The Elixir

~Obstacle

"How far down is it?" Derald says in a strangled sort of voice. Sweat shines on his tan forehead, illuminated by Vieva's self-made torch.

Xara clears her mind, making space for rational thought. The voices giggle in her mind, chattering meaningless nothings. Derald's right- finding how to get down should be their first step. By now, everyone would be making their way to the safe. They didn't have time to ponder and ruminate any longer.

"I got this." Xara goes as far as she dares, and conjures a small ball of wind. It whooshes, swirling the flame in Vieva's hand. The briskness of the wind greets her like a familiar kiss. It brushes across her skin fondly.

Xara forces the wind into the safe, expanding the size of the ball so she can get a good sense of the surroundings. Then she slowly begins to lower it down, down, far into the foreboding darkness of the safe. Xara sees the safe through the lense of her creation as it obediently follows her command.

"What do you see?" Lysabel inquires, peering over her shoulder.

"Nothing yet," murmurs Xara, unable to disguise her worry. It's already been a good 6 minutes, and there hasn't even been one indication of the floor. The item must be hidden deep, deep under the school. As her wind continues to descend, Xara can't help but wonder what will truly happen. At the Inventory Gala, none of them had expected the Warlord to show up. Yet he had, evading all the guards' notice easily.

"Guys," Xara starts. They aren't going to like what she's going to say. "We have to prepare for the possibility of the Warlord being there."

Owain and Derald collectively groan.

"We're going after something he obviously wants." Vieva crosses her arms, watching Xara. "It's likely."

Then, there it is. What Xara had been waiting for. The ball of wind hovers above the ground. Shutting her eyes and tuning out Vieva and Derald's bickering, she redirects her energy to seeing the floor of the safe through her wind. It's a trick that Professor Evenfall had taught her, how to see through your magic. It's a trick originally meant for Tsunamis and Gaias, but it works for her wind as well.

Xara flattens her hands, commanding her wind to level and spread. The wind expands, expands, expands, until...

There. Xara finally finds the walls of the safe. It almost reminds her of the gigantic, indestructible tower from one of her favorite childhood stories. Xara's mother collects stories, of all genres, but the story of the prince stuck in the tower, saved by the dragon, had been Xara's all time favorite.

"I found it. The ground."

The heated conversation behind her eviscerates as the four clamber up behind her.

"How far down?"

Xara grimaces. "Do any of you get airsick?"

Owain enthusiastically raises his hand.

"If it's any comfort, we'll get down pretty fast before you have time to vomit."

Vieva's face scrunches up at the mention of vomit. "Please, if you have to, don't come within 10 feet of me."

Derald waves to their surroundings. "I'm not sure there is 10 feet. And besides, you can't control when you want to throw up, it just happens."

"If you guys keep talking about vomiting," groans Owain, who isn't sounding great. "I might throw up now."

"Enough, Vieva, Derald," scolds Xara sternly. "We're going. Now."

"I'll go first," volunteers Derald nobly, taking a large step forward and puffing out his chest.