When she arrived at the camp, Maleo had also returned, carrying a small collection of fruit that he had collected in his knapsack. He offered a few cattails to Tellin, who took them gladly.

"Alright meat eaters, I have a bear, we can eat as much as we want off of it because we can't bring all of it with us." Hawthorn said, tossing the vines down. The vines had done such a good job creating the net, that the bear was barely visible. She pulled a dagger out from a sheath strapped to her waist and cut the net open.

"That's a good one!" Bort exclaimed in pleasure.

"It's not full grown, so the meat should be quite tender." Hawthorn explained as pulled the bear over the branch of a tree, hanging it upside down. She began gutting him, making a large slit in its middle and cutting the meat of in strips. Tellin sensed the water in the meat fading as the slabs of red meat were being placed to the side where Bort was using a small flame from his hand to cook.

"What are you doing to the meat?" she asked, unaccustomed to the process of cooking. Bort raised an eyebrow.

"Cooking it? What, you think we're just going to dig in like animals?" Tellin bit her bottom lip at Bort's sharp tone.

"Nymphs don't heat our fish before eating them. We just catch them and pull the scales off and eat them." She explained, using her hands to add emphasis.

"You can't eat a bear raw. It will make you sick." Hawthorn said, exasperated, without even looking at Tellin or Bort. "Fish won't make you sick if you eat it raw." Bort nodded in agreement, though he had never eaten fish. Tellin pursed her lips; she felt as though all the water around her was being replaced by flame from how often Bort used his fire.

"I could heal your leg, little nymph." He suddenly commented, as though he could sense Tellin's discomfort. She pressed her hand to the scrape that went from her knee up her thigh. If he used his healing flame on her, would the water she had inside burn away too?

"No thank you." She replied, trying to sound polite but also firm. He shrugged, turning back to the meat in front of him. Maleo came to Tellin's side.

"Will the cattails be enough for you, or are you going to want to eat the bear?" He asked quietly.

"I will try the bear." He placed a hand on her shoulder before standing and sitting in his hammock, where he continued to eat his fruits.

It took long enough for the sunlight to be almost completely gone before the meat was ready to eat. Hawthorn passed a large cut to Tellin before she and Bort dug in. Tellin did not enjoy the dry meat.

After eating, Hawthorn took the meat that was left uncooked and cut it into thinner strips. She then tied those strips on a branch with twine, produced from seemingly nowhere, so that they hung near the fire.

"In the morning, we will take it down and travel with it. We should be able to eat off of this bear for a while." She said, as she continued to pull it up, blood already dripping on the ground. When the bear was almost empty, Hawthorn cut it down from the tree, laying its body out on the ground. She placed her hand on it's forehead and closed her eyes. Just as hunting with weapons was the way of the elves, they also would give the animals honor in their death by thanking them for giving their bodies as food, not only for the elves but also for the scavenging animals who will eat what is left. After finishing her thanks, she began skinning what was left and hanging the furs with the other meat.

While Hawthorn was taking care of the rest of the bear, Maleo and Bort had both settled down in their respective beds and Tellin was curled up on the dampest patch of ground she could find. Maleo noticed how uncomfortable she looked, but not having any way to help her, simply left her alone. Soon, Hawthorn joined Tellin on the ground and laid out on her back, looking up at the trees.

The next evening, after they had traveled from sunrise to sunset, they were planning on stopping to make camp in the forest again. Tellin, dejected at the idea of sleeping on the ground again, focused her mind on trying to find the nearest source of water.

"Ah!" She jumped and the quick response that her mind had given her and the rest of the party turned to look at her. "There is water. Nearby" She stretched her arm out, indicating the direction.

"Does it really matter, nymph?" Bort sniffed, tired and wishing they could just stop for the night. "We don't need water, we need to rest."

Tellin pressed her lips together and didn't respond. Maleo glanced at her and sighed.

"Tellin is used to sleeping underwater. So long as it's not too far, let's just go there." Hawthorn, having watched the entire exchange, nodded.

"We will walk until the sun disappears and camp where we are. Regardless of if we have reached the water you sense or not. Do we agree?" Hawthorn asked, her voice clear and commanding, showing that she was the only one among the group that had any power in her species. The rest nodded, feeling the strength behind her words.

The sun had not quite disappeared when they reached the water. It was a stream, hardly deep enough for Tellin to submerge herself, but she didn't care. She slipped off her buck, on purpose this time, and crawled to the water the instant Maleo said it was in sight. She slipped into the water, smiling broadly. This had been the longest she had gone without being in water. When her little brother was born, she had been on the shore for a few hours, but that felt like nothing compared to two days.

Tellin laid on the sandy bottom of the stream and felt the currents wash over her, though her face was still out of the water. The others watched as the dirt washed off the little nymph, making her appear to only be a floating face surrounded by muddy water. It was decided that camp would be set here, for Tellin's sake, and she slept happily.

The rest of the trip flowed in the same way; they would walk until the sun started to set, then Tellin would sense for the nearest body of water and they would stop next to it. The dried bear meat lasted long enough that Hawthorn didn't have to hunt again and Maleo would gather fruit every night that he would snack on all day. However, soon the fruit started tasting smokey and the clouds seemed to be sinking lower and lower. They were nearing the fire.

Hawthorn pulled a small handkerchief out of a pocket and tied it around her head to keep the smoke out of her lungs. She tied another on Tellin, who had been coughing for a while. Maleo was lucky, fairies used masks when they flew high in the air and it was thick enough to keep the smoke out with no difficulty, but Bort had the most luck of them all, as he was immune to the adverse effects of smoke.

However, the smoke was not the worst sign of the fire. The eerie screams seemed to echo everywhere around them and seemed much louder than Bort remembered them being.

The sun was sinking low behind them, but the forest remained lit, the fires that burned incessantly providing what appeared to be a sunrise. Bort had trudged on ahead to see how much farther the actual blaze was.

"Tellin is going to have to leave the buck behind soon." Hawthorn suddenly spoke up, almost yelling to be heard over the screams and the muffling of her handkerchief. Maleo nodded and pointed to his back.

"I wouldn't mind carrying her, but I can't. My wings won't allow it. Bort is too small to carry her. You will have to do it." He answered quickly; he had already thought about what to do with Tellin. Hawthorn made a face, showing that the situation was agitating, but didn't complain otherwise. She had begun to grow a bit attached to the child just as Maleo had. Tellin herself, was focusing on pressing the handkerchief over her mouth as tight as she could. She was the most susceptible to smoke, the dry air itself felt like it burned her skin. Bort came scurrying back, the fear that had been coursing through his veins all day stronger than ever.

"The fire is just over this hill, we should wait here for it to reach us so that we have time to get ready. Can everyone use their powers with a weapon? Are we all ready?" He yelled to them before even getting close, his own weapon, a long dagger was was not quite a sword, pulled out. It was beginning to spark, as he focused on lighting it aflame. Hawthorn went to Tellin, moving her quiver to hang from her waist rather than on her back. It was inconvenient for fighting, but was necessary to carry Tellin.

"I'm going to put you on my back, you'll come in with me. We don't want to waste water when we don't know what's on the other side of the fire." Hawthorn spoke directly in Tellin's ear and she nodded, glad she wasn't going to have to focus on using her abilities so she could focus on breathing. She allowed Hawthorn to lift her up and clung to her back like a little monkey. She had been right before, Tellin wasn't much heavier than a knapsack. Hawthorn readied her own weapon, a dagger, and focused her energies to it's tip. Technically, she was only going to use it to conduct, as dirt rather than plants were best for fighting fire. Maleo unsheathed the sword at his hip and the wind began swirling around it at once.

Hawthorn hit the buck on the rear, snapping it out from her control. It ran off, making fearful cries. The fire itself was close, they could see the light and feel the heat, the flames themselves becoming clearer. It was an odd thing, a black fire that gave off golden light. At the base of the flames, skulls rattled around, their jaws locked in an open position a constant screech emitting from their mouths.

Maleo stepped up first, opening his wings. He thought about just flying over, but a twinge of guilt stopped that train of thoughts. He couldn't take the easier route, besides, if his power didn't work it would be proof of the fact that they couldn't pass the fire and he would be able to move faster than the others. He could always grab Tellin and fly away.

He readied his sword with two hands, holding the position for a moment before swinging without real aim. The wind from his blade paired with the wind he had conjured and blasted the fire out. Maleo ran for it, using the wind to push him. He barely passed through the flames in time, they closed behind him like a hot curtain, catching the tips of his wings in the flame. He cried out in pain but still ran a few more paces to get away from the heat and turned back around, looking at the fire. He sat on the ground, trying to focus on the fire and not on his pain. Now all he could do was wait.

Hawthorn steadied her own dagger. A small ball of silt forming at the tip. Tellin grasped onto her tightly, knowing that they would be moving soon. Hawthorn got as close to the fire as she could stand, her eyes streaming with tears. Tellin reached out her own hand and the tears from Hawthorn's eyes joined with the ball Hawthorn had made, making it mud rather than dirt. Hawthorn took a deep breath and flicked her wrist, immediately sheathing her dagger and grabbing Tellin legs, ready to run for it. The patch of mud they created did it's job. The fire was stifled just long enough for Hawthorn to run through. They even had enough time for her to turn around and watch the flames rejoin themselves.

Bort was the only one left, and his fear had frozen him to the spot. This would mark the first time he had ever used his ability offensively. Before, he had only used it to control the flow of the lava when it got out of line or to cook his meats. His breathing was fast and laboured, his heart was pounding so loud he was surprised that he could still hear the screams of the fire over it. He lifted his own dagger, holding it shakely in front of him. He shook his head but the fire was getting closer. Before he could continue overthinking it, he swung his arm down, fire shooting unsteadily from the blade and colliding with the black fire.

The black fire stuttered and Bort bolted through. He had done it; adrenaline pumped through his veins and he felt invincible. When he looked for his comrades, however, he noticed them anxiously hovering over Maleo.

"Bort!" Hawthorn called out, having just noticed that he had committed a feat he had felt to be impossible, "We need your help, Maleo's been hurt!" Bort hurried over, still feeling a bit invincible, though the feeling was waning.

"What's wrong with him?" He kneeled down, Tellin was clinging to Maleo, crying. Hawthorn's own face had tear trails visible through the soot covering her face. Maleo seemed to only know how to cringe.

"My wing got a little singed from the fire, that's all." He grunted out, speaking as though even that hurt.

"Let me heal you. I can use the healing flame." Bort replied quickly, though he wasn't sure that it was the truth, moving behind Maleo to look at his wings. When he was a child, he had aced the healing flame portions of his training. He was on the line to become a healer, however after an incident where he was unable to save someone during his training, he had lost the ability to conjure the healing flame.

No one responded to Bort's offer and he assumed that was permission. The tips of both Maleo's forewing and hindwing were simply gone, leaving them oozing a clear liquid.

He shook his head again, trying to clear his thoughts. Now wasn't the time to think about past errors, after all, if he failed at this, Maleo wouldn't die, he would just be in pain. Bort closed his eyes and focused on his own heartbeat. He stretched his hands out and focused on all of his feelings of wanting to help Maleo. A small purple spark flamed in his hand for just a second, but he had felt it. He focused harder, imagining the others in all kinds of perilous situations that he could heal them from if only he could get his healing flame to show up. Another spark. He squeezed his eyes tighter closed and felt for the source of flame within him. His hands burst into purple flames. He had found his healing fire again.

Keeping his focus, he placed his hands gently on Maleo's wounds, receiving a hiss of pain from the fairy. Tellin searched for his hand, grasping it tightly in her own once she found it. She could feel the flame working around his wings. It didn't take long, soon Bort released his focus and the flames simply disappeared.

"That wasn't too bad, then." Bort dusted his hands on his pants, as though this work had tired him out. Finally, the little party of four had a chance to look around. The entire area and everything within their view that wasn't on the other side of the flames, was decimated. There was nothing left but black and white ash, like sand on the ground. Tellin felt out for water before shaking her head, gripping Maleo's hand tighter.

"There is no water here. It's all gone." She spoke up, her voice hoarse from crying so recently. Hawthorn nodded.

"There is no life at all. I can feel something... warm in that area," She gestured in the direction opposite of the fire they had just crossed, "But it's quite far. It may be on the other side of the plain." Maleo looked around, rolling his shoulders.

"I suppose here is as good as any for the night. Since we're in an unfamiliar place, we should probably keep guard." He said, the first thing crossing his lips since his wings were healed. The others nodded in agreement. "I'll keep first watch. I'll wake Hawthorn when the night is at it's peak."

Tellin swayed her head, it was much harder to keep track of where she was when there was nothing living to keep track of other than the others. She wasn't used to having to put effort behind understanding her surroundings. It was a peculiar feeling and it terrified her. Maleo noticed her her grip on his hand was increasingly tighter.

"Are you okay?" He asked as the others were setting up for sleep. Tellin shook her head.

"I am finding it difficult to place my surroundings. I can only feel you all. It's unsettling." She released his hand, realizing that she had been squeezing it quite tightly. Maleo smiled slightly.

"Will you be able to sleep on the ashes that lay here?" Tellin nodded in response to Maleo's question.

"I have eaten land food, I can sleep on the dry ground," She straightened herself up before flopping backward onto the ground, a puff of ash flying into the air before settling back down, mostly on Tellin. Maleo sat, cross legged, next to her and focused on staying alert.

Bort had laid out his bedroll without any qualms. The ashes here, while different from the ones he was used to, were still ashes and thus were not difficult for him to deal with. Hawthorn, who had been sleeping on the bare ground the whole time, laid out on on her back and watched the stars as though it was no different than in the forests. They didn't even worry about setting a fire, as the ground was still warm from the black flames they had just left behind.

Night passed quickly, despite the troubles that Maleo had feared, and soon the sun broke the horizon and everyone stirred awake. With the light of the sun, they all had a chance to really look around and see the destruction the fire had wrought. There were no trees or even twigs still standing. Everything was barren so they could see the curvature of the planet, far out in the distance. The ground was black and white with ash and charred ground. Hawthorn reached out, touching the burnt remains of what was once a plant and the instance her fingers came in contact with it, it dissolved into ash. She closed her hand into a fist.

"What could have caused this fire? It surely can't be natural..." She turned to Bort and he nodded in agreement.

"It's certainly not something that any dwarf can do, at least not any that I know," Bort scooped up some of the ash in his hand, letting it sift through his fingers.

"If there was even a little bit of moisture I could revive this soil, but it's too dry and even Tellin can't create water where there is none." Maleo perked up at Hawthorn's comment.

"I can make it rain, if that's what you need." Everyone turned to Maleo.

"You can, can't you. Fairies and the weather and all that. Do it then, is it difficult." Hawthorn searched Maleo's face for the answers to her own questions.

"It is much different from what I usually use my abilities for, but it can be done. Please, wait a moment." He sat back down on the ground, clasping his hands together in front of his chest, with his two pointer fingers pressed together pointing up. The others watched the sky as clouds formed at rates faster than naturally possible. A deep rumble of thunder sounded in the distance and soon rain began to fall.

Tellin let out a joyful squeal; the rain washing the ash off her body, revealing the blue skin underneath. As the rain covered the ground, she began to be able to understand her surroundings, the flat plain and the tracks where rivers recently ran. She smiled up at the sky and rain splattered down onto her.

Bort, on the other hand, had cross his arms around himself as tightly as he could. Every raindrop that hit him instantly sizzled and turned to steam. He was not at all happy with the turn of events. Water was, as a general rule, something that dwarves avoided, simply because it was a discomfort.

Placing her hand on the ground, Hawthorn felt the water seeping quickly into the burned dirt. She closed her eyes and focused on that, the feeling of the soil soaking up all the rain. Through the ground, she searched for the remnants of dead plants. She found them, here and there, and instructed them to root and grow. The ones who had not been dead for long, listened easily. Though Hawthorn would not be able to get the trees as tall as they were, she could make them sprout and begin to grow again.

Maleo finally opened his own eyes again, letting his hands drop to his side. Like Tellin, he tilted his head back and allowed the rain that he had created fall onto his face. He felt a little drained from the combination of staying up later than normal to keep guard and using such a strong ability that he had not trained.

"We should keep moving, we are still looking for something specific." Hawthorn stood up. She had stretched her mind as far as it would go, had encouraged as much growth as she could. She tossed Tellin on her back again, Tellin latched on with no complaints. Maleo stood as well, though a bit shaky. Bort kept his arms crossed, but grunted in agreement. And as the rain fell, they continued on,

As they walked on, they continued the same trend. Maleo would make it rain in the morning; Hawthorn would encourage the plants to grow again; Tellin would soak in the rain; and Bort would grumble. They were leaving a trail of what they considered to be hope and good fortune.

After three days of walking, Hawthorn noticed a bird, a vulture, circling over them. She called out to it in it's own caw, commanding it to come down. It passed a message to her from her mother.

"Some Elves have gone missing, as have some Fairies." She informed the others. "They are believed be dead." Maleo rushed over to her side.

"Were there any names? Do you know who the Fairies were?" Hawthorn shook her head in response.

"No, Mother only listed the Elven names," She turned to Bort and patted Tellin on the leg that was swung around her hip. "There is no news on the Dwarves or the Nymphs, so we can only hope for the best." She turned back to the vulture hopping around on the ground.

"Pass a message back to mother: We are hoping to finish our journey within the season or at least by next season." The vulture flew away without response and headed in the opposite direction that they were going.

"Within the season? Are you that hopeful?" Maleo examined her face. Hawthorn nodded.

"Yes, I believe that we will accomplish our task soon. The sun is beginning to set, we should set up camp here. Bort, you take first watch. I'll take second." Bort nodded and they stopped where they were. Unlike when they were in the forests, there was no need to wait for a particular area to stop; everywhere looked the same and nowhere was any better.

They set up their bedding and all except for Bort laid down. He sat on his bedroll and drug his dagger through the ash, drawing senseless designs. Bort was used to doing nothing but watching, so he knew how to entertain himself without losing his focus.

When the the full moon had reached the highest point in the sky, he went and roused Hawthorn. As she was waking up, she went to take a swing from her waterskin and accidentally sloshed some onto Tellin's hand. Her eyes suddenly flew open, a bright glow illuminating from them.

"Tellin? What happened?" Hawthorn cried out as she jumped up, not bothering to try and keep quiet. Maleo woke at her shouting and rushed over to where Tellin sat, her back arching against the ground as her eyes pointed up to the moon.

"He will appear to be everything and nothing all at once, he will hate and know nothing of affection. He will ruin the fairy and hold the key." She spoke with a voice of authority that she had used before, the same one that had predicted the fire. The others exchanged looks as Tellin's eyes closed again, their glow gone, and she slumped back on the ground and went back to sleep.

"Who is he?" Hawthorn asked, looking up at Maleo. "I can only assume the fairy to be you. We must be careful. We can ask her any questions in the morning."

"I'll do the watch for now, you two can go to sleep. I don't feel comfortable enough to sleep now." Maleo's voice seemed unsteady and he placed a hand on Tellin's forehead, brushing her short blue hair out of her face.