So it has been brought to my attention that Nissa has canonically been to Lorwyn… Oops.

Upon further investigation I realized how my mistake happened. I read her original origin story, the Teeth of Akoum like six years ago. That was retconned in her revised origin story, which I did not read.

Alas, essentially one of the only bits of Magic lore that has been retconned, and I walked right into it. That's kind of impressive, actually.

Well, too late now. I'm just going to roll with it. Also, canonically I don't think Chandra had been to Lorwyn. But she was first introduced in the set so… she hasn't not been to Lorwyn. I can see her as an eager explorer.

Whatever. It's my story and I'm not going to get to bogged down in the technicalities as long as they are reasonably plausible.

Chapter 3: Native Flame

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The fiery apparition only got bigger as it approached, stretching to fill the sky like a winged tidal wave of fury. Nissa saw Chandra form a pair of fireballs, but didn't launch them. Probably for the best; adding more fire to the situation didn't seem like it would solve the problem.

"Should we just planeswalk away?" Chandra asked, frowning as she eyed the approaching inferno with teeth. "It's not like it can follow us."

Nissa shook her head. "It would still be on the rampage. We woke it up, we have a responsibility to calm it." She looked to Chandra. "What did you do to it, exactly?"

"How the heck should I know?" Chandra threw her hands up. "I'm pretty sure I just said something along the lines on: Hi, I think fire is neat."

That didn't give her a lot to work with, but it was hardly the pyromancer's fault. Nissa was the expert here, she should have been paying closer attention to what Chandra was doing. But blame could come later, for now she had to fix it.

"I don't suppose you could make the ground stand up and hit it?"

Nissa shook her head. "That would only escalate the situation." The elemental was really moving quite fast, she could almost swear she could feel the air around them heating up at its approach. "I'm going to try to commune with it." she set her feet firmly against the ground and pressed her palms together. "Can you keep it away?"

"I can try—no, I will." Chandra nodded resolutely, her hair igniting into flames as she cracked her knuckles. "You can count on me."

Nissa smiled. "I know."

And then it reached them. With the roar of a wildfire burning beyond control, it rainbows flames rained down upon them. Chandra stepped in front of Nissa and clapped her raised hands together, making the flames parted around them. The air became an oven as rainbow wisps of light danced in every direction, threatening to bake them alive. But then Chandra grit her teeth and shoved her hands upwards, palm extended. The fire surged away, taking much of the heat with it as it slammed back into the creature and swept it straight up back into the sky like a furious firework.

Nissa stopped paying attention. Closing her eyes, she sent out tendrils of thought and magic to the raging elemental. The connection was surprisingly easy to make; the creature's mind was like an open gate.

The roar of fire fell silent. It could feel her. She sent it her thoughts of apology, of peace, and mollification. She felt the connection deepen, the elemental welcomeing her deeper inside its essence. She redoubled her efforts, entreating the beast for calm.

And then, with the a sound like the rush of rising flame, it pounced. Wrapping tendrils of fire around her soul and holding tight, refusing to let her draw back. Fangs of fire her sunk into her essence, injecting lava into the flow through the connection and into her.

In moments, her mind was ablaze.

"Nissa!" there was a cry of outrage, and she felt the creature's fangs leave her as something ripped it forcefully away. Through the tears and smoke she saw the creature tossed back across the sky as Chandra poured her magic into an enormous fireball, catching it in the up draft and rocketing it away.

Chandra's hair and eyes were ablaze as she thrust out her hands and grabbed at the air. The elemental froze and midair. Chandra thrust her arms downward and the living fire followed the motion, slamming hard into the ground and screaming against Chandra's grip.

"That's it, just hold it there!"

That hadn't sounded like Chandra's voice, but through the haze of fire and pain there was no way for the elf to be sure. There was a flash of light that jabbed at her eyes, a band of golden fire shot into the sky.

And the fire went out like a snuffed candle.

Nissa gasped, on her hands and knees with no memory of having fallen. The burning may have stopped, but it still felt like someone had shoved a smoldering ember into her brain and left it there.

"Nissa!" there were warm hands on her shoulders, gently easing her into a sitting position. "Nissa? Are you alright?" Nissa said nothing, trying to get her bearings in a world that was just one big shimmer of heat haze.

"What…what happened?"

"Nissa! Your brain isn't toast!" Chandra cried in relief.

"No, it's not." Admittedly, it might feel like it was. But she was fairly certain she'd recover. "What happened?"

"I happened."

There was that other voice again. Nissa pressed a palm to her forehead in a vain attempt to hold back the burning headache. She glanced through her fingers trying to see who had spoken, and saw a figure approaching.

It looked female, as far as she could tell. Her body seemed to be made mostly of black stone, with swirling white tattoos painted all along her body. Her few clothes were simple enough, made of thick brown and red cloth that looked quite fireproof.

She was also on fire.

Flames shimmered around the figure's head and neck, making her face look like a floating mask of black stone with two narrow slits chipped in it for eyes. The newcomer looked cross, but it was difficult to be sure; for all Nissa knew, that's just what her face looked like.

"She's a flamekin." Chandra muttered, perhaps sensing her befuddlement. "When I was holding down the elemental, She leapt onto it and did… something. Made it vanish." She flicked her fingers to emphasize.

"So," the flamekin said, crossing her arms and staring at them. Her voice was what Nissa imagined a campfire would sound like if it could talk. "Which one of you woke it up?" The fiery slits looked back and forth between them. "Come on, speak up."

"Me." Chandra admitted, positioning herself between Nissa and the fiery figure. Nissa wasn't fireproof enough to complain. "I didn't mean to. It was an accident."

The eye slits narrowed further, then she nodded. "Yeeeessss," she said slowly, her voice hissing like water poured upon a fire. "I think I am prepared to buy that. Only an idiot would wake up Hostility on purpose."

"Hostility?" Chandra echoed. "Is that what that was?"

"Yes, in almost every sense of the word."

Ah. That would explain why it had tried to burn her brain to cinders without warning like that. She had attempted to speak soul to soul with a literal embodiment of aggression. Well, at least it would make an interesting story to tell one day. Maybe after her head stopped hurting.

"Nissa?" she felt a pressure on her shoulder as Chandra tightened her grip. "Are you alright?"

"I've…" Nissa winced as a particularly vivid tendril of flame flashed through her mind. "Felt worse."

"I'm sorry." Chandra said immediately. "I screwed up."

"Yes," said the fire person. "you did." She considered them both for a moment longer. Then her stone eye slits widened, becoming rounder and less accusing as she sighed. "But, I can see you didn't mean to." The creature shrugged. "Nobody burned to death, so in terms of mistakes this one had a happy ending."

Chandra whirled on her, hair ablaze. "You call this a happy ending?" she snarled, gesturing at Nissa.

The flamekin gave her a fiery equivalent of a chilly look. "If your friend was going to die from this, she would already be ashes. She'll live. So yes, a happy ending." Her eyes dimmed slightly and she looked down. "Count your blessings; not everyone who meddles with elementals is so lucky." Then she shook her head and looked back at them. "I am Ashling," she declared, inclining her head slightly.

"I'm… Chandra." Her hair cooled back to normal as she introduced herself, "This is Nissa."

"A pleasure to meet you both," said a new voice. "Isn't that right Ash?" Nissa looked around and saw a second figure approaching that she immediately identified as an elf. The high cheekbones, the tall and slender figure, and pointed ears were dead giveaways.

The hooves and horns were a little unusual, but it took all sorts to populate a multiverse.

"Oh. So you actually came," Ashling said. She jerked her head at the newcomer. "That's Rhys. He's… a friend. Theoretically he came to help me to deal with your issue; but he's not fireproof so he couldn't do much beside be useless."

"That's hurtful." The elf commented. "I assure you I was ready to rush in the moment I thought you needed help. A good hunter chooses his moment." He bowed to Chandra and cocked his head to one side when he looked at Nissa. "Are you alright miss?"

"I will be, thank you." Using Chandra's shoulder as a ladder she pulled herself back to her feet, gritting her teeth against the pain.

"Hmm…" Rhys tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I believe I can help you with your injury. Would the two of you like accompany us back to our camp?"

"Do I not get a say in that?" Ashling asked.

Rhys raised an eyebrow at her. "Do you have a problem with it?"

"...I guess not." Ashling grunted. "I suppose this way I can find out why there were poking an elemental with a stick."

"What do you think?" Chandra whispered.

"If he can help, I am willing to give it a try." The only other options were to wait until she felt better—not exactly a pleasant option—or to planeswalk back to Ravnica and get help there.

As much as Nissa didn't particularly want to wait it out, she wanted to wander the Blind Eternities with a splitting headache even less.

"Alright," Chandra declared in a louder voice. "Lead the way."

The horned elf had led them to a copse of trees on the far edge of the field. Chandra had watched him closely as he helped Nissa onto a fallen log and started fiddling at the ground. Under his hands, a plant grew from a clear patch of soil, putting out a single leaf that curled in on itself, the leaves folding over to make a kind of cup. The elf plucked it from the stem and waved his hand over it, making it fill with liquid.

"Here you go," he said, offering Nissa the leaf. "This should help soothe the pain."

"What is that?" Chandra demanded. The liquid inside was a shiny yellow color that didn't look at all healthy.

"A mix of magic and tea." Rhys answered calmly. "It won't hurt her, I promise."

"And if it does, you can always burn him to death." Ashling added. She had opted to sit out from under the trees, instead perching on a rock that jutted out of the grass in the sunshine.

"Yeah. I guess that's true." Chandra admitted, locking eyes with Rhys and sending up a few meaningful wisps of smoke.

Rhys took this stoically as Nissa took the offered drink. She eyed the contents for a long moment before drinking deep. There was a pause as her eyes widened, Chandra tensed for a long moment, but then the elf sighed. Relaxing down on her log as some of the pain-born tension left her body.

"That is much better, thank you."

"My pleasure."

Chandra felt the knot in her gut loosen slightly. At least the worst consequences of her screw-up seemed to be over. Why did she have to be so friggin' bad at this? All she'd wanted was to spend some time getting to know Nissa without two plane-destroying monsters thrown in the mix. Was that so much to ask?

Well, duh. She was Chandra Nalaar, the biggest fire hazard in the multiverse.

She'd never managed to set a friend's mind on fire before though, that would be one for the books.

"So," said Ashling. Her stare felt like two embers placed against the skin. "What made you think poking Hostility was a good idea?"

"I didn't." Chandra answered a little defensively. "Or, I didn't know what it was. I was just trying to talk to an elemental."

Ashling's frown deepened. "Why?"

Chandra squirmed, but there was no avoiding it. "Because I wanted to see if I could."

Ashling's face didn't budge an inch. "You mean to tell me," she began, her voice cold as week-old ash. "That you wished to risk rousing an ancient and quintessential being of unknown power… for your own amusement?"

"…kind of."

Ashling stared at her for another moment longer, then her lips turned up into a smile and she laughed. "That's good!" the flamekin smirked. "That's very good." Chandra blinked, the hand full of flamekin she'd met before always seemed to revere the elementals as something holy. She glanced at Rhys, but the was just watching his companion laugh with a resigned look in his eye. Chandra waited until the flamekin calmed down, but no explanation was forthcoming.

Nissa took it on herself to change the subject. "How did you find us?"

"Well, we had just finished setting up our camp for the day when we saw the giant ball of fire streaking across the sky." Said Rhys. "Ashling insisted on investigating. She is… deeply suspicious of elementals, and wished to know why this one was going on a rampage. When we saw you in danger, we decided to help."

"Always happy to put an elemental in its place." Ashling added, her eyes glowing. "Consider it a specialty of mine."

"I see." Nissa nodded. "Well regardless of your reasons, thank you. The assistance was appreciated."

"Yeah." Chandra didn't trust herself to say anything else, what do you say to someone who stepped in and cleaned up your mess? Even with all her experience with exactly that kind of situation, she'd never managed to figure it out.

"So what are you two anyway?" Ashling asked. "I thought flamekin were the only thing in Lorwyn that walked around with their heads on fire."

Chandra's hands shot up to her hair on reflex and she flushed. "I'm a human." She said automatically; the word wouldn't mean anything to these two anyway. "I'm not from around here."

"Nor am I," Nissa added.

"You don't say." Ashling drawled.

Neither of them said anything. It was a, admittedly unspoken, rule among Planeswalkers that you didn't tell everyone you met what you were. Assuming they believed you, it was likely the knowledge would either upset them or make them want to know how they could acquire the power for themselves—and there was no way that would ever end well.

"Don't be rude, Ashling." Rhys chided. "If they don't wish to tell us their life stories, they don't have to."

"Don't tell me what to do."

"My apologies." Rhys sighed, holding up his hands placating. "I merely wished to point out that we are hardly without our own secrets." he turned to them. "Regardless, the question remains on what you intend to do now. Ashling and I set up camp here because the aurora will be falling soon. It's not a good idea to travel after the sun sets."

Chandra frowned and glanced at Nissa.

"Our camp is as safe a place as you're likely to find." Rhys said. "I've set up a number of traps in case any boggarts or the like take an interest and Ashling is more than capable of handling any of the less corporeal threats that might come about. But we would be happy to have a couple pair of eyes to help keep watch."

"And we won't give you trouble if you don't give us trouble," Ashling said.

Nissa nodded, "that's fair." She met Chandra's gaze and it was clear she was weighing the risks.

Ashling and Rhys seemed friendly, but the sun was still out. She'd remembered the first time she'd tried to spend the night on Lorwyn. Things came out when the sun set, things that would attack anything that so much as looked at them funny, and there was always a chance that their saviors might just be one of those things.

But to travel the multiverse was to walk into unknown danger every day. If you gave up at the first uncertainty, then you might as well damp your spark.

Besides, she wanted to know how Ashling had made that elemental disappear. She had just jumped on top of its head, her hand had glowed with golden fire and then the elemental was gone.

Chandra could feel the curiosity that plagued most planeswalker building inside her; that thirst to probe the unknown and discover. She could see it in Nissa's eyes as well now that the pain was gone.

"Yeah," Chandra said, settling herself down on her own rock and glancing towards the setting sun. "I think we can stick around for awhile."

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I liked Ashling and Rhys in the Lorwyn books. I have wondered what they got up to after the aurora ended.