In a split second, the five of them are back together once more. To Owain's right, Vieva tumbles to the floor, silver hair shielding her face. Lysabel leans against the wall, face drawn and limbs shaking. Xara's gaze flickers to the four of them, but her normally stormy eyes are empty and dull. Derald gasps, clutching his chest. Then, once he calms slightly, finds Vieva in a heap on the floor, still. He stumbles to her, digging his hands under her body to hoist her up. She leans against him, head lolling against her shoulder, too weak. In the flickering candlelight Owain catches sight of an angry red wound across her lower cheek, creeping down her neck slightly. He looks away, squeamish. Blood has always made his gut roil nervously.

"Is everyone alright?" Xara's words crash into each other, almost gargled. Her voice seems to fail her.

Lysabel manages a faint nod, her delicate face pale and shimmering with sweat. Derald, still holding Vieva awkwardly in his arms, also agrees. Xara turns to Owain. Owain dips his chin.

He's not exactly sure what had happened to the others, but the result isn't good. The illusion he'd faced had been terrifying- he'd been thrown into never-ending blackness. Alone, terrified, and paralyzed with fear. He'd almost believed, in that moment, that the others had left him. That they'd realized he's nothing but a burden they want to offload.

Xara kneels beside Vieva, who Derald had lain on the floor. Her face is taut with tension, and the wound on her face glares angrily.

Then her eyes fly open, and she gasps, gulping in the stale air of the chamber.

Owain starts, scrabbling back in shock. Vieva's chest heaves repeatedly and her head whips back and forth, regaining her bearings. Derald and Xara both hold her in place, whispering calmly.

"Where are we?" She finally asks, clutching her chest again. "What happened?"

"We escaped," says Xara, brushing some hair away from her face.

"Oh," is all that Vieva manages to say. She slumps against Xara, relief written plainly across her face.

"Not that I'm unhappy you woke up, Vieva, but we need to go," prods Lysabel after a few moments. "Can you move?"

Vieva grimaces. "I'll try."

"I can carry you again. You're light." Derald offers. Vieva rears back in surprise.

"You carried me? When?" She asks, outraged.

Derald folds his arms. "When you were passed out on the floor."

Vieva concedes, a dark look on her face. It seems as though she's back to her cynical, patronizing self. Xara glances up, holding her hand horizontally against her brow.

"I have no idea where we are. How far we've come."

Lysabel jerks a thumb towards the tunnel. "That's the way we have to go."

Owain narrows his eyes at her. Why is she so insistent on going? In the multiple times they'd been together, Lysabel had always struck him as someone on the meeker side. Not that he disliked that part of her personality; in fact, he'd found it nice to have someone to empathize with. Judging from the calculating look on Xara's face, she had picked up Lysabel's odd behavior as well.

"Let's keep going," Xara decides, with one last look at Lysabel, who purposefully avoids her intuitive gaze.

Owain stumbles slightly over the uneven stone, shouldering Derald in the process. Vieva, determined not to lean on anyone, hobbles ahead with the girls, trying to hold back the pain by holding her spine erect and lifting her chin. Her breath catches with every step, a testament to how much pain she's actually in.

"You alright, Derald?" Owain asks, almost wearily.

Derald gives a watery smile, no genuinity behind it.

"As well as I can, I suppose." Derald's gaze flicks again to Vieva. "What do you think we're going to find?"

"I don't want to know. Or dwell on it. Or even think about it. Not even-"

Derald laughs softly. "I got you, Snagsnout. Trust."

Owain chuckles humorlessly. "But if what we just went through was any inclination, it'll be bad."

Derald just stares ahead, declining to agree or disagree.

✡✡✡

They walk for a seemingly endless number of hours. Owain's feet ache and groan as the 5 of them progress through the tunnel. Owain sucks in the mildewy air, gagging lightly. Oh, when they leave this godforsaken place, Owain will never take for granted the cool, healthy, sweet air. Xara suddenly holds up a hand, halting their procession. The energy has begun to seep out of her form. Her head, in which she'd held high and proud, now droops forward. Her strides, previously long and without a break, are now uneven and short.

Founders, wherever you are, please let this be the exit. Once this crazy fool's mission is over, he intends to never leave his room after the sun sets. He'll lock himself inside, where it's safe.

Xara clasps a huge, circular wheel, crying out as she turns the handle. It creaks in protest, but moves, slowly but surely. Lysabel pitches in and the two girls silently open the door. It's jagged and thick, almost like a stone itself, but it swings open slowly, scraping the ground as it goes. The door leaves a scar in the ground, which looks new and untrodden. This door hasn't been opened much before.

They file in together, and Owain can almost smell the taut tension of the air. After the last two encounters they'd somehow gotten through, no one wants to go through yet another traumatic obstacle.

Dimly, in the back of his brain, as Owain steps deeper into Founders know where, he ponders how he, possibly the biggest coward at the Academy, had managed to tangle himself in unarguably one of the most dangerous schemes he'd ever heard. It seems to him as though he's the only one thinking of what-ifs. Xara continues to charge again, despite her exhaustion, and no one doubts her. Granted, out of the 5 of them, Xara's probably best suited to lead them through, but he cannot be the only one wondering what challenges they might face ahead. Or wishing that they could stop to talk about it.

They emerge into a spacious cavern, somewhat lighted, if dimly. Flame comes alight in Vieva's palms, though there are no sconces for her to leave it on. Xara takes a half step forward, gaping.

"I can feel vegetation." Lysabel says, voice rough. Her hands move and dance side to side, mimicking trees shifting in a breeze. "There's many." Her brows crinkle. "They are aquatic plants."

"There's water?" Vieva speaks up, fear creeping into her voice. She has a right to be afraid- water and fire are direct enemies. Her mage magic is nothing while surrounded by water. Derald's smile glows in the firelight.

"The current isn't strong, but it's there. It's not deep either, and it's coming from the southwest side." He frowns in thought. "Is there a river of sorts near here?"

Xara shrugs. Derald goes back to focusing his magic, arms spreading and widening.

Owain can feel the rush of magic in his veins, can feel as the plants yearn to greet him. The soil is weak, just enough to sustain the plants. They are eager to see someone who understands them.

Somehow, his magic cleaves his fear in half. It's only now, as he feels the vegetation, that he realizes just how crucial his magic really is. The three of them delight in the return of their magic, and Xara allows it. Owain watches as she takes the chance to observe their space. An undefinable expression sits on her pretty face.

"Derald, where exactly is the water, if you could." Xara asks.

"It pools in the center, and drifts outwards. I believe there's a stream feeding into it."

"A pond," murmurs Xara, fingers twitching. Small crackles and fizzles of lightning jump between her fingers. "I'm not foolish enough to believe that the pond isn't there for a reason."

"It feels weird," comments Derald, his body swaying. "This doesn't feel like normal water. It's mixed with someone else."

Xara's face clears with understanding. "I suspected so."

Vieva hobbles forward, her injury momentarily forgotten. Her fire burns weakly, fluctuating like a heartbeat.

In the sputtering light, Owain sees long, stone structures, reaching like fingers into the darkness. Vieva hasn't recovered enough for her mage magic to be at full strength, so her small flame is all they have now.

Owain relishes silently in the feel of his magic swelling in his body. It fills every corner of him with it's familiar brilliance. He feels whole now.

"We need to cross the bridges. I'm sure whatever the protected item is is over there."

Owain clutches his chest. "Haven't we had enough heart-attack inducing terror for the rest of the year?"

Xara sighs. "I know we're tired, but we're so close! We can't possibly give up now."

"Do you think the Headmistress would've figured out where we were by now?" asks Lysabel quietly, pulling her flaxen locks over her shoulder.

Xara smiles grimly. "I'm surprised we haven't already been intercepted. Headmistress Casktalon knows about this place, and my connection to it. She'll have guessed."

Xara steps forward brazenly, stopping just before one of the bridges in front of them. Owain takes one look over the ledge near the bridge and squeaks, nearly fainting. The drop is enough to make his heart stop beating.

The bridge itself is identical to all the others. Owain can't make out how many there are, as only half the chamber is lit up by Vieva's fire, though it grows stronger as the minutes pass. They are unremarkably plain, crudely put together. The stones look like they might crumble at even the slightest provocation. Owain's stomach knots itself over and over again until he feels sick to his core.

"I'll go first," announces Lysabel, a determined gleam in her eyes. Vieva's head snaps up with shock, while Xara narrows her eyes suspiciously at her roommate. Derald gapes, and Owain's sure that he's doing the same.

Lysabel takes in their reactions. "My magic is the strongest here. Derald may be able to do more than Vieva or Xara, but he doesn't have full control over the water because it's not pure water. The plants will obey me."

"Owain's a Gaia too, you know," retorts Derald. Owain whips his head back and forth.

"There's no way I'm going first."

Lysabel shrugs a birdbone shoulder. "So I'll go."

Xara grabs her arm. "You know what you're doing, right?"

Lysabel smiles warmly, her jade eyes sparking in a familiar way, before she yanks her arm out of Xara's grasp.

"Trust me."

Xara lets her go, back facing him, and Owain doesn't catch her expression. Lysabel inhales deeply, and smiles back at them.

She takes a step onto the bridge, holding her breath.

Then, quicker than the speed of light, the stone crumbles to dust beneath her feet.

>>AUTHOR'S NOTES:

hey guys! I'm back, after 10 gruesome days at school(eww)

It's official: we're down to the last 4 chapters of the Elixir, which is exciting beyond comparison. Once I click that complete button, I'll announce the deets about my summer project! 

honestly, not counting the black hole of my life which is finals, a lot of good stuff is happening this month. For any BTS stans out there, y'all know what I'm talking about.

BTS BUTTER COMING OUT MAY 2021 @ THE BILLBOARD AWARDS IM LITERALLY DYING FROM EXCITEMENT RN

and...

THE FRIENDS REUNION COMING OUT MAY 27 AAAHHH!!!! I've been waiting for this for SO FRIGGIN LONG and now it's finally here. the guest stars(a list in which BTS is also a part of) are really long and lol I'm so hyped up right now, I just cant.

anyways, I hope you guys enjoy your Thursday, and I'll see y'all later.

peace&love,

raniaditi