Chapter 18: EP 18: Glow of Flame Part 3.

He pointed to a patch of volcanic stone that looked slightly different from the rest; "I originally intended to pursue them, but found Rasiel's body left behind, so I didn't bother. There was fresh blood leaking from his back and hand, but I couldn't be certain if the wounds were from before or after he was sealed and released, as I didn't get a good look at his body until the fight was over and the angel was gone. After the battle, I pulled the entire temple down as deep as I could, then created the cavern around it so worthy pilgrims of flame still had a chance to come here, though none have before you. I've been hibernating ever since."

Luz and Rasiel exchanged worried looks; another angel had come to the Boiling Isles and tried to free Rasiel? That was unexpected, but it was made disturbing by the idea that the angel had turned into some kind of monster… it sounded almost like Abomination magic, but angels weren't capable of any such magic and didn't have any direct counterpart to it either. Godric's description of events was also vague, which didn't help.

"So, does that mean the guy that escaped stole Rasiel's wings and finger?" King asked, looking disgusted by the idea.

"Actually, I think it's more likely that Rasiel's wings are sealed up in one of the other two Black Tombs." Gus said.

"But then why was Rasiel's body bleeding when Godric found it? If his body was able to heal up enough to scar in the last 300 years, then wouldn't they have healed up in the almost 100,000 years he was sealed up?" King pointed out.

"Not necessarily. Look at Rasiel's clothes." Gus said, pointing to Rasiel's pants and gold bands. Everyone turned to look at them, noting their worn and tattered state as Gus continued making his point; "I don't know anything about angel clothes, but that looks more like 300 years of wear and tear, not 100,000!"

"You're suggesting that my body was in some kind of temporal stasis while inside the Black Tomb?" Rasiel raised an eyebrow.

Luz looked confused; "Temporal what-now?"

"Gus is basically saying that time wasn't effecting his body while he was locked up inside the tomb." Amity explained.

"Oh! So he only started ageing when his body was let out again!" Luz gasped, "Which means if he was sealed 100,000 years ago while his back was still bleeding from losing his wings…"

"...Then they'd still be bleeding when he was released. But the wounds scarred over in the 300 years since then." Gus finished with a smile.

King still looked a little confused, but the others seemed to grasp it. It made sense too, considering Rasiel had been divided into four pieces before he was sealed away. His spirit, body, and memories were obvious pieces, but the fourth had been something neither Rasiel nor his friends could figure out. If his wings were removed from his body, that was the equivalent of also taking his magic, so it was logical for them to be sealed separately.

Rasiel sighed irritably, but forced himself to calm down; "Well, that's disappointing." he said miserably, "I had hoped I'd be more useful to you all now, but it seems I'm now basically powerless. Still, angel blood still flows through my veins, so we can still complete the Panacea Mirror. Today wasn't a total loss."

"I'm sorry things didn't work out how you wanted, Rasiel." Luz said, hugging him around the waist as she often did with Eda, "But we were going to try and find the other tombs anyway so we could completely put you back together. It's just going to take a little more time."

Rasiel smiled, enjoying the hug. He weakly hugged Luz back, and patted her head, falling in love with the feeling of her curls beneath his palm. So many years without physical contact had made him a little touch-starved, and Luz had frequently made Rasiel want to pat her head, so he was more than happy to indulge that now.

"Thank you, little one. This means a lot to me; I meant what I said earlier about how grateful I am, even if things didn't work out the way we wanted. With or without my magic, you'll have my support in all your endeavours." he said formally; "That goes for all of you." he added, looking to Amity, Gus, and King.

They smiled in return, glad he'd cheered up some. Amity then turned to Godric; "I don't suppose you could tell us where the other Black Tombs are, could you? Are they in temples like this one and Caplacier?" she asked, already eager to go with Luz on another ruin date.

Godric nodded; "There is a third temple somewhere in one of the Boiling Isles' forests; it's the Plant Temple."

Gus grinned; "Oh, Willow has totally got to go to that one!"

"So there are only three elemental temples on the Boiling Isles? What about a Light Temple, or the other four elements?" Amity asked.

Rasiel answered that question; "Each Titan possesses four elemental glyphs; three inherited from their parents and one unique to them. Based on the glyphs he's shown to Luz, The Boiling Isles Titan possessed Light, Fire, Ice, and Plant. I imagine Temples were only built for those four."

Godric nodded; "You're mostly right. Only those elements were worshipped in temples, but only Fire, Ice, and Plant Temples were actually constructed. A fourth one was intended to be built in the Skull, to represent light, but for some reason it was never completed. The Titan himself is said to have stopped it. However I wouldn't bother going to the Plant Temple unless you want to sightsee; no Black Tomb can be found there. Only two were left on the Boiling Isles. I'm afraid I don't know where the other two are, but old scriptures from the founding of our temples say that the other two Black Tombs were held by the Titan's Mate, whom we refer to as the Lost Titan."

"My Mom…!" King gasped.

"It would seem so, Young King. I cannot tell you were the third Black Tomb is exactly, but I can tell you that it is guarded by our third mate; a witch named Lars. They, Zara, and I were raised together for this duty and became mates when we became dragons. I was assigned to Volcarpalis, Zara to Caplacier, and Lars to somewhere on the Lost Titan. Sadly they were sworn to secrecy, so I don't know if they're at a temple or some other hiding place." Godric explained. "All I know is that Lars had to use a Primordial Wellspring to get there, as conventional travel to the Lost Titan was impossible."

Luz frowned; "They travelled with a Primordial Wellspring? I thought those were just places filled with magic from the Titan?"

Godric nodded; "They are, but they also serve as portals between them. Jump in one wellspring and you can pop out of another that was formed from the same Titan or their bonded mate. It's the only way I know of to find the Lost Titan, and was how Zara, Lars, and I remained in contact even after being separated by our duty."

Luz and her friends frowned; that made things difficult. The other tombs weren't even on the Boiling Isles and could only be reached through Primordial Wellsprings, all of which were apparently dried up! They would need to look into this problem later. Luz was also curious about the glyphs; if King's Dad had four and he'd shown them all to Luz now, did that mean she wouldn't be able to find any more?

Shaking that thought off, Luz decided not to worry about it. It had been a long day and she was mentally and physically exhausted, having used up most of her magic and been further drained by the heat, not to mention all the information she and her friends had gotten. For now she would just be grateful that they were all alive and unharmed (excluding Rasiel's emaciated condition and missing parts), and they'd gotten exactly what they'd come for AND a new glyph! Now all that was left was to go home and finish the mirror, and Eda would be cured!

"Well I guess we should be getting home. It'll be evening soon, and I hear nights in the desert are freezing!" Luz chirped; "What are you going to do now, Godric?"

The Fire Priest stroked his beard; "With the Black Tomb and its contents gone, my duty is here over. I'll linger here until nightfall, then go to the Knee and find Zara. I suspect she went hunting for an active Primordial Wellspring to restore her power, so with any luck, I'll find her before long. I'll unseal the temple and leave it as is, allowing over curious pilgrims to face its trials, even if there's nothing waiting for them at the end."

"Great! I hope you and Zara can be happy together! And with Lars too!" Luz smiled broadly, holding Amity's hand.

Godric gave the girls a toothy grin; "I wish you luck as well, Luz Noceda. You, and your witchling mate."

Amity blushed and edged a little closer to Luz, as Godric turned to King; "It was an honour to meet you, Young King. If you should meet Lars in your search for the Black Tombs, be sure to give them your best roar. That skinny brat could do with being knocked on his behind!"

"I'll roar some good that you'll hear it when I do!" King boasted.

Godric smirked, then looked to Gus. He didn't have a good judge of the boy's character, but he appeared to be more of the brainy type like Zara, so he simply nodded; "I wish you well, Gus Porter."

"You too big guy! It's a shame we can't tell anyone about this; I'd love to get an interview with you!" Gus replied.

Godric didn't know what an interview was, so just smiled and nodded as he turned to Rasiel. "And you, Rasiel the Seraphim. I don't know why the Titans allowed you to remain sealed up after your run-in with the Divider. But there are legends about a being by that name… legends that make him sound an awful lot like these Archivists you claim are responsible for the Titans' demise. I don't know if they're the same beings, but if they are, tread carefully; your enemy is not something to be trifled with."

Rasiel nodded stiffly as Luz and the others went wide-eyed at the idea that the mysterious Divider could be like the Archivists. With one final wave and a snap of his fingers, Godric unsealed the exit to the chamber (which slid open slowly) and walked away, disappearing amongst the bones of the giant red skeleton.

"You know, I'm not sure if I want to be friends with that guy or do violence to him…" King commented.

Luz snorted, and then began to giggle, with Amity and Gus soon joining her. King blinked, not really getting what was so funny, but their laughter was infectious and he was so happy with their successes that he began to laugh along too. Even Rasiel found himself swept up in the merry mood, and laughed until his ribs ached.

Once they'd calmed down, the group walked out of the Ritual Chamber. Rasiel couldn't fully walk by himself yet, so Amity used abomination slime to tie Ghost's staff form to his back while Ghost levitated, keeping the man upright even when his legs failed him, allowing him to slowly get some motor skills back. They climbed all the stairs back up to the central chamber of the Fire Temple, then headed out to the volcanic cavern outside. From there it was a long, slow, and hot walk back to the cave beneath the Oasis, and then a short and refreshing swim to the surface. Gus and King went first, followed by Amity and then Rasiel (who found swimming a whole new challenge with his atrophied body). Luz was the last one to swim out, and the instant she got to the surface and removed the icy diving helmet Gus had made for her, she frowned as she looked at her friends.

They were all stood on the shore, looking at something and not moving a muscle.

"Guys? What's going on? Are you okay?" Luz asked worriedly as she got out of the water. As soon as she was on dry land again, she realised what had them all frozen.

The entire Oasis was completely surrounded by Emperor's Coven scouts, with a ring or airships behind them. All had spears pointed at them, and directly in front of Luz and her friends was the familiar face of Lilith, staff in hand..

"T-Tia Lily? What are you doing here!?" Luz asked fearfully.

Lilith smiled; "It honours me that an angel like you calls me such a name, Luz. But I am afraid I am here on Emperor's Coven business. The Emperor has demanded your presence at his castle. You are coming with me."