Emerald Fire

[DJ]

Prologue

Long, long ago, a brutal and destructive war raged between the three Realms, the three parallel universes of the world of Jektar. First and foremost, the Light Realm, a universe of all that was perfect in mind and body—this realm was filled with knowledge and happiness. Next existed the Balance Realm, a developing Realm which had little advanced technology or civilization. Finally, the Dark Realm—a world full of shadows and mist: the ultimate home of the feared and unknown. The people of the Light Realm ignited this war, for they believed that they could make use of the nearly untapped potential of elemental energy that existed in the other Realms. The war was fought not with weapons of iron, steel, or silver, but instead with the elemental energy housed in each Realm. The energy surged through the Realms, providing great power to all who possessed the ability to harness the energy with their minds—the Adepts. However, even the most powerful Adepts of the Dark and Balance Realms could not hope to compete with the warriors that hailed from the Light Realm, for the people of the Light Realm were not human—the Light Realm was inhabited by the Dymears, descendants of the Onefinite Race, the creators of the Realms and therefore the known world of Jektar. Because of this, it was soon clear that the Light Realm would win the war—the Balance and Dark Realms lay in ruins, yet the Light Realm remained in a pristine state. But just as the Dymears were securing victory, eight warriors arose in the lesser Realms, four from each Realm. They fought fearlessly and flawlessly against the Dymear invasion, and slowly, the tide of the war turned in favor of the Lesser Realms. Soon all Dymears were forced to retreat to the Light Realm, and as a last resort to prevent their own complete annihilation, they placed a seal on the Light Realm that did not allow beings from the Lesser Realms to enter it. However, because of the imminent danger of invasion, the spell to conjure the seal was hurried and as a result it was performed incorrectly. The seal not only prevented the people of the Lesser Realms from entering the Light Realm, but beings of Light Realm could not pass into the Lesser Realms. The Lesser Realms did not communicate with each other, and gradually, memories of the War of the Realms faded from the memory of the people of the Lesser Realms. Only a few generations later, no remembrance remained, save for in the minds of the descendants of the eight Serinthen, as the Lesser Realms’ warriors had come to be called.
Before the Serinthen died, they each made prophecies, prophecies that spoke of things far in the future. They spoke of a time at which the seal upon the Light Realm would be broken, and once again the Dymears would wage war upon the Lesser Realms. At this time, once again would eight Serinthen be forced to rise against the Light Realm and fight to protect the balance of the Realms. They told these predictions to their descendants with their dying breaths, and instructed them never to allow neither the past, nor their predictions of the future, to be forgotten. And so tales of the war and the Serinthens’ prophecies were passed down, father to son, mother to daughter, over the centuries. Collectively, the tales came to be known as the Legend of the Serinthens’ Legacy, and so they are called today…



It was a stormy night, and too cold to do anything but huddle by any fire you had managed to build or summon in your characa, or hut of living. Nurnt was doing just this. The thirty-five year old was listening to thunder booming in the distance while lying on his side just below the fireball he had conjured that provided some heat for him. He was lonely, for his family was gone. One was away on a journey… and the rest, dead. But Nurnt did not despair, for he was strong of heart and he knew that Ret – his son - would be back someday…

Suddenly there was a tremendous flash and a boom that rolled over the small town of Etar like a wave crashing over bits of shells on a seashore. Nurnt knew instinctively that the lightning had stuck inside of the town. He pulled on a heavy cloak and ran outside. Strangely, it wasn’t yet raining. Suddenly there was another flash, and with it came a torrent of rain. Nurnt summoned a dome of heat around him, and the hissing of raindrops, evaporating instantly as they hit Nurnt’s elemental umbrella, filled the air. Looking at the clouds, which seemed completely black, Nurnt saw that the storm would get worse. He went back into his home after casting a water-repelling shield of solid flames onto the roof. Huddled by the smokeless fire, he wished Ret would come home, and hoped that his son was unharmed. The wind was howling, and the hiss from the roof boiling raindrops instantly as they came into contact with it was almost deafening. Suddenly, with a thunderous cracking, the wind tore the thatched roof from the walls of the hut. Nurnt was drenched instantly, and he created another fiery umbrella to keep himself from getting even more wet. The fireball had gone out, leaving the man wet and shivering. He extended the umbrella outwards and was about to summon another fireball when a lightning bolt struck the fire of the umbrella only feet away from him. Shaken by the close call and hindered by the ringing in his ears, Nurnt was drenched once more when the umbrella disappeared as a result of the strike, and he no longer had enough elemental energy to create another. Water slowly pooled around his feet as the rain became too much for the ground to absorb. He heaved a long sigh and began trudging toward a neighboring house. He halted when he saw that its roof, too, was gone. As he watched, stunned, its walls were swept away by the current of the floodwater that now swirled around his calves. Nurnt felt a jump in his heartbeat. Fear began to creep into his mind. A bright flash and a tremendous crack of thunder speared through the darkness like an arrow, this time emanating from the direction of the Town Square. Nurnt began to run towards the Square. He passed houses with knocked-in walls and in some places where houses had been, nothing remained. Shouts and screams could be heard faintly over the howling wind. When he got to the Square, he saw that the central pedestal was gone, replaced by a charred spot on the ground. When he looked to the sky, he saw four silhouettes floating in midair. “Who are you?” he shouted. The figures gave off a bad feeling, a feeling that made Nurnt want to run away and never stop running.
Nurnt watched fearfully as one of the figures descended to him slowly. Studying his face, it said in a deep voice that sent shivers down Nurnt’s spine, “We are the ones…” the voice paused, and the man would have sworn he saw the eyes on the face flash a deep crimson. “…Who have taken everything from you,” the figure finished. Nurnt’s eyes widened, and then he saw nothing but black…

[DJ]

Chapter 1-The Fire Gem of Etar

A fourteen-year-old boy stood in the main room of the small thatched-roof hut in which he and his father lived. He was angry; one could easily tell by looking at the angle of his eyebrows or the hard line of his mouth.
The tall youth paced adamantly. “I’m not going to duel you,” he said, shaking his head in frustration. He stopped pacing and turned to face his father, his normally smooth and cool eyes glinting and sharp.
“That’s the only way you’re going, Ret!” The boy’s father Nurnt responded with no less obstinacy. Nurnt was an intimidating one staulk and eighteen screeks tall* with short black hair that matched his dark eyes. Clothes of a soft, plain brown material covered most of his body as well as his son’s. However, he wore no hat, where Ret wore one of material that matched his clothes’. The hat had a short brim which was turned sideways, and it tipped on the boy’s head, halfway obscuring his left ear.
“You know I’ll win, Dad. You know that I’m a more powerful Adept than you. You saw how fast I learned; you taught me the basics, and then I figured out how to do stuff you never even thought of. I’ve made my own commands in the Infinity Tongue, for Pete’s sake!” Anger was still etched into Ret’s face.
“I cannot allow you to go. You’re just rushing into this, Ret. You haven’t thought about it at all.” Nurnt believed his words were true, but he was disillusioned of this by his son’s next sentence.
“Yes, I have… I’ve been thinking about it for three years now.” Nurnt had no response to this, so Ret continued: “I don’t know why it is that you never did anything like this, that you never acted upon the things told of in our family’s passed-down legend. How could you know about the ancient war, about the Dymears that will someday come again to destroy the peoples of the Lesser Realms, and do nothing?” Ret’s voice grew quiet. “You know what I think? I think you were too scared, and that’s exactly what I think of all of our ancestors going back to the Serinthen of Flame himself.” Ret’s words hung in the air, a challenge of tradition and authority.
Nurnt stared silently at his son with intense anger. This is what I’ve allowed him to become?
Ret continued in a calm tone, “I know what you’re thinking, Dad. You think that there will be some sign, that we, the descendants of the Serinthen, will know when action needs to be taken. I don’t believe that. I can’t believe that. You’ve always taught me that if you want something to be done right, you have to do it yourself. You’ve taught me the responsibility of superiority, Dad. And now… now I feel like something big is about to happen. It’s eating me from the inside out, feeling that and not doing anything about it. I don’t know if you can understand, but I need to do something to satisfy this feeling which drives me crazy every single day.”
So it was me, Nurnt thought to himself. I’m sorry, Rose, that I’ve failed to teach our son what it means to have the blood of the Serinthen of Flame running in his veins.
Then another voice pierced Nurnt’s consciousness: But what if he’s right? What if you’re the one that’s failed, along with your ancestors, to grasp what it means to have a Serinthen’s blood within you?
“I’m going, one way or another,” Ret said, “No matter what it takes.” He turned and calmly exited the room, heading for his own.
“Ret,” his father called from the other room. Ret stopped and twisted his head slightly on his neck, sliding his eyes sideways in their sockets. “If you’re truly willing to do anything to go… the duel will be this Saturday in the Town Square. Three hours after sunrise.”
Ret closed his eyes, clenched his teeth, and replied just loud enough for his father to hear, “You won’t win.” Then he walked the rest of his way to his room and flopped onto his bed of down, seething. The shades over the window smothered the room in complete darkness that obscured Ret’s dark brown hair. No light reflected off the green irises of his open eyes, and it was left unknown to any observer that the boy lying on the bed stood one staulk and nine screeks tall if he was upright. His forceful anger at present was uncharacteristic of him; at most times he was casual and relenting. Because of this, the fact that he had few close friends would surprise most observers.



After a good night’s rest, Ret got up, and finding his father to be out in town already, ate a breakfast of hand-fried eggs and Uika meat, and began the three-wingon* walk to the local division of the Academy of Adepts, the general school system on the world of Jektar. Education on Jektar consists of a normal education of basic skills, such as writing and reading runes, as well as simple mathematics and a brief history of Jektar. As students get older, they are introduced to the elemental skills that can improve daily life. Elemental classes begin at the age of fourteen and continue until graduation. Very few people cannot learn to hold some degree of dominion over at least one element, and, inversely, it is rare for someone to be very skilled at the control of the elements without immense amounts of hard work. But now and then, people come along that blow their competition away. It’s common for this natural ability to run in a family.
Ret dropped by his best friend Juner’s house to walk with him. Juner was already outside, tapping his foot impatiently.
“You’re late,” Juner said seriously from a few staulks away.
“Wha… no, I’m not!” Ret replied indignantly.
“Just kidding.” Juner fell into step next to Ret, laughing. “You know, I don’t know why we even go to Adept Academy. Your mom and dad taught us more than the instructors themselves know.”
“Probably because we have nothing better to do at the time being,” Ret said smoothly. Inwardly he cringed, though, because he knew there was something better that he could be doing, at least—going to the Mountain of Eternal Flame. The only thing keeping him in Etar was his father’s reluctance to let him go… Oh, well, thought Ret glumly. At least I’ll be on the road a few days from now, unless my dad is much powerful than he’s shown.
After a about half an hour of walking between the plain huts of the town of Etar, as well as cutting across the Town Square, Ret and Juner sauntered into the small classroom of the local building used for the classes of the Adept Academy. It was a brightly lit room, with torches in all four corners and halfway along each stone wall. There weren’t ‘desks,’ just tables with chairs around them. There was no blackboard or anything like it, instead, instructors wrote in midair with bright streams of flame. Most of the other students were already there, talking and chatting. Just as the friends sat down at their usual table, the teacher, Professor Ramsted, sent a burst of flames into the air from the front of the classroom. That was the signal for class to start, and everyone stopped talking and found a seat.
“Good morning, class,” Professor Ramsted said. “Today we will cover a subject that I know you all have been waiting for.” Ret and Juner rolled their eyes. “We’re going to talk about the most powerful of summons and spells.” He paused for a moment, then continued. “We all know that we can summon a spark to begin a fire or a flame to cook food without much effort. However, imagine trying to conjure a whirlwind of flame! What immense effort it would take, and for most, it would be impossible. However, there is a way that Adepts can magnify their power. It is an ancient language, in which every word holds true power, unlike our common language. It is called the Infinity Tongue.”
Someone raised his hand. “Why is it called the Infinity Tongue?”
“Good question,” praised Ramsted. “It’s called the Infinity Tongue because it allows its user to tap into the source of the power of the elements—an almost infinite power. The Infinity Tongue was first spoken by the Onefinite race, who unified all of the infinite things in the world-creatures, materials, and most importantly, the elements themselves-into the single world we know as Jektar, at the dawn of time.” Appearing to become thoughtful, Ramsted said passionately, his eyes shining, “I find that truly amazing, that any single group of beings, no matter how powerful, could have assembled-no, created, the world we live in today. In my mind, they are divine artists, inspired by forces unseen and unknown to us today.”
After taking a deep breath, the light went out of the professor’s eyes, and he continued: “The Infinity Tongue consists only of verbs and commands, because of its nature as an aid to conjurers. Today we’ll learn one of the simplest commands. Repeat after me: Substansei!”
“Substansei,” came the drone of many voices from the students.
“Very good,” Professor Ramsted said, satisfied. “Can anyone take a guess at what it’s the command for?”
Ret raised his hand lazily. The professor nodded for him to speak. “It translates to ‘solidify,’ meaning that you would use it to create solid objects out of flame,” Ret answered.
“Excellent, Ret,” said the professor. “I can see that someone in this classroom studies.”
Ret snorted quietly. “Wrong, no one does, but I can read minds,” he whispered to Juner in a fake spooky voice, and they both suppressed laughter. The truth was that Ret’s parents had educated him in the use of the Infinity Tongue starting at the age of five, and he now could claim greater knowledge of it than his professor.
“Now that we know the command and what it means, we can practice using it for the remainder of class.” Ramsted began walking around the room, noting successes and failures of the students’ attempts to create solid objects. Ret muttered the word and effortlessly conjured a more comfortable chair than the straight-backed stone one he currently sat in. Juner did the same.
“Why did you even answer?” Juner asked Ret. “What’s the point?”
“To get to… ‘Practicing’… faster. You know he would have taken about 20 minutes to say what I did in a single sentence.” Ret said, staring at the ceiling with his eyes half closed.
“True,” Juner admitted.

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The next morning, all that the other townspeople could talk about was Ret and his father’s upcoming battle. The two most esteemed Adepts in the town, fighting in the Town Square—of course it was big news. One man on the way to the Square, however, only voiced his vision of a strange meteor shower last night—meteors with multicolored trails falling in the mountains. He started to say something about last year, but Ret brushed past him in his rush to the Square, calling “Sorry!” over his shoulder.
The Town Square was where a lot of things happened in town—in its center was the pedestal on which the town’s Fire Gem, an emerald with red flecks in it, rested. It was about 25 staulks to a side with no roof and a line drawn at the edge. That line glowed red in times of great activity, like during the Academy graduations or when traders from other places on Jektar came to town bringing exotic goods for the yearly festival. Breathing deeply, Ret stepped into the square. His father stepped in on the other side, and the line burst into a deep shade of crimson, the same color as the flecks suspended inside the emerald in the middle of the square. They walked to the center of the square where the Fire Gem rested. They shook hands, and sparks fell to the ground beneath them. Then they walked back ten paces, and as they turned around, the line became three dimensional—now it was a translucent red wall. Yet neither the boy nor his father noticed; they were too focused on the battle ahead.
The rules of the duel were widely known, as it was a common way to resolve a disagreement of question of authority in Etar. The two duelists would take ten paces away from each other, and then the battle would start with an attack from one of the duelists. The duel ended when the overwhelming majority of the audience agreed whom should be the winner and indicated it with a point of the finger to the winner, or when one of the duelists conceded. The duel also ended if one of the contestants stepped out of the square. This possibility, however, was made impossible by the solid wall of fire that completely enclosed the square as if it were a cage.
Nurnt looked his son in the eye and saw a surprisingly hard glint there. Only then did he truly understand how important this was to Ret. He was glad that as an occupant of Etar, he had a natural resistance, though only weak, to fire. This ensured, basically, that he could not be burnt to death, as well as giving him a higher capacity for enduring heat. The boy’s father felt the crowd’s anticipation rising, and he readied himself once more.
Turning his hat backwards on his head, Ret looked his father in the eye and concentrated on his desire to leave the town. He formed in his mind a swirling ball of flame, and it began to become a reality. He felt heat at his fingertips, and then a glow appeared. The crowd’s eyes widened; most of the populace of Etar could control flame enough to start a fire without materials, but nothing like this. Then Ret sent the fireball sizzling through the air towards his father.
Nurnt sensed the fireball before it came and absorbed it with a glow from his hand. Then he willed it back at his son, adding some of his elemental power to its own. Ret dodged the ball, then pictured a column of fire descending on his father. This took a bit more effort than the fireball, since there was more volume involved in the column, meaning it required more elemental power to conjure.
But Nurnt wasn’t there when the column hit the ground and burst into sparks—he was ten feet away, sending a swirling beam of flames through the air towards Ret. The boy cast it aside with his arm and the fiery wall absorbed the beam in a shower of sparks. Then Ret sent a barrage of fireballs towards his father. Nurnt dodged all but one of the fireballs, which left a scorch mark on his plain brown clothes. Nurnt stared at the burn for a moment, as if he couldn’t believe it was there. Then he concentrated deeply, furrowing his eyebrows. He felt energy surge into his hands and opened his eyes to see dark purple flames swirling in compact spheres inches from his open palms. He relaxed the muscles in his hands, and the spheres grew in size until they were each as big as his head. While Nurnt did this, Ret merely watched with mild interest. Then, suddenly, Nurnt darted at his son and threw both of the purple vortexes at him. Taken by surprise, Ret was only able to avoid one of the fireballs, and it hit the translucent red wall, making a small ripple and disappearing in a flash of purple sparks. The other fireball caught Ret’s leg in mid-dive, hurling him back against the red barrier. Ret’s impact was absorbed only partially by the barrier, and he hit the cobbled stones and scrambled to his feet, cringing.
Nurnt decided that this was as good a time as any for his surprise. He turned to the Fire Gem in the middle of the Square and shouted, pointing a single finger at his son, “Power of the Flame Emerald, come forth!” The Fire Gem in the middle of the square suddenly glowed with blinding green light from within. The crowd gasped as a red-and-green beam of flame arced towards Ret. He suddenly understood; understood that Etar’s Fire Gem, the source of its population’s power, was the legendary Flame Emerald; understood that his father had somehow guessed this, and understood, with a rush of suspense, that now he would know for sure whether he was more powerful than his father. This all happened in a microsecond inside his head, then he stuck out his hand as well and in a deep voice not seeming to belong to him, he said, “Flame Emerald, obey me, for I am your true master and your Wielder!” The crowd gasped again, more loudly this time, and as they did, the beam of flame suddenly shifted its aim to Nurnt. Ret’s father simply watched, knowing there was nothing he could do, as the beam swept toward him.
But the swirling inferno did not strike him. Instead, it disappeared just before making contact. Ret lowered his arm. The audience slowly all pointed to Ret, indicating the winner of the duel. However, none of them knew of the significance of the events that had taken place in the past few seconds, save one fourteen year old boy in the front row named Juner, and one figure cloaked in a black material. The figure’s eyes widened slightly, revealing an unnatural gold glittering in its irises, and it muttered, “Unlikely though it was, the dawn is breaking…” And with a swish of the black cloak, the figure disappeared, leaving no trace of himself behind.

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Ret started talking immediately when they got inside the house. “Dad… why didn’t you ever tell me before? That the Fire Gem was really the Flame Emerald? That you could control it? About—”
“Even I didn’t know that the Fire Gem was really the Flame Emerald,” Nurnt interrupted. “That was a hunch that I’ve been wanting to test for a while.”
“Then how did you guess?”
“Ret, haven’t you ever noticed that the Fire Gem was an Emerald? That in itself was a decent clue,” Nurnt told his son.
“I thought all Fire Gems were Emeralds… I guess that’s because I’ve never seen another town’s Gem,” Ret said with a shrug.
“Yes, I suppose that that’s a logical assumption. But as for your other question—I can’t control it, as you just demonstrated. I would think that everyone in this town could harness its power in some way.”
“Really? Did you share this with Mom… before she died?” Ret pronounced the last phrase in a strained voice. His mother had died on an expedition to search for a cure to the disease that had plagued the town last year.
“Yes, Rose knew…”
“I can’t believe neither of you ever told me!” Ret exclaimed, his voice rising in excitement. He tore his hat from his head and started pacing with agitation. “That shortens my journey incredibly since I don’t have to search for it!”
“For what?” His father asked, slightly confused.
“The Flame Emerald, of course!” Ret was almost yelling now in excitement. “I can leave for Mt. Eternal right away and—”
“No you can’t!” his father interrupted, urgent. “Ret, listen to me! You need to prepare—”
“No I don’t, Dad—”
“Yes, Ret, you do. If you listen to me, I’ll explain why, all right? Now sit down and hear me out.”
Ret had stood up without realizing it in his excitement. He thought for a moment, then sat down. Dad probably has something important to say or he wouldn’t be so forceful about making me stay now, after I won the right to go by defeating him, he reasoned.
“I’m glad you chose to listen,” Nurnt said, sounding slightly relieved, but still stern. “First of all, and most importantly, it’s essential that you train yourself in the using of the Flame Emerald before you go to the Mountain of Eternal Flame. I would suggest going into the mountains to train—there’s no one that you could accidentally injure there and there are plenty of things to do—but it’s your choice. Also, make sure you have a safe place to carry the Emerald.”
“Well that’s obvious, Dad. You didn’t have to tell me that.”
“I just want to make sure you don’t do anything foolish, Ret. I want you to succeed in your quest to become the Serinthen of Flame, understand that. But also understand that I want to know that you’re responsible enough to hold that power, as well.”
Ret was silent for a minute. Then he said seriously, “Yes, I suppose that much power in the wrong hands could be very dangerous.”
“That’s exactly right,” his father said.
“Can I go now?” Ret asked, rising from his seat.
“Why don’t you wait until tomorrow so you can prepare properly?” Nurnt suggested.
“Fine,” Ret sighed. Then he wandered out of the door and walked to Juner’s house.
“Hey, Ret!” Juner called when he saw Ret. Juner was Ret’s closest friend. Juner also happened to be near to his equal as an Adept. He was the only person to whom Ret had ever betrayed the secret of his family’s passed-down legacy. “What’s up? Are you on your way out of town? On your way to Mt. Eternal?” Juner smiled and punched him lightly on the arm.
“No, I’m leaving tomorrow, but not for Mt. Eternal.” Ret shook his head. “My dad says that I need to train with the Flame Emerald before I go. Something about knowing how to use my power responsibly – sounds dull, though necessary.”
“Yeah, well, you know I’m coming with you,” said Juner casually.
“WHAT?” Ret exploded. “No, Juner, you can’t! What if… I dunno… you got killed or something? Your parents would kill me!” After he said it, Ret realized that it was just about the stupidest thing he could have said.
Juner laughed aloud at that. Then he said, “No, Ret… with the Flame Emerald in your possession, I doubt anyone could kill you.”
“That’s not what I meant to say. I… I actually don’t know what I meant to say.” Ret then turned and walked out of the door. Juner was his best friend, but this was one thing that he felt he had to do alone. Fingering his hat, he walked until he came to a tall Detre tree that no one would have been able to climb without a platform of fire like the one he made after muttering, “Substansei.” He had had to practice making it for years before he could hold it in existence long enough to clamber onto it and then into the crook of branches around four staulks above the ground. This was his favorite thinking spot, but tonight he just couldn’t think. He was numb; numb because of his new knowledge of the town’s Fire Gem, numb because he had no clue how to deal with his best friend, and numb because the next day he would be leaving the world he knew and entering a new one, a world that would be filled with surprise and danger.
He stayed in the tree until it got dark outside, then jumped down, landing lithe as a cat. Ret jogged back home and began to sneak past his father. When he saw Nurnt in the front room, the 35-year-old Adept was carving something out of wood using a soft flame from his hands. Woodcarving was one of his father’s favorite hobbies, and the family had many wooden figures on the mantelpiece. Animals, houses, even little people. Ret’s face, sketchy in the half-light, softened as he realized that after tomorrow morning, he might never see them again. After padding silently to his room and slipping into bed, he tossed and turned for a long time in bed before he finally sank into restless sleep.

* The staulk is the main unit of small measure on Jektar, the average height of the adult staulk plant, or about 4 feet. A screek is equivalent to two inches, so 1 staulk and 18 screeks would be about equivalent to 6 feet 6 inches.

* One wingon is equivalent to 1,000 staulks, or about a thousand feet less than a mile.

[DJ]

Chapter 2-At a Loss—For Control

Ret had a strange dream that night—a dream of strange and terrible creatures that he had never seen before, creatures with tearing claws and crunching jaws. They attacked him, and he was powerless against them…then he remembered the Flame Emerald. He searched for it, but couldn’t find it—he was looking frantically—he woke up in a cold sweat, panting heavily. After a few minutes of deep breaths, he went back to sleep.
When Ret woke up the next morning, he couldn’t recall his dream, nor did he remember what was making him feel so excited and nervous and sad, all at the same time. He got up and dressed, as was his usual habit; he never went back to sleep after he had awoken in the morning. Ret then went to walk out of his home to go to Juner’s house, hoping to eat breakfast with some company, only to find his friend right outside the front door, seemingly impatient.
“You never answered me last night, you know,” Juner said expectantly.
“Huh?” Ret replied blankly.
“Are you going to let me come to train for Mt. Eternal with you?” Juner sneered.
It all came rushing back to Ret now. The battle with his father, the town’s Fire Gem being the legendary Flame Emerald, and his argument with Juner. “No, and you’d better not follow me, either! You can’t risk getting hurt just for me!” As Ret said this, he realized how foolish he sounded once again. That’s what a real friend would do for me, he thought. That’s what I would do for him to make sure he wouldn’t get hurt if he were going instead of me.
Then Ret thought again of his side of the argument. He argued with himself that he was just trying to protect Juner. For some reason, he felt that if Juner came with him, Juner would get hurt. He was sure that Juner would tell Ret not to come with him if he was going instead. So it was a good argument either way, he realized.
“Look, Juner… I’m not trying to be selfish or anything, I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Yeah, well…” Juner said as he turned away from Ret. He hesitated for a moment as if about to say more, but then walked quickly away, leaving Ret with the distinct impression that Juner felt he was being extremely unfair.
Ret sighed and trudged back into his house. Juner wasn’t his main problem right now. Preparation was what he had to focus on. Grabbing his knapsack and slamming it down in the middle of his room, he thought about what he would need on his journey. Pots and pans were unnecessary; he could make them out of solid flame at any time. All he needed, really, was clothes. He sighed and packed three more outfits identical to the one he currently wore, as well as another hat, less worn that the one that rested on his head, and a thicker layer of clothing, in case he was still in the wild come wintertime. Ret took one last look around his room, glancing around for any other necessities that he might find himself in the absence of during his journey. Finding none, he strode out of his house for the last time and headed towards the Town Square. He needed to have the Flame Emerald to be able to train with it. Finding himself standing in front of the Flame Emerald’s pedestal, he realized that it would be tricky to get the Flame Emerald out of town. Most of the common people would object to having their source of control over the element of fire taken away, and none of them knew the legend that told that the Flame Emerald must be taken by its proven Wielder. Come to think of it, he realized, the townspeople didn’t know anything about the significance of the events in the Town Square yesterday. He thought for a moment about how to get the Flame Emerald out of town without people knowing, then had an idea. He looked closely at the Flame Emerald, picturing it in his mind. It glowed slightly for a moment, then went back to appearing normal. Then he walked to the middle of the Town Square and pretended to be marveling at its beauty—for it was very beautiful, a diamond among coal. What he was really doing was checking to make sure that nobody was watching as he quickly snatched the gem—but as soon as he touched it, something unexpected happened.
The Flame Emerald glowed brilliant green, and then flames—flames, flames, flames of all colors burst from the Emerald towards Ret—and at that moment, he felt an understanding, an understanding of his true power, the power of a Serinthen and Wielder. He understood, without really knowing, how to use fire of different colors, how each color could help him in a unique way. The boy understood the responsibility that came with carrying the gem within him. And finally, the realization hit home that with the Flame Emerald in his possession, he was now bestowed with a power greater than he had ever imagined. He had truly become the Wielder of the Flame Emerald.
The town’s fire gem appeared to remain in its place, yet if someone in town went to touch it, they would find nothing. The fire gem that appeared to be resting on a pedestal in the middle of Etar’s Town Square was only an afterimage—a mere remnant imagined by Ret that contained no power. Ret felt a guilty pang for taking away the source of the citizens’ of Etar’s power without their consent, but he forced it to the back of his mind. After this transplant of energy into Ret, he walked out of the Town Square and continued walking until he came to the dirt path that marked the end of the town. Ret turned on his heels and gazed back at the only place he had ever known. Tears came to his eyes as his mind was flooded with memories of home—laughing with Juner at the hopelessness of life in general, lessons from his parents as a younger child, learning how to summon sparks to his fingertips for the first time. Lying in his bed shivering when he was sick, his mother softly repeating familiar stories to him as he fell asleep—it was all too much, too much to leave behind. And yet that was exactly what he was doing—departing the place of his birth and life, his successes and downfalls, and all of his memories. The tears were flung off his cheeks as he whirled around and ran away from his old life, leaving only a few drops of salty water in his trail. They spiraled through the air, the air that seemed to hold him back, seemed to call to him, seemed to smother him as he ran, and ran, and ran…and cried, and cried, and cried.

*\(|)/*\(|)/*\(|)/*\(|)/*\(|)/*\(|)/*\(|)/*\(|)/*

Later that afternoon, Ret’s tears from earlier left no trace on his face, now emotionless and hard, save salty trails that tingled and stung. He was walking in the direction of where he would begin his training. He was heading towards the Titanos Mountains, home to many beasts… known and unknown. These were the mountains where Ret’s mother had met her death while on an expedition to find some remedy for the disease that had plagued the town last year. Nobody knew exactly how it had happened, but her body had been found in the foothills, mangled, torn, and burnt—apparently ravaged by some monster. This event had set a hush of fear upon the town, for Ret’s mother had a very high-caliber Adept. Ret was walking on one of the dirt roads that provided a way from town to town for wagons and carts. Overhead, the trees leaned inwards, forming a sort of arched canopy over the road.
Eventually, after hours more of walking, Ret took a turn off of the road, heading into the forest. He wouldn’t find any ways to train just by following the beaten path, he reasoned. The young Adept picked his way through the ferns and other undergrowth that threatened to strangle his legs if he stood in one place to long. Strands of sunlight pierced the vibrant green canopy like sewing needles pulling torn cloth together. Ret was careful to watch his step, for there were some tremendously large and dangerous carnivorous plants in the forest, as well as snakes and spiders. He had a lurking suspicion that there was more to the mountains than he currently knew, and was constantly looking around, eyes peeled for any sign of impending danger. He sincerely hoped he didn’t run into any of the fiercer beasts of the Titanos Range, like one of the larger species of spiders called yenthis. Yenthis had abdomens larger than his torso and legs a staulk long. They burrowed under the undergrowth of the forest belly up, waiting for creatures to pass over them. Their legs, which appeared identical to a grove of saplings that had failed to survive after its initial sprouting, protruded above the ground. When another creature walked on the forest floor above the Yenthis, they closed their needled legs over their prey instantly, like a cage, and devoured it after paralyzing it with their quick-acting venom. Among other signs of predators, Ret looked for patches of leaves that were lighter brown than other patches, a sure sign that a Yenthi was near.
Suddenly Ret spun around and extended his arm after nearly losing his balance from turning so quickly. He was sure he had heard something in the forest behind him. His heart was beating a tattoo on the inside of his chest; his hat perched precariously on his head.
Like a bolt from the blue, dark purple flames seared out of Ret’s outstretched hand. The essence of the Flame Emerald was reacting to Ret’s fear—by burning the forest around him in a purple inferno. Ret pulled his hand back in horror, but the stream of flames did not relent, simply curled around the back of his hand and continued to sear the plants and forest life. Seconds later, Ret stood astonished at the scene before him.
There was now a clearing in front of him—but this was not a natural clearing. It was the charred remains of what was once a living, growing patch of the forest. Vivid, jungle green and the bright red of Detre trees contrasted horribly with charred shades of black and gray. But this was not all—at the far edge of the clearing lay a human, his chest heaving with the effort required to breathe. Ret rushed over, his heart in his throat, and to his horror, he saw that the human he had so severely burned was his best friend, Juner.
“Juner! Oh, no… what have I done?” Ret cried as he dropped to his knees. He broke into short, ragged sobs, and tears fell to the ground. His eyes, obscured by his drooping cap, went unfocused. What have I done? Ret silently mourned. Then he heard a coughing sound and looked up at Juner.
“Ret—” Juner coughed again, a hoarse wheeze. His eyes slid over in their sockets to rest on Ret; Juner’s eyelids hung over his eyes like blank sheets. “I told you I’d follow you… no matter what you do… I’ll…still… follow you…” Juner’s voice faded with a cough, and his eyes closed.
“NO!” Ret shouted, panicking. “Juner, you can’t die, Seas of the Storm, don’t die, by all of Jektar…” If Juner dies, Ret thought desperately, I won’t be able to live with myself. Imagine, the new Wielder of the Flame Emerald killing his best friend with its power by accident… Oh, Flames of Torment…
Ret suddenly lifted his head and stopped crying. There had to be some way to heal Juner. There had to be! Ret searched deep inside himself for the knowledge that came with being the Wielder of the Flame Emerald. Frantic, his mind spun around and around until suddenly a concept entered it…he crouched over Juner and positioned his hands above his friend’s chest. Gentle green and blue flames swirled between his hands, then licked around Juner’s body—and as they did, the burns on Juner’s body grew smaller and smoothed over. After a minute or so, no sign of the burns could be found on his body. As suddenly as a rubber band snapping into place, Juner’s eyes opened and he said a bit weakly, “I told you I’d always follow you. I didn’t intend to let a little thing like death stop me, but hey… here I am.”
Ret burst out laughing, mainly from relief that he had been able to save his friend from a premature death that he himself had caused. Then he turned dead serious. “Juner, you realize that you could have died back there? I almost killed you!” Then he turned away and said uncomfortably, “I didn’t even mean to burn the forest here… it just… happened.” He turned back to face Juner, who had stood up, and said, “Something like this might happen again, too. What if that time I can’t bring you back? This is why I’m going all the way into the mountains to train—so no one else will be hurt if I lose control.”
Juner thought for a moment, then replied, “But what if you were gravely injured? The elements would be thrown out of balance if one of the Serinthen were to be killed.”
Ret answered immediately, “I could heal myself,” but doubt darkened his eyes.
“You know that here by your side, ready to help you, is right where I belong. Besides, I’d rather be out here, braving the dangers of the mountains with you, than back in Etar, living the boring life.”
Ret sighed. He knew that as Juner’s friend, he couldn’t force him to go back to Etar. So he would just have to accept the fact that he had a companion for traveling now. Actually, he was a bit glad that he had someone to share his journey with now. Ret realized that he would have gotten quite lonely without anyone to talk to for weeks on end. “Okay, Juner, but you have to promise me one thing. If I get totally out of control and go berserk, then run. Don’t try to make me snap out of it, just run. That all right with you?”
Juner laughed and said, “Okay, so basically if you go nuts, then I run away, screaming at the top of my lungs. That sounds simple enough, since that’s what I would do anyway.”
“Now let’s get going!” Ret said, suddenly impatient.
“We have plenty of time,” Juner replied with a strange look.
“I know, but…” for some reason, Ret felt a need to hurry. He felt as if he would soon be needed for a far more important purpose than he knew of now…

[DJ]

Chapter 3-Training Begins

A few days after they encountered each other, Ret and Juner finally reached the foothills of the mountains. As they traversed the first mountain, they talked about things they would have talked about back when they had normal lives. Right now they were actually talking about the Legend of the Serinthens’ Legacy, a topic that they often had spoken of at home.
“So now that you have the Flame Emerald with you—” Juner began.
“It’s essence,” Ret interrupted.
“What do you mean?”
Ret realized that he had not yet told Juner about the incident in the Town Square. He quickly recounted the story to his friend. When he finished, Juner said, “Let me get this straight. You went to take the Flame Emerald with you, but suddenly its power was transferred to inside of you and it no longer has a physical form? And none of this was in the legend?”
“No, I had no idea that this would happen. It seems like some parts of the legend were left out in the passing down of it over the generations.”
“So chances are that there are at least a few things that we don’t know about Serinthen.”
“Yes, that seems to be true.”
As they talked, Ret and Juner made their way up the rocky and treacherous mountain. Several times, they stumbled and slipped on gravel, but they were always able to keep their balance. Near the top of the mountain, they stopped to take a look around. When they turned around to see where they had been, an astonishing and beautiful sight met their eyes, and they realized that they had climbed quite a ways. The two friends could see the mountain stretching out below them, and past it, they saw a vast expanse of Detre and Omapo forest*. Nested between the intermingled bright green and red was their hometown, Etar, and past it, they could see other, larger towns, and near the horizon, the glistening blue ocean.
“Wow,” Ret commented softly, breaking the stunned silence.
“Yeah…” Juner replied weakly. Then, suddenly, he started. “What’s that in the sky over there?”
Ret directed his gaze to where Juner was pointing. At first all he noticed was a red dot in the sky. After staring at it for a few moments, a thought entered Ret’s mind… A meteor shower last night… that’s what that man on the way to the square said, isn’t it? Ret’s mind suddenly made a connection. “Juner, that’s an asteroid, and it’s coming right at us!” Ret said urgently.
“Get down!” Juner shouted as the red grew from a dot to a fiery spot, then Juner threw himself to the ground and in an instant, the world seemed enveloped in flame. Juner clenched his teeth as he felt fire course around him, a deafening roar sounding in his ears. Then, just as suddenly as it had started, it was over. Juner lay breathing heavily. With a jolt, Juner realized that somehow, he was unhurt! He looked over at Ret from his position on the ground, and a sight met his eyes that confused him at first. Ret was standing with his hand outstretched towards where the asteroid had been. For a few long moments, Juner didn’t understand, but then everything fell into place and he realized what had just happened-Ret had to have destroyed the asteroid!
“H-how did y-you do th-that, Ret?” Juner asked, stuttering and dumbfounded, as he clambered to his feet.
When Juner spoke, Ret jerked and seemed to come out of a trance. His arm fell to his side and he said, “What? Do what? Why are you looking at me like that?” Then Ret remembered the asteroid coming at them and asked urgently, looking around, “What happened to the asteroid, Juner?”
Unsure what to say, Juner thought for a moment, then told Ret exactly what he had seen.
“So I just … just like that… boom. Wow,” Ret said when Juner was finished, more to himself than to his friend. After thinking for a long moment, he said, “I think one thing that I was never told was that Serinthen can’t always control their own powers… or maybe I just need to train more,” he finished.
“Yeah, I bet that’s it,” Juner said. “But how does going into the mountains help train you?”
“I don’t know… I don’t know.” Ret shook his head. “Maybe I should try to use my powers more. If I go on doing stuff like that, I’ll kill someone. Let’s just hope that doesn’t happen any time soon.” He shook his head again, as if trying to ward off a swarm of insects. “Let’s get going.”
“Why?” Juner asked, puzzled.
Ret didn’t answer, but his eyes darkened, and he shook his head as he said in a low voice, “I’m not sure.”

*\(|)/*\(|)/*\(|)/*\(|)/*\(|)/*\(|)/*\(|)/*\(|)/*

Juner and Ret wandered on, not knowing what their destination was. They came to the top of the mountain, then continued on their path. On the way down the other side of the mountain, they once again came upon the subject of the Legend of the Serinthens’ Legacy.
Juner remembered Ret telling him that the Flame Emerald’s essence was now inside Ret, and he realized something. “Wait… If the Flame Emerald has no physical form now, then the part of the legend about casting the Flame Emerald into Mt. Eternal and then calling it back to you can’t be true…” Juner trailed off.
“You’re right… But how could that be? Maybe the legend is like a rumor – some parts are lost, some changed, and some added,” said Ret thoughtfully.
Without warning, Juner stumbled and started to slide down the mountainside. Ret started hurrying down towards him, then he started to slip but caught himself and confined himself to going a bit slower. Then Juner started yelling, “Whoa!”—And immediately, Ret saw why—Juner was sliding towards a cliff that extended across the entire mountain. Without realizing what he was doing, Ret clenched his fist and an orange whip made of fire appeared in his hand. He flicked it at Juner and it caught his friend’s wrist. Then with a soft tug, Juner came floating towards him and landed next to Ret softly. The whip disappeared, and Ret twitched, as if he were waking up.
“What the… how did I do that?” he questioned, asking himself as much as Juner.
Juner asked curiously, “You mean you didn’t have to think about it? But… all of our teachers, even your mom and dad, said that concentration is essential when conjuring.”
“Yeah, I know…Maybe this is one of the effects of being a Wielder—after all, the Flame Emerald contains an enormous amount of elemental energy, and that energy’s been in storage for a long time. Maybe it somehow wants to come out. But still…I do wish I could control these things…” A short burst of laughter without mirth popped out of Ret’s mouth.
“Me too,” Juner said without enthusiasm.
“What’s bugging you?” Ret asked bluntly. Juner wasn’t usually just a yes-man.
“I dunno… look at the valley down there. The mist… it’s…” Juner trailed off, shivering.
Ret decided not to stress the matter. Juner got kind of weird sometimes. In fact, before the epidemic last year, he had become withdrawn and jumpy when he was around people.
There was silence for a few moments as both of the friends thought. Then Ret said as an idea formed in his mind, “I’m going to check out the wall of that cliff, see if I find anything interesting.”
“How are you going to do that?”
“Well, you know how I used a whip to grab you when you were sliding? Well, I’m going to try and make a rope out of the same color of fire, but by choice, to hold me up while I crawl around on the cliff.”
“That’ll be really dangerous, Ret. What if you slip and the rope doesn’t hold?” Juner said seriously, shaking his head.
“It will hold—and besides, I’m not going to slip,” Ret said firmly.
“Okay…” Juner agreed grudgingly. “Yell to me if you find anything, all right?”
“Yeah, I will,” Ret replied, then he concentrated on what he wanted—a rope of orange flame. He closed his eyes and imagined it clearly, and as he did so, he felt warmth in his clenched fist. He opened his eyes to find that he had been successful; a sturdy rope of braided orange flames resided in his hand. “Hold my hat, will you? He held it out for his friend to take. Juner accepted it and watched glumly as Ret got ready to make his descent.
“All right,” Ret said to himself. “Let’s go.” He manipulated the flames with gestures from his hand to form a knot around an upstanding rock. Then he looped the rope around his waist, tied a secure knot, and lowered himself onto the sheer rock face.

* Detre trees are similar to the pine trees of Earth, but have bright red-colored flat needles that extend to be about an inch wide and four inches long. Omapo is a universal name for deciduous trees on Jektar.






Chapter 4-The Cave of the Legend

Ret looked down and had to stop for a moment to gather his courage. If I fall from here, I’ll be screaming for a long time, he thought. Then he took a few deep breaths and continued repelling down the cliff face. Once he got about twelve staulks below the ledge where he had started, he stopped and scanned the cliff face above him. His eyes skimmed over a shadow on the rock, then he did a double take and looked back at it. It seemed only to be a shadow, but Ret decided to take a closer look—there was nothing to lose by checking it out. He formed pitons out of orange flame and used them to climb up and over to the shadow. As he approached it, it became clear to Ret that this “shadow” which had caught his eye was no shadow. It was a cave. Ret reached down and stuck in a few more pitons for his feet and then called to Juner, who had his head peeking over the edge, “Hey Juner! I found a cave of some sort! I’m gonna come back up and give you a rope, all right?”
“Okay, great,” Juner called back. Ret started to climb back up the rest of the way to the edge, which was only about six more staulks. After he had climbed about two staulks, though, he heard Juner’s voice calling something over the howling wind that had suddenly whipped up, but he couldn’t make out quite what he was saying. Then at last he caught a few words: “—behind you!” Ret spun around precariously, the braided flames of the rope twisting further around each other, and saw why Juner had been so frantic; there was some sort of winged beast flying through the air towards him! Ret quickly estimated that he still had about 15 seconds before the thing got to him, so he started clambering up the cliff…4 staulks left… 14 seconds… 3 staulks… 12 seconds… 2 ½ staulks… 10 seconds… 2… 9… 1 ¾… 8… 1 ½… 7 seconds… 1 staulk to go… suddenly a pillar of flame erupted from the beast’s mouth, and Ret turned… then time went weird for Ret. He could see the flames coming out of the predator’s mouth slowly, and yet he was still moving at normal speed. In his mind, he marveled at what was happening, but at the same time, he was racing up the last staulk of the cliff. When he reached the top and clambered onto safe ground, he turned around and time turned back to normal. The flames hit the cliff face and spread out, making a wall of flame appear in front of Ret and Juner and singeing their eyebrows. It curled at about five staulks up and disappeared, leaving a distinct smell of smoke in the air. Then the beast flapped its giant wings and soared down into the valley.
“Ret, how did you move that fast?” Juner asked abruptly.
“I guess you could say that time seemed to slow down for everything but me,” Ret told Juner after thinking for a moment about how to describe what had happened. “It was like I was moving at normal speed, but everything else was in slow motion.”
“What… really? That’s odd…” There was silence for a few moments. “Anyway, at least that thing’s gone now, so let’s go explore that cave!”
“Yeah, you’re right. Here’s a rope.” Ret clenched his fist and another rope appeared, which he handed to Juner. “I’ll take my hat back now, he said, outstretching his arm to take it. He jammed it tightly onto his head with its short brim pointing left. Then he lowered himself back down onto the cliff face.
Ret and Juner carefully climbed down the cliff to the entrance of the cave. They pulled themselves inside, then the ropes twisted themselves around each other and faded, leaving a faint red glow for a moment, and then it, too, disappeared.
As they looked into the darkness of the cave, the two noticed a tall rectangle standing about 5 staulks into the cave, just before the smothering darkness became complete. Ret sparked a fire in his hand and Juner followed suit, then they strode up to the tablet. As the two Fire Adepts peered closely at the seemingly ordinary stone, suddenly there was a bright flash of red light and when it faded, the stone itself was glowing the same hue, and strange symbols were inscribed upon it.
As Ret peered at these strange markings, a chant--or was it a song?--poured into his head:

To find me, look well
Only the Chosen
Wielder and Adept (Only the Chosen)
Can grasp my hilt
If you are worthy (Only the Chosen)
You shall find me
When your gaze
Rests upon my blade (Only the Chosen)
Call my name:
Zilinquojox
Zilinquojox
Then the bind
Will be broken
And my vivid flames
Will dance again

As the song ended, the words “Only the Chosen” fading off in his head, Ret turned to look at Juner. “Did you hear that?” he asked his friend excitedly.
“The stone just started glowing a second ago, Ret. There hasn’t been any time for anything to happen,” Juner replied, looking at Ret curiously.
“No, listen! I heard this song kind of thing in my head just a few seconds ago that went like this: ‘To find me, look well…”
“…And my vivid flames will dance again,’” Ret finished.
“So you just heard this inside your head? I wonder why I didn’t hear it… maybe it’s because you’re the Serinthen…” Juner mumbled to himself. After thinking for a moment, he continued in a normal voice, “Sounds to me like there’s some kind of weapon in there, and that seems like a good thing to investigate to me.”
“Yeah, me too. Let’s go.” Ret and Juner made the flames in their hands flare brighter, then continued into the cave. Ret noticed that the floor of the tunnel was unnaturally smooth, as if it had been carved away long, long ago by some unimaginable force. As they went deeper, the passageway got wider, and then after about a half an hour of silence, the friends saw light playing across the floor far ahead of them. They looked at each other, nodded, and ran towards it. The closer they got, the brighter the tunnel ahead of them was, until they emerged into a cavern and were suddenly bathed in light from fiery torches set into the walls that held flames of all colors from the brightest white to the deepest black. Even the black flames seemed to cast a light that was hard to describe, it seemed to cut through the other colors and leave nothing but an empty void for a few moments.
“Whoa,” Juner said, breaking amazed silence. “What is this place?”
“ I don’t know…” Ret replied, looking around. “Hey, what’s that over there?” He pointed over to the left of where they were.
“Hmmm… Looks like another stone tablet like the one we saw at the entrance,” Juner suggested.
“You’re right, I wonder what this one says…”
The two friends bounded over glowing red crystals and normal dirt and rock to get to the tablet, and when they reached it, they saw that it was just a normal rock in appearance, just like the one at the entrance had been. But then Ret reached out on an impulse to touch it, and the moment his slightly trembling fingers touched the cool gray stone, there was a flash and the tablet shone red, and symbols appeared upon it that glowed a lighter hue. Once again, Ret heard voices echoing inside his head, and this time they said:

To find me, look well (Only the Chosen)
But not only look
To find me
Awaken the stones
And then, to find me (Only the Chosen)
Open the doorway
Which leads to my chamber
And then, to take me, (Only the Chosen)
Call my name:
Zilinquojox
Zilinquojox
Remember my name
To take me…

And again the chant came to a close, the words “Only the Chosen” echoing in Ret’s head.
“Hey, I heard it that time!” Juner exclaimed.
“Cool,” Ret replied without enthusiasm. He was still thinking about what the chant-song had said. “But what do you think it means?” His head turned to look at Juner.
“Seems to me,” Juner began, “that the weapon is hidden in a secret chamber that can only be opened by—what was it—‘awakening’ some stones.”
“Yeah…hey, maybe these tablets are the stones that need awakening!”
“Oh yeah,” Juner said with comprehension dawning in his mind, as well as on his face. “But how do we know where to look?”
As Juner finished his question, the tablet suddenly flashed again, as if replying to his question, and new symbols appeared upon it:

Five stones there be.
Two you have awakened,
Each other is hidden,
They will open the chamber
And each leads to the next.
Next you must find
The stone in the dark
Tunnel above
Tunnel above.

Ret read the symbols to Juner, and after silently repeating them to himself, Juner said, “Tunnel above? What do you think that means?”
“I don’t know… Ret replied. “Tunnel above…” he repeated under his breath. “Above what?”
“Above this cavern!” Juner cried out excitedly. “Above where we are right now!”
“Of course!” Ret exclaimed. Then he sobered and asked, “But how do we get up there?
“I don’t know,” Juner replied blankly. “I guess we’ll have to find a way up there.” Then looking around, he continued, “Let’s look around this cavern a bit more; see if we find anything interesting.”
The two friends began walking around the edge of the cavern. As they walked, they saw many other side passages, but did not enter any of them. Ret thought that whatever they were looking for would be in the main cavern. After an hour, when they had gone all the way around the edge of the cavern and were standing in front of the second tablet (which was still glowing,) they stopped.
“So what now?” Juner asked.
“Now we go to the center of the cavern,” Ret decided. The cavern’s floor sloped upwards to the center from any point around the edge, forming a cone with its tip in the center of the cavern. The pair started up this slope, clambering over row upon row of crystals that were as high as their waists and glowed with all the colors of the rainbow.
“These are amazing stones,” Juner marveled while they climbed over a particularly tall set of the gems.
“They really are,” Ret said. “I wonder how long they took to grow? Millions of years here, I’d bet.” Juner nodded silently in agreement.
When the pair got to the top of the hill, they stopped. In front of them was a flat platform seven and a half staulks across, and when Ret knelt down to look closer, he saw lines and symbols inscribed upon it. He straightened up and walked to the center, where there was a perfect cylinder that had a small round depression in the center.
“Looks like you’re supposed to put something there,” Juner remarked.
“Yeah… it seems about the size of the Flame Emerald,” Ret said, puzzled. “But… but…” Ret trailed off. Then he got an idea. He domed his hand over the depression and concentrated on exactly what the Flame Emerald had looked like, down to every last facet of green and fleck of red. When he had the image fixed in his mind, he poured it out through his hand. Red and green flames slowly molded into the shape of the Flame Emerald, then suddenly turned solid, and Ret stood with his hand clasped over legendary gem.
Before either of the friends could speak, the lines and symbols on the stone circle suddenly ignited in red and green flames, and the friends felt a lurch as the platform lifted off of the ground. A dancing wall of flames of all colors prevented the friends from jumping or falling off the edge. Juner looked up and gasped. Ret followed his actions. They saw a shimmering, glowing sheen over a hole in the ceiling directly above them.
“What in Jektar is that?” Juner gasped.
“I don’t know,” Ret replied, “But whatever it is, we’re going through it,” he finished grimly. He sent a fireball sizzling through the air at the phenomenon, but the shimmering barrier simply absorbed the fireball and the friends hurtled toward it, their lives seemingly sealed to end within moments.

[DJ]

Chapter 5: The Trials Begin

The friends were moments away from being crushed by the barrier. Ret sent fireball after fireball flying towards it, but the only effect they had on the sheen was soft ripples that spread out from the points of impact.
“Ret,” Juner began. “I have something to say before we die—” But before he could finish, Juner was interrupted by a loud humming that started as loud as a hive of bees, then within seconds it became so loud that Ret and Juner could feel their bones vibrating. Ret’s hat bounced on his head, tousling the hair underneath. But before the friends could say anything, they looked up and saw the barrier, now mere staulks from their heads. They also saw, for a split second, that they were seeing through another translucent wall of fire, but neither of them could react before they felt a sort of thrilling warmth pass through them, and then Ret and Juner found themselves standing in a bright tunnel. Then they realized where the brightness was coming from—right beneath their feet. They gasped as they saw that the platform that had carried them through the barrier was now situated inside of it, causing it to radiate a bright light that lit up the tunnel for a few staulks either way before it faded into darkness.
“Which way do you think we should go?” Juner asked after a few seconds of silence.
“Hmmm… maybe we should go—” but before he could finish the sentence, a flaming arrow streaked out of his hand and flew down the tunnel to the right.
“—Right, I guess,” Ret finished with surprise.
“Fine with me,” Juner replied, and they started walking after Ret conjured a flame in his hand to light the way. Unlike their journey from the entrance of the cavern, the friends talked as they walked. They talked about normal things, as if they were still in Etar, but when they got off the topic of the Adept Academy and started mentioning friends and family, the unseen feeling grew between them: They were homesick. Neither of them consciously knew it, but both Ret and Juner felt this feeling, this feeling that lodged itself in their minds and filled the silence that hung in the air like a blanket, smothering any words that tried to force their way out of the friends’ mouths. The loneliness lodged itself in their throats and grew until they felt that they could hardly bear it any longer. The silence remained until finally, but slowly, slowly, it shrunk and shrunk until it was only a tiny dot of doubt, and there it stayed. The blanket lifted, and the friends could speak again, and speak they did, but carefully and unconsciously stayed away from close friends and family.
After hours of walking without finding anything, Juner suggested that they make camp, and Ret agreed. While Juner took some sticks out of his pack and set them ablaze to make their campfire, Ret made a floating flame on either side of their camp so they wouldn’t be surprised by anything. Then Juner took out some meat, berries, and water and put them in a pot he had retrieved from his knapsack to make a stew. Ret fashioned a burner for them out of hot red flames, and the friends relaxed while their only meal of the day cooked. While they were eating, the only sounds were the pops and snaps of the fire and the slurping of the broth as they drained it into their mouths.
When Ret and Juner were done eating, they decided to take turns on watch duty. Juner’s turn was first, so he propped himself against the tunnel wall, opened his eyes wide, and started counting seconds.
The time passed uneventfully for Juner, but still he kept his eyes wide open. I wonder what exactly we’re looking for, here, he thought. What is this treasure that the stones tell of? I know it’s a weapon of some sort, but it must be special in some way…
Juner’s thoughts about the treasure spoken of by the stones whirled around inside his head until he finally got to 7,200. (He had been counting in the back of his mind up to two hours.) Then he stumbled over to Ret, made him wake up, and hit the floor sleeping.
Ret rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and started counting seconds. He began to get into the most uncomfortable position possible, so he wouldn’t go to sleep, but then decided instead to make use of his time. He climbed to his feet and walked over near the edge of the light thrown by the floating fireballs, and thought of what to practice. He was already quite skilled at fireballs and beams. Solid objects were easy with the substansei command. Suddenly Ret knew what to practice. He needed to know how to heal himself and others. The problem was, there was no way to simulate that. Or was there? What if I made a person out of fire? Ret thought. But he realized that that would be extremely complicated. It wouldn’t be like creating an inanimate object, where he only had to know its shape. He would have to be able to create an entire new entity, complete with personality and physical and mental abilities. That was inconceivable. The young Adept decided to choose another skill to work on since what he had originally thought of was so impossible under the current circumstances.
I know, Ret thought. I’ll work on my reaction time. That can always come in handy. So he tossed a few fireballs into the air and willed them to fly at him at a high speed. For the first few minutes, he was hit often, and got some minor burns, (I guess I got some healing practice after all, he thought, as small spirals of green and blue trickled out of his hands to heal his burns,) but before long, he realized that he was getting faster; less and less of the fireballs were hitting him. The time flew by, Ret twisting and leaping out of the way of his assault against himself. He threw more fireballs to increase the difficulty. He stretched into strange and sometimes grotesque positions to avoid the fireballs, but he did it with ease; he was getting better by the second now. And so he reached the point that no matter how many fireballs were thrown, he could dodge them all. Suddenly, Ret realized that this wasn’t just reaction time. This was something much more. No one could move fast enough to perfectly dodge all of the fireballs he had thrown without something more than just good reaction time. He was doing something else entirely; he was bending time itself to suit his needs. And he was doing it without trying, without any physical or mental effort on his part. Just like what had happened when the flying beast on the cliff side attacked him.
But how could I choose to do this? Ret wondered, letting the fireballs come to a halt in midair and extinguishing them. It’s all fine and good for it to just happen at random, but it would be immensely useful to be able to do it by choice. I would easily have the advantage of speed in any fight, he thought, and I could travel faster… except that I have Juner with me. But Ret felt no resentment, only gratefulness that his friend was here. He knew how lonely he would be without someone to talk to, without someone to go through this experience with, without someone he could lean on when he was down on himself. Like the day after he and Juner met up; he had been depressed because he had almost killed his best friend and blamed himself for it, but Juner gave him the support he needed to bring him back to his normal self. Thank you, Juner, Ret thought. Thank you.
But these thoughts of his friend weren’t bringing Ret any closer to controlling his ability to slow time. If only he knew where to start!
Suddenly Ret had a thought. How did I first learn to control fire? He asked himself. He racked his brain for any memory of it, but remembered nothing—except for one laughing conversation in his family’s living room. Ret had been perched outside the curtain into the room, listening to his mother and father reminisce of memorable events. He had heard his parents talk about when they had won the Flame Art contest together in their senior year at the Adept Academy. Then they had talked about their marriage and the explosive fireworks show afterward. And then, they had talked about the first time Ret had shown his ability as an Adept.
Suddenly, Ret remembered it, as clearly as a diamond. He had been two years old at the time. His father and mother had let him explore the area immediately around their small thatched-roof house while they watched from the window. Ret had toddled out to the back, where there had been some Detre trees, their leaves twinkling green in the bright sunlight. Ret had picked up a twig and examined it intently. Looking up, he had caught a glimpse of a cooking fire in front of one of the neighboring huts. Quite suddenly, he had felt an intense heat in his hand, and he cried out with surprise his favorite word: “Fire!” He had promptly dropped the stick, leaving it to smolder on the bare ground until his surprised and exhilarated parents had rushed out and snuffed it out, lifting the confused toddler up and spinning him around, brimming with happiness.
That tells me nothing, Ret thought. It was just an accident… I suppose this is one thing I won’t be able to force myself to learn, or not for a while, anyway. He realized that at least two hours had passed, and he suddenly noticed how tired he was. Shaking Juner, he fell onto his bedding. He was asleep momentarily.
The remainder of the night passed uneventfully for Ret and Juner. They each took one more two-hour shift and at the end of Ret's, he woke up Juner for breakfast. They ate the leftovers from the night before. Then they broke camp and started walking further down the passageway. The two friends played a word game that they called ‘Junka.’ One of them thought of a sentence, then the other one had to get rid of one word and use another one in a different place and still have the sentence make sense. But while they kept their minds occupied with the game, they were constantly looking around the cave for something out of place.
After a while, the game got boring and Ret and Juner walked in silence. The only sounds were those of the dirt and rocks grinding under the Fire Adepts’ boots. But this silence didn't last for long. Ret and Juner noticed a rumbling sound that lasted about 5 seconds happening once every minute or so, and it grew louder and louder. Before long, they saw a glow in the tunnel ahead of them, and the friends hurried towards it.
When they were about ten staulks away from the glowing's source, the cause became clear to them. There was a chasm nearly twelve and a half staulks across that split the tunnel in front of them, separating them from the other side. They wordlessly approached it, more cautious now, and Juner looked over the edge carefully. He pulled his head back immediately with a small “Ah!” and when Ret looked at him to see why, he saw that his friend's eyebrows had been singed.
“Seem cool enough?” Ret asked in a joking tone.
“I didn't stay long enough to tell,” Juner replied sarcastically, blinking his eyes rapidly to get rid of the dryness. Ret nodded, taking his friend’s meaning. They stood in silence for a moment as they pondered how to get across, for it was obvious to both that they would have to. Ret looked up towards the ceiling of the tunnel, which was high over the chasm, and saw a thick stalactite above the middle of the pit. That gave him an idea.
“Hey Juner, see that rock over there?” He pointed to the one, and Juner nodded. “Think I could cut into it with this?” Juner looked at Ret to see that he was holding up a fiery rope.
“Maybe,” Juner said hopefully, but he had doubt in his eyes. Then he took a closer look and saw that the rope was edged with tiny blades, like the teeth of a saw. “Try,” Juner said.
Ret looked up, tried to measure the distance as best he could, and threw the rope through the air. It fell short of the rock and over the cliff wall, but Ret pulled it back and tried again. This time the rope hit the side of the stalactite and dropped. Ret realized that his current method wasn't going to work. He thought hard for a moment, then turned to Juner.
“You can do Flux Beams*, right?” His friend nodded. “Can you loop it around the rock?”
Juner replied by putting his hands in the Beam position** and concentrating. A fiery beam shot out, reaching out to the rock and then curling around it to form a loop.
Then Ret took the rope of fire and fed one end of it into the beam. As he had hoped, it shot out of his hands, using the beam as a pathway to get to the rock. Then Juner willed it to tighten slowly. The loop cut into the rock slowly but steadily.
After it was a half a staulk in all around, Ret told Juner to stop tightening but maintain the beam. Juner did so, and then Ret told Juner, “Now we swing.” Juner nodded and grabbed onto the rope with one hand while maintaining the beam with the other. (The Beam position is only necessary to initiate a beam.) Ret held onto the rope with both hands, and they went to the edge. The two friends took a deep breath... and jumped. They clenched their teeth as the searing heat enveloped them. And then, suddenly, there was a crunching noise and a horrible drop as the rock came loose from the ceiling. They were falling, and screaming, and panicking.
Ropes shot out from Ret's hands to the walls over and over again, until finally one caught and he swung towards the wall. The heat was nearly unbearable now; they were so far down. He held the rope with one hand and with the other, shot a soft fiery shield behind him to soften the impact. As soon as the shield got behind him, he looked down and saw Juner falling. Suddenly, things slowed down. It’s happening again, he thought. But meanwhile, he shot a soft platform downwards, under Juner. Ret hit the wall and bounced, and Juner was caught by the platform.

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Juner clenched his teeth and prepared for death. He wished he had done more. Now he would never see his parents, his friends, his home, ever again. He closed his eyes as the heat increased, drying his eyes faster than tears could appear in them. Then, suddenly, he hit something and bounced. The heat lessened. Juner opened his eyes to find that he was softly bouncing on a platform of fire. Then he looked up and he froze as his heart stopped.

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Ret came to a stop after bouncing off of his shield once. He watched Juner land safely on the platform in slow motion and open his eyes. How can I see so far? Ret thought. Juner was more than 100 staulks down, and yet Ret saw him open his eyes as clearly as he could see his own hand. And then Ret saw Juner look up and freeze in fear, and he raised his own eyes. He saw something black fall past him and realized his mistake. The rock had come loose from the ceiling and followed them in their fall. And time was still passing so slowly.

Ret turned around and pushed off of the shield backwards, throwing his arms back so he would begin falling headfirst. He fell towards the rock, the chasm’s walls, bathed in red light from beneath, flashing past him, and then, when he had the rock fixed in his vision, he released the purple blast of flames that he had been charging during his whole maneuver with a short yell. It raged towards the rock and immediately destroyed it when it hit, leaving Ret falling towards Juner and his bouncy platform.
Things seemed to speed up to Ret as his passage through time returned to a normal rate. He hit the platform and bounced, then floated down to land softly next to his friend, who watched him tersely.
“Thanks,” Juner told him.
“Well, I can’t exactly let you get mashed by an oversized pebble, can I?” Ret smiled.
Juner responded in kind, but the smile didn’t last long. He sighed, then looked up. “So now how do we get out of this pit?”
Ret sighed as well. “I don’t know. We could just climb, but it’s so blasted hot… We have to find a quicker way.”
Suddenly it came to Juner. “Take off your boots,” he told his fellow Fire Adept as he did so himself.
With a questioning look, Ret complied. He gave Juner another inquisitive look, prompting Juner to show him what he was talking about. Juner closed his eyes in concentration, and then… he began to rise off the platform slowly. Ret gasped as he saw the jets of flame issuing from Juner’s feet, and his mind reeled with the realization of the thing Juner was suggesting. Why had no one thought of it? Why had no one suggested in the past that Adepts could fly?
Ret shook off his astonishment the best he could for the moment and followed Juner’s lead, igniting the soles of his feet. Yellow flames seared out, dissipating the orange platform beneath them, which was no longer needed now that they were airborne. But with the shield’s disappearance, a wave or searing head washed over the friends, making them cringe.
“Let’s get out of here before we get baked alive,” Juner said to Ret, squinting to keep his eyes from drying out so quickly.
“I definitely agree,” the other Fire Adept replied, wiping his brow. Then Ret focused on putting more energy into the streams of flame jetting from the soles of his feet, and with his boots in hand, he began to rise. Juner did the same. At first, the friends teetered forwards or backwards frequently, but almost immediately they found out how to prevent this; they merely had to keep a soft stream of flames emanating from their hands at all times. As long as they held their hands out to the sides, this stabilized them effectively. Before long, they were at the top of the chasm.
“Which way did we come from?” Ret wondered out loud. Juner flew over to the other side of the pit and descended to the tunnel’s floor, then bent down to examine the dirt.
“We came from this side,” he called to Ret. “These are our footprints.”
“Great,” Ret said, coming down to land softly on the opposite side from Juner. “We should get going,” he commented. Juner nodded and flew over to him.
Juner came down to the ground next to Ret softly and said, “I don’t know about you, but I can’t keep that up much longer.”
“Flying? Neither can I,” Ret replied in agreement. “But we need to go faster than we have been.”
“That’s the tenth time you’ve said that this trip, Ret, and I don’t understand why. Why do we need to go faster?” Juner had a curious look on his face and his big brown eyes were huddled together.
“I’m not sure why, Juner, I just… look, I have this feeling that something really big is happening, or it’s about to. I’ve had it ever since I left Etar. That’s all I know.”
Juner was silenced for a moment. He then said, “Maybe you’re right. If you have this feeling, that’s good enough for me. After all, you are a Serinthen. You’re more in tune with the balance of the elements than anyone else.”
Ret wished Juner wouldn’t talk as if it was a sure thing that he was a Serinthen. He hadn’t passed any trials yet, and they couldn’t be sure of anything…

* A Flux Beam is a beam that can curve and loop, unlike a Line Beam, which can only extend in a straight line.
** The Beam position is one in which you bring your thumbs and forefingers together to form a triangle through which you sight your target.