Viana knew. Every day, she visited Rissa's lab, finding her hunched over her work, often not having slept for days.
Rissa was driven by an almost frantic energy. She tried endless combinations. She experimented with different light sources for extracting essence from the Desert's Embrace.
She tested various dry substances as carriers for the glowing dust. The unique essence of the Desert's Embrace was potent, but also fragile.
One afternoon, Viana entered the lab to find Rissa humming softly, a rare sound. The air was thick with a sweet, almost metallic scent.
Rissa gestured to a series of shallow, wide dishes. Each dish held a fine, iridescent dust, shimmering with a faint green light.
