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The stone wolf's entire lifeless weight dropped down onto Luathrae. She screamed and sobbed as if nothing at all had happened - her bones were already crushed, her pain threshold shattered, so why in the world would a second impact make any bit of difference?

"" Jessie commanded and soothed at the same time, dropping to the beast's side and rolling its huge weight off of her with all of his might forced into one long, sustained push. She cried even harder as he did so.

"" he sighed, gently lifting her head with the same care as he had done for Cressa. She choked on the potion and coughed the first mouthful back up in her agony, and he worriedly waited a second before letting her try again.

"I-I'm okay," she sobbed, as the potion removed all but the lingering shock of pain, ""

"" he scolded, pushing the second - and final - bottle between her lips. ""

"" she cried, sitting up like a bolt.

""

"" she insisted. She took the bottle from him and gulped it down in two big mouthfuls, even though her eagerness almost caused her to choke again. Though... if she were being honest, she would've mentioned how her stomach lurched and her chest constricted worryingly as she pulled herself to her feet. ""

""

"" she said, marching determinedly off with her back turned to him. "those.>"

The doors she referred to in the grand, golden hall, twice the breadth and length of the cathedral-like entrance, were the likes of which you don't expect to see outside the pearly gates. They were so vast and so massive, in fact, that it was hard to tell at first glance that they were even doors at all. Not only were they expansive, but they lacked the features of a typical set of double doors - handles, hinges, and, perhaps most importantly for them, a keyhole.

"" Jessie replied, following her over. He placed his hand on the wall and ran his fingers testingly over the smooth surface. ""

"" said Lou, looking the towering doors up and down with her sick-stained eyes. She winced slightly, one hand going to her stomach. ""

""

"" she suggested, full of hope. She was staking an awful lot on Cressa turning up soon.

"" Jessie replied, trailing off as he moved sideways across the wall and his fingers bumped up against the first of a line of inscriptions that ran all the way around the four walls of the hall. The script meant nothing to him, and he suddenly wished he could take back what he'd said moments earlier. Inscriptions were generally of significance in dungeon delving, but Cressa was the expert in languages and codes, not him. Then again, even if they figured out the code, it wouldn't mean anything if they still didn't have the means, physical or magical, of opening the damn doors.

With that in mind, Jessie turned his search elsewhere. Luathrae had silently agreed with him about not wasting time, and so they both scoured the hall on opposite sides, converging slowly to the center of the wall opposite the door. No clues, no levers, no anything - just lines and lines and lines of indecipherable script. Jessie couldn't help but wonder if they were overlooking something, and he turned his attention back to the collapsed dogs, examining each of their ruined bodies in turn. The final dog held the key, in the form of a fragile protrusion he hadn't noticed before sticking out of its back.

"" he called, crouching down beside it and giving it a gentle pull. It came away easily in his hand, and suddenly the stony-coloured object's exterior crumbled away, revealing a gleaming golden instrument set with a bright red glassy jewel beneath. "flute?>" he said in surprise, naively adding as she approached: ""

"" Lou replied quickly, mortified. She hoped she didn't come across as so useless at being an elf and a bard that she couldn't even play the flute. She hoped he didn't think that of her. Meekly, she returned the question. ""

"" he replied, twirling the thin, heavy hollow rod around between his fingers. He raised the mouthpiece to his lips and gave it a few experimental pipes. The notes rang out loud and clear... was that an echo? That was strange. The great hall, now that they noticed it, had been oddly echo-less beforehand, as if the sounds were being swallowed up by the stone, or never even reached it at all.

He stopped to examine it a few seconds longer, before placing the mouthpiece back to his lips and unleashing a quick, musical torrent of bouncy notes, nimble fingers running up and down the keys with unexpected familiarity. Apparently elves have a warped perception of 'the basics' when it comes to music.

"" Luathrae asked.

"something. There's something strange about this flute. Here, you try it.>"

He offered the flute out to her, and she took it. The melody she piped was slower, but still lilting - moving. Jessie almost became lost in the music as he intently watched her play. With a jolt, he remembered where they were when she hit a particular long note. As she played, the energy in the room was stirring, and that note... that one note... it felt accepted. The walls might as well have opened wide onto their secrets for those few moments. She played on, and it vanished.

"" he said, ""

She looked at him, but obediently repeated her performance. This time, when she reached the key note, he held up his hand. ""

Lou was already playing the note far longer than required. It rang on and on, but as she began to reach the end of her breath the strange feeling in the room was diminishing by itself. It was not enough... not by itself.

""

Luathrae lowered the instrument and looked down at her lap, avoiding his eye as if her life depended on it. ""

The last thing Jessie saw as Cressa worked her way through the language on the pendant was the face of the boy, wide-eyed and sickly-pale, staring up at her as she played the flute. Another slow, deliberate and sad melody was drifting through the room.

The moment it fell complete, several things happened simultaneously. Jessie caught sight of the sudden glow of the pendant - a taste of things to come. He didn't know why, but the boy gave a little yelp as the heavy, metal pendant suddenly clamped itself to the skin of his chest. If anyone had attempted to remove it at that point - not that there was time to do so - it would've caused him excruciating pain.

It was then that light exploded from his face, iris and pupil engulfed first by the boundlessly bright whiteness, and the dark elf could see no more.

He cried out and clutched at his eye a moment too late, seething with pain. ""

"" Cressa whispered, placing a hand on Jessie's shoulder, "got to see this.>"

The impenetrable darkness blotting out his overloaded vision fell away like a heavy veil, leaving behind only the burning brightness... which didn't burn so much as usual. He'd never experienced light quite like that before. It was like being thrown into the center of the sun, and he couldn't immediately figure out why he wasn't in agony.

As if that wasn't enough to take in, admist his disorientation, he could hear a voice like a thousand voices speaking off in the distance. "Greetings to you, noble aliens. You have released Our avatar from its centuries of imprisonment, and for that, We are in a great debt. You may ask of Us any questions that you please, and as an expression of Our gratitude We shall offer you the fulfilment of a single wish."