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Full of rage, Ui arrived unhindered to the main entrance of the city of Aure. There were still signs of the aftermath of her own battle there, long ago. The dead logs and uneven ground marked the boundary that she herself had protected. The words of the Song of the Mountain remained ever present in her mind.

For the first time since she chose to leave the city, she came back as herself. She didn’t hide her radiant pink hair, and she didn’t pretend she didn’t speak the Udari language. For the first time, she felt like she deserved to wear a traditional Udari dress, even if it was one trashed by an Udari of the north.

The caves welcomed her into a city that she now felt was a lie. Nothing it stood for felt honest, and as such she marched on through, ignoring the perfectly smooth pathstones and well-lit leaflights. The air was too warm for it to be winter. She went straight into the Chamber of the Elders, ignoring the piercing whispers and eyes of the many Udari along her path.

Guards stood in her way, and she had little patience for them. “I wish to see the elders.” Ui’s unrestrained Udari words echoed throughout the caverns, creating an unsettling gust of wind throughout. The guards, surprised, tried to turn her away, but she just said it again, in a louder voice. “I wish to see the elders.” Her voice created a shockwave that made the whole mountain tremble and announced her presence.

Ignored, she shoved one of them aside and the other guard was not strong enough to stop her. They weren’t the ones she had problems with. She arrived at the main room, where only a couple of elders sat, calmly enjoying a drink and an afternoon of reading in a well-maintained room.

The sight of their apparent lack of concern and detachment to the average Udari reignited the anger that had latched onto Ui. “Explain what happened at Port Hyuni.” The room shook, making the elders grab their books and drinks to stop them from falling off the table.

“You wield songmagic against your own kind, Suinum?” Ui looked around the room. Nothing about the elders felt like her own kind, and she felt shunned by the whole city.

“I don’t.” Ui, with a calmer voice, caused a mere tremble in the room. “This is just me, talking. I’m sure you’ve heard the stories.” A slightly larger tremor shook the room. It was Ui’s delicate, unstable feelings echoing in the walls of the room. “Why are there foreigners in Port Hyuni? Ones that use our minerals to make weapons. They’re not even from this island. They don’t deserve to be here.” The tremor grew into a stronger earthquake as objects hanging on the walls and leaflights started falling on the ground. “And my name is Uisempuli.”

“What would your parents think of you now after all you’ve done? Now you live among the Umans happily, and forget our sacrifices.” One of the elders, an old Udari man, stood defiantly in the midst of Ui’s earthquake.

“And what about you, forgetting about the north!” Ui’s scream echoed through the caverns, sending the sound and feelings of the north resonating through the several layers of Udari clay, creating cracks in the plastered walls of that ancient room.

“That’s enough!” The loud voice of a girl interrupted her interrogation. Ui turned around to see an Udari songmage. Light blue hair, about the same height as Ui. A few years younger. It had to be. She was Yula. Only Yula could stand up to Ui. Only Yula would. They both looked at each other, and even though they knew each other well, Ui had never felt so far apart.

“Yula. I’m not here for you.” Ui’s voice made the leaflights flicker. The brief moments of darkness reminded her of the Udari of the north, living in a darkness that Aure was responsible for.

“Then stop what you’re doing.” An unrecognizable Yula stood angrily in front of Ui. “Mountain!” Yula tried to call the Song of the Mountain to shake Ui off balance, and while everyone else in the room fell over, Ui stood strong.

Ui was surprised by Yula’s songmagic, far stronger than any Udari she’d encountered before, but still, not enough to harness the full strength of the land. “It only responds to me, Yula. Mountain!” The volume of Ui’s shout started an earthquake that created cracks on the ground that made Yula stumble. Once she managed to stand up, Yula prepared to use more songmagic. “You already tried, Yula. Would you like a reminder of the strength of my songmagic?” Ui’s voice started distorting as the winds inside the cavern intermingled with her voice. “Or perhaps you don’t care about damaging your home.”

“It’s our home! Even if you left us!” Yula’s scream stunned Ui momentarily. Yula then charged desperately at Ui, who stood her ground and punched Yula away as she approached. With only slight pain in Ui’s fist, Yula flew out of the Chamber of the Elders and into the main caverns of the city, sliding over the carefully polished pathstones. Ui felt no remorse as she walked past the doors she had damaged. After all, those doors had never welcomed her in.

Ui looked around and noticed several Udari trembling in fear and running away from her. Their faces were too dark for her to recognize, and the lack of leaflights reminded her of the darkened caverns of the north.

Despite her visible pain, Yula charged at Ui and managed to knock her off balance.

“Stop this madness! You’re our heroine!” Yula pleaded with a knocked down Ui.

Ui couldn’t trust Yula’s words. “What kind of heroine can I be if it all amounts to this...” The leaflights flickered from her voice once more and the gusts of wind pushed Yula away. But Yula had not given up, and Ui was surprised by her sudden speed and power. Yula started attacking Ui with a flurry of punches that she couldn’t evade, landing several direct, painful hits on Ui, sending Ui into the nearest wall with a loud crash. But Ui got back up again without effort.

Ui realized Yula was stronger than she was, and she might’ve been holding back all along. Despite the unexpected pain, Ui remained composed, and responded by landing a powerful kick that sent Yula into the top of the cavern. Yula crashed into and cracked hundreds of years of layers of Udari clay that now rained in front of Ui and Yula. Bits and pieces of clay and history trickled down onto Ui’s face and her clothes, announcing their fall as they landed onto the now cracked pathstones.

Yula bounced off the ceiling and fell onto the ground once more, cracking even more pathstones, sending chips of rocks flying around her. Ui’s pain faded as numbness took over her completely.

“Did you see what happened to the port, Yula? That port used to be a place for Udari families to live with the sea, to fish, to swim. And instead it’s been left to foreigners!” Ui’s angry voice finally forced the last few curious bystanders to flee in fear.

“And are you not a foreigner?” Yula stood up and stared Ui down. “You walk in Uman streets, wear their same hair, and even use your songs for their nobles’ entertainment.”

Unable to continue listening to Yula, Ui charged at her with all her might and sent Yula flying far down the cavern, away from her sight.

Yula’s flight caused leaflights to flutter in her wake, and further away Ui heard a loud crashing sound. She heard the sound of rocks and clay sprinkling over the pathstones once more. Ui, severely hurt from the few attacks Yula could land, finally noticed the extent of her own bleeding and pain. Despite not feeling proud of her actions, she still tried to remain standing… and yet her legs collapsed. She couldn’t feel where the pain in her body was, but she could feel its weight forcing her knees down onto the now cracked, uneven pathstones.

She kneeled for a few seconds, thinking about what she had done. Yula, the girl that looked up to her, must’ve been so disappointed in what she had become. She tried to remain kneeling, but the pain was too much, and there was no pride remaining for her to try to stand on.

Her vision dimmed, overwhelmed by the rage she carried from the port and the despair that everything she had done had amounted to nothing, or even worse than nothing. The pain fully consumed her, and the exhaustion of traveling around the forest finally started taking over. In the end, the regret she felt undid the last of her strength, and two large tears, trickling through her closed eyes, marked the end of their battle. Her muscles all gave in as she lost consciousness over the pathstones.