(note: depictions of Elite and Sorian are pulled from their thread and are not my own making. Mentioned with permission)

It had been a long day. The third such since leaving Etherea, ten since being separated from her companions. As she came to the top of a rise, she stopped to observe the plain stretching out below her. Her eyes, made strong by growing up with the glare of ocean waves, had little trouble with the light of the setting sun. Pinpricks of light flickered across the plains as small groups started making campfires for the coming night. Whether those groups were friend or foe was impossible to tell at this distance. Seeing others making camp reminded her that it was past time she found shelter herself.

Bringing her attention back to the landscape around her, she spied a hole in the side of a nearby hill. The hole was barely a foot taller than her and was quite narrow: she could easily rest both hands on either side with her elbows bent around 45°. She stretched one hand out in front of her to feel for the back end of the crack, but found nothing. Pressing on carefully, she soon found that the crack in the hill led into a small cave that had clearly seen use as a shelter before.

To one side lay a pile of firewood, some of which had started to rot. Beside that, a hole was cut into the side of the cave. She put her head inside the hole and felt the tiniest draft. Nodding approvingly, she dusted her hands off and put her fists on her hips as she surveyed the rest of the cave. There was not much else to see: a few pots and pans, pitted with age, beside the fireplace, a pile of rotting former blankets in a huddled mess, and quite a bit of rubble knocked loose over the years.

Looks like this place has been forgotten. Still better than being in the open.

Grateful that she had found a place for the night, she began settling in. The first matter, of course, was securing the entrance. The small nature of the cave entrance would prevent anything particularly large from getting in, but it would be useless against anything else. While she began the work of filling the entrance with rubble and whatever else she could find in the cave, her mind went back over the events of the last several days.

Dawn had just begun to lighten the sky as she left Wavedancer behind. Her companions were gathering near the far side of town to begin the journey to the gate. Ahead of her she could see the immense form of the giant skeleton, Elite. Suddenly alarm bells began ringing frantically as shrieks filled the air. Citizens began running in every direction. Before she could catch up to her companions, Elite and Sorian had moved to begin defending the town.

Chaos ruled all.

Soon enough she had her hands full as demons began filling the street. Too busy to do more than react to the danger at hand, she soon lost sight of Elite and anyone else. By the time it was over, Etherea burned in many places. Dead bodies, both demonic and human, littered the ground. The gutters ran red with blood.

Lost in thought, she abruptly realized the cave entrance was full. Hopefully, from the outside it looked like the cave had fallen in. She left a small hole at the very top through which she could see that night had fully fallen.

“You have more important things to focus on,” she scolded herself aloud. “Now for a little fire and-”

She cut off as a few clods of dirt and tiny rocks fell from the roof. Footsteps thudded overhead. Emi held perfectly still, praying to whatever gods might be listening that whatever it was would move on without noticing her. She stood there, breathing as shallowly as possible, not daring to move as her heart thudded in her ears. A minute, then two, then three ticked by with agonizing slowness before she could no longer hear the thudding footsteps above her.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she built a tiny fire just big enough to warm her rations. Once she’d eaten, she put the fire out, lest what little light it produced be noticed, then tried to get comfortable on the stone floor. Gripping her harpoon in one hand, she soon drifted into a light sleep.