Two Flames

Every single person watching Atticus felt their hearts freeze. He had actually done it. He had passed the test of the second summit within hours of reaching it.

The people of the second summit didn't react like those at the first summit. At the first, they had each been shocked beyond words but, in the end, believed it was possible and felt the need to bow.

But at the second summit, it was as though they were each watching a miracle happen before their eyes, something that shouldn't be possible, something that shouldn't happen in reality! There was just utter silence, none of them reacting.

Atticus didn't say a word and met Dekai's stare. The old man had barely been able to regain his composure, but his hands clenched his staff so tightly the whites of his knuckles were showing.

His voice boomed:

"Atticus Ravenstein, you have passed the test of the second summit."