What was coming next, Cainan knew, would be just as deadly as anything he’d witnessed thus far. Old instincts kicked in, and as he discarded the useless book, he dug deep inside himself for that spark, that Ability that had gathered in dust and cobwebs from more than two decades of disuse. His lips and throat tingled, excited, ready. He opened his mouth wide, demanding that it widen even more, the way it always had before, so easily, as easily as he pulled air into his own lungs. And then the fire would be his to claim.

Nothing happened and the tingling sensation passed, causing him to slump back in defeat.

A sound like thunder shook the walls, similar to what he’d felt earlier before, when he’d thought something had exploded outside the fortress. Except this was no explosion, but a surge of magical energy, well-targeted, hitting one of the two guards dead in the chest, his armor cracking like it wasn’t made of metal but the shell of an egg, crumbling away with a series of clanks.

A war cry sounded just after, the pounding of heavy steps providing an accompaniment, and then an exceptionally tall woman charged into view, not armored in the conventional manner, with plate or mail, but with strange, segmented panels locked together. Rather than wearing the armor, it seemed to be attached to her skin, or maybe it was her skin. Whatever the case, she lowered her shoulder and hammered into the man whose armor had been destroyed, picking him up and slamming him onto his back.

While her attention was away from him, the last guard offered a powerful overhand chop to the woman’s back, his blade ringing out as sparks flew. The woman stood to her full height, turning toward the guard, whose eyes widened in shock. With a high-pitched shriek, he turned tail and ran.

To Cainan’s surprise, the woman began laughing, the happy-go-lucky sound soon joined by other laughs, some gruff others less so. But they were all cut off when a familiar voice snapped, “Silence.” The tall woman moved aside, eyes diverted to her feet, making way for someone Cainan hadn’t seen in thirty-eight years. Someone he thought might be dead, or babbling to herself as she begged on the streets of some Finfallian city.

Someone who now stepped into view…sort of. Her bare feet never actually touched the floor, though she moved them like she was walking, white, shimmering dress flowing about her like a crystalline liquid infused with tiny bubbles.