Sparrow led the way into the cavern. There was a narrow path that broke off in a few directions. The main light source appeared to be coming from some rotation runes. They were rotating around a bright ball of light. Each rune's symbol also glowed.
Val took in their surroundings, and she couldn't make sense of it. There weren't any markings to indicate what the right path was. She really didn't want to be stuck here forever.
"Which path is the right one?" Val asked in a small voice.
"We go straight." Sparrow commanded.
"Do you have some sort of premonition?" Val gestured around. "They don't seem to go in a straight path."
The walkway seemed to curve, and each branch also seemed to weave around. Everywhere other than the path was water. It was hard to determine its depth. It didn't look as though any one path was better than the other.
"Stay focused, and follow me." Sparrow advised. She seemed bothered by Val's constant string of questions.
Val's concern wasn't consoled by Sparrow. She could tell that Sparrow was begrudgingly dealing with her, but Val truly felt this needed more consideration. Yes, they were tasked with not falling for temptation, but that wasn't enough to know anything more. But she knew that the best thing was to stock together, so she kept her mouth shut for now.
It was strangely quiet, and the light fluctuated as each rune rotated. Val kept her eyes wide open, hoping to not miss a thing. She was focused on looking around that she missed a step. She tripped and a few pebbles ended up splashing into the water by the pathway. Sparrow instantly turned around. She grabbed Val by the collar, and they dashed forward at full speed.
As they were running, Val turned around to a target horrifying sight. A few decaying beings stayed reaching up from the ground. They made a range of gurgling noises. Those who were originally roused started to alert others. Soon some were fully emerged and in pursuit.
"Who are they?" Val screamed.
"They are those who were lost along the way. They are going to try to drag us down with them. Focus only on staying in the path." Sparrow explained.
They ran and ran. Occasionally, a grotesque hand would grab their clothes, but they just continued on what they believed to be the right path. That was until they reached a dead end.
Sparrow threw herself at the wall in front of her. There was a large boulder blocking the way. It was too large to move by their own strength, so she started to chant a spell. Val decided to keep the lost souls away while Sparrow took care of the blockage. She wielded a short sword that was gifted to her by the water temple. Lycos also took care of the decaying beings with Val. He took the low ground, while she took the high ground.
"How much longer?" Val checked the progress.
"Ahhh!" Sparrow exerted a lot of power, but wasn't making much progress. "It won't move! There must be a seal."
"How can we break it?" Val asked between swings.
"I don't know." Sparrow was exasperated. "There are no markings here."
"What about the runes up there?" Val motioned with her head. "They are the only markings I see."
"I can't see why. They seem to just be to maintain the light." Sparrow answered. "But at this point, we can't let anything go unnoticed."
'Follow the light.'
"Did you say something?" Val asked after she thought she heard a whisper.
"No?" Sparrow responded.
'The light.'
The voice chimed in again. Val was sure that it was her inner voice this time. The one that always pointed her in the right direction. She didn't feel the need to question it anymore, and started to look at the light source.
Nothing seemed different or amiss at first glance. Val was also finding it hard to concentrate, so she asked Sparrow to trade places with her. With her senses freed up a bit, Val looked around one more time.
At first, nothing looked any different. Val climbed up to a small ledge for a better view. She started with the ball of light it self. The runes that were floating around it were actually rocks with the symbol carved out of the middle. Most were nearly the same size, all cloistered around the light source. The were a few of larger size.
Val was racking her brain to find any connection to floating symbols. Perhaps she had seen them before? Her line of sight lowered a bit. She was looking out at the whole cavern. She followed one of the projections of the runes. That was when she noticed that there was an overlap with a few of the runes and the pathways. And then an understanding formed when she looked at the paths that led to their current location. If a few of those symbols were formed tougher, the projection on the ground would form "enlighten". Val wasn't sure why or where she found that knowledge, but now wasn't the time for silly questions.
She jumped down from the ledge, and took out her short sword again. This time, instead of fending off fiends, she drew the completed symbol. Then she called over Sparrow, who put up a shield spell before walking over.
"Can you make those," Val pointed towards the runes, "look like this." The she pointed towards the crude drawing she made.
"Maybe, but why?" Sparrow inquired skeptically.
"Don't ask me why I know, but it means 'enlighten'. My guess is that it will enlighten us on the way we need to go." Val explained earnestly. "The path we took has the middle piece here, and the others form around it. Who knows what's going to happen, but we have to try."
"We won't know until we try." Sparrow agreed. "Let's give it a try."