Taliyah bent to pick up a rounded stone the size and color of a small hank of raw wool. She shivered and looked back into the cave; the ragged man was still propped against the wall, his eyes closed. She pushed the bit of dried meat she had found in the man's pack around in her mouth, hoping he wouldn't begrudge sharing if he lived.
She stepped back into the warmth of the cave. The slabs of rock she had stacked still glowed with a wavering heat. She knelt. Taliyah hadn't been sure her trick of warming the stones in her pocket would work with something larger. The young Shuriman closed her eyes and focused on the stack of rocks. She remembered the blistering sun on the sands. The way the heat sank deep in the earth long into the night. She relaxed and loosened her coat as the dry warmth settled around her, then set to work on the stone in her hands. She turned it, wrapping and pushing it with her thoughts until it was hollowed like a bowl. Satisfied, she returned to the cave opening with her newly formed dish.
A male voice groaned behind her, "Like a sparrow gathering crumbs."
"Even sparrows get thirsty," she replied, scooping up a bowlful of clean snow. The cold wind whispered around her. Taliyah set the round stone onto the stack of hot rocks in front of her.
"You gather stones by hand? That seems tedious for someone who can weave rock."
A heat rose to Taliyah's cheeks that had nothing to do with the little stone hearth.
"You're not angry, are you? I mean about the snow and the—"
The man laughed and then clutched his side with a groan. "Your actions tell me all I need to know." His gritted teeth still held the edge of a smile. "You could have left me to die."
"It was my mistake that put you in danger. I wasn't going to leave you buried in the snow."
"My thanks. Although I could have done without the tumble through the trees."
Taliyah grimaced and then opened her mouth. The man held out a hand to stop her. "Do not apologize."
He strained and pulled himself upright, taking a closer look at Taliyah and the ornament in her hair.
"A Shuriman sparrow." He closed his eyes and relaxed into the heat of the stone hearth. "You are a long way from home, little bird. What brings you to a remote cave in Ionia?"
"Noxus."
The man raised a dark eyebrow but kept his eyes closed.
"They said I would bring people together in Noxus. That my power would strengthen her walls. But they only wanted me to destroy." Her voice grew thick with disgust. "They told me they would teach me—"
"They have, but only half the lesson," he said without emotion.
"They wanted me to bury a village. To murder people in their homes." Taliyah let out an impatient snort. "And I escaped only to bring a mountain down on you."
The man lifted his sword and looked down the length of the blade. A small breeze wiped it clean of dust. "Destruction. Creation. Neither is wholly good or bad. You cannot have one without the other. What matters is intent, the 'why' of choosing your path. That is the only real choice we have."
Taliyah stood up, irritated at the lecture. "My path is away from this place. Away from everyone, until I learn to control what's inside of me. I don't trust myself not to hurt my people."
"A bird's trust is not in the branch beneath her."
Taliyah had stopped listening. She was already at the mouth of the cave, wrapping her coat tightly around her. The wind whistled in her ears.
"I'm going to try and find us something to eat. Hopefully, I won't bring the rest of the mountain down on you."
The man settled against the warm stone at his back, speaking softly to no one and everyone. "Are you sure it is the mountain you seek to conquer, Little Sparrow?"
I
