“Are we going to put the mirror immediately on a different hook or do we want to wait?” Lyssa stares at them, waiting for someone to respond. “And do we want to talk about what just happened? How we just walked into a totally different world?”
Dargothoth shakes his head. “What’s the point? The mirror brings us to where the crystals are, that's all there is to it. I suggest we ask Hadriel when he shows up again.”
"I am indeed curious, Lyssa", Oslando says, "but I would rather focus on escaping this tower."
The others nod in agreement.
”I'd rather hold onto it, until we have them all.” Mero looks at this Enochian Crystal. If his mask would show more details, they could all see how mesmerized he is.
Bruq smiles at him. “I thought I was the hoarder of the group.”
The sorcerer looks back at him. “You are.”
“It’s good to see you getting more talkative.” Oslando makes a kind nod. He grabs the frame of the mirror. “Bruq, a little help, please, before our religious friend over here decides where we go next.” With a muffled groan they lift the relic of the wall.
“I see you have regained some of your strength. Did my goodberries help?”
The half-elf smiles, teeth as white as fresh snow. “I ate all three of them immediately." Oslando laughs. "You weren’t kidding about the revitalizing part.”
Bruq shakes his head, his goatee dancing with the swinging movement. “I rarely kid about the important things in life and seldom about something as holy as a good meal.”
He feels the hand of the siren patting his back. “You keep telling yourself that and someday, far away in the distant future, you may even start to believe it yourself.”
“Blood, Woods, Treasure, Justice. I’d rather pick the last one than the first.” Bruq follows Oslando’s suggestion and they scoop over to one of hooks. They lift the mirror up and, again, the mirror hangs.
The glass starts to glow with a bright yellow light, spreading a warmth throughout the room as if Hadriel was present again. They close their eyes until the radiance passes, trying to prevent becoming permanently blinded.
A few seconds pass before they can see the light fading from behind closed eyes. They carefully open their eyes again. No harmful brightness tries to impair their vision anymore. Meanwhile the Enochian Mirror has created another passage, this one just as dark as the one before.
“Weapons ready”, Oslando suggests. The blade he took from the blood cult vindicator rests firmly in his right hand. “Let’s go.”
Their surroundings are dimly lit by the few burning torches on the grey brick wall. The room is smaller than the previous area they found behind the mirror. The musty smell of the air weighs heavy on their lungs. It’s humid. Fungi grow between the ridges of the cobblestone floor and they hear the rattling of metal chains not too far into the darkness.
(Wisdom 5)
“Are you a righteous person?”, the voice of a young boy asks. “I need someone to help me make the right choice.”
With his inner sense for justice ignited, Oslando takes a step forward. “Yes, I am. How can I help you?”
Lyssa walks up to him and turns his face to hers. Her hand feels warm on his face. “Are you hearing voices as well? Is it the crystal or something else? What are you hearing?”
Mero nods his head exaggeratedly enough for the pirate to see it. “It’s probably one of the crystals and this one speaks to Oslando.” He holds up his own and sees how a weak green light pulsates from within. In the darkness, about ten feet ahead, the same kind of delicate illumination appears.
“O, honorable and virtuous knight”, the same young voice continues, “if you see any room in your heart, please, would you be so generous to aid me?”
Looking at his companions - still staring at him, unresponsive to the begging voice - he realizes he is indeed the only one who can hear it.
“I will help you, of course. Tell me what I need to do.” He takes a few steps towards to faint light. His boots create short echoes on the pavement and it increases the activity of the metal chains, hidden somewhere in the unnatural absence of light.
“Lay your hand on me”, the light tells him, “but don’t pick me up just yet. I don’t want the room to destabilize.”
He does what he is asked to. As he places his hand gently on the crystal, two bright lights shine into the room. The lights come from above, appearing behind two barred windows. Within the two bright squares that are created by the light, the source of the metal chains is revealed.
“Thank you for your help, Oslando”, speaks the voice of the young boy, but he can hear something as well, like a disturbance, only audible in certain tones. “Before you, you see two men. You may take the Enochian gem as soon as you have finished helping me deciding which of these two men deserves to die.”
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