The map of the Book of Eternity glowed softly, indicating where the third Key lay—fathoms deep within the Ruins of the Lantern Keepers' Temple, into the northern forest mists from which even the sprites dared not journey.
At sunrise, Lila, Eron, and Elin traveled with three experienced Lantern Keepers, one of them carrying each a silver lantern newly activated by the power of the second Key, whose light was strong enough to repel the morning mists.
Entering the Mists
The northern woods were dense with old, towering trees like sentinels of stone. The air was damp, filled with the scent of rain far away and moss, and mist clung to their lantern light, so that every step felt like a leap into nothing.
Sprites danced on the fringe, watching, threatening in whispers:
"Be careful of the mirror."
"It waits."
Lila hugged the pendant-crystal, now joined, its soothing throb easing her fear. They continued on to an open space in which ancient stone pillars ringed a worn marble dais, vines snaking through runes that glowed with dim light in the lantern glow.
In the center was a broken stone bowl holding stagnant water, its surface duplicating the gray color of the sky.
The Guardian of the Key
As Lila drew closer, the water rippled, and a shape coalesced from the reflection—a shadowy form with silver eyes that glowed like embers, cradling a lantern identical to Lila's, but its black light danced cold.
Eron raised his staff. "Shadow Guardian."
The Guardian addressed her, its voice vibrating softly:
"To claim the third Key, holder of light, you must face the past."
The mist thickened, whirling around Lila, pulling her into a vision—
The Vision of Fear
She stood in the hospital corridor, a recollection which she had wanted to forget. The day her mom died. She recalled being a kid, clutching a small lantern her mother had given her, weeping alone as the flame died, darkness enveloping.
"You failed," the shadow's whisper danced inside her head. "You couldn't save her."
The darkness intensified, the lantern in the kid-self's grasp dying.
"No," Lila whispered, tears welling in her eyes. "I was a child. I couldn't have saved her, but I can save others now."
The pendant began to heat, a soft glow that drove the shadows back. She drew nearer her child-self, knelt, placed the combined pendant-crystal into the small hands of the child.
"Your light is still here."
The lantern in the child's hand flared to light, the shadows cleaving like glass, spilling apart around them.
Taking the Third Key
Lila gasped, sent back to the ruins, the Guardian kneeling at her feet, its lantern's dark fire silvery.
"You have faced your fear."
It extended the lantern to her, and a single word formed in Lila's mind, gentle yet authoritative:
"Serathil."
She spoke it out.
"Serathil."
The pendant bulged, the lanterns of silver around them throbbing as a wave of silver light mixed with soft shadow, humming with the Book of Eternity in Elin's hands.
The map in the book shifted, and a third rune burned around the Gate of Dawn:
"Serathil."
The shape of the Guardian dissolved in light, streaming into the lanterns, strengthening them further.
A New Threat
As the light faded, the mists drew back, leaving the forest quiet for now. But above, the sky darkened unnaturally, clouds brewing in ways that had a faint black lightning sheen.
Eron's face darkened. "They know we possess the third Key."
Elin closed the Book. "The shadows will press more rapidly now."
Lila held the bonded pendant-crystal, its light strong and steady, a blend of light and shadow.
"Then let them come."
Above them, the silvery lanterns rose higher, steady flames against the storm that came, bright in Lila's determined eyes as the Gate of Dawn neared its moment to open.