A few miles off from camp, Teferi encountered a fine layer of untouched snow on the warm green hillsides, the snow falling within a perfect circle that was about fifty feet across. At the center of the pure white patch sat Icefall, her back to Teferi. She still wore her purple tunic and her long hair came close to touching the snow on the ground. A gentle breeze that lazily changed the direction of the fine snow also played with her hair. A sound from up above caused Teferi to look up and catch a glimpse of Nalyr flying around in the falling snow.
        The whole scene reminded Teferi of a similar sight many years ago when he had found a child happily running about a field of snow with an owl just outside a small village. This had been during one of the hottest summers that Teferi could recall. On questioning some of the townspeople, he had learned that the village had outcast her for supposedly bringing them bad luck. The child hadn’t seemed to care though. The smile that she wore, Teferi knew, was one of happiness and freedom.
        The setting before him now, however, was much different. Teferi was almost hesitant to approach Icefall and ruin the untouched snow. The cold and stiff way in which she sat also unnerved the elder adept. Knowing that he had to speak to her, Teferi carefully stepped into the circle of snow and slowly moved towards his old student.
        If Icefall noticed Teferi’s presence, she gave no indication of it as she continued to sit still. Teferi was soon within touching distance of the female star mage and was about to tap her shoulder when he noticed a thin stream of steam rising from what looked to him to be Icefall herself. He quickly withdrew his hand and instead opted for a gentle verbal approach.
        "Icefall?"
        The woman didn’t move.
        "Icefall?" Teferi tried again, but a little more loudly.
        This time the mage startled and quickly turned her head and looked up. A myriad of emotions quickly crossed her face before settling upon a neutral look.
        "Oh, it’s you, Teferi. I was just thinking about things. How long were you standing there?"
"Not long, not long. Care to share your thoughts?"
        Icefall motioned with her head for Teferi to sit down across from her. As he did so, he noticed a large cup of hot tea in her hands. Although he didn’t frequent the mess tent that often, he was pretty sure that they only served cold tea or tea at room temperature so that they could conserve firewood. It was easier to keep cold tea cold than to keep hot tea hot.
        The two sat in silence for some time while the gentle snow continued to fall. Teferi watched as a cluster of snowflakes landed inside Icefall’s teacup and swirled in slow, dreamy movements to form set after set of constellations without melting. The elder mage looked up at his student to see a half dazed look on her face as she stared out at a point past where he sat, looking through him. He had seen that look before on her face, but it had been a long time ago. Teferi tried a loud yet polite cough to bring back Icefall’s attention.
        "Hmm?" Icefall shook her head and quickly blinked a couple of times, "Where was I?"
        "You hadn’t begun yet."
        "Oh." Nalyr came down from the sky to land next to his friend and nuzzle her elbow. "Seriously, you want a peace council from the war council?" Icefall spoke calmly unlike in the tent earlier that day.
        "The war council was comprised of strong leaders, which is also what the peace council needs. Can you at least understand that?"
        "Of course, Teferi, but I just worry you know."
        "About what?" Teferi shifted into a more comfortable position in the snow.
        "I know the solar mages are our brothers and sisters in magic, but sometimes their single mindedness about things bother me. Their focus on just one star seems almost unhealthy to me. Why can’t they embrace all of the stars with love?"
        "If they embraced all of the stars, then they would be star mages, not solar mages."
        "I know, it’s just that their single mindedness is what partially began this war in the first place. I care about the safety of everyone, Teferi, but haven’t we done enough already? Haven’t we given them enough to be able to defend them selves again?"
        "Icefall, please consider joining the council. We can help so many, not just the light solar mages. Everyone would like to see you a part of this."
        Icefall looked directly at Teferi, "Even Raen?" She raised an eyebrow.
        "She won’t admit it publicly, but yes, even Raen."
        "We’ve never gotten along that well."
        "Yes, I know. You are both headstrong and stubborn women." Teferi grinned and was pleased to see Icefall small a little bit.
        "But you only want me because of Lost Light," her brief smile quickly disappeared, "I regret making it and I wish I could remove it from this world."
"Your skills could be used for other things. Lost Light was just an example, but you have created many other unique spells as well."
        "Teferi," Icefall’s sad expression tore at the heart of the elder mage, "please promise me that you’ll never use Lost Light."
        "Okay, I promise." Teferi responded sincerely.
        "No," the star adept stressed as the absent look returned to her eyes, "you have to mean it. This is important. You have to swear to never utter the words to invoke Lost Light."
        She suddenly reached out with her right hand and tightly squeezed Teferi’s hand. The immense heat from her skin burned his, but he did not allow himself to flinch or show pain.
        "You can only cast it under the direst of conditions when all hope and options are completely gone. Understand?"
        Teferi nodded and did his best to speak without pain in his voice as the firey heat of a million plus stars continued to touch his skin, "I swear upon my honor and rank as an adept mage to never cast the spell of Lost Light. I Teferi Wystan, make this pledge to you, Icefall."
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