"I'm not even saying that it's a bad idea," Emily explained, "I'm just saying that there is probably a different way." She chased after Meqirith, who was currently chasing Olive Juice around the chamber of the place that they had just entered.
"I'm open to suggestions!" Meqirith said over his shoulder before igniting his hand and pointing it at the smaller one, as if lining up some kind of shot. Once again, as he slowed to a stop Emily grabbed his arm and pushed it to the ground with force that Meqirith didn't remember from their first skirmish.
"Look, I get the idea, but we don't know exactly how that will work anyways. We also don't know what he's even capable of!" she pleaded, seeking eye contact with Meqirith who stayed focused on the small boy who ran around wildly still. He probably hadn't caught onto the fact that Meqirith had stopped giving him chase yet, and continued running wildly.
"Then we'll need a better way, or a way of equal efficiency," Meqirith responded, "And as much as I would love for you to end up like her," Meqirith motioned to Gwendolynn, who was still lying unconscious in the middle of the chamber, "I'd rather not have both of you unable to do anything at all."
Emily frowned, and turned her head to one side in thought. Hearing the roaring of the flames from Meqirith's spell, she turned just in time to see the small bead of fire hurtling through the air toward Olive Juice. The small child winced before the bead erupted into an intense pillar of flames that shot upward, and seemed to engulf him completely. Emily's jaw dropped as the flames obscured him from her vision, and she took a step toward him realizing that there wasn't really much that she could do about it now.
A few seconds into the manifestation of the vortex, the flames began to thin down enough to see a small glowing blue barrier. This barrier had ripples throughout it, and inside of it's near perfect spherical shape, Olive Juice stood completely unphased, but mostly confused by what was going on around him. He stared up into the disappearing vortex with wonder, almost completely unphased by the fact that he was the target of the blaze. As the flames died down, so too did his orb that appeared to protect him. He looked back at the two, and chuckled slightly before waving and pointing at the sky.
"THAT WAS AMAZING, OLIVE JUICE!!!" Emily yelled to him, and Meqirith only winced.
"He's toying with me?" Meqirith gritted through his teeth. It was at that point that Emily found it in her to punch Meqirith in the arm.
"You weren't actually going to hurt him, were you?!" she almost demanded a negative response as she forced Meqirith to make eye contact. His frustration died down almost instantly as she pressed him.
"No." he said, "But think about it, if he can stand that level of firepower, what else do we not know about this being? What other secrets does this child hold?"
"That's for him to know and you to find out." Emily responded on Olive Juice's behalf. "I feel like he'll tell us things as it is necessary, like he has done. Try to keep friendly fire to a minimum from now on, alright?" she turned to approach Olive Juice, who was still staring skyward. After a couple of steps, she felt the massive stone floor shift suddenly underfoot, causing her to lower her stance to avoid falling, which Meqirith and Olive Juice did the same. She looked back to see Meqirith grinning.
"Looks like it worked after all." Meqirith explained, and another sudden shift in the floor caused Olive Juice to lose his balance and stumble onto his backside. He rolled backward, and then rolled again, and again as he started doing backwards somersaults around the now shifting floor. "The idea with this chamber is the pressure differential. Temperature mixed with the lack of air in this room caused the pressure underneath our feet to finally shift the floor loose from the stone pieces that kept it otherwise locked in place. Much like every other elvish temple, there is going to most likely be a heavy emphasis on the theme of the elements, such as fire, water, air-"
"Alright, Alright, I get it." Emily said, her eyes almost crossing from trying to keep up with Meqirith's lengthy explanation. The floor once again rocked as it reached what they assumed was the upper level, and before was a simple stone door.
"Have we….made it yet?" Gwendolynn called from her now seated position on the floor.
"GWEN!" Emily yelled as she ran to hug her friend. Almost tackling her back to the floor, it wasn't until she felt a small humanoid lump between them. Olive Juice had beat her to the hug, and rested happily between the two latched onto Gwendolynn by her shoulders.
"Did ya miss me?" she asked, patting her friend on the head. "Spell casting isn't exactly easy after all. Who'da thought?" she asked rhetorically.
"Someone who hasn't managed to cast a single spell yet?" Emily answered her question with an uneasy joke.
"You'll get the hang of it, although," Gwendolynn explained, looking at her hands behind her friend's back, "I don't really know if I have the hang of it to be honest."
"Hell of a display of fireworks," Meqirith commented, walking closer to the two. "You're a natural." he explained, offering his hands to assist Gwendolynn and Emily to their feet. Olive Juice rolled to the floor in an ungraceful heap, and Gwendolynn focused her attention on Meqirith.
"It really is about feeling the words instead of just knowing them, huh?" she asked him.
"Precisely. In understanding is where spells are made manifest. In knowing Nature, you know how they function. In knowing the Gods, you know their origin. In knowing yourself, you know the limitations."
"Right," Gwendolynn put her head down at that last part.
"You could've told her that before she started casting torrents of fire," Emily cut in.
"This is where there's a disconnect," Meqirith explained, "More or less, I have. Experiencing it, however, is a much more valuable lesson. We often have a tendency to forget words but remember experiences."
"And that experience, mixed with the words, is how spells are made." Gwendolynn ventured.
"Experience, words, and one's connection to the Gods." he confirms.
"Words….." Emily mused to herself, "Why didn't you need to say anything when you engulfed Olive Juice in a pillar of flame a bit ago?"
"YOU WHAT?!" Gwendolynn yelled, looking back and forth between the two who were casually talking about roasting her friend.
"Your friend is obscenely magical in nature," Meqirith stated. "Just as I shall do for you, I wanted to do for him. That is, I wished to test his limits."
"THAT is your reason?" Gwendolynn still found herself upset with the prospect of engulfing Olive Juice in flame for any reason. Meqirith responded by pointing his thumb at the door behind him over his shoulder.
"I find it more useful to utilize my assets than simply let them sit around. I believe the reason we came is just up ahead." Meqirith was clearly trying to change the subject, and Gwendolynn allowed him to.
"The temple of the Elvish God." Gwendolynn's eyes followed his pointing to the surprisingly simple door that lay just ahead.
"Goddess," Meqirith corrected her.
"Right," she adds before walking past him toward the door.