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Upon hearing about the bike, Ember smiled slightly. Her task was almost done now. Quietly, and with subdued flames, Ember began to burn the fire elemental portions of the creature. As she worked, she spoke back to Wolf.

"I'm sorry the journey here was uncomfortable... I guess our home is quite a bit away from yours."

Looking up in to Wolf's troubled eyes, Ember's smile became kinder.

"Wolf... You know you don't have to thank me for that. You are my friend, and I would always be willing to help you. That is still true now. However..."

For a moment, the woman looked worried, and merely watched the ashes of the creature float up into the sky. Finally, she looked back at Wolf.

"How long are you here for my friend? Like I said, I am more that willing to help you. It's just that.... I have been charged with saving these poor beings and I must-"

Wide and terrified eyes, Ember suddenly realized that Wolf had been handling the collar. With a quick flick of her wrist, Ember knocked it away from him.

"You mustn't touch that! Quickly, throw those gloves away! Do not let that metal touch your skin!"

Focusing now on the collar, Ember encased it in a globe of fire. With a shrill whistle, she watched as bright violet eyes appeared on the ball of flames. Then the collar disappeared.

Ember returned her attention to Wolf just in time to see his gloves disintegrate. Her eyes grew a bit wider as she saw the scars on her friend emit a strange glow. Looking at the static pulses coming from his skin, Ember began to frown slightly. Wolf's quiet tale of his chair made her frown deepen.

"How long has this been going on Wolf? That is.... something that I did not expect to happen. Hmm But I think...."

For a moment, the elemental forgot herself and began to reach for Wolf's arm. However, Wolf had already begun to reach for another pair of gloves. Quickly pulling her hand back, Ember returned to the remains of the creature. Gathering up the remaining pieces, she turned to Wolf and smiled at his second comment.

"A few years? Well that sounds like a perfect time period to me. And I don't have any new sights, but I do know where we can start to look for an answer to your problem. First I must get these to a body of water. You can leave your bike here if you wish. I can find a guardian for it as well."

Gently, she held the water elemental remains and waited for Wolf's answer.

Ember nodded once, letting Wolf avoid the question this time. With a quick whistle, Ember called a small salamander to her. It appeared a few feet away from her and bowed once. Tilting her head towards her companions bike, she spoke once.

"Please, guard this machine until he or I returns for it. If anyone else attempts to take it, scare them off with any means necessarily excluding death or serious injury."

The salamander nodded once more, and then climbed up to curl up on the seat of the motorcycle. With that done, Ember headed in to the woods. She maneuvered deftly through the forest, following a path only she seemed to see. After a while, the two began to hear the faint sound of of moving water.

Ember was not reading Wolf's mind, but she saw the question in her friends eyes. As she walked closer to the babbling stream, she quietly began to answer all of her companion's questions. There was no malice in her voice, she didn't mind Wolf asking about her life. However, under her conversational tone there was just a hint of exhaustion.

"Heh. That salamander was not Raichi. The elementals of any kind can not directly approach me while I am dealing with-" At this point the held up the remains of the water elemental. "-this. The magic is too dark and... twisted for them. As for what I have been doing... it has been a bit of magical house keeping. Something has been tinkering with the balance of the elemental plains, and elemental magic. My sisters and I have been attempting to deal with it. That elemental you saw was just a taste of what I have been dealing with. Really, that creature should not be able to exist. Someone is capturing elementals and forcing them together. that is why you can't let those collars touch your skin. There is some form of dark magic in there. I can't quite figure it out yet. Now I send them to my father. We are hoping his forgery lore will let him unlock it's secrets. For now..."

As she had been talking, the two had reached the river. It wasn't more than five feet deep, but the water moved briskly over the stones imbedded in the river bed. Gently, Ember got down on one knee and released the remaining elemental parts in to the water. She watched the remains float for a minute and the disappear. With a sigh, she finally finished her sentence. "For now, I just have to be content with cleaning up these messes, and try to make things better."

At Wolf's statement about the body being a shell, Ember looked at him out of the corner of her eye and smiled. Sitting on a rock of her own, the young elemental stared in to the water as she spoke.

"There is nothing special about this stream, but you are wrong about the body just being a shell. Elementals are different. They are creatures of pure elemental energy. You can't actually kill them. You just exhaust the energy. However, that doesn't happen with these elementals. They aren't dead. Just buried deep in madness. Whoever does this keeps them alive... and only combines opposing elements. So they are aware, trapped inside a living hell, and unable to return to the elemental plains."

Trailing her hand in the river, Ember whistled once. A shadow appeared under a hand for a moment, and the young woman laughed slightly as it brushed against her.

"Once I return the portions to their natural element, the creatures can finally be free of that evil magic. With this Sylph free, the magic binding the two has finally dissipated from the area."

As if to confirm her statement, Raichi suddenly appeared by Ember's side. He was in his larger size, and he bowed slightly to Wolf. Then he began to nudge gently at the small reaming wounds Ember had sustained.

Gently turing Raichi's nose away, Ember went from her fire form and back again in a split second. Now her wounds were nothing but slight scars in her collection. Calmed slightly, the large salamander sat down carefully. Both elementals eyed Wolf slightly upon hearing his slight huff about the collars. Shaking her head a little bit, Ember decided not to touch it. Instead, the woman leaned back and looked up in to the sun and spoke to Wolf's other comment.

"I think you are right. Why else would someone try to combine only opposing elements?.... Sounds like the same type of person that would turn someone in to a walking bomb..."

Still looking up at the sky, Ember nodded slightly.

"A little bit away from here is a clearing where I have been staying.... But...."

At that, the woman fell silent and seemed a bit embarrassed. Shaking his head, Raichi hissed in a mixture of laughter and distain. Speaking for the first time since his arrival, Raichi's voice had a hint of amusement within it.

"My mistress is lying to you. There is a place to 'crash' as you put it, but she has no place to stay here. She has been on the move for so long hunting the abominations that she has been sleeping in rotted trees that she burns for safety. She has not had a decent shelter in months.

Frowning at the salamander, Ember huffed slightly.

"Oh now that was uncalled for. No need to sell me out like that. Besides, it's easy for you to find shelter, you just have to return to the fire plane!"

Laughing at the woman's pouting, Raichi shook his head once more.

"I wasn't trying to be cruel. I was merely going to suggest an alternative to that clearing. Perhaps you should take Wolf back to your home. Then he can look at the collars your father has been studying. Then you fix two problems at once.

Smiling crookedly, Ember shrugged with one shoulder.

"Well, I guess that is looking like the best choice for now."

Gently she prodded Raichi with her toe as she stood and stretched.

"Someone has pointed out to me how useful going to see my father is. I just have to warn you that he tends to be a bit...exuberant at times. Well, now I guess we should go retrieve your bike and then I can teleport us to my.... old home."

For some reason, Ember's hesitation on her last words was sad rather than thoughtful. Raichi noticed the pause, and Ember not discussing her recent accommodations. Snorting slightly, the salamander merely shifted to his smaller form and climbed up to sit on his mistresses' shoulders. After settling themselves, both elementals turned to look at Wolf.