Provider of Light (Book Two of the Elementals)

IX. Pica

Pica grunted at the knocks on her door and curled into an even tighter ball. Uncle Furs knew she liked her sleep, so she wondered why he bothered her.

Her eyes snapped open when she remembered where she was and why: Ibi; the quest of the Elementals; her trial to become the Light Elemental. That wasn't Uncle Furs.

Now awake and excited, she jumped out of bed and flung open the door. Zelenia stood there with a hand raised to knock again; her eyes widened in surprise.

"I didn't expect you to wake up that quick," she said.

"I usually don't, but today's special!"

Zelenia chuckled. "It is. We're going to eat before we start." She turned down the hallway to the mess hall.

Pica got ready—her stomach came alive with so many butterflies, she felt sick. Knowing it was just nerves kept her from staying in the bathroom, but she still headed to the mess hall, feeling nervous and eager.

Surprisingly, she wasn't the last to enter—she was actually the fourth. They ate breakfast with her furnishing the noise—even though nerves made her talk more random, the rambling helped settle her down some.

But Pica didn't lead them into the main chamber, Tegen did; she had fallen back to walk near Aeris and had an arm laced with Zelenia's. The young Moon provided faith and even though the Priestess of Air didn't speak with her, her nearness comforted her. They all headed up the steps to stand on the circular platform.

No one spoke for a while. "So, how do we get this started?" Helian asked.

"Maybe there's a trigger..." Kalisa suggested.

They searched for something resembling a button on the platform. Pica found it: a slot in the center for her medallion, exactly like the others. Pica stared at it as she fingered her medallion; the others didn't say anything, just waited patiently as she found her courage to begin.

Not knowing what her trial would entail made it scary; her excitement faded. She glanced at Geryon; she wished he remembered what the trials in the past had been like so she wouldn't be so nervous. Pica straightened up; she had done far scarier things than this before—things that she knew threatened her life. Her Element had even said she overcame her fear in stealing the medallion, so that meant she was brave. She could do this.

Pica took a deep breath, breathed it out, then knelt to insert her medallion into the slot. As soon as it became flush with the floor, the platform rumbled. With a loud boom, they rose. She looked around like the others in wonder, then realized that they were being brought up for her trial; she looked up but couldn't see anything that stood out other than the ceiling.

When they reached the first ring the pipes encircling the roof made, they stopped. The platform was now flush against the wall. Pica glanced up to see many more rings waiting. For a while, nothing happened.

"What do we do now?" Pica asked.

"Remember the sign," Zelenia said.

"Oh, yeah. 'Illumination reveals all, Nothing can hide, no matter the shadows, Provide the glow to see dangers'; what does that mean?"

As soon as she repeated it, the plentiful light gradually dimmed. They looked around in shock at the change. With it growing darker, it looked like the room shrunk; within the darkening shadows, eyes appeared, reflecting the meager light in a menacing gleam. Fangril's demons. The Elementals pulled out their weapons as they backtracked, staying in the light.

"What do I do? What do I do?" Pica asked, near panic.

Zelenia looked at her. "This is your test; you must figure it out. Believe that you can do it."