Hours later, on a bench in the middle of the abbey's garden, Aria looked up from her tear-stained hands to see Talyndra smiling sympathetically. She was holding a newly made leaf dress.
"You must be getting cold," Talyndra said, gesturing at Aria's still-naked body.
Aria glanced down. "I have been cold for hundreds of years," she said flatly. "How do you think Emily feels right now? All because of me."
"Don't say that," Talyndra snapped. Annoyed, she grabbed Aria's chin and forced eye contact. "Emily wanted to break the curse more than anything. And now we are going to repay her by freeing her from the Nightmoss. Not by moping around and blaming ourselves."
"But how?"
Talyndra put aside the leaf dress and produced a small circular band made of bronze. Its surface was riven with cracks, and it appeared to have been stuck together by tree gum. "You dropped this earlier," she said. "The other statues—uh, people who used to be statues—gathered up the other parts, before they fled. We did our best to put it back together."
"The Bronzeband!" Aria exclaimed, receiving it with shaking hands.
"You taught Emily to use it," Talyndra said. "I've no time for artifacts, and Dorian's a spellbreaker, not a spellcaster. Sigrid only knows how to use her axe. You have to take it. We can use it to help Emily."
Without saying a word, Aria solemnly slid the Bronzeband over her right hand and up her arm until it stopped just before her shoulder. Closing her eyes, she took a series of deep breaths, her chest rising and falling. All around her, the earth began to stir.
"Yes!" Talyndra cried, clapping as small rocks levitated all around them.
The rocks wavered, then fell to the ground all at once. Aria opened her eyes. "The damage has reduced its power, made it erratic," Aria said. "And I am not the wielder that Emily has become. But I believe this will help us. Thank you, Talyndra."
Aria's eyes held a new sense of purpose, of determination. "I think I know how to help Emily," she said.
"Then I'm all ears, because we've got nothing," Talyndra replied.
"During the ritual, I noticed the Nightmoss creep up Emily's leg, from the Bronzeband. But it only started when the Stoneshell Fire went out. It... seemed to get stuck when it encountered Azure Essence. But as the ritual went on, as the power built, the Azure Essence seemed to... fade. That made the Nightmoss move faster."
Talyndra nodded vigorously. "Yes, I remember! I was terrified—I tried to get one of the monks to do something, but she told me that they couldn't stop the ritual."
"It would have been suicide to stop such powerful magic halfway," said Aria. "Trust me. But... do you remember when Emily noticed the Nightmoss? Her mouth was moving, as if she were talking to someone, and then she dropped to a crouch and started tearing at her ankle."
"Then she burned it!"
Aria nodded. "Yes. The Nightmoss was destroyed by Stoneshell Fire, at least partially."
"It can't be destroyed any other way that I've found," said Talyndra. "And we've spent hours poring over everything we can find about the Nightmoss. If Althea knows anything more, she's not telling. Keeps muttering about prophecies and sacrifices. The rest of the monks are no use either."
Aria stood up abruptly. "Nightmoss can be slowed by Azure Essence and destroyed by Stoneshell Fire." She looked Talyndra in the eye with a newfound intensity. "Fetch as much Azure Essence as you can carry and meet me at the Stone Circle." She flexed her fingers, and stones rose from the ground and started to swirl around her. "And hurry."
Then, with a curt nod, Aria set off at a sprint, bare feet hardly touching the ground, her long blonde hair flowing behind her.
"Wait," Talyndra shouted. "Don't you want... this dress?"
Aria didn't hear her.
At the top of the hill, Emily stood and surveyed her work. The gray monoliths of the Stone Circle were now inky black, entirely covered by writhing Nightmoss, which spread out from the bottom of her dress like a gargantuan living carpet. Outside the Stone Circle, the Nightmoss continued to spread over the grass and rocks and bushes, and was starting to move up the trunks of some of the trees.
Emily felt warm, comfortable, and safe. She was all wrapped up in a big blanket, the most comfortable blanket she had ever had. And the blanket was shaped like a dress, which left only her face uncovered. If anyone were to look at Emily now, they would see a lady, powerful and dignified, her outfit pleasingly shaped but entirely concealing. No longer would she be forced to parade around naked for the amusement and titillation of statues and merfolk and spirits and dwarves, of anyone at all. Never again would she let any person or cruel twist of fate rob her of her right to her own image.
And soon the whole world would know this peace, this joy, this comfort. For just as the Nightmoss had given her this gift, so too would it gift the whole world. No one would need to know shame or discomfort, cold or embarrassment. They would all be safe and happy.
Hopefully, they would not try to resist, like that woman did. Emily didn't like that woman, but the reason why didn't seem important now, because she had decided she loved everyone. She loved everyone and longed to share the Nightmoss with them.
Suddenly, there was a rustling in the bushes. Instantly, Emily turned her attention to the source of the noise. A tall blonde woman stepped out from behind the bush, totally naked. Emily felt her pain. She had to help her. Nightmoss surged up at once to cover the woman's shame.
The earth rumbled and jagged rocks shot from the ground, piercing and separating Emily's Nightmoss. It did not hurt, but it pushed the moss away from the woman, who was holding her hands out in front of herself and seemed to be concentrating intently. Perhaps she was dissociating, willing herself away from this scene. Emily sympathized. But the flying rocks were making it difficult for her to help the woman. Did she know this woman? There was a familiarity to her that Emily couldn't quite place. Regardless, she had a duty to help her.
Emily tried harder and harder to cover the woman's poor, exposed body with Nightmoss, but the very earth seemed to thwart her efforts. The ends of her dress were constantly shredded to ribbons by jagged rocks, and suddenly there were vines shooting up from the ground as well, making even more of a mess. If Emily didn't know better, she would think that this woman was fighting her.
But no! It was the green one, from earlier. Emily spied the small wood elf out of the corner of her eye. She was controlling the vines and must have been responsible for the stone as well. Emily loved her, as she loved all things, but she would have to be dealt with, as a mother disciplines a child.
Mustering all her power, Emily caused the Nightmoss to surge, strangling all the vines at once. The green one let out a pained cry and crumpled to the ground. Emily smiled, turning her attention back to the naked woman. She would help her now, personally.
The Nightmoss swept Emily forward from the Stone Circle, as though she were a boat on a swift tide. Almost at once, she stood nose to nose with the naked blonde woman. There was fear in the woman's eyes. Smiling sadly, Emily embraced her.
The Nightmoss that formed Emily's dress squirmed and spread, the moss around her neck separating and curling around the blonde woman. Emily felt the air on the back of her neck, and then on her upper back, as she gave her own dress to the poor naked woman. She would make another one. There was plenty of Nightmoss.
The blonde woman screamed, and there was a loud splash behind Emily. She gasped, feeling like her head and chest had been dunked in freezing water. The whole world seemed to have been tinted... blue.
"Aria?" Emily asked. "Aria! What's happening to you?!" She had awoken from a strange dream to see her friend's face covered in writhing black moss.
"Burn it!" Aria screamed. "Use the Stoneshell!"
Emily tore the moss from Aria's face and lit a fire in her hand, immolating it instantly. She tore more moss from Aria, burning it, until Aria stumbled back and collapsed against a tree, Nightmoss-free.
"It's everywhere!" Emily cried.
"Burn it all!" shouted Dorian's voice behind her head. She turned to see him holding an empty, upturned bucket, dripping with glowing Azure Essence. She glanced down to see that the substance now coated her body down to her stomach. Below that, Nightmoss covered her.
With a scream, Emily lit her legs on fire, destroying the moss instantly. Azure Essence continued to drip down her body as she turned her attention to the surrounding area, attacking the moss that hugged the monoliths of the Stone Circle with gusto. Jets of fire exploded across the scene, and the black moss turned orange and disappeared.
When Emily's rage and fear subsided, the hilltop was denuded of both Nightmoss and foliage, resembling a barren wasteland in the middle of a drought. Seeing no more moss, she dropped to her knees, panting and exhausted.
She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up at Aria's beaming face. "Once again, you did it, Emily," Aria said, pulling her up into a hug. She saw Dorian and Talyndra's smiling, weary faces, and they too joined the hug. Everyone stood, still and silent, for a long time, in the rays of the setting sun.
"What happened?" Emily asked at last, still clinging tightly to Aria. "I feel like I'm missing time. One moment, you gave me your gown, and the next thing I saw was your face covered in Nightmoss. And it's already evening."
"You were being controlled by the Nightmoss," said Aria. "Breaking the curse granted it an opening to enter the Stoneshell."
Emily glanced down at her necklace, resting against her blue chest. There was a dark black spot at the center of the seashell pendant. "It's still there!" she screamed.
"Yes," said Aria sadly, hugging her tighter. "But it's contained. The Azure Essence will slow its spread."
"That's how we rescued you," said Dorian, his lips tickling Emily's ear as he spoke. "Poured a whole bucket of the stuff over your head."
Emily pulled away from the hug and clutched at her pendant. She summoned fire to her palms, blasting the necklace over and over, but the black spot remained. "It's not going away!"
Aria placed a hand on her shoulder. "Nightmoss is a powerful force, inextricably linked with the Stoneshell. We will need help to destroy it."
"Do you think Althea can help?"
"I wouldn't trust her," Dorian interjected. "She was no use after the ritual."
Talyndra spat. "The bitch seemed almost happy about it. She told us that you'd sacrificed yourself for the statues, and that was the end of it." She tapped the hilt of her twin swords. "I almost chopped her head off then and there."
"We should go to Lirethel," said Dorian. "My mentor lives there. If he can't help us fix this, no one will be able to."
Aria chuckled, glancing sidelong at Emily. "It is as I said to you in Castle Elid. All the greatest magical scholars live in Lirethel."
Emily thought of Evangeline's words, of the prospect of returning home. Of the possibility that doing so would be the only way to be rid of the Nightmoss. She shivered in the cold night air. "We... should go to Lirethel," she said. "But first, Aria and I need some clothes."
"Err, yes," Aria said, a shiver running down her body. "It's been nice to feel the air on my skin again, but now I think I'd like to feel some fabric."
"Urgh, fabric," said Talyndra. "Why would you want that when you could wear leaves?" Reaching behind a rock, she produced two simple leaf dresses.
Emily and Aria thanked Talyndra and each took a dress in hand while Dorian gazed respectfully at the sky. Aria slid hers over her head, marvelling at the sensation of the leaves against her skin. "I can see your point, Talyndra."
But just as Emily pulled hers straight, it was engulfed by flames.
"Emily!" Talyndra snapped. "How many more of my dresses are you going to burn?!"
"It wasn't me!" Emily cried. "It must be the nightmoss!" She gripped the Stoneshell pendant, pulled it over her head, and threw it on the ground.
Aria gasped, but seemed to relax upon realizing she could still move. The statue curse was truly broken—Aria and the other statues were no longer dependent on Emily wearing the Stoneshell.
Lying in the grass, the Stoneshell pendant sprouted with thick, black moss. The moss spread like water, out from the center of the pendant, digging into the surrounding earth.
Emily screamed and tried to blast it with fire, but nothing came from her hands. The moss continued to spread. Talyndra jumped back as it nipped at her feet. "Put it back on!" she screamed.
Seeing the fear in Talyndra's eyes, Emily summoned the Stoneshell back to herself, almost without thinking. With a wet pop, it separated from the Nightmoss, soared into the air, and landed around her neck. Then a wave of fire immolated the moss.
The Stoneshell now sat inert, resting against the blue Azure Essence coating Emily's bare chest, with only a small black spot in the middle to indicate the presence of the Nightmoss.
"You're going to have to keep it on to stop that stuff from spreading," Dorian said, handing Emily his tunic. "Maybe it responds like that to leaves. Like how it attacked Talyndra's vines."
Talyndra winced at the memory.
"M-maybe," Emily said, pulling the tunic over her head.
It was instantly incinerated.
"Huh," Talyndra said.
Emily's shoulders slumped. "I think I can see where this is going..." she said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"It seems that the Nightmoss wants to be the only thing covering you," said Dorian, politely looking at the freshly risen moon. "And you, uh, can't let that happen, on any account."
Emily sighed deeply.
"Don't worry, Emily, we'll find someone to help us in Lirethel," Aria said reassuringly.
"How far away is that?"
"Three weeks' journey by foot," said Dorian, pointing down the hill.
"Three weeks," Emily repeated. "Three weeks, and the only thing I can wear is... Azure Essence." She looked down at her paint-splotched body.
There was a long, awkward silence.
"We'd better get walking then," said Emily, placing one bare, blue foot in front of the other. In one way or another, she had been preparing for something like this ever since she first arrived in Thessolan.