In the Lorr Foothills

A week of travel and they found themselves in the foothills above the Lorr plateau, once again on a wider and less treacherous road. From their view at the top of a shallow mountainside, cactus-speckled hills turned to rocky slopes interspersed with eerie red planes. The northwestern skyline was hazy ecru, a flat line that blurred slightly into a grey sky. There were no clouds, only dust and sand, faded from a bloody orange color into the gloomily purple tint of twilight.  Where they stood, shallow cliffs and screes were their only way down, with stunted and dried cacti in between. No other plants or animals stirred, the land too dry to sustain even the chipmunks and marmots who had grown scarce and scrawny the further they made it on their trek. Before, they could be seen scurrying frantically between their shelters, ever wary of the birds of prey that circled above. Now, there were no living things for miles ahead.

The Lorr was a fog desert, often going without rain for decades, the only moisture from the walls of clouds that would roll through the land. The temperature was volatile, dropping to freezing within an hour as the sun disappeared but raging at almost unsurvivable heat when it rose again.

The journey had been uneventful, with no bandits or predators blocking their way, their pace picking up day after day, and Valla healing herself every evening. Doren had started to wonder if she required sleep at all; if she did sleep, he did not see it. When she woke him for his shifts, she simply returned to her place by the fire and sat upright, eyes closed, power pulsing as she focused inwards. The only time she may have slept was when he did, but he could not imagine why she would craft a charade of watch shifts only to sleep through hers. Once, finally too curious to ignore it, he held back his own rest and observed her with his Sight. She was steady and clearly vigilant, not healing and only watching. He knew she could sense him spying, but found he did not care, and she did not confront him for it.

There was a sense of something stalking them. Neither spoke of it, but they did not have to, both moving cautiously and warily as they traveled. The presence was too far away for Doren to See anything identifying, and its power was muted, not clearly great or small. As smooth as their journey had been so far, Doren's nerves grew strained. Perhaps Valla would not sleep because of it. Wondering this, he grew suspicious, her silence on the matter frustrating and ominous. He was also certain now that she did need to rest; she moved with more grace now than she had before, making it clearer and clearer how much her injuries had held her back, but her face was drawn and pale where it had been gaining color previously.

Their stalker was still there at the edge of Doren's awareness as they began moving into the foothills. Moving into clearer terrain did nothing to reveal it. Valla and Doren did not speak as darkness fell, neither suggesting they make camp, moving continuously in silent agreement. Doren lit a magelight to lead them, its soft glow dangerously obvious but necessary over the washed out and rocky ground. The path was wide enough now for them to walk side by side, Doren glancing occasionally at Valla's now stony face. An animalistic silver sheen was on her irises from the magelight. Finally, he spoke.

"It is closer now."

Valla nodded curtly. After a beat, she looked at Doren, and he realized it was the first time she'd acknowledged him since morning. Now that she did he could see that the tension on her face was strain, not annoyance, and it bled into her voice when she answered. "It is an elemental. It shouldn't have been able to follow us out of the pass."

Doren clenched his teeth against a nervous swallow. He had fought an elemental once before, years ago when he was freshly ordained. He had been with four other Promised then, assigned to capture the being for the Empire. Two of the company had died, and the shrieks of the creature as it had been brought down still haunted his dreams. He hoped Valla was wrong.

"There is no reason for it to follow us. I thought it was just curious. We would make an odd pair to its eyes, with you shining and me burning. It is strange for one to come so close to Her valley, but not unreasonable. Now it is leaving its home."

"I've never heard of one able to travel outside its home. How do you know we are not still within its borders?" As much as he would have preferred not to, he trusted that Valla was right about it being an elemental. It seemed she could sense it more completely than he could. Unsurprising. He pushed more power into his Sight, scanning where he had last felt the watching coming from the southwest of them, and sensed a faint light, still indistinct but brightening as he focused on it, about fifteen hundred paces away.  Much closer than he had thought it was, and much too close. Doren tried to see past the glamour blocking its signature, but as he drew on more power Valla gripped his upper arm tightly.

"Stop. It might still leave if we do nothing to challenge it. I think it is weak," she said grimly. Weakened creatures chose to fight or flee when they were faced with a threat. But why would such a creature follow a threat?

Doren nodded, and withdrew his Sight slightly, still remaining watchful. Elementals were sentient and powerful, but they lived by instinct and at the whims of their own magic. It was inconceivable for one to do anything to weaken itself. That something could make it act contrary to its nature was deeply disturbing. Either it was driven by some great need – which did not bode well for them as its targets –  or someone was controlling it.

It occurred to Doren that adventuring and fighting great beings was not exactly what he had agreed to when he promised to take this job.

They kept on, moving quickly through the dark, Doren's magelight bobbing slightly and throwing eerie shadows against the rough terrain. The sky was dark, clouds moving quickly on winds far above that did not touch them on the ground. The dark shadows of the clouds covered and uncovered the waning moon, casting dramatic shades across the rocks and shrubs when the light shone through. Soon Doren could sense the elemental with ease. It was still shrouded, but its muted glow drew closer than it had at any point so far.

The sky had just begun to lighten behind them, the mountains' silhouettes looming expectantly when Valla stopped without warning.