The past few weeks had been difficult. Leaving Teacher and her lover, running on their own, Rai had been wondering if he and Adra made the right call. Could they have changed the course of events? Made it so that insanely powerful Ice-Magic would never have been used, preventing the destruction of vast swathes of forest in the process? And that scream afterwards. It was still haunting his dreams, the familiar voice of his Teacher, screaming in a way he had never heard before. The despair, the rage, there was a part of him that could easily imagine what had prompted the scream. Loss.

Ever since that day, Adra had pulled him northwards, not even trying to head back towards the coast, not even trying to go anywhere. It was nothing but frantic flight, something Rai could understand. If Sigmir had truly fallen, Teacher would take her revenge and she wouldn’t care who was caught in the crossfire. He was grateful for her to start him out on his path, to show him that being in the shadow wasn’t an inherently bad thing - That the question was if you were the master of the shadows, or if it was the shadow of your master. But Rai wasn’t about to willingly walk to his death, not if there was another path for him to take.

They had posed as simple travellers, adventurers from far afield who had heard about the Forest of Dusk and its welcoming climate, playing up the couple-aspect while vaguely hinting that they might be looking for a place to settle down. Initially, things had been a little tense, the elves incredibly on edge for some reason, with whispers of Dark Magic in the streets. Those whispers had made him cautious, pushed him to focus on the physical aspects of his abilities and how they complemented Adra, who had taken centre-stage, her affinity to trees and the forest itself assuaging most of the suspicions.

Dryads were welcome, especially powerful ones, but he was only along for the ride. There was a part of him that was irked by the dismissal and his own weakness, making him wonder if he had ever progressed, stepped up for himself. Getting snippy with the elves wouldn’t help anyone, so he had composed himself, letting Adra do the talking, again. Even if he hated the elven snickers and the whispers of lapdog, along with a few incredibly insulting suggestions regarding his tongue. He did, but why was it their business?

“Have you seen the message?” Adra asked, staring into the air before her, just like Rai was staring at the blue box that had suddenly appeared before him. They were in the middle of the market, and it seemed that everyone was staring.

Moments later, he could smell fear everywhere around him. Not a huge surprise, something important enough for the system itself to issue a warning, he hadn’t even heard about such events.

“The elders spoke of such warnings, that the fate of the world hangs in balance,” Adra muttered, her eyes wide, her voice spooked.

“You think?” Rai began, his mind making the connection between their eventual destination, the ‘Ice Queen’ and his Teacher, who had continued on their journey filled with hate, grief and, from what he understood of her, an almost compulsive need to make those who had wronged her pay. Even back then, just after they had met, she had taken her revenge for a slight not even directed at her person, but one that had been directed at Rai. And yet, Morgana had taken her revenge in the most brutal, direct and permanent fashion.

“Yes,” Adra nodded, the fear in her voice now dominant. She knew Morgana just as well as he did, maybe even a little better given that the three females had been travelling together when rescuing him.

“We’ll gather whatever resources we can, as we travel further north,” Adra immediately made a decision, planning their further flight. Planning for the worst to come to pass, that Morgana would succeed. There was a small part within Rai that still called him a coward, that he had abandoned his Teacher and pack. That he should stand with her, be by her side.

But at the end of the day, his first instinct was to survive. Just as his Teacher had always taught him to, only by surviving could you become powerful. Not that she had followed her own teachings, but as a Traveller, she had a lot more room for error.

After the Message, Adra and Rai continued on their journey, only now, they were moving with urgency. Exchanging whatever they could, so they had as much food and supplies as possible, preparing as best as they could. For what, they weren’t sure but neither of them thought it unwise, if nothing else, they were confident in the tenacious nature of Morgana. She would have her revenge or die trying and if she died, she would come back and take it anyways. Nothing would stop her, nothing short of the Gods themself. And even then…

They were almost to the Mountains of Fire when they felt it. They had been in their tent, cuddled together for comfort and a little bit of warmth when a wave of sorrow swept over them. Even Rai could feel it, but where he merely picked up on the latent emotions surging through the Astral River, Adra was hit by the full brunt.

Rai could do nothing for his friend, nothing but hold her close and whisper comforting words into her ear, as she shook with pain and despair, tears, snot and blood running down her face. She was in that catatonic state for what felt like hours, alternately sobbing in despair, screaming in pain or whimpering in fear and all he could do was hold her. He was tempted to take her into the shadows, to let the smooth, stillness of that realm calm her nerves but even just touching his own magic was enough to send Adra into a deeper state of panic. And so, he could only lie there, hold her and pray. He hadn’t prayed in a long time.

Finally, dawn came and with the light of the sun, the tremors and pain gripping Adra calmed down to the point that she could control her own body, to do more than lie there and suffer. Rai crawled out of the tent, only to stop, staring at the environment in disbelieving terror.

“What is it,” Adra asked from behind, her voice cracked and hoarse from the night of suffering. And yet, she had insisted to get out of the tent, that she needed to look around.

For a moment, Rai wasn’t sure if he should let her out. If he had the ability, he would have bundled her up and kept her hidden, or concealed the world around her, to spare her the pain.

When they had prepared their camp, there had been countless massive trees all around them, giants of the forest that the elves seemed to almost worship. It was their forest, their home, and these trees were the pillars that held that home up. Adra had always liked those trees, feeling a certain latent connection to them, she had at times told him that she might even settle down at some point and bond with one. It had never felt like a serious consideration, more an amusing idea for the distant future, just like he had sometimes imagined his future pups. A someday-idea

But now, all those majestic trees were burning with black flames. Flames that sent a cold shiver down Rai’s spine, as he realised that these flames shed no light, held no heat and cast no shadow. They were Shadow manifest, darkness devouring everything in its passing. And they were destroying the forest.

Regardless of his opinion, Adra was insistent. With his help, she managed to crawl out of the tent. Luckily, she wasn’t on her legs when she began to look around, or they would have given out on her, even now, she needed his help to keep her from falling over.

“No, by the Gods,” Adra whispered, her eyes wide as she looked around, “Please, no!” she desperately pleaded, but there was nobody that could hear her pleas, Nobody that could do anything about it, Rai was just as powerless as she was.

Nobody, but the system and before her eyes, a blue box appeared.

The forest is burning, the dryads are dead. You are the last dryad of Arbortoma, do you wish to take up the mantle and guide the forest on the road to recovery?

For a moment, she hesitated. She wasn’t sure if there could be recovery, she recognised those black flames. They were what Morgana had experimented with, only now, it felt like they were far more dangerous and destructive than anything their former companion could have conjured up.

“Yes,” Adra whispered, deciding that she would cling to hope, instead of abandoning herself to despair. Maybe the forest would grow once more.

Or maybe, the black fires would bring the end, with her giving the final struggle before they all went out into the long night.