• Closed • Initiationem

[Elisabeth Black]

26 Zi'da, Arc 720.

Silence. The long, cold walk had been full of it. Elisabeth didn’t know what to think about that. She had been preparing herself for several trials – ever since Balthazar had told her he would initiate her into Defiance – for what was to happen. He had tried to explain the process but there wasn’t much he could convey other than his own experience. She meditated, trying to sort out how she felt about her decision. The decision itself didn’t bother her so much. Scared, yes. Worried, yes.…but the effect it was having on Balthazar is what disturbed her the most. Wrapping her cloak about her lithe form as she tried to stave off the cold assaulting her body, shivering, trying to focus and push the cold to the side. It was hard to concentrate in the biting cold but she had to. There were bigger things to consider as she trekked along behind them...

He had explained to her his desire not to lose her. It had been a first step for them. Since Storm’s Edge and the dream, they had been working their way towards something. Neither seemed to know what it was and weren’t interested in defining it. But he had told her that he didn’t want to lose her, and those words struck her in the heart. Elisabeth hadn’t shown it at the time for there were other matters to talk about…but she knew what she had asked of him, he was reluctant to do. Balthazar hadn’t explained his reasons for agreeing - only the reasons why he didn’t want to. The thought scared her, losing him just when she had found something worth protecting and fighting for. For him, she tried not to show fear...but it was hard. So hard.

Praetorum was with them. It hadn’t really been explained to her why, but she knew him to be a defier too and it wasn’t a problem for her. He had become something of a mentor to her and it seemed fitting that he be there. The dark side of it was, if something happened to her, at least someone would be with Balthazar to pick up whatever pieces were left.

But it didn’t matter…because she wasn’t going anywhere. And if she kept telling herself that over and over, maybe it would be true. She had to push the negative thoughts to the side. It was necessary, but they kept creeping in without her permission.

She wanted to hold Balthazar’s hand. She wanted to reassure him. reassure herself…but she couldn’t. She wanted to, desperately, and find the magic words to make his pain disappear. She had even thought to tell him that she didn’t want to be initiated anymore…but that would have been a lie and she didn’t lie to him. Not him. Not ever. A few times she had quickly walked up to him and almost reached out, but she couldn't be selfish right then. Elisabeth had to fight through, focus, be disciplined. It was, in her opinion, harder than discipline in relation to weapons. Discipline in itself wasn't tied to one or another but she found it much, much harder when dealing with emotions. She wasn't an emotional creature normally but with Balthazar, things were different. He made her feel things she hadn't experienced before and when she tried to focus, they always tried to creep in. It was a balancing act, figuring out how to acknowledge them - honor them - and still accomplish what she needed to with focus. It was a skill she was slowly learning.

As they reached the spot, Elisabeth simply stood there and waited for something to happen, glancing at the two with her, eyes a bit wide. She had dressed simply and left her necklace back at Storm’s Edge. No jewelry. No adornments – not that she was much into those things anyways. Initiation wasn’t to be a pleasant or easy affair, but she felt she was as ready – mentally and emotionally – as she could be. There was no way of getting around that she was scared, but she couldn't let the other two know that. It wasn't an option. She had to push through and face her fears or she wouldn't survive. Instead, tried to control her breathing and focus on what she did have. She was armed with an iron will, stubbornness...and something Balthazar had himself given her...

Hope.

It wasn't lost on her that exactly that trial, one season before, she had met him for the first time. Her first words to him had been a volley of questions that ended with "What did I miss?"

She hadn't missed anything. She found something that trial. Him.

[Balthazar Black]

26 Zi'da 720

Balthazar was quiet on his journey to the place he'd chosen in the Stormlands. Rharne was a particularly poor choice for the initiation he had to perform so there was a level of secrecy that needed to be maintained. Praetorum was a... friend of Elisabeth's and so when he'd expressed interest in attending her initiation, Balthazar invited him. The ithecal would be useful to scare off prying eyes if they needed to. Balthazar did his best not to consider the darker alternative that it would be good to pick up the bones. Balthazar had chosen a small spot at the edge of a wheat field where the field ended and a forest began because there was just enough space between the two for them to build a pyre they could keep from spreading into a forest fire. He carried some of the wood in a bundle on his back and he'd asked Praetorum to help him carry the rest of it on the journey. Balthazar held a bottle of whiskey in his hands for them to try if things didn't go terribly.

It was a long walk to the chosen spot because it was such a quiet walk. Everyone there had seen what the Flameborn could do. They had seen fire turned against those they cared about and yet they were going to trust it to protect Elisabeth because that was what the initiation was. She had to be vulnerable with the elements. To reach out to them for help. Elisabeth thought of Balthazar when she felt the heat of a fire but she could not cling to that if she meant to survive her initiation. She would have to separate her feelings for the mage from her feelings for the element because the element would become a companion to her of its own merit... but Balthazar had explained these things to her long before the actual trial of initiation came. He'd spent much of the time since he agreed trying to prepare her for it but now that they walked, they walked in silence.

Eventually the silence gave Balthazar too much time to think and his mind went to the dark place it seemed to go to ever since he'd been marked by the Immortal of Death. If Elisabeth did not survive, he would have been the one who killed her. If he killed her, he had to fulfill his duty to Vri and so there were things he needed to know. He took a deep breath, trying to figure out how to introduce the topic and coming up with nothing good. He moved closer to Elisabeth to speak to her."I really don't want to discuss this but I have to know." Balthazar said. "If something goes wrong I must honor my promise to Vri. If you don't make it, and I'm sure you will so I brought us all a drink, what do you want me to do with your remains? Rharne has traditions but I'm sure Viden does as well. Which would you choose?" Balthazar looked to Praetorum for a moment and then back to Elisabeth. Awkward conversation starter.

[Elisabeth Black]

26 Zi'da, Arc 720.

As Balthazar found his way to her, she reached out and took his hand. It was a simple gesture, wanting to share in the strength she knew he had. Elisabeth didn’t ask for more than that because, in truth, she couldn’t handle more. Separating herself from him was hard but she knew to survive whatever was waiting for her, she would need to. He had been blunt about that. That trial, it was about her and her relationship to the elements.

So, when his words came, she nodded and took a deep breath. Watching his face, she saw how much it pained him to even ask the question. The young woman hated that he even had to entertain that idea, and it filled her with a bit of anger. Not at him, of course. Mostly, at herself for what she was putting him through. She knew of customs but had no preference. Elisabeth was a realist at her core. Perhaps some trial she would begin to care about such things, but it wasn’t that trial. Squeezing his hand gently, she spoke ever so softly., fighting back the tears as her words came forth. “Balthazar, I’ll be dead. I won’t care. Do what you think is best.”

She wasn’t done though. Mulling it over in her mind a thousand times, she concluded that there were words that needed to be said. It seemed they were getting close to where he wanted to do the ceremony so there wasn’t going to be a better time. To be fair, there never was. At least not for what she was going to tell him. Stopping, she tugged on his hand, so he had to face her. Giving him a smile, for this one moment, she allowed herself to feel and say what was on her mind…and in her heart, knowing after that it would need to be locked away until either she passed the initiation...or failed. “If I die, it’s not your fault. I made this decision freely and willingly. If I die, I will die having known what it feels like to care for someone deeply and have that feeling returned. I’d say that is a good life by any standards. Know that you saved me and I will forever be in your debt. I don't regret one trill. But I’m not going to die today because the person I trust most in Idalos is with me. And he gives me strength and the will to live.”

Every word she meant. Every word brought her joy, and sadness. And fear.

She wasn’t dying today. Elisabeth was being reborn. But now, it was time to put all of that away. She needed to focus if she expected to celebrate that rebirth.

[Praetorum]

Elisa wanted to be initiated into defiance. 



There had been an instant, when he'd first heard that, that his breath had caught in his throat and his mind went blank. Just for a trill, he'd been in that cage again, bound and muzzled and drugged, struggling helplessly as a biqaj drowned in front of his eyes. He didn't remember her name, only that she'd been stormtouched, eyes still glowing a bright red as the life flickered out of them. 



Then he'd blinked, and he'd been back in a courtyard in Rharne, looking down at Balthazar and clutching his quarterstaff so hard he'd thought it might crack in his hand.


It hadn't been the first time such a thing had happened, but he hadn't had that sort of unprompted memory in almost a cycle; it seemed some wounds ran deeper than he'd thought. Perhaps that was why he'd asked to watch—to show himself that an initiation could succeed, that it was those mad experiments that had caused failure after failure after failure. 



Or perhaps it was because he wanted to be there if she died. Maybe for her sake, maybe for Balthazar's. Maybe for his own—the thought of learning she'd burned alive while he'd slept warm in his bed nauseated him.  Whatever the reason, they'd both allowed him to come; so here he was, walking silently behind Balthazar with a bundle of firewood under each arm, and another coiled in his tail



The other defier had brought whiskey. Had he brought it to celebrate success, or to numb the grief? Prae didn't ask. He supposed it would be emptied either ways. 



When they arrived, Balthazar went to speak to Elisa, and Prae stepped away to give them privacy. He'd gathered by now their relationship was... something more, though what exactly, he  wasn't sure. Instead, Prae neatly stacked the firewood into a pile—the actual construction of the pyre, he would leave to master and initiate—and started clearing the area where they would soon have a blaze, burning or burying anything flammable that might make the fire spread past where they wanted. Both field and forest were far enough that Prae thought they were safe—as long as the wind behaved. 

 

Normally, they could use defiance to keep the wind from blowing, but—


Experiment four on interference during a defiance initiation. Researcher Kaelin dictating, research assistant Ellis transcribing



—given the things he'd seen, he didn't dare. 



The application of earth to an initiation by fire resulted in the termination of the subject, and significant damage to the laboratory floor. Eskelsen theorizes that such catastrophic results are due to the use of only one defier; proposal for experiment five is as follows—



Prae flinched, shaking his head in frustration. It had been almost a full arc since those experiments, so why—


Taking in a deep breath, Praetorum tried to sooth the anger and fear rising in his throat, to squash the growing tide of memories that threatened to wash over him. Without thinking, he clenched his left hand and felt the mark there pulse. 



Peace.


Immediately, Praetorum was still in both mind and body, completely in control of himself once more. Another gift from the Noble Serpent, it seemed. With his heart now settled, Prae turned back to them, and padded back to the pile of wood, ready to help build the bonfire.

[Balthazar Black]

26 Zi'da 720

Elisabeth's answer was an honest one but not a helpful one. Do whatever he wanted? That was not how the deal with Vri worked but in the end if Elisabeth chose to defer to Balthazar, he would allow it and respect it. Hopefully Vri would as well. His marked was doing his best to uphold the arrangement they had made. Balthazar did not know for certain what he'd do but he thought about scattering her ashes on a snowy mountain. She always told him that she liked the snow and the stars. A mountaintop seemed fitting and for Balthazar it was accessible. He could leave her somewhere she'd always be able to see the things she loved.

When they arrived to the chosen place, Elisabeth pulled on his hand so he'd look at her and he did. She told him that if she died it would not be his fault but the words didn't feel true. In the eyes of Death itself, he was certain the blame would fall on him. She said kind words that warmed the mage's already burning heart but for all the words, it didn't change that he would feel responsible for it. His fire would be the fire that burned her away and his fire was unlike any other... well most others. It is a big world. Balthazar gave Elisabeth a soft nod and whispered, "You are not going to die here." He repeated to her, unsure whether or not it was the truth. It would hurt him, eternally, for his last words to her to be a lie. He gave Elisabeth a quick but firm hug and then pat her on the back. "Not here." He repeated before releasing the hug.

"Alright, go talk to Praetorum, I need to build the pyre and prepare the spark. I'll come back to you when it is ready." Balthazar said, keeping his words to Elisabeth brief so that he could remain focused on what he needed to do. The more he talked, the more he'd think. The more he thought, the harder it would be to initiate her. He knew what needed to be done. He had to do it. He walked over to the pile of sticks that Praetorum had set down and added the ones on his back to the pile. Then he began moving the sticks from the pile into what would become the pyre. He began with a small square, somewhat like the outline of a stage, and then filled it with wood and dried grass. He knew what burned well, he just didn't know the best way to throw it all together. He continued stacking the wood onto the pyre for a few bits, thinking about the danger to come. He would need to put a spark into the fire and he'd never done it before. Xanax had shown him how but he had been careful about the initiation. The danger. Balthazar took a deep breath and manifest a small blue ball of fire that hovered just about an inch above his hand.

He looked into the blue flame as it flicked slightly towards his chest and then with a small gesture the flame leapt onto the pyre, igniting the wood and allowing the almost cyan flames to fade into bright orange as the dried wood and grass began to burn. Balthazar knelt down in front of the pyre. He took a deep breath and moved both of his hands towards his heart, joining his thumb and index finger to form a small triangle with his palms facing outwards towards the pyre that was beginning to burn brighter. He cleared his mind and reached inward to prepare the piece of his spark for the fire.

[Elisabeth Black]

26 Zi'da, Arc 720.

She knew Balthazar well enough by now to know what he was doing. It was the same thing she was trying to do – separation. It would be dangerous to be emotional. Elisabeth had accepted that for she was trusting him with her life. What he said, she would abide by to the best of her abilities.

His hug had been brief, but intense – his last gift to her before they needed to focus. As he pulled away, she wanted to reach out again. One last embrace...but she didn't. He wouldn't have approved. Balthazar expected more of her and if there was one person on the face of Idalos she would never want to disappoint, it was him. Even if everything inside of her was screaming about the fear and uncertainty she felt. Instead, she quietly walked over to Praetorum, smiling softly at him. Before Elisabeth knew what she was doing, she had wrapped her arms around the Ithecal in something of a hug.

She had things to say to him too. Things she didn’t want Balthazar to hear.

Voice wavering a bit, she tried to force the impact of what she said down but ribbons of it still slipped free.“Prae, if things go wrong, please…take care of him. I’ve told him that if the unimaginable happens, it’s not his fault. I chose this. I know he won’t believe that though and take the blame on himself. He can’t take much more of this. If I didn’t feel it in my bones that this is the right thing to do, I wouldn’t put him through it.” She hadn’t spoken to anyone about her reasons for wanting to be initiated. She had given Balthazar most of the truth…. but there was a small piece she kept for herself. He was used to being alone. He relied on himself. Elisabeth understood that because she was the same way. But as she was finding out, alone wasn’t always good. He needed someone that understood the same magic he did, someone to share it with. A connection. She wanted that connection for them.

He would push her, possibly harder than she ever pushed herself. She would push back, showing him that she was worthy of the trust he placed in her.

Smiling at Prae again, she finished her thoughts. “Thank you, Prae. You’ve always believed in me. You went out of your way to help me train and I can never repay you for that. I am happy you are here with us.”

It was done. The last piece that needed to be voiced before the point of no return. Elisabeth had said everything she needed to and it was time to push emotion away and make room for focus, discipline and meditation. She needed every ounce of each she possessed to make it through and they were all three areas she was still just scratching the surface of. Closing her eyes, she began preparing herself. She had to separate herself from everyone she cared about. Emotion couldn’t be a part of the initiation. This was business between her and the elements. For her to survive, she needed to surrender to them. They, in turn, needed to accept her as theirs. Only then could she live and be reunited with Balthazar. He wasn't part of the puzzle anymore, which scared her. Her and the elements. She was on her own....and it was terrifying.

He had told her early on that fire would be the element used to initiate her. The reasons were vast and varied and had to do with both Elisabeth and Balthazar. They each had to come to terms with fire and she needed to get over her hesitation with it. The nightmares that had plagued, over time, had slowly become less...but there were still pieces remaining. She hadn't been able to shed all of her fear. Not yet. But in that time and place, she did have to figure out how to control it and rely on lessons from the past. Balthazar had helped ease those fears, suggesting meditation.

Elisabeth was as ready as she was going to be. But being ready didn't mean that the fear and terror she was about to endure were any less.

[Praetorum]

Prae blinked, slightly startled out of his thoughts as arms wrapped around his waist in a hug. It was an unfamiliar feeling, and Prae was still for a moment, before his tail came curling around to drape over Elisa's back and squeeze gently. As she spoke, asking him to take care of Balthazar should the worst happen, he laid a hand on her shoulder, looking down at her, brow furrowed. 



He knew better than anyone how grief could shatter a person. Balthazar might be a yari, but even they were not as unaffected by death as they acted. And after watching the way he and Elisa were around each other, Prae had a feeling her death would smoother the fire in his heart. Prae didn't know that there would be anything he could do if that happened, but—"I'll do what I can," he promised. He had been through that grief before—if nothing else, having someone else to share that pain with was its own kind of relief. 



He did not mention to Elisa the old wounds a failed initiation would tear back open in him, and he never intended to. But Prae had already survived the shattering of his world—he would be strong enough to survive those wounds too. 



Then, as Elisa thanked him for believing in her, he shook his head slowly. "I've believed in you exactly as much as you deserve." He told her seriously. "You have the strength and resolve to be great—and I look forward to seeing how you grow from now on." 



The calmness Taithir had granted him had faded by now, but it had given him space to collect himself. Panic and spiraling terror had muted into a roiling anxiety in his gut, not so severe that he couldn't force himself to ignore it. 



Squeezing her shoulder in encouragement, Prae stepped away to let her focus, pushing the part of his mind screaming at him to grab her, grab Balthazar, and drag them both away from this madness. He believed in her, he really did. But he couldn't forget the things he'd seen. 



However much he wanted to.

[Balthazar Black]

26 Zi'da 720

Balthazar knelt in front of the fire for a long while, staring into the flames as they spread and grew into a massive blaze that would consume anything put into it. Well not anything, but a person at least. A person he cared about. He knelt there, seemingly silent while the firelight danced across his face, clashing with the glow emanating from his eyes. It seemed as if he was not doing anything but Praetorum would know the truth of it. Balthazar was communicating with the flames. He was speaking to them and introducing them to what he wanted as best he could. Communication was more of a feeling than words but Balthazar made his feelings known and when he did, a small piece of his spark passed into the fire. The initiation was prepared. The fires burned brightly and they burned high. It was time for Elisabeth to become one of them, or one of the dead.

"She will be worthy." He whispered to the flames before rising to his feet. Balthazar turned and walked over to the duo waiting behind him and gave Praetorum a silent nod. "The fire is ready. Elisabeth, come with me." Now came the part he would dread. The few moments that seemed to stretch on for an eternity. Now he had to lead her to the fire. With every step he felt like time had begun to slow down around them. His eyes were transfixed on the fire he lead her to. He had told her what she had to do but he did not prepare himself for the act. He was leading her to her doom... or to something wonderful. "Remember what I told you, and everything will be alright."

Then he let go and stepped away from her. He had to detach. He had to let her meet the fire alone.

[Elisabeth Black]

26 Zi'da, Arc 720.

Letting her hand fall away from Prae’s, she smiled up at him and let Balthazar lead her away. It was time to do what they had come for and while Elisabeth acknowledged what she felt rising inside - fear and panic - she couldn't turn away from what was about to happen. Her mind was made up. Scared? Yes. Anxious? Yes, absolutely. But she had a plan, something she knew about herself and what she wanted to do to find her focus - she would draw on the strength of everyone she had every met. She had tried to tell Balthazar about her convictions and will to survive, but they differed in philosophies. It hadn’t been worth further conversation but that didn’t mean she hadn’t continued to explore the matter in depth on her own.

As he led her to the fire, her mind exploded.

Initiation was about one’s relationship with the elements. In this case, Balathazar had chosen fire to initiate her. Fine. It was time, once and for all, to meet fire and see what it and her thought of each other.

What she had realized, however, was that she had lived a lifetime since those fears were at their worst. And in that miniature lifetime, she had found people who believed in her, showed her strength and grace, and cared for her. She could draw on those people for what she needed to survive the initiation. Elisabeth couldn’t just focus on those closest to her at that moment though - it wasn’t enough. She needed to dig deeper, find the wider lessons provided, and remember what impact they had made upon her. To push past her fear and terror of the initiation, she needed all of them.

Vivian had shown her the face of leadership and truth.

She had borne witness to the fire and strength Vega wielded so expertly.

Faith’s passion and desire to help people gave her hope.

Ryder’s stubbornness to do anything to protect those he loved, she admired.

The undeniable grace and wisdom of Gennadiyainspired her.

Lore’s absolute faith in who she would become.

The way Doran had embraced a mind so much like his own, valuing her for it.

Varlum’sstrength of conviction, mind and soul, infused within her.

Even Yeva, someone she had known now for a single trial but had heard endlessly about. Her passion and zest for life had caught fire in Elisabeth’s imagination. But not only that, watching her be resurrected – an act of faith. Being in the presence of Immortals and sheer magnitude of life and death.

And that left one. The one she drew from the most – Balthazar.

From the moment of meeting, their similar minds and curiosities had forged a relationship that was both simple and complex. He had become her strength and refuge, giving her the tools to improve herself and the trust to step back and let it happen. At night sometimes, as he slept, she watched his face and wondered what amazing things swirled under the surface. He was simply the strongest person she knew and her faith and trust in him were absolute.

Their steps brought them closer to the pyre and suddenly, she was alone. Balthazar stepped away. The fear flared in her mind and her heart raced. For a moment, she felt she couldn't step into the pyre. Gripped by something powerful, her feet faltered. She couldn't do it without him. Closing her eyes, she tried to calm her mind again, thinking about the fire in front of her and how calm it made her to look into the flames in a fireplace. This, while much different, maybe didn't have to be? Could that very thought and association help her?

It was time.

Elisabeth wasn’t alone though. She carried the lessons, hearts, and souls of all the people with her. They all were inside her, guiding her into the flames and helping her feel less alone as she faced them.

Unbeknownst to the young woman, Balthazar had vouched for her to the flames before she stepped in, causing them to be curious to experience and evaluate a potential relationship with the one that meant so much to the defier that spoke to them. It changed not how the ritual worked but things were always a bit different for each initiate.

Her steps were small, and at the end she couldn't find the strength to simply walk into the flames. Instead, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath and threw herself in before she could change her mind. Pulling the bandage off quickly, as it were and giving herself no fail-safe. As soon as Elisabeth's body reached the flames of the pyre, a heartbreaking scream rose from her throat. The pain, unimaginable. Nothing would have prepared her for it. She knew she needed to focus but how could she? Falling to the burning wood, unable to support her body, there was no part of her that wasn’t consumed by the flames. She couldn't. She had to get out of there. It was too much. But when she tried to move, she found she couldn't. She wouldn't be able to escape, which meant she had to shove the pain and fear to the side and forge on. It was the only option and it was the option. Facing her fears.

As the pain intensified, she tried to remember why she was there. She tried to focus. She tried to remain still. She tried, even though she felt she was failing. Closing her eyes, she reached into her mind. It was do-or-die time and panicking about it wouldn’t do anyone any good. What she took from all the people in her life, she needed to focus on that.

Their strength.

Strength had different looks for various people. The people in her life wielded many unique types of strength, but the nature of them didn’t matter. Not right then. The young woman pooled all the strength she could from those people, shivering in the heat of the flames, using it to bear the pain and make myself open to that which she wanted to bond with.

The flames said nothing, lapping at her skin, burning clothing away from her body to get closer to their new curiosity. Taking what possibly could be her last breath, choked by smoke and soot, she gave everything she was to the fire.

…that lived most her life in book stacks with insatiable curiosity….
…that bonded with one of their own, curious like-minds searching for something new…
...that twirled in a formal dress of the deepest sapphire, just for the pure fun of the moment...
…that trained to protect others…
…that had stayed by Balthazar’s side when he needed her most…

The creature the flames wrapped around was a tangled mess of beauty, rage, desire, compassion, adventure, benevolence, courage, and passion…and at that moment, Elisabeth surrendered to the fire utterly and completely. Laying her head down on the flame-kissed wood, crackling against her skin, unable to move an inch in that moment, she surrendered to the fire. Her voice, choked by smoke, whispered a plea, "Help me..." For her to ask for help, was a monumental thing, The girl that had always taken care of herself, never asking for help...was now pleading to the elements to save her and make her one of theirs.

Having given everything she was to the flames, there was nothing left but hope.

Then, a curious thing happened.

The flames still assaulted her skin, but the pain subsided. Opening her eyes, she looked out between the flames, trying to process what was happening. Her clothing was mostly gone but that didn’t much matter. What was going on? The fear was still there but something she hadn't expected rose within her - curiosity. Was she dead? Gasping a bit, she tried to find her way from the thoughts and focus on what was happening.

The pyre exploded before Praetorum and Balthazar’s eyes with Elisabeth still collapsed within. The screams had stopped, and her form was no longer moving. The elements had finished their judgment of her….

….and found her as they had been promised – worthy.

The initiation was complete.

Finding one last stronghold of strength within her, that which she felt from the two men who were present, the young woman crawled slowly out of the flames and collapsed on the bare ground next to the fire, no energy left.

As the newest defier.

[Praetorum]

Balthazar moved away from Elisa, and Prae stepped up besides him without a word. Side by wide, the two defiers simply stood there, and watched as Elisabeth steeled herself—


—and stepped into the flame. 



As the scream pierced through the winter air, Prae reached out without looking and gripped Balthazar's shoulder, as much in warning not to intervene as in reassurance. Eyes still fixed on the flickering flames, Prae activated Taithir's inspire, filling both of them with the strength to resist their fears and doubts.


Praetorum trusted in Elisa, that she had a spark of greatness in her that would only need to be protected and nourished a little longer, before it became a steady flame, a source of strength for her.


(His hands were shaking.)



He trusted in the flames before him, that they would recognize someone so suited to them, someone who, for all her fears, was far more like fire than any other element. 



(A lotharro screamed, flames spilling from his eyes and mouth after he tried in vain to cut an initiation off before in finished, his would be initiate already little more than a smear of blacken ash along the laboratory floor)


He trusted but he could not believe, could not make himself feel that he was watching anything but yet another senseless death, until—


The scream cut off, the flames exploded into an inferno, and Prae's shoulders slumped as he let out an audible sigh of relief. 



He had seen what rejection looked like from the flames. This, this was not that. 



Even as he watched, the flames began to coil and curl around the limp figure in their center, dancing and nudging playfully at the newly minted defier. Then, she began to move, to slowly crawl towards them, and Prae pulled his cloak from his shoulders, passing it to Balthazar. It was a cold night, even for one so recently bathed in flame. 



"Go." Prae said quietly, giving him a gentle shove towards Elisa.