Destiny (Volume I: Shur'tugalar)

Chapter Eight Part LXVIII

Long time, no read! Sorry this update took so long to come out - getting back to school has taken up more of my time than I previously expected. But, I was finally able to finish, and hopefully it'll be smooth updates from now on. :D

Anyway, shout-out to my 85th fan LeilaniArellano - congratulations! The user who becomes my 90th fan gets to choose from a great selection of prizes, as does the 350th voter. Speaking of, my 80th fan, camigr, has written two books: Our July In The Rain and A Deal With The Devil - check them out in the external link! (:)

That's all for announcements as of now - besides the fact that I'm still putting together a cast for Destiny, and sneak peeks will be awarded as a new prize to choose from as soon as I'm finished. For now, hope you enjoy! xD

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The scene clouded, and when the gray mists disappeared, the reminiscence showed the five kids circling the cavern, studying the walls for some sort of exit. Niaomi suddenly stopped, causing Rosaminda to bump into her. Ignoring the other’s grumbles, the raven-haired girl studied the portion of the wall in front of them onto which the glyph for bjart, or “bright”. Niaomi squinted and asked aloud, “Do you guys see anything different about this glyph?”

“Well, it’s not another naina or garjzla, but it’s not one of the smaller ones for stuff like hvitr, either,” Renata commented, examining the space critically. “Besides that, I don’t see anything else of interest.”

“But there is something.” Nick walked forwards, his hand hovering over the wall. “The light around the glyph is tinted. It’s - ”

“Orange,” his brother finished, stepping forward and poking the glyph. “A really bright orange.” Eragon was confused as to why he was not able to see this change of color, and by the look on Ren’s face, it seemed she was the same.

Suddenly, Nat’s finger sunk deeper as the rock underneath him was actually pressed down. Bjart burned as bright as its meaning implied, stretching and molding to form the word dyrr. Around the glyph lines appeared, carving a “doorway” out of the rock, which swung open even though the boy had long since removed his hand.

The passage before them was as dark as the chamber was light, letting no rays pierce its shadowed depths. Everyone but Renata took a cautious step forwards; the girl hung back, shaking her head and saying, “This doesn’t seem like a good idea.”

“But it’s an exit!” Rose protested. “And it’s not like we can wander here for all of eternity.”

“Don’t you guys find an ominous cavern that just so happens to glow a color that everybody but me can see just a little suspicious?” her sister argued, crossing her arms. “The light has obviously affected your sight, and its pointing you in the ‘right’ direction - or so you all think. How do we know the chamber isn’t just trying to lure us into a trap?”

Nicholas snorted. “The chamber is trying to lure us in? I don’t think it has sentience, love.”

Glaring, Ren said in a low voice, “Don’t patronize me.” He sighed, reaching out with one hand to pull her closer, but Renata maintained her distance by moving away. “Oh, no. Do you honestly think that - ”

As her foot touched down upon that final step backwards, it sunk into the ground as a black glyph glowed beneath her boot, the word vanyali forming before energy begun to pulsate around it. She hastily jumped out of the way before a dark purple energy shaft struck upwards from the glyph. It crackled for a few moments before it vanished, leaving nothing in its wake as the dark energy evaporated and the ground returned to normal.

“Well, that sure seemed to prove my point,” Ren quipped as she dusted herself off for no reason in particular.

“Maybe...” Nick murmured, still staring at the spot where the black vanyali had appeared. He moved his gaze over to where his beau stood, scanning the ground intently. “Alright, start walking towards us...stop!”

She froze in place as directed, her foot hovering in midair before Nicholas directed her to step back. Confused, Renata asked, “What’s wrong with that section of the floor?”

“It’s glowing blue,” Niaomi answered. “Like - ”

“The glyph did before,” finished Nick, frowning. “The whole floor is starting to glow, orange mostly with splatters of blue in varying sizes strewn across it.”

Ren frowned, still unable to see the colors. “So what does that mean, exactly?”

“Based on our experiences with blue, I would say that it specifies danger,” the boy answered, those strangely luminescent eyes narrowed as they studied the ground. “And orange must then signify where it’s safe to step.”

“Alright, then.” Sighing, Renata eyed the ground once more. “Guess you’ll have to lead me across.”

“Okay, then, start walking towards us...yes, just like - wait, stop!”

It was too late, and the blond hurriedly jumped back as a dark glyph appeared. Her foot then touched what must have been another blue spot, as the floor below it too began to turn purple. Cornered, Ren started to step away when another vanyali began to form.

Nicholas’s cry could barely be heard above the sound of the first energy shaft crackling to life. “Ren! Run!”

“I’m trying, and frankly, it’s not working out so well!” she yelled back as she tried to dart and dodge around the energy shafts, narrowly avoiding some that seemed to spring up almost as soon as her foot touched the ground.

“There’s a large orange spot to your right!” her sister called. “You’ll have to jump to get there - about three feet.”

Renata did as instructed, neatly somersaulting over the ground as another shaft burst behind her. The blast was strong enough to make her stumble back a few inches over. The dreaded glyph began to rise once more, but she managed to back-flip onto her hands before the dark violet energy surged through the floor. She was now precariously balanced in a handstand about thirty feet away from the group, struggling to keep upright. “What in the name of the gods is going on here?!”

“As soon as you started walking, the blue started shifting,” Niaomi explained, the worry evident in her tone. “It started moving towards you and growing deeper, as the orange became dispersed. You only have about a ten inch radius from your position, and I’m pretty sure that the energy shafts will now appear immediately if you touch the blue.”

The language that came out of the other girl’s mouth was so vitriolic that Eragon stared at the present-day version in astonishment. Ren caught his eye and shrugged, blushing slightly as the younger her called out, “Well, how am I supposed to get out of here without getting electrocuted?”

The silence was answer enough, and a litany of curses sprung forth once more.