The next four days were a steady paced, but boring, routine. Each day was the same; wake up at an hour that made me cry, eat breakfast, break down camp, ride along the marching army for about eight hours, set up camp, eat dinner, and then go to sleep.

Our journey up the mountain pass was mostly uneventful. A few soldiers ended up with minor scrapes and bruises after losing their footing on the poorly kept roadway, nothing our healers couldn’t cure.

Weathering over the last few decades had left the trail in a poor state. Squared stones were fit together in a diagonally crossing pattern, though now the stones were loose and had years of erosion. Powerful storms had washed more than a few feet of the road away in places.

The pace of the convoy was slowed by a day overall as we traveled through the pass. We had to stop to make repairs on more than a few broken wagon wheels.

I praised the Celestials when I rounded the final bend before we began our descent. I was sure we were blessed to not have lost a single soul.

On top of that we didn’t lose any supplies.

In another few days, we'd arrive at our destination.

The long trip was actually an advantage for our new party. I thought so, at least.

I was able to have some relaxed conversations with Alistaire and Soren. The second night had been tense as Julius decided he wanted to run drills and practice team formations. Awkwardly, we squared up against Hanna’s team—and promptly got our asses handed to us.

But after a night of drinking and joking around, the two took to Julius and started working well as a team.

Mei and Luke had a unique synergy, through a series of shorthand calls over their Communirunes they became the perfect overwatch team.

To the detriment of my own anxiety, Hailey had been spending most of her time with me. I was happy for the attention, even if I was nervous every waking minute now. And it allowed Luke and Hanna to open up to me.

The two of them were long time childhood friends of Hailey’s. We would stay up late telling old stories and discussing new strategies.

Honestly, after traveling with them for a week, I felt like they were my old friends too.

Julius had taken Alistaire and Soren under his wing, so far as to manage getting another bed requisitioned in their tent for himself.

This left Rias and I on our own. She took over his bed, though she had it moved closer to mine, claiming concerns over not being able to sleep unless I was close by. That development didn’t trouble me…

What was alarming, was when Hailey asked if she could share the tent with us. I had no valid reason to give against the idea—not to mention that I kind of liked the thought of her sharing a space with me again, like out VxA days.

And so we traded one tent-mate for another.

On the final night before we’d arrive at Tolin, Hailey stopped me before we settled down for the night.

"Can I steal you away for a bit? I want to talk about something… In private." Her voice was hushed, to avoid anyone from overhearing.

"O-of course!"

She gave me a look of relief, and grabbed her staff. I glanced over at my sword, lying near my bed in its scabbard, but she shook her head to indicate I wouldn’t need it.

Trusting her, I followed after her and we looked for a quiet spot away from camp. Once we were safely tucked away behind a rocky outcrop, she held her staff out.

"This was a gift from my mother."

The staff that she carried with her was unassuming. It was made from an ebony bough that had a strange interlocking grain. At the centerpiece, a small golden ovate jewel was clasped by a lune-shaped gnarl in the wood.

"I remember when you got it during our valediction ceremony—but I thought that your father gave it to you?"

She smiled, "He did. But, it was my mother’s... and it was her mother’s before that. This staff is a family secret of sorts. At least, that’s what my father told me."

Her expression was hard to read. I knew she wanted to talk to me about something that was personal.

Now isn’t the time to hesitate! I need to be here for her.

I stepped in close and took her free hand. I wanted to say something to reassure her, to comfort her. She looked up at me, and I was lost in her rosy-pink eyes twinkling under the starlight. I was sinking deep into a well of emotions and nothing I could think of seemed adequate enough—so I said nothing and just squeezed her hand tightly.

Her face softened and she squeezed my hand back.

"My mother passed away when I was really young. I don’t remember her all that well. Whatever stories she may have told me as a child—anything to do with this staff, were lost with her. However, my father told me one thing. That my grandmother was a priestess. She belonged to a sect of the Empire’s upper echelon, called the Order of the Light."

I strained my mind, reaching deep into my memories, trying to recall if I had ever heard of such a group… My family history was intertwined with the Church of the Consecrated Light, the founding doctrine of the Empire—which was commonly referenced as The Empire of the Light.

But an Order of the Light..?

If that order did exist, it may be lost to time.

Hailey must have sensed that I had drawn a blank, and kept on speaking.

"Anyway, what I really wanted to talk to you about is…” She trailed off, looking lost in thought.

I gave her hand another squeeze.

“You can tell me anything, Hails.”

She sighed, letting her shoulders drop, “I’ve always been able to easily channel magick through my staff. It’s not like those awful training staves back at the Academy. I’ve never had any feedback issues like with those shoddy focus crystals... That is, until recently… it’s not normal. Something about it feels off."

"When did it start happening?"

"The day that we fled Axio…"

She looked down at her staff and slipped her hand from mine. Her slender fingers ran across the darkwood near the centerpiece.

"Do you mind if I show you what I mean?"

I nodded.

Taking my hand, she placed it over the jewel at the staff’s head. She closed her eyes and I felt a pressure change in the air as she channeled magick through the crystal.

A short double-beating pulse emanated from the jewel, almost like a heartbeat. It was calming. The rhythmic sensation gave me a reassuring feeling, that of a closeness to a loved one. Like resting your head on their chest as their heart pounded—At least until the fourth beat, when a sharp pain jolted through my arm.

I gasped and pulled my hand back.

"What in the Aether was that!?"

"T-that’s what I was talking about! It’s not normal spell feedback. I don’t think this is just some heirloom… I had hoped you knew about it from—Waaah?"

The pale-golden jewel began to shine erratically.

Like a bird spreading its wings before taking flight, ethereal feathers sprang into existence around the staff’s head. They shimmered as if they were alive with flame.

The jewel now radiated a reddish-orange that pulsed in cadence with a soft feminine voice that spoke, seemingly, from inside my own head.

"So, the priestess has finally brought me to the Empress."

Hailey flinched at the same time as the voice spoke. She flailed around, looking out into the darkness around us.

"Who said that? Who's out there!?"

The jewel flashed in the same fashion as before in response, but flared brightly as it finished.

"I am not out there. I’m in here."

We both stared at the jewel in shock.

I wasn’t sure what to make of this turn of events: Hailey was having troubles with her staff, and now all of a sudden we’re hearing a disembodied voice coming from it.

"Airis, why is my focus crystal talking to me? And why does it sound like it's in my own head!?"

"I heard it too, Hails, but I don’t have an answer."

"The touch of the Empress woke me, though only for a short while. I am nearing the cycle of my rebirth, but it is not time yet."

"..."

Hailey remained silent, her mouth agape. Her eyes pleaded with me for help.

"What are you?"

"I am Ignicorus."

"And you are… the staff?"

"I am not the staff."

"..."

Well, at least it wasn’t some kind of bewitched sentient object. But that didn’t help narrow down what we were dealing with. I once again wracked my mind for anything I may have learned about something named Ignicorus…

Ignicorus… Why did that sound familiar?—OH!

A distant memory flooded back to the center of my mind.

IGNI was the elven glyph for fire, and CORUS was the glyph for blaze. Translated literally, it would mean ‘blaze of fire’, but in the common tongue, it would be spoken as Flameblaze.

Which also happened to be the Divine figure at the head of the Church of the Consecrated Light…

"Are you telling us that you’re Flameblaze, the Phoenix God!?" I asked incredulously.

"It’s nice to hear that I haven’t been completely forgotten."

Hailey looked at me with a puzzled expression and I explained as best I could.

"It's a story my mother used to read to me before bed, Flameblaze and the Embers of Redemption. I thought it was just a children’s story back then. But I stumbled across the book a few years ago and realized it was actually a lengthy nonfiction about the Empire’s Phoenix God."

In truth, the book was a religious text that was brought to Axio when the refugees fled during the Empire’s fall after the Apocalypse. A number of noble Houses still practiced the Church’s doctrine as closely as they could. My parents weren’t as devout as some, but our House did consider itself to be of the Church.

I looked back at the pulsating gemstone held in the staff. I finally realized why it looked so strange to me. It wasn’t shaped like any ornately cut gem that would be used as a focus crystal—it was entirely egg shaped.

I pointed at the egg.

"That, is the regenerating vessel of the Phoenix God of the Church of the Consecrated Light."

The golden egg’s light dimmed in intensity for a moment before flickering brightly.

Instinctively, I reached my hand out but stopped short of grasping the staff when the light came back.

"I am waning… I must return to my torporous state—but I will rise soon. You must prepare for my arrival, Priestess of the Light."

The shining glow began to dull, though the flame-like glowing feathers remained.

Hailey’s expression was the same bewildered one as it was a moment ago. She looked from me, to her staff, and back to me.

"What!?"

We returned to our tent after an unsatisfactory attempt to come to terms with what had just happened. Hailey mumbled something about how her head hurt before crawling into bed.

I stared at the canvas ceiling above me for a while, my mind raced with questions. Three thoughts swirled around my head.

What did it mean by ‘prepare for my arrival’?

Why did it call me ‘Empress’?

Would Julius believe us if we told him?