Below Auraleaf, the underground hall of hidden doors mellowed in the shadowy light of the twilight lantern, runes shifting on elder wood and stone as the massive door adorned with the sign of the Gate of Dawn pulsed in rhythm to the cadence of Lila's pendant.
Eron, his staff within reach, stood watch as Elin read the Book of Eternity, which had opened to a page displaying the sixth rune, dark, awaiting the Key to bring it to life.
The Door Opens
Lila stepped forward, shining the twilight lantern before her, the pendant thudding with her heartbeat.
She took a deep breath, whispering:
"I am not afraid."
As the lantern's twilight light touched the door, runes came alive in spiral order. A rumbling shook the chamber, and the great door creaked open slowly, displaying a domed chamber lined with mirrors, each one casting the twilight light into endless fractals.
At its center was a pedestal upon which a crystal lantern sat, its flame dark and cold, waiting.
The Mirrors of Reflection
The door closed behind her, sealing her within the room.
Each of the mirrors sparkled, and reflected to her images of the past:
Her grandmother's house, where she first found the secret door.
Herself as a small child, with a lantern in the hospital corridor.
The first time she entered from the world of the lantern.
Her anxieties of failure, of being too frail, of losing those she loved.
The mirrors whispered, voices twisting like smoke:
"You are not enough."
"You will fail."
"You will lose them all."
Lila shivered, holding the pendant, darkness curling at her feet, but she breathed, raising the twilight lantern.
"Perhaps. But I will continue to walk."
The Trial of Acceptance
The black crystal lantern on the pedestal flamed with icy fire, and out of it stepped a shadow beast—a copy of Lila herself, but encased in shadow, eyes pale lanterns.
It attacked, covering the ground in a flash, shadow claws swiping through the air to strike her. Lila raised the twilight lantern, forming a twilight barrier, turning aside the attack, but the blow sent her sliding across the floor.
"You are me," Lila breathed.
The shadow Lila tilted her head, lantern eyes shining.
"Then fight yourself."
They struck, light and darkness entwining in rings of twilight strength. Lila's shield turned back the blows as she stood, using the pendant to direct spurts of dawn-tipped shadow, leeching the creature.
The Choice
As shadow Lila fell to one knee, it looked up at her, lantern eyes soft.
"You can't open the Gate alone. You need us."
Lila lowered the twilight lantern, walking forward, extending her hand.
"Then stand with me."
The shadow Lila smiled wistfully, bursting into a whirlpool of dark light that congealed with the twilight lantern, which burned brighter with fresh strength.
The dark crystal lantern on the pedestal blazed with a fire of twilight-blue, and a word sounded softly in the room:
"Thalorien."
The Sixth Key: Thalorien
Lila voiced the word aloud:
"Thalorien.".
The pendant smoldered, the twilight lantern blazing as the sixth rune blazed in the Book of Eternity above, burning steadily on the Gate of Dawn map.
"Six Keys." Quietly, Elin's voice drifted from outside the entrance.
The Attack Above
As the chamber door creaked open to permit Lila to fall back into the underground hall, a deafening boom shook the ground.
Eron's gaze snapped up to the ceiling. "They're here."
Above ground, an enormous shadow storm had descended upon Auraleaf, shadow wraiths and serpents storming the lantern barriers, testing the defenses with fresh ferocity.
The villagers, directed by the Lantern Keepers, stood united, silver and twilight lanterns raised high, forming shield circles about the Heartstone and the children.
The Ascent
Lila held the twilight lantern and the pendant, the energy of the sixth Key strong within her.
"We must return."
Eron firmly held her shoulder, his smile grimly determined. "It's time to show them your light."
Elin closed the Book of Eternity, its light echoing the calm, focused look on her face.
"And to prepare yourself for the seventh Key."
Together, up the crystal staircase, lanterns shining around them, they walked, while above, Auraleaf prepared itself for its final test yet under the churning, darkness-torn sky.