Returned from the Lantern Isles, Lila and companions found Auraleaf readying for the storm to come. The silver lanterns across the village now pulse with twilight light, mirroring the twilight lantern Lila carried with her pendant.
The Heartstone pulsed beneath the earth, timing itself with the light of the pendant as people placed barricades and lantern defenses along the lantern river.
A Brief Calm
At dawn, Elin placed the Book of Eternity upon the stone table of the Lantern Hall. Its map now bore five glowing runes, with two empty circles remaining around the Gate of Dawn.
Eron drew the next rune. "The sixth Key will not be long."
Elin's eyes were determined. "We will be ready."
Lantern Combat Training
Eron trained Lila in Lantern Combat for three days, teaching her to merge light and shadow in the twilight lantern and pendant:
She learned to form twilight shields, dispersing shadow claws defensively in the face of attack.
She was taught to cast dawn-lit shadow arcs to incapacitate spectral shadow beasts.
She was taught to direct lantern beacons to heal minor villager wounds using the twilight light.
With each practice, the pendant pulsed in rhythm with her breath, teaching her to let fear pass through her like the wind while being steady in intention.
That evening, on the lantern river bridge, Lila raised the twilight lantern, breathing:
"Guide me."
A soft ring of twilight light spread across the river, forming a glowing wall that shimmered calmly, strengthening the guard perimeter around Auraleef.
The Shadows Gather
The fourth night, dark clouds seethed over Auraleaf, black and purple lightning wracking the skies. The lanterns above them fluttered but held fast, their twilight light pitted against the storm.
Dark shapes moved outside the forest edge—larger than before, together, waiting.
Eron watched, staff in hand. "They're waiting."
Elin glanced to Lila. "They feel the Gate is close."
The Revelation of the Sixth Key
In the Lantern Hall, the Book of Eternity opened on its own, pages glowing with soft blue and silver light. A soft wind circulated the room, rustling pages as a map manifested:
A secret door symbol, the very same one Lila first found in her grandmother's house, appeared on the map, glowing with light.
Elin spoke in a whisper. "The sixth Key… it's linked to the network of secret doors."
The map pointed to the old well beside the lantern river, a place villagers believed was no more than a dry stone relic.
Descent to the Secret Door
At dawn, Lila, Eron, and Elin approached the well, lanterns in hand. The twilight lantern pulsed as they stepped close, revealing runes etched into the stones of the well's walls, previously invisible.
Eron touched the runes, chanting softly. The ground trembled, and the bottom of the well glowed, revealing a spiral staircase of light descending into the earth.
They exchanged a look, and then Lila took the lead, the pendant and dusk lantern lighting the way as they descended into the hidden network of doors beneath Auraleaf for the sixth Key that would bring them one step closer to the Gate of Dawn.
The Underground Hall
Below, they entered a vast underground hall lined with ancient doors, each inscribed with lantern runes and symbols, gently luminous in the twilight lantern's light.
At the center of the hall stood a large door bearing the emblem of the Gate of Dawn, a dim lock in the center that shone in time with Lila's pendant.
Elin placed a hand on the Book of Eternity. "Here is where the secret doors open."
Eron's eyes tightened. "And where the sixth Key will be awakened."
Preparing for the Trial
They camped in the subterranean hall, lighting lanterns along the perimeter as night moved in at the borders, speaking in freezing voices.
Lila sat cross-legged, the lantern of dusk in front of her, the pendant grasped in her hand, breathing steadily as she felt the next Key calling to her from the far side of the large door.
"I am ready."
Thunder boomed above as the shadows gathered on the forest rim above, and below Auraleaf, the hidden doors stirred, prepared to test Lila's balance of light and darkness once more.