Brighter... brighter...

Just a little more, Fahl thought as gritted determination cranked the temperature to the highest setting he could conceive of. Just as the crystal in Polaris had once melted under his influence, so too would he incinerate this interloper before it dared to lay waste to his accomplishments.

Eyes narrowed against the light that washed away any vestiges of the void. He dared not shut them for fear of severing the tenuous connection which might usher in his rocks' ultimate salvation. Even as the heat threatened to peel away scales from its intensity, the iguana rooted himself to the spot as much as a floating Gembound could, facing his fate with a steeled spine. Should failure occur, he wouldn't holler and retreat; if his creation was extinguished, he'd accompany it. Maybe the destruction would be enough to spare him the suffocating grip of his stone. Better to be wiped out swiftly than be made to suffer slowly.

And then it was gone. The system remained intact, rocks continuing to orbit their miniature star. Relief whooshed out of Fahl at the sight before it also disappeared and left behind a much more mundane setting. He was in an ordinary if ancient cave, and the host of the trials swept down to touch him. An informative word reverberated in his head as a profound weakness settled into gem and flesh: energy.

That was its name, the magic so like fire but simultaneously encompassing a greater domain than it? How often had his experiences with it overlapped with flame, himself ignorant to the differences the element possessed? The past grew riddled with questions, yet he didn't entertain them now. More important was the victory draped upon shoulders despite the climb his body understood still lay ahead of him.

A tiny, near breathless chuckle left him at first. Realization of the success multiplied it. Soon enough he was laughing fully, basking in his triumph.

"Guess... I'm a little closer... to Master Fahl now, huh," he declared through gasps for air. "Ah, shit. Wait 'til Imp gets a load of this." Maybe he wasn't truly fire, but that didn't matter. For most of his life so far and the Children of Rot, he had been, and his mentor deserved the credit for encouraging him down this path. Turning on unsteady legs, Fahl stumbled out the door. He ventured onward to future heights to conquer.