# BORROWED FIRE — THE PRICE OF COMING BACK

## World of Darkness · Month 8 · Inner Fire · Week 3

**SEAN:**

“She came back.”

**ELJARA:**

“Yes.”

**SEAN:**

“From the dead.”

**ELJARA:**

“Yes.”

**SEAN:**

“And you say that as though it were merely inconvenient.”

**ELJARA:**

“Death is inconvenient.”

Sean studies the photograph on the table.

A woman.

A man.

A little girl between them.

All smiling.

**SEAN:**

“Why did she return?”

**ELJARA:**

“Her daughter was still alive.”

Sean stops.

**SEAN:**

“And the people who killed her knew the girl had seen them.”

**ELJARA:**

“Yes.”

**SEAN:**

“So they were coming back.”

**ELJARA:**

“Yes.”

Sean looks down at the child in the photograph.

**SEAN:**

“Then I understand.”

**ELJARA:**

“That is where the danger begins.”

**SEAN:**

“Understanding?”

**ELJARA:**

“No.”

She touches the old ring beside the photograph.

**ELJARA:**

“Having a good reason.”

—

**SEAN:**

“She became one of the Risen.”

**ELJARA:**

“Yes.”

**SEAN:**

“She returned to her body.”

**ELJARA:**

“Not alone.”

Sean looks at her.

**SEAN:**

“The Shadow.”

**ELJARA:**

“The part of her that already wanted revenge.”

**SEAN:**

“And it helped her come back.”

**ELJARA:**

“Yes.”

**SEAN:**

“So it lied.”

**ELJARA:**

“No.”

Sean frowns.

**ELJARA:**

“That would make this easier.”

**SEAN:**

“It gave her exactly what it promised?”

**ELJARA:**

“A body.”

**SEAN:**

“Strength.”

**ELJARA:**

“A second chance.”

**SEAN:**

“And enough time to save her daughter.”

**ELJARA:**

“Yes.”

**SEAN:**

“Then where is the trap?”

Eljara looks toward the dark window.

**ELJARA:**

“Afterward.”

—

**SEAN:**

“She saved the girl?”

**ELJARA:**

“Yes.”

**SEAN:**

“So the forbidden power worked.”

**ELJARA:**

“Perfectly.”

**SEAN:**

“And then?”

**ELJARA:**

“She found the first murderer.”

**SEAN:**

“And killed him.”

**ELJARA:**

“Yes.”

**SEAN:**

“I’m not particularly troubled.”

**ELJARA:**

“Neither was she.”

**SEAN:**

“He murdered her and intended to kill her child.”

**ELJARA:**

“Exactly.”

**SEAN:**

“So the Shadow had a point.”

**ELJARA:**

“That is what made it useful.”

A pause.

**ELJARA:**

“Then she found the second man.”

**SEAN:**

“Another murderer?”

**ELJARA:**

“Yes.”

**SEAN:**

“And killed him.”

**ELJARA:**

“Yes.”

**SEAN:**

“Still understandable.”

**ELJARA:**

“Then she found someone who only knew who had ordered the attack.”

Sean’s expression changes.

**SEAN:**

“He hadn’t killed anyone?”

**ELJARA:**

“No.”

**SEAN:**

“What did she do?”

**ELJARA:**

“She broke both his legs until he talked.”

Silence.

—

**SEAN:**

“And the Shadow?”

**ELJARA:**

“Helpful.”

**SEAN:**

“Meaning?”

**ELJARA:**

“Whenever she hesitated, it reminded her why she had returned.”

**SEAN:**

“Her daughter.”

**ELJARA:**

“At first.”

**SEAN:**

“Then justice.”

**ELJARA:**

“Yes.”

**SEAN:**

“Then revenge.”

**ELJARA:**

“Yes.”

**SEAN:**

“Then?”

Eljara looks at him.

**ELJARA:**

“Eventually, the reason mattered less than the fire.”

—

Sean rubs his beard.

**SEAN:**

“So this is Borrowed Fire again.”

**ELJARA:**

“Returned Fire.”

**SEAN:**

“Different name.”

**ELJARA:**

“Different temptation.”

She picks up the ring.

**ELJARA:**

“The ghoul borrows strength.”

**SEAN:**

“The diablerist steals power.”

**ELJARA:**

“The infernalist signs a bargain.”

**SEAN:**

“The Skin Dancer steals a supernatural nature.”

**ELJARA:**

“The medium lets something else speak through them.”

**SEAN:**

“And the Risen?”

Eljara closes her hand around the ring.

**ELJARA:**

“The Risen borrows tomorrow.”

—

**SEAN:**

“That is melodramatic.”

**ELJARA:**

“Is it?”

She looks at the photograph.

**ELJARA:**

“She had died.”

**SEAN:**

“Yes.”

**ELJARA:**

“She wanted one more night.”

**SEAN:**

“Yes.”

**ELJARA:**

“One more chance to hold her daughter.”

**SEAN:**

“Yes.”

**ELJARA:**

“One more chance to protect her.”

Sean says nothing.

**ELJARA:**

“If something offered you that…”

**SEAN:**

“I’d take it.”

Eljara looks at him.

**ELJARA:**

“That quickly?”

**SEAN:**

“You wanted honesty.”

**ELJARA:**

“I did.”

Sean looks again at the photograph.

**SEAN:**

“If someone I loved was alive and I was dead…”

He pauses.

**SEAN:**

“…I’d crawl through Hell to get back.”

Eljara nods.

**ELJARA:**

“So would I.”

—

**SEAN:**

“Then perhaps taking the shortcut wasn’t wrong.”

**ELJARA:**

“Perhaps.”

**SEAN:**

“She saved the child.”

**ELJARA:**

“Yes.”

**SEAN:**

“Then why condemn the first decision because of what happened later?”

Eljara studies him.

**ELJARA:**

“I don’t.”

Sean looks surprised.

**SEAN:**

“You don’t?”

**ELJARA:**

“No.”

**SEAN:**

“Then what are we arguing about?”

**ELJARA:**

“The second decision.”

**SEAN:**

“And the third.”

**ELJARA:**

“And the fourth.”

**SEAN:**

“Because once the fire has worked…”

**ELJARA:**

“…you stop asking whether you should use it.”

**SEAN:**

“And start asking why this time should be different.”

—

The room goes quiet.

Sean looks toward an empty chair.

**SEAN:**

“What about a medium?”

**ELJARA:**

“What about one?”

**SEAN:**

“A living person lets the dead speak through them.”

**ELJARA:**

“That need not be corruption.”

**SEAN:**

“No?”

**ELJARA:**

“Why should it be?”

**SEAN:**

“Something else is using your body.”

**ELJARA:**

“Voluntarily.”

**SEAN:**

“Maybe to comfort someone grieving.”

**ELJARA:**

“Exactly.”

**SEAN:**

“Or solve a murder.”

**ELJARA:**

“Yes.”

**SEAN:**

“Or learn something the living cannot know.”

**ELJARA:**

“Yes.”

Sean understands.

**SEAN:**

“And then one day you realize you trust the dead more than your own senses.”

**ELJARA:**

“And perhaps you no longer know whether you are opening the door…”

**SEAN:**

“…or whether something on the other side has learned how to open you.”

—

Sean looks uncomfortable.

**SEAN:**

“And Bane Mummies?”

Eljara’s expression changes.

**ELJARA:**

“That is another kind of fire.”

**SEAN:**

“Counterfeit Fire.”

**ELJARA:**

“Perhaps.”

**SEAN:**

“The body returns.”

**ELJARA:**

“Yes.”

**SEAN:**

“It remembers.”

**ELJARA:**

“Maybe.”

**SEAN:**

“It knows the people it loved.”

**ELJARA:**

“Perhaps.”

**SEAN:**

“And something else came back with it.”

**ELJARA:**

“Or something else is what came back.”

Sean stares at her.

**SEAN:**

“Then the lie isn’t necessarily ‘I can bring you back.’”

**ELJARA:**

“No.”

**SEAN:**

“The lie is…”

He hesitates.

**SEAN:**

“…‘what comes back will still be you.’”

Eljara nods.

—

**SEAN:**

“That is worse.”

**ELJARA:**

“Than death?”

**SEAN:**

“Maybe.”

**ELJARA:**

“Careful.”

**SEAN:**

“Why?”

**ELJARA:**

“Because it is easy to say that while alive.”

Sean says nothing.

Eljara steps closer to the photograph.

**ELJARA:**

“We love stories about people refusing dangerous bargains.”

**SEAN:**

“Because we know where they lead.”

**ELJARA:**

“We know the demon wants the soul.”

**SEAN:**

“We know the cursed weapon wants blood.”

**ELJARA:**

“We know the Shadow has another agenda.”

**SEAN:**

“So we imagine we would recognise the trap.”

**ELJARA:**

“But the trap rarely says…”

She lowers her voice.

**ELJARA:**

“‘I will destroy you.’”

Sean looks toward her.

**ELJARA:**

“It says…”

**SEAN:**

“‘I can save her.’”

**ELJARA:**

“Exactly.”

—

Sean falls silent.

Then he looks beyond Eljara.

Toward us.

**SEAN:**

“That makes the question rather unfair.”

Eljara follows his gaze.

**ELJARA:**

“Good questions usually are.”

**SEAN:**

“So forget demons.”

**ELJARA:**

“Forget corrupted spirits.”

**SEAN:**

“Forget cursed blood.”

**ELJARA:**

“Imagine only the offer.”

Sean looks directly at us.

**SEAN:**

“One more conversation.”

**ELJARA:**

“One more night.”

**SEAN:**

“One more chance to say goodbye.”

**ELJARA:**

“One more chance to protect someone who still needs you.”

**SEAN:**

“And it really will work.”

A pause.

**ELJARA:**

“You just don’t know what will come back with you.”

Sean lowers his voice.

**SEAN:**

“Would you still say yes?”

Eljara waits.

Then:

**ELJARA:**

“And if you did…”

**SEAN:**

“…how would the people who love you know it was still you?”

# 🎲 PLAY EPIC. FEEL THE STORY.

**Game:** World of Darkness
**Campaign:** Mythveil Chronicles
**Theme:** Month 8 · Inner Fire · Week 3 · Borrowed Fire

Some forbidden powers promise strength.

Others promise something much harder to refuse:

**one more chance.**

The World of Darkness has always understood that temptation is strongest when the thing offered is not selfish.

Sometimes you do not want power.

Sometimes you only want someone you love to survive.

👉 https://startplaying.games/gm/dunchan

Want to explore the stories behind the philosophy?

Discover the complete Mythveil Chronicles, exclusive essays, research dossiers, and living worlds where every choice leaves a mark.

👉 https://www.patreon.com/c/mythveilchronicles_bydunchanhuntergames

# MYTHVEIL NOTE

“Borrowed Fire,” “Returned Fire,” and “Counterfeit Fire” are interpretive Mythveil Chronicles concepts used to compare recurring themes across different World of Darkness game lines. They are not presented as official World of Darkness metaphysical categories.

This discussion draws inspiration from themes surrounding Wraiths, the Shadow, the Risen, mediums, infernal bargains, corrupted resurrection, and other supernatural forms of borrowed or altered existence.

Our exploration is written with deep respect for the writers, designers, artists, developers, and communities — from the original White Wolf era to the creators carrying the World of Darkness forward today — whose work created worlds rich enough for these questions to remain alive decades later.