Prologue
Flames engulfed the city, casting a shadow of ash and dust to suffocate them all. Arradel stumbled as her master tugged the young elleth along an empty dirt road, avoiding the shrieks of pain and guttural yells that rang out into the night.
"Master, we cannot leave," Arradel repeated for the countless time. "We must stay and fight! We cannot abandon the others! We must–"
"No," her master finally came to a halt, her face stony and eyes blazing. "I will stay and do what I can. You must leave now." Arradel began to protest, but was silenced by her master's next words, "You will not see the others, again."
The words sliced through the air, burning away the last remnants of Arradel's hope. Her master had never been wrong in her predictions before. Even if she wanted to help–she could not.
Her master pulled her along. They tiptoed around corners, sprinted past flaming buildings, and lurked in shadows when the gruff voices of the orcs drew too close. At long last– their faces marked with soot and skin soaked in sweat– they reached the outer walls of the dying city.
Arradel cast one last look over her shoulder, but she could not recognize her home, for the inferno had consumed everything. Her breath hitched in her throat, and she thought she might collapse from the sudden pain radiating from her heart.
"Master," she whispered, "Where do we go, now?"
"You shall go nowhere."
Arradel furrowed her brow at her master's cryptic words. Even as their kin lay dying, she spoke in riddles.
"Nowhere?"
"Aye. Look," her master raised a hand to gesture towards the horizon. Arradel followed with her eyes, spying the icy tundra that stretched across the Northern Kingdom. "Nowhere. That is where you must go."
Drawing a shaky breath, Arradel turned towards her master, "And you? You will not come with me?"
"No, child," her master's voice now soft and soothing. "Our time together has come to an end. I must return to the city, and destroy everything I left behind. The orcs must not find our sacred scrolls." Cupping the young elleth's face, her master spoke with finality, "You must carry on without me. You carry the last of the cunning folk. Do not let our work be for naught."
Arradel knew that arguing was futile and would only waste the precious few minutes they had left. Despite the fear swirling in her gut, she attempted to straighten her shoulders and hold her head high.
"If you return you will die," Arradel stated– an observation rather than a question.
"I know." Her master's lips pulled into a grim smile. "But I will die with honor."
Arradel trembled as she groped for her master's hands. "You will be with me, always."
Drawing Arradel into a close embrace, the master gave the student one last riddle to ponder:
"When the veil falls and all seems lost, remember that your heart will light the way."
With that, Arradel's master disappeared into the burning city.
Arradel could not bear to watch her master walk into certain death, so, steeling her heart, she turned to face the horizon.
"Tomorrow, a red sun rises," she announced, though nobody remained to hear the prediction.
The smell of smoke and burning flesh haunted her dreams for years to come.