A final two to light the path,
And keep us from the goddess wrath.
Each guides us in a different way,
And for these gifts a toll we pay.
Six visages of goddess see,
The light of mortal destiny.
My face twitched as I noted the grammatical and capitalization errors in the poem — really, “goddess wrath”? — but I brushed the instinct aside as best I could. I’d need some time to think about the poem to sort out the relevant parts. In the meantime, I walked to the other side of the tablet, inspecting it and finding a second message.
You will be devoured within the dark.
I shivered. That was certainly more direct, but definitely not comforting.
“Ooookay.” I looked at Patrick. “You read all that?”
“Yeah. Looks like we’re supposed to give gifts to the visages?”
“I don’t think it means literal gifts,” I said. “I’m guessing they’re talking about those torch things. Except, you know, they’re not actually torches. Going to guess we need to light each torch in the appropriate way.”
Patrick nodded. “Different element for each, then? How do we know which element goes to each torch-thing?”
I almost tried to shrug again, but managed to abort the motion before I hurt myself this time. “Might not have to do them in any kind of order. I didn’t see any runes or symbols of specific visages on them, and we’d have to have been really lucky to get fire right on the first try if there is supposed to be a specific gift for each. We should look at them more carefully, but it more likely just means we have to do six different elements in any order.”
“I don’t actually have spells for six elements, though,” he reminded me.
“Maybe gray counts? It might not even be different elements, anyway. Maybe it’s just different spells. Let’s take a closer look at the first one before we even try anything else, though. Also, I want a look around the room in general.”
I limped my way toward the lit torch, muscles sore from the impacts with the floor and walls. I frowned as soon as I noticed the tiny rune etched into the surface of the metal base. I didn’t recognize it.
“There’s a marking here.” I pointed at it.
Patrick walked up next to me. “Never seen that before. One of your Enchanter things?”
“Probably, but not one I’m familiar with. I’ve got a book, but it would take too long to look it up.” I walked over to the next torch, squinting at the base. Another marking — a different one. “Not good. This has a different rune. There probably is a specific element for each. Or maybe a specific sequence we have to light them?”
“I could try hitting the next one with lightning and seeing if it works,” Patrick offered.
I shook my head vehemently. “I’m not ready to face whatever that thing is again. Let’s see if we can find another clue somewhere else in here.”
Drawing closer to the cage, I got a better look at the fountain and, more importantly, the gleaming object within. A silvery-white key. That was obviously important.
Could I get it out immediately? A blast from the knockback function on my demi-gauntlet might displace enough water to reveal the key, then a second well-placed blast might knock it out... but I’d seen an aura between the bars. There was probably a shield on the whole thing; it was probably cage-shaped so we could see the prize within. Maybe I could bust through the shield, but it didn’t seem worth the mana to experiment.
I found Patrick kneeling next to the box. “Kinda want to know what’s in here.” He picked up the box — which I wouldn’t have done — and shook it — which I definitely wouldn’t have done. I could hear something clinking around inside.
“Please don’t break that.” My hand twitched as I envisioned a potion bottle cracking inside.
“Oh, right. Sorry.” He set it back down. “I don’t see any openings. I could try to blast it open?”
“Let’s save that approach for if we can’t figure anything else out. I’m going to see if I can find—”
Glowing eyes in the far corner of the room. It may have been my imagination, but I felt like the whole room had gotten just a little bit darker.
“Relight the torch, Patrick.” I took a step backward, nearly tripping over the box.
“Hrm?”
“Relight it!”
I pointed my hand toward the glowing eyes, readying another attack. They narrowed slightly in response. I could see no sign of the creature’s body within the darker corner, so I couldn’t even be certain it was the same monster as before.
Patrick moved back to the original torch, repeating his original incantation over it. There a flicker of white, then the torch’s glow returned to full strength. When I looked again, the eyes were gone.
I drew in a sharp breath. “Okay, looks like those torches go out on their own after a while. How’s your mana?”
“I’m still fine.”
I nodded and withdrew the bell from my pouch. “I’m going to swap out for a minute for Jin. He has some divination abilities; have him look at the runes and the box.”
“You’re leaving?” Patrick’s expression sank.
“You or Jin can swap out and bring me back in just as soon as you’ve picked up more info,” I assured him. “Keep your eyes on the walls, too, and be ready to kill that thing with fire.”
With that, I rang the bell. My stomach lurched as my vision went white.
***
I was in a waiting room. There were two large couches. The older student who’d brought us in was lounging across one of them. Jin sat stoically on the other, hands folded in his lap.
Odd. I’d expected him to swap places with me instantly, but I guess that wasn’t how this worked.
The female student sat up. “Oh, hey! You actually did the bell thing? Huh. Guess you’re up, then!” She pointed at Jin.
Jin turned his head to look at me quizzically.