"I miss the cold…"
The daughter groaned as she embraced her father, who showed signs of his health failing. His daughter asked to meet with him in private because she was planning to leave. The idea of leaving her parents behind was eating away at her, but so was the rigid life they had been leading in that desert village. She wanted to be in a place that was as cold and distant as she felt; a place where she could feel free and practice the powers that she was gifted with, without fear of judgment or assault from others who didn't understand. The father brushed the tears welling up from her eyes, and smiled at her. "Your mother and I have led long lives, both together and without. We have cherished the twenty years we spent raising you. That is enough to take with us." It would not be much longer before the mother would come in, but she already knew what her daughter had planned. Soon, she would have to wave them off; their exile did not apply to her. The daughter's mind was made up.
"We will always watch over you… Ivy…"
…
When Ruairi finally came to, the air wasn't cold anymore. He couldn't even feel the ice under his feet. There was only a stone room, like that of a castle interior, but without the decoration. Without thinking, he rushed toward the only door in the room, and walked out into a dungeon-like maze. Long rows of carpet marked the center of the floor, and the torches on the walls carried a purple flame. From room to room, and hallway to endless hallway, Ruairi walked through the entire place without encountering a single enemy, which worried him more than actually having enemies in his way. Unlike the dungeons he always went through, the floors only seemed to lead upwards into more elegant-looking rooms.
On the third floor, Ruairi happens upon an out-of-place sight: a floating skull with an eternally burning flame. Its lower jaw rattled at Ruairi as if its trying to say something, before taking off into the halls. Having no choice but to follow it, Ruairi gives chase. The skull moved quick, but seemed to slow down when it got out of Ruairi's line of sight; as if it wanted him to follow it. Eventually, the skull stops at a large door and waits for Ruairi to open it. The door leads out into a large hallways, lined with skeletons all standing upright, being unusually well-armed. Though they notice Ruairi, they do not move at all from their perfectly lined spot across the hall, as if waiting for a monarch or a similarly important person to walk down the carpeted center. Ruairi cautiously begins walking down the hall between the skeletons, who bow to him as he passes each row of them. Ruairi finally gets to what appears to be the exit, and opens the door, hoping he'll finally walk out this time and return to the world he knew…
"You're not in Erinn anymore, my friend…"
The dark wasteland seemed to stretch on forever. A white sky bordered the horizon, with a pale grey sun being the only mild source of light. Skeletal creatures of all sorts wandered the wastes, needing no food or water, moving about of their own free will. In the distance, a large bony figure like that of a beast was hammering away at an anvil, tirelessly adding another weapon to its collection of work. Beneath the shade of the castle that Ruairi stepped out from, another group of skeletons are performing Alchemy, transmuting the bones of their comrades into metal for the creation of stronger, more powerful skeletons. Atop the castle, a large banner hangs down from the wall, depicting the grey sun and its rays beating down, a star in the center with only seven visible points. Ruairi looks down at his arm, and sees his skin turning grey as the enchantment begins to wear off. "Sorry Ruairi, but flesh doesn't last forever, you know…"
Ivy Vixen, the leader of the Pale Sun…