Zarek breathed heavily, his gaze landing on Crux and the latter's landing on him. There wasn't much to be said between the two.
Crux didn't smile, he didn't gloat, he didn't even seem to get serious when Zarek appeared. With the heat billowing around him in waves, he stood at the peak of what looked like a long path and an even taller length of stairs, the burns beneath his eyes looking all the more prominent beneath the flickering lights of red gold around him.
To Zarek's back, the sound of footsteps had long stopped. Standing at the start of the so-called Trial of Fire, he caught his breath slowly, and nothing seemed to be coming to rush him.
The pain in his body was coming in waves and spikes, every inhale feeling like hot coals not just because of the steaming air around him, but also because of just how far he had pushed his body to get here.
