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She never trusted anyone, never allowed anyone close enough to try, but she felt a profound certainty that Herrick was telling her the truth.

Up to now, he had never lied to her and had always been straightforward with her about everything.

Somewhere along their journey, Maude had begun to trust this stranger, unfamiliar as the feeling was.

She didn’t know how she felt about that .

She opened her mouth to say the words she never thought she would ever say to another person, “Okay, I’ll trust you.

We’ll go to the Knotted Caverns and see if these rumors are right.

I can’t promise more than that because if these rumors are false, I have to go back to Logi. I can’t remain out here too long.”

Herrick gave her a curious look, opening his mouth to ask her what she meant, but Maude only shook her head.

She couldn’t tell him why she needed to go back to Logi, what would happen if she didn’t.

She walked away from the fire they were sharing and sat down in a patch of grass in the oasis, facing the setting sun in the west. Maude wondered if the Flame Soldiers were still tracking her, their group, or Hakon after his hasty escape from the city.

She knew they would be leaving this small oasis as soon as the night had fallen, opting to continue their travels in the darkness of the new moon that would rise tonight so they could travel in relative darkness.

The temperatures would drop to almost freezing this far into the desert overnight, so she chose to enjoy the last few rays of the warm sun on her skin in solitude before she headed back to the group.

Thoughts of Flame Soldiers tracking them plagued Maude as she closed her eyes, unable to avoid her past replaying in her mind any longer.

The cover of the densely packed city of Logi was a blessing to Maude as she had spent the last ten years on the run and in hiding. The real reason she had never strayed further than the scattered villages surrounding the city was because of the guilt and anger that now hung heavily in her heart.

In the early years after her escape, she had scaled the walls of the city and hidden in the small villages. The people of these towns were so kind to her despite her horrid face and beggar appearance. They had offered her shelter, food, and kind words as she passed from town to town .

It wasn't until she had stayed too long in one town, Brastone, and had gotten too comfortable amongst the people who lived there that she realized how dangerous she was. Maude had stayed there for an entire month before the Flame Soldiers had come to the town and pillaged it.

She had been fighting off the soldiers with the people of the town, but one of the commanders had taken a young boy hostage.

He said that they were only looking for her and that the boy would die if she did not lay down her weapons and surrender herself.

Maude then understood why the people had such disdain for the rulers of this kingdom, why they hated the soldiers who were supposed to keep them safe.

These soldiers didn’t care about the towns and lives they destroyed, while their ruler never lifted a finger to stop them. They had run unchecked for too long and had no interest in stopping now.

Maude had laid down her weapons and kept her hands up in surrender, motioning for the townspeople to disperse so no one would get hurt.

Two soldiers had gripped her arms, binding them behind her back, but the commander laughed and slit the boy's throat anyway.

She had never felt such shock before and had reacted without thought, only her raging emotions that spurred her on.

She had become a living flame, melting through her bindings and lifting her hand to direct her fire to the commander.

At the time, however, Maude had only been seventeen and untrained.

In her rage, she had flung out too much of her galder at once, burning the entire village to the ground at the injustice.

She had fainted on the spot from the amount of fire she had channeled.

When she came to and saw the destruction she had wrought on the innocents of Brastone, Maude knew her galder was not a gift but a curse.

She fled the ruins of that town and hid herself in the slums of Logi, where the Flame Soldiers would never suspect her to be .

From that day on, Maude swore always to keep herself under control. She kept herself distant from anyone she could hurt and never willingly showed her galder to the world again.

Maude wondered if the Allfather was punishing her for her carelessness and cowardice.

She had run away from her life when she rejected her fate and had kept running until she ran into Herrick in The Broken Bones Pub that night in the pits.

Maude wanted nothing to do with the fate the Grand Soothsayer had given her and marked on her flesh, and it seemed the Allfather did not approve.

She opened her eyes to see the sun had nearly set on the horizon, casting the desert in bright reds and oranges that looked like flames on the sands.

Her galder reacted to the sight, wanting to contribute to the beauty of the moment, but Maude knew her flames could only do horrible things.

She shoved the power deep inside of her and smothered the embers that glowed in the depths of her soul, where all the worthwhile things about her had been smothered as well.