Her consciousness swam in darkness, and yet she was consumed by fire. It was a strange and alien sensation that Hymeria could not quite comprehend. She wasn't in pain any longer, her last conscious memories were of pain and a voice. Ensfirum's voice. Where was she now?
“You are inside me little mageling.” the dragon answered her unconscious question. It sounded almost apologetic. “You wished for the pain to end, to be able to withstand the magical energies overwhelming you. There was little else I could do.”
Hymeria's mind jerked at the intrusion of the voice echoing inside her thoughts. This wasn't like the mind link that they normally shared. This felt different, incredibly different. Before the dragon was simply intrusive, but now it felt as if the link was reciprocal. As if she could sense the dragon's mind as much as it could sense hers. That its mind remained alien and unfathomable to her did little to change the fact that she could sense the mixture of concern and amusement emanating from Ensfirum's mind.
“You will adjust.” the dragon said simply. “Understanding will come with time. For now, wake up little mageling, it is time to finish your quest.”
Hymeria's eyes surged open as she drew in a gasping breath that felt like the first one she'd taken in days. The night sky above the ruined High Elf city still shimmered with stars so at least she had not been unconscious long. Galaden was looking down at her and as she sat up she found a deer-sized Ensfirum gazing at her with golden eyes. The dragon's gaze was fixated on her as she got shakily to her feet, Galaden handing her the staff she'd dropped.
“Is she alright?”
“She's fine,” Ensfirum growled. “Aren't you mageling?”
The pain from before, that had rendered her nearly insensible, was gone and replaced with...something else. A clarity filled her as she gazed around the white ruins surrounding them and saw traces of the magic that had crippled her before. The lines of power her former master had so often spoken of, the lines that the High Elves had once wielded to craft their magics, were clearly etched across the surface of the white ruins. She could see it all.
She looked to Ensfirum wonderingly. The dragon shared its sight with her once before, but she hadn't seen the lines of magic during that exchange.
“Because your mind did not know what to see.” the dragon's voice rumbled inside of her mind. “Once you elves did, long ago, and you used that power to destroy my kind and dominate this world. Do not cause me to regret entrusting this ability to you mageling.”
Hymeria nodded, gathering herself as she prepared to follow the dragon's guidance once more. However Ensfirum remained in place, the dragon's golden eyes fixated on her intently.
“You can see the way now little mageling. I will follow.”
Frowning at the beast's games, Hymeria nevertheless began to trace the lines of power that permeated the ruins. She led Galaden and the now silent Ensfirum forwards and deeper into the heart of the ruined city. Soon they were within the center of the concentric rings that had defined the once great city. The glow of power suffused everything around them though Hymeria knew that Galaden couldn't see it. They were close now and the lines that she had traced to this centerpoint were no longer distinguishable. Looking to Ensfirum for further help, the dragon's amusement was evident as it padded past her and pressed on ahead.
Unbidden and without thought, Hymeria placed her hand upon the shoulder of the dragon as it passed, walking alongside it as it wound its way through the narrow streets and between fallen stone. It wasn't until they'd been walking in this fashion for a time that she realized what it was she was doing and jerked her hand away from the dragon's scales as shame made her cheeks glow.
“Our pact is more than just service and silence mageling.” Ensfirum grumbled. “We are united in both purpose and thought.”
“What's it talking about?” Galaden asked from behind them. “It didn't hurt you did it?”
Hymeria shook her head, her mind trying to understand the thoughts she was receiving from the dragon and failing to fully fathom them. The response to her attempts to clarify the thoughts was the growling amusement of the dragon as its eye gazed at her.
“Let us finish this matter. Then, perhaps, we will take the time to explore what this means for us.”
The dragon stopped outside a modestly sized domed structure, his tail lashing idly for a moment before he leapt upwards to a hole where the roof had collapsed.
“Come little elves.” it rumbled. “Our foe is within.”
Hymeria looked at the structure, at the carvings dotting its white exterior and the way in which it had been built. This was a temple. Her temper flared at the thought that some being was committing such sacrilege within the confines of her ancestors' holy house. She'd see them destroyed for this, whoever they were. Slinging her staff over her shoulder, she and Galaden ascended the stone walls to the ledge where the dragon—now shrunk to the size of a housecat—waited.
It turned its head inwards to the radiant brilliance emanating from within the center of the temple where a raised structure with eight columns sat. Standing there were two figures, one heavily hooded as they raised their hands which glowed with power. The other floated just off the floor, their bare feet never seeming to touch the white stone as they hung silently besides the other who chanted in Elvish. This then was their foe, the one who threatened her home.
“Hymeria.” a voice called out from the two figures. “I never imagined you would be this strong.” the figure removed his hood and Hymeria froze upon the ledge as she gazed into the face of her dead master. “If I had known that you'd learn to summon a dragon on your own accord I might have thought twice about abandoning you dear child.”