Converging Destinies: Part 1

Chapter 97

       The end of the tunnel was a blasted exit. It wasn't the finely carved archways they had seen before. As they all entered the room, they gasped.

       Artwork covered the walls depicting volcanic eruptions, wildfires, and other fire related disasters. The room was massive, the walls at least fifty feet long each. Two unlit braziers were set up in the middle of the room. Each was ten feet tall, and made of long rusted bronze.

       "What is this?" Eris asked themselves. Zerai scanned the braziers. In the rusted metal, he could see the slightest hints of writing.

       "Hmm, I know what it says." Zerai said.

       "What does it say?" Eris asked.

       "Light this inferno, so that the truth may be told." Zerai said.

       "Should we light it?" Ella asked. Zerai nodded and looked to Cedric. Cedric produced a fire above his hand.

       "Can someone hold me up, I'm not tall enough on my own." Cedric said. Ella approached Cedric and put him on her shoulders. Cedric now had a line of sight of what lay in the brazier. A pulsing, faintly glowing red stone lay within it.

       "Are you sure we should?" Cedric asked.

       "We'll be ready if something happens." Eris reassured him. Cedric let the flame appear above his hand. Then, holding his hand forward, the flame flew into the brazier. There was a flash, followed by a roaring of flame as the brazier came to life. An inferno now sat atop it, raging far more furiously than the group had anticipated. Looking around the chamber, nothing had happened.

       "Maybe we need to light the other one as well." Eris suggested. Cedric summoned another flame above his hand. This time, the flame flew into the other brazier. With a flash, the other one roared to life. Then, the walls began to change.

       The artwork upon the walls vanished. Before, there had only been one exit to the room, but now there were three. Each exit had an archway, and upon it, glowing red writing.

       "Zerai, can you read that?" Eris asked.

       "Of course." Zerai replied. He first approached the exit to the right of the group's entrance.

       "This passageway leads to a tomb." Zerai said. He went to the one across from it.

       "This one as well." He said. Then, he approached the one opposite to the entrance.

       "This leads towards something called 'The Flame'."

       "What could that be?" Eris asked.

       "I'm not sure, based on this writing it's something powerful." Zerai said.

       "Can you translate it verbally word for word?" Ara' Sei asked.

       "I'll try that, but know that some things will be lost in translation." Zerai inspected the writing more closely.

       "From this door the path descends. Down to the temple proper, and The Flame that burns within." Zerai said.

       "No idea." Eris said. The rest of the group shook their heads in agreement.

       "In any case, this is the one we should go down. I imagine it's where all of the monsters are coming from." Ara' Sei said.

       "I agree, we must go this way." Zerai said. And with that, the group took the middle exit that led towards "The Flame".