Tolan landed hard and groaned out in pain. He looked up and silently cursed at the standing Matheus who threw out a hand to help him up.

“Let’s get you up.” He said and Tolan took his small hand.

Arid was the air around this small room of smoothly carved rock. And hard was the silence that bounced around the surrounding corners. There was nothing in here. Only a small door with no handle.

“It has no handle,” Tolan echoed, brushing the dust off his robes. Some lingering pain remained on his bottom, but he didn’t say anything about it.

“Indeed, it doesn’t. Exciting, no?” Spoke Matheus as a smile emerged on his lips.

“No, it isn’t. Did you consider that this might not turn out well for us? That we could be on the receiving end of a reprimand for not following orders? I know you think that you’re above me and everyone else, but don’t think- “

Tolan’s heated admonishment was broken by Matheus who walked right up to him. He could almost smell the fading fragrance that hung loosely around him. It must have been expensive.

“Stop!” He hissed at him, and continued, “I don’t care for what you think will or won’t happen. If you don’t want to follow me, leave.” He angrily pointed to the hole above them, keeping his gaze on Tolan as he did.

“You know I can’t do that. It’ll leave a mark on me. A mage who left his partner alone in the midst of an investigation.” Tolan’s voice tinged in clear annoyance at Matheus’ recklessness.

“Then stop criticising me and help me find a way inside.” He spat back.

Turning, Matheus left Tolan to brood and sizzle away under a growing resentment.

Matheus moved towards the door and attempted to push it open. But it didn’t budge.

“It’s stuck.” He said with his back turned to Tolan.

Sighing, Tolan walked over to him and began to inspect the door. Though filled with frustration, Tolan decided his best option right now was to follow Matheus and make sure nothing wrong happened.

The door was of hard rock, and as Tolan pushed it slightly forward saw out in the corners it bend backwards. Very slightly.

He turned to Matheus and spoke, “I think it requires a ton of strength to open. Try to do so with essence.”

He backed off while Matheus began to suck in essence.

The green-eyed youth quickly pumped himself full of purified essence and began to push the door open. Tolan saw it begin to turn, noticing the dust that dropped from atop the door.

How had that frail man opened this door? Tolan thought. Maybe there was something in here. A mechanism that enabled him to open it easily.

Tolan began to look around for any sign of such a mechanism. He found nothing.

How odd, he thought

“Should we?” Panting, Matheus pointed to the small narrow corridor that opened up before them and the staircase at the far end.

The corridor was surrounded by a rough wall of carved stone.

Someone’s made this corridor, Tolan thought. It isn’t natural. But why?

As Matheus walked beyond the room and out into the dimly lit hallway where crystals of light lay stuck in the wall, Tolan put his hand on his shoulder. Stopping him.

“Matheus, I really don’t think this is wise. Let’s just go back to the Council and report back what we’ve found.” Tolan pleaded. None of what he saw in here was normal.

The façade of a typical room behind him, a door with no handle or keyhole they had to pry open with essence, and now this pathway was carved out of stone.

There was much it seemed they didn’t know about the target of their operation.

Matheus turned to Tolan and sneered. He shook his shoulder free of his hand and spoke, “See, this is why you and the other commoners won’t be able to become true Magisters. I’ve had enough of being treated like you lot.” He hissed while slowly walking towards the stairway before him.

Tolan cursed at Matheus’ foolhardiness and the frustration that billowed within turned to anger.

He looked back at the now-closed door and at Matheus some distance from him. He cursed again and silently ran towards him.

He kicked the loose soil beneath his feet as he caught up, swore at Matheus’ back while they descended the spiral stairs, and cursed again when the lane before them suddenly split into two.

Stopping, Tolan saw a frown appear on Matheus’ face. Thinking this sudden split might give him pause and enable Tolan to begin anew in convincing him to leave, the youth opened his mouth and closed off that option.

“You take right, and I’ll take left.” He said, turning to him.

Tolan shifted and considered the person before him. He knew that he couldn’t force him to leave, but neither could he simply leave him alone down here.

“No. We walk together,” he finally said.

Matheus frowned at him, “It would be faster if we split. I know that you don’t want this, but there’s nothing here that could threaten us.

“Think, Tolan, the man we followed was mundane. Not able to use essence. And these corridors and the one above was carved out of hand, not by essence. Else we’d have noticed some residue on the rock. So, stop acting like a coward.” A sneering smile grew on Matheus, and Tolan wished then to punch it away.

“Don’t you dare call me that, Matheus.” He hissed out.

We’d only notice residue if the cave had been recently built, which it almost certainly wasn’t. How dare he compare my caution to cowardice!?

Seeing the expression on Tolan’s face and the clenched fist that hung on his side, Matheus raised both hands in surrender.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. I know you aren’t a coward; it was wrong of me to say that.” He attempted to placate but saw the lingering anger on Tolan’s face.

“Please Tolan, I need this.” The pleading in his voice was muted, but Tolan caught it still.

He hadn’t thought it meant this much to him, so he let some of his anger cool. He observed him for a good second before answering. Enjoying the tensed silence that grew between them.

“Fine, I’ll take the right.” He finally said. “But, if I see anything dangerous, or you do, then leave or come back here. Let’s not take any chances.” He warned.

Matheus nodded and without missing a beat; turned to walk left, down into the lightly dimmed corridor of carved rock.

Tolan’s gaze stayed on him until he descended the stairs and disappeared from his eyes.

Sighing, Tolan crept down into the right corridor until he reached the staircase. He looked around and touched the rough surface and spiky rocks in the wall.

How long has this place been here? Its construction should have alerted someone. So, it must be old. But how old is the question?

As he descended and reached another narrow corridor, some questions that had plagued his mind were answered.

Here lay to his right and left doors of stone with metal bars placed in the middle. They looked like cells. And looking into them, confirmed them as being exactly that.

Inside, Tolan saw small square rooms unadorned in anything but single beds of carved rock. That’s what filled this dimly lit corridor.

The emptiness hidden within here and the arid air of these corridors began to gnaw at him.

“This can’t be a dungeon, can it? But if it is, where’s the-?” He didn’t finish the thought. There lay no residue on the walls, nothing at all. These cells were old. As old as this place itself.

But why had it been created, Tolan wondered. And whom was it intended to hold?

There was something very wrong here, and Tolan began to fear that splitting up might not have been the best of their ideas.

But he continued down the corridor, nevertheless. If they had to explain themselves to the Elder Council, they’d better find something of great importance to justify their entry to this place.

Moving down the hallway, Tolan's eyes looked over the circular crystals of light embedded into the walls. They were dim and some of them didn’t even emanate any light at all.

These crystals are old. Didn’t the Tower release their crystals that took in essence naturally from the air five years ago and freely give out those in exchange for the old kind? These must be the outdated type. The rechargeable, essence battery kind. How rare.

So, not only is this place old but it’s been in use since the old magister’s set up their Tower here. Curious. But why hadn’t anyone found this place before?

Too many questions hung unanswered in Tolan’s mind. This place would most certainly elicit a large response from the Elder Council. A secret dungeon below the city.

He walked down the staircase and finally reached a place wholly different from the corridors. It was an entrance. A vast one where two large doors stood before him.

What’s behind here?

As he approached the entrance, Tolan stopped dead in his tracks.

On the hidden tail of a cold wind followed a potent scent of iron and rust. It was so powerful that he had to check if his nose were still in a process of being bolstered through essence. It wasn’t.

Something behind these doors emanated a stench so powerful he almost recoiled at it.

There was something familiar to this smell. Though he couldn’t place exactly where he’d smelled it before.

Readying himself, Tolan went to his heart and opened himself. Purified essence entered his veins and body. He wouldn’t place any on his nose, only on his ears, eyes, arms, and legs.

He quickly went towards the doors and pushed them open. As they glided away from him, he turned stiff with shock. His eyes took in the large hall, and the thick pool of blood placed in the middle, and the large formation circle a foot away from it.

Blood flowed from the pool into the formation through an etched line on the smooth ground surface. It coloured the ring of lines and wrote in a putrid red. A darkish colour of fresh blood.

“What the-?” Tolan said out loud in confusion and disgust.

The stench was vile, and bile threatened to escape his stomach. Tolan quickly grabbed his robe and placed a piece of it on his nose.

“What kind of formation is this?” He said, moving closer to observe it.

It didn’t look like any he knew. The lines flowed irrationally against each other.

Formation lines weren’t supposed to interweave, they were supposed to act independently and draw power into the runes they were all connected to.

This did neither. In the four corners around the formation, runes he recognised were applied but not fused into the overall formation.

And in the middle, a small hole was dug, away from the lines of the formation and blood. It seemed like something was supposed to be placed there. Curious.

Tolan then looked to the symbols placed on each corner. They had been oddly done. Written in a broken manner. But he could still make out that they were facsimiles of teleportation runes.

He looked around then for a battery, remembering that one of his professors telling him that formations like these required batteries of essence to work.

He saw nothing in there. Only the irrational formation circle, and the large pool of blood that flowed down into it.

Peering at the pool of blood, Tolan thought back to the dungeon above him.

Could it be? Could the blood be from- He didn’t finish the thought for the bile finally revealed itself.

Through his mouth came a stream of acid, and his meal that morning.

He quickly grew angry. Horrified and furious at what he was seeing. Tolan looked around for anywhere that might seem like an exit.

He found none and turned his eyes towards the formation instead.

He filled his palms with concentrated essence, letting the strands of its purified power coagulate and produce an intense ball of heat. Like a miniature sun, a sphere of glowing orange warmth materialised. A fireball.

Tolan held himself strongly and threw the fireball at the formation before him. It hit hard and the blood began to boil and evaporate under the exposure to its heat.

Before long, all the blood was gone. Leaving Tolan to revel in the power coursing through him and the righteous fury within.

Redirecting more essence to his legs, he waited for the flames to disappear and stomped harshly, leaving a large crack on the ground.

He did not care to remember the formation letters, nor the intricacies of the formation’s lines. He needed it to disappear. And so, it did.

Under the weight of his attack, the ground crumbled and the surface around the formation splintered and broke.

“Disgusting.” He hissed out. What kind of mage would think this was a good idea. Blood was worthless. So, why would- the thought crumbled in his mind before he could finish it.

The blood was still fresh, how could the frail man-.

He wasn’t anywhere near this place when they followed him, and neither could he have made a facsimile of a teleportation circle. That knowledge was only provided to Senior and Magisters of the Tower.

Tolan dropped the robe he had placed on his nose, and his eyes turned wide with fear.

There’s a mage here! I need to find Matheus quickly!

With essence still running through his legs, Tolan flew through the room and up through the stairs, making his way quickly back to the corridor split into two.

Beneath his feet, the surface broke, splintered into minute fragments of rock and dust that swirled around the missing print of his sandals.

He rushed down the stair that Matheus went, hellbent on acquiring some honour he could wear like an armour of excellence around his gentry friends.

Away from the corridor filled with cells, Tolan flew down the stairs and finally reached an entrance hall. He pushed the door open and saw a hall similar to the other, but this one without a formation circle and pool of blood.

Matheus wasn’t here, and neither was the mage he suspected to be here.

As fear began to increase in him, Tolan noticed the door at the far end of the hall. A stone entrance. He rushed towards it and now found himself in a square room of stone.

The room was filled to the brim with round containers. If the air had been arid above, the air was parched down here. It was dark, the crystals were removed from their sockets in the wall. His only source of light came from the hall behind him.

Curious about what was inside the containers, Tolan went to one and opened the lid.

It was black powder. It can’t be explosive powder, right?

He looked around the room again and realised now truly the number of casks hidden here.

What are these guys planning? And how did they get all of this in here?

Remembering the transportation formation, Tolan immediately cursed and realized that it could maybe have been used to transport goods from outside the city.

Maybe it had never been intended for people. But why then write the runes that act like a normal teleportation circle?

And most importantly of all, how had they powered it? Could the blood maybe have acted as an essence battery? But that should be impossible.

As his mind began to churn out questions, he suddenly heard something. It wasn’t anything physical, but a small slithery emetic whisper that chilled his flesh and made the hairs on his neck stand.

He abruptly stopped everything he was doing, and his thoughts turned onto the source of the sound. It felt like it came from behind the other door.

He didn’t know what it was, but it felt… wrong.

A horrid sensation washed over him. He wanted to run, to leave this place and never return. And he was just about to do so, but then remembered Matheus and that he might be in grave danger.

He began to move forward, taking in the ping of whispers that increased with each step. Like an intricate web of muted murmurs, the voices merged on top of one another.

He moved closer to the door and like old metal in need of oil, the door creaked open, and he crept his way inside.

I’ll just leave it open, that should make it easier to escape if anything happens.

Before he could lay eyes on what lay inside, the sound turned and twisted harshly. He was struck square by a seething echo of adjoined hisses and muted whispers. It felt like his blood was boiling.

Nearly screaming from the pain that came upon him, Tolan fell to his knees and placed his hands on his ears to shield them. But the attack still came.

It swarmed around him like an unbridled locust. He felt it worm its way into his mind. It quaked, bashed, and stung him then in an incessant pain.

What’s going on!

And as quickly as the sound had come, it disappeared. Nearly retching from the experience, Tolan removed his hands from his ears that still buzzed in a low pitch.

All he felt was his still pulsating heart and the near taste of rancid bile and blood on his tongue.

He quickly got hold of himself and brought himself up from the cobblestoned flooring with great difficulty. He was panting and looking around wildly.

He grew pale at what he saw.

“Matheus!” Tolan shouted, seeing the unconscious youth to his right. Rushing over to him, Tolan held him up and heard him groan out in pain.

He was shaking and felt cold to the touch. He didn’t know what to do, so he pressed into him with the purified essence he held within his mageheart. Attempting to warm his body from the inside. But his attempt recoiled.

Physically pushed back from the feedback, Tolan hit the wall hard on the other side of the room. The power that had pushed him away was foreign. Not essence.

How! His mind shook at the implication. An unknown energy source!

Growling out in pain, Tolan forced himself up. He moved vigilantly towards Matheus and saw now something in his right hand.

On closer inspection, it was a small rock. One he held tightly. So tight that blood seeped down his hand and onto it.

Tolan took in essence from the air and quickly shielded himself. A physical, translucent shield manifested on his person. He clad himself in a tangible bodysuit of essence.

Feeling his reserves empty fast, he pried open Matheus’ hand and took the bloodied rock from him.

Now seeing the roughly cut rock, dyed in blood, Tolan came to a standstill as he rose. His mind was immediately struck by a harsh pain that flowed like needles through his bloodstream.

He fell to one knee and nearly cried out in pain. Feeling a foreign force enter him through the rock, Tolan immediately tried to throw it away. But his left hand wouldn’t listen. It was like his body was frozen. And so, it held onto the rock against his wishes. pry open.

The shield then broke and faded to merge with the light of the room - emanating from the crystals.

Unable to move, Tolan opened up himself and began to project as much raw and pure essence towards his mageheart. For it was beginning to swell with this new foreign power.

The raw essence within him began to clog up his body, but he held. Despite the immense pain, it brought him.

He felt like breaking, and as the two forms of power battled within Tolan, Matheus woke.

Feeling still a lingering pain, he rose and saw Tolan.

“Tolan-“ He saw then the glowing rock in his hand. Remembering the force that made him go unconscious, he rushed immediately over to Tolan and placed his hands on his back.

He injected essence into him, both purified and raw. Sensing the battle within his companion, Matheus directed as much as he could to aid Tolan in containing the power that raged within him. It didn’t take long before they succeeded.

Within a small pocket of his mageheart, Tolan had successfully contained the ravaging foreign power.

He turned to Matheus. “Are you fine? Is there still-?” He asked.

“No. I’m fine. None of that foreign energy remains within me. You?” Matheus replied.

“Same.” He sighed.

None said anything then, they just stood and attempted to calm themselves. To breathe normally.

“What just happened?” Tolan inquired, as he threw the rock to his left. Away from them both.

“I-I don’t know. I came in here after finding all that black powder behind us. And went over to that table.” He said, pointing to a large desk not far from them. “And I saw a box, and a map lay there. I pried open the box, and there it was. The red rock.”

He continued, “I examined it and forgot all about it when I saw what was on the map. Tolan, it’s a drawing of Ru, and they’ve crossed out the Tower, the Bazar, the affluent quarter, and various guard outposts. I think they want to bomb them. And when I-I tried to rush outside, with the rock in my hands, I-,

“You felt some sort of… energy, and then went unconscious. From the pain.”

Matheus nodded at this. The worry on him was palpable. And his hands were still shaking from the experience.

“I found a teleportation circle and a pool of fresh blood in the other section. I think they might have used it to teleport in all that black powder behind us.

“I don’t know why exactly they needed all that blood though, but I think it’s related to that rock.” Tolan's eyes turned towards the rock on the ground, as he remembered the gap carved into the centre of the formation circle. He turned then to Matheus and continued.

“And with everything else you’ve told me; I think we should leave. Now.” Tolan forced out. He was getting angry. Not only at Matheus, but at himself for allowing this to happen.

This was no longer a situation that neither he nor Matheus could attempt to control. This needed the Tower and their Senior Mages or even Magisters. Not two Juniors.

“You’re right, let’s,” Matheus said, and Tolan could almost see the relief on his face.

But before they could leave, Tolan walked towards the table and grabbed the box and map. This was evidence, exactly what they needed to show to the Elders.

“What are you doing?” Matheus hissed at him.

Holding the box in his arm, and placing the map inside his left pocket, he replied “We need to get that rock and the map back to the Elders.”

Matheus looked his right and saw the rock. “Leave the rock, Tolan, it’s not worth it,” he said, in obvious fear.

Tolan could almost smell the fear emanating from him. But he ignored him. “No. We need the rock; I think it might be important to show to the Elders.”

Matheus cursed, “Fine. Just do it quickly and let’s get out of here.” He was itching to get this over with.

Tolan placed the box on the floor and kicked the rock in.

“Safest way.” He said and threw a smile towards the silent Matheus.

As both made their way towards the exit, the entrance behind suddenly opened.

What! How in name of the gods didn’t I hear anything!? Tolan cursed internally.

“We need the timetable moved up; I already had a…”

The first who entered did not see them both at once, that feat came to be on the tall, muscular figure next to him.

“What the-“the frail figure, their target said. He’d noticed the sudden silence of his companion and stood shocked when his gaze quickly froze over Tolan and Matheus.

He was then thrown to the ground as a vortex opened and essence began to rush towards the muscular figure.

Tolan threw the rock down and turned to Matheus. “Shield!” Tolan shouted and they both, shoulder to shoulder, erected a translucent golden screen before them.

They’d felt the vortex immediately and opened themselves up then in response. This person before them was strong. Somewhat stronger than them.

They could feel the raw essence building up within him. He was a Senior. A mage capable of manipulating raw essence.

“Tolan, he’s a Senior!” Matheus shouted.

“I know. Focus!” He shouted back towards him.

They were in a lot of trouble. How could they even think to contend against a Senior mage.

Suddenly, their world turned red. Their shield cracked as a large fireball fell upon them. The impact of it nearly threw them back. But with their outstretched hands still on the shield, they held.

But they wouldn’t hold for long. For the man before them continued to bombard their shield with fire. And as they felt the barrier weaken under the force of his attacks, heard him shout towards his companion.

“You were followed, Jain! I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you. Make yourself useful and get out of there. Warn the others and tell them we’ve been compromised!” The muscular shouted towards the downed figure.

Seeing Jain rise from the floor, Tolan cursed because he knew he needed to do something. He couldn’t let the man leave, nor could he take on the Senior.

They needed to get creative here.

“Matheus, I’m going to drop the shield.” He said.

“What?!” Came the response, but Tolan continued.

“When I do, jump towards the pillar to your right and try to create a distraction. We need to stop the other guy from leaving.” He quickly spat out.

And before Matheus could retort, Tolan dropped the shield immediately after feeling the brunt of one last fireball. The flames still lingered around, and he felt the searing heat of the air on his flesh.

Seeing Matheus quickly jump behind the pillar to his right, Tolan jumped left.

With his back to the pillar, he felt structure vibrate as it now took the brunt of the attack.

“Quick, Jain!” He heard from behind.

Tolan immediately in response took the remaining he had and pushed it towards his right index finger. Though his veins remained clogged from the raw essence build-up, he pressed through it. Feeling the pain that came with it.

Soon his finger lit up with blue light. It was dim at first, but then it sprang to life. Just as he filled it with his essence.

Tolan focused then and let the azure light coagulate and create a small light of stable blue heat

Beyond the noise and vibrations emanating from the attacks on the pillar, Tolan heard an explosion. He looked to his right and saw Matheus had thrown something. What exactly he didn’t know, but he did feel the vibrations on his pillar stop.

This was his chance. In feigned heroism, Tolan, with no care for his life, jumped and mid-air pointed towards the door on which Jain now reached towards.

He prayed to the gods that his aim was good, and he shot his blue light. He was thrown backwards mid-air and hit the wall near the opened door. Hard.

As his light streaked through the lightly darkened room, dyeing the naked walls in azure light, he found that his attack had made its target. He had hit Jain square in the gut. And from it, heard a gruesome scream.

The muscular man looked towards his companion and had, in the seconds it took Tolan to gather more essence, erected a shield far stronger than the one he'd had before.

Seeing this as a chance, Matheus rushed towards Tolan and with the purified essence he’d collected, erected a shield to protect his downed companion.

Tolan quickly rose and began sucking in essence towards his mageheart. As it purified it and sent the refined essence through his veins, he placed his hands on the shield and strengthened it.

Though they had succeeded slightly, both knew that they couldn’t keep this going.

They needed to run, and they needed to do so quickly. But with a Senior Mage on their tail, that was impossible.

Unless someone stayed behind. Unless someone remained to contend with them.

Tolan cursed.

“Matheus. I need for you to stop strengthening the shield and leave. Quickly, take the stairs and rush towards the Tower. They need to know what happened here.” Tolan grit his teeth and made his decision.

What these guys intended was far too large for them not to report back on. They couldn’t take any chances.

“Are you sure?” Came the reply from Matheus. He knew that this was a death sentence and that it wasn’t a choice he’d make.

But that was exactly why Tolan did it.

“Yes. Leave now. While he still has his shields up and isn’t focusing on us.” He said and felt his shields weaken.

Matheus turned and began to run through the door.

“By the gods, look, they’re running! We can’t let them get out of here, Yewen! We can’t fail when we’re this close! Don’t take any chances!” The wails had stopped and was traded for in pleas. With blood dripping from his mouth and feeling himself weakening by the second, he pleaded for his companion to do something.

The Senior Mage quickly turned towards the room filled with black powder and cursed. “Damn this.” He replied in a rough, aged voice.

While in his shield, he summoned a fireball, far larger than anything Tolan would be capable of shielding against.

“Damn it,” he cursed and immediately filled his body with raw essence. He injected it all into his shield and observed through the pain dots of black on his eyes.

His body couldn’t take any more raw essence. But he didn’t stop. He gritted his teeth and struggled through the pain.

The Senior Mage put down his barrier and quickly threw the fireball towards Tolan. It didn’t break through his shield, but the impact did send him flying backwards. He hit Matheus, who staggered and fell.

Ignoring this, Tolan rose and quickly put up his shield again. He saw then a smile appear on the Senior’s face.

What’s he planning?

Another fireball emerged on the Senior's palm and as Tolan’s darkened gaze finally noticed the room he was in, he cursed.

“Matheus, run! He intends to blow this place up!” He shouted and made his shield larger and pushed it forward. But it was neither large enough nor powerful enough.

The senior threw the fireball then and immediately injected all that he could into a new shield. One that focused on himself only.

A large ball of fiery red rained down upon Tolan's shield and bounced off of it, striking instead the black powder stored a few feet away from him.

And a glorious flash of followed. The black powder had been ignited.

“Tolan-!” he heard Matheus shout, just before the explosion and fire destroyed Tolan’s shield and threw them sideways across the room.

They landed nowhere near the door. And rising, Tolan saw now billowing towards them a gushing inferno.

Damn this! he cursed.

He then felt something. Something hard on his hand. It was the rock. It had somehow fallen out of its box, and he’d unknowingly reached for it. But how?

Turning to face the inferno, and hearing the screams of Matheus beside him, he felt his mageheart swell and suddenly beat. And so did the red rock. Echoing off each other.

In a panicked state, and unaware of his mageheart and the rock, Tolan reached for the essence in the air. Any essence at all. And threw it all into himself and out into a shield around them.

Please hold this time! Please hold! He shouted inwardly. Unable to open his mouth due to the pain.

The corrosive effect of the raw essence caused him much anguish, but so did the flames that struck his shields and slither through its cracks.

Matheus was still screaming, unaware of Tolan’s efforts. He lied on the floor, as a state of complete and total terror took him.

With the fire striking against his shields, and him sending all the essence he could muster towards reinforcing it, Tolan began to scream out in pain.

The crushing pain had returned and so had the foreign energy. In his body, it felt like a valve suddenly broke. The foreign power entered him and ruined the focus and control he had over his shield and essence.

The shield then fell, and the fire took them. Like the deadly sandstorms outside the city, this carnal blaze encompassed all that he, Tolan, could see and feel.

Searing pain joined by two intense screams of agony, Tolan and Matheus howled out for relief. Tolan burnt and all that he could think of was the pain and the end he hoped would come sooner rather than later.

Suddenly, the red rock shone a blinding burgundy light. His mageheart and the rock beat loudly now. And in unity, both took in essence from the room and melded it together with the foreign energy. The ground as a result lit up around Tolan and Matheus. Their world suddenly brightened and below formed a small formation of red and blue.

The inferno circled them and flowed inwards like a vast wave of hot sand, and as the formation of light below made outwards display a bright, blinding light, they disappeared from sight, and the torrent swarmed around the hollow ground where Tolan and Matheus once was, leaving in the room nought but the Senior Mage and his dead companion.