My Flame

Ulv was on the roof of a cool little hut, in a cool little village. It wasn't a big place, nor a very advanced place, but it was the home of Leoric Mains, an old friend of hers. Once a brother, but no longer. Still, the people of Wulin had enough pride not to drop people they had fought and drunk along side for the loss of ability in their specific art. Leoric had called her for food, drink and women, and Ulv was not going to refuse that kind of invite. But, that was only the first course.

The second course, was that of the Cannanites, impossibly durable cockroaches that just didn't know when to die, had tried to buy the village and all the people. Once refused, the parting words had been ominous, and Leoric reached out to Ulv, wanting her perspective. And so now, Ulv was laid on a rooftop, waiting for the Cannanites to come back. She wondered how they would come, but that was mostly just curiosity. There weren't many these days that could handle Ulv, and Cannan's legacy was certainly not one of the groups that held that vaulted title.

She heard them before they arrived, as they had deployed in force. Gunships and dropships aplenty, it seemed Leoric really intimidated them. Which was a thing to smile, but the thing not to smile was the massive civilian casualties there were about to happen as the gunships strafed the village. Couldn't outrun jet engines either. This was going to go bad. Going to go really bad. Unless there was some way to get everyone out of the village...

"You are my flame, no? You hold my desires, and manifest what I want? You, who sees my goal to it's bitter end. Can you aid me now? Can you take my desire and see it manifest in this world?" Ulv asked, holding it tight and wishing most fervently, before letting it out into the world. She needed to get everyone out. And with that need in mind, her flame swept through the city, cocooning everyone in it's embrace and whispering sweet words in it's ear. Every being that it touched was given a choice of freedom, of escape. And most who were present took it, not being one to fight. Only a scant handful of fighters and Leoric remained, the rest were brought through sympathetic resonance to Minatumi Harbour, the most powerful cradle of the Resolve Flame on Earth. Safe, and away from the coming storm.

With the civilians rescued, the coming storm did not do very much. Cultivators fast enough to escape the firing line of the gunships, and then Ulv chased them down so they did not get a second. Though the village itself was devastated by the weaponry, there was no real loss of life as there would have been otherwise. And once the gunships had been ripped apart by Ulv, the dropships dumped their cargo and were also destroyed by a few choice Balas. Leoric and his men took out the chaff, and Ulv dealt with the Scylla, ending the attack pretty quickly.

"Don't think we can stay here now. We have been pushing them back, and they haven't had as much to throw around recently, as you just saw. But they still have enough to make a mess, and you won't always be here to help us" Leoric spoke after the end of the fight.
"No problems. Just come to my city. Nobody will mess with you there, and I got great support if anyone tries" Ulv's reply made Leoric a little nervous, this had been his home since birth. But, new roots were never to be refused, and so Ulv got a few new friends.