Spark

The door slid open without a sound at their approach, closing behind them with just as silently and shutting them off from the well-lit entrance hall.

For a brief few seconds, they had only the light of Earl's and Morne's torches to see with, but then a burst of fire flared to life in the center of the room, a flickering bonfire with the telltale brightness given by rentek powder.

The room was as lacking in adornment as the previous one, with only a single door across from them.

Above the bonfire, hanging from the ceiling, were the upside-down heads of statues shaped like massive snakes.

Their winding bodies, one gold and one silver, twisted and curled around each other and on the ceiling as if it were the floor, and their emerald eyes gleamed in the fire's light with what could've been mistaken for intelligence.

And, perhaps, that was exactly what it is.

The silver statue's mouth opened, and a voice came out, soft and sinister yet thrumming with power.

It spoke words in an ancient dialect Morne couldn't understand, with the exception of one word: "Emelna." Even though Morne didn't understand anything else, the power of the statue's voice worked its way into his bones and lingered in his ears.

Earl and Geleb were likewise affected, though it was Geleb whose brow furrowed with understanding.

"What's it saying, sir?" Earl asked in a whisper. For some reason it felt… wrong, to speak louder than the serpent had.

"Something about 'the crimson and alabaster of the Malkurai,' and how 'those who reach the stars' will 'mantle' them," Geleb replied in the same hushed tone.

"It said Emelna," Morne asked, likewise quiet. His eyes were glued to the statue, the same as the other two. "That's one of the stages of mastery for a Spell."

"Remember how I said that many of the ancient Nasnami's terms are still used today?" Geleb asked. "The stages of mastery are some of those.

"The ancient Nasnami worshipped the stars, and believed that those who were more powerful were that way because they were closer to the stars. So, they named the most powerful stage of Spell mastery 'Emelna,' which means star or sun in their language.

"From the word 'Emelna,' they worked their way backward, creating Emeln, Emel, Eme, and Em, or 'cloud,' 'hill,' 'ground,' and 'dirt.' The name of a Mage's Sense comes from 'Sky Sense,' a rough translation of their phrase 'Emelnken.'"

"That's great, boss," Earl whispered back, "but what does 'reaching the stars' have to do with anything?"

Almost as if it had heard Earl's question, the golden snake's mouth opened, and more incomprehensible words came out, with the same exception as before.

While the silver snake was quiet and menacing, like a thief in the night, the golden snake's voice was loud and forceful. Instead of sinking in and echoing within their bodies, the golden snake's words hit them hard, rattling their bones and nearly bursting their eardrums.

Geleb listened closely, his brow once again furrowing when the golden statue had finished. "Looks like we found those 'great dangers,'" he said bitterly, speaking at a normal volume now.

"What do you mean?" Morne asked.

"Are we in trouble?" Earl asked anxiously.

"I'm afraid so," Geleb sighed. "The door behind us is sealed shut until we can 'reach the stars,' which involves five trials. Until then, we're stuck here, so our camping supplies are essentially gone.

"To start these trials, we have to feed the fire with 'mortal life,' and that door back there will open."

"Mortal life?" Earl replied, glancing at Morne. "We have to sacrifice someone?"

"No, the ancient Nasnami weren't keen on sacrifices," Geleb said with a shake of his head. "This must be where Morne's Necromancy talent comes in. Do you have something that could work, Morne?"

"I do," Morne said. "But I can only give my life force to something alive."

"And last I checked, fire isn't alive," Earl said skeptically.

"Give it a try anyway," Geleb shrugged. "It's really our only option right now."

Begrudgingly, Morne strode up to the fire. He glanced up at the serpent statues suspiciously before his gaze fell to the fire.

It was so bright that he had to quickly turn away before he risked damaging his eyes.

He suddenly realized that if he wanted to use Invigorating Touch, he'd have to stick his hand in the flame.

He slowly reached out with a hand, only to be surprised by the lack of heat the flame gave off. His courage bolstered, he plunged his hand into the fire, and as he had hoped, he felt nothing other than the slight rasp of the fire licking against his skin.

"Bestow life."

Though he couldn't see through the fire, or even look directly at it, he could feel the blood start to leave his cheeks, and he knew then that it had worked.

Shortly after activating the Spell, he felt something travel through his Spell, up his arm, and into his inner world, though it vanished too quickly to examine, and almost too quickly to notice. If he hadn't been concentrating on his Chimh to keep the Spell active, he might not have noticed it at all.

He kept the Spell up until the door at the back swung open, then swiftly released his grasp on his Chimh, allowing it to splash back into his Chimh Well.

During the trip here, he hadn't been idle. His Chimh Well was now ten inches wide, and he had raised Marrow Memory to Eme with the leftovers of the week's meals.

He had only two more inches to go before he breached the veil into the Practitioner rank, where Brej-N'Ha-Frikt's journal would truly start to shine.

"Great," Geleb grinned. "Now, let's see what these trials have to offer, shall we?"

He strode toward the now open door with Earl in tow, sketching and scribbling in his journal with great fervor.

Pulling his hand from the flame, Morne's gaze lingered on the serpents above for but a second before he joined the duo.

The door swung shut behind them and the room's fire was extinguished by a gust of wind, casting the room in near-complete darkness.

Though the room was now devoid of light, four green dots near the ceiling were still easily visible, glinting with that same curious spark.