"Is that the gem?" Morrigan said, looking at the gem sitting on the pedestal. But she didn't dare to rush towards it as the surrounding empty space around it looked like a prime place to put out traps.

"Without a doubt. We should approach it cautiously," Galandir said and conjured a small ball of ice in his palm, rolling it across towards the pedestal. Much to their relief, nothing happened, but their steps were slow and measured, looking around carefully each time to make sure that no hidden traps or monsters would suddenly jump at them.

At this measured pace, they slowly reached the pedestal and took a careful look at it. The gem inside it was a beautiful translucent blue – without a doubt, this was the one they were supposed to find. Morrigan's heart swelled with excitement as he thought that they'd be the first to reach the winner's circle.

"We actually found it," she uttered, and Galandir nodded in response, his hands inching closer toward the glass casing. He grasped the casing firmly and pulled… And then pulled again, and again, and again – without any result.

"It's not coming off," he huffed, desperately trying to remove the glass.

"Let me help," Morrigan said and also took hold of it. They both pulled at it with as much strength as their little hands could muster, but it wouldn't budge.

"Of course, they couldn't have made it easy…" the elf boy said in annoyance, glowering at the pedestal.

"This is supposed to be a magic maze, so perhaps we have to open it with magic," Morrigan guessed.

"But that's what you had to do with the dragon egg, would they really make you do the same thing twice?"

"I don't know, but it's worth a shot," Morrigan motioned Galandir to step back, and the boy obliged. She took several steps back as well and then launched a steady stream of fire toward the glass casing.

If it's not triggered by magic, then perhaps I can just melt the casing.

"Doesn't look like it's doing anything," Galandir commented. "I don't think it's going to pop open magically."

"Then I'll just melt it into a puddle!" Morrigan said and increased the heat of her flames, channeling more magic into it. Flames turned from bright orange to purple to finally blue, signifying the power within them. The surrounding temperature was steadily rising, however the casing didn't show any signs of giving up.

"Cut it off, you're more likely to set us both on fire at this point," Galandir grumbled, and Morrigan stopped her flames. She walked up to the casing, hoping that it would be at least a little bit deformed, but much to her dismay it remained completely unscathed.

"What is this thing made out of?" she muttered in annoyance.

"Magic resistant glass no doubt. There must be a trick to opening it," he said and then pointed at the pedestal. "Look at that."

Letters had appeared right underneath the glass, stretching around the whole length of it.

"If you wish to open me, you must show me true magic first," Morrigan read the writing, then frowned. "How are my flames not true magic?"

"Maybe it just needs a different kind of magic? Let me try," the boy said and motioned for her to step back. She did so and watched how he encased the whole pedestal in a thick layer of ice.

"How does that help? Now it'll be only harder to get to it," she grumbled.

"Oh, shush! Melt the ice, maybe it will have triggered something," he retorted. Morrigan used her flames again, this time to a much more modest degree, and melted away the ice. As she did so, a little sparkle emanated from the glass casing, however, it disappeared as soon as the ice had melted.

"Did you see that?" she asked, looking at Galandir. The boy nodded, and peered at the glass as if trying to understand its structure.

"It seemed to react when your fire melted my ice."

"Let's do that again!"

Galandir encased the glass in ice again, and Morrigan melted it, making the glass shimmer ever so slightly at the interaction. However, as they repeated the sequence, increasing the strength of their magic each time, it was clear that their efforts were not enough to trigger the glass to open.

"I think it needs more," Morrigan said.

"Should I make the ice layer even thicker?" the blonde boy asked, his eyebrows furrowed in contemplation.

"I don't think it'll change much. It has a limited surface area. We should try to make the stream of magic continuous."

"Surface area?" the boy cocked his head quizzically.

"It means that no matter how much ice you pile on top, only a small amount of it will ever touch the casing."

"Okay, but it won't be easy to have fire and ice touch the case at the same time. If you hit my ice too soon, then it'll melt before even touching the glass."

"Can you create something more akin to snow? Make it snow down on the glass steadily and then I'll make it melt?" Morrigan suggested.

"I can. Just make sure you don't make fire too hot," Galandir warned, and then held up his arms, creating a gentle stream of snow that fell upon the case. The initial layer was too thick and quickly covered the glass, but he adjusted it to a more moderate pace.

Morrigan lifted one hand and imagined a gentle candlelight. A tiny warm flame swirling around the glass. Enough to melt the snowflakes that had fallen on top of it, but not enough to affect the still falling flakes. But the ring of fire she created around the pedestal was too strong and melted the snow long before it reached the glass.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"You need to lower the heat. Imagine something calm and serene," Galandir said.

"I'm trying…" she said, remembering how she had learned to control flames from Haku. The peace she imagined from flying on his back. However, the fact that the dragon was forced to fly in the dark Underworld scenery marred the image, giving fuel to her flames.

"That's better, but the flame is still too strong."

"I'm having trouble imagining something peaceful…" she admitted, pressing her eyes shut and trying to think of her time together with Father and Deziara. They were happy memories, but the constant dark of the Underworld weighed heavily on these images, like a dark prison.

"Think of your fire as a gentle morning sunlight. Wait… you've never seen the sun have you?" Galandir said, trying to come up with a different image.

Gentle morning sunlight? I've almost forgotten how it feels. How it wakes up the world, dries the dew from the grass, and warms up the day after the cold night. Slowly but surely.

Morrigan's breath steadied and the ring of flame became a mere gentle flicker. It only melted the snow closest to it, making the glass shimmer with increasing intensity.

"Oh, you're doing it! Keep it up!" Galandir encouraged. Morrigan kept her focus by thinking about the warm Overworld sun, and after a few minutes of careful control, the glass case was glowing until it finally disappeared.

"We did it!" Morrigan cheered and pulled Galandir into a quick hug. The boy appeared stupefied by the gesture, however, she was too happy to care and instead ran to retrieve the prize. "Come, let's go to the winner's circle."

"Sure," he said lamely and put his hand on the gem. It shimmered and a moment later both of them were standing in front of the podium with an audience exploding in cheers.

"And the winners of today's task are Princess Morrigan and the champion from the Fallen Kingdom – Galandir! Give them a big round of applause," Azrael announced, and another wave of cheers erupted from the crowd. Morrigan saw how Alphegor was applauding with a proud smile on his face.

She felt her own heart swell with pride and waved at the King and then at the audience, who began chanting her name. But they only chanted her name. She looked to Galandir, however the boy had already disappeared somewhere, leaving Morrigan to claim all the glory for herself.

***

You have got to be kidding me. I spent the whole morning and better part of the day trying to get through that maze and now I have to attend a ball. Who thought this would be a relaxing way to spend the evening?

Morrigan fumed inwardly as the demon maids were working their hardest to get her ready for the evening ball. Apparently, it was a celebration meant for the ten victorious participants of the competition. She understood that it was probably a grand opportunity for many people as the King himself was attending along with the representatives of the foreign delegations.

But she already had enough dealing with diplomats and nobles. The only thing Morrigan wanted to do was to sink into a bubble bath and rest her tired body. Instead, she had to accept the quick rub-down the maids did and wear the special gown prepared for the winners. These outfits were apparently magical in nature and would adjust their size according to the wearer's body.

It was beautiful in Morrigan's opinion – a white dress with gold and black accents. However, the skirt of the dress was far too puffy for Morrigan's liking and the many frills felt like they would crawl up her nose. She had managed to remove such clothing for her own wardrobe (after many arguments), but her particular taste was not accounted for in these dresses.

Once Morrigan was dressed, her guards escorted her to a large ballroom on the first floor of the castle, where winners, diplomats and nobles alike were already chatting and mingling happily. Among them, she spotted Viana along with the two nobles who decided to team up with her, Deziara, Larissa, the infernal champion, and the deep gnome champion.

How did the deep gnome make it so far? I was sure that the drow and duergar would have a better chance of getting to the end. I guess you can't judge a book by its size.

As Morrigan entered the ballroom, trying to keep her head high and her gait straight, she saw her father and Lucius enter from the other side of the ballroom. Their eyes met briefly, and a flicker of a smile passed on Alphegor's lips.

"Dear contestants who have made it to the last part of the competition, I am most delighted to see you here in the ancient halls of Demon Castle! I hope you will enjoy this special evening of the Nachtstern Festival. We are honored to host you in the Demon Castle and we wish you the best of luck in tomorrow's task. Please, relax, eat, drink and dance to your heart's content for this evening is meant for you!" Lucius announced and everyone erupted in thunderous applause.

Wait, did Lucius just say dance? That's not mandatory, is it? I haven't had much time for any dance lessons. The only dance I know is waltz and I'm pretty sure they don't have it here in the Underworld.

As if somebody had heard her thoughts, musicians began playing a rather energetic tune using the violin, something akin to drums and saxophone. While it was not the first time Morrigan had heard demon music, it always felt odd and mismatched to her ears. Some of the braver guests went to the large open space at the end of the hall. Demon men and women came together and began dancing under the fast rhythm of music, weaving and moving their bodies like agile cats.

I definitely cannot dance like that. Better lay low and head towards the food table.

Morrigan sneaked her way through the ballroom, using her small size to avoid unwanted attention when suddenly black feathers blocked her path. She barely prevented a collision with the fallen girl Annabell who appeared shocked by her sudden appearance.

"I'm sorry for almost bumping into you. I didn't notice you," Morrigan curtsied, hoping that this mistake would not cause an international incident.

"Oh, n-no! Don't apologize! I-I was trying to find you," she spoke up in a meek voice. Her parents were nowhere near, but Morrigan saw their black wings somewhere on the other side of the hall, where diplomats were gathered together in a dense cluster.

"Oh, really? Was there something you wanted?" she asked, and the girl flinched. Morrigan wondered whether she was too direct, and was thinking of how to soften her words when Annabell spoke up.

"Yes, I just wanted to tell you how amazing you were during the competition today!" she blurted out, her cheeks twinged red from embarrassment. Morrigan blinked, stupefied by her sudden enthusiasm.

"I… Well… Thank you," she stammered awkwardly.

"Would you please t-tell me how you got the courage to do all those things?" Annabell asked, her eyes sparkling with barely contained excitement. "You are not much older than I am and yet you can do such brave things."

It was Morrigan's turn to blush, and she wondered how to best answer. Her mind was drawing a blank.

"I just tried to do my best. Most of it was done out of instinct," she replied somewhat awkwardly.

"Really? That makes it even more amazing! The way you faced that landwyrm the other day was nothing short of amazing. I could never do something like that. It looked so scary!"

"It was scary. The only thing I thought of was that I didn't want to get caught by it. So I just ran from it as fast as I could."

"That's so amazing! And today when you opened the glass case with magic – that looked so amazing!"

"It wasn't just me. Galandir also helped," Morrigan chuckled, and Annabell cocked her head in confusion.

"Who is Galandir?"

"The champion from your kingdom," she replied, somewhat stupefied by her question.

"Oh, you mean Slave 13. It was only natural that he would do as you ask, he is a slave after all."

Slave 13? This girl doesn't even know Galandir's name? But if they care so little for him, then why would they name him their champion? This is getting weirder and weirder.