"Ą̸̰͖̟̯̜͖͈̗̫̐͌͊̈́̐̏͒͠d̶̨̝̞̭̟͙̼͖̹̈́̋̑̽͛̾̓̕͘e̵̡̜̭̲̳͖̯̱͇͓̰̟̱̪͋͊̎̂̚l̴̛͉̻͇̉͂͋̅̑̊̈́͐̓l̴̢̡͔͓̻̊̀͌̊͐̽̄͗̂́͌͐͘̚a̷̧̧̨̙̞̘̤͉͈̘̱̐͊̈́̋͛͆́̅́̌̿̅͝.̶̢̗͖̹̻̀̽̔̚ͅ.̷̧̛̼͙͈̗͉͉̖̇̆̔̒͛͆́̋̽̌́͝͝.̴͖͔͔͈̟̿͆͑̐̍͒͝.̸̢̼̘̳̟̻̺̙̠̣͊̐͐̈̊͊̂̅͗̄͝w̷̢͍̫̙̝͍̞̖̗̬͕͆͒͑̒̍̔̚̕͜͜ͅa̶͕̿̀̎̈́̓͂̅̿̆̾̈́͝͝k̸̪̠̕ĕ̵̻̦͍̝̺̆̅̓͊̄̇̏͘̕ ̵̨̖̙͚̜̞͖͓̱͇͕̦̘͍̥̅͐̍̋̉̄́̀̉̌́̅̿ư̸̡̡̗̫̺̠͖̙̞͈͓̑͛̃̂̋̚ṕ̷̮͓̻͇͌̄.̶̡̳͇̯̙̖̘̩̳̠̺̜̞̼̃̔̈́̈́͊͘̕͠"
The voice was distorted, everything from her sense of smell to her sight and her touch was distorted, so much that she couldn't recognize the face nor the voice of the one whose hand reached out to her.
But she could vaguely see the Rukh.
The gold, shining birds she'd always see around herself and four others.
"I̵̧̢̛̠̘̻͎̲͆̒̌̉͌̿̄̓͋́̽͘ͅt̷̢̙̞͇͎̝͕̋̀̓͝'̴̡̢̟̯̟͈̖̗̹̪͈̟̹̼́͋̋͒̇̂̽̎͐̾̀s̶̙̫̈́̇͌̿́̍ ̷̢̧̦̳̦̣̜̹̦͇̈́͋t̷̘̪͇̻̼͛̃̃̓̀̔͌ị̵͚̞̬͖͙͎̳̚m̶̡͚͙̮͙̘̩͍̠͓̬̖̙̟̎̈́͜ȩ̶̧̹̖̱̬͎̰̯̭̱̺͇̼̕ ̷̳̣̩̮̳̘̣̯͓̀̋͗̀͒͆̂f̴̤̦̓̓̈́̐͌̊ͅͅő̷͈̥̞͈̳͙̭͕̫̩̐̆͑͊̾̔̑̿̏́͊ͅr̴̛͈̥̻͙͖̞̬̘̞͈̥̈̎̍͑̏̓̋͗͠ ̷͖͍̝̙̻̹̞͈̩̉̀̃͆̕͘͠y̸̧̢̢͎̮̙̱͚̙̥̤̱͉͐̐͊͌̏̈́̊̄͘̕͜ͅo̴̧̥̹̫̯̟̲͓̣͙̓̋̑̆̏̾͂͛̎͆̐̒̓̓̕ͅu̴͙̘̾͋̀̈́̆́͌͌́͗ ̵͉̻̠̮̳̖͚̪̩̲͔̏͂̈́̿̃͛̊̔̔́̉̓͐͂͝ͅt̴̛͖̜̐͊͗̅͐̔o̴̧̧̥̖̞̝̺̜̫̙̯̘̩͋̈́ͅ ̷̹̞̯̺̩̹̂͋͝c̸̫̯̺̼̈́̈́̆̋ͅo̷̦̰̹͙̮̹͈̺̖̓̅̈́͛̈́͊͝m̸̢͒̎̀̑̎̂̃̀͆̉̎̓̚e̴͉̦̰̐̽̍̅̋̔̊͑̔̕͝ ̷̢̛̲̺̮̅́̆͌̊̍̓̃̄̋͝͝ͅo̶͈̣̫̫̫͚̮̳͉͕͚̦̪͂̐̍̆̉̓͋̓̄̌͋̕̚͝͝ͅu̶̡̡̡̜͈̯͈̘̪̬̦̰̻̻̮͋ț̵̨̻͍̗̺̣̈́́̉̐͊̀̄͑̅̈́͜͝ͅ ̶̡̡̧̙̦̠̱̪͍̈͆͑̂͑̽̅̕͘͜͝n̷̨̡̮̫̓̈́̀̌́̌̅͆͂̽̑̈́̏̈̚ó̶̡̢͍͉̈́̈́͐͆́̃̀̀̇̈̀̚͜w̸̨̡̛̖̩̺̱̣̼̔͂̔̉̃̕.̵̭̠̥̝͙̣̰͎̝͇͐̂̀̍̓͑͒̃̒́͜͠"
She woke, laid on a stone alter underground, with the cold biting at her skin.
'Where am I?'
Ice protruded from the ground around the alter, light filtering in from the frozen roof above. There was snow everywhere.
'My staff....where...'
Her gaze wandered, maneuvering her body to take a glance off the edge of freezing stone. There it lay, slightly buried by snow, the shakujo's metal seemingly undamaged.
The girl reached for it, almost falling over from how weak her body was, and muttered out a command as soon as she could get a hold.
"Har-Har Infigar."
A ball of flame appeared before her, warming her body immediately.
"So the rukh here is not restricted..."
Now that she had gotten a better look of the place, it seemed that time had stopped all together. Except for the dust floating around, seen from the reflection of light, everything stood still.
Unmoving even as seconds passed.
The ceiling of the enclosure was cracked in the exact place where light came from, she noticed.
'Maybe if I...'
Her thoughts trailed off before she simply pointed her staff up.
"Asfal Riih."
A strong wind carried the flame upwards, the giant spiral of heat pushing back her hair and loose clothing, breaking through the top.
Outside, as the pillar of flame continued upward, many others spotted the oddity. Whether they received it with alarm or greed, all wanted to know the cause. However, there was one who was too absorbed in his work to notice, even if he was the closest to the event.
"I guess....I should observe my surroundings," Her voice was close to a whisper. "Shelter would be nice as well."
The alchemist who resided on the mountain for research didn't take a glance outside the cave where he made his encampment.