The two descended from their perch and entered the darkened forest. Sunlight penetrated through the dense canopy but the black bark and navy blue foliage of the trees did little to reflect the sunrays. A chill ran between the trees and whenever a gust of wind pushed through Kopius would get a case of the goose-bumps.

The birds continued their song and dance above, just without the voluminous cries of the morning. Various small animals scurried from place to place, while other deer type creatures fled from them as if they were a plague. There were similarities to earth animals but with varying degrees of differences; some as minute as antlered squirrels, while others that had more legs then seemed necessary.

Plants and bushes littered the forest floor, colored mostly in an array of dark greens and purples. A grassy moss and other succulent types covered the ground, leaving only patches of dirt as with the place had vitiligo. Even though the lower light and darker tones gave off horror movie vibes, the place was beautiful, serene and brought an overall sense of calm.

"This place sure feels a lot safer than the other forests we have been through," Kopius eventually remarked.

"How so?" Cici asked as he led the way through the concentration of trees.

"I don't know," Kopius shrugged. "Maybe I am just comparing it to Escher?"

Cici chuckled, indicating he understood the sentiment.

"Best to stay alert," the big man answered, accent still intact. "There's a reason the darkness has taken hold here. Didn't always look like this." Cici paused his gait to do a slow spin like he was introducing the forest to Kopius. "Not that I was alive to see it any different but lore has it painted in more inviting tones."

"Sounds ominous," Kopius replied.

"These trees are known as vapor oaks," Cici said while running a hand down the trunk of a nearby tree. "The wood itself is poisonous, the sap corrodes metal and the mind alike."

"Why the fuck are we walking through this place?" Kopius asked in alarm. He reaffirmed the gloves on his hands before covering his mouth and nose with his shirt.

Cici laughed.

"Don't worry lad, we'd have to cut one down for any of it to cause us harm. Only the witches have the means to accomplish a task like that. They're immune to the stuff, you know."

"No. No, I don't know that."

"Of course not," Cici laughed in reply. "They use the sap to make candles and burn the wood to clear their space of unwanted energies; undeclared presences."

"Sounds a bit like smudging," Kopius inserted.

"Whatever you wish to call it," Cici said with a wave of his hands, "the wood burns with a vivid blue flame and every crack or pop it makes keeps the spirits at bay."

"Is the smoke poisonous?"

Cici considered the question for a moment. He looked Kopius over as if examining him for the first time. The bard scratched his impeccable shield of a beard as he always had while giving something a thought.

"Not by my lungs," Cici finally spoke, his cadence slow and purposeful. "I'm not sure about you lad; being who you are–or rather, what you are."

"You mean Jinovian?"

"Val-jin to be specific," Cici answered in a hushed tone, looking about as if they might be overheard.

As with every time that name was spoken, Kopius felt as if a hammer had struck his chest and if he were to have an appetite for food it would no longer be present. Even though the sensations came and went, it always managed to leave a bitter taste.

"But I'm not Val-jin," Kopius whispered in reply, wanting to rinse the word from his mouth.

"That is true my friend," Cici offered with a reassuring pat on Kopius's back. "Though every Jinovian is not a Val-jin; every Val-jin is a Jinovian."

"Squares are rectangles, I get," Kopius whispered. "Why are we whispering?"

"Because of Ashes & Embers." Cici answered as if it were obvious.

"The witch shop?"

"No, the forest."

"Th forest is the witch shop?" "The forest is called Ashes & Embers. The witch shop is in the forest."

"So they're called the same thing?"

"Yes lad," Cici replied in a harumph. "It's named after the witches."

Kopius shrugged, motioning for Cici to give him more info.

"The sisters, everyone knows the tale–" Cici stopped short. "Oh. Yes. You'd think I'd remember by this point."

Kopius just nodded in sarcastic understanding.

"Let's get moving," Cici said in a normal voice, surrendering his conspiratorial tone. "Best you have the story before we reach the shop. It will help pass the time."

Cici looked around to find his bearings before putting one foot in front of the other. Once a direction was in mind the two men began to power walk over the terrain as if they were conditioning for a race. It wasn't until they had cleared a small hill that Cici began to fill the space with lore of the landscape.

"Before Ashes & Embers gained its namesake," Cici began, "it was called the Moonwood Forest. Famous for its white oak trees and rare plant life; an herbalist paradise. The wood's reach is longer than that of Escher Pass; wider than the Sea of Saidnah. Scattered amongst the tree's, in huts or caves, shacks and hovels were the witches. Are you understanding?"

Stolen novel; please report.

""Yep, I'm with you," Kopius replied, making sure not to trip over the foliage. "Witches lived in a dark creepy forest."

"Moonwood wasn't a dark place, lad," Cici corrected. "It's full of opal oaks and beigewood; leaves ranging from a vibrant red to a yellow practically made of sunlight. It was said to be one of the most majestic landscapes in all of Metem. Dangerous as any other but beautiful none the less. I'll get to the darkness soon enough."

"Though secluded from one another," Cici continued, "Moonwood forest was home to a large part of the witch population. They would cultivate from the land, but not as a farmer would; more like grazier. Someone who would go to the source rather than creating the source. They left the land to its own devices is what I am saying."

"So no crops or gardens?" Kopius asked.

"Crops–no," Cici said after a short thought. "Gardens–yes, but no larger than where I first found you. The forest was-is-a sacred place and any large-scale changes to its demeanor was met with forceful resistance. Rarity grows where it grows, much like your marshromo. To disturb the natural order was, well, not their way. Witches are herbalists at heart, they ask the land for permission to its abundance and in return they protect its sovereignty."

"Aren't herbalists non-violent?" Kopius asked. "What kind of forceful resistance are we talking about here?"

Cici let out a long sigh and a shake of his head as if to say 'maybe where you're from.'

"Witches are not to be trifled with, my friend," Cici responded. "Would you tussle with Lydian if you didn't have too?"

"Nooooo," Kopius muttered as he involuntarily slipped his hood past his ears, "Why her?"

"She's a witch, lad," Cici laughed.

"I see," Kopius answered, pulling the hood all the way on.

"Needless to say, most can protect themselves when needed. But I am getting ahead of the lore," Cici asserted before picking up where he left off. "Besdies being a friend of nature, witches are some of the oldest known magic users. Most are known for their earth magic, but they can wield in a variety just as any others. Though they generally kept to themselves, many a recluse they were, they would gather from time to time at a place called the House of Twin Flames."

"The home of Ember & Ashes, two powerful sisters, offered wisdom and goods among other things. A place for the new and old alike to share knowledge, seek shelter and find purpose. They would sell goods, recipes and stories. You will see once we get there. It is quite the place."

"It's all still there?" Kopius asked.

"Not in the sense that I speak of now, but yes," Cici replied.

"Ok, so where do the Val-jin come in?"

"Almost there, but first your people."

"Ok, please continue."

"From the tellings I was told, the witches–sometimes referred to as the Collective–were among the first allies of the Jinovians. Your kind were generous with their knowledge and the Collective returned like for like. It is written that the Collective offered temporary shelter until the Jinovans found land to call their own. When the Jinovians did leave they would often send back caravans of rare goods and tidings as thanks for the generous hospitality and protection."

"All of this stopped once the Val-jin obtained their power. Ties were cut, treaties dismissed and then came the demands. Demands for resources and for valuables only found within Moonwood. Eventually they demanded information, the whereabouts of known Jinovian witches. They grew vehement when the searches came for witches with the blood of the Val-jin."

"Witch hunts? We had those too," Kopius quipped. "Didn't go well for those ladies."

"The Collective was having none of it," Cici continued. "Even when the Val-jin had conquered most of Metem on this side of the Torrent, the witches resisted; using the knowledge and depth of the forest to keep them from harm."

"Wait, the Val-jin waged war? On who? Everyone?" Kopius asked eagerly.

"Everyone; everywhere," Cici answered. "At the western edge of Moonwood, just before the swamps of Kaliboz, was a great refuge of survivors. Many without a place to go unprotected, others unwilling to surrender. Countless souls hid in hopes that the Val-jin would not attempt to cross through the vast forest. That their lust for blood and vengeance had been sated; but rage has a way of feeding upon itself. When the Collective refused capitulation the Val-jin sent the full weight of their forces into Moonwood."

Cici stopped walking to take a drink from his waterskin. Beads of sweat streamed down the big man's face, escaping into his beard while some dripped out the other side. Kopius, who normally glossed over lore and history lessons found himself irritated by the pause.

Now is not the time for a commercial break! Kopius screamed internally. Instead of voicing his displeasure he opted to take his own drink and wipe sweat from his brow.

"They were out numbered, the Collective," Cici finally continued. Instead of walking anew, he found a comfortable place to sit and rest against a tree. "On a traditional battlefield, they would have been slaughtered within a day or two. Even with their powers, the numbers would have been too great. Fifty-to-one, a hundred-to-one; I forget exactly. Two full moons passed as the Collective held their ground, defended their home. As the third full moon crossed the sky, the forest itself lended aid. All manner of wild life and foliage helped to slow the advancing threat but they advanced still. Day by day, night by night the Val-jin clawed halfway across Moonwood."

"Thousands of the Collective were dead or dying, half the forest upend. Every stretch of land the Val-jin crossed was left in ruin, not even fit for a scavenger. The details get a bit fuzzy but the story is told like this. Though Ashes and Embers had been leading the Collective, they both could see their days were numbered. That even if they were to flee with what was left of their Collective, the Val-jin was not accepting of surrender; they meant to purge. So the two sisters made a pact with what remained of their forest, their familiars and their people. On the next new moon, with nothing but stars and darkness, Embers took the form of a black cat, snuck past the enemy's fortifications until she reached the forest edge leaving a cloud of poison behind her the whole way."

"All the way back to Dinoson? Like where we were sleeping?" Kopius asked.

"The very place my friend," Cici answered. "Meanwhile, Ashes took to the sky, as a black bird against a black sky. As she flew to the refuge near Kaliboz, she produced her own poison to float amongst the tree tops. Their plan was set. It wasn't elaborate, it wasn't particularly clever or time consuming. It required nothing but that which they already possessed. Have you ever heard of immolation?"

"What?" Kopius replied, the question somehow catching him off guard.

"Immolation," Cici repeated.

"I've heard the word before… something to do with fire."

"Indeed, something to do with fire. Fire and sacrifice." Cici said solemnly. "You see, the sisters, the Twin Flames as they were, were connected. They could speak without words, feel without touch; know without knowing. They shared the same magic and could cast together regardless of distance. Poison, as I just mentioned, was one of their powers; fire was the other. The only difference between them was one had a red flame, while the other had blue."

Cici paused to think for a moment, looking around for something. The big man located his item, stood to retrieve a fallen branch. He approached Kopius and then, using the stick, drew a large circle at least fifteen feet in diameter. Returning to Kopius, Cici drew another straight line from one side of the circle to the other; the two men left standing at each end of the straight line.

"I've never seen Immolation–few have, if any," Cici began, "but it has been explained to me in simple enough terms. When the spell is cast two things happen at once. Fire races down the middle from both castors, represented by the straight line. At the same time, fire circles the edges," Cici motioned with his stick along the curved lines leading away from him in both directions. "When your flames and my flames collide, it creates a firestorm so fierce that even the gods blink. Everything within the boundaries of the spell is reduced to soot and dust."

"Everything?" Kopius asked in a somber tone.

"Everything lad," Cici nodded, understanding his friend's disbelief. "Every tree, bush and length of grass as if they were an illusion. Every rock, stone, and piece of armor left as smoke on the wind. Only a smoldering landscape of ashes."

"Fuck me," Kopius whispered to himself. "And the witches?"

"Dust."

"All of this," Kopius swept his hand around, "just–gone? What happened to the sisters"

"You'll need to open your imagination a bit to understand the full scope of devastation. Within this circle is all of Moonwood. At one end is Ember," Cici pointed the long branch at Kopius, "on the other side stood Ashes. They cast their spell with a blue flame racing across the landscape from one end while a red flame sprinted from the other. When the fires met and activated their fury, it lit up the land as if three purple suns had exploded in the sky in a deep violet of rage."

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