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Esther crashed into the large bear-golem, body cracking off some of that rock holding it together. A distinct cry of victory somewhere the maned wolf could not see. Instead, dark, oily eyes were far focused on the strange rock form collapsing, and their own claws sticking in the snow as they were shot backwards in the force of their own colliding. Claws scraped against whatever was there, and Esther wondered why so many were yelling - it burned their ears and they didn't like it.
Y̵̙̲͖͑̾̿́̓͝ö̴̼̩̬̹̝̳́̂̅͛̽̇̈́̑͆͗̓͗̒ư̶͓̈́̾̑͝ ̷̧̡̭̱͎̭̪̣̱͑̚̚c̵̢̛̬͔̣̦̱͈̠̅̑͛̈͊̍̂̍́ͅỏ̷̠̖̲̱̪̰̪͓̬̜̑͜ủ̸͍͙̮̬͇̫̻͍͇̤̈́͗̈̂͝l̴̼͕̗̓͗̆̋̄͒́̓d̶̢͎̺͇̠̃͗̉̉̓̇̕͠͝͝ ̴͎͔̲͚͕͆̓̂̓̆͗͒̇͆̎̐͝ą̴̢̼̱͉͖͔̥͚̗̙̰̹̠̈̈́̔̓̅͒͜l̶̡͇̱̺̭̟̘̳͖̀͋̎ͅw̴̢͇͙̥̞̗͚͖̝̜̯͖̙̜͑a̷̻̚ỵ̴͖̝͂̄̽̔̓̋͗ͅs̶̡̻̼̯̖̱͕̩̠͇͙̽ ̸̫͓͔̣̲̹̬̣̝̘͓̝͔͂̈̓̾̌̿̓̈́͂͜͝b̶̨̛̥̟͎̰̻̱̗̖͖͗͛̎̊̿͝ǘ̸̦̟̮̯͒͛͂̋͒̚ṛ̶̡̧̛̖̫̱͈̪̃́̃͛̍̅̈̚͜͜͜ͅṅ̶̨̮̼̩͊͌̓̉̊͋̀̽ ̷̩̯̟̱̲͎͉̣̲̀̅̊͑̌͜t̶̹̹̠̜͚̯͖̜̣͆͆̉̎̎͂̏̈͜͝h̷̘̯̻͖͈̺̓̓̀́͠ͅè̴̢̡͓͚͇͎̖̭̦̘̀̾͐̅̓̐̓͑́̚͝͝͝͠m̴̞͉̦͙̝͎̤̫̳̄́̀͂̄̇͝͝͝
The shadow always there whispered in their ears.
No. Esther didn't want to burn them. They didn't want to hurt the other gembound that had helped take down that strange thing! They could feel their fur catch flame, and that made the shadow dissipate. Someone yelled something about not breathing in the stuff that came off of the bear-golem, and Esther took a long experimental breath.
Nothing happened.
Why were they so scared if nothing was happening? Or was Esther just too powerful for whatever it was to take proper root in their lungs? Whatever it was, was it dangerous for the other gembounds? It had to be - why else would they be so scared? Maybe they should try to help.
D̷̡̝̬̳͎͓͙̩̦̂͋̏͘̕ȍ̵̢̘̼̗̥͚̤̲̜͈̒̎̐̂͛̅̚͝n̸̺̽̾́́̔̆͐̉̈͝'̴̡̧̢̧̦͍̻͓̲͇̗͉̬͔͒͒̔̅̽͐͘̕͠ͅt̸̻̺͙̙̣͙̯̳̔͋̔͘ ̵̧̛̱̱̪̗͔͗͒̃̅̑̊̉͝͝͝h̶̡͓̽̆̉̊͂͛̎̏͋͝e̷̢̺̺̝̠̭͍̒͌̈́̐̀͋͂̀̂̀̍͗̚͜͜͠l̴̨̘̝̖̫̦̮͍̖͈̼̒̎͆̑̅̃̿́́̈́͗̾ͅͅp̵̢̻̜̖̙̼̟̦͍͍͔̬̽̀̌̐͌́̾͜.̴̡͙͕̳͚̦̼̳̼̘̩̜̍̑̌̉ ̶̢̢̛̘͖͉̫̮̱̤̺͇̏̈̒͂͒͂͗͋͒͗͘͜͝W̸̧̥̩̜̲̬̿̓̎̃̒́̀̑̒̇̂̉a̶̡̬͉̺͚̩̫̦̖̝͙̎͛͜ͅt̵̡̩͈͎͚͖͖̟̙͈̪̠̬͕̿̅̆͗̈͋̊̅̿̽͝c̷̤̹͕̥͉̳̹͓͈̘̿̾̇̀͂̈́̅̓̊͋͠ͅḥ̴̛͓̯̙̒͂͂̔̀̃̓̍͘͠ ̴̯̗̠̺̣̬̤̘̟̊̆̋͛̚͜ṭ̵̢̳̗͓̙̻͕̪̺̞͛̈́̅̏̐͑̂̾̀̂͠͝h̸̢̤̘͉͎͈̮͙͔̻͐̈́͆e̸̡̥̱̳̙̠̓̂̋͂̒͋͂̄̊͘͜ ̷͕̯̭̜̦̺̰͍̈́̑̋̽͆̿̅͑̍͋̂̂͘̚̚c̷̢̨̣͎̯̦͖̺̰͚͕͍͈̈́̏̔ͅh̴͖̪̤̩̋͊͆͋̋̔͜͠ä̵̡̛̘̲̜̖̮̲̩͆͗̉͗͒͑̓̍́̔̚ő̵̧͎͉͔̩͔͍̤̎̈́̎̑̇̀͊͑͆̿̋͂̕͘ş̵̧̧͉̺̲͈͓̐͑̅̾̿͊̚͠.̴̗̪̟̜̆̈́
No. No they couldn't help, right? The chaos was a lot more fun to witness then to oppose.
Don't oppose the chaos. View it instead. Their eyebrows pulled together in a makeshift expression of pain. Except they were feeling no pain - from the fire, sure. But it was nothing compared to the cold their own fire burned. That their own body created to slowly tear itself apart. Esther couldn't complain, though, since something in their head
liked that pain. Something up there wanted them to try it again - the fire. To see if it would warm them. Except they were already warm, flames seething at their fur and turning it into a charred-black color. It crackled out, though, not long after.
The gembounds were still running around in fear.
Parts of the fur on their legs were charred black, around the scales, a normal thing for them to have there. If anything, the fur never returned to the right color, from them constantly burning it themselves and their body catching flame on its own. They decided they would try to help the others despite the little thing in their head demanding they don't.
Draconic wings lifted, and then flapped in an attempt to at least help
someone