Here it is, the next part! Congratz AGAIN to JefferyCayson, who became my 250th voter (not to mention my 300th voter!), and camigr, who became my eightieth fan! They both earned a prize, and so will the 350th voter and 85th fan. Also, to soon be added to the list of prizes is the cast list for Destiny. Thanks to photo editing, the characters will look exactly like I imagined them to be - minus the angled eyes for some. xD

Also working on the edited version of Destiny, and thinking about changing Leafë's hair to silver, like her dad's was. But it'll be MUY dfferent from how this volume began. Alright, enough from me - happy reading!

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The scene shifted to show the group walking along the tunnel’s path, still visible through the strange illumination that came from no source. Nicholas was cursing, trying to use magic to no avail as Renata giggled beside him. Rosaminda and Nathan were walking close together, hand-in-hand and seemingly oblivious to the outside world. Up ahead was Niaomi, twisting her elemental bracelet round her wrist, frowning at the six obsidian gems and the four that still retained their color. Sighing, she looked up at the ceiling and asked herself, “Are the dragon eggs really worth it?”

“Yes!” Nick cheered as his hand caught fire, casting a glow as the tunnel got darker. “Alright! Who said ‘dragon eggs’?”

The fire immediately dissipated and the area lightened once more. “Dammit!” he cursed, and Niaomi heaved another sigh.

“It’s your own doing,” Ren said, and Nicholas answered with a glare, making her hold her hands up in protest. “Don’t shoot the messenger, darling.”

“You’re lucky I’m in love with you,” he grumbled in reply, and she kissed his cheek in return. “At least there’s no impending sense of doom quite yet.”

Nat snorted, turning away from Rose to eye his brother in tired amusement. “I’m sure it’ll come soon enough.”

“Thanks for jinxing us.”

“Wait, wait, wait - I jinxed us?”

Rosaminda sighed as the brothers delved into yet another argument, pulling away from Nathan - who showed no signs of noticing her departure - and linking her arm with her twin. Smiling, she asked, “So, how are you feeling?”

“Worried,” Renata admitted, biting her bottom lip. “It seems that so far you’ve all had to face your greatest doubts. I don’t know what mine would be, exactly.”

“And you think we did?” Rose smiled when her sister looked at her in surprise. “I certainly never expected that my greatest doubt was not being able to save Nia. Maybe Nat, or even you, but not her. Then again - ” she raised her voice, “ - I never expected Nia to actually need saving.”

“Hardy har har,” Niaomi said, looking back to roll her eyes at her friend. “You’re hilarious.”

Giggling, Rosaminda turned to face her twin once more. “You don’t have to know where you’re heading to get there, Ren-bird. This seems like one of those times.”

Renata scoffed. “You haven’t called me that in ages. And since when were you the svit-kona?” Smiling though the other glared, she added, “Thanks, Rosie.”

“Anytime, sis.” Winking, Rose unlocked their arms to push her towards Nick. “Now go spend some quality time with your beau. I’ll handle Nat.”

Chuckling, Ren watched her sashay over to Nathan and precede to “handle” him. She was still smiling as Nicholas caught her hand in his and said offhandedly, “Seems whatever your sister said helped. I’m glad you talked to her.”

“Wait, you knew something was off?” Frowning, she looked between him and Nat before accusing, “Did you start the argument on purpose just so Rose would be free to chat with me?”

“I have no idea what you mean, love.” Nick raised their hands to kiss the back of Renata’s when she frowned. “Looks like this tunnel has come to an end.”

“Don’t try to change the sub-”

“Guys, you seriously need to come check this out!” Niaomi’s voice cut off Ren’s words as Nicholas hurried them forward. The mirror’s view panned out to show the five kids stepping out into a world of light, which was apparently the source of their illumination. The entire chamber was glowing, intricate symbols carved into the walls of rocks. Above was not a collection of stalactites but an endless expanse of light, so bright Eragon couldn’t make out a ceiling. Its walls seemed to extend on infinitely both directions. The lettering decorating the room was in the Ancient Language, and he saw that most of the bigger symbols were the glyphs naina and garjzla - “brighten” and “light”. Before he had the chance to make out more, the view zoomed in to the kids once more.

“Woah,” Rosaminda breathed. The glow reflected off her wide eyes, making them glitter like blue cast diamonds.

Ren’s mouth hung open in awe, and she whispered, “Ditto.” Nicholas released her hand and took a cautious step forwards, squinting as the light made his irises turn a clear jade.

He suddenly clutched his head, squeezing his eyes shut as he groaned. Before any of the others could react, he straightened up, seemingly fine. “Now that was a shock.”

“Are you okay?” Renata asked worriedly, and when he turned to her, she gasped.

“What?” Nick demanded, seeing them all reel back.

Niaomi, blinking rapidly, finally answered her brother. “Y-your eyes...there...”

“Glowing!” Nat finished, staring at Nicholas’s once green eyes that were now a brilliant white, distinctly brighter than the whites of his eyes. Though illuminated, they still had discernable pupils, which were now growing in size as Nathan chortled, “They’re lighting up!”

His brother’s face was not as happy. “How is this funny?!” he shouted, pacing frantically in the fluorescent interior. “My vision may be ruined forever, my sight gone in seconds, my - ”

“Calm down,” Rose soothed, automatically taking a step forward. “You’ll be just - ouch!”

Fingers snarled around blonde curls, she bent over, wheezing in pain. “Rose!” Nathan cried, immediately moving towards his beau only to double over as well when he entered the chamber. “Ahhhh, that hurts...”

Before Niaomi could move forwards, Ren caught her arm. “Wait, look - they’re already recovering.”

It was true; the two were already standing upright and blinking eyes the same shade as Nicholas’s, who sneered at his brother and said, “That was momentarily unpleasant, wasn’t it?”

Nat snorted and tried to brush off the incident like it had never happened. “Are you kidding? It was nothing.”

“Oh, really?” Nick began dramatically reenacting his brother’s arrival into the room. “Oh, gods, the pain! I can’t continue on - sorry, Rose, but I think I’m going down! Ugh, the agony!”

Stalking forwards, Nathan quickly got his younger triplet in a headlock, demanding he take back his words while the other protested the rough treatment. Tisking, Rosaminda turned towards the tunnel and gestured for Renata and Niaomi to come forward. “Come on, you two. The pain really is brief, and there don’t seem to be any ill effects from this light.”

“You sure about that?” Niaomi said, gesturing towards her brothers who were now on the ground wrestling. Rose merely rolled her eyes. Shrugging, the other girl walked out into the light, flinching slightly but showing no other signs of pain.

“Well?” asked Ren. “Nothing wrong?”

“Barely any pain,” Niaomi replied, but when she turned around, the mirror showed her eyes to be a piercing silver instead of the other’s luminescent white. “I think they were just exaggerating due to surprise.”

“Or maybe you’re just different from the rest,” Renata countered, shaking her head but stepping forwards anyway. Her shoulders were braced, prepared for the pain, but relaxed when apparently none came. “Huh. Maybe you were right, Nia.”

“And maybe you were,” her twin argued. “Your eye color hasn’t changed, Ren.”

“Hmm,” mused the other blonde, her eyes contemplative and still the same gray - just lightened from reflecting the light. “Odd.”

“Well, white and gray are relatively similar shades,” Nicholas spoke up from his seat on his brother, his clothes slightly disheveled and ignoring the muffled cursing coming from beneath him. “Maybe the light just brought out the silver in Nia’s eyes, recognizing it as gray, while yours stayed the same because they were already close enough.”

“That seems like a logical explanation,” Ren agreed slowly, nibbling on her bottom lip. “Yeah.”

Not seeming to notice her god-sister’s lingering doubts, Niaomi said, “Alright, great, we solved the mystery. Now, Nick, would you be so kind as to get off of Nat so that we can move onwards?”