A forty-year-old man with a bushy brown beard and deep sullen green eyes sat at an inn with a group of other farmers who had been gathered that morning. His body was a mixture of muscle and bones with little fat. He was sipping on some water, as he had been forbidden to drink before the journey, and letting his mind fall deep into his thoughts. Old friends once called him Gareth, though they had passed long ago. Back when he still owned the farm and before the plagues had swept the village. Back before the taxes and the poverty that had claimed him. Like his father before him, he had once owned a beautiful small farm where he worked day in and day out. The work was difficult and hardly for the weak-willed but it gave him and his daughter what they needed to survive.

When the plague swept through the village most of them had died out. His daughter got sick too. He did everything within his power to save her, even selling the farm to pay for treatment. None of it was enough. He never forgot how cold and pale his little girl felt. For months he traveled, looking for work to numb the pain and numb his mind but labor was cheap and few needed a man without a penny to his name. Hunger became a constant as the years on the streets hardened his heart. A newfound bitterness and desperation became all that drove him. He lived from day to day, only thinking about the next meal.

Then this strange girl approached him with a free chicken. Alarm bells rang off hin his head the second she approached. A free chicken? To a random man? Not to mention it was tied up like a hog. However, desperation lead him to accept the gift despite knowing it was some sort of trap. Then the girl sat down next to him onto the dirt road and began chatting away as though they were old friends catching up. But there was a spark in her eye and the things she talked about were familiar to him. The village. She knew the name of his village. He knew she had never been there yet she somehow knew it. This was more than enough to get him to ask her a few questions of his own. Apparently, she had visited the village years ago, before the plague. The strange girl gave her condolences for both his home and his daughter. She had met his daughter before the incident. Gareth half expected to see that disgusting pity so many folks threw at him but instead her eyes held a deep familiar sadness.

Her name was Dala. And she was now asking him if he would accept a job opportunity from her. The tone of her voice was business-like and he could no longer trace that sorrow from before. Unbelievably she was offering him a new plot of land to start a farm of his own. The land, protection, farming equipment, starter plants, and even animals would all be provided. The entire deal stunk of a trap. Was she a thief? Or perhaps a slaver? She might have been a murderer looking for the next victim. Every bone in his body distrusted that smiling face. Yet desperation held his heart firm. If he stayed on these streets for another year he would certainly die. Slow painful death of starvation and humiliation. Desperation would make a fool of any man.

So he accepted her ridiculous deal and she handed him a bag of silver along with an airship ticket to Adeluna and some instructions. He could have made off with the silver… but he had sworn to her deal. Even at the bottom of his life, he never broke an oath. As instructed, he traveled to Adeluna and stayed at the inn as others like himself gathered. The same desperation and hunger lived in their faces. Some even came with children. In total, there were seven adults and three children. His eyes softened towards the kids and their skinny frames. Perhaps they would survive any traps this girl gave them. That Dala girl had promised to meet up with them once she had brought some sort of protector…

————————

Posters had been posted in every guild and in every tavern of Adeluna. It read, -Looking for a strong intelligent warrior to help guild farmers home. Silver will be rewarded along with a Grisial Crystal. Come to Rosalie Tavern for an interview if you are brave enough.- Several warriors, wizards, and fighters had shown up in front of the tavern, all interested in this strange job. The Grisial Crystal was no laughing matter even if the silver was not included. A crystal of such power and an excellent source of energy that could be sold for hundreds of silver. But when they arrived at the front of the tavern, they were instructed to go to one of the large empty gardens at the back to be tested.

If they could prevent any of Dala's attacks from hitting the dummy, which was being moved around by an enchantment, then they would be accepted. At first, the majority of these warriors thought this little test would be easy. But then Dala started hitting the dummy with her sword and powerful light spells, always staying at a quick speed against her opponents. She dodged and damaged the dummy so much that it had to be replaced every time a person was tested. Her crowd of applicants quickly thinned out as they realized it would be no easy job and that she wasn't about to take just anybody.

Would there be nobody who could pass her little test?

This felt good, perfect, in fact, the power that they now wielded was beyond what they ever thought they would have. To think, mere days ago they were a simple, well, simple-ish, mortal, studying and struggling to gain more power. Then, overnight, to be raised up and given Divinity itself, pure power, over the forces of Fire and Chaos, it made them aroused to think about it, their skin tingling with power. But all this power did come at one cost; they could not just burn the world down, this power had a responsibility behind it, one that they were more or less willing to accept. If it meant keeping immortality, an eternal chance to study Fire and Blood magic in all their forms, and spread a little Chaos here and there, well, that was a price that they willing to take on.

With the two days of the fires in the world no longer giving heat over, the Deity decided to head into world and see what people had to say about it. Not much of it was good, but that was to be expected, but they were talking about it, talking about the new Deity. Some called them her others him, some argued, it did not matter, both were right and both were wrong at the same time. It allowed Bianca to travel easily without having to use any kind of overt appearance shifting like some of the other Deities did. Instead, Bianca just walked the streets as normal, at the moment having found one of the posters looking for a warrior to some farmers. Interesting, Bianca thought it over for a moment, if they had a farm in the Plains then they would not be that far from the Castle. A ready source of food would be good to have, so Bianca decided to head to the tavern. The crystal was enticing to, not so much for the monetary value of it, but for what kind of magic Bianca could do to it in their research.

It did not take Bianca long to get to the tavern, only to see some upset looking people leaving. They asked one of them where to go for the trial and was directed to the garden around back. Bianca walked around and stood out among the thinning crowd. While of average height, Bianca had fire orange hair, half long and loose half in dread locks, and glowing eyes. While they wore a suit of blood red and black with some purple trim, a new feature that Bianca had added to integrate the Chaos they now represented.

Striding through the crowd ignoring any odd looks Bianca found the child that seemed to the one coordinating all of this. How very very interesting indeed, someone so young putting this all together. ”Greetings, I am here to apply for the spot the poster was talking about, are you the young lady I talk to about that?” Bianca glanced to the broken dummies laying off to the side for a moment and then back to a Dala again, face showing slight amusement.

"This whole fire business has been nothing but a pain!" One of the applicants had said to a friend in line.

"At least it's only for two days. Could have been months." The other responded.

"Oi! Are you going to try out or what?" Dala asked both of them.

Each applicant tried to protect the target. The first one managed to protect it from three blasts but ultimately failed miserably. The second one got further but again, the dummy got wrecked. For a moment, Dala was becoming worried that she would never find a person who could actually protect her farmers. She wasn't asking for much! Just somebody who had the ability to protect others. Fighting was easy. Saving people was much harder. Then an individual with blood-red hair and eyes of fire approached Dala, asking about the job. Dala placed her hands on her hips and gave Bianca a confident smirk.

"Yep! But I need to see your skills first. All you have to do is make sure the dummy doesn't get damaged for a minute." Dala explained, "The red spots on the dummy are the vital points. Hitting them means I win. Everywhere else can be damaged but too much will also mean a loss for you. Feel free to use any method except self-sacrifice. It'll be pointless to hire somebody that'll die midway our journey."

Dala set up the new dummy then took a step in front of it, allowing for Bianca to set up. She took out an hourglass that would last one minute and flipped it, starting the timer. Her movements were quick as three daggers slashed out from her hand, aimed towards the vital spots on the dummy. She didn't bother waiting to see if her attack landed as she moved on to the next. Flaring radiance of light circled around her hands and blasted towards the dummy. The light was burning like the sun itself and blinding with a strange sense of fury. Dropping her magic, she unsheathed her sword and rushed towards the dummy, attempting to swipe at it.  She never understood why people didn't start out with their strongest attacks.

Oh, Bianca liked this young lady! Confident, smart and skilled by what Bianca had seen so far anyway, yes, indeed, this young lady was intriguing. ”Sounds like a fair challenge.” Oh, but it was not, the odds were ever in Bianca’s favour, not that anyone but them knew it. To get ready Bianca only produced their blade of dancing heat, the six inch long knife that looked to be made of obsidian started to glow faintly with added heat. In anyone else’s hands this kind of blade could become hot enough to cauterize wounds, but, in Bianca’s hand, it could turn anything it touched into ash if they so wanted it. In this case, Bianca warmed it up enough that some heat would transfer from it into any weapon that Dala was holding. Not enough to burn the young lady, but enough for her to know something was happening.

Dala flipped the hourglass to start the one minute timer and she moved much faster than Bianca expected her to. Yet not as fast as the Deity was able to. The three daggers flew through the air and were just as quickly knocked away by Bianca’s knife and, Bianca added some flare to their own attacks by making smoke start to curl out from the blade and from their hands. A ball of light magic was blasted towards the dummy and Bianca sensed the fury within it, odd, but, they countered the ball in kind wit their own fireball. Light and Fire magic collided in a brilliant flare that forced some of those watching to cover their eyes.

When Bianca saw that Dala had drawn a sword and moving to the dummy the Deity grinned. Bianca rushed to meet Dala directly, grabbed Dala’s sword by the blade with their left hand and twisted it around until they forced it from Dala’s hand. At the same time, Bianca’s right hand with the knife dropped the blade and grabbed for Dala’s throat. In an instant Bianca was behind Dala, right hand around Dala’s throat with a firm but not choking grip, while their left hand had gotten hold of Dala’s left wrist and twisted that arm around her back. Again, it was firm hold and it clear that Bianca could do damage if they wanted to, but they did not in this instance. Bianca turned them to face the hourglass as the sand dripped by. ”Do you yield?” Bianca asked in a calm but commanding tone, mouth right next to Dala’s ear and their breath unnaturally hot for someone that looked human. ”Perhaps you want another chance?” Bianca asked, you could hear the grin in their voice, as Bianca used a bit of telekinesis and made the hourglass levitate to flip it over and start the timer once again.

Dala could feel her own weapons warm and slowly getting hotter but she clutched to them even tighter out of pure stubbornness. Bianca was fast and far more experienced than herself in the battle. And there was something else about them…. something else that was familiar in the way they acted. That certain confidence reminded Dala of other people she had met. People like Shiloh or her father back when he was at the temple. Dala's attempt with the sword was over before she even got the chance to hit anything. Bianca had grabbed her throat and twisted her arm behind her back. A hold that would be difficult for anybody to escape from. She held her one free hand over her chest in a balled-up fist as she struggled against the grip. Bianca's voice was in her ear as they taunted with a commanding voice and grin. Despite being stuck, Dala had a smile on her face. Finally! Somebody with talent!

"Seems like you still want another challenge. Fine. Defend it from this last attack!" She exclaimed.

As she shouted her words, she used her free right hand and aimed it at the dummy. What was supposed to happen was a dagger made entirely of light was supposed to form and hit the target. Instead, a little flower made of light appeared and floated down to the ground, not even getting near the target. Dala's face resembled the tiredness of someone who was completely done with the bullshit in their lives.

"Seriously?" She said in a deadpan voice, "This is why I hate light magic."

Dala gave a wave to Bianca, letting them know the challenge was finished. Bianca had shown that they were more than skilled enough for this job. Besides, the mood had been completely ruined by Dala's lousy attack. Once Bianca freed her, she stood up and stretched out her arms. She smiled towards Bianca and handed them a piece of paper. The paper held all the details of the job and provided every agreement between the contractor and the contractee. There wasn't any fine print and unlike most contracts, everything was set out plainly and simply for the reader to understand. The basic agreement was exactly as Dala had told. Protect the farmers during the trip and the rewards she promised would be theirs.

"Let me know if there's anything you want to add." Dala said, "I can add it if it's reasonable. I just figured it would be better to have the job on a piece of paper in case something goes wrong."

Dala waved off all of the other people who were interested in trying out before looking back to Bianca.

"I'm glad these tryouts worked. You know, anybody can learn out to fight. It's much harder to protect something." She stated.

Bianca grinned, oh she liked this young human, full of fire and energy! She tried once again to attack the dummy, even as Bianca held her tight, a free hand flung out, a blast of light and… nothing. The moment the spell had been cast from Dala Bianca knew it would fail, they could feel it, so they did not bother to counter it. When Dala waved the challenge off Bianca released her and stepped back with a grin. ”Perhaps you should try Fire magic, hm?” Bianca commented as they took the paper from Dala and read over the contract. Simple enough, straight forward and agreeable, though Bianca would counter with another offer at a later time once they met the farmers face to face. Until then, Bianca had no problem defending them on their way to the farmland. ”Seems agreeable so far, I’ll get back to you if I have anything I might want to change.”

Dala mentioned she was happy that the tryouts worked to find someone. Bianca grinned. ”I agree, then again, if you’re enemies are numerous, sometimes it’s easier to deal with them preemptively instead of playing defence.” Bianca snapped her fingers and the dummy they had been using burst into flames, the fire so hot that it was reduced to ash in a matter of a few seconds. ”It also helps to send a message to anyone else that might take a notion to attack that they’d be better off finding easier prey.” A dark chuckle followed. ”So, what’s next then? When are the farmers heading out? I’d like to talk to them on the way to the farmland about a few things.”

"Believe me, if I had any talent for it I would." Dala said with a smirk, "What is your name by the way?"

Bianca looked over the contract and seemed to agree to it. Dala had a feeling that if they had more to add to the contract, they would ask about it. The dummy burst into flames through a snap of the fingers, cementing her faith in the decision of choosing Bianca to help defend the farmers. It didn't take long for them to start asking additional questions about the transportation and when they were planning on heading out. 

"It's planned that we head out as soon as possible unless the farmers request otherwise. There are seven adults and three children in our group." Dala explained as she led Bianca towards the inn, "I've already made contact with a couple of tribes in the Bohar Plains. We won't face any attacks from them directly. If we do get attacked by a tribe then it will be a new one or a rebellious group. We will also need to keep an eye out for rogues and criminals." 

Pushing the inn door open, she stepped towards the small group of people she had gathered. Gareth glanced up and saw the young woman who had started all of this. He and the rest of the farmers were ready to get on with this, to see if this young woman's words were really true or some miserable trap waiting for them. The few parents held their kids close while the others kept eyes on Dala and Bianca. Dala didn't miss the doubt and concern in their eyes and despite all her preparation and study, she had less knowledge on how to deal with such distrust face to face.  All she felt she could do was prove her words to be true and to give out what had been promised. 

"This is the guardian I was mentioning." Dala said to them, "They have agreed to protect you until we reach Cardawen." 

The group gave a suspicious glance to Bianca, observing her for any blatant weapons and making no move to greet the newcomer. Gareth, despite his own concerns, decided to at least attempt a friendly introduction. He wasn't thrilled about a new person as much as the others but he had a feeling the trip would be a lot easier if there was at least one social person in the group. 

"Hi." Gareth said dryly, "Thanks for helpin us."

"Gareth. Are you sure that you and the rest of the group ready to travel?" Dala asked. 

"Yes. They've been jumpin to get out of here and to head out." He said. 

Dala remembered there had been something Bianca had been wanting to talk about with the farmers. 

"Now would be a good time to talk with them." Dala suggested to Bianca.

”If you’re willing, perhaps at a later date I can help you… manifest Fire magic? Oh, and please, call me Bianca.” Bianca replied with a small grin, wondering if Dala would know the name or not. Perhaps the name, but since Bianca’s looks changed all the time perhaps Dala would not associate Bianca with the Deity that had appeared in the Fires around the lands a few days ago.

They headed towards the inn as Dala explained more of what was going on; they were heading out soon and there were seven adults and a few kids. Dala had already made contact with some of the tribes in the Plains, that was forward thinking that Bianca found admirable that someone so young thought that far ahead. Walking into the inn Bianca felt the eyes on them right away from those gathered inside ready to head out to the Plains to start a new life. Instant distrust displayed on many of their faces, but Bianca did not care, soon enough they’d know who Bianca was.

At first none of the farmers came to great Bianca, only after a few minutes did the man who seemed like the leader welcome Bianca and thank them for helping. ”You are welcome, it is the least I can do.” Bianca replied as Dala asked the man, Gareth, about the rest of the group. ”I’m ready to go whenever everyone else is ready.” Bianca informed them as Dala then brought up the fact that Bianca wanted to talk to them. ”Hm, not yet, once we’re on the road.” Bianca replied, they wanted to get away from the city first, not to force the farmers into the deal they had in mind, but to avoid drawing unwanted attention their way.

"Fuck yeah I'd be willing!" She exclaimed in response to the offer. 

There was a gleam of excitement in her eyes for a few moments at the idea. She had been told that she was only going to be good with light magic but there was always a chance that wasn't true. Then there was that name. Her mind was mainly focused on the idea of fire magic but she still wondered if Bianca…. was THAT Bianca. After they explained that they wanted to discuss the subject on the road, Dala gave them a nod and looked back to the rest of the group. The journey would be long and there would be plenty of time to talk while they traveled. She opened the doors of the tavern and ushered the farmers over to a travel cart with a horse. The cart was large enough for eight people and a couple of kids sitting on their parent's laps. 

"Have the kids sit on your laps or keep them in the center. If we run into any trouble, they will be in the center of the group." Dala advised the parents. 

The cart was sturdy and could be adaptable for any attack. There were some additional riding horses for herself, Bianca, and anybody else who needed one. Gareth chose to take a riding horse instead of sitting in the cart while one of the other farmers chose to drive the cart. They had their packs dumped in any available space while the kids occupied the middle section of the cart. Adults took the wooden benches on the sides while Dala jumped onto her horse. She gave a map to the cart driver and handed one to Bianca so they would know the route. 

"We will head out and take the route between the hills. It'll be easier to go through and be a familiar path." Dala said then pointed to the remaining riding horse, "That one's yours if you want a ride." 

When Bianca and everyone else was ready, they started out on their journey. The ride out of Adeluna was a little crowded as they pushed through the city gates but once they passed through there was nothing but the open countryside of Adeluna. An open blue sky and vast land ahead of them, Dala began to ride next to the cart and asked Bianca to guard the other side. The Adelunian countryside was pleasant and provided little concern beyond the average bandits. The real challenge would be in the Bohar Plains. 

"Heard about the new deity?" Dala bluntly asked Bianca. 

Bianca laughed. ”Excellent, that’s the kind of enthusiasm I like to see.” Oh yes indeed, Bianca liked this young human lady, feisty at heart. Bianca believed that they could easily help unlock Fire magic within Dala, if it was by forcing it to happen. Things picked up from the moment Bianca said that they would talk to the farmers once they were on the road. Dala got them organized as Bianca looked over the cart. It would do if some of the kids sat in their parents’ laps.

As the adults got themselves ready Bianca noted the extra horse before Dala said anything, going over the map instead for now. Between the hills? Fine, easy route, but an obvious one, but Bianca trusted in their ability to protect these people. A ring of impassable Fire would easily do the trick, or Bianca could call in some of their people and teleport them into the area. If they were attacked close enough to Bianca’s territory they could even use the Volcano itself to launch Fire at the attackers. The end point from what Bianca saw only a few miles outside of their territory, protecting the new settlement would not be that difficult.

When Dala did mention the extra horse directly Bianca made a decision that they had been thinking on while looking over the map. ”Someone else can ride that one, I have my own.” A wicked little grin came to Bianca’s face, they had not had a chance to really test this out, a nice perk of their new station in the world. ”My mount may draw some unwanted attention, but, at the same time, might be a good deterrent for anyone thinking to attack us.” With a small wink that only Dala saw, Bianca snapped their fingers. In a flash of fire and hot air appeared a powerful steed of obsidian with cracks in its body that emitted an inner fire. The horse’s main and tail were the purest of Fire, yet it had a slight purple-ish hue to it. As it strode into view it hooves struck the ground causing sparks when they hit stone, and leaving prints that smoked for a moment when the hoof was removed.

Bianca smiled and swung up on the beast, it had no saddle, but that did not seem to bother Bianca, as the beast was steady for they to get up on. ”Don’t worry, he’s a good boy… mostly.” Inwardly Bianca was far too much fun with this, cause they knew that anyone that knew anything would know that this horse was actually a Nightmare, a demonic kind of horse that few could tame let alone call upon from the ether.

Once things were settled there and they were on their way Bianca grinned a bit when Dala pointedly asked about the new Deity. If Dala was suspect of Bianca at this point that just made Bianca like Dala more. ”Hm, oh, yes, in fact I have, all that business with the Fires producing no heat for a few days, what a bother that was. What did you make of that situation, Dala? Did you make out ok for those couple of days?”