White and brilliant was the moon, and it was the moon that was her world then. Whole and pristine, it shone high over the midnight sky, bathing the night-gazing grounds in its shower of pure light. The white marble structures of the Silver Haven, towering over the small yard in a perfect circle glowed as they took in the moonlight. Within the bowels of the haven, all the clatter and life of Turagbaren within which it lay may as well have been as distant as the moon. As Lionis' eyes gazed upon the mother of the stars, no lordly trumpets nor cries of steam and metal dared interrupt her.
A fresh image of moon lied before her in the circular Silver Pool, reflected off of the grey waters collected on nights like these for decades. There were steps which lead deep within the waters, but all were forbidden to follow them, and why enter their depths when the light in the sky appeared so perfect from above the water?
But as she gazed upon the sight which had been familiar to her for mere months, a trickle of light threatened to blind her, a sharp twinkle like that of a star, but for a moment brighter than all of them combined. Her instincts begged her to look away, but her gaze had been turned to stone by the sight of the purest light, which as she watched turned smaller and smaller in the midnight sky, abandoning its spot on the moon and becoming even more brilliant with the dark behind it as it softly reached towards the earth.
It reduced to a tiny, barely visible speck of light and began growing as it got closer and closer, falling to the earth, to just where she stood. The falling drop of the mother of the stars twinkled once more before it landed perfectly in the centre of the Silver Pool. Lionis stared at it. Never before had she seen the pool be gifted. It then burst to light and life, the grey waters churned and a great white shine spread throughout them, the waters were then as pristine as the moon.
The Silver Pool was fully nourished.
Its light cast away her higher thoughts as if they were shadows and her legs moved without regard towards the pool of light as it called to her.
This is not meant for me, a voice in her mind called, it is supposed to go to the chosen.
She went down the first step, then the second, and then the third. Her feet touched the light, it was cold.
But with it I could cure it all, the hidden filth which stains the spires of the city.
The light was now up to her knees as she went deeper into the shallow pool.
What would happen when the Haven wakes and sees what I have taken? There will be retribution, would they dare hurt her? she wondered, They would not harm one who they accepted as a guest, but to take such a thing...
The water slowly rose to her shoulders as she took the final step to the deepest part of the pool, she had few thoughts as she stood there, almost fully submerged in the cold liquid light, its mass was still, but it did not remain that way then and began to glow ever more brightly than it did.
I could never belong in the halls of the manor, nor could I ever belong within the confines of this haven. I will carve my own path, and cure it with this.
The light made her ever colder, colder than the harshest winters in the city as the level of the water began to fall, vanishing as it touched her flesh and spreading a deep stillness within her. As the last of the water vanished from the pool, she collapsed onto her knees and shivered. Within her there was now a deep cold, and there it would remain from thereon. She had changed.
Noises arrived from behind her, several hurrying footsteps and words which she could not make out. The noise of a staff clanging against the ground. She turned around.
"She immersed herself!", cried a grey-haired woman, putting her palms over her mouth, "The lordling girl took in the waters! The pool is dry!", she was Ijanna, younger sister of the Proprietor.
"Wealthy thief!", snarled a younger man, Howal was his name, a recent convert, "Not even a drop remains, not a speech of light! You know this was not even least meant for you!", the man cried in anger, several others beside him stepped out of his path as he went towards Lionis in rage, but an aged hand stopped him.
"Do not raise your voice, Howal, a Silver Priestess demands reverence and respect," it was Ingaban, Proprietor of the Haven, his sparse hair was as white as his robes, as white as his clouded eyes. As he called Lionis that name, the brethren loosened their visible contempt as they remembered that what it was that she had now become.
Ingaban used his staff to walk closer to her, "Can you hear me, child? You may feel strange after what you have just done, but give me a sign at least so I may know what I have on my hands."
His words reminded her that she was conscious, "I can speak… I think."
"Then the cold will not kill you, though it will never truly feel natural. I would ask whether you understand what you have just done, but I don't think I understood it either, when I took in the light all those years ago. Yes, I did not. I had spent my whole life in learning what immersing myself would mean, yet you are not only young but have only been with us for glimpses for a few moons, and have known a life of wealth since your birth. You have put upon yourself a weight far greater than the one I felt.", he sighed, "This was not meant for you."
"I know,", Lionis said, "I… was only moongazing when the last drop fell, and then…", she paused, and her next words where softer, "The light called to me, or at least I think it did, it was ever so pure to my eyes…"
"Almost all here would have done the same if they were in your stead, no matter how many believe that they could resist, but that does not grant forgiveness for your actions. The light calls to all, child, we would never first have taken it in if it did not do so, it blinds us to push away the shade. It cleanses away the dark. But to have it within yourself is a burden unmatched, and you will now never be able to rid yourself of it.
"Will you bear it then? You have little choice now already, though you could still very well try to run from it still. I would tell you all I remember from within the farthest reaches of my years and even that would not be enough to compensate for all that you must learn yourself.", he walked around the spot in front of her.
"I will bear it,", she softly spoke, "If you would teach me then I would learn all that there is, if you cannot then I would learn all that I can."
"Do not look so far just yet, Lionis, there is another matter that is of concern here as well. You are the blood of Telgoren and second in line to the speaker for the house. In many eyes here, you are a highborn princess.", Ingaban paused, when she did not react, he continued, "You will need to make a choice one day. One which you shan't like.", he stopped his movements, and stared at her fully.
"The city is not blind, especially not the highborn. The light within you will be found out, and it will not bode well for your family nor for the appearance of all the highborn. I cannot predict the doings of lords and ladies, but I know that such a scandal would be doom for this haven. That is what you must choose, Lionis. Your lineage or the light which is now within you.
Your lineage or the light which is now within you.
She was found out on the dawn of the winter two moons past, on the day the trumpets of Telgor's Hall sounded the demise of Proprietress Oleana of Telgoren.
A choice was made.
She left the city with the only one she had enjoyed solace with then, who had happened to lose much then as well. In her own exile, learning what she had not before, finding what she could sense, approaching that which she could not. Trying to her best to spread the light of the silver mother of the stars in lands where it was scorned and hounded, in lands where she was at risk of burning, and in lands where none had ever heard of it.
For four years she never laid her eyes on the spires and smoke of Turagbaren.
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"Having one of those dreams again?"
Lionis opened her eyes to the sight of a sizzling flame, and fear swept through her as the blaze of the Ignizar flashed in her eyes, but it lasted for only moments as she saw that the flame was small, a small flame only fit to light up a nook for warmth.
She was lying with her back against a rocky wall, she looked around herself and saw that they seemed to be in a large crevice, her and Veala's shadows spread across its walls. To her left there was a large opening from which she could see a darkened sky with the colors of dawn hiding beneath dark clouds in the distance.
The trail.
"Did you stop here for the whole night?", Lionis asked quickly.
"You were barely conscious by the time I had saddled the horse and checked our supplies,", Vea said, "You fell unconscious after we left the town, luckily, I just about managed to not have you fall onto the grass. Your touch was so cold I felt like I would get frostbite from your grip.", she gave a humorless snicker.
"But the trail,", Li exclaimed, "If we lose it then the gir- the Ignizar will be lost. Who knows where it could go then, deeper into the steppe in the north, southwards towards Yohance and its sea, or wherever it can find something to set alight. What if it-,"
"A few hours will not doom it all, Li.", Vea softly said, "You needed rest after you confronted that spirit, what do a few hours on its trail matter if you are dead before it ends?", she paused, "I would have no idea how to deal with it… alone.", she added.
She could find little to say against that. She sighed, "What… what about the supplies? How long could we last without needing to approach other people?"
Li meekly smiled, her eyes gazing out towards the brightening dawn, "We would have died of exhaustion or starvation years ago if it just fell upon me to direct us, wouldn't we?"
"You have been saying this a lot these days,", boots grinded on stone as Vea shuffled closer, she was considerably heavier than Li despite not really being much taller, "Stop reducing yourself so much, remember all that you managed to do yesterday? Those big, strong guards were left writhing on the ground by the noise while you went ahead and closed it off. Humiliated before their god-queen, though it's not like she did much herself, right?"
Li tried to force a laugh, but only shuffled in silence instead. Vea seemed disappointed.
"So…", she began, "If- When this fire business has been dealt with, however long that takes, do you really want to go back? Back… home?"
"Unless another need of me arises to distract us, I think yes,", Li answered, but regret appeared in her eyes, "If you want, that is. I am sorry, it's fine if you want to not return, the city only ever did you harm."
"I doubt there's anyone there who has been missing me, though maybe your presence there would be enough for me."
Li really did smile this time, even though there was something saddening in Vea's words.
"Will I have to call you 'my lady' again soon enough then?", Vea feigned what was probably supposed to be her idea of an upper-house bow.
"Not soon, it would take months to make the return journey by itself, even ignoring other matters, if we even decide to return, of course.", Li shrugged, "Though yes, from you I will expect only the most respectful honorifics from then onwards."
"As you say, your graaaace.", wrong honorific.
Vea's eyes were dark, yet there was much that they reflected if one looked deep enough, she did. Why must it be morning rather than night? She quickly purged that thought.
It was almost worrying how easy it was to forget the world outside from within nooks and crevices like these, was it the walls? the dark? or the company? Why did Li even wonder.
She looked towards the opening once more, gone was the dark beauty of the nights of the steppe, and the morning sun shone even into their small refuge, overshadowing their little fire with its own golden light. Wasting any more time would mean at least a week's worth of unwanted thoughts.
"I don't presume I will pass out and be a burden again anytime soon, we should continue onwards.", she stood up from against the wall and walked away, gazing out from the opening.
"The fires the spirit left behind were glowing quite well at night, the blackened trail should still be there somewhat at least.", Vea said from behind her.
"The Ignizar's fire is fuelled by its will alone, unless dust, wind, or water smother them away, the embers will live on and on without fuel nor sustenance until their maker only wills them away. All the more reason we need to be quick, give the spirit enough time and the entire steppe will be ablaze."
The two of them left the crevice, it was on the wall of a large rocky outcrop emerging from a giant, older boulder surrounded by the gentle hills of the steppe. The grasses were dull yellows and browns under the young dry season, with an even dryer summer soon to come. There were no people in sight even from atop the boulder, indeed Guttaqar was one of the few towns this deep into the steppe, its sisters further away to its south and west upon somewhat kinder lands, it was only supported by a rare perennial river and the numerous caravans arriving from all directions.
"Look!", Vea pointed to the east, "There's our trail of cinders, looks mostly like a path of charred grass but should be easy enough to follow."
Charred grass, that's just what it looked like from up high where they stood, like a black river running over the grass. Even from atop the boulder Li could see fires alive between the cinders, staving off wind and dust.
"The horse is hidden under an outcrop below the boulder, got all our important belongings attached to it though they are quite cramped, only so much you can put on a single horse alongside two people.", Vea said.
The trail disappeared from sight as it turned behind a towering dry hill, in the east, the shadows from the morning sun made it difficult to discern from the darkened earth. Vea had started towards the slope from where she had likely carried her into the crevice, but Li's eyes struck a shape emerging from behind the eastern hills. Smoke.
"Wait,", she called, "Look towards the east again! There's a great tendril of smoke rising over the hills!"
Vea came quickly came to her side, "It must've found some trees to set ablaze if there's that much smoke, I don't think there are even any villages nearby."
A strain entered both Li's mind and soul, "It wouldn't set the land ablaze this fiercely, its trail of embers wouldn't be scarcely enough for it. No, I think it may finally have stopped fleeing after the shock of taking another vessel. I think it may have found… people."
She imagined it. Some small band of merchants wandering the wide hills, being engulfed in fire and blood as something beyond any of their worlds let out its limitless fury upon them. She imagined them screaming as their furs and cloaks burned their flesh as they were set ablaze. How much distance had it gained from them while she slept in that crevice?
They could not waste time anymore, they shouldn't have wasted it before, the night before or any other time when she had failed in the few things she had ever chosen.
The two of them hurried down the slope, and Li took another glance behind her back to the smoke, rising as a tendril of ash from beyond the hills.