Joan stared up at the door, her eyes locked on the almost entirely faded runes. She then glanced back at the little group that she was going to be bringing with her.

Her hand was locked with Searle’s, who’s other hand was holding Andreas, who’s last hand was holding Korgron’s. The reason they had decided this method was because they wanted the shield as close to her as possible in the event anything happened and Korgron wanted to have a hand free to cast her most powerful magic. At Joan’s hip were both sword sheathes, though only the demonic blade was with her now. The other was behind this door, in the realm of the gods.

Joan reached out and placed her hand on the door. After a second, the runes across it began to glow and then she waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And nothing happened.

“How long does it take to open?” Korgron asked.

“I don’t know. It didn’t take long at all last time,” Joan said. She pushed on the door, but it didn’t budge. “Come on, open!”

“Uh huh,” Andreas said before giving the door a swift kick. “No, pretty solid. How about you, Bauteut? Time stopped?”

Bauteut sat across the room, her arms crossed. She’d wanted to come on the initial visit as well, but had been denied as she wasn’t a chosen. Though it was quickly looking like there wouldn’t be another visit. Joan pulled her hand back from the door and the runes across it faded once more. Had it all just been a fluke? A mistake? Was she locked out now, permanently? “No, you four are just standing there. Joan?”

“It just opened last time,” Joan said before shaking her head and then reaching out to place her palm on it once more. It still refused to budge. “Come on. Open!”

“I see,” Korgron said. She pulled her hand from Andreas’ and glanced back to Joan. “You still want to keep with your ‘I went through this door’ story?”

“If I hadn’t opened this door I wouldn’t have wasted your time coming here,” Joan said with a lot more viciousness than she’d originally intended, drawing shocked looks from all of them. “Sorry. I just, I finally thought I had this figured out. Open! Why don’t you just open?”

“Maybe there’s too many of us,” Searle said.

“Well, I was alone last time,” Joan said. “Here. Let’s see if just Searle and I work.”

Andreas, at least, was quick to let go. Even so, the door refused to do anything other than glow. Judging by the look that Korgron was giving her, the demon was quickly losing any belief in the story she’d mentioned about the door opening. She finally pulled her hand back and then looked to Searle. “I’ll try alone.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Bauteut said. “What if there’s another one of those fire elementals? You barely survived last time.”

“But I did survive,” Joan said. “And I won’t be going exploring or anything. I’ll just see if it does work alone. That’s all.”

“Then what?” Korgron asked.

“I’ll know how it works,” Joan said. “I can be careful this time. I won’t take any more risks, I promise. Besides, there probably isn’t even anything there now that I killed the guardian.”

Korgron sighed before shaking her head. “No. Not now. If we let you try, just go in and out. Until we find out how to get one of us in there with you, you’re not allowed to go any deeper. Understand?”

Joan gave a nod and contained her annoyance as best she could. “Fine.” Slowly her hand pulled free from Searle’s and she reached out to place it against the door. Once more the ruins glowed. Her stomach tightened into a knot and fresh doubts began to wash over her. It wasn’t opening. It wasn’t doing anything. She must have--

Then the stone disappeared and, this time, she was ready and managed to not fall flat on her face. She stepped in before glancing back at the others. They were locked in place, not moving.

But there was still one option. She reached out and grabbed Searle’s hand before she tried to pull him inside. Unfortunately, he didn’t budge. In fact it didn’t even feel like she was touching him, it felt more like there was some very thin, invisible barrier between her and him, stopping her from touching him directly. She gave a soft sigh before glancing down the passageway.

So much for the easy way. Still, she smiled just a little. Even if she had to come alone, the fact she could go into these doors meant that she had information that she’d never had before. She started to walk down the passageway before stopping.

She promised not to take any more risks. Korgron wanted her to go in and out, nothing else. Joan glanced back at her friends, frozen in time. Would they let her try again if they couldn’t find a way in? Probably not. Besides, they’d tried for decades to get into one of these doors, there was no way they’d suddenly find a way in.

Which might mean that they were locked off from her forever. This might really be her last chance to see if she could learn anything. She’d already killed the guardian, what were the chances there was another one? There was so much stuff she could learn from these as well. Despite the damage, there were other statues she could look over. Not to mention that strange room had all manner of damaged weapons and bones that could probably tell her something. Then there was the core of the elemental itself, if she could bring back the pieces there was no telling what she might learn from it. Maybe they’d hold the secret to opening these doors for the others. She took another step forward.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Then Joan stopped. None of her friends wanted her to go forward. She thought it was a good idea to keep going, but how often did she think something was smart only to have it all go horribly wrong? Her lack of proper judgment was the whole reason she was here, after all.

There could be untold information going forward, things she needed in order to help save the world. But she told them she’d come back and not take any risks. Even if she might find something of value deeper inside, she would be guaranteed to be going against them if she didn’t turn back around. “Ugh. You have ANY idea how mind numbingly obnoxious all of this is?” Joan asked the gods before turning back around. “But fine! I’m doing the SMART thing and following their judgment, okay? I’m not doing what I think is best, but what they think! Happy?” She took a few steps before stopping.

There was still one thing she could do, something she wanted to test. Her sword hadn’t come with her when she’d originally been tossed out of this realm, so she wondered if she was still bonded to it. She couldn’t summon it from outside, but maybe now that she was once more in this realm she could. She held out her right hand.

To her surprise and delight, her sword appeared in her hand once more. She took a moment to admire it. The metal was now tinted red, with the edge lightly rippling and shifting, as if it was on fire. A single red gem rested in the pommel, glowing like embers. “Wow,” Joan said softly. She glanced towards her left hand, eyeing the key that was hidden inside her body. “I don’t know what you did, or how, but it looks pretty awesome. I’m going to not use it thought until I--” Suddenly she heard an all too familiar giggle. She quickly turned around and held the blade up, but there was nothing in the passageway but her.

She waited for a few moments for another elemental to attack, but nothing happened. She took a small breath and then began to back away. Just this once she’d make the smart decision. What better way to surprise everyone?

Joan stepped out from the passageway and, after a few moments, the stone door appeared in front of her once more.

“Joan, what did you do?” Korgron asked, her voice sounding oddly accusatory.

“Huh?” Joan asked before glancing towards the demon. “Oh, I stepped inside and—”

“Where did you get that sword?” Korgron asked, cutting her off.

“Seriously?” Bauteut asked. “You promised not to take any risks.”

“Joan, we literally just had a conversation about this,” Andreas said,

“What?” Joan asked. “I didn’t--”

“This is why I only wanted you to go inside and back out,” Korgron said before crossing her arms and shaking her head in disappointment.

“If I could just--”

“Is this how it’s always going to be?” Korgron asked. “You promise one thing and--”

“KORGRON!” Joan yelled, cutting her off this time. She then threw the sword high up into the air. She let it fly for a few moments before holding out her hand and, right before it would have hit the wall, re-summoning it to her hand. “I didn’t go anywhere. It’s the sword I bonded to me, remember? I lost it in there and was able to summon it back to me.”

“That’s the sword I gave you?” Searle asked.

“Yes, kind of,” Joan said before glancing back down at it. “The key kind of changed it, though.” She reached down grip the sheath with her left hand before, very slowly, sliding the sword inside. “I’m not sure how. Korgron, magic is more your thing than mine so I guess it’ll be best if you look over it. Okay?” She undid the sheath’s straps before holding it out to her. “I didn’t go more than a few feet in to ensure I could. That was all, just like I promised.”

Korgron stared at her for a few moments, her arms crossed. Finally the demon sighed. “If you weren’t always so reckless I wouldn’t have assumed you lied.” She reached out to grab the sword, yanking it out of her grasp.

Joan snickered none the less, that was probably the best apology she’d get from the demon.

Korgron turned around and started to walk away before letting out a startled, pained yelp and dropping the sword on the ground. “Ow ow ow ow ow!” She quickly cast a small spell, forming a shard of ice in the air, before grabbing it between both hands. “Your sword burned me!”

“What?” Joan asked before walking over and bending down to lightly poke the sword with a finger. It felt warm, but not quite hot. “Really?”

“Does it look like I’m joking?” Korgron asked, her voice vicious. Joan could see the normally blue skin on her hands was now a light red. The ice was tossed to the ground and the demon blew on her fingers a few times before glaring at the sword. “Careful with that thing. It’s not safe.”

“It’s probably an effect of the key,” Joan said softly. “Maybe because I’m bonded to it? Is it still hot?”

Korgron looked to Andreas, the two sharing looks for a few moments. He kept shaking his head, but she kept nudging her head towards the sword. Finally he gave a sigh and reached out before yanking his hand back. “No, that’s burning. It doesn’t hurt you?”

“Not at all,” Joan said. “It’s just kind of nice and warm, that’s all.”

“Add another reason to hate that key of yours,” Korgron said viciously. Her hands were now, at least, back to their normal light blue. “Bring that sword with you, I don’t want you being alone with it until I know what it can do. Come along.”

Joan sighed and gave a small nod. However, as they began to walk out from the room, she slowed down just a little bit so she could walk besides Searle. “Hey, Searle?”

“Yes?” he asked, looking over at her.

“Thanks,” Joan said with a smile.

“Huh? I didn’t do anything,” Searle said.

“Exactly,” Joan said.

“What?” Searle asked.

“When everyone else started to scold me for exploring the realm, you didn’t,” Joan said.

Searle’s cheeks went a little redder and he glanced away. “Well, I mean, uhhh… I figured if you did, you’d tell us anyway. And I didn’t think you’d break a promise.”

“Thank you for believing in me,” Joan said before she started to walk a little faster to catch up with Korgron.

“The same to you,” Searle said, so softly she almost didn’t hear him.