Fifteen minutes ter, Emily stood in the abbey's courtyard, preparing to teleport, with her companions, as well as Abbess Althea and Brother Thaddeus arranged in a circle around her, watching expectantly.

  "All you have to do is say the name of our abbey and... light yourself on fire, so to speak," said Althea. "I am sure you have already learned that the Stoneshell's fire cannot hurt you."

  Emily nodded and closed her eyes, taking a few deep breaths as she prepared to tap into a whole new area of the Stoneshell's magic. Fmes appeared on her fingertips, and then spread down her hands. As usual, she felt nothing more from them than a slight warmth.

  "Teleportation is quick burst magic," added Aria, side-eyeing Althea for usurping her role as Emily's magical instructor. "Put everything you have into it all at once."

  "Okay, here goes," said Emily. The fmes surrounding her hands grew in size and intensity. She took a deep breath in, then released it in a powerful shout. "Paja Abbey!"

  There was a powerful whooshing sound and everything in front of Emily's eyes went bright orange. She could hear faint cries from Talyndra and Dorian, but they sted only an instant. Then the light before her eyes faded, and she found herself staring out a sea of unknown, armed faces between shapeless robes and tonsures. Fire crackled in her ears.

  "It cannot be!"

  "It is!"

  "The prophecy!"

  "The bearer!"

  "The very image!"

  Emily stumbled forward, coughing. Though the fire did not burn her, her nose, mouth and eyes were full of soot, and she had to blink, rub her eyes, and cough several times before it dissipated. She was covered in ash, which she furiously brushed away from her skin.

  "She's just as beautiful in real life!"

  The ash, as Emily soon realized, was just about the only thing still covering her body. "Eep!" she squealed, rushing to cover herself from the staring eyes of the monks. The Stoneshell still hung around her neck, and she could feel the weight of the Bronzeband on her ankle. Bizarrely, the hair tie on her wrist appeared also to have survived the immotion. The rest of her traveling outfit had not.

  "Heiress of Evangeline, we kneel!" shouted one of the monks. At this, all of them fell to their knees and prostrated themselves before her, murmuring incoherently. At least their eyes were facing the floor now.

  "Um, thanks," said Emily, finding her words. "Could one of you, uh, get me something to wear?"

  "We are not worthy!" shouted one of the monks.

  "Not worthy! Not worthy!" echoed the others.

  "It is an unimaginable gift that I should have lived to see the heiress of Evangeline in flesh!" cried the hoarse voice of an aged monk near the back of the room, looking up from his prone position with watery eyes.

  Emily frowned, pressing her arms tighter against her breasts and crotch. She could feel heat rising to her cheeks. "Yes, yes, well, Evangeline's heiress is very happy to see you all too, but she really would like to be showing a lot less of that flesh right now."

  "The prophecy!"

  "The bearer!"

  "Unworthy!"

  In their extreme deference to Emily, the monks seemed incapable of hearing anything she said to them. Becoming annoyed, Emily stomped over to the closest monk and began tugging at his brown robe. "Please... let... me... have this!" she shouted at him, panting with exertion as she pulled to no avail. The monk remained rooted to the floor.

  A familiar itchy sensation arose in Emily's left ankle, beneath the Bronzeband. This time, it was accompanied by a warmth, which swiftly spread from her ankle, up her leg, and into her torso. She shivered as she felt a soft, slightly ticklish sensation against her skin.

  Just then, she heard the pitter-patter of light footfalls, paired with a familiar voice calling out her name. Emily looked up at the room's entrance archway as Talyndra made her appearance, panting slightly.

  "Emily! I've brought you some—oh, well, never mind then." Talyndra held out a pin gray dress, one of the many items of backup clothing she'd bought for Emily. "Where'd you get the leotard?"

  "Leotard?" Emily asked, her face a picture of confusion.

  "It looks good on you," Talyndra replied.

  Emily looked down at her body, which, surely enough, was now adorned by a jet-bck leotard made of tightly woven pnt fibres. It was form-fitting, accentuating the cinch in her waist and pushing up her breasts, but also marvelously comfortable.

  After a quick gnce over her shoulder to confirm that the outfit covered as much of her back as her front, Emily breathed a sigh of deep relief. "I, uh, seem to have learned how to magic up clothes," she said, smiling at Talyndra.

  "That's wonderful! But how?"

  Emily put a hand to her chin. "I'm not really sure. It just kind of happened. Right before you came in."

  "Will you still be wanting this dress?"

  Emily gnced down at her leotard again. "Yes," she replied, taking the dress from Talyndra. "Knowing my luck, this won't st very long!"

  "What's with these guys?" Talyndra asked, motioning to the monks who were still prostrating themselves before the Stoneshell fire, muttering incoherently to themselves.

  Emily slipped the dress over her head and smoothed it out before looking at Talyndra and shrugging. "They seemed really happy to see me."

  "In that state, any man would be!"

  Emily blushed.

  The monks continued to lie on the ground and mutter, taking no notice of Talyndra, nor any further notice of Emily.

  "We should get back to the others," Talyndra said. "They'll be happy to know your teleportation was a success."

  "I really ought to have guessed that it would involve burning my clothes off," Emily said wryly.

  Talyndra chuckled.

  "Hey, don't ugh! You're coming with me on the next teleport, remember! And those leaves are hardly fireproof."

  "R-right," Talyndra's face fell, and she nervously fingered a leaf in the hem of her dress.

  When they returned to the courtyard, Aria ran to Emily and wrapped her in a heavy stone embrace, while the others crowded around, commending her for a successful teleportation.

  "It was terrifying, watching you go up in smoke," said Dorian, csping one of Emily's hands as if to make sure she was really there. "I've never seen teleportation like that before."

  "That makes two of us," Emily replied. "And if you think watching is scary, try being the one lighting yourself on fire!"

  Dorian's gaze was unwavering, but the muscles in his face briefly seized with stress. "It has already been agreed that I will accompany you to the Azure Coast. So I'll get to try it soon enough."

  Emily pictured herself holding onto Dorian's forearms and shooting fmes across his body, immoting his clothes. This forced her to break eye contact with him, and she quickly put the thought out of her mind. Shimmerwood first, then the Azure Coast.

  Althea graciously invited the travelers to stay in the abbey's guest rooms for as long as they required. However, as the monks were in the middle of a fast, they would have to arrange their own meals. G Abbey, near Shimmerwood, was to be Emily's first destination, once she was comfortable with teleportation.

  As the sun began to set, Althea and Thaddeus excused themselves, and the travelers sat down on the courtyard wn for a light meal consisting of the final remnants of Dorian's cave rations. After the meal, Aria suggested that she and Emily conduct a magic practice session. The focus was to be teleportation. To ensure Emily learned how to teleport a companion, Talyndra was asked to assist.

  "There's no sense burning your clothes, so let's get them all off. You too, Talyndra," Aria instructed.

  "And that's my cue to leave," Dorian said ftly, turning towards the abbey's dormitory building. "I'll be in my bunk."

  Emily pouted, but did as she was told, after a quick survey of the courtyard to make sure they were truly alone. She pulled the gray dress over her head and felt the all-to-familiar sensation of the breeze across her whole body. It occurred to her that she hadn't bothered to put anything else on since meeting Talyndra in the room full of monks.

  Talyndra y her leaf dress down neatly on the grass, patted it lovingly, and then awkwardly walked over to stand beside Emily. They had seen each other naked multiple times before, but there came a fresh humiliation with each occasion.

  "Light a fire over there," Aria told Emily, pointing out a spot a few feet away from them, where some loose twigs were clustered.

  Emily summoned a fireball into her palm and lobbed it at the spot indicated. The twigs were engulfed, and a steady fire flickered into being, illuminating the scene.

  "Now hold onto Talyndra as tight as you can."

  Emily and Talyndra made eye contact for a split second before dropping it. Both were blushing heavily. Slowly and reluctantly, they shuffled towards each other, reaching out their arms until their fingertips grazed the other's back.

  "Do it properly!" Aria scolded. She marched up to the pair and used the immense power of her stone hands to smush their bodies together. Emily and Talyndra uttered simultaneous yelps. "Now hold on!"

  Obediently, Emily wrapped her arms around Talyndra, and felt Talyndra's arms csp her in turn. Her green skin was smooth and she smelled of tree sap. Her body was colder than expected, though not as cold as Aria's.

  "That's better," said Aria. "Now, when you're ready, Emily, I want you to summon a fire from the Stoneshell that instantly engulfs you and Talyndra. You must tell that fire to join with its neighbor, the fire we just set over there. Be quick, and be clear."

  Taking a deep breath, Emily did as she was told. Going against every survival instinct, she set herself on fire. For the second time. But now, she exploded the fire outward, to consume not only her but also this strange green creature in her embrace.

  It was over in an instant. Emily opened her eyes to find that she was still alive, still holding Talyndra, and standing ten feet to the right of were she'd just been. Talyndra smiled weakly at her.

  "Congratutions, Emily," said Aria. "That was very well done indeed."

  Emily and Talyndra sighed in unison, sinking into each other. Each of their butt muscles visibly rexed. Then they released each other and staggered away from the fire, which Aria quickly stomped out.

  Aria had Emily repeat the teleportation a few more times, until she was comfortable and confident with it. At least as comfortable as it was possible to be with temporary self-immotion. "I think this new ability will see many more uses than just moving between abbies," Aria said thoughtfully. "Anywhere you can shoot a fme, you can also go."

  "At the expense of my clothes, let's not forget," Emily said, hugging herself.

  "What about that thing you did earlier?" asked Talyndra. "The leotard?"

  "Leotard?" Aria raised a stone eyebrow.

  Emily's eyes lit up. "Yes! I was... I was in that room, with all the monks staring at me. I begged them to give me something to wear, but they wouldn't. I even tried to take a robe from one! But then I felt this tingling sensation. It started from the Bronzeband and moved all the way up my body. All of a sudden, I was wearing a bck leotard made of small fibres, incredibly soft to the touch."

  "I saw it," Talyndra said. "Gave her that dress to put on over."

  "But where did it go?" asked Aria. "I did not see you take it off."

  "I didn't notice," Emily said. "It seems to have disappeared sometime after I put on the dress."

  Talyndra and Aria exchanged gnces. "Can you make it appear again?" they both asked in unison.

  "I'm not sure how," said Emily. "But let me try." She focused her thoughts on the Bronzeband around her ankle and closed her eyes. She pictured the leotard, tried to call to mind the feeling of its soft fibres against her skin, attempted to pull it out of the band and up to her body.

  Half a minute passed. "Anything?" Emily asked, her eyes still shut.

  "Nope, still naked," said Talyndra.

  Emily's shoulders slumped. "Damnit, I really hoped I'd be able to do that again."

  "Have patience with yourself, Emily," said Aria. "You have already all but mastered one new skill tonight. This other will come with time."

  "I suppose you're right," Emily said, walking over to where she'd left her dress. "I'd like to practise it some more before we go to Shimmerwood."

  Aria nodded. "Tomorrow, then."

  "Tomorrow."

  As Emily lifted her dress, she heard the rustling of bushes, accompanied by the sound of heavy footfalls. Were they being watched? Still bent over her clothes, she turned her head.

  "Who goes there?!" Aria snapped.

  From behind a tree stepped a short man in a jester's hat. He walked with a hunch and one of his eyes was bigger than the other. Both were fixed on Emily. "Lady Emily, Savior of the Statues, thou hast only grown in radiance since I st id eyes on thy delectable derrière!"

  In a fsh, Emily gathered her dress up and spun around into a more modest position, holding the fabric close to her body. "Jivaro!" she cried, undecided on whether she should hug or kick him.

  Before she could make up her mind, Jivaro was joined by a rge, bare-chested bronze statue. "Hail Emily, hail Aria," said Brom. "We received your message. The others are waiting just beyond the gates."

  "Bromberht," Aria said tenderly, taking a step towards him. "It is good to see you again, my friend."

  Brom took Aria's proffered hand and kissed it.

  "I take it these are you friends, Aria," said Talyndra, who had managed to slip back into her leaf dress unnoticed. She met Brom's steady gaze, then Jivaro's wandering one. "I am Talyndra of the Moss-Whisperers," she said, bowing slightly.

  Jivaro sprung forward to kiss Talyndra's hand. "An unparalleled pleasure to make the acquaintance of another beautiful maiden! Oh, how lovely and soft your green skin is, how radiant! I shall compose a song!"

  "Please don't," said Emily, still clutching her dress for dear life.

  "Let us return now to the others," Brom interrupted. "Jivaro, come, allow Miss Emily to dress in peace."

  Jivaro's face fell, but Brom was having none of it. He turned to leave, and the little jester followed, dragging his feet and casting many longing looks back toward Emily.

  "I did not expect them to arrive so soon," said Aria. "They must have marched tirelessly since receiving my message."

  In the distance, Emily could hear the sound of wagon wheels turning, accompanied by some shouts from Brom and Jivaro. She hastily pulled her dress back on, before she could be subject to an even rger audience.

  Emily, Aria and Talyndra watched as Brom and two other statues of simir sizes pulled three open wagons through the gates of Paja Abbey. Each one was teeming with statues of every description.

  "Everyone is here," Aria said, squinting to make out familiar faces. "Even... even those we thought were lost to the Labyrinthine Pool!"

  "They must really want to become human again," Emily mused.

  "It is our greatest ambition," said Aria.

  "And it's all resting on my shoulders." Emily gulped, fingering the Stoneshell pendant and thinking of the trials that y ahead.