5.3 Born of Fire

General Summary

Day 39

Before we leave the fortress, we raise the Empress’ banner from the central tower and shadow descends over the keep like a soft breath of air. I feel better knowing I’m leaving them hidden.   Bran, Alder, Hella, Shei and I ride into the mountains along a road that is clearly meant for heavyweight traffic. Once we are out of the keep, Bran visibly relaxes. He tells me that he’s been uncomfortable around so many people with so many formal expectations of me. Alder seems to be the only one who really knows and understands all the formality around us (myself included) so I fully understand how Bran is feeling. I wish riding into the woods was all it took to escape. When we return to the keep, Bran and I will try forging again together. It will be nice to spend time together away from the hubbub of the elvish expectations even inside the fortress.   Ahead of us, Hella is studiously reading and practicing magic fundamentals until we distract her with a game of felt-ball. We even get Shei to join in, a little awkwardly. When we make camp, we are just on the edge of the vine forest that Kadia calls home.  

Day 40

At an hour past midday we arrive at the mine. A warm, elemental magic blows out of the entrance, feeling like earthy breath of some sort. Shei examines the surroundings and tells us that the structure hasn’t been touched in over 100 years.   As we prepare to enter, Bran suddenly looks to the West as though he heard something reaching out from a great distance. This reminds me of what I should have told them earlier - the Collective assassin who followed me through the Mists. The Collective is a multiracial group; I specifically remember enormous beastlike humanoids with leathery skin who have magic that lets them break down things or simply move through it.   Regardless, we enter the mine. We walk past several shafts that have been sealed with large boulders carrying signage about it being dangerous or fruitless to go any further. All signs are in the three languages. We also find scrap piles of ore, but nothing worth taking. Finally we end up at an enormous pit, 50 metres across, with a spiralling tunnel around it and a dim reddish light at the bottom.   Descending, the breathy elemental magic gets stronger. It feels like the breath of a sleeping beast, deep in the earth. Partway down the spiral, we find a tunnel that branches off the pit spiral. The tunnel feels like it is not the source of the magic but it is a place where the barrier is thinner.   Following the side tunnel we find metal-crystal structure that seems like what this mine would have been for. I help Bran by strengthening his axe and he manages to mine a chunk of the metal.   We head further down the tunnel in the hopes of more and find ourselves approaching a pool of what looks like molten metal. It pulses like it’s breathing, and then an enormous rock/metal creature with four heavy legs and a swirling, powerful torso emerges. The aura of ancient magic surrounding it feels vaguely familiar to me, and the sense of fear is overwhelming.   The ensuing battle is barely two-sided. It knocks Bran down with barely a single hit. I bring him back up a Blood Bond and use the staff to sustain us further. We begin retreating and Hella manages to provide a shadow for Alder and Shei while Bran heals us. Kadia defends as well, with waves of her elemental water magic.   In the end though, nothing could save us from our foolhardy natures. Bran and I fall unconscious together into the searing hot darkness. As I fade out, the shadows become cool and sheltering, and at the edge of my consciousness I can hear birds…   I come to consciousness in a forest of tall trees with large, waxy leaves. I’m lying on a bed of leaves on the ground and my body aches as though it has been healing. I can feel broken ribs, and my skin feels tight and new, like healed burns.   Mistress is there. Her runes call on healing ancestors. She is wearing the garb of a Dread Lady. “Bless the Empress, you’re not gone from us yet”