Gravin was nervous.

The salamander was fairly difficult to disturb, generally speaking. His moist orange skin might not have been tough literally speaking, but he was hard to rile in a more metaphorical sense. Long, nimble fingers laced between each other, he worriedly licked his left eyeball. Without looking, he asked his companion, "They are all prepared to leave, correct?"

Calava nodded serenely, pointing at the cluster of humans milling around near the Falls. "They are here as promised, Gravin. They know how dangerous it would be to stay, after all. Why would they wish to stay?"

It was a good point. Brimtown made for an interesting place to visit, at least when the flows of lava streaming over and around the valley enabled it. The fire salamanders living here were most often hermits, choosing to stay within the dome protecting them from the world when they could, but the sole passage to either enter or exit Brimtown was a tunnel, one almost always blocked by the perpetual lava flows emerging from the volcano. On the rare occasion it opened up, the salamanders cast their magicks to keep it that way for as long as possible. The ancient dome never allowed for longer than a day and a half or so.

It was through these 'tourists' that the race of salamanders received most of their news. They were uninterested in politics as a rule, seeing as it could be decades before the Falls opened back up again and whatever changes in the ruling class would be obsolete by the time Brimtown was exposed to the outside world again. No, they were far more interested in the practices of magic that evolved over time, the methods of farming and harvesting (especially in their relatively hostile environment) crops, and of course any literary works that could survive the harsh temperatures and air conditions present in Brimtown.

Gravin was worried because the salamancers' spell had mere minutes left before it dissipated, and then it'd be at least a decade before anyone who wasn't a master in pyromancy would be able to get in or out. And for some reason, these normal and frankly squishy humans were simply... waiting. Chatting to each other as though they had all the time in the world.

It used to be that people would come in, do their business, and leave. Not these humans, though. No, they seemed comfortable letting the seconds tick down and give themselves the absolute maximum amount of time possible in Brimtown.

With a sigh, Gravin whispered to Calava, "I can't stand this. Pardon my forwardness, but my patience tires of their arrogance." Straightening his robes, he approached the small crowd of humans. Raising his voice and adding a slight hiss to garner extra attention, he called, "Anyone not possessing a tail must leave immediately. The Falls will be closing soon."

A burly man wearing a decent suit of armor walked forward, head bowed respectfully. "My apologies, lord salamander. Three of our number are missing."

It was at times like these when Gravin wished he had teeth to grind against each other. Technically, he could use transformancy to simply grow a good set of razor-sharp teeth, but it would have been a waste of Aspect magic. Giving the man an annoyed expression, he told him, "Exit now. I will go search for your friends, but it would better for them to be lost here and you all to be safe outside than for you to stand here and await your inevitable demise together."

The man paled and bowed again. "Certainly, milord. They are a man and a woman, married to each other. They had a child recently, and were last seen having a rather..." He paused, tactfully finishing, "Intense conversation."

Shaking his head, Gravin turned around. "Leave. If they come out, so be it. If not... inform their families."

As the band of humans began picking their things up and getting organized, Gravin headed for the stone-coated wall and began to climb up it, the pads on his toes gripping the rock with ease as he ascended. Turning, he took a deep breath, and his eyes rippled. As an overlay flowed from the corners, fully overwhelming his view, a different pair of slitted eyes gradually covered his own. Blinking to get readjusted to the improved sight, he took a good look at Brimtown.

It wasn't a large town. There were a hundred and fourteen salamanders in total, along with an elderly drake mother, so there weren't a lot of places the couple could have gone. The dark brown roofs mounted atop the crimson stone houses provided an excellent contrast to the bright skin of the humans who had come to Brimtown, which meant it was only a short moment before Gravin found the two humans shouting at each other.

With a flying leap, Gravin landed on a roof and began jumping between houses, intent on reaching the couple. He could hear what they were saying at this distance.

"...left him with Carla!? You could have opened with that!" The husband was red in the face from effort, and his wife's face was practically glowing. "We're wasting time! Who knows how long it'll be before-"

Gravin landed in a crouch before them, straightening to his full height and folding his hands in his sleeves. "You are indeed wasting time. The Falls will be closing shortly."

Their shouting match ground to a near-instantaneous halt as they stared at him wide-eyed, and then the husband launched himself at Gravin, prostrating himself before him. "Lord salamander! My son, is he with the others!?"

With a sigh, Gravin told him, "I don't know, human. There are many men and women there. Where else would he be?"

The woman poked him in the chest triumphantly. "As I told you, I left him with Carla! It's absolutely fine."

He glared at her. "And why you would do such a-"

Gravin put his hands on their shoulders and fixed a gaze of nigh-absolute frustration on them. "Do you wish to die here? Your child is likely with the other humans. Come now or I will remove you from Brimtown myself." He couldn't understand them. Children were the future of any species, regardless of how often or how rarely they appeared. It should have been impossible for two humans to lose someone as valuable as the inheritor of their heritage, which led him to believe that the boy was most assuredly back with the humans, safely outside.

The husband still looked worried, but the wife remained confident. "Let's go with the salamander, dear. I assure you, I am certain Carla is taking care of him."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Taking a deep breath, he nodded, and the tension slowly eased from his shoulders. "Very well. I trust you, darling."

Exasperated, Gravin began moving towards the Falls. "Follow me as fast as you can, humans." He set off at a moderately fast pace, and they hurried to accompany him.

Brimtown was not a complex place, and it was not even a full minute before they arrived at the exit. Most of the remaining humans had already left, and Gravin hurried to move the couple with them. The husband turned around, still looking anxious. "Could you wait to close the Falls until I ensure that Carla has our son?"

Gravin shook his head adamantly. "Not if all the salamancers in Brimtown combined our efforts could we hold the mountain's flow for a second longer than it allowed us to."

The human sighed, trying to relax. "Very well. I wish you a good year, milord salamander."

Finally, some manners. Gravin gave him a bow, his body folding as he smiled. "And a good year to you as well, human."

They rejoined the column of humans and slowly filed out. The crackling shield of crimson metallurgy above the tunnel winked briefly, and Gravin let out a silent sigh. Just in time.

Turning, he decided to go to the church to pay respects to Aiphas, the Spirit of the Mountain. That, and he needed a private place to vent for a few minutes.

He could take his time now. There was no emergency, after all. He paced sedately through the familiar streets he knew so well, filling his lungs with the rich mana of Brimtown. One of the reasons for his haste, he reflected, was that he considered this place to be almost sacred. There were few places that possessed more ambient mana than here, and it could be easily attributed to Aiphas.

The church was the largest building in Brimtown, with two floors and a stone ceiling. Its hollow windows gazed out at the houses nearby, a small plot of Ymbr flowers on either side of the entrance. Their flame-scorched tinges and glowing hearts lent an almost mystic air to the front of the already impressive building, and shone dimly beneath the darkening cavern ceiling far above.

As Gravin approached, he paused. There was an odd sound in the air, one he was familiar with. Heart plummeting, he threw the doors open and stared forward.

Twenty smooth pews sat before him, lined up neatly. The flame slimes ensconced in their small cages along the walls slept, producing a faint burbling sound as they dreamt of who knew what. The pulpit stood at the center, an imposing pillar of harsh stone reminding everyone who saw it that jagged truth was better than cushioned lies. A masterful sculpture protruded from the back of the church, an effigy of Aiphas extending its many arms outward to envelop the salamanders in an embrace. Several kyrpies watched him from their place in the rafters, cinder-like eyes observing him with interest.

Gravin paid no attention to them. The horrifyingly familiar sound was coming from one of the pews near the end, and it grew louder as he glided towards it.

Coming around the edge of the pew, Gravin looked down and saw a small, pale human wrapped in rough brown canvas, crying its woes to the world. It had dark hair, wet from the sweat produced by the heat of Brimtown, and its stubby hands groped at the air blindly. Many things went through Gravin's mind as he saw it. A heritage. An inheritor. And above all else, an utterly helpless infant.

Without hesitation, Gravin seized the child and dashed from the church. Taking deep breaths to force the panic clouding his mind, he dipped into his magic once again. His legs lengthened as thick, rough scales grew over them, and his soft toes were wrapped in vicious talons. They were not for combat, not this time. Now they merely served to accelerate Gravin to a pace that he would have been unable to achieve previously. It wasn't enough, and he tucked the child under his arm as he dove to all fours, moving even faster.

He sprinted through Brimtown, and as he neared the Falls, he bellowed, "They have left a child!" The couple who he had been so quick to usher away came to mind, and he berated himself. They had been so anxious to ensure that their son was safe, and he had disregarded their worries as paranoia.

The spell withholding the Fall's tumult crackled, lines of lava streaming through the chinks, Gravin saw two humans standing side by side behind it. A man and a woman.

Gravin held one arm up, the child shrieking its displeasure as he did. Pouring mana into his throat, he amplified his voice. "Humans!" He nearly tripped, his gait awkward from carrying the human, and wasn't able to finish the sentence. Regardless, the couple turned at the sound of his voice, and they saw the child in his arm.

Shock prevented them from moving for mere seconds, but they didn't have seconds to spare. The spell holding the Falls back pulsed, groaned, and finally shattered.

Gravin's momentum was already carrying him forward, and it was only by turning his arms into drake-like claws that he was able to dig into the ground, sliding to a stop inches from the oncoming torrent of lava. The husband had no such magic. His arm reached out, striving to recover his son, his inheritor, his own blood, and the full force of the Falls crashed down on it.

He could smell burning flesh.

Breathing hard, Gravin tensed his jaw. It was dangerous to use transformancy to this extent, and he could feel his blood begin to boil as the drake's Aspects tried to overwhelm his own. Opening his mouth wide, he inhaled a deep breath of mana, circulating it through his thirsty lungs. As the seconds passed, the claws and talons unwillingly retreated, and Gravin stood.

Turning to the Falls, he took a pace backward. The wild river of lava perpetually coming from the Mountain was flowing with all the might of a waterfall over the entrance, blocking it entirely. A powerful pyromancer would be able to cross through with some trouble. A human child stood no chance.

Qyura ran over to him, extinguishing his flaming robes with a freezing blast of frost and falling to her knees in front of him. "Gravin! Are you all right? What happened?"

In response, Gravin moved the child out from underneath him, and he heard a sound of shock from her. He was still out of breath, panting hard from the mental exertion of overpowering the drake Aspects, but he said quietly, "They left him. They were unsure if he was with them, but I told them to go."

After a moment, Qyura moved next to him, putting an arm around his shoulders. Her voice was soft and sympathetic when she spoke to him, but firm in her conviction. "Gravin, it was not your fault. The Falls were closing and they needed to leave. A child may adapt to the conditions here over time, but an adult is set in their path. They would have died within weeks."

Gravin's arms trembled, and the mana exhaustion hit him all at once. He nearly fell over, and the only thing that prevented him from doing so was Qyura's surprisingly strong grip. His voice came out as a croak. "But I could have-"

She cut him off, her voice stern. "You know as well as I that what-ifs can destroy a creature, no matter their strength. Do not concern yourself with how you might have changed what happened. Concern yourself with what is to come. What are you going to do with the child?"

Gravin raised the child. It was still crying, its small face screwed up as tears streamed down its face. It couldn't have been more than a year old.

Summoning his strength and leaning on Qyora, Gravin stood. "I... do not know. What do you propose I do?"

Even as he asked, Gravin knew the answer. There was no doubt as to whose responsibility the care of the boy would fall to. Qyora raised her gentle eyes to him. "I will help you in any way that I can, Gravin. Two drakelings remain under Mvotte's care and one shall accompany the boy throughout his early years, according to the ways of our people. But he cannot remain nameless. What will you call him?"

Gravin stared into the boy's brown-speckled eyes. They would soon darken to red as the mana of the Mountain infused him, settling deep into his very being as he changed to survive the heat and harsh air of Brimtown, but that would not be for another few days. For now, Gravin could only watch the boy as he cried himself to sleep, his face bearing more concern than one of his age should ever have to bear.

"Dahlan." He said softly. "His name shall be Dahlan."