A Blossom of Flames

Valentina lit the simple oil lamp with a casually woven small Viur pattern. Warm, flickering light illuminated the room.

"What a... humble abode it is after all," Vyxara commented with ironically feigned politeness. "Your little maid Jenny would have a heart attack if she could see where her fine lady lives now."

Valentina couldn't help but let out a short laugh. Jenny, who had always been careful to keep Valentina's room in the palace in immaculate condition, would have been horrified by what she found here: a narrow bed with a worn mattress, a rickety chest of drawers with two drawers, a small table with a single chair, a tiny, decrepit wardrobe and a faded tapestry that tried in vain to cover the crack in the wall through which icy air seeped in winter.

With a sigh, Valentina began to inspect the room. A thin layer of dust covered the furniture and a cobweb had formed on the windowsill. "It's going to be a long night," she muttered and rolled up her sleeves.

Valentina removed at least the worst of the dirt first and decided she would do the rest tomorrow. Once the room was reasonably clean, she looked at the six large traveling boxes and three chests that were now stacked against the walls and took up almost half of the already tiny room.

"Oh, this is going to be amusing," Vyxara giggled. "Where are you going to put all these lovely things? Maybe you could use some of these clothes as bedspreads? Or stacks of books for extra furniture?"

"Don't be silly," Valentina snorted, although she secretly harbored the same concerns. She opened the first box, which was filled with her clothes – elegant day dresses, simpler but still fine work dresses and luxurious silk nightgowns of better quality than she had ever owned before going to Dusktown.

The tiny closet could barely hold a quarter of her new wardrobe. After some deliberation, Valentina arranged her most practical clothes and two of the more elegant pieces in the wardrobe. The rest remained carefully folded in the chests.

"Where's the damn thing?" she muttered as she rummaged through the next box, looking for a small, interestingly patterned Essence-infused casket the duke had given her – an exquisite piece with elegant carvings and a hidden compartment.

"You mean the pretty little box with the hidden compartment where you keep your most intimate secrets?" Vyxara asked innocently. "With the silver decoration and the grey jewel that looks so much like the ring on your finger?"

"Exactly that," Valentina replied dryly. Vyxara knew exactly where it was, of course – after all, the demon always saw everything Valentina saw and had an infallible memory. But Valentina had long since given up asking the demon for help over such trifles, and Vyxara would have been only too happy to lure her into a small little deal. She eventually found it without help in one of the side compartments of her traveling chest and carefully took it out. It was the perfect hiding place for her most prized possessions – small pieces of jewelry that were too precious to leave out in the open and a few private letters.

The casket was a masterpiece of Essence Weaving, with subtle patterns that of course only someone with the ability to see Essence could recognize. For a thief, they would have unpleasant consequences. She placed it under her bed and activated the protective pattern she had additionally woven on it with a slight movement of her hand.

The next box contained books – medical texts that Master Wilford had given her as a parting gift, rare treatises on Essence Weaving that the Duke had given her, but also volumes of poetry from Lady Celestine.

A familiar sight among the books gave her pause. Her wooden Burning Tower amulet, an old gift from her brother Roric, lay on top, artlessly carved but of deep sentimental value. She picked it up carefully and ran her fingers over the rough carvings.

"So you still have that old thing," Vyxara remarked, hardly even sounding mocking, but almost thoughtful. "A relic from another life."

"Not from another life," Valentina contradicted quietly. "From my life. The only one I have."

She hung the amulet on a nail next to her bed, where it swayed gently in the lamplight.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you," Vyxara said, sounding downright sincere. "Humans are so... fascinating in their connection to objects. I can see the world through your eyes, feel your memories, but some things remain alien to me."

Valentina paused and looked at the amulet. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"Your clinging to the past, to symbols," Vyxara replied thoughtfully. "I know countless human memories, I have seen the life stories of thousands, but observing them, comprehending them, is something completely different from... experiencing them. Being with you."

"Wait." Valentina thought. "Are you implying that I'm the first person you've... been connected to this way?"

A mental laugh echoed through her thoughts. "Does that surprise you, little Weaver? Yes, you are my first... direct experience with your physical realm. Normally, we must stay in our realm and feed on the souls that fall to us. We see their memories, from their first cry to their last breath, but we don't experience them. It's like... reading stories without being part of the story."

"And now you're a part of my story," Valentina murmured, suddenly with a new understanding of the presence in her head.

"Exactly," Vyxara confirmed, sounding unusually enthusiastic. "Every moment with you is new and immediate. Every feeling, every decision – whether it was your first time with Crispin or your nights with the duke... mmmh." The demon paused, purring. "I had hoped and expected it would be interesting, but not that it would be so... intense."

Valentina felt a sudden vulnerability. "Does that mean you... just enjoy living through me?"

"Why do you sound so surprised?" The demon's voice became more mocking again, more familiar. "I told you that at the very beginning. Do you still think we demons were only interested in destruction and chaos? Well, that too – but above all, we are hungry for experiences. For new sensations. For everything we can't have in our own realm."

"And what would that be?" asked Valentina cautiously.

"Change," Vyxara replied simply. "The ability to make choices, to shape your world instead of just being shaped by it. In the memories I know, everything has already happened. With you..." The demon's voice softened. "With you, I can experience things as they happen, sometimes things I couldn't even predict."

"You once said that you... you're a perpetual storm, a run in the tapestry," Valentina said.

"We are what we are – unchanging at our core, even if we adapt and grow. Time means something completely different to us." Vyxara paused. "I find it remarkable how you hold on to this primitive piece of wood while at the same time cherishing the duke's precious gifts. There are no contradictions in you – only layers."

Valentina smiled faintly. "That almost sounds like a compliment."

"Maybe it is," Vyxara replied with a hint of her usual mischievousness. "You're definitely more interesting than most other people. Many break under the contradictions forced upon them. They become bitter or lose themselves. You, on the other hand..."

"What about me?"

"You integrate. You take the Burning Tower amulet and the ducal brooch and find a way to somehow incorporate both into your life without losing your identity. That's..." The demon seemed to search for words. "Remarkable."

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Valentina felt a strange warmth at this unexpected praise.

Vyxara laughed softly as she felt how flattered Valentina was. "Oh yes, little Weaver, feel free to be flattered by that. Perhaps it is this ability to unite apparent opposites that makes you such a suitable partner for me."

"Would you call us that? Partners, yes?" Valentina raised an eyebrow.

"Why not?" replied Vyxara with the mental equivalent of a shrug. "An interesting companion on my eternal journey. And you, Valentina of Palewood, are definitely interesting."

Valentina didn't quite know how to react to this strangely intimate revelation. After a moment of silence, she resumed the conversation: "All these philosophical musings just because of a carved wooden amulet?"

"Sometimes it's the smallest things that reveal the deepest truths," Vyxara said, again with the usual playful tone. "Besides, there won't be much other entertainment for me in this tiny room."

Valentina snorted in amusement and returned to her task.

An hour passed while Valentina tried to bring order into the chaos. The Essence Weaving instruments, measuring instruments for complex patterns, the instruments she would need for her medical studies and which Hazel had given her, found their place on the small table in the corner. She stored her Distilled Essence vials – her supply was still sufficient – in a special wooden box under the table.

Then Valentina's gaze fell on the next unopened box – the one containing the duke's most personal gifts. She hesitated for a moment before opening the lid.

Inside were the more intimate gifts – a silk nightgown in his favorite lavender grey, a bottle of perfume, handwritten little messages, the gold necklace with the red gemstones set in the image of a rose and other things like these.

"Ah, the really important treasures," Vyxara remarked. "The evidence of his... affection."

"The memories of a time that is over for now," Valentina said softly. She gently stroked the silk nightgown before folding it carefully and putting it away in the bottom drawer of her chest.

With a sigh of exhaustion, Valentina finally sank onto her narrow bed. The sheets felt rough compared to the silken linens in Dusktown, and the mattress was uncomfortably hard. And yet, as she stretched out and looked up at the slanted ceiling, she felt a strange moment of peace.

"It's strange," she whispered into the silence. "This room feels too small and like a piece of home at the same time."

"You have changed," Vyxara replied quietly. "But this place was part of your formation. Part of you belongs here, even if you now have bigger wings than this narrow cage can hold."

She sighed and closed her eyes briefly.

"I'm almost sorry to disturb your brief moment of rest," Vyxara said a moment later. "I know you're tired, but there's still something to do that we shouldn't put off."

Valentina reluctantly opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. "The forbidden books and the stolen Essence," she mumbled.

"Exactly. The longer they remain in your possession, the more dangerous it becomes. We have no idea when exactly the Illuminator will show up here, but it would be unwise to assume that the Illumination is not here yet just because the Illuminator hasn't shown up yet. The Illumination has its eyes and ears everywhere."

With a sigh, Valentina swung her legs out of bed. "You're right, of course. If someone were to find these things..."

"You would end up at the stake," Vyxara added matter-of-factly. "Or worse."

Valentina shuddered at the thought. She had heard enough about the methods of the Illumination to know that death was sometimes the more merciful alternative.

She waited a while longer until deep silence had fallen in the residential building. The students all seemed to be in their rooms – a few murmuring voices behind closed doors, occasional laughter, the creaking of floorboards. With each passing hour, the noises became less and less.

As the bell struck midnight, Valentina put on a simple dark cloak and took out the last of her chests – the one she had deliberately left out when she carefully furnished the room.

She opened it carefully. Inside, carefully wrapped in waxed cloth, were the book on demonic lore, the book on dangerous Essence combinations she had stolen from the forbidden section of the library, and at the bottom, in a double sealed bottom, six vials of Distilled Essence – the last remnants of her theft from the University's Essence store last year.

"Before we go, I need to prepare something," Valentina whispered, pulling out a small leather bag. She wrapped the books and vials in several layers of waxed cloth – one of the many practical things Jenny had packed for her for the trip – and stowed them carefully in the bag.

"Be careful with this Distilled Essence," Vyxara warned. "Don't let it leak and react with who knows what. The last thing we need is an Essence explosion in the middle of the night."

"I know," Valentina replied briefly, checking the seals once more. Then she slung the bag over her shoulder, slipped out of her door and stepped down the stairs to the courtyard. Holding her breath, Valentina activated her Essence Listening.

The world around her changed as the Essence added new dimensions to her senses. Suddenly she could hear the soft breathing of sleeping students behind every door, the rustle of bedding, the murmur of a student talking in her sleep. And – more importantly – the heavy pacing of a guard walking past the stairs on the first floor.

Valentina pressed herself flat against the wall and waited. The footsteps came closer, then a pause. The guard mumbled something about "bloody nightly rounds" and yawned loudly. After a moment, he turned back around and descended the stairs.

"They never used to walk this way," commented Vyxara. "The guards must be out more often than last year."

"More security measures," thought Valentina. "Probably because of the Illuminator."

She crept down the stairs with extreme caution. The old wood creaked with every other step, and Valentina kept pausing to listen to see if anyone had heard her.

Once in the courtyard, she had to pass the kitchen on her way to the gate, where some cooks were still making preparations for the next day at this late hour. Their muted voices and the subdued light from the window forced Valentina into the shadows, her heart beating faster.

She slipped quietly past the kitchen window and stood in the shadows of the building for a few moments, listening for the guards with her Essence Listening.

"Two at the main gate," Vyxara said after a moment. "One is patrolling the western edge of the campus. The rest seem to be heading towards the labs and Essence Storage."

"Good," murmured Valentina. "Then we'll take the southern gate and then through the gardens."

With her head down and close to the shadows of the buildings, she scurried across the campus. The southern gate was as locked as it was unguarded, and Valentina was easily able to open it with her opening pattern and could slip through into the garden, where she was undisturbed by guards. Valentina climbed over the low stone wall that bordered the garden. From there, she ran through the southern city to the outskirts and soon found herself in a small grove that gradually merged into the denser forest that surrounded much of the south side of Bridgewater.

She followed a barely visible path deeper into the forest. The moonlight became sparser and the ground beneath her feet became uneven.

"Deeper," urged Vyxara. "We have to make sure that no one finds this place by accident."

After about twenty minutes, they reached a small hill surrounded by dense ferns and ancient oaks.

"Here," said Valentina. "The ground is slightly raised, rainwater will run off. And the stones here could be a natural feature, but for me, they will be a signpost." She used an Ard pattern reinforced with Distilled Essence to dig a hole large enough to displace the forest floor, soft with foliage and moss, as well as the tougher clay beneath.

Before putting the bag inside, she opened it once more and checked the contents. The book with the demonic lore and the stolen book on forbidden Essence combinations were safe in their waterproof cloth. The vials of Distilled Essence faintly reflected the moonlight.

"They really are two excellent books," Vyxara remarked with a mixture of respect and amusement. "The Illuminator would have a heart attack if he found them."

Valentina grimaced. "I hope he never gets to see her. And Vyxara... I'm sorry we have to hide all this. I know you'd like to teach me more. Even if I don't know how I feel about it yet."

"Oh, little Weaver," the demon purred. "Don't worry about it. I still have so much I can show you without having to resort to those special books."

Valentina closed the bag and carefully placed it in the hole. Then she began to weave a complex series of Essence patterns. First a protective pattern against moisture, then a subtle marking pattern that only she would recognize – three intertwined Ard Essence lines that to an Essence Weaver should look like natural streams of Essence along the earth's faults, but actually pointed to the buried treasure.

Finally, she wove a small but powerful enough protective pattern. "Just a little defense, to be safe," she thought, "I don't want to seriously hurt anyone. But if someone who can't see Essence is digging here, they should change their mind about that after activating the pattern."

"Clever," praised Vyxara. "With a hint of Schate and an echo of Leb. I'm impressed with how subtle your patterns have become."

Valentina covered the hole with earth again, scattered leaves over it and carefully placed a few stones in an arrangement she could recognize.

Fortunately, the way back to campus went without incident. Valentina snuck back through the garden, locked the south gate behind her again and reached the residential building unseen. No one was awake for miles around and she was able to sneak up the stairs unnoticed.

When she finally closed the door to her room behind her, she sank exhausted onto her bed. The tension that had kept her going throughout the whole nightly ordeal fell away from her, leaving behind nothing but exhausted tiredness.

"The Illumination is coming," she whispered into the darkness.

"Yes," Vyxara replied calmly. "But we are prepared. The most dangerous evidence is safely hidden now. As long as you don't do anything suspicious, there should be no reason for him to suspect you."

Valentina nodded weakly, too exhausted for further words. Her eyelids grew heavy and she soon fell into a deep sleep while the demon kept watch in her mind.