The Head Whisperer and Gwyn were now alone in this massive room. Gwyn couldn't understand their language, but surmised they were arguing whenever Venni had left.
When her gaze lifted, a monstrous creature tried to devour her. She fell backwards and stood on her own, finding comfort against a nearby railing.
A dragon's skull hung from blackened chains, casting an eclipsing presence on everything beneath it. Its mouth was wide as if to feast upon anyone who walked within the Teleportation Sanctuary—teeth jutted in opposing directions, fighting for space within the dragon's maw.
"What's that?!"
Gwyn pointed a trembling finger at the gigantic skull callously hanging.
"That?" Drakefire paused. "It dragon. Uh… Firedeath kill it. One head. Not… uh… many." An unnatural pause hung in the air as he mumbled to himself, trying to find the right words. A mournful look was briefly present. "She dead now."
Gwyn slowly turned her head from the skull, unsure of what he was trying to tell her. Round disks of every gem color imaginable were placed throughout the room, which seemed to have no accord with normalcy or coherence.
It was chaotic, vibrant, and beautiful.
The Head Whisperer huffed and looked down at Gwyn, who seemed affixed to her surroundings.
"Mean lady go... we continue."
The Head Whisperer spoke in his crude English, which Gwyn was beginning to grow fond of.
He pulled her down the stairs and into a spiraling hallway illuminated by candles of blue flame.
"Where are we going?"
When he didn't answer, she grew more nervous.
She realized how compliant she was as she's dragged further into the darkness. Then a thought occurred to her. This was a dream. It had to be a dream. If this world had teleportation and dragons, it must have magic.
Am I magic?
Gwyn suddenly felt excitement overwhelm her.
Gwyn halted, and the Head Whisperer turned back to her. Confusion painted his face. The woman shouted in a haughty tone.
"I am the all-powerful sorceress who has come to save your world! I will vanquish the evil that plagues your people!"
His eyes were wide.
"How does she know?"
Drakefire spoke to himself. His pace quickened, ready to see what this Chosen One could do.
"That's right! I'll save you and—Hey! Where are you going? I'm the Chosen One!" Gwyn jogged to catch up to him. "Wait for me!"
A reminiscent humming invaded her ears as they descended further.
This noise… just like in the library with that… stranger.
Gwyn caught up to the Head Whisperer, who seemed to be sprinting now. When she reached him, a mesmerizing blue hue encompassed her vision.
The narrow corridor became more cramped with each step. Gwyn's fingers tingled as if she had slept on her hands. Little specs of blue dust had covered her and the Head Whisperer. Their footsteps had musical tones on the stony floor.
Finally, they reached the end of the spiraling hallway and entered a cramped, domed chamber with a curved shape.
In the room's center, a rounded crater filled with a sparkling liquid illuminated the darkness like bioluminescent creatures in the ocean's abyss.
Wisps of what appeared to be moving steam or air twirled and danced under its surface. Gwyn approached the edge of the crater when a hand touched her shoulder.
Drakefire spoke in his trademark broken English.
"You go in, come out. Understanding."
"Ah, yes. The pool of… um… champions… yes. I am… a champion…"
Gwyn said less confidently as she nervously laughed to herself. Her charade was crumbling before her.
A figure emerged from the darkness. Gwyn startled, reflexively stepped away.
Kelvin shook his hands as if to say, "Everything is okay." He removed his robe, revealing the clothing underneath, and then pointed to the young woman.
Gwyn looked at him, confused.
"I'm sorry?"
But the men just stared blankly at her.
"No… bra?"
Drakefire asked, unsure of the correct English word.
Gwyn nearly jumped out of her skin, covering herself.
"Bra?!"
Drakefire, realizing he had offended her and shook his hands.
"No! No! Mean I… uh… garb...? Naked? Understanding."
He pointed to the pool and began to strip all of his clothing.
"No, no! I get it!"
Gwyn stopped the old man from undressing, not wanting to see the horrors he hid beneath his robe. When he stopped, she sighed in relief.
She looked towards the crater full of liquid, understanding what they wanted her to do, but feeling embarrassed.
This is an odd dream indeed.
"You think you could turn around?"
When the elves kept staring, she swirled with her finger.
"It's like she's trying to communicate with us," Kelvin said in Elvish.
"Whatever could she mean?" The Head Whisperer asked, stroking his chin. "Should I still get naked?"
Kelvin stared at him.
"What do you think?"
"It would be in solidarity," Drakefire said.
They stared stupidly at her like lost dogs. Gwyn sighed and manually turned them around.
"Oh! Why didn't she just say to turn around?" Kelvin asked the Head Whisperer in Elvish.
The Head Whisperer hung his head low.
"They always let us watch them undress…"
"Isn't there like fifty people here normally?" Kelvin asked.
"Well… yes… but… er…"
The Head Whisperer mumbled, clearly embarrassed.
Gwyn could hear them talking amongst themselves, ensuring she maintained at least a semblance of privacy in her dream.
She removed her oak-colored cardigan and tossed it aside, starting a pile. She slipped off her dark grey jeans, struggling with the fabric as it tightly gripped her thighs. One striped white and black sock was thrown, followed by a second. Finally, she removed her black band t-shirt. She then hesitated, checking to see if the elves were watching.
They weren't.
She removed her (also black) undergarments. Her rounded glasses were all that remained. Well, that, and one other item.
She covered herself as she stepped into the crater before her.
Immediately, the water was lukewarm, and it wasn't water at all. It was a substance thicker than water, closer to oil. It's what Gwyn imagined stepping into warm honey would feel like. She descended the jagged steps until she stood on the mostly flat surface of the crater's base. Her head was barely above the liquid.
The elves turned around when they heard Gwyn enter the Pool of Origin. They began a low chant as they pointed their catalysts towards Gwyn.
Faint stars emerged from the darkness on the walls.
First, it was one. Then, two. Slowly, as the elves chanted, the whole exterior wall began to alight like the night sky. The blue glow from the crater intensified as more stars appeared. The fragments of light grew more restless as they brushed against Gwyn.
Without disturbing the pool's surface, the fragments bolted from the liquid, encircling the room. Then, one by one, they dove at Gwyn like falcons, zooming in and out of her body. Gwyn felt a lurch each time, like sharp turns on a roller coaster. It didn't hurt, but it was scaring her.
"What the hell is going on?"
Panic was in Gwyn's voice.
It felt like her organs were being shifted around inside her body. She wasn't sure how her brain was coming up with something like this or how it felt so real. The dream that Gwyn had made her reality was starting to fade as a possibility.
"Understanding," Drakefire said firmly.
What he meant was compatibility. Was Gwyn compatible enough with any of these soul fragments to soulbind?
Then, a nearly extinguished orange flame flew before Gwyn. Hundreds of other souls went behind the orange one in a spectrum to give it an audience. Gwyn made eye contact with the orange flame. She suddenly felt a lifetime of emotions: the pain of childbirth, the pain of wanting, the pain of death, and the pain of life.
The flame then slowly approached Gwyn's face. She wanted to back away, but felt her body approaching instead. It kissed her face, seeped in through her nose and mouth, and into her mind.
Immediately, a retching headache possessed her.
Images she didn't understand flooded her brain—elves, children, lovers, food, culture, knowledge, language.
Everything flooded in at once, like reading a million books simultaneously. Gwyn felt her mind pulled in every direction.
An axe of knowledge struck her skull repeatedly until she was torn asunder. Her body fractured and split into two in front of her, but it wasn't her body. It was the body of an elven woman. She was naked.
They stared at each other, then embraced, becoming one. Gwyn's body felt like fire, then ice, then fire again.
Burning, then desire.
Pleasure.
The Understanding had ended.