Stagnation and a breakthrough

"Impossible." Grandmaster Malvern shook his head. "It is impossible. This cannot be done."

"Truly? I'm surprised that the grandmaster of the Mage College would give up so easily." Tel'eria remarked, giving him a sidelong glance. "Here's what I think we should do."

The Elven wizardress walked around the long table, a varnished affair with deep, flowing symbols etched in the woodwork and a staggering display of bubbling potions, braziers burning the entire spectrum ofn colors, gilded scales with alchemical powders on one side and glittering gems on the other side, and a number of other magical apparatus. Tel'eria moved to stand across from Malvern, pointing at a set of concentric, silver circles embedded on the surface of wood.

"If we triple the input from the fourth plane," The Elfmage moved her index finger counter-clockwise from the innermost circle, a thick, solid line of silver, "And maintain our hold on the gate, then Akatol's Theorem will **** the energy downwards through the astral threshold. Such an application is bound to get a reaction from the Stone."

"If all other variables remain the SAME." The old man clarified in an exasperated tone, as if he's explained in for the tenth time, "The Stone clearly exists outside the normal flow of time. As we've already proven. That means that Akatol's Theorem would only...."

Ceinwyn tried not to fall asleep again. She pinched herself, walked around to get her blood flowing, and then she actually tried to learn some of the wizarding jargon that the two Circle members were spouting, but it was a failed endeavor from the beginning. All this magical talk was just so boring.

She was excited at first, when she first managed to convince two of the strongest spellcasters in the college, no, perhaps the entire isle, to join her and Tri'lanna in their research on the Shining Stone. She thought that she would learn dangerous secrets, watch them open portals, and summon horrendous, yet fascinating creatures from other planes to aid in their studies. What really happened though, was talking. And note-taking. And arguing. A lot of arguing. Every single time someone posited an idea, it was immediately hammered down by analysis and critique. It was like she was back in grammar school.

Tri'lanna stood a little apart from the others, her arms crossed under her breasts and eyes pointed to the floor. She looked a little tired and Ceinwyn started to think that she was starting to tune out their voices too. More than a few hours ago, her friend had filled the details in for Malvern and Tel'eria, showing them the notes she's made of the Shining Stone. They listened politely at first, but it took only a few minutes of glancing through the book for them both to independantly decide that her notes were all but useless.

What the notebook contained were mostly experimentation logs. Carefully and meticulously written details on each attempt to destroy the Stone, penned in by Tri'lanna's teachers before they passed away. Just a glance at the weathered pages made Ceinwyn's head spin. Lines, diagrams, and formulae packed any empty space on the sheet. All this data that was meant to aid in eradicating the Pretender's lifeforce, which meant it was of no use to Malvern and Tel'eria.

The two wizards were spearheading a new direction with the Stone, hoping to harness the power for themselves rather than simply eliminate it. And no amount of cajoling or rhetoric could convince them that it was better to simply destroy the Shining Stone.

Which led them to this point of time - Malvern and Tel'eria bickering endlessly, and Ceinwyn and Tri'lanna listlessly standing around, powerless to change their minds.

"How are you feeling?" Ceinwyn asks her Elven friend, seeing her rub her eyes.

"Tired. I'm beginning to see that this was hopeless from the beginning." Tri'lanna shook her head in resignation, "We should have pitched that rock into the nearest chasm or river the moment we found it. Since entering the Akashic Records, Vanarim has made his lifeforce untouchable."

"Too bad WE can't just go to the Akashic Records." Ceinwyn said casually, gently prodding a skull of some mysterious creature that caught her eye, "Then we'd probably find an answer there."

It was the long, frozen silence that grabbed the Druidess' attention. When she looked up from the skull, Ceinwyn realized that everyone was staring at her.

"What?" She said, covering her arms around her waist protectively, "Did I say something wrong?"

The reactions between the other three were mixed. Malvern glowered at the Druidess and then turned away. Tel'eria could only stare at her, slack-jawed, and then massaged the bridge of her nose, like she had a headache. Tri'lanna blinked at her, surprised, and then she grinned and walked up to her, putting an arm around her shoulder. "Not at all, Ceinwyn. What you said was right. Completely right."

"Who cares if the girl is right?" Tel'eria countered, "The Akashic Records are a pipe dream. No one on this planet has been able to access them, none except Vanarim. And we all know how that ended."

"The Records are just a tool, Tel'eria, just like magic," Malvern rallied from his sulking, glaring at her, "Great power could be attained from it, and such power could be used for good purposes too. It is only a matter of getting there."

"The ritual is extremely complex and would also require a sacrifice of life." Tri'lanna explained to them, "It is the only payment that the Akashic Records will accept. It's just that I'm not sure what would be sufficient as an offering."

"Well, I'm afraid that we're fresh out of virgin sacrifices." The Grandmaster said snidely, throwing his hands up "Perhaps a live goat or a dog will suffice? How barbaric. There must be another way there."

Ceinwyn was about to clear her throat, indicating that they did, in fact, have a virgin in their presence. But then her time training as a Druid's apprentice started to come back to her. Eighteen years of her life in the Druid's valley were spent in contemplation and meditation. Master Derreth imparted all the knowledge he had on Druidic magic and, more importantly, the understanding that life can appear in the most unexpected ways.

"Wait..." Ceinwyn said, feeling a prodding at the back of her head, "What if we're looking at this too narrowly?"

Tri'lanna turned her head towards Ceinwyn, curious, "What do you mean? Are we missing something?"

"Where I come from, a great number of things carry the flame of life. Like trees, fruits, seawater, and the wind." The young druid explained, "What if, to enter the Akashic Records, you don't have to sacrifice physical life, but maybe metaphorical life?"

Silence, again.

"Twice in a row...." Malvern muttered, shaking his head.

Tri'lanna's eyes shone though, seeing the problem in a new light, and she gave Ceinwyn an even wider smile, "Yes...Yes! With proper modifications to the circle and ritual, to accomodate the new source, it could be done. I'm sure that with your Druidic teachings, you could enhance the wards. Interesting....perhaps that was what my teachers were trying to teach me about the Druids."

"Wait, but what would you use then for the catalyst? Surely not a goat or a dog, like the genius over there said." Tel'eria pointed a thumb towards the Grandmaster, who glared daggers at the wizardress.

"It was actually Grandmaster Malvern who gave me the idea. It was when he spoke about virgin sacrifices."

"Ceinwyn...does that mean you're...a virgin?" Tri'lanna asked, disbelieving. "Don't tell me you plan on giving up your life?!"

"No, I'm not going to be a virgin sacrifice...." Ceinwyn clarified. She took a deep breath, not really believing what she was going to say next, "...but we ARE going to sacrifice my virginity."

The silence was much longer this time and crossed over the boundary into 'awkward' and 'wierd'. Tel'eria coughed embarassingly, Malvern tried very carefully not to make eye contact with anyone else who was female, which happened to be everyone, and even Tri'lanna was visibly blushing from her statement.

"Well," Tel'eria finally said to break the silence, "I think I can safely say that this can't get any stranger. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm just going to stick my head out of a window and check to make sure it isn't raining toads."

Ignoring the sarcastic comments, Tri'lanna asked, "Now, I need to ask you a very important question..." she placed her hands on Ceinwyn's shoulders, "Who are you going to choose to help you with this?"