The moment they stepped on the rocky plateau, the aag daanav ambled into their range and roared in fury. It was smaller than shyra expected; even from this distance, she could make out that it was as tiny as a human. It was made of dark basalt rocks held in place with flowing magma. To Shyra's amusement, it was even furnished with two long, curving horns.

But the daanav seemed to think it was a gigantic monster, and roared again. Shyra sighed, pulled out her sword, and prepared for battle, though she didn't have the slightest inkling of how to defeat a daanav.

"Why are we pulling out weapons?" Arina asked, placing her hands on her hips. Fitoor giggled at her outburst, drawing a glare from Shyra.

Shyra sighed, though she was getting tired of sighing so often, and gestured to the daanav roaring and beating his chest. "Then how do you suggest we beat that thing?"

"Well, how do you beat fire? With water, of course." Arina said with an infuriating air of superiority. Hira glanced at both of them and stepped forward, indicating that she was going to take on the monster.

"Empress! Please be careful. Do you have a way to defeat it?" Shyra said, trying to pull her back before the daanav got agitated and charged at them. Fitoor joined her and clasped Hira's free hand, glancing at the empress in concern.

"No," Hira said, staring at the monster with a strange calmness. "I just need to follow my heart."

Shyra sighed in exasperation, but she didn't have time to do anything else, for the daanav gave a grunt that meant it zoned in on them. To Shyra, Fitoor, and Arina's horror, it began ambling towards them at a quick pace that was completely at odds with its rotund figure.

Arina grabbed Shyra's book of stories and began flipping through them with a lack of care that infuriated Shyra, but she supposed the current situation warranted such a rough handling of the precious book.

"Come on, come on." she muttered. "Don't you know anything about them, Empress Shyra?"

"W... well," Shyra stammered, pressing the tips of her fingers together in concentration. "When the first explorers came to Ronin in search of livable land, their spaceship couldn't sustain the high temperatures and was short-circuited. The explorers fell into the burning magma and died. It's said that their souls still roam Ronin, and with the help of magic and magma, they can be used to create an aag ka daanav."

"Oh wow," Arina said, pressing her hand to her forehead. "That is so messed up. So that means the daanav rushing toward us is made of lost souls?"

"Well, yes."

"Then how do we defeat it? There must have been a way to kill these things. Uh, no offense intended to the dead souls."

"I don't know! The Maya usually destroyed it on their own when its purpose was served. I doubt anyone ever destroyed a daanav without the Maya..." Shyra said, breaking off when she realized that Arina wasn't listening anymore. Her surge of annoyance died down when she recognized that look on her face.

"Uh oh," Shyra said, slumping her shoulders in defeat. "I know that look. It generally means that someone has an effective but crazy idea that'll most likely get us killed."

Arina gave her a lopsided smile. "You know it. Now, follow me and keep the empress out of trouble if you want to live. Fitoor, stay here until we tell you to come."

Fitoor barely had time to protest before Arina turned left and sprinted, taking the daanav's attention away from Hira. It blinked in confusion and, deciding that the running woman seemed more fun, started chasing after her.

Shyra bit back a string of colorful curses that an empress definitely shouldn't have knowledge of, and dragged a tranced Hira with her. The flimsy ground beneath them shook with the impact of their feet, and shyra winced whenever cracks appeared on the surface and a hint of magma shone underneath.

"What in the five worlds is Arina doing? Is she trying to get everyone killed?" Shyra muttered, before realizing that it was exactly what Arina was doing. Because they didn't have a huge body of water nearby, Arina was trying to get the fire demon to drown in the magma.

Shyra yelled at Arina to stop her crazy plan, but Arina either didn't hear her or she ignored her and kept running. When Shyra felt the beginnings of a heatstroke take her body, Arina finally stumbled to a stop. Shyra's cry of relief turned to terror in a kshana when Arina began jumping on the spot, causing cracks to spread out in all directions.

Everyone shifted on the spot to keep their balance as the ground below them began opening up. Shyra hadn't felt this afraid in a long time as she tried and failed to take a step back. Fear clenched at her feet and held them in place until she realized that the ground under the daanav was cracking much faster than theirs.

Her frazzled mind pieced together the facts and realized that the daanav was much heavier than them, and the cracked surface couldn't handle much more of his weight. To her relief, the rocky plain gave way beneath it, and the daanav perished with a harrowing scream.

The terse silence that followed was punctuated by a series of swift, sharp claps. Shyra and Arina glanced at each other, and seeing that none of them were clapping, started scanning the plateau with wild eyes.

"Well done, my dears," a parched voice spoke as a wizened old woman twinkled into existence right before their eyes. Shyra blinked in shock and gestured at Arina, wondering if she was seeing the same thing, and Arina nodded in a daze.

"Oh no, all of you are perfectly sane," she said with an airy laugh. "You don't have to question your sanity. I simply wanted to create a dramatic entrance."

Shyra began to grasp the situation as a nerve ticked her forehead. She crossed her arms and glared at the woman. "I see. And I suppose you are the Maya who created the daanav?"

The woman chuckled in response and started walking toward the edge of the plateau. Shyra hefted Hira in her arms and mouthed at Arina, who nodded and began shuffling behind the Maya.

Shyra sighed and whistled, calling for Fitoor to follow them. She then trudged along with Arina until they reached a crop of trees huddled at the edge of the fiery plateau. Shyra grinned at the sight and set Hira down, glad that Hira seemed to have woken up from her trance.

The Maya strode towards a huge tree and began climbing a series of wooden ladders without a backward glance, prompting the others to scramble after her.

The climb seemed impossibly high, and Shyra was soon left with burning feet and shaking hands as she led the rear end of the group, following closely behind Fitoor. It shocked her that a decently sized tree could have such a huge ladder, and that the old woman didn't seem to be affected by the climb in the slightest as she whistled and called out to the birds cheerfully.

By the time they made it to the wooden house on the top, everyone was shaking and panting on the wood flooring. The Maya clicked her tongue at them and bustled around, bringing them cushions and glasses of water. Shyra accepted hers and drank it with grateful gulps.

Once her thirst was quenched, she relaxed enough to observe her surroundings. Her senses caught on the humble, yet powerful aura of the Maya's house, from the way the furniture was arranged, to the talismans hung on the walls.

"I see that you're taking an interest in my abode, Princess Shyra," the Maya said, startling her with the use of her old title. "But let's leave the exploring for a while. How about you ask me what you came here for?"

Shyra frowned and straightened her back. "How do you know all this? My name, my title - my old title, by the way, and you apparently know our motives too."

The Maya laughed again, something that was beginning to annoy Shyra, and waved her hand. "That's not important. I've been waiting for you for quite some time. Ever since I heard that the empress ran away, I've been waiting for you."

The woman's enigmatic way of speaking was throwing her off, but Shyra shook her head and ordered herself to focus. "Since you already seem to know why we're here, why don't you tell us what we need to know? We'll be on our way then."

"Ah, ah, ah," the Maya said, wagging her finger. "How would I give you vital information for free? You of all people should know that no magic can be given freely."

"Wait," Arina said, sitting up with her palms pressed to the floor. "That doesn't sound too good. Are you proposing a deal?"

Shyra's head spun as stories of Mayas swam in her head. Tales of their magic causing destruction and havoc. Tales of their magic always coming at a steep price. She remembered her conversation with Uttara, where she forbade her friend from even talking about Mayas.

Empress Hira raised her hand tentatively, drawing everyone's eyes to her. "Can we get a little time, Miss Maya? We want to discuss the situation among ourselves."

Shyra nodded, though she could feel Arina's glare burning into her head. Maya shrugged and nodded, and Arina and Fitoor pulled themselves close to them.

"Empress," Arina began before anyone could speak. "I know that you want to rescue your husband at all costs, but isn't there any other way to find the Baan? Do we have to take the Maya's help?"

"I think the real question here," Shyra answered with a soft voice. "Is why aren't you as keen as us, Princess? I'm sure your father was as beloved to you as our husbands."

Arina flushed and clenched her fists. "Fine then. If you want to run into danger, be my guest. But don't come crying to me when the danger becomes too much for you to handle."

Shyra huffed and crossed her arms. All the whispers of cautionary tales were pushed to the back of her mind. After all, they weren't asking for magic, were they? These were just directions to a hidden place. It wouldn't be risky.

"We'll do it," Shyra called out before anyone else could raise objections. "We'll accept the deal and pay whatever price you want."

The Maya grinned, displaying crooked teeth, and bowed her head. "As you wish, Empress Shyra."