60th Ashan 720
Just after this 
So much for four divisions, each one with a role, Vega thought to herself. Scowling in the general direction of "around", she muttered to herself. "Stupid. Jus' stupid. I can't be doin' with stupid, an' I swear you put them in front of me on purpose," her mumblings were aimed, of course, at the Immortals who she was marked by. "Nice of you, an' I do appreciate it usually. Now an' then, though, you know. Jus' now an' then." She knew that there was no point, though, so Vega just got on with it. The knights and wardens made their way together, towards the area where the smoke was rising from.
Even before they got to a place where they could see what was going on, they could feel the heat. It was intense and Vega frowned. "Right, you lot, there's smoke, an' heat, an' I think that means there's likely to be fire. An' this is a forest, an' we might be in all a lot of bother. So, new first priority," they were moving forward as she spoke, and, as they did, there was a very definite smell of burning.
"Get movin'!" Vega called and they started to jog forward. They moved as a group and she kept her eyes open, making sure that they moved in formation together. As they made their way through the trees, they did so at the quickest speed they could - Vega had a growing sense of this being really bad and then, they saw the flickering light of fire and the smell of burning assaulted their nostrils. The thing that bothered Vega, more than she cared to admit, was that there was no sound of screaming. As they burst through the tree line, why there were no sounds of mortals, or combat, became apparent. There were only charred remains of any mortals having ever been here - and those remains were of what seemed to be wagons.
They moved forward, but quickly the soldiers started to recoil backwards. There was no small amount of heat - it was intense, more than intense. Vega let out a low groan. "Oh, you're havin' a giraffe, aren't you?" She looked around, taking account of the terrain, of the place. There, rising from the camp-fire which this bunch of former idiots (now piles of ash) was a ... "What in the name of Tio's tiny todger is THAT!?" Vega took an involuntary step back as she looked at the creature. Large tentacles of flame whipped out and, where they touched was incinerated.
Vega, of course, started to act and did so quickly. "A'right you lot!", she called. "Stay away from the ... the... from that there Tenternickel!" It was a pumpernickel - it had tentacles - therefore this name made sense. Or, at least, it did in Vega's head. Looking around told her, almost immediately, that this thing would be the death of every mortal here if she didn't think fast and act faster. "What... ", Vega just didn't know how to act, what to say. She needed an idea. A thought.
As she thought, the seconds it took her to consider, one tentacle whipped out and a tree burst into flame. It was almost like the incineration of the tree triggered her thoughts, and Vega yelled her orders. "You lot! Healers, stay back!" They couldn't afford to risk the healers and Vega knew that. "Ketracel, you're in charge of them! The rest o' you, Wardens forward an' we stop the fire from spreadin'!" She knew that if they didn't do that, if they failed to create a perimeter, then this whole area was going to get out of control.
"Snuffle, go with them! Get water, an' keep that place safe!" Vega said that to her own Warden diri and the tiny little creature let out a battle cry denoting the glory of the task they had. Vega , however, had her own trouble. The heat was overwhelming and, as much as she was immune to fire, she knew that the heat here was too much. She couldn't get close enough to fight it, and Vega knew another moment of not having a clue what to do.
And then, the creature screeched. Vega felt it in her teeth, a tingling feeling like the sound of nails on a board, but magnified a hundred fold. The sound was awful, but Vega understood sound, these trials. She knew music, it's rhythm, and she understood emotions. She should understand them, she supposed, being the mortalborn of them. But all of that flitted through her mind in a split second and Vega put aside the feeling of her teeth being on fire, and she watched - just for a few seconds. The creature was screaming it's high-pitched scream and thrashing, hitting out. It was furious, Vega knew and, in that moment, she knew what she had to do.
As they had approached, she had drawn her sword. Now, she sheathed it and took hold of her fiddle.
Lifting the instrument to her chin, Vega started to play. As she did, she stepped forward. She was immune to fire, but the heat was immense. However, she had to. So, she stepped forward and she played. The heat pushed against her, and it was like a wall, but Vega had to simply keep going. The music had to calm the creature - to soothe it. She had to cool it down.
There was chaos around her - fighting, flames, screams and the shouting of a large-scale battle.
Her senses were being bombarded - with heat, with sound, with the taste of ash on her tongue.
But as she played, all of that slid away and there was only her and the fiddle. Moving the bow across the strings of the fiddle was hard - more difficult than usual because it was so hot that things were sticky. She ignored it, and she played. It had to work, she knew, it had to. The creature was thrashing and angry - all heat and fury. As the melody rang out, Vega was no longer aware of how the Wardens, the Knights, and the Priestesses worked together. She didn't see the water, or how they used it to stop the flames from spreading.
And she played.
Sweat ran down her forehead, trickled down her back. Her hair was matted to her head and the heat was not abating. Stumbling, she kept moving forward, and she kept playing. It was working! The creature was slowing down and it's thrashing was growing less and less - it was working. "Get yerself in here!" Vega yelled. Snuffle flew around and the Wardens at least could hear and see the little creature. "Together! We has to fights together when Vega says! Come! Come! Glory and more glory!"
And, with the bullying and shouting of the tiny little diri, a small group of knights moved in and attacked the creature. It was strange for Vega to not be part of the fight itself, but it was only by virtue of her playing - of the creature slowing down sufficiently for them to be able to attack that they stood a chance. She wanted to fight, to be right there in the midst of the battle. But, in this circumstance, Vega knew, if she gave in to her usual instincts then she would be being a very special kind of stupid.
And, as the knights with her fought to kill the creature, Vega knew that - in this instance - they had more than enough stupid to go around.
