Chapter IV

Sun and Moon

Isaac and company easily stole past a healer from the town's sanctum, and within half an hour found themselves marching up the mountain trail. The path was surprisingly well-maintained, in spite of the fact that hardly anyone ever used it, save for the sanctum Adepts. The going was easy, and even Jenna only complained a little.

Roughly an hour after setting off, they made their way up the last stretch of the mountain trail. A massive wall of rock greeted them, with a large set of doors at its base, carved of smooth marble that seemed to defy time's decay.

"Sol Sanctum was built within Mt. Aleph itself," Kraden explained. "As one travels deeper into it's chambers, they grow closer to the heart of the mountain."

"And Mt. Aleph is said to be the centre of all creation itself…" Isaac said.

"Indeed," Kraden said, smiling. "Surely it is the reason why this place was chosen as the location of the temple."

"But what was the sanctum built for?" Jenna asked. "Why dig into the mountain and built a huge temple? It couldn't have been very easy, even for Adepts."

"Alas, nobody knows for sure." Kraden's smile faded to a frown. "There are many theories, of course. But the answers are either lost to time… or hidden deep within those walls."

Isaac returned his gaze to the large marble doors before them, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of smallness, as one might feel when staring at the stars and thinking on one's insignificance in the universe. They were just a few ordinary village youths, with Psynergy barely strong enough to be called Adepts, yet they stood on ground that the ancients had once walked.

"We certainly won't learn anything by standing around out here!" Kraden proclaimed. "Let's go inside!"

Taking the lead, the Alchemy sage strode up to the marble doors and pushed them open. The doors protested at their slumber being disturbed.

The three teenagers followed Kraden into the darkness of the temple. They had taken only a few steps past the sanctum's threshold, into a narrow hallway, when Kraden spoke.

"Close the door behind us," he instructed them.

"Why?" Garet asked. "The sunlight from outside is the only light we're gonna have."

"Just do it," Kraden said, not angrily, but with a firmness he rarely used.

Isaac and Garet shrugged and each grabbed a door and pulled them closed. Carved out of marble as they were, Isaac was surprised at their weight, and was baffled as to how Kraden had so easily pushed them open on his own.

"Are you worried someone is going to follow us up here?" Jenna asked. Naturally, she made no effort to help the boys.

"It's best not to take any chances," Kraden muttered, looking outside as the last rays of light were cut off.

A moment later, faint orange light appeared, as small flames burst to life from wall-mounted torches.

Garet jumped in surprise. "What the…?"

"Ancient technology," Kraden explained. "These torches are powered by Psynergy. It is one of the few wonders of the Lost Age that still works."

Jenna curiously approached a torch, reaching out and passing her hand harmlessly through the flames. As a Mars Adept, it would take a very powerful fire to actually burn her. "That's amazing…"

"Come," Kraden urged them on. "There's even more impressive sights ahead."

He led them down the long hall, taking a few twists and turns along the way. A few minutes passed, and Isaac found he had quickly lost his sense of direction. Thankfully there were no branching paths, or the place would have been a true labyrinth.

"The ancients had odd ideas about the architecture of their temple," he said, as they made their fourth turn.

"This long hall is just one of the first attempts at deterring thieves who might try to steal the sanctum's treasures," Kraden explained. "According to the Great Healer, there were once traps in this hallway, but they have all been disarmed for the sanctum Adepts' visits."

"What is it they come here for?" Jenna asked.

"You'll see in a moment."

And so they did. Each of the three drew in a awed breath as they stepped into the large, open chamber. The ceiling stood as high as three buildings the size of Vale's inn, and the chamber itself reached as far as the town square. An impressive stone carving stood at the centre, depicting four Adepts standing upon a platform, and reaching up towards the skies. From a gap in the ceiling, a beam of light struck down upon the statues.

At the edges of the room there were various other statues. Some, Isaac immediately knew from stories, like Cybele, Atlanta, and the Minotaur of Argon.

"This was the worship chamber," Kraden told them. "The ancients came here to pray to the gods. The town's healers still sometimes make visits to this room for intense meditation. When they brought me here before, this was the room they showed me, along with a few side chambers that had little of interest."

"I always thought that Sol Sanctum was filled with dust and old things," Garet said. "You didn't you ever tell us about this?"

"I can't believe this was so close to our homes, but we were never told about it," Jenna added.

"Indeed," Kraden said, sounding somehow disappointed.

And then, there was a slight sound. From the shadows at the corners of the chamber, there was a slight sound. Kraden's eyes went wide and he drew in a breath.

Isaac drew his small machete and stepped before Kraden. Garet and Jenna quickly did the same.

A tense moment passed, before a small, rat-like creature crawled into view.

"Just a Vermin…" Kraden let out a sigh of relief.

Garet took a step forward and shouted, "Shoo!" The small Vermin scurried away, disappearing back into the darkness.

"Those things really aren't that dangerous," Jenna said. "More a nuisance than anything. Are the elders really keeping all these secrets to protect us from rats?"

Kraden grinned. "You're on the right train of thought."

"There's more though, right?" Isaac asked. "You said there was more of the temple you weren't allowed to see. So what else is there?"

"Indeed, and that's what's been troubling me," Kraden said. He pointed to the statues in the middle of the room. "These are heroes of the Lost Age, who were said to have sealed away Alchemy. It always seemed odd to me that the ancients would worship these heroes, and not the spirit of the sun. The temple is called Sol Sanctum, after all."

"What are you saying, Kraden?" asked Garet.

"I have a theory. I think that this chamber is just a false front. This is certainly not the heart of Sol Sanctum. There must be something greater deeper into the temple. That's what we're here to find."

Isaac scratched his head. "So where do we begin looking?"

"Check the statues at the edge of the room. There might be a secret chamber somewhere."

And then, Kraden started off, heading towards the far end of the chamber, where the smaller statues of the various figures of legend stood. He walked straight to the Minotaur.

"I'm sure you're all familiar with the legend of the Minotaur of Argon?" Kraden asked.

They certainly were. It was a story told in Vale of a man who was cursed with the form of a Minotaur and trapped within a great labyrinth, and forced to fight to the death anyone who entered. He despaired, for he was still a man in spirit, but the body he was trapped in was beyond his control, and attacked all intruders. In one battle, the Minotaur was struck by a blade in one eye, and left half-blind.

As expected, the statue before them had a jewel placed in one eye, but not the other.

As the legend told, the Minotaur realised that if he were truly blind, he would be unable to attack those that entered the labyrinth, and perhaps someone could slay him and end his torment. So, in great pain, he drew the knife from his blinded eye, and drove it into the other.

But he could not stop the curse, and the first eye merely grew back as soon as the knife had been taken out. He alternated between blinding himself in one eye and the other, but he was unable to fully destroy his sight, and thus he was forced to continue to slay those who entered the labyrinth.

A cruel and tragic tale. It had never been one of Isaac's favourites.

"Take out the jewel and place it in the other eye," he suggested.

Kraden grinned. "Precisely."

The sage did just that, and as soon as the small gem clicked in place in the opposite eye slot, there was the sound of stone grinding against stone.

"Kraden, how did you know to try that?" Jenna asked.

"It just seemed the most obvious thing," he said, with an unconvincing shrug.

It was definitely very easy to figure out if one was familiar with Vale's lore. The story of the Minotaur wasn't very well known outside of Vale, however. Kraden had lived in Vale long enough to familiarise himself with the local legends, but most travels who passed through had never heard of the Minotaur of Argon, or any of the stories that Isaac and his friends had been told since childhood. Vale had always been rather secluded from the rest of Weyard.

Still… the way Kraden had made a beeline for that statue in particular when there were dozens of others in the chamber…

Isaac wasn't convinced. Kraden had definitely known how to open that chamber.

Nonetheless, the followed after him into the newly-opened passage, which had appeared a short distance away. This passage was more narrow than the first hallway, and was not lit by the magic torches. They soon found themselves moving up a staircase in the dark.

Jenna, who had been lagging in the back of the group, drew close to Isaac, and spoke in his ear in a whisper that the others could not hear.

"About what Kraden was saying before…"

"Yes?" Isaac answered, just as quietly.

"He was saying something about that chamber being a false front, because he expected something in honour of the sun… But those people in that statue were reaching up to the light that was shining down from the hole in the ceiling."

"Yeah."

"And the way he walked right up to the Minotaur… He had to have known about it already."

"I was just thinking the same thing."

Jenna looked up at the sage, who marched obliviously up the stairs. "Do you think he's actually been here before?"

"I can't see why Kraden would lie to us," Isaac replied. "He said he hasn't seen any more of the temple than that chamber. But perhaps he learnt how to go farther somehow."

They saw light at the top of the staircase. In utter defiance of his age, Kraden dashed up the last dozen or so steps. The three teenagers hurried after him, half-worried he would get into some kind of trouble.

Instead, they found him looking excitedly at some carvings on a wall.

"These are writings from the ancient peoples of the Lost Age!" he exclaimed, bouncing on his heels like a child with a new toy. "I cannot read them though - they're in a dialect that is completely lost… Oh, if only I had the time to copy this down, I could make a translation attempt…"

"I thought your field of study was in Alchemy?" Isaac asked.

"It is, but I have studied other schools. Language, history, economics… I've read books on just about every subject. The only thing I never really found interesting was geography, to be honest." Kraden turned away from the wall and saw what was behind him for the first time. His eyes widened. "Look at that! I hadn't realised we were so high up!"

At the other wall was a series of glass windows, outside of which could be seen the peaks of other mountains in the distance. Clouds rolled by, blocking the view of the world below.

"These windows are still completely intact, even centuries later," Kraden said, awed. "If any of them broken there would be very strong winds in this chamber."
"How far down is Vale?" Garet asked, walking over to Kraden's side and staring out the window.

"A mile perhaps, if we're seeing clouds outside," Kraden answered. Turning away from the windows, he all but ran down the hallway. "Come, children! More of the sanctum awaits!"

As they watched Kraden disappear around a corner, Jenna said to Isaac, "I guess this is the first time he's been here."

"We need to confront him about this," Isaac said. "There's something he's not telling us."

"I agree," Jenna added.

Garet didn't join in the conversation. He was still staring out the window.

Then he said, "I wonder what it would be like to fly through the air like a bird?"

"Terrifying, probably," Isaac muttered.

"Exactly what I'd expect a Venus Adept to say," Garet said.

Jenna scoffed. "If there was anyone who could have the power of flight, you'd be the last I'd trust with it. You would probably crash in a forest or something."

"You guys hurt me," Garet said, pretending that it was true.

"C'mon, guys," Isaac urged. "Kraden's already out of sight."

A moment later, they caught up with Kraden, who stood in the middle of a large, circular chamber. Unlike the chamber with the statues, this room was spartan, consisting only of marble walls and ceiling, and a stone tiled floor. The tiles on the floor were arranged in a way that created the image of a drawing of the sun.

This sun on the floor was what Kraden was staring at in disbelief.

"It's just… It's exactly like…"

"Kraden, we need to talk," Isaac said.

"Yes, I imagine we do. I owe you three an apology. I was not entirely truthful with you."

Caught off-guard, Isaac said, "Er… yeah."

Turning away from sun on the floor, Kraden faced them regretfully. "I was not honest in my intentions in wanting to come here. At least not completely. While it is certainly true that I wanted to see for myself the deeper parts of Sol Sanctum, the truth was that I already had an idea of what they were. The Minotaur statue, and this room here… they were both exactly as I was led to believe."

"'Led to believe'?" Jenna repeated. "What led you to believe these things?"

Kraden let out a long sigh, and turned away from them. He began to pace the length of the room as he spoke. "Two people came to visit me the day before I asked the three of you to come with me into Sol Sanctum. They were travellers, of that I can be sure, because they wore black cloaks, of which they kept the hoods drawn to cover their faces. They spoke in quiet voices, perhaps to further conceal their identities, but I could tell that one was a man and the other was a woman. They spoke of Sol Sanctum. They described things about it - chambers I had never seen, but matched what I had always suspected about the temple. They offered to take me there and show me themselves, if I promised them something in return. They carried weapons, but they did not threaten me."

A chill ran down Isaac's spine.

"What did they want from you?" Garet asked.

"They did not say," Kraden said. "But they told me I would need to betray the people of Vale. And that was something I could not do. I told them as much, and they left without another word. I have not seen them since."

Garet frowned.

"Why didn't you just tell us this?" Jenna asked.

"I wanted to confirm things first," Kraden said. "If what they had said was true, then they would have broken into Sol Sanctum. But it was always a possibility that they were liars - con-artists, perhaps. I didn't want to accuse them unjustly. I know what the crime is for outsiders to set foot on Mt. Aleph. I wanted to wait until they had left, and quietly see if they were telling the truth."

"I don't think they left," Garet said. "I saw someone today that sounds exactly like what you described. Black cloak, spoke in a whisper. They had a mask on."

"One of the two that visited me," Kraden said quietly. "Or perhaps another from their group. Either way, you're right - it means they have not left."

"Everyone," Isaac said suddenly. "I know who these people are."

All eyes in the room were then on him.

"You do?" asked Kraden.

"Yes," Isaac replied. He took a deep breath. "They are the foreigners from the north who visited Vale just before the night the boulder fell. The ones we broke into the inn to spy on? Everyone thought they left when the villagers denied them entry to Sol Sanctum."

"I remember that," Garet said.

"They didn't leave, they just pretended to. They actually came back and broke into Sol Sanctum, in the hopes of stealing something."

Kraden's eyes narrowed.

"But they failed, and ended up triggering some kind of trap. Whatever it was, it killed most of their group. Only those two survived and escaped. But what's more is that… the trap they triggered caused the storm that led to the boulder falling. They were well aware of this, and they fled the town in the night."

"How do you know this?" Kraden asked.

Isaac hesitated. "Right after the boulder uh… struck… I wandered in a daze and came upon them by accident. I heard enough of what they said to piece everything together. The woman wanted to kill me, but the man talked her out of it."

Isaac glanced at Jenna, whose eyes flashed with anger.

"I'm sorry I never told you," he said to her.

"Why…?"

"We all know the penalty for outsiders who trespass on Mt. Aleph… The villagers would have formed a posse and gone after them. But those two would have killed them all. They were Adepts more powerful than anyone in Vale. Far more powerful. I just didn't want anyone else to die."

Things grew silent for a moment. Jenna bit her lip and turned away, deep in thought. Kraden looked down at his shoes. Garet frowned and scratched his head.

"Okay…" Garet said finally. "So what do we do about all this?"

"It's a complex issue," Kraden said. "The way I see it, we have two options. The first is that we turn around and leave. We go back to the elders and tell them everything. We will certainly be punished for entering Sol Sanctum, but Isaac was right - the villagers will go after the outsiders and try to put them to death. And if these two are as powerful as Isaac claims, the villagers will probably be killed. But the matter will no longer be our responsibility."

Isaac grimaced. He did not like that plan, even thought it was the responsible course to take.

"And the other option?" Garet prompted.

"We continue on," Kraden said. He reached into his pocket and halfway drew out something that glimmered silver in his hands. "If what I suspect is correct, I know just what it is they were trying to steal, and I have what we would need to take them ourselves. If they've come back, they will certainly be trying once more to steal them. If we get them first, we can leave the sanctum quickly and hide them in Vale, where they will be safe under watchful eyes."

"But what about the trap?" Jenna exclaimed. "We could cause another storm if we make the same mistake they made!"

"Consider the Minotaur puzzle - only someone familiar with Vale's legends would think to try that. Those outsiders likely solved that one through trial-and-error, but perhaps whatever triggered the storm was the same sort of test. Perhaps that was why they wanted my aid… as I'm both a scholar of Alchemy and am familiar with Vale's lore, they might have needed my help in solving the sanctum's puzzles."

Jenna shook her head. "I don't want to take that chance."

"Consider this, Jenna," Kraden continued, kneeling down before her and matching her eye-level. "If we do not do this ourselves, those two might try again anyway. In fact, they almost certainly will. They wouldn't have travelled all the way back to Vale just to give up and go home. They clearly don't care for the lives of the villagers, so they will likely trigger another storm anyway, only doing what they need to save themselves. If I'm right about the treasures that lies ahead, these people will do anything they can to get them."

Jenna hesitated, then sighed. "Putting it that way, what choice do we have? I don't think it's a good idea, but it seems we have to go forward."

Kraden stood back up. "Of course we're going to be very careful. If all but two in their group were killed by a trap they likely weren't being very cautious. We're smarter than them. We won't make their mistakes."

Kraden then led the way into the next chamber. As they walked, Isaac glanced at Jenna, searching in her features for a clue to what she was thinking. She noticed his stare, and briefly met his gaze, before turning her head away.

The next room was identical to the previous, save for the floor, which bore an image of a crescent moon instead of a sun.

"Ah! Luna!" Kraden exclaimed, rushing inside. "This is also just as they told me."

"Did they tell you what is up there?" Isaac asked, pointing to a staircase that led farther up into the sanctum. It was the only way to go on.

The sage frowned. "They did not. Perhaps this is as far as they got…"

Kraden proceeded cautiously to the staircase, and then made his way up, with the Adepts behind him. The stairway spiralled around in a circle, and they emerged into one last chamber.

They saw before them four porcelain statues, each holding in its hands what appeared to be a mirror. These four statues were facing away from the centre of the room - where there was an inscription on the floor that matched the crescent moon from the last chamber.

Isaac immediately knew which story this referenced. The four sages who had sealed away Alchemy - the very same who had been reaching up to the sun in the first chamber.

Kraden scratched at his grey beard, thinking. "It would not be wise to touch anything in this room until we are certain we know what will happen."

"Well… what do you think the intruders from before did?" Isaac asked.

"They likely were not on guard against traps," the sage replied. "They likely just came upon these statues and started to move them. As there is an image of Luna here, that likely means-"

"There's another room over here!" Called Garet from the other side of the chamber.

"As expected."

The next chamber was closed off with a heavy stone door that took them some time to open, which likely meant, as Kraden speculated, that no one had been this far yet. Inside they found an image of the sun that matched the room directly below it.

Otherwise, it appeared empty.

"So what's the point of this room, then?" Jenna asked.

Kraden did not answer. He paced the room, examining every inch of it with inquisitive eyes.

"What are you looking for?" Garet asked.

He did not answer. He stopped at one of the far walls of the room, and began running his hands over the stone wall.

"Ah!" Kraden exclaimed suddenly.

The three Adepts rushed over to him, and he pointed out a stone block.

"It is loose!"

And then, before they could stop him, the sage took hold of the block and pried it out of the wall.

"Jeez Kraden, weren't you the one who said we needed to be cautious?" Jenna chastised.

"Ah, look at that!" Kraden said, unable to contain the excitement in his voice.

Within the wall, previously hidden by the block, was a hand-shaped hollow with an image of a a tree within a circle - the symbol of Venus.

"This must be the switch that disarms the trap!" Kraden said. "Isaac, try putting your hand on that!"

Isaac sighed, not eager to be the guinea-pig, but as the only Venus Adept, it would have to be him. He moved to do so, but stopped when he saw the worried look in Jenna's eyes.

Of course she was worried. She feared if they did this wrong, it would cause another storm - and more deaths. It had taken her so long to move on from the loss of her parents and brother, another incident like that would bring all that pain back, even if she didn't lose someone close to her.

"It'll be okay," he assured her, with a smile.

Frowning, Jenna eventually replied with a nod.

Isaac stepped up to the wall and placed his hand into the hollow.

A moment passed, but nothing happened.

"Uh…"

"Try using Psynergy," Kraden urged him.

Oh. Of course.

Isaac channelled his mind's energy and focused. Normally he would release the energy into the world in a form tied to the earth and plants, like a small earthquake, or a stone spire to drop on an enemy, or a power that made ivy grow in mere seconds. However, he obviously didn't want to destroy the sanctum, so he just held the energy without unleashing it.

And then, the hand-shaped hollow began to glow, and Isaac felt the invisible presence of Psynergy passing through the walls - the energy of another Adept, from very long ago.

There was a loud click.

"What happened?" Garet asked.

"If my suspicions are correct, Isaac just disarmed the trap that those foreigners triggered," Kraden said. "Well done, Isaac."

"Well, I didn't really do much…"

"Let's go take a look at those statues now."

They returned to the previous room, where the statues still stood, unaffected by whatever it was Isaac had done.

"Alright…" Kraden said, his voice calm and level. "Now I'm fairly sure that we've undone the trap that caused the storm three years ago. However, there is always the possibility that I am wrong. There is always the small chance that one is wrong in these matters, and it must always be taken into consideration. I want to try moving these statues to see what will happen… but if I tell you to, do not hesitate to stop moving them at once. Understood?"

They all nodded.

"Okay… Garet, go move one of those statues."

Garet blinked. "Wha…? Why me?"

"Because Isaac did his part in disarming the trap."

Garet sighed, and then marched off, muttering something about it not being difficult to put your hand on a rock. He went over to one of the four statues and stood beside it.

"What should I do, just turn it around?"

"Yes, so it is facing the Luna symbol, instead of away from it."

Still grumbling, Garet awkwardly attempted to grab the statue in a manner that was halfway between a hug and a wrestling lock. Groaning aloud, he tried to twist the statue around, failing to move it an inch.

Isaac and Jenna exchanged glances and then burst out laughing.

Kraden shook his head. "What am I going to do with this kid…? Garet!"

"What?!"

"Use your Psynergy to move it!"

"…oh."

A few moments later, Garet's Psynergy faded away, and the first statue was facing towards the middle of the room. Once turned around, it had settled into place, dropping a few inches into the floor and making a loud click. It had refused to move at all after that.

Garet panted, still out of breath from trying to move the statue by hand. "Okay… now what?"

"Wait here, all of you."

Kraden took off down the stairs and vanished.

"He moves fast for an old guy," Garet pointed out.

"He gets so excited about this stuff," Isaac said. "It's his life's passion. Coming to this temple was probably something he's dreamed about for years."

"What do you think we're going to find?" Jenna asked. "This 'treasure' he keeps mentioning. That these foreigners are after. What do you think it is?"

"I have no idea. It must be something important, though, if the elders have been keeping it secret all these years. With all the traps it's hidden behind, and the fact that those people have travelled all the way out here twice…"

Jenna bit her lip and looked down at the floor.

"Are you okay?" Isaac asked her gently.

She nodded. "Yes. I'm just worried. About Vale and about us. I feel like something terrible is going to happen."

Isaac couldn't bring himself to reassure her, because he had that same feeling in his gut, as well. Now that he knew those people were back, he himself was worried about what they might do.

He thought back to that night. He could still remember that woman's knife against his throat. The steel had been as cold as ice.

Those two would do anything to get what they were after.

And now he had broken his promise to himself, and told the others about them. When they returned to Vale with Sol Sanctum's treasure and told the elders all of this… what was going to happen?

Isaac let out a breath, and said, "Either way… I feel like everything is going to change soon."

"Okay!" Kraden suddenly exclaimed as he came racing back up the stairs. "I went back to the corridor with the windows. I didn't see any storm clouds outside, so it would seem we're alright."

Jenna let out a sigh of relief.

"Alright, Garet," Kraden continued. "Go ahead and move the other three statues."

"All three of them?! Are you kidding me?!"

He was not.

A few minutes passed. Garet let out a breath of relief as his ghostly Psynergy hand faded from the final statue.

"That's it… I'm never moving another damn statue…"

"We appreciate all you do for us, Garet," Jenna assured him.

"I'm sure."

"Well… all three statues are in place…" Kraden muttered. "But nothing has happened."

They looked around the chamber. All four statues were settled in place, and faced the Luna symbol. But as Kraden had said, there was no change to be seen.

"I would have thought that would have done something," Kraden said. "Like a secret chamber opening or something. Hmm…"

A moment passed in silence while he thought on it.

"Perhaps it was somewhere else," he said. "Let's try searching for something that's changed."

As there was no way to go deeper into the sanctum, they retraced their steps and made their way back down the stairs to the first two rooms.

Back in the second of the two circular room, they walked right past the sun-shaped symbol on the floor. However, as they were about to continue into the next room, Kraden all but jumped out of his pants.

"Wait a minute!"

He charged back to the middle of the room and crouched down in front of the sun symbol.

"It changed!"

Isaac and Jenna's eyes went wide. Garet scratched his head.

"I… don't get it."

"Garet, this is the second room," Jenna explained. "The first one was the one with the Sol symbol. This one had the Luna symbol before."

"What's with that condescending tone? You hadn't noticed it either until Kraden pointed it out!"

"The other symbol must have changed, too!" Kraden exclaimed excitedly.

"But what was the point of that?" Isaac asked. "We moved those statues-"

"I moved those statues," Garet interjected.

"-and all it did was switch the symbols on the floor?"

"It may only be an indication that there was a change," Kraden explained. "Something to let us know… like a signal fire. Come, I want to take a look at the other room."

The three confused Adepts followed the sage back into the first of the two circular rooms. As expected, the previous Sol symbol had indeed changed to Luna.

The unexpected part was that it was glowing.

Garet stared, agape. "What the…?"

"Hold on, it may be dangerous," Kraden warned them. He ushered them back a bit to the threshold of the room. "We must test it first."

"How?" Isaac asked.

"Allow me."

Kraden motioned them back a little more. The three Adepts moved away, eyes wide in anticipation of what the sage would do. He then reached down and pulled the shoe off his foot, and hurled it at the glowing Luna symbol.

The leather boot bounced harmlessly off the floor.

A moment passed, and nothing happened.

"It appears safe," Kraden declared, looking far too pleased with himself.

"The scientific process in action," Isaac muttered to himself.

They went back into the room, and once Kraden had retrieved his shoe, they cautiously approached the glowing symbol.

"It's full of Psynergy," Jenna said.

Indeed it was. Isaac could feel the energy radiating from it - the same energy that had flowed through the walls when he had disarmed the trap.

"What do you think it does?" Garet asked, leaning forward and poking the glowing floor with his finger.

"Garet, no!"

Too late, Garet gasped and jumped back as a ray of light shot out of the Lune symbol and hit the far wall of the room. Psynergetic energy filled the room, radiating from the light.

A hole appeared at the point where the light struck, and it grew in size gradually until it was large enough for a person to step through. From the other side, they could only see light.

"Whoa…" Garet said, in awe.

"Idiot!" Kraden yelled, slapping the back of Garet's head. "That thing could have done anything! It could have sucked you into an imploded space, or vaporised you, or possessed you with the spirit of a long-dead Adept! In fact, I'm rather disappointed it didn't do that last one - it would have been an improvement!"

"Hey, I got it open! All you did was throw your shoe at it!"

As they bickered, Jenna approached the hole and looked it over. "It's a portal…"

Isaac joined her, and eventually Kraden and Garet did as well.

"But where does it lead?" Isaac wondered.

Kraden gazed into the light of the portal, his eyes widening behind his spectacles.

"Could it be…?! Might my theories be true after all?"

"What theories?" Isaac asked. "What's in there?"

Kraden stuck his arm into the portal, and it disappeared within. A moment later, he pulled it back out, unharmed.

"I will go in myself," Kraden declared. "If I don't return in a few minutes… don't follow me."

Before they could protest, Kraden stepped fully into the portal, disappearing into the light beyond.

The Adepts watched, awed and a bit worried. Nearly half a minute passed, and then Kraden's head popped back out.

"Come on. It's nice and cool in here."

They shrugged, and followed the sage into the portal.

A/N: Adapting game mechanics to a literary story can be difficult. I don't want to introduce changes just for the sake of change, but following the games 100% would result in a stiff and boring book. I've seen some Zelda novelisations that followed the games almost exactly. As you could expect, they wasted a good chunk of their length on boring dungeon-crawling sections, and having their characters recite the same dry expository dialogue they do in the games. I've also seen ones that change too much, and add a bunch of badly written shonen animesque villains for Link to fight. Both were awful for their respective reasons. Striking a balance between these two things is essential for a novelisation.

For example, I still wanted to have statue-moving be a part of solving the puzzles in Sol Sanctum, as it's such an iconic part of the games. But the way puzzles work in the games just doesn't seem like the kind of thing you would see in actual ancient ruins. I wanted it to make some kind of logical sense, instead of just "move the statue one tile to the left to unlock the door". In particular, I completely changed the puzzle that disarms the trap because I just couldn't think of a way to describe that in a way that worked in the narrative, and didn't sound like something lifted from a game walkthrough.

But I digress.

I hope the characters didn't come off as overly cautious during their exploration. We the audience know that they won't be killed by stepping through that portal, but they don't. Video game characters are very bold - I know if I found a strange glowing wormhole that leads to some unknown place I wouldn't just jump through it without hesitation!

Also, I'd like to apologise for how long this chapter took. Hopefully updates will speed up as the pacing of the story does.

Next chapter: The Elemental Stars!