A silent journey home.

Foxglove came over when she spotted us. "Noleka, what-"

"Please don't call me that."

Foxglove tilted her head. "What?"

"Don't call me that name. I don't want it anymore."

"But Noleka, that's your na-"

"Not anymore. Please. Call me T…

"Who are you?" she asked after several moments of silence.

"N-" I realized I didn't have to keep going by that name. I had a chance to tell someone something different. What I'd been thinking was... "Tourmaline. My name is Tourmaline."

A few more tense mo…

Several years later, I was sixteen. Life had continued much the same, although Verux was now hesitant to send more people. We'd been pretty successful in beating them back, especially with Nochra on our side. She was an incredibly skilled fighter, with a …

Celesta let out a breath and tossed the shovel aside. The hole was deep enough now.

She walked back to the wooden cart, and lifted a large crystal out of it. "Here we go."

She gently placed it in the hole, then pressed on it a little more firmly, making …

I don't think I answered her, but she figured out all the same. Both dead. She held me tightly, trying her best to comfort me. I remember her meeting up with the others, faintly. Those who escaped the attack. I can't say I remember the rest very well, but…

One night, when I was nine years old, my parents and I were working on packing things into our cart. Then we heard screaming, and saw fire, and smoke.

"Noleka, get down!" my mom hissed, shoving me under the cart.

I couldn't do anything but watch as three …