Ashes of the Fallen

Interlude: Before The Storm

Aidari didn’t expect to die during a storm.

Her family had lived among them for generations, predicting weather patterns and following them to their next destination. Whether it was the harsh winds of Bitrfall or the soft, morning glow of Fyrebloom, each one had its own joys and vices. But right now, Aidari had never wished for sunrise right at this moment. Perhaps, it would make the High Stormcaster drop from heat exhaustion.

The tall, imposing figure of the Stormspell elf was obscured by the night sky and rain but Aidari didn’t have to guess that she was furious. Her purple skin and ornate, obnoxious purple cloak acted as a beacon to guide the High Stormcaster forwards. No amount of natural cloud cover could ever create such a monstrosity. Especially over a precarious cliff top like the one Aidari was currently stranded on.

Forewarn Cliff was a well known spot for romantics and as beautiful as her teacher was, she was sure the happy couple hadn’t chosen their underground secret lab because they liked the views. It had been completely hollowed out to lure servants and apprentices from Floodbound into their clutches. Servants like the ones she had failed to rescue. Servants like her. 

“I should’ve known. No Stormspell elf would ever go out on a night like this. That mist illusion of yours isn’t your best work, little Traited.” Kalia spat, her voice towering over the storm she conjured.

Aidari cursed, her arm still dripping with an ash covered wound, her grimoire long retreated into the void to preserve what little she could of her life. One wrong turn. All it took was one wrong turn and she was now caught between a rocky cliff face and a mass murderer. Well, one was fashionably late.

“True. Then again, I didn’t have much of a teacher, High Stormcaster. Too busy using your students as blood sacrifices?” Aidari yelled, attempting to goad the short fuse of her former mentor.

“You little snitch. I wondered why your control was above everyone else’s but now I see what a cheat you are.”

Fighting the urge to roll her eyes, Aidari kept her feet firmly planted on what little even ground she had and tried to convince herself the plan was good enough. Her wrists ached from being tied up for so long, the crumbling manacles now useless from Kalia’s husbands Earthspell but defending Kalia’s vicious lances of lightning with her mist was taking everything she had.

“I’d rather be a cheat than a murderer.”

The long stretch of winding water that rose into a gossamer barrier had always been mysteriously beautiful but now, without any sense of a plan, Aidari silently begged it to help aid her. It thrashed aimlessly against her back, the sea mist that rose lazily around the cliff face refused to settle beside her, the long strands of enchanted black water continuing to protect Nerdia from ‘outside forces.’ Outside forces like her. 

Great. The magic water barrier was racist.

Her pale violet skin flickered nervously against the weight of the lashing rain as if to remind her how woefully unprepared she was for this fight. Even with the High Stormcaster’s similar taste in weather controlling abilities Aidari’s were more used to being a distraction rather than attempting to outclass a combat mage. Which meant there was one way out of this. She had to stall until help arrived. If she could just get Kalia angry enough, her lightning would do the rest.

“Dearest, perhaps you should go a little easy on the Stormspell. We’ll be attracting more than just the Rainfall Brigade at this rate. We don’t want any more interference.”

The Earthspell elf remained unfazed like taking a leisurely stroll in the middle of a hurricane was nothing to him. Despite the cold winds heightening her fear, Elliot Ashgrave terrified Aidari far more than any fate that the murky drop below would provide her. After all, his lineage had been the one to create the Brink.