Remy looked around, searching for Ocean and Aurora. Eventually he did find them sitting next to the castle. Now they had gathered there as a group and were having a discussion.
"The queen is not the one behind the fire," Aatos stated.
"But who else would? Who else could be so brutal?" Ocean asked, then continued. "The Embercaller's symbol back in the forest looked so real," he said.
"Was there anything else? A sign of where that thing could be?" Aatos asked, intrigued.
"Well, one rock that caught my attention. I don't know if it means anything, but it was a lava rock. That's an unusual find here. Well, along with the Embercaller's symbol," Ocean replied, after thinking back to the moment.
"That's it! Ashfall! Let's head there!" Hazel beamed. The fire of determination burned in her eyes, before Ocean interrupted her.
"Are you crazy? We literally just watched a whole village of innocent lives burning just because of our attack," he said, disapproving Hazel's close-minded proposition.
Remy chimed in. "Now that we know who actually did it, we could become heroes instead of outcasts or weirdos in this village. Doesn't that sound good?" they said, trying to convince the group. It would be mandatory to get everyone to go. Otherwise they would most likely be disadvantaged against whatever was waiting for them.
"Okay, then. I know a boat no one uses. It's in Aether coast. Since it's on the other side of the island, it'll be a long walk, though," Ocean replied, finally giving up on trying to defy the group.
But even though the Ashborn was safe from the fire, it was a whole different case for Maya and Hexa, who were sitting in the wise old man's tent, oblivious to the chaos outside. They were still in the middle of a conversation.
"Sacrifice? What do you mean by ' the fire always needs a sacrifice'?" Maya asked.
"Ashfall will destroy—," the wise old man said, but was cut off by a burning piece of fabric landing straight into his mouth.
Maya tried to find an extinguisher or water in the tent, but couldn't find anything. Who doesn't keep fire safety in a tent? This guy, apparently. His whole caught on fire, leaving him struggling before finally collapsing to burn.
That was the moment they realized what was happening. It was already too late to escape. The fire was blocking of the entrance. The fire had already burned through the thin fabric the tent was made of, burning almost deliberately through.
Tears welled up in Hexa's eyes. Not from seeing the unmoving body of the wise man, but never in her life had she thought she'd have to fear dying in a fire, stuck out of the reality she had once known.
Maya noticed the fear showing as water of Hexa's eyes. With no second thought, she pulled her into a comforting hug as if to say 'everything will be alright', even though she knew it was hopeless. She knew they both did.
Hexa closed her eyes, ready to feel the fire burning her skin until all of her organs are severed and her body burned to ashes. To her surprise, insitead of pain and devastation, she felt a cold splash of water. An eerile odd feeling for the situation.
Thinking she was hallucinating feelings, Hexa opened her teary eyes. The fire was put out completely, a group of Nullbounders outside the doorway with buckets, looking relieved.
Maya also turned around to see who saved them, then gave a nod of approval to her colleagues who were now walking away. They had probably gotten an order to put out the fire in the village, and didn't care who was inside when they did, so they didn't see Hexa.
"We're in luck they came on time," Maya said, then glanced at the wise old man, who had already gotten into the embrace of death, before continuing. "Not lucky for him, though," she continued.
"Don't ask, but I have experience of hiding bodies. I could help," Hexa suddenly said.
"What? You've hidden bodies you killed on purpose before? And here I thought it was the Embercaller making you crazy," Maya said, her face displaying a slightly disgusted expression. Even so she didn't want to give up Hexa to Darkeast island because of it. She continued. "I don't think you have to hide his body. It wasn't our fault after all. Plus, you would leave fingerprints," she said, which made Hexa's face twist into a panicked expression.
"I may have left fingerprints on ones that were my fault," Hexa said sheepishly. It was done now, and there was no going back, so why hide it?
"Are you kidding me? Oh well, you already got caught on that. Now, let's head to Ashfall. It's a better option than sending you to Darkeast island," Maya finally said.