It was nearly nightfall when we reached the last of the fields, devoid of crops as of now. Kieran was mumbling about how there had been an eruption barely four months ago, which seemed to surprise Neve. The land around us looked entirely undamaged, houses appearing far nicer than was logical for the kind of destruction a volcanic eruption should cause. And the fact that there were marked fields at all, really.

Brooke, however, was more willing to accept that the clean up operation for the land around Mount Niameda would be far quicker than one for one of their world’s volcanoes. After all, we have magic to help us deal with the lava and the ash and pyroclastic flows. They don’t.

Mount Niameda itself is tall, one of the tallest volcanoes in all of Karatela. There’s only two taller, but this is the only one that has a temple built into one of the faces. That’s why Luca thinks it’s the one we’re looking for.

I’m not going to lie and say that the prospect of breaking into a sacred temple (particularly one built out of blood-red and black stone) was appealing, especially since rumour has it that the temple was built solely of black stone. But over the years the amount of blood sacrifices that were carried out there turned some of the black into red. The idea was crazy, but I couldn’t laugh at it. We were here to break into the temple to steal the very thing it was here for.

The Liekki Stone, something that was every fire elemental’s dream to see.

Even me.

It’s something similar to what happens in the sisters’ world, Brooke tells us when I bring it up. As if every element is a different religion. They then had to explain some of the different religions in their world, because despite the fact that we have gods and goddesses, their existence doesn’t dictate many people’s lives.

I just can’t shake the feeling that, while I’m secretly thrilled at the idea of getting to see the Stone, I’m here to steal it. Not here to admire the thing, but to take it.

Sure, it’s for the good of Karatela, but it’s still… wrong.

The shadow that Mount Niameda casts over us all as we begin to move closer does nothing to make me feel better about what we have to do.