To Gather Moss Upon a Rolling Stone (Talisman)

[Norani]

Glade 7, 124

Norani had fallen fitfully and slowly into sleep on the night of the fifth, when she had returned once more to the world. She had lain there in the communal sleeping room, avoiding lying close enough to anyone so as to not be touched. One man, already in deep in the throes of slumber, had rolled over and tossed his arm over her and found a gust of wind blowing him back into those on the other side. And still, the elementalist struggled to even close her eyes.

She was scared to go back to a world of darkness, even if only for a night so as to rest.

Eventually, exhaustion did overtake her and she slept. And slept. And slept. And when the Orkhana who slept next to her the night of the fifth returned on the sixth, she was still there. Looks of concern were passed around and shared. Word was sent to a healer. After seasons of disease, the long sleep was a warning sign. And the story of Norani Windwalker's return to the Commonwealth, along with the return of spring, had spread across the city like wildfire.

The healer came and she knelt down next to the slumbering mage, and went through all the checks of vitals and known signs of the diseases that had been ravaging their people. She shook her head, there was nothing physically wrong with Norani. The grim looks on everyone's face deepened. A malady of the head or heart, then. When they all returned to the sleeping skins, they moved in close to Norani. No Orkhan should ever feel alone. And when her winds pushed at them protectively, they pushed back. And they held her close until her winds decided that they were not a threat and let them be.

Norani awoke late in the morning of the seventh, still wrapped in the arms of all her compatriots. They had long since awoken, but they were all refusing to leave her until she woke. And when her dark eyes opened, and she felt the sticky, muddy hands of those taken by the Unknown reaching out, grabbing her, chasing her, pulling at her, she panicked. Winds pushed out from her skin and people and skins were blown back a full meter in all directions, yelps of surprise escaping through tusked mouths. Norani bolted upright, eyes darting around wild and fearful, looking for the exits. Always find the exits, always know where they are. She started to lean that way.

"Wait."

She paused.

Her eyes slid over to see a man there, sitting, smiling softly at her. "Easy there, Windwalker, you're safe." She looked around, seeing the confused looks of the other Orkhan, "Did I..?" The man smiled broadly, "There's no harm done, just caught us all by surprise."

A small bit of release loosened her shoulders.

"I'm sor--" The man held up a hand. "No harm, no need for an apology."

She cast her eyes to his chest, reading his markings. A veteran of the war, a father of several children, some of them lost, a warrior by trade, a painter by passion. "We stayed with you all night, and we will be here for you every night. You are not alone."

"You don't need to do that, for me. Please. Just.." She looked to the doorway again, "Live your lives, I'll be.."

The man nodded, "This is how we live our lives. Together and for each other." He stood up, and extended a large hand for her. She grasped it and let him help her up. The rest of the Orkhan also began to rise, getting dressed, talking amongst themselves. "Come, lets break the fast in the sunshine." He smirked a bit, "Now that we can, thanks to you and your companions." She slowly slipped her hand from him, "You don't have to do this. You don't owe me anything. No one does. I didn't even succeed. Imogen and Destyn did everything. I just.." Rushed in, like I always do.

He placed his hand on her shoulder, "From what I heard, you discovered the problem, you assembled the team, you led the way, and you survived to tell the tale." He turned her a bit, tipping her chin to look up into his eyes, placing a hand upon the fiery flower over her heart. "And you paid a terrible price." He smiled again, "You are right, we do not owe you anything. Because you followed the pathway of the Ecithian teachings. And we are also following those lessons by being here for you when you are in need."

Norani's throat tightened, and there was a tickling behind her eyes. But still, the tears did not come. She nodded softly, whispering, "Thank you." Then her stomach rumbled loudly. The man smiled, "Come, let us eat and drink and sit in the sun."

And Norani went with the group, and they did that, and everyone else was merry. But the food tasted of ash, the water reminded her of the rotten muck, and the sunshine did not warm the coldness she felt inside. Sitting there on a landing, overlooking the beautiful farmlands of the Commonwealth, finally drying out from the Long Winter, Norani looked down the long and steep drop off of the mountain. It was a long way down.

A memory entered her mind, one that she and Yeva shared. They had dove off this very landing upon the back of Ruvaf, racing down the cliff face before flying toward the sun, an exhilarating and thrilling feeling. Norani started to tilt forward in her seat, a longing to feel... something. But as she did, a small pebble bounced off her head.

"Ow!"

Norani looked up the mountain, not seeing any higher landings above her. She shook her head, blinking in confusion and disbelief. And she saw the pebble sitting there next to her on the stone rail. Pebble. Her frown softened a bit. She had something else that needed to be done. She said goodbye to her friends, then she tipped forward off the rail, reaching out to the winds to carry her. She raced down the mountain's side, but felt no joy, no thrill from it. As she approached the ground, she eased up, and alighted upon the soft mud and was walking with purpose.

She quickly found the seemingly random stones that she knew to be the path to the caverns she had found when she was here last. She reached out to each stone, greeting them in turn. She found the stone lodged in the wall, the cloud shard she had created the end of the path, and she could see that it was still breathing water out in vapors, sending it back to the sky. Her frown softened even more. It seemed her plan was working, the chain of shards were doing the task she'd set upon them.

She touched the stone, becoming it and passing through the wall, easier this time, and made her way through the cavern. She imbued light into her eyes, allowing her to see more clearly in the shadows, and she followed her trail of cloud shards to the large cavern. She cast her elemental aura around, getting a quick reading of the area. The dampness had been greatly reduced, and while some areas had settled differently after the water emptied away, it seemed that it was all still on the mend, but better than when she'd left. She had come, to keep a promise, to check in on this place, to see that it was doing better and to see if it needed anything more.

And in the exact moment she knew the challenge had been met, she crumbled, dropping to her knees. "Chryl'kirtess, I need help." Her eyes managed to water a bit. "Please."

[Talisman]

As she flew down the mountain path with the wind, she could see the gemstones rising up in the earth to meet her, and then sinking down once more once she passed by. With all of the rain, the earth below was still soft and spongy, but since the cessation of the rain, it could start to improve. The flora, once again fed by sunlight, could help with that absorption. So too could other Elementalists or those that could utilize scrivening or Dragonshards. Perhaps a plan could be worked on with the dragons... but that was neither here nor there.

She would be able to make her way down the path to the cavern that she had found herself in a year ago. The stones along the walls, precious and plain, guided her, and rumblings of the earth spirits that dwelled within this mountain whispered the nickname that Chryl'kirtess had given her a year ago. Pebble. Pebble returns. The last year, with the cloudstones helping release the rain and water, had led to an improvement down here. It wasn't the way it had been before the great darkness had changed the world, but it was improved. And while earth was slow to change, it recognized these little improvements, perhaps more than other elements might have, and those voices that had grumbled with concern for the process were greeting her now. Perhaps they, too, could sense the change in her.

"Hello, Pebble," that voice rumbled in her bones, reverberating around her. The gemstones above, around, and below her seemed to focus on her. "Welcome back, Waterweaver. We knew that you would return." When she dropped to her knees, the earth rose up in front of her, a mounded little pile that remained where it was, even as more rose up to cover her hands where they rested on the ground. The earth squeezed, gently, just as familiar hands that might have held hers had done before. "You are troubled. You are heavy. Tell us." The spirit could easily see the difference in the young mage, and just as it had before... it was here, and it would listen. She could pour out whatever she wished, and the earth would be there to absorb it.

[Norani]

As Chryl'kirtess responded, Norani could feel her panic rising. She tried to stifle it, but she had spent a year surrounded by darkness and disembodied voices and there, in that corridor of darkness, her powers were meaningless. She wanted to run, to flee, to hide, all the things she had tried to do in that hell she had been in. She was gritting her teeth so hard she thought they might break. Panic. Panic. Panic!

But there was a sharp bite of pain in the palm of her hand, and she knew what it was there in her clenched fist. The very same pebble that had reminded her to come here. She tried to stand her ground there, on her knees. She tried not to be like the wind, running at every chance possible. She tried to not be like water, to flow where was easiest, and to not be like fire, going only where passion and consumption leads it. She gripped that stone until her hand was filled with blood, and she kept her place there in that cavern, refusing to run, when every instinct that had been warped and corrupted over the last year screamed otherwise.

As the earth enveloped her hands and her legs, she felt comfort, strength. It was the touch of... a friend. And so, shaking, Norani told the tale, from the moment she had last been down here. She spoke of when she stood before the Senate, the entire nation, and spoke her truths. Spoke of how the Commonwealth answered her call, of how she felt... strong, confident, capable.

She spoke of the heartbreak at witnessing the corruption at Agst'rasera, at the darkness that threatened to consume everything, about the God of Light that was helping to keep it at bay. She spoke of her companions, Imogen and Destyn, and how they ventured into the depths of Agst'rasera together.

But as she told the part of when Destyn and Imogen went into the core, and Norani faced an impossible reality, she found herself shaking. The image of Juno standing there, her eyes black, as the memories all rushed back, overwhelming Norani in that moment, caused her heart to race.

And as the earth reached for her, asking her, begging her to stop, slow down, to wait Norani grimaced. She knew it, she had felt it, but she had acted on pure instinct. Her mind had been nothing other than 'Save Juno.' She had forgotten the plan, the world, everything else in that moment.

When the darkness snapped shut around her, when she saw the fear in Juno's eyes, Norani soiled herself as the fear took her once more, as the darkness in the cavern under Drathera seemed to grow darker. Shame tried to wash over her, but she gritted down and forced it back.

"I... couldn't tell how long I was in there. It felt like," she wasn't sure how to put into words best, so she took a lesson she had learned while on Agst'rasera. "It felt like when a dead bird turns into a diamond."

She forced her eyes open, relief in her shoulders when the cavern wasn't as dark as that hell she'd been in.

"It was silent at first, and dark. So dark. Gifted with light, still, it didn't feel like enough. I called forth fire to help me see, to understand, to bring comfort."

Her voice grew shaky, "That's when I saw that the darkness around me move."

She was silent for a long while, "The fire kept it away for a while, and I ran. And I flew, and I fled. All the while I heard voices of people taken, of people lost. Thousands of them."

A whisper, "Millions."

The first tear fell, "When I couldn't run anymore, when I was too exhausted to move:"

"When I thought there was no hope."

She shut her eyes, trying to find some more strength. More tears fell upon her knees. A hand ripped free of the earth and clutched with draconic nails at the fiery lotus over her heart. Norani's entire body erupted in flames, her hair becoming a deep crimson inferno, gently laying upon her back.

"As the darkness came over me..."

She gripped tighter, her nails each piercing the skin.

And she felt something inside of her. Something deep, something new, something powerful. And she grasped at it, and the flames that adorned her body became her body, and she was now burning blue and white hot. But the heat was not melting a single stone, was not crystallizing a single grain of sand, was not vaporizing a drop of water. All of it was contained within her, not harming any other.

"It... took something from me." That little something inside grew, rapidly, her voice echoing the rage inside of her. "It took something from me!" She screamed it, the winds echoing her words all through the corridor. "I..."

More tears fell, now, untouched by the flames.

"I hate it!"

Dark splotches appeared in the flames over her skin, places where the darkness touched her, washed over her, until the flames disappeared entirely as Norani closed her eyes.

A whispered, "I hate it."

Another tear fell, a voice of desperation ringing out in the darkness, "I feel.. broken. Fear and pain chase me and everything else." Throat tight and through a sob, "Everything else feels gone."

"Can I be fixed?"

She opened her eyes again, staring down at her clenched fists upon her knees.

"Is there still darkness in me?"

[Talisman]

Through it all, as Norani told her what she had gone through over the last year since she had been here, the little mountain of dirt in front of her listened quite solemnly. As it had before, Chryl'kirtess did not seek to interrupt her, it let Norani pour it all out. But there was one difference from the last time, where some spirits had grumbled at the newness of what she had done when she had created her Cloudstones, there was no such grumbling. If anything, a few earth spirits had crowded around the young Orkhan, as if to offer comfort down here in the cavern. Even when she burned hot, the spirits didn't move. Her brilliance was reflected upon the crystals above and around her, casting the cavern in which she had found herself in a kaleidoscope of colour.

Through herself, through her own inner fire, she had illuminated the darkness. And the result was magnificent. Even when light had shifted through the fractals before, this was something new entirely, and it cast the whole cavern in a wondrous, ethereal glow. The little mountain in front of her seemed to nod.

"Diamonds are made with pressure and time. So is every other treasure in this world, Pebble," the spirit told her, the words resonating through her bones. "Anything worth having has its cost. You have learned this, and many more brutal lessons besides, since you were last here." There was a quiet pause, though she could likely tell that the spirit was not through with what it wanted to say to her. But Earth would take its time. The solidness did not come from nothing; and this was a place in which she would have to learn that things slowed. Where fire, air, and water moved so quickly... earth would take its time until it didn't. But it was the patience that was such a hard lesson. What didn't come naturally would have to be learned, as painful as a lesson as it was.

But while the other spirit took its time to formulate its words, the little ones offered her their own whispers, feelings of comfort and solidarity. She was not alone. She may have lost her connection to Aetu, Glorpb Glorpb, and Ooshi, others around her sought to fill in the gaps. They couldn't, not entirely, but their presence was something that had been lacking since Norani had last left them.

"All things break. And all things can be mended. Not just with time... but with intention." Chryl'kirtess spoke again after several minutes. "Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of this world, and those that are within it. All things break, and all things can be mended. They may never be the same, for they are changed by their experiences... but they can be mended. As can you." The little mountain in front of her seemed to shake and quiver before it split, revealing threads of golden ore within it. Cracks that had been filled with something else... and something that wasn't worthless, either.

"There is darkness in everything, even if it is just the tiniest grain... because without darkness, there is no light, Pebble. They cannot exist without each other. But the balance is what one must find. What you focus on is what will grow." One of the physical spirits, a rather chubby chunk of rocks with darker veins of ore weaving around its body, waddled around to the front of her to stand between her and the split mountain that began to reform itself. Once it had her attention, the spirit offered her a chunk of citrine. It wasn't much bigger than an eye, but that was still comparable to the size of the spirit that was offering it to her. "You have spent much time running. And now, you must learn again to be still. With intention."

[Norani]

She cast her eyes upward, seeing that there was still a glow amongst the crystals from when she had burned hot. It was beautiful, and she was grateful that they held the light. She didn't wish to dwell in the darkness right now. She nodded, recognizing the wisdom in Chryl'kirtess' words. She just wasn't sure that she was strong enough to withstand the pressure, the pain. That she would break before she would transform into something more, into someone more.

That she was already broken.

But she awaited for more to come from the helpful spirit. Norani saw the lesser spirits gathering around her, and she reached out to them, a hand extending in each direction at her sides, and she ran her finger tips over them. Some were soft and loamy, others hard and stony. And being in contact with the little elementals, listening to their whispers helped to remind her of her duty, of her calling. And of the friends she had not yet called upon.

She missed them dearly.

She came here for help and guidance so that she could face them and not be a danger to them. She swallowed down her worry, and waited. And as Chryl'kirtess spoke of mending, Norani knew that she was broken. It was why she felt this way. Intention. That was why she was here. To be fixed. But... But it wasn't the job of the spirits to fix the elementalist, but rather the role of the elementalist to help them. She would need to fix herself, using the lessons of the natural world, just as she had done on Agst'rasera.

She watched in wonder as the little mountain cracked and threatened to crumble, only to fill with gold. She nodded, that lesson was one she could understand readily. Her eyes followed the chubby little spirit, pondering on the idea of balance. She was unbalanced. She knew it. There was more to balance than simply light and dark, and she and Chryl'kirtess both knew it. In Norani's heart, she knew that her time in that damnable place had overwhelmed her personal elements, the pieces of her, with darkness and that she was only seeing the world through those lenses.

She took the offered citrine, giving a nod to the little spirit in thanks.

Norani shed the clothing she had been given upon her return, sat down, crossing her legs, cradling the citrine in her hands in her lap. It was time to be still, for the sake of being still. She took a deep breath, following an instinct buried deep within her on what was to come next. With a nod, she pulled the dwindling light from the crystals over head, streaking down toward her and she captured them within the citrine, glowing bright orange now. Its light penetrated deep into her form, a form that was particularly open and welcoming of the elements. To the elements around her, they would be able to see her heart, burning brightly with a flame. They would see the bones of hers that were forged from diamonds, the lightning that raced through her nerves. And behind her, projected onto the cavern wall, they would see the shadow of a little girl, crying.

Norani exhaled, then absorbed the light, plunging the entire cavern into absolute darkness. She could feel her racing heart threatening to beat out of her chest. Every fiber of her body was screaming at her to run. Run. RUN! Sweat formed on her brow, but she would be still. She gripped that citrine so tight the muscles in her arms were starting to burn. Intention. Fill the cracks. You are broken, but you can fix yourself. She trusted Chryl'kirtess and knew this to be true.

Why was she always moving? Always running? Running from the darkness? Running for Yeva? Running from her family? Running after Juno.. Juno. Another exhale. Running from the memories that had been given back to her. Tears flowed down her face there in the darkness. Running from the piece of her that had been stolen all those years ago. Running from the truth.

She was whole now. She had been ever since she had first seen Juno there beneath Agst'rasera. For the first time, Norani had seen who she was, and it scared her. And then she was fleeing the darkness, hunted by it. She had never taken this time, here and now. Who was she?

She was her parents' daughter, aspiring to make them proud of her. She was Yeva's dearest friend and her lover, there to show and share their growing love. She was Lonelyblade's Ward, an apprentice to something more. She was hero and hope against the Unknown to many in Ecith. She was friend to Destyn, to Imogen. She was family to Ruvaf and Kaiko. She was the elementalist to Ooshi, Glorbp Glorbp, Aetu, Zzzick. She was best friend and first love to Juno.

She was so many things to so many people and she was always moving, always running, always trying to be those things.

She closed her eyes, her heart starting to slow. Intention. Who was she? That was not the right question. Who did she want to be? Did she want to be what everyone else wanted of her? No, she shed that away immediately. Her breathing slowed, growing softer. Did she want to be always pained and pulled in a thousand directions at once? No, and that too fell away. Her skin grew cold, her blood slowing toward a stop. So what did she want?

As the answer came to her, her entire body glowed bright, the warmth of a fire, piercing the darkness. The flareup started to recede and her skin flashed, reflecting the last of the light, revealing in her stead a perfect replica of the elementalist in pure obsidian, holding a citrine that raged and whorled with fire.

She was going to be a woman who would protect all of those she loved, whose own flames burned bright within her heart. She loved her family. She loved Yeva. She loved her friends. She loved her people. She loved the elements and all the spirits in this world around her. And she loved Juno who was still gone.

And Norani stayed there in her obsidian form, not concerning herself with time, not bothered by the darkness outside of the citrine's range of glow, of the darkness that formed in the volcanic glass of her body. She stayed there, unmoving and felt love. The love she had for them all and the love that was felt for her. And she embraced it, she immortalized it, knowing it was always a part of her, knowing it always would be.

And when she opened her eyes, the obsidian of her form receded, and a glow had been restored to all of the crystals around her. She wasn't healed yet, but she would be. She knew it to be true, and she knew what she needed to do.

But this wasn't the time for that.

Instead, she opened her rune, poured elemental aether out of it, an offering to Chryl'kirtess, to all of the spirits around her, an offer to join in her communing, an offer of love from the elementalist. And still, she held her position, still, she held that citrine, still, she held herself, and still, she held all of that love within her blazing heart.

Still.

[Talisman]

Broken didn't mean destroyed. Pieces, maybe, had fallen apart. Pieces, maybe, were scrambled. But that didn't mean that she was beyond repair. The spirits stayed with her as she ruminated on the words and the gemstone that had been given to her. Everything she needed was already there. She just needed a bit of help to focus it, and that was what they hoped to do for her. Even as Norani grew an obsidian shell to contain all of that heat within her, the spirits stayed with her - they couldn't be the ones to walk her through this, because this emotional tornado that she was feeling could only be felt and worked out by her. By Pebble.

She may have been free from there, now, physically, but the emotional and mental cage remained. The trauma would last, if she didn't confront it. If she kept running, Chryl'kirtess knew, she would run out of road. And then what? Once the darkness got her running, it would never let her stop. But the earth and spirits around her offered a solidness that was comforting and structured all at once. The energy that it offered was stabilizing, while at the same time... conserving. Encouraging her to conserve herself until she needed to. Needed to move, needed to make a stand, needed to make a choice. Sometimes the right move wasn't forwards or backwards, but no move at all. They would, however, support her all the same. If they did it for her... she would not feel complete. Chryl'kirtess understood that the Waterweaver had a need to act... and they had to let her help herself. They would guide her, but Norani would be the one to slowly put the pieces back together.

It would take time. But they believed in her. They just had to help her believe in herself.

The realizations that Norani had, that she was constantly running to do things for others, to chase after or fulfill their wishes and wants and needs, was crucial. In a culture that defined itself by the wholeness of the group... one could not pour from an empty cup. She needed to be able to pay attention to herself first. Even if she had the weight of the whole world on her shoulders, and it likely seemed like she did... and she had for so very long... Her own self was important, too. She had so much love for everyone - for her parents, for Yeva, for Juno, for Imogen and Destyn and Kaiko and Rusaf. For her friends, her village, her people. For the spirits that she encountered, for the elements that she sought to help balance and heal. For the world around her, so full of wonders that she had yet to discover.

And while that love from her flowed out, the love from others flowed to her. While she sat and focused... while she meditated on her love and light... she could surely feel the love that came from them. There was love and appreciation from the spirits that surrounded her, from the grounding earth upon which she rested. Earth that she had helped a year ago, when she had devised a clever solution to a very tangible problem. And that solution was delivering the results. Time and intention could fix many things. Sometimes, things took time. That proof was here around her. Some things could not be rushed, and patience needed to be developed. Intention. Learning to wait. Learning to breathe. To watch and observe, to feel the world around her and let herself sit and listen.

The song of the earth was always there. It wasn't the faster rhythms of fire, or wind, or water... it was a song of steadiness and growth. Of watching, listening, and simply being. The citrine continued to glow in her hands, and the elementals around her appreciated her offering. It was accepted, and the chubby, compacted spirit that had offered her the citrine planted itself in front of her, looking up at her. "I will come with you," it told her. "To remind you, Pebble."

Of the earth. Of its lessons. Of what it was. Of balance and wholeness and presence.

[Norani]

Norani's eyes slowly slid open, looking at the chubby elemental that was pledging itself to her, and she smiled softly. "Thank you." The citrine began to float from her lap, its light spreading across the cavern, and Norani patted at her lap for the little elemental to join her. She reached forth with her aether, tinged with both elemental and summoning aether, an invitation, a promise, an offering of love.

Her aether tinged her voice as she spoke in that language of spirits, a voice that seemed to echo and resonate far more heavily than her normal voice throughout this cavern. "What shall I call you?"

The squat little elemental waddled over to Norani and climbed up into her lap. He looked up at her with his dark eyes and soft smile and he accepted her aether, accepted her invitation, her love. And he spoke back, "Norani Pebble, you may call me Crumble." And with a curt nod, his facade cracked, spiderwebbing across his entire form. It then filled in with the crystalline gold of the citrine. And so, upon her naked back, his smiling form was added to the other spirits that danced in the boughs of the great tree.

Norani then closed her eyes once more, returning to her stillness. She let her aether flow through her and Crumble both, charging it with the heaviness of the earthen element. Then she flooded the entire cavern with it, reaching out to everything, all of the spirits, the soil, the stones, the very mountain itself and poured herself into everything. And as she did that, she grew still, with the mountain, as the mountain. She listened, she felt, she simply was. And she baptized herself in the stone of her people's great mountain and lost herself to it.

And finally, after a time unknown, she opened her eyes. "Chryl'kirtess, do you remember when this mountain was a pebble?"

[Talisman]

When Crumble offered his company to Norani, and she had accepted the chubby earthen spirit in turn, Norani would get a sense of approval and perhaps even satisfaction from the elder spirit with whom she had been communing in this cavern. Besides the little mountain that stood before her, full of golden veins to signify that which had been refilled despite the cracks, Chryl’kirtess had not shown itself to her. But its presence was all around her, from the way the very stones lit up around her, to the steadying aura that permeated this place. Perhaps it was the mountain upon which Drathera had grown from. It was difficult to know. But it was entirely possible that Crumble was a little part of Chryl’kirtess, much like these crystals grew from the seedbeds.

But when Norani poured herself out into the earth and let it fill her in turn, the feelings were different from what she was used to. What she had endured, the darkness, the constant movement, the trauma... she was safe here. She could reflect upon what she had gone through, look at it from a standpoint that it could not harm her. The stabilizing force of the earth resonated with her, humming softly through her enhanced bones, giving her relief and rest from the constant tumult and endless energy that she had been called upon to give for the last year. Even now, the Norani who had rested in this cave was not the Norani who had entered it.

Pebble had a long way to go. But this was a good start. The balance of the elements within the young Orkhan had been greatly disrupted, and earth was as good a way as any to begin to heal. Perhaps the best way to begin a new foundation, and rebuild. Stabilize.

With Crumble ensconced in her lap, Chryl’kirtess ruminated on her question. “We remember,” the spirit began. “Mountains form from many ways, Pebble. Time is one way, as one grain becomes a pebble, and the pebble becomes a stone. The stone becomes a boulder, and the boulder becomes a formation... Formations shift and collide with the movements of the world, and mountains are raised. Such is a natural way, as spirits grow and gain in strength. And this process can take eons.” Throughout this explanation, the little mountain in front of her sank into the earth, and began the cycle as a demonstration to help her visualize the process. “And then there are forces that would influence the world beyond us... Those who can enhance and manipulate the elements into becoming more. Dragonshards, as the world calls them... Mages... Dragons themselves... Greater spirits... and what mortals call Gods, with their connections to the Aetherium.”

“Formations shifted, as aether plunged within. Those who experimented with powers beyond their reckoning found here a land in which they could test those powers... But as these great forces shifted, what was once flat and strong crashed and rose, creating the mountains within this land. Mountains and hills, plateaus and plains. The valleys settled, creating basins and leading to the formation of the lakes, rivers, and swamps. The resulting ranges divided this lush place from the barren sands beyond the mountains.” The spirit seemed to know that it was getting off-topic from what Norani had asked of it, and returned to her question at hand.

“The formation that formed this mountain was already large and strong when another collided with us, and that brought us higher still. And then the green dragons came, and began to nest here. They, too, brought their powers over earth to bear, and we continued to grow. What was once a pebble... became a true landform.” The little mountain divided itself into two flatter plateaus, and the collision that formed them was almost violent. But when the dust settled... it was one entity. One mountain, and it solidified. It grew further as little emeralds representing green dragons swarmed around it, sinking into the earth, and giving it an ethereal, green glow. “We were already great... but others worked with us to make us more. Our base is deep and broad, but others have added to us as time went by.”

Perhaps she would be the same.

[Norani]

Chryl’kirtess spoke and Norani listened. And she watched, and felt, as the earth before her demonstrated the great spirit's words. As the little mountain formed, she felt something else stirring, the rock in her hand. It longed to become a mountain, it had come from a mountain and wished to be one as well. To be as big and mighty as one, to be strong and proud and a symbol for all, to make many small rocks like itself that might also wish to be mountains.

She gripped it that much tighter.

Norani watched as the scene shifted into the second explanation. She watched as the land was in turmoil from these forces beyond, and all she could think about was the chaos that would cause in the spirits of the land, in the elements themselves. She knew that a cataclysm such as that would send them into disarray, panicked and afraid. Many of them would be harmed or destroyed. She had seen it when that chaos storm struck her village. She had seen it when she saw her homeland stuck in the eternal winter. She had seen it in this very cavern.

This only strengthened her desire to better recover and protect this land and all those that live within it.

But even when the land was asundered, it continued to grow. It continued to recover. To be helped by those that protect and care. And from the peak of Drathera, a people now lived, whose ideals were founded in the sanctity of these lands, to better protect this home they shared. And she was one of them, and one that could do it well.

Norani's eyes closed, taking in these lessons. She began to pull massive draws of aether from within herself. She took this aether, and cycled it through herself, and then into Crumble. From him, she spread the aether out into the mountain, to soak up its essence, then pulled it back to her, where hands were outstretched, reaching over Crumble. A single glowing mote of sand began to form. And Norani continued. She kept herself still, still as the mountain above, as she worked her elemental aether, growing the mote, enhancing it, building a mountain of her own in the form of a gemstone.

A dragonshard.

The Terrasyte she was building was growing as she poured her aether into it. Sweat broke out on her brow as she took the weight of the mountain and put it in her aether, compressing and strengthening the dragonshard. It grew denser, deeper in hue, and soaked up her aether like a sponge. She continued to build it, focusing so intently she did not notice the Orkhan scales growing on her back, nor that her finger tips were changing into draconic claws. But she could feel her limit coming, and coming quick.

And so she cut the flow, pouring the last dregs into the gemstone. It fell into the soil around her with a heavy thud and her chest was heaving from exertion, her stomach complaining loudly. How long had she been down here?

Still, she wasn't done.

The small rock in her hand, she closed her eyes and made it as strong as the diamond she crafted under the watching eyes of Agst'rasera. Then she raised it over her head, granting it the strength of Drathera mountain, and hammered it down onto newly formed dragonshard. A booming thunder raced through every stretch of the caverns and a slight shaking was felt by the priests that resided at the peak. The dragonshard shattered into a million glowing grains, scattering across the cavern. Norani looked at the little stone in her hand and smile.

"We'll become mountains together."

A lazy hand sent some aether out to collect the terrasyte sorcerer's sand into her pouch as Norani fell backwards onto her back, still catching her breath.

"We can do this."

[Talisman]

With the combination of her own aether and skills, and Crumble's aether, she was able to steadily build upon the tiny grain that she had started with. Doing so opened her up to more of the connection between Crumble and Chryl'kirtess, which felt similar, in a way, that a parent's spirit might to a child's. Perhaps Crumble had been a part of the great spirit that might very well have been this mountain, formed so many, many years ago and now was his own entity. Maybe his coming with her was a way of taking a piece of Drathera with her while she continued on her adventures and journeys.

The terrasyte was crushed and broken, and fortunately, she had recognized her limit compared to the last time she had been down here. She was able to refill her pouch with the remnants of the large stone, and all around her, the boom echoed through the caverns and tunnels until it faded. But the strength was there, and the strength that filled her was a different feeling than what she had first come down here, feeling empty and depleted, broken and damaged. She was not the same as she had been before she had entered the Unknown... but as Chryl'kirtess had shown her... things changed, and she alone was the one who could fix things for herself.

Inner strength came from within. The solid grounding of the earth was a much-needed lesson that she was missing, and by embracing it, it helped round the young Orkhan out. She could rebuild her foundation, and she would - on herself. Not on others, not dependent on others, but not walled off from them. But her growth in the last year, in even the last several hours, was apparent to the spirits around her. She was much changed.

"You will, Norani Pebble. You have time, you have spirit, you have will. You listen, you learn, you settle, you grow." The little mountain before her grew steadily as the spirit spoke, the crystals radiant overhead in their many-faceted lights. They bathed the resting young Mage, reflecting off of the scales on her skin. "Learn when to move, and when to wait. Nurture that strength within you... and none can take it from you."