Crux, Cordis

Crux, Cordis is the fifth chapter of Beyond the Veil by Enodoc.
==Crux, Cordis==
Wooo-oooo! The flit switch reappeared above their heads. It was red again, and the King noticed the circular aura around it was almost complete.
"This should do it!" he said, excitedly. He zapped the switch with another bolt of lightning. It flew down between them, bowled Sam over, and disappeared into a small hole above a door in the cliff face. There was a rumbling, and sand and bits of muck fell out of the cliff. The door slowly slid open.
The King and Melisi exchanged glances, and made their way inside.
"The Crux..." commented the King.
"Sorry? What?" asked Melisi.
"The Crux. It appears to be the name of this cave. You know, like the one further up the gorge is called The Enigma."
"Is it? Oh, okay."
The King didn't mind her dismissiveness. He didn't want to have to try to explain to her how the names of places just seemed to come to him, as though a label appeared before his very eyes.
"We should be wary. A passage like this is bound to contain puzzles and challenges to test our resolve."
The passage curved away from them, the light within dwindling with every step they took. Melisi found an old torch bracket hanging on the wall, but its contents had long since rotted away.
"I don't mind the dark, but perhaps a bit of light might make it easier going. Do you have any suggestions, Sire?" she said, as she inspected the bracket for any remnants of a torch.
"Well, I haven't done it before, but we could try this..." answered the King, uncertainly. He held out his hand, palm up, and focused on light.
"Oooh!" squealed Melisi, as a small fireball appeared. "I thought you could just do lightning!"
"This one does lightning," said the King, waving his other hand, "And this one does fireballs." He carefully tossed the small ball of fire in the air, and caught it again. "I've got a few more, as well."
They continued onwards through the tunnel, until they came to a circular room.
"It doesn't look like anyone's been here for centuries," marvelled Melisi.
The wall was cracked in places, and a large stone door stood resolutely in the way of progress. Sam pottered around the room, sniffing at the door and the unlit braziers that surrounded it. Deciding there was nothing more useful he could do, he made his way to the middle of the room and sat on a small, round platform. One of the braziers suddenly burst to life.
Woof! he said.
The King looked over and saw the lit brazier. Sam moved off the platform and the fire went out.
"Is this one of those puzzles?" asked Melisi.
"It does appear to be," replied the King, as he jumped on and off the platform, watching the same brazier light up and go out each time. Satisfied that he knew what was needed, the King jumped off the platform and threw a fireball at the brazier. This time, the container remained alight.
The King stood on the platform again, and another brazier burst to life, shortly followed by another. He stepped off, and both were extinguished. The King fired flames at the left-hand of the two braziers, and suddenly everything went dark.
"Oh. That can't be right," he said to himself. He lit the first brazier again, and stepped on the platform. The two braziers lit up again; first one on the right, then one on the left. He stepped off, and both went out.
"Perhaps the order is important," suggested Melisi.
"Good idea." The King fired at the right-hand brazier, which sprung instantly to life.
"That seemed to work," she said. "Now try the other one."
The King fired at the left-hand brazier again, and was pleased to see it stay lit.
"Well done," he commended. "It appears we've got the hang of this one."
He jumped on the platform again, and paid close attention to the order in which the next three braziers lit up, before relighting them in the same order.
After successfully lighting the last four braziers, the three heard a low rumbling sound. The ancient door at the end of the room slid slowly open, revealing another long, dark passage. At the same time, bits of sand and grit started to fall out of the ceiling.
CRASH!
A bit of the ceiling also decided to fall out of the ceiling. A cloud of dust spiralled up into the air.
"Is everyone alright?" shouted the King, into the gloom.
"I... I think so..." Melisi stammered.
Ruff! barked Sam.
They picked their way over to the hole that had been made in the top of the wall, and were surprised to see what appeared to be a staircase circling around the outside of the room. The King peered through the newly-opened door, but there was no sign of the staircase beyond it.
"That appears to be a separate section of the cave," said Melisi, in wonderment. "I wonder where that goes."
"I don't think we'll be able to find out, though," the King told her. "I can't fit through that hole." He moved towards the door.
Melisi turned to follow, then hesitated.
"Um, Your Majesty," she started, uncertainly, "Um, I think... I think I may be able to fit through there."
"Oh no, I couldn't allow you to go off through there by yourself."
"But there may be something important in there, Sire."
"I don't think that's a good idea."
"Please, Your Majesty. I'm sure I can do this."
"Well..." The King didn't want to damage her self-confidence, after having helped to build it up in the first place. But he didn't want to send her off into a potentially dangerous dungeon where he had no way of helping her if something went wrong.
"Alright then," he said, finally. "But you must take Sam with you."
"Thank you, Your Majesty," she beamed. "I won't let you down."
The King helped the young Auroran woman up into the hole in the wall.
"What can you see?" he asked.
"Not a lot," she called back to him. "The passage downwards is blocked off by rubble, while upwards, it's too dark to see."
The King looked around. "Hold on," he shouted. He rummaged through his supplies and withdrew a fresh torch. Lighting it with his gauntlet, he handed it through the hole in the wall. "How's that?"
"Much better, thank you," she replied.
"Right then. Good luck, and see you soon!" the King said, then passed his trusted companion up to her.
"Keep her safe, boy," he whispered into the dog's ear.
Sam licked his master's face, showing he understood.
=== A Split in the Tale ===
Here, the story splits. It is up to you to decide how you want to continue. You can read each half of the story separately, or read them both together in a linear fashion.
(This is an experiment. Please refer to the series hub for details, and please indicate below which style you chose, or which you preferred.)
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=== Coming Together ===
Melisi screamed as the floor she was standing on fell out from under her. The King rushed out of the alcove, and looked up. High above him, almost at the ceiling, he could see her, hanging out of a gap in the wall he hadn't noticed before. Sam was clinging on to her, digging his claws into the ground to try and stop them both from falling.
"Hang on!" the King shouted, scrambling back up the ramp to the safety of the cavern floor.
But he couldn't. Sam slid over the edge of the tunnel exit. The Temple apprentice and the King's trusted companion started to fall unhindered into the chasm below.
"No!" screamed the King, powerless to help. In frustration, he ripped the Guild Seal from his belt. It glowed a bright white, and flapped its new wings.
Time seemed to stand still for the King as he took in what had just happened. A piece of solid metal had just flapped its wings at him. As he stood, bewildered, he felt a power welling up inside him, intensifying as though it was going to burst out. And then it did. Bursting from his back, his own two wings unfurled. He recalled the first time that had happened, on Theresa's mystical Road to Rule on the eve of the battle against the darkness. She had said "The day has come, King. It is time for you to face the darkness. But you will do so in your true form." One year prior, she had shown him two paths of how his rule would progress. He had been shocked by how literal that representation of his 'true self' had turned out to be. Then, a few days ago, it had happened spontaneously again, when the Guild Seal received its own wings. This felt a lot like that. The power was overwhelming.
The King snapped back to the present. Suddenly, he felt able to do anything. He focused his Will on his wings, and found himself rising off the ground. He could fly!
He spun around to face his falling friends. Melisi was still screaming. Sam looked longingly at him as he fell past, trying to convey the fact that he had done all he could. The King knew he wouldn't have time to catch them both, but had an idea. Willing it to work, he flew over the chasm and threw the Guild Seal at Sam as his trusted friend disappeared from sight into the darkness. He then dove after Melisi. He caught her, just as they passed the alcove in the rock wall. She stared up at him, and flung her arms around him.
"I should have trusted you!" she cried. "I'm so sorry!"
"What do you mean?"
"The words! Cordis, Fido. I was so stupid to make the connection with Sam. Trust your heart! That's what it meant!" She kissed him. "Thank you!"
The King was bewildered. He didn't know what to say.
He carried her up to the chamber floor, and set her down gently.
Suddenly, the whole cave began to ring with a tuneful note. Slowly, out of the chasm, a giant statue arose.
"Oh my..." gasped Melisi.
"Is that...?" asked the King, squinting into the darkness, trying to distinguish a familiar shape.
"Yes! It's the Goddess!" agreed Melisi.
The statue of the Goddess completed its rise from the chasm, and spread its arms wide. The right arm attached to the side of the chasm just beside them. The left arm extended upwards, and gripped the crumbled edge of the upper tunnel.
"Sir?"
"She's made a bridge between the two sides!" exclaimed Melisi. "Oh Sam, we did it!" She looked around, confused. "Wait... Where's Sam?!"
The King shook his head. He guessed his idea hadn't worked.
"Sir??"
"Oh no!" cried Melisi, flinging her arms around the King again.
The King tried to comfort her, but it wasn't very easy.
"...Sir...?"
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" she sobbed. "He looked after me so well."
"I'm sure he did," said the King, trying not to let his voice crack.
"Sir?!"
"Where is that voice coming from?" asked Melisi.
They both looked around. Caught on the statue's robes, they saw the Guild Seal. The King ran over and picked it up.
"Jasper?"
"Sir? Sir!" came Jasper's voice. "Why has Sam just fallen out of the ceiling?"