We spend the next hour relatively silently picking up the rubble and trying to make the shelter at least somewhat whole again. Luckily, I’m going to be amped up for the next few hours, so moving the larger pieces is trivial with all of the imbued strength. Eventually, we’re left with a mostly complete shelter, though the new hole in the roof seems to be perfectly positioned to let cold winter winds in, which I find particularly annoying — my wing is feeling particularly sensitive to temperature.. We get a raging fire going to compensate as we each huddle under respective blankets.

  At this point I’ve bandaged my wing, but the damage is still considerable. Lilly said she’d take a look at it in the morning to do what she can, but apparently invoking that killing spell was particularly draining since it goes against the nature of the fae to use such things.

  Olly seems to be in a good mood, all things considered. As much as I don’t trust that monster as far as I can throw it — which I suppose isn’t a negligible distance — I do trust Olly. And if he’s claiming that whatever the thing did to him is helping his memories, then I’ll just gladly keep my skeptical mouth shut and be prepared to kill that thing the next time I see it. I don’t buy for a moment that it wasn’t trying to manipulate him. Especially after it already manipulated him to buy time to escape a pretty well earned death. I’m not comfortable leaving any of those things alive in any situation — not after what one of them took from me.

  I’m not living for vengeance, but after what Vari said, I’ll be doing the world a favor. It’s definitely a better reason.

  Lilly, on the other hand, has Slinks draped across her lap. He probably took the worst beating out of everyone — Olly notwithstanding given his ability to regenerate — all things considered. He’s sturdy, but nothing like Olly or I, and what the Calamity did to him likely did some damage to his insides above and beyond broken ribs. She’s been nursing him to health over us by necessity rather than choice — when Lilly got to him he was apparently in a very bad way. Lilly’s also working on mending the sleeve so it can be used again inbetween bouts of incanting.

  And I’m sitting here as good as I can really expect to be. I’m still feeling a whole lot of emotions over the day, but that’s lessening as the minutes tick by and I bleed the excess Ignia out of my system — something that, gratefully, is also staving off the cold by warming the shelter. But thinking on my elemental essence has me worried. If that thing could turn it against me, could something else? Obviously Olly and the monster’s entire thing is stealing magic, but still. I need to actually dedicate time to mastering other aspects of Ignia. If I could have commanded the heat aspect I wouldn’t be in this position. Just need some time to actually spend time training and learning. Maybe when we get to this city, we'll have some time to exist without anything trying to kill or kidnap us.

  I sigh, looking up. The one upside of the hole in the roof and wall is being able to see the sky. The sun has dropped behind the mountain range to the north and both moons are hanging in the sky against a multicolored backdrop across space, like a painter tripped and spilled their palette against the sky. With the smaller, quicker golden moon seeming to run away from the much larger white moon.

  While we’re sitting quietly, Lilly and I are nursing warm drinks that taste of mulling spices that I picked up at the provisioner. They’re little reusable tea packs that flavor things using complex compound essence combinations. Their recharge times are such that you can use one every couple days but they were cheap so it seemed like a good investment for the road. These ones, in particular, have a very pleasant sweet spiciness to them that makes me think of peppermint.

  Olly asks aloud. “We’ve spent so much time under a canopy of trees, or in buildings, or on the run or a hundred other things that I don’t think I’ve ever seriously looked up at any point. Does the sky always look like this?”

  We both turn our heads up, and Lilly responds first. “Yeah, those splotches of color are the norm. I guess I don’t really think of them much. It’s very pretty though.” She idly pets the oversized stoat in her lap inbetween bits of working on the new sleeve. He’s been quiet since the fight but seems to be enjoying the attention. I’m going to need to do what I can to help him. I’m fairly certain I’d be dead if not for his timely intervention. Savage little beast that he is. Legitimately glad he’s an ally — the way he fights would be a nightmare to adapt to.

  Once Lilly finishes she looks at me expectantly, knowing full well how much I enjoy talking about the heavens. I smirk and stand. “The colors also trace out constellations in the stars if you can look closely enough or filter out the essence emitting from them somehow.” I stand and move to the side of the shelter to point up. “To my knowledge, all of the various elementals — serpents, beasts and kyn, at least — are strongly associated with the heavens above. My line, for example, draws most of our influence from Intiluminia, or Khana as we call her — the Breath Divine. The sun, mostly simply. Or…I do, I suppose.” That realization makes me feel suddenly very cold and sets a deep frown across my face. I try to power on, though.

  “Question!” Lilly interrupts and continues with no real delay. I wait patiently. “If the sun is called Khana, and you’re Ay-”

  “Our line name means “of Khana”, yes. At least that's my understanding based on what I've gleaned from my childhood memories. I'm lacking a lot of information like that in any sort of concrete way though.” I respond coolly, interrupting her just as well as she did me with a smirk. In response she wilts a little, and Olly mouths an “ooh” while looking surprised.

  Lilly and Olly both quietly listen as I go through more of the sky and everything within it. I feel calmer and more comfortable as I do. There’s a sense of camaraderie I’ve always felt with the great seas above and everything contained within them — knowing that somewhere another person like me was almost certainly looking up at the same sky and feeling the same. Even if I’m the last of the A’Khana, then I can’t be the last elemental. I refuse to acknowledge that as a possibility. Vari did insinuate he’d met a dragon besides me…

  As I muse, there’s been a tension between everyone tonight, but it’s to be expected. I’m just not at all sure what to say, it’s not an easy thing to bring up. Olly decides to be the one to break the ice. “I’m sorry for putting you both in the position that led to all of the…everything.”

  “Olly, it wasn’t your fault.” Both of us speak at the same time, saying the same words and after a brief pause, looking around the campfire, it makes all of us start to laugh. Deep, eye watering, mirthful laughter that robs the air of its tension. Lilly continues after I make a rolling gesture at her. Her voice is meek, wearing regret plain on her face. “I-I wish I had just said what I’d known to you. I know now that I can. Slinks made it clear to me that I’m not actually of the courts anymore.” Her face betrays her uncertainty as much as her voice regarding that fact. “Father fully severed my connection to it, and I didn’t think about what that really meant until it was too late. And it was almost too late.” With a voice growing smaller and smaller, she trails off. “I…I’m just very sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt anyone or get anyone hurt.”

  Looking at her with lidded eyes, I respond before Olly can, “So, one. Apology accepted. Two. Did you seriously think that writing things down would be all it took to get around some magical decree? With how you made it sound, I expect it should have outright stopped you from even considering speaking of it.” My goal is to rob Lilly of some of her self-doubt in the best way I know how: challenging her. “I thought your father was supposed to be smart.”

  That gets Lilly to look up from her lap with a bit of fire in her eyes, I meet with a more literally fiery smirk, spitting some ash in her direction petulantly. “I’m pretty sure that this was the part where you’re supposed to say something to the effect of “No, Lilly, the fault is not your own. We all are responsible for what happened.” so that way we can focus on moving on and making up for stuff? Haven’t you ever read a story with intra-party conflict before? I swear.” She punctuates the statement with a mighty eye roll. “And yes, Father did think of that. I just didn’t.”

  “Ahh, so your father is smart, you were just assuming he wasn’t and are now pleasantly surprised to see he’s not an idiot. Gotcha, that makes sense.”

  Lilly moves past surprised and into angry. “I’m pretty sure that you all but told me to leave after Olly was getting ready to drop the subject.” She abruptly stands, unceremoniously dropping Slinks with a yelp. Her anger immediately evaporates, and she drops down to her knees to scoop him back up into a hug while apologizing. “Okay. Fine. What is the point you’re trying to make, Ayre?” The side eye that Slinks gives her could melt metal and leaves me smiling all the same.

  I find Olly looking at me questioningly, so I just shrug with a smile. “Oh I didn’t have one. I know I was equally responsible for what happened, I just refuse to acknowledge it because it doesn’t support my narrative. Besides, the real person who’s responsible for all of this is Olly. If he stopped trying to drive us away at every opportunity this would never have happened.”

  The conversation being suddenly redirected at him catches him off-guard. “How do you figure that? I haven’t told you to leave or anything.”

  “Oh, haven’t you? What do you call just giving up when Lilly gave you push back? You were looking for an excuse and Lilly gave you one. Or all of the times you’ve waited until something is a problem before bringing it up. Or when you didn’t listen to me when I told you you needed to take care of yourself.”

  Unexpectedly, that nets an uncomfortable frown from Olly that makes him look away from me. Lilly notices as well and starts to say something, only to be cut off by Olly

  “Well, look at that, Ayre, yo-"

  “It’s not that, Lilly.” His tone comes out very sharp, very snippy. “Ayre’s right in general. It’s just the last thing she said is exactly what the Calamity told me in those moments of contact.” He pauses fractionally before catching us up on the conversation he had and the outcome of it.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “Well… I’d be lying if I said I knew what to make of that. She — and you’re sure she’s a she?” He nods, “She seems to not be dishonest. She did leave you somewhere that there was no way I could have missed you, and the thing about her losing control of herself makes some degree of sense. We’ve seen the same thing happen to you, and from the sounds of it, you really worked her over while it was just the two of you.” I take up a brawling pose and take a couple shadowboxing swings to emphasize my point but wince when I try to move my wing with the motion.

  Having sat quietly, presumably considering, Lilly lets out a soft laugh. Both of us turn to look at her. Even Slinks cranes his neck to look at her. “Sorry. I was just thinking of the parallels between Ayre and the hellion and Olly and this monster. It’s kinda funny in the “Oh wonderful, death faces us on all sides, but, hey, at least it’s polite” kind of way. Everyone but me has a rival, it seems.”

  “Me. I’m your rival. You said so.” Slinks pipes up for the first time with his laconic, deadpan delivery. “I’m better than those two anyways. I had the monster right where I wanted her, you just got in the way.” The words come out sagely, a declaration of fact, but his eyes narrow immediately afterwards and he tilts his head up and back. “No, Hat. I had a plan. Yes, be more aggressive is a plan. Well, you didn’t have any ideas at the time, you were too busy saying I was going to die.”

  The whole campsite goes a bit quiet as the conversation takes place, uncertain on how to proceed. Olly breaks the ice, though, once Slinks stops talking to his hat. “Well, in that case, at least Lilly’s rival is mostly on our side and a hell of a fighter.” This nets an appraising glance from the stoat, who promptly stands and leaps over to his lap, draping himself over Olly. A reward, I suppose. “That beside, I think we were working towards something like that blowup happening and will be better able to handle things like it in the future. We just need to say what we’re thinking when we’re thinking it. Stop keeping secrets. At least, as long as everyone wants to keep traveling together.”

  “Well, I might as well go first, then.” I level as caustic of a glare at Lilly as I can to build tension until she starts to squirm. “Lilly.” A long pause. She does this to me all the time, so returning the favor is a worthy delay, “Can you please stop using the oversimplified names for essence types? Especially Ignia. I know you do it in jest, but it seriously bothers me.”

  Lilly doesn’t look away, like I’d expected. She holds my gaze, looking concerned and determined, “Why? I’ve been doing it for years, and you’ve always taken it in good humor. I’ll gladly do it, but I’d at least appreciate knowing why.”

  Olly glances between the two of us before adding, “I’m curious too. You go above and beyond even your textbooks in being distinct about it.”

  Neither of their faces carry judgement, so I continue after a slight delay and a couple of breaths to compose myself. “I’m…” I hesitate. The words are hard, and I pull my wing forward to feel at it, reminded of my failure to command my own essence. The memory of the pain and terror helps me steel myself, though. “I’m an elemental, Lil. I’m a dragon, yes, but to the core of my being, I’m a creature of Ignia. Those distinctions matter to me because…it’s my identity. Ignia is more than fire. I’m more than just fire.” The words come faster as I say something I’ve been pushing away for years. “I got hurt today because I struggled to do something with my essence that wasn’t fire and it refused to listen to me.”

  Lilly looks like I’ve just kicked over her sand castle for a moment before all but launching herself at me across the fire with the same energy she normally would when she’s in her tiny form. Because she isn’t in that form, though, she instead succeeds in tackling me backwards off of the bench with a small fall into the soft grass below. She starts to fire of a barrage of apologies and assurances while wrapping me in the tightest hug she can muster. “I’m so sorry, Ayre. I had no idea. I’m no different than you, but Elysia is so mutable, just like we fae who are made of it, that I’ve never had that sort of thought about it before.”

  Behind Lilly’s drooping wings, I see Olly wearing a warm smile. “I don’t think I’ve ever oversimplified them, but I will make sure I don’t start. Maybe we should let Ayre up, though, Lilly.” He extends a hand down to me as Lilly dismounts me and I snag it to be hauled up. Lilly gives me another, much more restrained, hug immediately, and one that I’m able to actually return since my arms aren’t pinned. While that’s going on, Olly continues, “I might be able to help you with that problem with enough experimentation. You’ll just need to set me on fire a few times.”

  As Lilly steps away, I spit a small gout of fire in Olly’s direction — far more controlled than the last time I did it having gotten more practice since, “Deal. I can do it without even having to worry since you’ll heal up fast.”

  “My turn!” Lilly pipes up as she sits back down to be immediately sat upon by the weasel. “I don’t have a lot of complaints, but we really need to talk about the Demon King. I still probably won’t say everything I know, but I will bring up anything I think will be remotely relevant. I do still believe in the reasons why its not widespread information, but I think Father did this to empower me to use my best judgement.” She spreads a gleaming grin across both of us, “But I need to you promise that you’ll take it seriously. I hate to say it like this, but it’s important enough that I was willing to…do what I did. It is serious. If the world has forgotten about it, then I may need to actually go farther…but you’ll both be the test case.”

  Olly and I both nod in affirmation, which sees Lilly beam again. “That’s all I had!”

  We both swivel our heads to look at Olly at the same time, which makes him squirm more or less instantly. “I don’t really want for much. You’ve both been great to me despite the circumstances.”

  I look at him with raised ridges and a disbelieving face but Lilly beats me to speaking. “Olly, if you don’t want anything, then how about you fill us both in on what you’re actually dealing with so we can understand and help.”

  That sees the squirming get worse as he looks everywhere but at us before settling his eyes on the gate, clearly considering an escape of some kind. But he gives in after a few moments with a deep sigh. “Well, I guess starting there, I need to open up and be a bit more honest.” He turns to face specifically me, which sets me on edge. What has he been dishonest about? What even is there to be dishonest about? “Ayre, it seemed very important to you at the time, so I tried to make it seem like I enjoyed your food. In truth, it’s not that it was bad, I just…really can’t taste anything. What I experienced that first time I told you about persisted and has continued to. I just didn’t want to hurt your feelings after you mentioned that I was the first person to have it other than you and Lilly.” He looks like this is some earth shattering reveal that's been weighing him down the entire time we’ve known one another. I momentarily consider teasing him over it but decide that that’s the fire in my blood talking, not me.

  “I was a little suspicious, admittedly, but it’s alright. I can’t really be mad at you for trying to be nice to me. Even if it was misguided. Forgiven.”

  Olly goes on to relay all of his struggles in greater detail and seems to do so more easily as he progresses. It becomes abundantly clear that he has been trying to bear the world on his shoulders since waking and the little nudges and mistakes from Lilly and I were small potatoes — they were just small potatoes atop a stack of much larger, spike covered, acid leaking potatoes. From the memories trying to rob him of agency to ones trying to help him, the dissociations he’s been having, all while trying to do everything possible to not burden us.

  Lilly and I both nod along as Olly goes, and we continue on like that for a while, talking about anything that comes to mind. We talk about everything. Dreams I had as a child, Lilly’s favorite stories, and some of the more fond memories that Olly has experienced(As it turns out, not all of them have been negative).

  Once night properly falls, we start to settle in. The little enclosure has remained warm and stable aside the occasional gust of the coming winter, and even a couple scattered flurries of snow have drifted down from on high as cloud cover has come in. Naturally, the night we have a hole in a roof over our heads is the first night of snow and winter properly arrive. Because sometimes the world is just that way with its sense of humor.

  After a period of silence, I hear Lilly speak up softly — she opted to take the first watch since both of us were so abused by the events of the day — while tending the fire. “I don’t want to be alone again. I don’t know if I can go back home, and without you two I have nothing out here.” Her words are strained like a rope under tension. Fragile, but still holding firm against a great weight.

  “You aren’t alone in that, Lilly. I’m pretty sure that none of us really has anything out here — that we know of anyways.” I add, pausing for a moment as I think about everything I felt on the night that Olly walked off. “Except Olly, I guess. He’s got his new Sidhe friend and a house.”

  “I don’t think Arran and I have anything special going on. They just like talking to me.” I eye him with disbelief but don’t say anything — he is just genuinely that clueless, and I don’t feel like needling Lilly on that specific topic. “I don’t have anyone out here, and unlike you two, without you, I can’t really integrate anywhere. When Lilly left it ruined me for the night and when I left Ayre I wound up losing control again. I think you’re right. We do need one another in our own ways.”

  Lilly chimes in, smiling. “Then we swear on it! And then you guys go to sleep.” She takes on a thoughtful expression for a few moments, clearly working out the right words for what she wants to say. Once she’s apparently satisfied, she moves over to both Olly and I, laying on our backs and stomachs and respectively and takes one of our hands in each of hers.

  “Repeat after me!” She’s positively beaming at the two of us. Brighter, literally, than the campfire behind her as her wings flutter with excitement, spreading gold dust everywhere.

  [Though the road might be tough, and our trials may be rough]

  “Though the road might be tough, and our trials may be rough.”

  Essence begins to issue forth from Lilly, flooding the space with sparks of warm light that leave both Olly and I smiling toothily at her little performance. Each of our voices seems to fall into a suiting singsong tone without really trying — helped along comfortably by Lilly's magic and leading voice.

  [Our bonds shall not break, our wills may never wane]

  “Our bonds shall not break, our wills may never wane.”

  The storm of magic cocoons Lilly in mother of pearl light showing the true side of Lilly I've come to know over these years. The smile of the person who more or less raised me these years. Welcoming, loving, kind. All emotions that come through with her essence like a firewarmed blanket deep in the winter.

  [Through storm and through spark, we will stand side by side]

  “Through storm and through spark, we will stand side by side.”

  Power continues to rise on the air — though far less than I might anticipate. Despite the display, Lilly is being conservative with this performance and incantation. Clearly aiming more for showing us her intent and emotions, I think. I'm glad for it after the unpleasantness of the last day.

  [In Tale and Song, our spirits will travel on.]

  “In Tale and Song, our spirits will travel on.”

  The storm subsides as the music coming from Lilly abates, leaving the room warm and cozy around us.

  "Now, both of you go to sleep. If I don't hear rhythmic breathing in about ten minutes I'm going to knock you both out and make sure you get the sleep you need." She threatens warmly, still smiling broadly after her little performance.

  As tempted as I am to see if she's being serious, I am utterly beat. Between the fights and Lilly's magic making me feel at home, reminding me of the many times she lulled me to sleep as a child, I give into the embrace of sleep more or less as soon as my head hits the traveling pillow.