Jack raised his head to take a good look at the temple before him. It was by no means large, though what it lacked in size, it made up for in visual detail. The main color theme here seemed to be bronze with a secondary tone of bright crimson red. Everywhere he saw, flame motifs are etched and painted onto the walls and pillars, demonstrating a strong favor---almost a sacred worship---towards its respective element. Torches and braziers lined the outer walls and a heavy aroma of incense hung in the air around. Jack didn't know what he'd expected when arriving here, but he certainly didn't expect this.

"This is the base of the Crimson Flame?" Jack said, mouth gaping in disbelief.

"Yeah. Our leader, Suraj, is somewhat of a spiritual figure around here," Dingo explained. "In addition to fighting for the right to practice magic, he's also an advocate in the freedom of religion, hence the temple."

Dingo and the others proceeded to enter inside and Jack quickly followed. As they strolled through the halls, Jack noticed rows of large statues of what he assumed were deities of worship placed at altars against the walls. The deities that these statues were supposed to depict look wildly different from one another---some looked human while others looked more like fantastical beasts---and yet they all emanated a sort of grand presence that made Jack feel somewhat insignificant in comparison. Not to say he felt intimidated by it, but rather, he felt a sense of serene tranquility---as though his mind was at peace simply by being here.

Alongside the statues, there were a scattering of people around them, some of which were monks while others were merely visitors. Similar to the populace of the streets outside, these people came from a mixture of diverse races ranging from dwarves to humans to animal and mushroom people. The monks of this temple could easily be distinguished by their bronze-and-red robes and their wooden amulets that bore the red flame icon on them as opposed to the visitors who simply wore regular indistinct clothing.

The monks around here were seen doing various activities, ranging from meditating to greeting visitors to sweeping the floors. Some of the monks noticed Dingo and the others passing by and would stop to greet them with a respectful bow, to which Dingo and the others would bow back in response. Jack could sense it's less of an interaction amongst polite strangers and more of one among close friends, as though these monks knew Dingo and the others personally and deeply respected them. Jack didn't quite know what to do in a situation like this and so decided to simply follow suit and bowed along with Dingo and the others, albeit a bit awkwardly.

"So are all these monks part of the Crimson Flame as well?" Jack asked out of curiosity.

"Well, yes and no," Dingo replied. "Technically, these monks are treated as non-combatants, meaning they don't go out and complete missions like the rest of us. Their responsibilities consist of religious services and maintenance duties on the temple itself. Most of them don't even know combative magic and chooses not to learn it as they do not wish to engage in violence. Even so, they are wholly dedicated to the Crimson Flame and its cause."

"I see. So, am I going to meet the other members?"

"In time, yes. Most of them are out on missions, though. It'll be a couple of days before they all return. I'll introduce them to you once they do. Don't worry, though. There will always be at least a couple of members staying right here at the base to defend it if it ever get attacked. Fortunately, that rarely happens nowadays, but it's better to be safe than sorry. Speaking of which, here's one of them."

They'd now arrived at a courtyard, where there's a small garden of sorts that's decorated with tiny colorful bioluminescent mushrooms instead of the usual flowers. On one of the garden's benches, they found a person sleeping on it. Upon closer inspection, Jack realized that it wasn't just a regular-looking person but some sort of lizard humanoid with greenish-orange scaly skin and wearing a makeshift set of light leather armor. As the lizard person slept soundly, it wagged its long thin tail back and forth like some sort of slow-moving whip.

Dingo bent down to pat lizard person on the shoulder, trying to wake him up. "Hey, Frilbert. Wake up, mate." At first, Dingo tried to speak softly. When that didn't work, he raised his voice into a shout. "Frilbert!"

The lizard person was practically jolted awake, falling clumsily off the bench as he did so. It was then that Jack realized this wasn't just a humanoid version of any common lizard but that of a frilled-neck lizard. He recalled seeing a nature documentary---or was it that one scene from Jurassic Park, he couldn't quite remember---of certain species of lizards with fan-like frills on their necks that spread outward as a sort of intimidation tactic to fend off predators.

"What?! Huh?...Oh, it's you, Dingo. You're finally back," the lizard person known as Frilbert said before letting out a yawn. His rather wimpy voice bore the quality of someone who lacked confidence and self-esteem, a quality that Jack knew all too well from his best friend Steve. "Damn it, stop trying to wake me up like that."

"Then stop sleeping on your job."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"I can't help it. There's barely anything to do around here." As Frilbert spoke, the frills on his neck would open and close in accordance to his emotions, making his facial expressions feel somewhat more vibrant and lively than a human's. "Besides, we scalyfauns are not like you warm-bloods. We need to bask in the sun every now and again to keep our bodies warm. Otherwise, we'll feel sluggish and drowsy."

"What happened to your hotbed?"

"Snapjaw and his gang came by and broke it. They tweaked the runes and made it so that its heat setting was turned all the way up when I tried to use it. They thought it was such a funny prank, but I was nearly burnt to a crisp! I've even got the burn marks to prove it!" Frilbert pulled down the collar of his armor to show the slightly charred scaly skin from below his neck. "Next thing I knew, the whole bed got so hot that it exploded into pieces. I had to take it to Oren to get it fixed. Can you believe it?!"

"Damn, not Snapjaw and his crew again."

"I hope your burns aren't too bad," Musashi said with mild concern. "I could have Chiyome prepare an ointment for you."

"Oh, that'll be great. Tell your spouse I said thanks," Frilbert said with a delightful smile as he wiggled his frills. "But really, it was nothing serious. Only a couple of burns here and there. Though, let's just say this frilled lizard almost became a grilled lizard."

Raven let out an annoyed groan, seemingly as a response to Frilbert's dumb joke. The lizard man then turned to look at the crow sorceress, after which he made a facial expression that's almost akin to flustered embarrassment.

Is...is he blushing? Jack thought to himself. Can lizards even blush?

"Oh, uh...hey, Raven," Frilbert whimpered as he rubbed his hand behind his head, struggling to maintain eye contact with the crow mage. "Welcome back. I, uh...hoped you had a good trip."

Raven said nothing. Instead, she merely glared at Frilbert with an unreadable expression.

Dingo let out a defeated sigh. "How many times did I tell you? You gotta stop letting Snapjaw and his crew push you around like that. I can't cover your back forever."

"I know, I know. But enough about me. Let's talk about him," Frilbert then pointed at Jack. "Who's this fellow over here?"

"He's a potential new recruit. His name's Jack. Snatched him straight out of an Elrinthian jail cell from Ingewell. It's actually one hell of a story. We'll tell you about it later."

"Really?! Can't wait to hear it! So...a new recruit, eh?" Frilbert grabbed hold of Jack's hand and shook it with much enthusiasm. "Well, it's about time we get some new faces around here. The name's Frilbert Fynn, but you can call me Frilbert. It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Umm, likewise," Jack replied with a cautiously raised brow. "Say, you wouldn't happen to spit venom, do you? Also, is it considered racist if I make the assumption that you do? Either way, I'd prefer that you give me a heads-up, you know."

Frilbert gave him a confused look, then let out a laugh. "I think you have me confused with a cobra scalyfaun. I know of several who could spit venom and not because one of them was my cousin's ex-girlfriend. Nah, the only thing I spit are quips and one-liners, my friend." Frilbert then turned to Dingo and the others as he continued chuckling. "Spit venom...can you believe this guy? Next thing you know, he'll assume I could fly by flapping my frills hard enough."

Dingo made a face of mocking surprise. "You couldn't?"

"Oh, now you're just pulling my tail," Frilbert said, giving Dingo a light punch in the arm before patting Jack on the back. "Don't worry, new recruit. No need to get too nervous in joining the Crimson Flame. I mean, I felt pretty much the same way when I first joined. Not to brag or anything but, aside from these three, I'm basically the strongest mage around here."

"Yeah right," Raven said. "Maybe if you'd practice your magic some more, you wouldn't be the absolute worst mage within the Crimson Flame."

"Hey, I've been practicing a lot lately, alright! My water magic is honestly quite good. I could show you if you want."

"Maybe later. Fril, I'm taking Jack to see Suraj. Jack here is not quite convinced in joining the team yet. I was hoping Suraj could change his mind."

"Sure thing. Follow me!"

Frilbert then headed towards a certain direction, to which Dingo and the others followed. Along the way, they spotted a cockroach scurrying along the rocky walls. In one quick motion, Frilbert opened his mouth wide and extended his long stretchy tongue to snatch that cockroach off the wall before gulping it down.

"Gross," Jack commented with a pang of disgust.

"Hey, don't knock it till you try it," Frilbert said with a casual shrug.

----------------------------------------

They soon arrived at a large wooden door with the classic red flame emblem at its center.

"Wait here just a moment," Frilbert told Jack before entering through the door. After a couple of minutes, Frilbert returned. "Okay, I've spoke with the boss. He'll see you now."

Jack felt pumped up with anticipation. After taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, he stepped into the room.

Inside, there was a dark backdrop broken only by the illumination of bright orange flames at the edges of the room. At its center, there was a large circular area covered entirely by flaming red-hot coal, filling the air with an almost overwhelming smell of coal smoke. Standing at the center of that circle was a tall figure in a long hooded robe of crimson red. The tips of the robe touched the flaming coals beneath that figure's feet and yet it mysteriously did not catch on fire. The figure's back was turned towards Jack, thus making its face completely obscured from his view. Even so, the imposing aura that he felt from this person made him stop completely on his tracks.

Jack could feel the fear of talking to someone important paralyze him momentarily, but after gathering enough courage, he shook off that feeling of fear and proceeded onward.