Prologue

Everything had become white for a short moment. Far too white. She touched her bare neck with her fingers. The collar that should’ve been there was gone.

Her hands shook and tears ran down her face as she slowly realized what had happened.

She looked around. The great marbled hallways that should’ve been around her were gone, reduced to great heaps of rubble. Here and there she saw the charred remains of the people that had kept her, tended to her. Smoke still rose from them. While the stones lay impassive below her, anything organic kept smoldering.

Part of her power was still out of control, and she was unable to reign it in.

Everything she had known was gone. Destroyed in a single moment.

A loud crash got her attention. Part of a wall had fallen, dust and debris rose into the air. Amidst the gray cloud stood a lone person. As she recognized the pointy ears and the long beard of the diminutive figure, her heart skipped a beat.

“Don’t come closer!” shouted the figure and coughed.

“E-En’rin!” Tears streamed down her face only to evaporate a moment later.

“I knew this day would come.” The dwelve’s voice shook. “But I wasn’t fast enough.”

“Y-You knew?” she called down.

“Your power was never meant for this world, Ria.” He coughed again. “Astartin was a fool for trying and succeeding.”

Ria looked around. The king that had held her leash was nowhere to be seen. Was he one of the now crumbling remains?

Her heart raced once more and she moved even further away from her mentor.

“Don’t bother trying to protect me now. I’m already dying.” The dwelf coughed. His words drove a knife into her heart. “I … I just wanted to say goodbye and give you a final gift.” He looked up and smiled.

“Please, please. Not you, too. I’ll be all alone here.”

He shook his head. “What’s done is done. I am already dying. Too much of my skin is burned. But my gift can help you in that regard. Maybe a group of several greater avatars of water could save me, but those are rare.” He coughed once more. “But my gift may save you from eternal loneliness. I’ve made a new power control collar for you. Only that this one will listen to you and you alone.” His voice became a lot softer. “No one will be able to keep you on a leash anymore.”

Ria could see the smile through his blackened beard.

“You were always meant to be free.”

She once again raised her hand to her neck. Where the collar should’ve been. A spot that felt strangely empty now. Naked. “Free …” She had no idea what that meant. Especially, if she couldn’t get close to anyone. Her power would burn them. The word had no real meaning to her.

“Yes, free. And my gift will help you to live your life like you want it to.” He turned around and showed her a new collar. It gleamed silvery in her light. It was a stark contrast to the dark iron gray one she had before. “It’s an accessory. It will restrict your powers as the other one did. It’s made of titanium and should take more abuse than the one you had.” He took a deep breath. “It’s almost as if the original creator wanted it to fail at one point.” He shook his head. “Anyways. With this you should be able to live freely for a while.”

Her heart felt warm. “En’rin. Thank you, thank you, thank you.” More and more tears evaporated from her face.

“I hope it will hold long enough for you to learn how to control your powers fully.” The Dwelf smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “Go to Volasis. Enter the Elemental Avatar Academy there. I’m sure they’ll be able to teach you. Everything I know, I learned there.” He put the collar down behind him and opened his arms. “And now, hug your old uncle one last time.”

“B-But.” She stared at him.

“Please. I don’t want to wait until my body fails completely. And I want to hold my favorite little girl one last time.”

Ria didn’t move. En’rin waited. Patiently. But she couldn’t do what he wanted. Couldn’t get close to him. He’d burn like everything else.

After a long while, he lowered his arms and fell forward. Ria couldn’t let him fall. In a flash she was next to him and held him up. He didn’t burn immediately. She felt a bit of relief.

“Thank you.” His voice was soft and warm, gentle even. He hugged her tight. His clothes felt wet and slightly cold. “You have grown so much already. But you have to forgive me for not being strong enough.” The water on him warmed alarmingly fast. Despite that, he hugged her even tighter. The water turned to steam. “I hope you’ll find the happiness that you deserve.”

From one moment to the next, all the water around him burst away. He burst into flame. Turned to ash in a mere moment.

Her hands shook as she held his remains. She cried out loud. Wished that her tears could fall down and reach the ash in her hands. The ash on the floor. She wished for darkness to fall and envelop her. She lost the bit of control she had. The stones below her started to melt. The collar on the stones in front of her turned red, then shone with an incandescent orange.

She reached for En’rin’s last gift. Her hands shook, but she had enough clarity of mind to reign some of her power in. She didn’t want to destroy it, wanted to keep it. It was extremely hot. Hotter than everything she had known. Heated by her own power. A bit more and it might flow away as well. Her fingers shook as she tried to close it around her neck. It took several tries, but when she succeeded, she felt it working immediately.

Her powers started to fade. The heat around her dissipated. Slowly darkness was able to claim her. But it was too late. Everything was too late. She cried and her tears fell down. They evaporated. Rejected by the ground. Her voice unheard.

She was alone. She had lost everything. But most importantly, she had lost her mentor. Her friend. And she had no idea, why.