i know the end

And so they had left Ashen and all she had ever known. It was fine for quite a while. Calamity felt herself relying on Toxicity, perhaps too much. It was a heavy weight to bear and she needed to shoulder her own pain - and so she tamped it down. Deeper, deeper, until she could barely feel it as a kernel of darkness within her heart. Despite it all, she knew they had made the right choice. God must smile down upon them, for their courage and their bravery. Venom may have stripped Toxicity of their birthright, but Calamity still bore the name. She wore it like a holy mantle. It protected her.

Their travels had brought them here. A cold wintry mix had blown through the day and they had finally sought shelter in the maw of this cave. Calamity wasn't sure what drew them to this particular spot, but she felt it - like a thread, crossing the plains, reeling them in. She blew out a long breath and it steamed in her face before disappearing into the darkness of the cave. Except... it didn't dissipate, like hot air on a normal winter day, it was drawn deeper into a cave. Like something within the cave had stolen the breath right out of her chest. Calamity went completely still. "Did you see that?" she whispered to their small travelling group. The cave itself seemed to exhale, blowing a breath of warm air right back at them. Against all reason, she found herself convinced that the walls were breathing. Something sparkled deeper within the cave, just out of sight. A luminous blue glow. It called to her.