The Past

The first cave

I've been using a google spreadsheet to keep track of my word count and thats helping me pressure myself into writing :)

We made our way up the mountains, which proved much more exhausting than I had thought. Though I was used to using my elements on a small scale, it was draining to use it so consistently on a larger scale, for something as exerting as creating a path up a mountain. I could only thank the gods that there were no plants, for I had no power to move those.
We hadn't yet reached the nearest cavern when Remor offered to make a pause.

"You're going to exhaust your energy at this rate, Kinheal. You must rest, and eat. I can carry us the rest of the way to it, then we shall eat."

"No." I knew he could control the air to his favour, but I figured carrying the weight of us both must be more tiring than clearing a path. "That's not fair to you."

"I promise, I'll be fine," he said, slinging the pack he carried over his sculpted shoulder. "Besides, we can both rest at the same time before we begin to search the cavern."

He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close as I nodded. "Trust me, Kinheal."

"I trust you." My stomach fluttered with his words and proximity, something about his energy so different than it usually was.

The air around us began to condense, pushing up from below. The pressure made us lighter, and I began to feel my feet lift off the ground. We were in the eye of a tornado that was pushing us up to the cave, wind spinning around us at an intense speed.

"Wow." In an instant, we stood just outside a large opening which seemed to suck in the wind flow before Remor cut it off.

"That was impressive."

"Not quite, Kinheal. I could take us far higher with little more effort, as my body is meant to withstand much more than yours."

"Still, flying is fairly amazing, Remor."

"I suppose, for one who has not honed their wind abilities. I can teach you, and with time you can learn the power of Flight. For now, let us eat and regain our strength." He dropped our pack with food, water, and spare cloaks onto the ground at the entrance of the cavern.

Heated by a small fire in my palm, the flatbread proved to still be in excellent state, along with the salty dried meat. I hadn't again mentioned whoever wrote the letter to Athern, but I was certain that he knew, though uncertain as to why he would hide the information from me.

Questions swam through my head, like which woman could possibly have reason to want the Mirror hidden, and had she something to do with its disappearance?

Hours later, I awoke in the dark, only then realising we had dozed off. "Remor?"

The Storm Prince was nowhere to be seen, but I heard a faint scuffle of paws coming from deeper in the cavern. Outside, the sky was black, giving no hint as to where Remor might be, or what might await me in the night. As the scratch of claws on stone drew closer, joined with heavy panting, I formed a flame in my hand and extended my arm towards the depth of the cave, hoping to identify the creature.

Before me stood a large wolf, larger than any I had ever seen, the type of creature which clearly did not belong in these lands, but without any violence in its eyes. It drew nearer as I lowered my hand slightly, mesmerised by the calm of its hazel-green eyes. Letting go of my flame, I reached out to it, placing my palm in its forehead.

"You're beautiful," I whispered to the creature as it stepped closer still, leaning its head into my touch while another wolf came up behind it.

As my eyes turned to the other wolf, the one with me vanished suddenly, replaced by a tall man.

"Athern?!" I drew back abruptly, restoring the fire in my hand as quickly as I had vanquished it. "Wha– How? Where's Remor, what have you done with him?"

"Back on the ship, I would suspect, safe and sound. Though, I would venture, he may be perhaps slightly upset." The second wolf stepped forward and nuzzled its head in Athern's arm, then turned to me as if asking to be pet.

"How did you take him back there so fast? Have you been following us this whole time?" I demanded, despite giving in to the wolf's request.

"Following you? Of course not!" He laughed, as if the entire situation were but a game. "Aeremordus was never here at all." As if to compliment his joke, he pulled a playing card out of his pocket.

"That's impossible."

"Dear girl, do you forget that we are gods? I simply borrowed a little trick from my dear friend Ginira." In one swift movement, he slid the card past his face, and it was suddenly Remor's.

"Goddess of tricks, tricksters, and disguises."

"Ah, so you know the more minor gods as well, I see." Again, he changed his face and now it was mine.

"How did you fly, then?" It was quite odd, talking to myself.

"When I steal an identity, I take on all of their abilities." He formed a small flame in his hand that didn't hold the card, mimicking my own. "It's really quite convenient."

With another swipe of the card, he became himself again.

"You can become anyone, so why Remor?"

"Not quite anyone. You see, I require a strand of hair, and a decent knowledge of that person. No point in masquerading as Paves if you would have seen through my disguise instantly." The days spinned through my head as I tried to recall when he could have stolen a strand of my hair. "No, better to choose the man you have feelings for and hardly know, for you'd be too busy swooning to see odd behaviours. Remor is far too proper to have held you so closely, to bring you up to the cavern."

Shame burned through me as I recalled my emotions when he'd done that. It had been Athern stirring my feelings, not Remor. I was a fool.

"Why go to these lengths?" I asked, focusing my eyes on his magic card. "What do you gain? The chance to prevent me from acquiring the Mirror?"

"Yes, and the chance to explain to you the letter that you found when you broke into my cabin. You see, I did not have that letter when I joined you on your journey, it appeared in my room. I believe it may have been Remor's attempt to frame me, so you would send me away, because he would rather not compete again. At the very least, it was intended to deter your romantic interest in me– Hey! Return that to me at once."

While Athern had been busy with his monologue, I snatched the card out of his hand and set it on fire. I should have realised it wasn't Remor when he spent so much time discussing his opinions about the Beginning. Remor was a listener, not a talker.

"I have no romantic interest in you, Athern," I said, denying the way my throat had knotted up earlier that very day. That was simply because I thought he was Remor, I swore to myself. "And I will be continuing this search on my own. I want you to return to the ship."

"Very well, but my wolf will stay with you. I sense a kinship between children of Zalta and my hunting wolves. She will protect you, and carry your bag."

"Thank you," I said bitterly.

"Return safely, Kinheal." He handed me another one of his magic cards. "This one is for if you find the Mirror, it will shrink it to a manageable size."

"Thank you."

And he walked out of the cavern, leaving me alone in a tunnel brightened only by a small flame in my left hand.