The mirror's reflection wavered to replace the scene with a black cavern. The five kids trooped inside it, Nia leading the way with a ball of light in her hand. It's glow illuminated the cave, revealing rugged black walls for a few yards ahead and behind. The cavern itself was wide enough to walk ten abreast, so the group clumped together as they moved deeper into its depths.

"It's eerily quiet in here," Nate whispered, his voice increasing in volume as it bouncing along the walls.

"You mean it was eerily quiet," his brother replied, only a hint of annoyance in his tone. His intelligent green eyes constantly scanned ahead for danger.

Nathan scowled. "At least it's not eerie anymore."

"You're right; now it's just noisy."

"It takes two to talk."

"Not in your case."

"But in this scenario it does!"

"Too bad it's not the usu- "

"Guys!" Niaomi hissed, making Nick pause mid-word. "Look!"

The brothers peered forward into the darkness before turning to their sister and complaining, "I don't see anything - "

"Not there!" she said impatiently, raising her hand higher. "The walls."

Her movement made the light cast brighter along the sloping rock, causing it to glint. Eragon squinted and saw how the walls seemed more reflective than they'd been before, a new glossiness to their appearance. In the reminiscence, Nia approached the walls, drawing the light closer as her other hand stroked the smooth surface.

"It feels like glass," she said in surprise.

Nicholas leaned closer to examine the rock. "Obsidian," he declared. "It seems as though the composition of the walls has changed from the previously hardened magma to this more polished stone. Since it only forms through the rapid solidification of lava, we can conclude that from this point onwards the structure has been purposefully modified."

As soon as his brother had finished speaking, Nate turned to Renata and said, "In Runic, please."

Nick rolled his eyes at his triplet as his beau pointed to the wall and said concisely, "Walls went from rough to smooth. Doesn't happen in nature. Must have been done by someone."

Everyone applauded besides Niaomi, who was still holding the light sphere, and Nicholas, who muttered, "Ingrates."

Ignoring his grumbles, Ren continued, "Since the cave is now showing signs of being tampered with, we're probably getting closer to our goal."

"The dragon eggs," Nia murmured. Underneath her palm, a ripple seemed to run through the walls, making it gleam brightly before growing dark; in that instance, the light in her other hand disappeared.

"What just happened?" Rosaminda asked, her voice pitched higher with fear.

"Everyone, stick together," Nathan ordered. "Don't move from you position. Nia, why'd you end the spell?"

"I didn't end the spell," his sister replied, confused. "And I can't seem to use magic anymore."

"Neither can I," his brother added.

Renata voiced her own lacking abilities as well before realizing, "Nia, your words must have activated a preset spell that cancelled magic utilization, like the one at the entrance."

It was silent before Nate snickered and jibbed, "Good job, sister dear."

"You're lucky I can't see you," she warned in a low voice, making her brother laugh harder. Heaving an very audible sigh, Niaomi spoke to the group as a whole. "Let's place our hands on the wall and join them. Rose, you were the furthest ahead, so you'll be the leader. Be careful where you step. We're going to continue very slowly."

"Yay me," the blonde muttered as scuffling sounds attested to the rest following the orders. "Has everybody joined hands?"

"We're good, Rosie," her beau said, sounding as though he was nearer to the back of the line. "Lead the way."

Eragon heard cautious footsteps as the group forged onwards. The mirror displayed a time jump through the words "A FEW MINUTES LATER..." at the bottom of its surface.

"Does it feel warmer to you guys?" Nathan suddenly questioned.

"The temperature does seem to have risen," his brother agreed. "But that's no real cause for alarm."

A red glow seemed to be slowly illuminating the cave from the back. Eragon could just barely make out Nate's figure as he turned around and stopped walking. This had the domino effect of halting the entire party, making curses and grunts come from the rest.

"What was that for?" Ren's voice complained. "A warning would've been nice." She too was beginning to come into sight.

Nathan, mostly able to be seen by this point, said in a weak voice, "Hey, Nick...is that real cause for alarm?"

The viewpoint of the reminiscence shifted in the opposite direction. A red haze was stealing through the cavern, which Eragon could now see had steadily been sloping downwards, and a rumbling was coming from that side. The viewpoint swung back around to the five, all illuminated by the strange red glow.

"That's not cause for alarm, Nate."

"It's not?"

Nick began to back away, his eyes wide as he answered, "It's cause to run."

Nate immediately began sprinting in the opposite direction of the encroaching light, stopping only to haul Rose to her feet, who must have fallen when they'd suddenly stopped. The rest soon followed suit, sprinting down the tunnel as the rumbles grew louder.

"What's happening?" Renata shouted, raising her voice to be heard over the noise.

"I don't know!" Nicholas yelled in return.

His brother took a quick glance back, and the viewpoint followed his gaze to paint a terrifying picture: a boiling mass of lava was relentlessly approaching, the churning red-hot mixture picking up speed as it moved towards them. The boy spun his head back in the opposite direction, increasing his pace as he said, "Whatever you do, don't look back!"

"What is it?!" his beau nearly shrieked, faltering slightly as Nathan continued to drag her along.

"Less talking, more running!"

As the five kept up their mad dash to escape the lava, Nia made it to the front of the group and said urgently, "Uh, guys? I think we have a problem..."

"What - now?!"growled Nick, his speech broken by his panting.

"We're running out of room to...run." No one grinned at her pun, herself including, but everyone slowed down at her words. Suddenly, the perilous path opened up into a large cavern. As the lava neared, Eragon could see the floor dropped away a hundred feet past the kids.

They screeched to a halt a few inches from the edge, and Niaomi peered down to the seemingly bottomless pit below. Frantic, she searched for some way to cross, but nothing was revealed.

"Dammit!" Nate yelled, beating the air in front of him. His fist struck an invisible barrier, bouncing off it and throwing him off balance. Now Rosaminda helped right him as the others investigated.

"Now I know what happened," Nicholas said slowly, his face grave. "Somehow, the barrier and magic cancellation spells were removed from the cavern's entrance and put into place here. I'd love to understand the logistics of the whole thing - "

"No time for that, Nicholas!" Rose used his full name, indicating her distress. She fearfully glanced back at the wave of lava, which was only a hundred feet from them. "Now tell us how to solve it before we all burn!"

"Well, if Nia's words triggered the reaction the first time, they should do it again!" The rush of molten rock almost drowned out Nick's words, but his sister heard.

Turning to the barrier, she pressed her hands against it and shouted, "The dragon eggs!"

A visible ripple ran along the barrier as it became intangible once more. The sudden lack of support caused Nia to fall forwards, but a rope bridge was suddenly there for her to fall onto. She popped back up and stepped aside, wildly gesturing for the others to cross. "Come on!"

The four hurriedly filed on, darting across the expansive length of planks as the structure gently swung back and forth. Eyeing the lava, which was almost at the opening, Niaomi pointed to it with her and shouted one word: "Adurna!"

Water gushed forth from just in front of her hand, the thick stream dousing the lava and instantly turning it to stone. A loud hiss of steam erupted as it connected, obscuring the result - not that the girl was planning stay around to find out. She cut off the flow of water and began sprinting across the bridge. The viewpoint shifted to show the haze clearing as the lava began to advance once more, flowing over the hardened section before rushing towards the trench.

Nia had made it halfway across the bridge and Ren was just approaching the end when the lava reached it. As it burned through the anchors, the entire construction listed to one side. The blonde managed to jump onto solid group, but her godsister was too far away. Before she could slip out of the bridge's titled cradle, she grabbed onto a rope, and it righted itself.

Swinging back onto the planks with an unsurprising amount of agility, she continued her race to reach the other side. She was only thirty yards away when the lava finally chewed its way through the anchors and rolled onto the far end of the bridge. It began collapsing as the ropes snapped. Planks gave way while Niaomi ran until she was forced to grab hold of a rope once more as she and the rest of the bridge fell.

Though the volcano's boiling depths were no longer a threat, a new one appeared. The girl was now swinging toward the rock wall, whose jaggedness indicated a fatal collision was looming. With a fierce look of concentration on her face, she waited until the wall was only a few feet away before shouting, "Stenr!" As she crashed into the wall, it molded with her shape, cushioning her blow and reforming once she'd bounced back.

Planting her feet firmly, Nia gripped the twined cord tighter and began to climb. Behind her, the lava still rolled, now spitting sparks and fire from its depths. Some embers launched across the gap to land on the girl, making her flinch but not falter as she scurried up the rock's face.

Only ten feet remained when another ember landed. This one fell onto the other end of the rope, burning its way through the twine. The rest of the group was peering over the end worriedly, and Rosaminda was the first to notice the danger. She laid down, struggling to reach the end of the quickly severing rope that held her godsister, but it was just out of her grasp. "Nia! Climb faster!"

Hearing Rose's warning, and spotting the problem soon after, Niaomi did as ordered. But before she could reach safety, the rope snapped. Fear filled her face as she used her feet to propel her a few feet upwards. The blonde stretched out her hand as far as she could, and their fingers just brushed each other before gravity took effect.

And with a piercing scream, Nia began to fall.