Eight Intertwined

43 - Light

The path was a natural one for Ophilia to follow as she made her way back to the Shrine of the Flamebearer. The name stuck out in her mind easily, and she knew that it was the place that she was going to be able to find Aelfric. More importantly, it was going to be the place where she could get some answers. 

The door to the shrine opened up without a moment of hesitation as soon as it sensed the Ember was nearby, and Ophilia stepped inside bravely. She steeled herself and walked inside, white flames starting to light up and spread throughout the area to light her way. She continued to line the path that led up to the pedestal at the far edge of the area, reaching out one hand when she grew near the carving of the crystal. She looked down at the Ember one last time before touching it, and her vision went white as the environment around her shifted. 

Ophilia figured that she had retreated into some space within her mind when she next opened her eyes and saw the same battlefield that she had witnessed when she and the others in her party fought against Aelfric before they arrived in Stillsnow. She glanced around the area carefully, knowing that the goddess was somewhere nearby but unsure of where she was hiding. "Aelfric?" Ophilia eventually asked, her voice echoing throughout the cold chamber. Her breath fogged up in front of her mouth even though she knew that she was no longer in the world of the physical. 

Aelfric was assembled through the power of the air itself, light fog condensing itself into a mist before solidifying into the familiar figure of the goddess. Everything about her was just as graceful as it had been the last time that Ophilia saw her, and she glanced down at the cleric before her. When standing before Aelfric, Ophilia couldn't help but feel remarkably small. "Is there something thou requires?" Aelfric questioned, her voice so delicate and perfect that it didn't even seem right on Ophilia's ears. 

The cleric nodded as she glanced down to the Ember where it rested in the Lanthorn. After a moment, she steeled her resolve and looked up to make eye contact with the goddess, something in her starting to shudder. She knew that Aelfric wasn't going to do anything to hurt her, but she still figured that it would be better safe than sorry when she was anxious about the situation enough as it was. "I... I want to know as much as you're willing to tell me," Ophilia replied. "Do... Do you always speak to the Flamebearers? Am I... Am I something special?" Ophilia couldn't tell which answer would be worse; either way, she was admitting that she was hearing the voice of a goddess in her head and had been ever since she first picked up the Lanthorn with the Ember inside back in Flamesgrace. 

Aelfric didn't flinch in the face of Ophilia's questions, her gaze seemingly shifting away from the cleric before her even though her eyes were completely obscured from view. "Thou art... A special case," Aelfric finally said after a pause that seemed to last a century. "Dark times surrounden us all. There is a disturbing power seeking to breaken free, and thou... Thou is the one who bears the Sacred Flame in a time of great need."

"What's going on?" Ophilia questioned, something dry mounting at the back of her throat. She didn't know what Aelfric was talking about when it came to something dark starting to break free of its confines, but she was sure that there was more to this story than met the eye. Her heart began to pound in her chest, and Ophilia couldn't even bring it to stop despite the fact that it was almost completely stopping her from being able to hear what Aelfric was saying. 

"There is something dark on the horizon. It rests in wait for the time to strike, and thou art acting to keep it at bay," Aelfric said, taking a small step toward Ophilia. "The Ember is the primary defense against the powers of darkness."

"I know," Ophilia replied with a nod to herself. It was something that everyone knew; when Aelfric had first brought the Sacred Flame into existence, it had been because she was trying to stop something dark and terrifying. A dark god was sealed away, and the light of the Sacred Flame was the best way to keep the beast at bay. Ophilia didn't know what the creature was specifically, but she could tell that it was nothing good. The situation at hand, the one that Aelfric seemed to be so nervous about, couldn't have been any better, and that only made Ophilia feel worse about the whole situation.