Two years had passed since the fall of the flame consumed the world, lighting villages and hillsides for miles around. They say that the Goddess was too weak to hold the power of fire, that her soul had been consumed and thus went her body, But no one truly knew for certain, no one except the goddess herself and those she held closest to her. Nymeria had known, linked with the goddess as she had been, it had been impossible not to. It had been a broken heart, the inability to keep her mate and family and her divinity. The inner pain had fed the flames, and her weakened soul had consumed her leaving nothing but ash and suffering in her wake. 


But that wasn’t the end of the story, no, it was just the beginning. 

The power had spread out, love and passion fear and loathing, bathing the land in all that had remained of Rhylana Knight’s power, giving strength to those that had adored her so they could go on without the Empress of Flame, their beloved Queen. This had not been the case for the Familiar, a massive liger that had been with the young woman since her first years on this earth, growing and changing with her.

Initially, she had been an Air Elemental summoned by the father of darkness, but as Rhylana had increased in strength, so had Nymeria, eventually becoming the queen of the pride that had surrounded her mistress. Intelligent and quick witted, Nymeria had been counsel in all matters. Now, she stood back at the rubble of the Ivory court, all that had remained after the fall, tainted with darkness and flame, love and passion. 

Nymeria had absorbed the fall, she had consumed it and grown, being left as a woman and pyromancer. A sorceress. Left alone without her mistress and her pride. What had become of them, where had the big cats of the Ivory Court gone? It mattered little now, the familiar was a woman, grown and left standing with nothing left of her old life except for the relics of flame and her white hair. 

What life could there possibly be for her, what life could there be for one that had never before walked amongst man as an equal?

In the forest's tangled undergrowth and broad-leaved flora, a fire-haired girl picked her way over the roots and stones. Looking up, she marveled at the trees. How tall they were–reaching high to where the sky was covered and making it shaded like early dusk. It was warm here, but also humid. Picking a large leaf shaped like a giant's hand, she fanned herself. She was thankful her tunic and vest were light, and made for the heat. She had never seen a forest that was so loud, and so dense. Everything was green and full of water, not like Karkhata or the desert around Sularia. 

Frogs, lizards, flowers shaped like cups and other strange forms designed to catch what precious water they could that dripped down from the canopy's leaves in brilliant colors were new and wonderful to her. There were things like giant insects, and crawlers she had also never seen, and she learned to keep away. Not everything here was welcoming, but she understood she was a stranger intruding on their peace and land. Her sash was wrapped partway around her head like a headscarf, to keep things from stinging her. Behind, flitted a new friend she had found. A phoenix whom she named Asha, having met in the heat of the desert dunes on the way. They bonded, with Asha keeping watch over her by night and her keeping watch by day.

Kindred in spirit, they journeyed together in search of a way back to Gale's homeland. They then came upon a beast with the head of a woman, body of a lion, and wings like an eagle.The creature barred them from passing further, blocking the one entrance through a narrow pass. She demanded the two answer a riddle, and should they answer correctly then they would be allowed passage. It took many tries, and each time they failed a new riddle was presented. Finally, the dream-walker managed to answer one correctly, and they were allowed through. Impressed with the beast's wisdom, she asked it to come with them so that they would exchange knowledge. Gale would tell the sphinx of the creatures she had learned of from her master's books, while it would give its insight in turn.

Following the ebb and flow of power, Gale found a place in a dream. This place was deep in the rainforest, at the very heart. She was unsure of what she would find, but she hoped it would be a way home. Pushing leaves away, Gale looked ahead. "Can you feel it, Asha? That power, it is close. Something mighty once was here. What do you think it was?" The firebird flitted by and stayed close to her, its flaming wisps not even singing the dream-walker. Sidra, the sphinx had gone ahead. The beast spoke of a place of power which rested nearby. Long-abandoned and in ruin, perhaps it would hold lost knowledge which might be useful to the girl. 

Quickening the pace to keep the sphinx in sight, the girl and her phoenix stumbled upon the white-haired sorceress upon emerging from the tangled vines and giant ferns.

She was gone, the empress of flames was well and truly gone, and never in her wildest dreams had Nymeria thought that someone she had been so connected to would leave her like this. That she would survive the loss. Standing there in the ruins of her home, of what was left of her mistress, she was lost in though, of times gone by that had served her well. Still, there were pieces of her mistress here, exotic flowers that had bloomed after the ash had fertilized the ground, fire lilies that had come from the great goddess of the earth. 


There had been so much. And now it was time to let go, to let the earth reclaim the ashes and to begin a new. Nymeria let out a sigh and turned around, finding herself face to face with a young woman, a sphinx, and a phoenix. Such unique company she thought to herself, looking at the trio before clearing her throat, uncertain of what to say, after all, this was no longer sacred ground. 

It was all gone. All except for the gardens which Angela was quickly reclaiming, giving back to the earth and repairing the damage had been done. It was impressive, but it still felt so wrong to have others here…so…invasive. 

Nymeria looked upon the others, bright blue eyes burning with unspent power, studying the invaders. “Hello,” her voice was ethereal, melodic in nature that bespoke her interesting beginnings. She seemed to belong to the area, faded aurora dancing in the skies above as she moved closer to the young woman and her companions. 

“What brings you to this place,” her tone was almost possessive, after all, the body of her mistress was here somewhere, to her it was sacred here. It was sacred to her, holy, and yet she knew that no other would understand. No other would revere this place as it returned to the earth. 

She had to move on. 

Nymeria closed her eyes, forcing the newfound power down as she adjusted the chiffon shirts beneath her corsets, pale skin kissed by the sun, scented by the wild exotic flowers. A wild paradox, beauty lost in the jungle. 

The first thing Gale did upon having her eyes meet with that of Nymeria's was to clasp her hands and give a bow. Her hair move in that motion like wisps of flame swaying from a burst of wind. "Pardon our intrusion, efendi. Do you know of this place? I sensed a place of great power, strong yet bright like the flame of the sun." The phoenix settled itself on a branch nearby, while the sphinx laid down casually against the roots of a great tree, watching. 

"I am searching for a door, one that can bridge between places. Surely such a thing would bear a great aura, and this place drew me out of curiosity. Am I disturbing you? If so, I can leave and return when you have left." She sensed the other's tone, as if she had interrupted. Good-natured as the dream-walker was, she did her best to not be a stumbling block to others. She remembered the lessons her master had taught her on manners and being polite. Dressed plainly in a cotton tunic, trousers, and vest of thicker material, the girl did not possess much in terms of material or worldly belongings. Looking up at the pale-haired woman, she felt as if she were staring at a painting brought to life or a statue given breath. Enchanting, strange, yet familiar. There was an intensity to those eyes, contrasting to the clear and calm blue of her own.

There was so much to take in, so much to account for, and yet Nymeria did not know where to begin. She took in this person, the strange beasts with, this woman and looked to the surroundings. So much had happened her that there was no place to begin, not really. Nymeria looked to the woman, growling slightly as her eyes glittered. “This is the place where a goddess was destroyed. A damned place.”


Her tone held a bit of heartbreak as she looked to the remaining fire lilies before turning to take in this being. “My name is Nymeria. I was the servant to the goddess before she died,” simple, true, a blank statement as she now stood homeless before the other as the ruins had been rendered to rubble by the force of the extermination. Pale skinned, white-haired her stark ice blue eyes glittered and seemed somehow…off with each step she took, circling the petite female. “There was such a portal here, though it was between the Goddess’s mortal home and this place. It has since been removed.”

Removed was putting it delicately, the fire had melted stone, destroyed a thousand acres…all before the sone had been born. “Why do you bring such interesting beasts with you?” She eyed the Sphinx, the Phoenix, the girl kept odd company. True, the Phoenix was not an odd beast for the area, owing to the prior mistress being the goddess of the flame and all that that implied, but with an imp-like this girl? Odd indeed. “Why would you have need of such a place, a portal between two places is quite a powerful thing for one so young…”
When the goddess had passed, all knowledge and spells had been absorbed into the woman that stood before Gale now. True, she could have given that bit of information over, but it seemed odd to have such a being come here in such strange company. No, something else was amiss, and Nymeria desired to find out what. “What are they called, your companions, and how did you come to know them?”

Hearing the history behind these now desolate ruins, the girl turned her gaze downward. "Oh…I'm sorry…" So this place was once where a goddess once had been…and where she had died. Looking at this place the way it was now must have been painful for the snow-haired woman. Gale couldn't imagine the sorrow and grief a servant would have to see the grave of their master. She tried to understand, to know how it felt. The closest she could come to would be if she were to hear Master Rushaad had passed away before she could reunite with him back in Karkhata. To the sorceress called Nymeria, her late master was deeply beloved. 

Looking up she saw the other circle her, eyes with distrust and questions seeking answers. Sidra's lazy posture became more alert as her lion-like body was no longer leaning and her tail twitching while she eyed the girl a few meters away. Asha too watched from her perch, both waiting to see if Nymeria meant the girl harm. But the young dream-walker herself did not seem afraid. More solemn than before, she folded her hands and stood. Her heart had leaped when the white-haired woman told her there was once a portal here, but again it sank when she continued, stating it was only to where the goddess once resided. Another possibility, another hope disproved. 

"Why do you bring such interesting beasts with you? Why would you nave need of such a place, a portal between two places is quite a powerful thing for one so young…" To her question, Gale plainly answered. "I met them both out on the sun-kissed sands far from here. We made a promise to travel together, until I reach my journey's end. Asha was the first to meet me, and then we came upon Sidra." Pausing, she looked at the ground and tightened the grasp of her interlocked fingers. It was a while before she spoke, and when she did–so came her answer: "As for why I seek such a thing, it is simple. I wish to return home." The dream-walker looked up at the sorceress again, her eyes reflecting her honesty. It was the very reason why she had walked tirelessly, searching across the sea and land. To return to Karkhata. To return home.

"My homeland cannot be found here. I have searched far and wide, only to have it slip between my fingers like oil in the hand. I know not how I came to be in this land, but if I could find a door between this one and where I once was… Perhaps maybe…maybe I can finally…" Her voice was faltering at the end. Having tried so hard to keep a smile, through trials of doubt and despair, this girl still clung on to hope like a flickering flame burning on the last drops of oil. If she didn't hope, if she didn't try–then the belief that it was impossible would be true.

Nymeria looked to the other, sizing her up as she cocked her head in a near predatory manner, as if deciding what to do about this intruder on the only home she’d ever known. “Well, my dear…the portal has since been lost, but the power resides here still. I do not know what good it will do for you.” There was much this girl hid, including the want to go home, though she had no want of it herself. Nymeria ran her hands through her hair, pulling at the roots as she weighed her options. “Such portals are rare, it may benefit you to accept what life has wrought you and to accept the new adventure rather than try to change it. I am no more questing to return to the life that had been stolen from me.”


Her home, her mistress, hell even her true form had been snatched from her in less time than it took to wink. Closing her eyes, Nymeria tilted her head up to breathe in the rich air, still tainted with ash and smoke all this time later. “This place is covered in magic, what did not come to my pride and me. Beasts like me, like those that resided here with the goddess, wander this place in one form or another. Having lost the lives they knew before, yet they do not search for what was lost, but embrace the new.”

The sorceress moved to sit upon a broken pillar, one leg crossed over the other as her skirt flowed around her to the ashy soil, rich from all that had burned and now welcoming new life. “I have found, often, that when one loses something. Burned away as this goddess had been, while the damage is done- life returns. Blossoming like this new growth,” hands delicately played over the fire lily that bloomed out from the ruined earth. “They only grow here, a gift from the goddess of life to my mistress herself. Yet, when the fire consumed, and the shadow darkened, it all fell to ruin. But look how it grows now, roots strong within the ruins of this place, growing out of the destruction to dance and glow once more.”

One could become a ruin, overgrown by those that continued on with their lives, that rose up and survived, or they could be the Phoenix. The survivor. It was a choice that Nymeria was facing herself, and yet there was so much more to life than this. The gold of the coffers had been melted down, silver pillaged long ago, so the sorceress started like this flower- with nothing and no one to tend her. After a life of servitude, what would she be left with? “I will not be like these ruins, consumed by life and walked past. I will rise, I will move on from here, but what will you do young one? Pine after a world lost and miss the world around you?

What the woman asked was a hard thing. It wasn't as if she hadn't thought about this decision many times over. She thought she had renewed her resolve back in the Hanging Gardens, but it seemed that there was still doubt in her heart. Nymeria then showed her the flower, a curious spot of life in the ruins of desolation. It was so bright, its red like a ruby cut and made to shine. A little flower which remained, in spite of the changes. "But what will you do young one? Pine after a world lost and miss the world around you?"

Gale closed her eyes and looked back at the times she had given her answer. Many others before Nymeria had asked similar questions, and each time she said she would continue to hold a flame for the hope of returning. Should her answer be different? The weariness of the search, the disappointment time and time again told her to relinquish it. She had seen the world in its near entirety, but there was no hide nor hair of that door which she sought. Perhaps she should finally accept it, and like Nymeria–move on. Yet her heart struggled. Gale found herself unable to let go. What if her hope came true? If she gave up and no longer looked, should such a chance come by she would surely miss it. She did not despise this world, but she loved her home more. 

This time, her answer would change. "I understand your words. Perhaps it is foolish to hold onto something for so long. But even if I tell my heart to cast Karkhata away, I cannot. I will accept this world and all its strangeness and mysteries. But though I will no longer walk for the sake of only returning home, I will still wait for whenever that chance chooses to come. I now no longer have one home, and neither will replace the other."