Through rain and lightning and all the tempestuous sky he flew.  The cold firmament meant nothing to him, not after all he had endured in the fall from his lofty place.  He willed himself toward the rising sun, undulating in his effort to reach his rightful home.  Quick and quicker still he kicked his rubicund tail through the thinning air, and nearly screamed his triumph at the sudden breach of some upper layer of cloud.

Scream it he did, but it and his breath boiled instantly away upon that highest stratum of the atmosphere, and that last exhalation dissolved all his strength.  His eyes rolled back, the undulation ceased, and he fell precipitously and unknowingly through all the inclemency whence he'd ascended.  Around his twisting path there formed an awful vortex, until he plummeted headlong into a roiling crater.

But this time, sleep did not take him; instead, the innards of the world rejuvenated him completely, as though the mantle was waiting for him.  Uriel looked 'round, and suddenly swam away to examine his new habitat.  The medium through which he swam was much more opaque than that which he was used to, yet he could still partially see through it; colder, too, though not so terribly chilled as the sky, or those higher reaches through which he had originally fallen.  He thought upon this for some moments, and looked up, where he knew the aperture to that alien world lay…

Babysitting was the bane of Violet's existence. Her mother insisted upon it if she wished to travel further than a few hours, and today Violet needed some water from the Hot Springs on Apoy Island. Normally, this would be a fun and invigorating holiday that would get her from the crowded house in Mamlak that she called home, unfortunately her mother had insisted that she bring her younger sister with her instead. She knew the reasons, with six people still at home the place was overwhelmingly small, but she still did not appreciate playing babysitter for Clover. As they made their way to their ultimate destination, Violet picked up some of the more beautiful seashells that was scattered along the beach. They would be a sold to anyone that needed them for a pretty sum. Not everyone from Mamlak, especially children could travel beyond the city. Normally people did business without the shelter of the city walls, surrounded by the beautiful symbols of lions.

Violet lost track of time as they slowly made their way down the white beach, but before she realized how close they had traveled to the single village on the isle, it was far too late. They had spotted the two blond youths. Clover was a number of years younger than Violet, but that only made her a better sacrifice to the volcano Gods. Violet had hoped to keep them clear of the village, but alas her wandering mind put them directly into danger's path, one that Clover was not aware of, and now she would pay for Violet's neglect.

Quickly the natives of the island surrounded the two blond females. Clutching her staff tightly, Violet attempted to fight a few of them off but to no avail. A swift blow to the back of her head was all that they needed to knock her out.

---

The blistering heat from the massive lava flow within the crater of the volcano was enough to rouse Violet from her painful slumber. Instead of binding her, the natives had chosen a rather strong man to take hold of her wrists firmly. She knew their intentions were to sacrifice two strangers to the God within the volcano to save their own families from wrath or starvation, but she wished they had found some other victims. It was cruel and selfish, but she did not mind her thoughts of self preservation. A scream woke her completely as her sister fully understood the fate that would befell the both of them. The thought of someone so young being sacrificed finally moved Violet into action.

Struggling against the man holding her, the fresh sweat on her skin allowed her to pull her hand free. Barreling forward closer to the mouth of the volcano, she found herself in greater danger just as her sister screamed once more. This drew a laugh from most of the people. Out of the pan and into the-

She turned around, still on her feet. Charging forward she tackled the man holding Clover in the middle, causing them both to sprawl on the volcanic rock. "Run!" She screamed to her sister, "Run to the docks and do not look back!" The girl did what her elder sister demanded and when she was out of sight, Violet turned her attention back to the men more determined to sacrifice her.

I had a one-way ticket to a place where all the demons go,
Where the wind don't change
And nothing in the ground can ever grow…

- Sia, Alive

His momentum had carried Uriel further into the earth's wound than he could know – but what is the heighth of a mountain to one who has fallen from the stars?  Lazily, he twisted through the molten rock towards the surface, revelling in the heat surrounding him.  A sound like song escaped him, and reverberated up through the volcanic shaft.  Never before had he heard the echo of his own voice – the phenomenon confused him at first, and he thought that others of his kind had come to bear him away from that wretched place.  But as soon as the idea occurred to him, he rejected it as wishful thinking.  His ascent quickened, and the melody emanating from him turned dark.

The magma followed him in a great fountain as he breached its surface, stretching into a thin column as he rose above the volcano's rim.  His coiled body remained momentarily encased in an incandescent globe while the rest of the fiery jet retreated.  Almost immediately, his gaze found movement.  Unfurling his serpentine form, Uriel burst forth from the warm sphere, leaving it to disintegrate and rapidly closing the distance between himself and the commotion.  In spite of his relative unfamiliarity with the creatures before him, it was evident that one of them was quite unlike the others – and she wore the look of fear.

Perhaps providentially for the girl, then, Uriel chose to circle his long body above her in a scarlet halo.  Hovering there, he glared down at the group of men, his whiskers twitching in suspicion.  All they offered him were wide-eyed stares and a few strained ululations that felt ill on his ear.  He resolved in spite of his impatience to be less harsh with them than he had been with the halfling woman – and so, instead of invading their minds to discover their motives, he spoke into the aether:  ”For what purpose have you gathered here, small creatures?  Why is there one so different from you among your number?”