She walked away from her encounter with Aleera, the king of the night. How could she have gone so long without knowing what pain really felt like? She thought the inner turmoil over the lack of her name was pain - she had never felt so wrong.

The blood on the back of her neck had dried by this point, and so had her tears. Could she fix the wound on the back of her neck? She couldn't even touch it, couldn't see how bad it actually was. She had never been hurt before, not like this, and she had no idea if she even could use her magic to heal it.

She paused, surveying her surroundings, shivering. This tunnel was dark and scary, with twisted forms in the rock, the raw empty air, the sense of dread. She shouldn't be here, as if the shadows that king had swallowed haunted this place.

She swallowed nervously. She was alone and in the dark, and it was starting to get to her already fraying nerves. She tried to call up her light to dispel this feeling of wrong.

With a few false starts, she poured more magic into the working than she normally did, and it created a powerfully bright ball of light that hung over her head, chasing away the haunting shadows. It didn't make her feel any better. She wanted to keep going, to run, she wanted to stay and heal her wounds. Her throat was dry. What if Aleera came back in their tormented hatred?

She kept walking.

"This is how I speak."

She pursed her lips. The back of her neck really hurt - maybe she could try to fix it while she moved? The further she walked, the better, right? She didn't regret what happened with Aleera, she didn't hate Aleera at all - she regretted she couldn't have spent more time with the wolf, really understand them, maybe calm them down. That wolf needed someone to trust, and she just ran away like a coward.

And still, she ran away. She stopped, the little sun above her bobbing like a fish in water. If Aleera was following her, she would face them with the same bravery she had before.

With a deep breath, she sat down, right in the middle of the tunnel. She would swallow her fear and conquer it, just like she had with Aleera. if she could face the king, she could face the whispers of its shadows.

She called up her magic, testing the waters. She knew the right way to bring light to world, to bring it out, and she knew how to bring it inside her to make herself glow, but...could she use her light to weave herself back together? She bit her lip, feeling nervous despite herself. The possibility of backfire sit low in her stomach.

She gathered herself and her magic together, searching for some way to apply it to herself, but it was like seeing this completely grey canvas before her with such a lack of visual depth, and trying to pour the magic in such a way that it would flow to the right place. She hesitated too much, and she poured almost nothing at all. Where was the right riverbed?

She scolded herself internally - there was no way to know where the riverbed lay unless she tried and see where the magic trickled. Just- just try, she told herself. Don't be scared.

The dark and the emptiness were both starting to feel oppressive, and inside her, she felt like Aleera would show up at any second.

Don't be afraid.

"This is how I speak."

Every time she swallowed, her throat felt drier than before. She was scared. She couldn't help but be scared. She was hurt, alone, and in the dark, trying to stitch herself together.

But she took another deep breath. The sun above her gave her some, just a tiny amount, of relief. She had managed to make that come into life under duress, and so would she with this new spell.

Her imagination was starting to get to her in this tunnel. She could hear the wisps try to pull her into another dark story. She denied them, and poured more magic upon the canvas, breathing out with a shudder.

It was shaky, and it was hesitant, and she couldn't help that, but she directed the magic to the wound on the back of her neck, and a pale glow came from the area, a glow almost washed out under the light of her sun. But she encouraged it, and congratulated the glow - her neck was already starting to feel better. It was a good start.

When did she sit down? She wondered. She was starting to feel really rather tired. But she couldn't stop now.

"This is how I speak."

This light that surrounded her the delicate working that tried to stitch herself together, surrounded by the dark - this feeling, this moment, would stay with her with haunting amaranthine clarity. The silence was smothering her, but she kept it away with her diligence. She would keep trying here, and she would conquer her fear.

Her breath was coming harshly now and she felt her bones become so tired, but she made the glow brighter, and her wound was almost closed by now, she could feel it. Just keep going, she was almost there.

It didn't matter that the shadows were waiting to pounce on her the second her magic failed, as her imagination told her. It didn't matter that Aleera might show up again in all their magnificent mad glory and take out their insecurity and pain on her. It only fueled her to keep going.

"This is how I speak."

The sun above her was starting to fade with her focus on healing herself, and she could almost hear the wisps laughing at her, kept at bay because of the light."No," She murmured in the choking silence. "I'm not afraid."

Again. Don't be afraid. She took a long, shuddering breath.

It was just so hard - she was tired, she was alone - but the last of the wound disappeared under the glow, knitting itself together. She managed it. Her magic pulled her through. She shakily laughed, the sound echoing down the tunnel, too loud and eerie, and laughed louder in defiance of it. Take that, shadows! Take that, oh king! She was strong too!

"This is how I speak."

She stood again, ignoring the hollow feeling in her bones, the smell of dried blood, the wisps that dared her to enter the dark. She was strong. She could take the king's teeth and emerge victorious, and she didn't allow the fear to swallow her whole.

She swallowed the cold air, smiling at nothing, moving slowly, the diminished sun following her diligently. "I won't let this hurt me. I won't let you win. You are nothing."

The wisps were silent, and she could feel their despairing disapproval.

"I won't let this change me." She continued, each step too loud to her ears. "I walk in the light, and I always will. I am better than this. I am the same as I was yesterday, only better."

The wisps then laughed at her. Who are you trying to convince?

She didn't reply.

[Exit Clover]

"This is how I speak."