**Chapter 18 - Pyra's Peak**
205 Words
Guided by currents of ley magic flowing through the aether detected by Eira's Windwalker senses, the group sailed for the fiery island of Pyra through seas now smooth as glass. Approaching near sunset, even miles offshore the volcanic island's colossal caldera radiated oppressive heat.
"That must be where Pyra's elemental core resides," Eira said, shielding her eyes to gaze up at the acrid smoke drifting from the perpetually churning lava pit within the massive volcano.
As their sloop neared the black sand beaches, Arlo traced symbols in the air muttering arcane words under his breath. "Wards to protect the hull from burning," he explained.
They disembarked, finding the obsidian sands hot underfoot even magic-treated. Vale diffused her chill magics around them to provide relief as they hiked inland through ashen valleys towards the volcano's glowing apex.
But when the terrain turned too sheer, Eira called upon her Windwalker abilities to lift them up in a circling vortex of air. Rushing heat seared her skin nearing the molten mouth of the volcano. This close, the core's otherworldly energy pulsed like a savage heartbeat.
Peering over the precipice, she saw the core - a mammoth ruby easily thirty hands across that bubbled lava eternally. Next trial awaited...
- Writer
