Lisa teleported west, walking through bitterly cold winds for several hours before the clouds finally broke into fluffy white patches, revealing bursts of bright sunlight behind them. The wind dropped but the air remained cooler than she would have liked.
After a time the rocky ground gave way to thick brown undergrowth that was covered in long, sharp thorns. It was knee high in places. She had to step carefully to avoid getting scratched through her trousers. A gentle rain fell for much of the morning, making the ground damp beneath her feet. Her shoes sank into soft mud, making it difficult to keep moving her feet.
Riser walked in silence beside her, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. They were both tired but they didn't dare rest until they had put some distance between themselves and the Ice Cathedral. The lords would be looking for them now. Ibex had betrayed their position. They needed to keep moving in case Malkor tried to find them again.
Gradually the sun won out and the showers receded. The thick brown undergrowth gave way to a thinner covering of grass that was much easier to stand on.
'This should be far enough,' Riser said.
Lisa started to protest but he shook his head, holding out his hand to forestall her.
'No place is safe here. We have to rest eventually. If not now then when?'
She wanted to argue with him but she knew in her heart that he was right. She was tired. Her legs were cold and stiff and her stomach had been rumbling for several hours.
'I suppose we can't light a fire,' she said with sadness in her voice.
Riser glanced towards the horizon. 'Not here.'
'It was so warm in the caves.'
'It was.'
'And now I'm frozen again.'
'Maybe I can warm the food if I can work out how.'
Lisa slumped down on the ground, resting her back against a large rock behind her. 'That would be nice.'
'I'll see what I can do.'
Riser deactivated his exoskeleton and sat on the ground beside her. He turned to rummage in the containers on its back and before long he had a bunch of supplies in a small steel pot and the Refractor Orb back in his hands.
'If I get this wrong, I'll blow the food apart,' he said with a rye smile.
Lisa chewed her lip. 'You'd better get it right then.'
Riser sat cross-legged, frowning with the Refractor Orb in his lap. A small yellow flame flickered at its core as he gritted his teeth, staring at the steel pot in front of him.
Nothing happened at first. Lisa wanted to ask him what he was doing but she held her tongue as the sweet smell of roast vegetables reached her nose.
'It's working,' she said.
Riser nodded with a solemn expression as he focussed on the steaming pot in front of him. After a few minutes, the pot started bubbling and she reached towards it, trying to warm her hands, but Riser slapped them away.
'Hey!'
'Don't!' he said.
'I'm cold. I'm trying to warm my hands.'
'If you put your hand between the Refractor Orb and the pot you'll get burned.'
Lisa frowned, shuffling on her haunches. 'There's no need to be so rude about it.'
'I don't want to cook your hands, that's all.'
'Okay. Is it ready yet?'
'Just a minute.'
The pot bubbled and the smell of fresh vegetables grew gradually stronger around them.
'That's hot enough,' Lisa said. 'We don't want to burn our tongues.'
Riser nodded. 'I think it's done.'
'Let's eat then. I'm famished.'
Riser stirred the pot with a bent metal spoon before sharing the contents between two small wooden bowls.
'Where did you get those from?' Lisa said.
'Preya packed them with the maps.'
'She thought of everything.'
Lisa took her bowl and the bent metal spoon that Riser handed to her and ate greedily, trying not to spill any of it on her bearskin coat. The hot carrots tasted so sweet in her mouth, but anything would have been delicious after going hungry for so long. The stew defrosted her stomach, spreading warmth through her body in no time. The potatoes had crispy skins and a spicy flavour that she hadn't tasted before.
'It's delicious,' Lisa said.
Riser nodded. 'At least we don't have to eat mice for a while.'
Lisa pulled a face, remembering their meals with Oliver. They had done what was necessary to survive, but raw mouse didn't taste good at all. Even Oliver's woarang paste hadn't helped much. She suspected it had been more about process than flavour.
They ate in silence, savouring every mouthful until there was nothing left but two empty bowls. They took turns scraping the last of the food from the steel pot with their spoons until that was empty too. Lisa still felt hungry but she told herself she had eaten enough.
'Are you okay?' Riser said.
Lisa nodded, leaning back against the rock behind her. She could see scattered trees in the distance and steam rising from the patchy grass around them as the sun's warmth finally gradually dried it out.
'I was just thinking about my father,' she said. 'I wish I'd had a chance to know him better. I was so young when he went away, and so much has happened since then.'
'I didn't know my father much either.'
'What happened to him?'
'He went away too.'
'Where?'
Riser shrugged. 'I don't know.'
Lisa cupped her hands in her lap as she sat cross-legged on the ground. 'I was thinking about something else too.'
'What?'
'All this trouble is because of me. Malkor wants me dead because I'm a sky lord.'
'There was trouble here before you came,' Riser said. 'What about the Iridium Wars?'
'The war started because of the sky lords.'
'But that wasn't you. You weren't even here.'
Lisa stared into the distance, resting her hands on her knees. She felt responsible for so many things. Maybe the world would have been better off without her in it? Maybe her parents would still be together? Maybe the people of the Orange Zone would be safe even now? 'If I go to him, maybe he'll stop all this?'
'Don't be stupid, Lisa. He'll kill you.'
'Maybe then he'll leave the city alone.'
'Which city?'
'Cinnamon City.'
'Does he mean to attack it?'
'That's what all this is about. Lord Hades created the Dome Shield to keep Malkor out. Now that he's dead, and Malkor knows I'm a sky lord, I can't see this going well for any of us.'
'You don't know what he's going to do. If he was going to attack the city he would have done it by now.'
Ibex knew something about it. I shared her memories. She wasn't privy to his plans but she knew all about his intentions. He hates sky lords, and he hates the domed city. He waited centuries to get Lord Hades out of the way. Now that his path is clear he can do whatever he wants.
'If that's his aim, he'll do it,' Riser said. 'Killing you won't set his mind at peace. He's a war lord, born for killing. He's not going to make a deal and keep his word.'
Lisa frowned, wrapping her arms around her bearskin coat as she gazed at the puffy white clouds overhead. 'What do you know about the lords?'
Riser shrugged. 'Not much. Only what I've heard. War lords are the worst, aren't they?'
Lisa nodded.
'Then Malkor must be the worst of all.'