The Jewel of Orlegon

Chapter 5: The Seals

Alteria turned her head as swiftly as an animal sensing its predator, towards the one who had spoken. It was the older of the Enartians, looking at her without blinking, his face devoid of any expression. His companion, on the other hand, seemed bewildered. For a moment, Alteria thought about refusing to obey the Enartian's command, but his stern gaze dissuaded her. Summoning the last reserves of her courage, Alteria extended her arm above her, trembling, and tried to keep it steady, an effort that felt superhuman to her.

Immediately, she regretted her action. As if they had been alive and had waited for this moment from the start, the colored flames simultaneously projected fiery rays towards the exposed skin before them. The pain was so intense that Alteria felt like she might faint; it was as though someone was gleefully impaling her forearm with a multitude of glowing pokers. The interior of the tent transformed into chaos. The ground seemed to tremble beneath her feet, a violent gust of wind blew her hair around, and the flames appeared to intensify again even as an icy cold seemed to pervade the room. That's when she heard the voices, hundreds of voices murmuring around her, asking questions, shouting, and growing impatient.

Then, suddenly, everything calmed down. The pain vanished abruptly, as if it had never existed. Alteria remained on the ground where she had fallen from the blow of that agony, feeling as though her arm had been amputated; she lacked the strength to get up. When she finally managed to lift her head to look around, she noticed that the candles had completely melted away and extinguished. The scene had lasted only a few minutes, but Alteria felt as if she had spent an eternity trapped within the circle of flames, so she was relieved to see that they were gone.

The young Enartian hurried toward her with a blanket, which he quickly draped over her shoulders. Alteria wanted to refuse, as the island's heat was sufficient, but she realized she was shivering. So, she tightened the fabric around herself and attempted to stand. However, the young man stopped her by gently placing his hand on her shoulder.

"Take it easy, don't get up right away; you might faint," he said, kneeling next to her.

"What just happened?" she managed to ask in a weak voice that betrayed the terror she had just experienced.

"Let's just say that when you prove someone wrong, you don't do things halfway," the Enartian replied with a smile, then added, "Welcome to our world."

At that moment, the elderly Enartian she had glimpsed during her ordeal returned to help his younger companion carry her into the adjacent room, away from where the candles had been. Once they had placed her burden in what resembled a rudimentary living room, the older man then beckoned the younger one into the main room, probably to have a conversation. Exhausted, Alteria closed her eyes and allowed herself to succumb.

Alteria couldn't have said how long she remained alone; she felt drained, as if all her energy had been consumed, much like the colored candles in the frightening circle. She was trapped in a state of halfconsciousness from which she couldn't escape for a long while. When she finally managed to emerge from this drowsiness, she realized that only the young Enartian had returned to watch over her.

Noting that she was vaguely lying on what looked like a weathered bench, in a precarious position that left no doubt about an imminent fall, Alteria struggled to sit up in an attempt to maintain some semblance of dignity. Seeing her struggle to get up made her guardian smile; he must have taken pity on her because he reached out and gently grasped her shoulders to help her straighten up before sitting on a small bench cushioned with a pillow across from her.

"Feeling better?" he asked, retrieving a canvas bag placed nearby.

"A little," Alteria said in a groggy voice, "I think I've never been so scared in my life."