<span style="color: #FF0000">Mesaraih eyed the seemingly young woman, a bit taken aback by her abrasiveness. She seemed confident and poised, as if she were ready to run at any moment... or fight. <br/><br/>"Returning home, huh? That's a luxury most of us don't have nowadays. Can't say I'm complaining about it too much, though. Trees and caves suit me just fine for the most part."<br/><br/>He smiled a little as she asked about the flame dancing on his palm. "It's a bit of a long story," he said, choosing his words carefully. "For now, suffice to say that just as you wouldn't expect fire to burn a phoenix, you can't expect it to burn me, either." He let the flame on his hand grow into a thin stream that wrapped itself around his arm, then thrust it to the ground at her feet, leaving the ground charred in the place of impact.<br/><br/>"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you, at least not yet. Hungry as I am, I find it hard to abduct sentient creatures for my own gain, unless they're particularly nasty. Have you killed a lot?" he asked abruptly.<br/><br/>A small gust of wind blew by the clearing, rustling the leaves on the trees and making the first tangible noise apart from their voices that broke the otherwise silent and desolate glen.</span>