Varian was seething. He'd tried to keep Yong away, to keep him safe and have him go back home to his family, but despite his best efforts, the kid was now trailing after him dutifully, staring about the volcanic tunnel they were walking down in undisguised awe. Varian knew there was no point in scolding him further, but he was sorely tempted. So instead, he tried to distract himself with more useful conversation.
'What kind of equipment do you have on you?' he asked into the silence, making Yong jump.
'Um... I have my matches. Some black powder... fuses... and some firecrackers.'
Varian turned at that to stare at him as Yong pulled a few of the latter from inside his vest. 'Where did you get those?'
'I always have firecrackers on me!' Yong explained brightly, 'You never know!'
Varian couldn't exactly argue with that when he had most of his chemical compounds strapped to his body at any given time, but he wasn't sure how he felt knowing Yong had explosives in a dormant volcano. A big enough blast had the potential to make it very, very active.
'Hey, what's that?' Yong asked, looking past Varian now who spun around, expecting some kind of trap. But the tunnel was empty.
'Yong, wait!' Varian hissed and Yong froze in place, reaching for the wall. Varian moved up to join him, trying to figure out what had caught his attention.
'It's sulphur!' Yong replied, pointing at a small yellow formation on the wall, 'Flammable. You use it to make black powder.'
Varian sighed and nodded. 'Okay, that's great. But come on, we have to keep moving.'
They continued on, but only a few minutes later, Yong was stopping again to point out a white mineral cluster on the opposite wall. 'And that's nitre! You need that to make black powder as well.'
'Alright, but please, Yong. We have to keep moving.'
The first sign of anything relating to the trial finally appeared before them in the form of another solid stone door. Varian cautiously approached, ordering Yong back as he raised his staff, tapping at the floor, the walls and the roof to test for traps. But there was nothing out of the ordinary save for a small pile of charcoal, as if someone had been camping outside this door long enough to light a fire. That didn't bode well for their trial, though Varian told himself there were no human remains, so whoever it had been must have gotten through. He brushed his hand against the door and raised his staff, expecting to see more glowing words appear. But instead, a number of glowing runes appeared in a language that Varian recognised.
'These are alchemical symbols!' he exclaimed, crouching down to read them more clearly. Yong finally moved closer, glancing down at the charcoal before staring at the runes. 'Carbon, Sulphur, Nitre.'
'That's black powder!' Yong replied excitedly, 'It's telling you how to make it!'
Varian looked back down the tunnel to where Yong had pointed out the mineral veins in the walls, then down at the charcoal; the carbon.
'It doesn't give the amounts though,' Yong continued, 'I suppose if you didn't already know it, you'd need to experiment to get it right. But we've already got some!'
He reached into his vest and pulled out a small tin and shook it, the sound of powder moving about inside clear.
'Yong you really are a genius,' Varian admitted, suddenly strangely relieved that he was here.
Yong moved to start pouring it along the base of the door, only to pause and look back at Varian.
'Can you tell me what this is?' he asked, 'Why does this door want black powder? And why are we even in a volcano? What is this place?'
Varian hesitated.
'Come on!' Yong exclaimed, 'I'm already here and I can't really leave! The more I know, the more I can help!'
Varian sighed, unable to refute that logic. 'It's called the Trials of Demanitus. Lord Demanitus left seven trials to be completed by those worthy of his legacy. They say once you complete them, you can gain access to a realm called the Eternal Library. It's supposed to hold the collective knowledge of all of human history. That's what I'm looking for. My mom... she tried to complete the trials when I was a baby but she never came back. Now I guess I'm trying to finish what she started.'
Yong's eyes were wide and Varian thought he'd think he was lying. Instead he nodded, a slow smile forming. 'Wow! That sounds amazing! I wonder if that library would have anything on how to make the best fireworks?'
Varian couldn't help but laugh. 'I'm sure it does.'
'Can I come with you?' Yong continued, 'To the rest of the trials? I wanna see this library!'
'Let's just try to survive this one, okay?'
Yong nodded, pouring his black powder at the base of the door and striking a match to drop amongst it. The powder sparked and flared up, the flames reaching higher than they should have to completely engulf the whole door. Varian pushed Yong behind him, but in moments the fire was gone and the doorway had vanished, leaving the way ahead clear.
Hugo blinked in surprise as the alchemist's voice echoed back towards him. He'd never heard of these Trials of Demanitus, but then he wasn't really a fan of children's stories. And yet, here he was, trailing after these two in one of these trials itself. And if this was real, did that mean that Eternal Library was real too? He could only imagine what kind of knowledge was stored somewhere that proclaimed to have everything ever known by humanity. His imagination was alight with ideas and he grinned. Donnie wanted him to grab this totem before these two? He could definitely do that.
'Let's go!' Yong exclaimed and Varian slowly began to continue, the tunnel ahead lit by an ominous orange glow.
'That's not really a good sign,' Varian commented, gesturing to the glow which seemed to be coming from tiny rivulets of magma slowly dripping down the walls to disappear in cracks in the floor. Already the temperature was stifling and Varian has to resist the urge to take his gloves off. If this was the fire trial, he suspected he needed all the flame-proof material he could get. Yong didn't seem bothered in the slightest, probably used to such temperatures when working with his fireworks and Varian didn't want to imagine the burns he must have suffered to develop such a nonchalant attitude towards it. Ahead, the orange light was only getting brighter and the temperature was continuing to rise, giving Varian the impression they were getting close to the main part of the trial. Sure enough, the tunnel opened up after a few more yards into a massive chamber, huge stalactites hanging down from the ceiling far above them. They were standing on the edge of the stone tunnel, a thin pathway continuing ahead of them to a large platform, all of which was suspended above a molten lake of magma far below on thick pillars of volcanic rock. Now Yong was starting to look a little uncomfortable with the heat, tugging at his collar and looking down over the edge of the platform. He looked as if he was starting to realise just how dangerous this trial really was.
'Varian?' he asked quietly and Varian put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, looking back up to the main platform ahead of them. It was mostly empty but along the edges there were seven pedestals, three on the left, three on the right, and one directly across from them at the far wall. Scattered about the floor were seven chunks of minerals and metals which Varian could only assume belonged on the pedestals and had somehow been shaken loose. Or intentionally dislodged perhaps. But he was certain it wouldn't be as simple as picking them up and putting one on each pedestal.
'Remember what I said?' Varian asked, turning back to Yong, 'Stay close to me, do exactly as I say, and run when I tell you. Got it?'
Yong nodded, looking more than a little scared now. He gripped Varian's arm as he rose, holding his staff out in front of him, and stepped out across the stone bridge. Varian did his best to ignore how close the edges were, how easy it would be to lose his balance and fall to his death. He kept his eyes straight ahead until they reached the wider platform, heaving a sigh of relief. Except the moment they both stepped onto the platform, the stone bridge behind them began to rumble and retreat back towards the tunnel. Varian whipped around but by the time he realised what was happening, the bridge was well out of reach, stranding them.
'That's... probably not a good sign,' he admitted as Yong slowly stepped forwards toward the nearest chunk of mineral.
'What do you suppose these are for?' He asked, looking back to Varian but thankfully not getting close enough to touch it.
Varian looked down at it, trying to figure out what it might be. 'There are seven of those, and seven pedestals. I think it's a safe bet to say we need to put these onto them. But there's gotta be some kind of order to them. And given where we're standing, we probably don't want to be wrong.'
Yong nodded and carefully stepped around the mineral to approach the nearest pedestal on the right side of the chamber, examining it curiously. Or at least he tried to. The moment he got within a few feet of the stone, an intricate carving of a dragon that Varian hadn't noticed from where he stood began to glow a brilliant green.
'Yong, get back!' he shouted and ran forwards, but before he could reach him, a burst of green sparks exploded from the pedestal, rising into the air above them to take on the form of a green dragon made of constantly exploding fireworks.
At that signal, the other pedestals began lighting up as more firework dragons shot upwards, every snarl the bang of fireworks exploding.
'Get behind me!' Varian shouted, pulling his goggles down and raising his staff defensively in front of him. The green dragon lunged and he pulled a sticky trap free, tossing it straight into its gaping maw. The alchemy orb exploded from the heat and the green dragon halted, losing its brightness as some of its sparks were smothered. But just as quickly it reformed above the trap and continued to lunge at them. Varian grabbed Yong and they both leapt out of the way as it sailed by, crashing into the wall behind them in a shower of sparks before reforming once again. Then the other dragons were on them, forcing Varian to pull up another alchemy orb, this one his bubble trap and throw it at the ground in front of them, sealing them both off from the dragons. They battered against it but for the moment, it was holding, and Varian began pulling vials from his belts.
'What about your foam stuff?' Yong suggested as Varian worked.
'Exactly what this is. Hold this.'
He thrust his staff into Yong's hand and began to mix the chemicals hastily as the bubble began to shimmer under the combined heat of the dragons. When the flask was foaming violently and shaking in his hands, he grabbed the staff back, stabbing it straight into the bottom of the bubble beneath them which vanished in an instant. But as the dragons surged forwards, he threw the flask straight down, the foam exploding outwards and coating them and more importantly the dragons with his fire suppression.
Varian quickly wiped his goggles and looked around, but the dragons were gone.
'Is that it?' Yong asked but Varian glanced at the nearest pedestal where the dragon symbol was starting to shine again.
'Not for long. Come on, we need to figure out this puzzle.'
Yong reached for the nearest mineral on the ground, turning it over in his hands to inspect it from all sides. It was a small chunk of some kind of milky white mineral which gave Varian absolutely nothing to work with in figuring out what it was. But shockingly, Yong beamed.
'This is strontium!' he exclaimed, turning to Varian excitedly.
'How do you know that?' Varian demanded, baffled.
'It makes red fireworks! I used it back at home!'
He turned back to the pedestal that held the glowing red dragon and started towards it, but before he could reach it, the firework dragons reared up as one, roaring with an explosive boom that shook the stalactites above them. Yong stumbled back, almost losing his hold on the strontium, but Varian lunged between him and the dragon, swinging his staff right through its form and activating the Flynnoleum orb. If his fire suppressive only kept them away temporarily, maybe fighting fire with fire was the better option. He shielded his face as best he could as the green orb exploded into the dragon, the force of the explosion scattering the red sparks across the entire chamber.
'Go, Yong!' Varian shouted, turning as Yong raced past to cover his back from the other dragons. The silver and white ones lunged and Varian pulled a vial free of his arm belt, uncorking it and sweeping it in front of him in one smooth motion. The grey powder exploded into a solid wall between them as it hit the heated air and the dragons slammed straight into it, scattering their forms. The blue and green dragons darted around the side while the orange one jumped over top, forcing Varian to pull a fog bomb from his bandolier and throw it at the ground, turning to grab Yong just as he placed the strontium on the pedestal.
'This way!' Varian called, dragging him through the sudden fog as the dragons wheeled about, losing them in the cloud. They emerged near the blue pedestal and Yong shouted, 'Copper makes blue!'
'There!' Varian called, pointing his staff towards the distinctive orange metal near the centre of the room. They both started towards it just as the yellow dragon charged at them from the side. Varian shoved Yong ahead of him and turned to intercept it, but it reached him before he could select his next bomb or vial. Its flaming teeth clamped down around the length of his staff and lifted both it and him into the air. Varian tightened his grip as the dragon fought to shake him free as they circled over the magma bubbling below, trying to use his weight to steer the dragon back over the platform. By the time they rose back above it, Varian could see Yong had the copper and was throwing lit firecrackers at the dragons with surprising accuracy. One dragon attempted to swallow the explosive and it went off in its mouth, Yong's own sparks scattering those that made up the dragon. He was running to the blue pedestal but froze as he noticed Varian above him, still trying to wrench his staff free of the yellow dragon's mouth. And instead of running to the pedestal, he pocketed the copper and began running towards another white mineral across the platform, though this one seemed a brighter white than the strontium had been. Yong scooped it up without hesitation, sprinting to the yellow pedestal, dodging the rest of the dragons that were diving at him. Varian tensed, realising what Yong was about to do and braced himself as best he could. The moment the yellow dragon descended over the platform, Yong shoved the mineral onto its pedestal. It grunted as if in surprise before it vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving Varian to fall. He pulled an orange orb from his bandolier and threw it at the ground where it exploded into a small pile of spongy material that cushioned his fall.
Varian was on his feet almost immediately, flinging a blue orb towards the white dragon as it approached Yong from behind. Yong ducked as it sailed overhead, exploding into a massive chunk of ice that hissed as the sparks hit its surface.
'Behind you, Varian!' Yong shouted and Varian spun as the orange dragon was on him. He dropped a glowing white orb right in front of him, turning away and shielding his eyes as the flash it released temporarily lit the entire chamber white.
He blinked to find the orange dragon seemingly temporarily blinded, turning back to Yong only to find his friend was also clutching his eyes, trying to see. And the dragons were recovering faster than him.
'Yong, down!' Varian barked and he dropped flat immediately as Varian threw a bubble bomb at the white dragon biting at him. It was immediately trapped, giving Yong a moment to recover while Varian tried to lure the other dragons away. There were only five remaining now, but they were fast and impossible to fully hit with any of his chemicals. Every time they lost their forms, they just regrouped from their pedestals.
Getting a wild idea, Varian turned to the orange pedestal behind him and threw a sticky trap at it, completely covering the dragon carving. The orange dragon froze in the air as if it had been caught in the trap, twisting and writhing but seemed unable to move. He turned to the other pedestals but the remaining four dragons seemed to realise what he had done and had retreated back to their own, defending them as Varian tried to throw more sticky traps. The green dragon snarled and intercepted the trap he threw, scattering temporarily but slowly starting to come together.
Across the chamber, Yong finally seemed to have recovered his vision and was running towards the blue pedestal, waving the copper above his head. Varian got the message, covering his advance with a bubble trap that encased the blue dragon as it tried to bite at him. In moments, Yong was setting the copper in place and the dragon vanished, leaving behind the empty bubble.
'By your feet!' Yong called and Varian looked down at the chunk of silver metal. This one he recognised as magnesium, using it in his flash bombs.
'Silver!' Yong called as he reached for another grey metal across the chamber.
Varian bolted for the silver pedestal, drawing a vial of purple powder and throwing a pinch at the dragon guarding it. The powder exploded without any discernible substance, a loud but invisible force shoving the dragon away from the pedestal just long enough for Varian to place the magnesium. Behind him, Yong was throwing a handful of firecrackers at the white dragon which scattered under the shower of fire, letting Yong place the metal. That only left the green and orange dragons and Varian quickly focused on the two remaining minerals on the ground between them.
'Go straight for them both!' Varian ordered, retracting his staff and drawing his vial of grey powder again.
Yong bolted and the dragons lunged, but Varian was right behind him, throwing the grey powder out at them from both hands. Immediately, two more walls appeared, halting the dragons in place as Yong grabbed the two minerals, one silver, the other looking like a regular dull grey rock.
'Barium!' Yong called, tossing the rock towards Varian, 'Green!'
They both separated, racing to the last pedestals as the dragons charged after them, snapping at their heels. Varian slammed the barium onto the green pedestal while Yong practically threw himself at the yellow one. Both dragons vanished, leaving them shaking and panting as the chamber suddenly became very quiet.
'Are you okay?' Varian called, hurrying back to Yong to check him over.
'That was awesome!' Yong exclaimed, beaming widely at Varian. 'Did you see me? I was all like "Pow! Eat firecracker!" and you were all "And try some alchemy! Hwa!" and those dragons were like "Ah, they're too awesome! We don't stand a chance!"'
Varian shook his head, grinning at Yong's interpretation, just relieved he was okay.
'So what's next?' Yong asked and, as if waiting for just that question, a doorway on the far side of the chamber slid open to reveal another dark tunnel.
'My guess is that,' Varian replied, 'I don't know if there'll be anything else like that so-'
'Yeah, I know. Stay close.'
Varian nodded and together they stepped into the darkness again.
Hugo was impressed. He'd expected those two to be roasted in the volcano by now. He had to admit, he probably wouldn't have figured out the mineral and colour thing as quickly as the kid, but he was confident if he'd been doing this trial himself and not following those two, he'd have succeeded eventually. Even so, he'd avoided the dragons entirely, grappling his way across the stalactites while those two were distracted and slipping through the new door behind them before it closed. In the dark tunnel beyond, it was a matter of simply slipping past the two when the opportunity arose to reach the chamber beyond first.
'What was that?' Varian asked, spinning to raise his staff back the way they had come.
'Hmm?' Yong asked, pausing.
Varian had been certain he'd seen something moving out of the corner of his eye and felt a strange breeze as if something had moved past him. But there was nothing in either direction and he sighed, rubbing the sweat from his eyes. It had been a long day.
'Look at that, Varian!' Yong exclaimed and he refocused on the tunnel ahead where, once again, a warm orange glow was becoming visible. Hurrying on revealed another large chamber, this one lit by a massive magma fall at the far end. In front of it were two huge pillars with ornate stone dragons wrapped around each, their green scales catching the light and making them shine. They were both looking downwards to a small raised dais between them where another pedestal sat, this one designed with an intricate flame pattern. Resting in amongst the flame was a small brown cylinder that didn't look all that exciting. But what Varian was more concerned about was the person standing on the dais, picking up the cylinder and examining it with a smug grin. Varian and Yong froze, staring at the young man who raised an eyebrow at them, his smile never wavering. He was dressed in a slim green jacket and trousers, metal pauldrons and bracers giving the impression of armour. A pair of orange-tinted goggles hung around his neck which, coupled with the round glasses, gave the impression of some kind of engineer. But the messy sandy-blond hair shaved down one side and pulled into a ponytail and the pierced ear suggested someone who lived perhaps a little rougher.
'Hey!' Varian snapped, breaking the silence, 'That token belongs to us!'
'Yeah!' Yong added, 'We earned it!'
'Huh,' the man replied, eyeing it, 'Weird, cause I'm sort of the one holding it... So I feel like that sort of means it belongs t-'
'No way!' Varian snarled, stepping closer and pointing the glowing end of his staff at the guy's face. 'We completed the trial, not you. Whoever you are, hand over the token!'
The man didn't seem to be taking him seriously at all, slipping the cylinder into his satchel and replied, 'I like your magic wand. S'pretty.'
Behind Varian, Yong pulled out a handful of his firecrackers, ready to throw them, but that only made the man even more amused. 'Ooh! And some fireworks! How fun...'
The man reached into his satchel again and Varian had the brief hope that he was taking out the cylinder again, but instead he drew a glowing green orb not dissimilar to Varian's alchemy orbs.
'Well, you two are adorable. But I'm on a schedule. So...'
He threw the orb straight down and it exploded into a massive cloud of blue fog, completely filling the cavern and creating the most awful smell. Varian reared back, coughing violently as he tried to figure out where the guy was, only for the fog to clear, leaving him and Yong alone.
'He got away!' Yong exclaimed, somewhat unnecessarily. 'Yugh... The sulphur smell is really strong today.'
'That's not sulphur,' Varian sighed, 'The smoke bomb he used was also a stink bomb.'
Yong was silent for a long moment before muttering, 'That's kinda genius.'
Varian heaved a heavy sigh. 'I know...'
Varian trudged towards the dais, staring at the pedestal which they'd worked so hard to reach, now empty. Yong moved to join him looking heartbroken, sitting heavily on the steps.
'What do we do now?' he asked and Varian shrugged, at a loss. Of all the things that he'd been worried could have happened, this was not one of them. To have the the token or totem or whatever that thing was called snatched out from under him by some random guy had never once occurred to him. Had he managed to complete the trial before them? But how could that be, everything was untouched when he and Yong arrived. Had he broken in through some secret back entrance and skipped straight to the end?
He glowered down at the pedestal and realised with a start that more glowing red words were appearing just like the entrance outside.
"Only through purifying flame can a magnificent change occur."
Beneath the words, a new alchemical symbol appeared that he recognised.
'Huh,' he muttered, and Yong quickly rose to join him, staring at glowing message.
'I know that one,' Yong said slowly, 'It's um... like calcium but not a mineral or anything.'
'Calcination,' Varian replied and Yong nodded.
'Yeah! It's where you heat something up to get rid of the bad stuff and make it better. Like blacksmiths and stuff.'
Without warning the chamber began to rumble and a small flame appeared at the bottom of the pedestal crucible. Varian pulled Yong back just as the flame roared upwards like a torch, burning white hot. Varian stared at it, waiting for something to happen, but the flame died down again, leaving the pedestal exactly as it had been before.
'What was that?' Yong asked and Varian frowned.
'I think we were supposed to burn that thing the guy took,' he admitted, 'But I don't think he knew that.'
'Serves him right,' Yong replied, 'Now he's got a useless piece of... whatever that was.'
Ahead of them, the magma flow began to split down the middle, revealing another tunnel which Varian assumed was probably the way out. He started towards it but Yong called, 'Wait! Is that it?'
'What else can we do?' Varian replied, 'The totem is gone. No point waiting around here for that guy to grow a conscience and bring it back. Let's head back to the inn and try to figure out our next step. And hopefully not get arrested.'
Despite his glum mood, Yong beamed as he ran to catch up.
'You said our,' he said, 'Our next move. You still want me to come with you?'
Varian sighed but grinned, ruffling Yong's soot-filled hair. 'I hate to admit it, but you really saved me in there. I wouldn't have been able to figure out any of that without you. I'd probably have starved to death at that first door if you hadn't been here. Who knows what the other trials might have? I think I might need a hand.'
'Yes!' Yong exclaimed, punching the air, 'Woo! We should come up with a name or something. Like we're a team or something. Like, like... Team Alchemy or Team Epic or... Oh! Team Radical! That's what we're called!'
Varian grinned, thinking back to his and Eugene's 'Team Awesome' when he was younger.
'That sounds perfect. Team Radical it is.'
As Varian had hoped, the tunnel opened out to another sealed door which thankfully didn't have any riddle or task to open, sliding inwards to allow them to step out into the cool night air. The festival was still going on down in the city but it seemed to have wound down to just the few late night revelers.
'We should loop around the outside of the city to get to the inn,' he decided, starting the treacherous descent down the volcano. 'We can avoid the guards better.'
'It's a shame we missed the fireworks,' Yong murmured, 'You would have loved it!'
Varian paused, looking back at him in disbelief. 'Seriously? Was that not enough for you?'
Yong suddenly beamed. 'Oh, yeah! Those firework dragons were amazing! I wonder how Demanitus did it. There must have been some kind of magic or something that made them move like that. I've never seen other fireworks do what they did. That yellow one picked you up and almost dropped you in the volcano!'
Varian grinned, listening to Yong rattle on about the trial, just relieved to be out of the tunnel and hopefully soon to have a soft bed to collapse into.
Hugo was filled with smug satisfaction as he strutted through Bayangor, returning to the alleyway he'd met Cyrus in before entering the volcano. The big man was waiting, looking unimpressed when Hugo produced the small cylinder and held it out to him.
'Is that it?' Cyrus asked, taking it and examining it with a frown.
'Excuse me! I'll have you know I almost got singed by magma stealing that out from under those kids' noses.'
'A noble effort, I'm sure,' Cyrus replied, deadpan, before surprisingly tossing it back to Hugo.
'What, after all that you don't want to take it back to Donella?' he demanded, baffled.
'Donella's instructions are for you to hold onto it for now. She wants to know who these two are that attempted the trial.'
Hugo shrugged, pocketing the totem again. 'No idea. The kid from Corona is called Varian and the younger one lives a few days from here called Yong. Didn't get much else.'
Cyrus' eyebrows knit together as he made a note of the names Hugo gave him. 'Very well. I'll report your success to Donella. In the meantime, trail those two and don't lose them. I'll be back with your next task.'
He turned and disappeared into the alleyway, leaving Hugo seething. He thought once he collected this stupid totem thing he'd be done with all this and could go home. But now apparently Donella didn't want it and wanted him to keep following those two? Why? What was so special about two farm boys from backwater kingdoms like Corona and Bayangor? That Varian kid's alchemy was interesting, but that was as much as Hugo would admit. It was nothing he couldn't do, so why was Donella being so weird about it?
With a scowl, he turned back to the festival, wondering if he could find a good place for a drink around here.