I was upon the dying beast even as it fell, my fingers of iron plunging into its wrist, ripping out shards of bone. Thrice more I harvested before it at last succumbed, bursting apart in a radiant flare. Or'do opened his mouth, his head cocked quizzically, yet remained silent as he seemed to follow my own thoughts.

In a listing mound I piled the shards, grinding some to dust, leaving some as jutting spears that leaned inward, forming a rounded pyramid. I leaned in, exhaling on impulse, and was as surprised as Or'do when flame hissed from my jaws and bathed the pile of claimed bone. Small and frail, the Bonfire drove back the chamber's darkness, if only in a pale halo, its warmth instantly washing away my pain, soothing me as a mother comforts her child, sating me as food calms hunger.

"By the gods!" Or'do knelt beside me, extending his hands toward the flame. "You just made a Bonfire!"

"Aye." The effort left me drained, exhaustion weighing upon me like a mantle of lead. "Another Flame linked to the new First."

"Slowly we claim this world." Or'do seemed slightly uncomfortable in the flame's warmth, his flesh charring slightly in spite of his distance. "Or at least you do."

"We." I assured him, my tone brooking no argument. "I could not do this without you."

"Aw, you're going to bring tears to my eyes!" Stiffly as if in pain, he settled down before the flame. "Don't embarrass me, Aleorn!"

"Who is the maiden now?" I laughed softly, my mirth spoiled by concern. "The flame seems to pain you."

"It does." He stretched hands that trembled in pain near to the fire. "Yet it is the pain of cleansing."

I looked on in unease. Silence reigned for a time, perhaps a few breaths, yet it felt an eternity.

"The Dark has tainted me, thrust me beyond acceptance." He whispered, an uncharacteristic solemnity in those kind eyes.

"In the Flame's eyes perhaps." I clasped his shoulder, hoping that I comforted him as he so often comforted me. "But not mine."