Invitation

Alexis struggled to withstand the mesmerising allure of the dancing reflections.
This might be her last chance to back out.
But… she had made up her mind, and backing out wasn’t her strong suit anyway.

So she took another deep breath to collect herself, and finally carefully reached out to touch.

The moment her fingers made contact with the hammer’s smooth surface, the world around her seemed to fade to a black void, leaving her blind.

She felt dizzy and disoriented, lost in the darkness for an undefinable amount of time. But then there was change. Like a lazy brook, there came an orange glow into existence, slowly flowing around her in a half circle. Magma, she realized soon.
The glow intensified, illuminating her surroundings. She seemed to be in some kind of natural stone cavern. But right in front of her, there was a large stone statue, depicting a muscular older man with long hair and beard, clad in a kind of toga. In his hands, he held a hammer.

“Fosia.”
Alexis whispered in realisation.

As if that acknowledgment had triggered something, she became aware of a… powerful presence for the lack of better words. She wasn’t alone here.

Alexis gathered her resolve. She noticed she had … ‘arrived’ her half kneeling on the stone floor and stood up to full height.

She studied the statue’s face for a while before raising her voice.

“Well. Here I am. So what do you want with me?”

For a few moments, there was nothing. But suddenly a fountain of magma erupted out of the stream at her side, making her take a step back and raise her arm to protect her face. Yet, there was no searing heat to accompany the outbreak and as she dared to look again, the magma seemed to form a strange sort of curtain. And on that curtain, images began to form. Intrigued, Alexis stepped closer. The Fang. Fiery streams of lava, besieged by ice and snow. A shift. A woman, speaking to an assembly of people, and before a massive statue of Fosia. Holding out her hands. A flame in one. An icicle in the other. Just holding them next to each other, a bit apart, so one would not harm the other. Alexis watched the assembly turn on her, grabbing her. In the next image there was the same woman, at the edge of the mountains, facing a large dessert. She began walking, and soon sand whirled up by strong winds obscured her fading form. There was something accompanying that scene. An emotion that was not her own.
It felt like regret.

The image shifted again. Fang, now fully covered in ice. The hammer, breaking apart. But then fused together again. A shadowy figure, taking hold of it. Fang again. But now there was both fire and ice, existing next to each other.

The images faded, and the curtain of magma settled back into the stream.