Mirror images

Alexis had not been sure what to expect, but this most certainly had not been it. Was the fire god truly trying to set things right, owning up to a past mistake?
If so, that… was something the mercenary could relate to. Very much so.
She felt off balance. All her life, any being of power she had ever known had seemed to hunger for conquest and dominance. Now here was one that claimed to strive for coexistence instead. It spoke to her in a way she was afraid to acknowledge at the moment.

She had wanted to confront this entity in the vague hope to convince him to leave her be. She could feel that want wavering now. But, she still didn’t understand…

“Why me?”
She voiced her question aloud. There had to be more suitable people to carry out his will.

As before, after a moment, the magma came alive again to create another glowing curtain, this one wider. This time two images emerged, both showing winding cave systems, soon making way to what appeared to be mining tunnels. Almost mirror images, but not quite. And eerily, both sides felt familiar to her.

One she identified soon. It was reminiscent of the mines by Aquilo. But what about the other? She watched the vision intently as it followed the tunnels, finally approaching the light that marked the exit to the surface. And then she suddenly understood. She had walked such tunnels before. Carrying lunch for the miners working within. Back when she was a child. This was a Garrahn mine.

Confirmation followed as the visions proceeded to show the breathtakingly beautiful expanses of both mountain ranges. Not one and the same, but so very very alike. Next to be shown were the respective people that made the majestic heights their home. Yet again, so very similar, maybe only at different states of their development. Stubborn, hardy people, deeply in love with their mountains and fiercely protective of both them and the soul of their tightly knit communities.

Despite the influence of other realms and the arrival of the pillars, and all the changes they brought, there were many things the Garrahns had never quite given up upon.

As if in response, the vision depicting the Fang gently faded away, making room for the vision of Garrah to expand. It was showing a festival now. Dozens of bonfire illuminated the night, people energetically dancing around them, some daredevils jumping over them to prove their mettle, fire breathers and fire jugglers showing off their art. Alexis recognized the scene at once. Summer solstice. Fire Festival. A festivity much much older than any holiday that had come with the Pillars and forever held in much higher regard among the mountain clans. A celebration of fire. Or maybe, rather, at its core… a worship.

The realisation had Alexis stumble back.

And suddenly the cavern was gone and she found herself back at the smouldering remnants of the campfire by her lodge, breathing heavily and no longer touching the hammer head. It would appear the shock had her pull back physically as well.

Alexis just sat there for a while, thoroughly troubled and at a loss.
Eventually, she carefully put the cloth back over the hammer head, mindful not to touch it again. She put it back in Tar’s pack and finally moved towards the lodge herself, leaving it by the man’s sleeping form.
She did not expect to find restful sleep herself. There… was a lot she needed to come to terms with.