubs, I wondered how big this fire was.

I’d been running for what felt like an hour or two already. And at this pace that was quite a distance. Especially since thanks to the fire the land was relatively easy to traverse. What few things, like this current patch of nature I was in, that still existed weren’t enough to really slow me down or hinder me.

I was at least two mountains away from where I’d left Renn and the others. Likely the equivalent of many days worth of travel for Renn and I when walking leisurely. I was likely fifty or more miles into this inferno, yet I was still surrounded by flames and smoke.

Leaving the patch of un-burnt nature, I returned to running through charred trees and smoldering grass and shrubs.

I knew forest fires, under the right conditions, could move quickly. Some could spread as fast as I could run. So I wasn’t surprised to have ran so far, and still be engulfed in flames or surrounded by still burning trees.

But I was surprised over the fact that it felt as if the fire was still in its prime.

Usually during fires such as this, once you delved deep enough into them, you started encountering pockets without such flames. Large sections, either already burnt, or like that patch of nature behind me. Places that the flames just seemingly ignore, or simply haven’t gotten to yet.

Yet that had been the first and only patch I’d seen so far.

As if this fire had some kind of accelerant or something. Which… really shouldn’t be possible. At all.

I slowed a little as I noticed movement ahead of me.

A pair of large deer were running. Bounding over burning bushes and through the flames. I watched them for a moment before picking up my pace. They left my sight rather quickly, thanks to my speed and the fact we were heading different directions.

Hadn’t mother told me a story about deers in a fire? Or was it a fox?

The next hour of my running was filled with me trying to remember the story that those fleeing animals had reminded me of. I failed to do so, but it at least kept my mind off Renn and that blasted expression.

Really. What was I going to do with her?

I suppose I could ask her. Thanks to her precise memory she’d likely remember full well her emotions, thoughts, and everything else about that moment. I could ask her why once I saw her again. She’d probably smile at me as she remembered and retold it to me.

I liked that idea. She’d likely find it very heartwarming that I’d want to know such a thing. Hopefully whatever had given birth to that expression hadn’t been anything too bad…

Though who knows how long it’d be until I saw her again as to ask such a thing.

I slowed as I neared a large river. One that split a blaze of strong fires in two, but not entirely. Some trees had collapsed and fallen thanks to the fires, and landed in the river. Some of them were so hot that they still burnt even while in the river. All up and down the river, when I could see it through the smoke, I could make out patches of sizzling steam and boiling water. From what were basically now coals being dumped into it, by the embering logs.

Stepping up to the side of the river, I tried to remember where I was. Their home had been near a river, but it had also been near a small waterfall. An inlet type of grove, sandwiched between too large mountain steeps. The kind that were too heavily wooded and rocky for humans to even go near, let alone cross or ascend.

Right now though I could not see those mountains. Thanks to the fires and smoke.

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But…

Staring down at the fast moving water, I studied the debris within it. Most of the river looked oddly clear and clean, as if completely unbothered by the chaos around it. But there were the occasional chunk of debris, or splotches of black ash, that passed by as to remind oneself that even such a pure river could be tainted by the fires around it.

The water was flowing to my right. Downward a little.

I was off. Likely thanks to my mind wandering as I ran. I should have approached their home from the east, not the south.

No matter.

I was going to leap over the river, but paused a moment as I glanced down at my body.

Patches of my clothes were now frayed and singed. A few were burning lightly even now.

Right.

Stepping into the river, I quickly submerged myself as I simply walked across it. It was indeed a fast moving river, and surprisingly cold. But that was likely because of how hot the air was, not because the river itself was genuinely cold right now.

It didn’t take long for me to cross the river by walking along its bottom, and upon exiting the river and stepping back onto burnt ground I re-entered the flames.

My now soaked clothes and body sizzled as I ran through them, running somewhat along the river, upwards towards its source. I knew if I followed it until I reached small ponds, basically little lakes, I’d be able to turn and then quickly find their village.

Hopefully I’d not find them, though. I was close enough now that I knew there was very likely no chance that their home hadn’t already been ravished by the flames.

Hopefully they had escaped. But where to? It can’t have been too far. This fire was likely only a few days old at best. But they likely wouldn’t have gone to any of the nearby human settlements…

If they had not gone to any of the nearby towns, I’d likely be very hard pressed to find them. Their family was a small one. Five people, or was it six? Plus they could blend in with humans if they needed to, as well, even though they didn’t like humans at all.

They did believe in the same religion as those in Telmik, though, so they might eventually head that way… maybe…

Running through some larger trees, that weren’t burning too strongly, I finally found the first of the many ponds I remembered from my prior visits.

They looked strangely tiny surrounded by fire and smoke, but I chalked that up to the lack of density around them. This area used to be full of foliage, and most if not all of those thick roots that extruded above ground were mostly gone too.

Running along the pools, I eventually reached what could only be the remains of a massive tree. It was smoldering something fierce, with great heaps of black smoke billowing from it. Odds are there were pockets of sap burning within it, and doing a mighty fine job of it too.

I rounded the tree and tried to recreate my steps. From the pools, to the large tree, to…

Here.

I squinted through the smoke, with burning eyes, and saw the first sign of something man-made.

Or well. Bison made.

A half burnt fence, only still visible thanks to the metal spikes that had held it up, surrounded a… strangely not as burning farm as I had expected.

A few of the buildings still stood, though had already been swept by the fire. The wooden walls and that still stood were charred and smoking. Their roofs had collapsed inward, and...

Stepping past the fence, through what had been a large pasture… I came to a dead stop in the center of fresh grass.

I stared down at the large circle of untouched grass. It was at least fifty or so feet wide, and it was strangely eerie how the grass went from fresh and green to burnt and black, or no grass at all, just beyond the circle.

“Baren!” I shouted loudly as I studied the circle.

How was this possible? Patches of undamaged grass, even trees, were to be expected. I had ran through a few on the way here. I had indeed thought it odd how few there were, but…

Stepping out of the circle, I did my best not to think too deeply about how perfect the circle was. Not a blade of grass was out of place. It was as if someone had erected some kind of dome over this section, and not only had not the fires been able to penetrate it… neither had the ash or smoke. There wasn’t even a hint of burnt ash upon the grass either.

I forced my attention away from the uncanny circle and stepped towards the buildings. The ones still standing, and the ones completely collapsed into rubble.

“Baren! Klamma!” I shouted louder, even though to do so I had to take a deep breath. My irritated lungs and throat were paid no heed as I continued to shout their names.

A part of me wanted to hear them respond… but most of me hoped they wouldn’t.

They weren’t the brightest of people, but they had been good and stout. Hardy. Klamma especially. She had endured hardship before. She and her family should have noticed the danger before it had approached, and acted appropriately… I honestly had little doubt that Klamma had kept her family safe. She has kept them safe for hundreds of years thanks and…

As I continued to shout loudly, I entered the second largest building. The home. It had been a single story house, but the roof had been thick and heavy. It had collapsed inward, in typical burning down fashion, and so I could only enter to a certain point. It wasn’t actively on fire, but there were still sections smoking and it was of course very hot.

Looking around the home, I studied the debris. The charred remnants of a house and searched not just for the remains of people but…

I shifted as I kicked over a large beam. It cracked and pushed aside as to give me more space. It billowed up a plume of smoke and ash, but I ignored it as I stepped through it and deeper into the smoldering house.

“Damn,” I coughed.

There didn’t seem to be any obvious bodies, not even bones, but there was definitely the remnants of personal affects. Clothes. Bedding. Dressers and other such furniture were half burnt through, and their remaining forms told me that they had likely been full at the time of their burning.

So if the bison family had escaped, they hadn’t had the time to take much of their stuff it seemed.

Which was worrying. Forest fires could indeed spread quickly, especially an inferno like this, but these weren’t humans. The would have smelled it on the wind no matter how fast it had approached…

I quickly left the building and went to the largest building nearby. The barn had utterly collapsed around itself, with only one section of a single wall still standing. It was the only building still burning, and I tried to smell through the smoke and hot air for any signs of the smell of burnt meat.

All I smelled was charred ash. My nose was useless at the moment. Though as I breathed it’d not be long until I adjusted and…

Pausing a moment to scan the collapsed barn, I was glad to not see any obvious remains of farm animals.

Maybe they had escaped to safety then, if they had freed their livestock before doing so. If the fire had approached so rapidly that it had overtaken them, you’d think there would have been animal corpses in the barn too and…

A heavy huff drew my attention away from the barn. It hadn’t come from me, and it had been rather distinguishable. I stepped out of the rubble and frowned at the sight of a massive bison.

The huge animal slowly walked over to the circle patch of fresh grass, and I shivered a little at the odd absurdity of the sight.

A bison. Standing in a circle of fresh, healthy, grass… surrounded by smoldering ruins and a forest fire.

Walking over to the large creature as it lowered to the ground and sat down, I wondered where it had been. Its massive frame looked relatively unharmed, all things considered, but some of its thick and shaggy hair looked singed and burnt.

“You should have ran, plains dweller,” I said to it as I patted its mighty shoulder. It was larger than most, even as it settled down onto the fresh grass it was still almost as tall as me.

It paid me practically no heed as it lowered its mighty head, but not to graze. It instead let out a really heavy sigh of relief, and I realized the sad fact that it was likely suffocating, and its lungs had likely been damaged. It was wheezing heavily, and it sounded very strained even for a creature of its size.

I glanced around at the surrounding fires and burnt forest, and wondered how far away it had been. Maybe it had been lying nearby and heard me shouting? It most likely had.

Klamma and her family did indeed tend bison, but they were not farm animals. They were wild grazers, who they only tended from a distance. They didn’t keep them in pens or barns.

Honestly if it didn’t die of suffocation, it might just live through this. Most of the denser stuff around here had already long been burnt. The fires that were left were small patches, and not as intense. The air quality was the more pressing concern here. If it remained in this little patch of grass overnight or for a day or two, and got lucky, it might just survive…

Where had been the well? Between the barn and house, right? I couldn’t see it. I couldn’t remember if I had helped them build it with stone or wood, but it didn’t matter. Odds are I’d not find a bucket around here, but maybe I’d be lucky and the bucket inside the well was still intact. If it was I’d be able to leave this creature with at least a few gulps before I left.

I’ll do so after checking the rest of the buildings and the surrounding areas first. To just be sure. I didn’t think they were here. I had not seen any bodies, not even the burnt remains of their livestock. If I was lucky my hopes would be proven right, and Klamma and her family had escaped.

Though…

Glancing down, and around me and the creature, I once again felt uncomfortable at the sight of the perfect circle of fresh grass.

Just how had this come to be? Even if I created some kind of fountain sprinkler, would it have protected grass like this from such a raging fire? I understood small patches surviving out of pure happenstance, but such a perfect circle…? While surrounded by burnt ash?

The bison let out a deep groan of a noise. One of discomfort.

I wanted to make a similar sound, and not just because of the situation.

Patting the beast, I sighed.

“I had wanted to find bison, but not in this form.”