Flare awoke to Dune sleeping next to her, her hair spread out on the pillow and her face resting in an innocent, soft expression. Sunlight streamed through the room's many windows, and Flare sat up and ran her hands through her messy hair in a feeble attempt to smooth it out. She heard Dune awakening next  to her, the geomancer's eyelids heavy with sleep.

    "Good morning," Flare grinned. Dune didn't respond, just grabbed Flare's shoulder and pulled her back down to lay next to her. They were a heap of giggles and tiny kisses and the type of pure, innocent happiness that Flare hadn't felt for the longest time.

"Dune? Flare?"

    Flare turned around to see Tera behind her in the doorway.

    "I never expected this from you, Dune. Nor you," Tera said, a look of betrayal in her eyes as she looked first at Dune, then Flare. Fare couldn't help but feel that she had; the mere gaze of a woman as powerful as Tera could do that to someone.

    "The fire," Flare suddenly remembered. "The fire told me there was something about me that you wouldn't like."

    "Don't tell me that you're homophobic," Dune hissed.

    "It's unnatural," Tera snarled. "I don't tolerate it in my kingdom, much less in my castle. Fortunately I've never encountered this... problem before, but it means that I will have to banish you," the queen said, and her tiger Cosmo sat behind her, tail twitching maliciously.

    "Of course, there's never a perfect place, is there?" Dune cried. "I was just starting to think I could move on from my parents and live happily here. Tera, I've been like a daughter to you, you've said so yourself. Does that all disappear just because I like girls?"

    "My opinion of you has changed," Tera said, pursing her lips.

    "All because of who I love," Dune's voice shook with anger or sadness, Flare wasn't sure. "Forget it. I don't want to live with someone like you anyway, someone who judges people all based on who they love."

    "Dune, I'm infertile. You know that. I will never be able to have children, and I want to, so badly. But you, you would've been able to if you didn't choose to like girls. People like you are so selfish, able to have children, which so many people want to have but are unable to, but choosing not to so that you can have romantic relations with the same gender. I want to see no more of you," Tera responded coldly, her voice strangely calm.

    "Fine with me, bitch," Dune said, in a quiet, angry voice.

    "There's no need for language, darling. Now leave, otherwise I'll be forced to send Cosmo after you," Tera threatened. "And you really don't want me to do that."

    Cosmo bared her teeth and twitched her tail, letting out a slight growl. Suddenly, she leapt towards Dune. Flare stood, frozen, as the tiger's huge frame flew through the air towards Dune. Suddenly, she saw Abby jump into the path of the tiger.

    The next thing Flare grasped was the tiger thudding to the ground and Abby standing protectively in front of Dune. Cosmo got up quickly and snarled at Abby, walking around her in a circle. Abby looked fearless as she stood, unmoving and unharmed.

    "What just happened?" Tera asked skeptically, her voice shrill.

    "Eastern Alizarin Crimson Abyssinians are thought to have magical powers," Flare recited, unbelieving of the event herself. "Abby, come here, girl," Flare cooed, in an attempt to get the cat away from Cosmo.

    Abby glanced first at Flare, then back at Cosmo, then bound towards Flare and jumped into her arms before anyone realized what was going on.

    "Dune, let's go," Flare said, clutching Abby and sprinting out the doorway. Dune led Flare through the winding hallways to an exit that put them in Tera's garden. They made their way through and were on top of a large rock at the base of the mountain when they heard the snarl of Cosmo. Looking down, they saw the tiger weaving her way through the garden, her powerful muscles visible even from far away.

    "We'd better start climbing. Or perhaps climbing isn't the right word," Dune said as she bent the very rock on the steep mountain to make it easier for them to ascend. As if Flare wasn't already impressed enough, Dune moved the rock underneath them and caused it to begin summiting the slope. Flare stumbled and collapsed, gripping the edges of the rock; it shook and trembled as it climbed up the mountain.

    "Hold on tight," Dune said. "It's going to be a slightly bumpy ride."

    Hours and hours later, with only a few breaks, Dune and Flare had conquered most of the mountain and were sitting comfortably on a rock ledge that overlooked the geomancer kingdom, which they could barely see at the height they were at. The sun had just begun to say farewell for the day, and already a few eager stars had climbed into the darkening sky, the barely visible moon watching over benignly.

    "You must be exhausted," Flare said. Summoning fire too often really wore her out, she couldn't even comprehend the toll that pulling a boulder up a mountain would do to a geomancer.

    "I am," Dune said with a tired smile. She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. "And starving. We didn't have a chance to properly pack."

    "Let's sleep, then. There's no rush. We'll start again tomorrow morning," Flare said gently, leaning her head on Dune's shoulder and silently admiring her emotional strength.

    "Okay," Dune sighed, relieved, and lay down. Flare lay next to her, looking at the setting sun, which was amazing from such a height. She was never the type to be afraid of heights, but she was a little nervous of rolling off as she slept. The mountain wasn't exactly comfortable. But as Flare pondered her worries, she slowly drifted off into a deep slumber.

***

    When Flare awoke, the sky was still dark, splattered with plenty of stars against a midnight blue canvas. Dune lay sleeping next to her, and she felt like she knew why she had woken up but couldn't exactly place it. Nevertheless, the night held an eerie, creepy feeling, and suddenly Flare remembered why she had been woken.

    "Dune, wake up," she said, shaking the geomancer. Dune sat up sleepily.

    "What?" she grumbled.

    "There's a Mountain Dartou nearby. I saw it just a second ago," Flare whispered. Instantly Dune's senses were alert and eyes wide open. Mountain Dartous were vicious, nyctophilic, bloodthirsty monsters, that primarily made their homes on mountains. They only came out at night, and if there were too many people, they wouldn't come, but if the conditions were right, there was close to nothing you could do to stop them.

    "Brother, do you smell blood?" a dartou hissed. The voices of the dartous were creepy and unsettling, like nails on a chalkboard.

    "Yes, sister, I smell human blood," another one growled. Flare looked around, but she couldn't see the source of the voices.

"Could the scent be coming from... over here?" the first dartou snarled and revealed itself, emerging from the shadows.

"It appears so," the second one revealed itself as well, slinking towards them. At Flare's first glance, only moments ago, they had appeared as long shadows, a deep, enveloping black. Now that they were closer, she could see they were bony and slimy. Flare searched for a face, and discovered a small, fanged mouth and beady white eyes, cloudy and vacant.

    "They look tasty."

    "I agree, sister." Flare was paralyzed with terror, and it seemed Dune was as well. She looked around for Abby, but the crimson cat was nowhere to be seen. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, no way to fight. All they could do was sit and wait, frozen with fear, staring at the two dartous that clung to the sides of the mountain who in turn stared at them hungrily.

    Abruptly, one of the monsters sprung forward and snatched Dune by the leg. Before Flare could react, it sunk it's fangs into her skin and instantly her head snapped back, her once vivacious green eyes now dead and lifeless. Laughing sickly, the monster bounded away, Dune swinging below them as they crawled along the sides of the mountains swiftly.

    "Dune!" Flare yelled, tears in her eyes. She screamed, the kind of nonsensical scream that you let out when you simply don't know what to do because it's beyond your control.

    "Now for you," the other dartou hissed at Flare and leapt towards her. Flare retracted, anticipating the feel of it's slimy skin against hers, but it never came. She open her eyes and saw Abby standing on the ledge, watching the dead dartou tumble down the sides of the mountain, it's shadowy black figure crumpled and limp as it hit against the rocks and slowly vanished from her sight.

    "Abby," Flare gathered Abby close to her, in disbelief that the tiny cat had just been able to protect her like she had, and sobbed into her soft, crimson fur. She wailed until her heart was empty, as if she had just cried out every emotion she'd ever had, and leaned against the side of the rock, stroking Abby and letting the cat's silky pelt comfort her.

    Dune was gone. Dune, this beautiful, smart, amazing girl was gone. Flare couldn't even begin to wrap her mind around all the emotions she was feeling - anger, guilt, sadness - so she didn't even try. She simply sat and watched the sky until the sun came up, washing the brisk morning with warm oranges and pinks, letting silent tears run down her face like a steady waterfall. She rubbed the dried tears from her face and took a gulp of water, and was finally forced to confront her situation - she would have to summit the mountain without the help of a skilled geomancer or any equipment. Essentially, it would be like scaling a rock climbing wall, which she had only done once with her twin brother when she was just a little girl.

    Terror seized her chest, constricting it, making it so that she couldn't breathe. If she fell, she would be dead. There was no room for error.

    "I can't do it. Not without Dune," she whispered shakily to Abby, and the cat responded by leaping up onto a rock, then another. Flare watched in amazement as she leapt from rock to rock, conquering the mountain with ease. "Abby!" Flare shouted, but either the cat didn't hear or didn't care, because what was now a small crimson dot kept climbing up the mountain.

    "Wait, I'm coming!" The pyromancer, unaccustomed to the earth and it's ways, struggled to find a foothold. Eventually, she latched on, and began ascending the mountain.

    Some time later, an amount that Flare couldn't estimate but felt like an eternity, the sun beat down on Flare's backside relentlessly. It seemed as if heat was tethered to her by a chain that she couldn't let loose, weighing her down as she tried to hoist herself upwards. Abby had hung back and waited for Flare, and now loitered by her side, climbing at the same pace as her.

    The duo wanted nothing more than to stop, especially Flare. The end was close, but not close enough, and the emotional and physical exhaustion was unbearable. However, there was no ledge on which they would be able to rest, just more and more mountain to summit.

    "Do it for Dune, Flare," she growled, and latched onto another rock. "Do it for your brother!" With a howl, she summoned all the energy that she had in her body and put it all towards summiting the mountain, and step by step, grip by grip, she heaved herself over the side to reach the top. Breathing hard, she wiped the sweat and grime off her face and looked up.

    Instantly, she was overcome by awe. Aeromancers, every age from playful young kids to cheerful elders, wandered the area, the young ones just learning to sculpt the air to their will so that they could use it to make themselves fly as the older ones looked on with pride. The fabled cherry blossoms were plentiful, littering the cobblestone paths and grassy yards with pink petals, and were just as breathtaking as Flare had expected. Oh, and the houses were wonderful, architecturally amazing, like small temples with golden roofs and lovely porches. After gazing at everything in disbelief for a moment, Flare could easily say that the scene made the climb extremely worth it; she would climb the mountain again in a heartbeat if it meant she would be able to see the same view.

    "Mommy, look!" A young aeromancer tugged the sleeve of her mom and pointed towards Flare, who was lying on the ground, exhausted.

    "I'll go get Emperor Zephyr," the mother responded as the children gathered around Flare, who then sat up and greeted them weakly.

    "What's your name?" A little girl asked.

    "Dune," Flare blurted out suddenly, quickly remembering the tensions between the pyromancers and aeromancers. It would do her well to not mention her pyromancy.

    "Did you climb the mountain all by yourself?" A boy questioned curiously.

    "I-" Flare froze. "I used to have- I have my cat," Abby came walking over and was immediately snatched up by amused little kids. "Hey, she might bite," Flare said, taking into consideration the advice about not letting the abyssinian get taken because of her high demand. The little kids immediately dropped her, and Abby began washing herself.

    "Right here," the mother that had gone to fetch the emperor said, gesturing to Flare, who sat on the ground. The emperor came up from behind her, an old, formidable looking man.

    "I'm terribly sorry for the disturbance," Flare said, scooping up Abby and scrambling to stand up.

    "It was none at all," the emperor said, although his tone suggested otherwise. "What may we assist you with?"

    "I've heard something about information that you may know," Flare said, trying to be as vague as possible, for the mother still stood closely nearby.

    "Mistral, you may go," he said to the woman, who obeyed and left, searching the field of kids for her daughter. "What did you say your name was?"

    "Dune."

    "Ah, a geomancer," the emperor said, a twinkle in his old eyes. "We have lived in harmony with them for many years, although we don't see many of them up here. I know a lot of information, and I believe I may be able to assist you. Let me show you to my house."

    Flare followed him as he weaved his way through the cobblestone streets, his elegant robe flowing behind him.