Flames were reflected in her eyes, opened wide in terror and torment.

Rhiannon tumbled on the tiled floor, wailing and hugging her shoulders. In the silent crypt, she was rolling and trashing between two tombs, her last moments drawing and drawing out. To banish this vileness, this despair, the woman allowed herself to scream, ram into stones and do whatever her body needed to shake off the fear.

Later. Rhia stared at the bonfire and said hoarse,

"It's not easier. You are still here?"

The raven harrumphed loudly and she found some relief in the damn birdie being hereabouts.

"I am back to the bonfire then. How does this work?"

"Your existence was branded."

He talks! Rhi's mind jumped at the piece of info and greedily digested it.

"With fire burning, you will persist."

"For how long?"

"Indefinitely. When and where the fire burns."

I have a lot of time to think.

"I met a golem out there," she started to recount her experiences aloud. "It was taller than me, faster than me and stronger than me, than any human really. It moved like a martial artist, straightforward and efficient. No matter how many skeletons I kill, I won't beat it. That thing is beyond one fighter with cold weapons... my weapons."

Reaching with her hands, she found nothing. She stood up awkwardly and gazed around in panic until she saw both shields and the mace back on the wall, completely intact.

The raven landed on the Lion shield and waved its wings in search of balance.

"They are not your weapons yet."

"What do you mean?" not hearing an answer, Rhiannon sighed. "More riddles, great."

Speaking of hers: the fire seeds she had borrowed from skeletons were gone, naturally. Thinking of lost hours the woman wanted to howl, she had to remind herself: not lost, the map is in my brain and I found a death zone I must avoid. It wasn't in vain. It wasn't.

"You won't answer anything, will you?" she asked just to make sure.

The raven left its shaky perch and flew over the crypt and landed on one of the tombs. He smirked at her,

"I am blind and stupid, point for me."

"You'll learn more by looking for the answer and not finding it than by learning the answer itself."

"That's two or three quotes in a row, you..."

Rhiannon forcefully shut herself up. There was no use in getting spiteful. This little talk was as amusing as it was infuriating for someone in her position of constant stress and loneliness. Besides, she wasn't really stupid: the raven was obviously wanting her to learn and arrive at basic conclusions on her own.

It's not simple to remain here, he said. Rhiannon correlated his annoying tendency to speak in riddles with those unknown to her 'conditions'. Her brain engine rocketed.

"You arrived here when my existence was branded by this fire. You didn't even know I was here. Maybe there isn't a need for a guide before someone is getting branded by fire."

"...excellent." the raven very human-like nodded. "Not exactly, but keep guessing and eventually the truth will be revealed. See? As expected from someone with a ... name."

What? What was that? There was a word that had vanished from the raven speech as if eaten by air. He looked at the distance for a moment, and ended strongly,

"Sorry, young lady. Your journey, your search."

What's that supposed to mean? Again with my name. My name, my name, how is it special? It's rare but there are thousands of people alive that have it. It reminds me...

"What's your name?"

"My name? I am but a humble guide," the raven looked at her with cunning.

I see.

Rhiannon sat before the bonfire. She had to rest after the recent violent end.

...

After what seemed ages had passed, the woman jerked awake.

"I am so glad it's not a coffin," she remarked casually while stretching.

She knew couldn't stay here. Rhiannon felt her resolve getting chipped away by the promise of 'indefinite' existence besides the fire so she scrambled about in preparations.

Walking over to the exit with the same set of weapons, she paused for a second.

"Any last words for me?"

"You are not focused enough," the raven archly cawed.

Right.

...

Crack!

With a horrific sound, a skull got crashed by the mace and Rhiannon retreated in wary. Again, she was in the labyrinth of deities, killing the sword skeletons. This last one she did in exactly like the rest: by walking him out and fighting amongst the coffins under naked trees.

The last one, the woman nodded, receiving the sixth fire seed. Now the spear guys and I leave this damn place.

Spear skeleton warriors were tricky, in her opinion. Of course, Rhia had a plan.

Left leg behind, right leg behind, she stood still for a moment, mace and shield on the ready. Step forward, step back. Two steps forward, two steps back. Two fast steps forward, the shield deflecting in the upper position, strike! Two steps back, the shield blocking in a low position.

Relentlessly, Rhiannon was polishing the simple movements of advancing and retreating. Never allowed she for fire seeds to burn out fast: the woman was releasing their warm in scanty intervals, only when she had felt and absorbed all changes.

Not focused enough, she kept those words surprisingly close to heart.

When half of the fire was grasped by her, Rhiannon stopped and returned back to the basic stance.

The right foot stepped right, the left foot followed. The left foot stepped left, the right foot followed. Not just martial arts, various dance styles had similar moves, but Rhia was borrowing it from another source, from own her distant childhood. The rest of inner fire she spent exclusively on learning shifting her stance about.

"Okay, I am good now."

The slight awkwardness the woman felt from walking and running was also completely gone. Bravely she entered the home of gods (idols).

Her target soon showed up just ahead. Rhianon lightly hit the Lion shield with her mace, attracting it.

Actually, she devised a scheme to finish off all spear skeletons using a plethora of tricks, like the one she had killed in the crypt. There were many corners and narrow passages here that could make a spear relatively useless. Yet then Rhiannon had put all of these tricks aside.

Luring her foe into wide space between two Buddhas, she prepared to meet it fair and square instead.

When the spear bastard closed in, it unleashed a barrage of stabs from nearly two meters away. Rhi blocked them with her shield, letting it slide left and right. Suddenly, the trajectory of one of the stabs changed and it snaked at her right shin.

Her eyes widening, Rhia barely managed to lower her shield. Tuck! Tuck! The next thrust rocked her out of balance; the previous training kicked in and the woman strode a few steps back in one smooth motion and moved the Lion back into position.

Powerful! Dull pain was flowing through her hand which each blocked blow. Rhiannon vastly underestimated the all-mighty spear and its wielder. She was at a loss of how to attack it, while her bone adversary had no problem attacking her.

Swishing through the air, the spearhead went directly for her face, Rhia blocked it, lost her vision, and in panic, shifted left.

!!!

Pain traced the metal piercing her side. Luckily, it was a sliding hit. Rhiannon gripped the mace hard, feeling powerless as she watched the purple-bloodied spearhead dancing while she was drawing back after retreating after breaking away from the bastard. They both had already left the shadows of Buddhas and were circling between statues and coffins.

This cannot last any longer.

Clenching her teeth, she braced herself for an incoming strike and finally managed to deflect it. Fearing it might be her last chance, she pushed the spear farther away with her shield and rushed forward.

The undead bastard stepped back! His spear was almost in position, but Rhiannon pressed on and bypassed it. The mace soared in triumph before crashing down into its collarbone, breaking it and half the ribcage. Frenzied Rhia bashed the falling skeleton several times, shattering its spine, its neck, only keeping herself from spitting on its corpse.

When the ashes gathered in the fire seed, she just stood there, staring blankly. She marveled over the spike in difficulty and tiredly sat on a coffin.

She needed to dissect that last scuffle.