With the artificial life of each skeleton extinguished, there remained only two light sources in the room:
One was the lamp on the ground, and the other was the strange black lantern which cast a vibrant pink light.
"I'm surprised that oil lamp is still burning," Mathew said, "I feel like I rarely see it extinguished."
"It uses special fuel crafted by an alchemist." Explained Ophelia. "A normal lamp may burn for half a day, but this one could burn for five before a refilling."
Mathew nodded his understanding, impressed. Then he quickly turned to look at Era Belle, who was still lying on her back.
"Are you alright?" He asked her.
"I think so." She said. "Thank you. For saving me. I didn't think you would survive those flames."
"Well, I'm built pretty tough, so I'm fine." He had to resist the urge to help her up, quickly remembering the last time they had made physical contact. He didn't want to get hypothermia while simultaneously giving her heatstroke.
It was for the best that they didn't touch until he figured out a way to avoid that outcome.
So instead he offered her the shaft of his spear. She took it, and he pulled her up like they were playing tug-of-war.
"Is this the item that we are here for?" Asked Pandarus, as he regarded the strange lantern set on the podium in the center of the room.
"Yes," Ophelia said, and she reached for it. The moment she grabbed the handle, her gloved hand began to smoke. She released it quickly, a grimace on her face.
"Dread," She said, turning to Mathew. "Pick it up." He sighed as he was compelled to obey. There went his short glimpse at freedom: He doubted he would ever again be in a situation where he would be able to choose between two conflicting orders.
He picked up the lantern, and his hand practically caught fire.
"AHHH. Stop. Make me put it down!" He begged. He had just barely recovered from being burned alive; he didn't need to repeat the experience.
"Fine. Release it." Ophelia said, though she seemed hesitant to give the order. "I do not understand… Why can we not retrieve it? I had thought that maybe Dread…" She put both hands in her hair, her face betraying her frustration.
"This makes no sense; why send me to this place?" Her eyes flicked to Pandarus. He immediately threw his hands up in the air in objection.
"I would rather not try my luck, if it's all the same to you, my Lady." He said.
"What of your monster?" She pressed. "Can a creature of darkness retrieve it?"
The two of them met eyes for a moment, holding a silent conversation. Then Pandarus shrugged his shoulders. He pointed at the lantern, and Dokkebi made a strange chortling sound in response, before complying with the order.
Mathew half expected the Nightspawn to disintegrate on contact with the lantern, but nothing happened as it took the handle in its claws.
Dokkebi flapped his wings, lifting the lantern off the ground.
"Guide, the Nightspawn shall be given courier duty for now," Ophelia said.
"Sure, sure. I suppose I have no choice." Said Pandarus.
What exactly was that lantern made out of? What was it? Mathew used his Truesight, moving closer to the Nightspawn creature.
To his eyes, Dokkebi held his shape, formed out of jet black vapor. In his claws, however, the lantern did not exist in the divine realm, as if he was grasping nothing. The magenta flame within the lantern was a different story. It appeared the same in the divine realm as it did in reality: A constant in the two worlds.
Then, he got a glimpse of Era Belle in the divine realm. A strange Grey vapor came off of her body, similar to the white vapor of normal people and objects but a little darker in color. Near her head hovered a strange black stone, like the lights he saw around Ophelia and Pandarus, but absorbing light instead of emitting it.
Was that a Blessing? Why was she hiding it from everyone?
He decided to put it in the back of his mind for now. Even if he trusted Ophelia enough to tell her, he didn't think there was much action that could be taken.
He deactivated his Trusight, and as he did so, he noticed writing on the podium the lantern had been set on.
"Hey, look at this. There is some kind of writing here." He said. Ophelia walked around to where he was, holding her lamp, and began to read out loud. The words wrapped around the podium, so she had to walk in a complete circle as she read.
"Here lie the remains of the child of catastrophe, the son of oblivion, the spawn of the end. He was a fractured piece of the cosmos, left behind upon its entrapment. If left alone, our death would be certain, and so the bringer of love protected us. Love's daughter petitioned the living star, and through her seductions he fell to earth and was slain. His remains carry with them the ultimate force of destruction: the power to sever that which is un-severable. But be warned, only the child of an Aeternum can wield the Flame of Eternal Sky." Ophelia cocked her head.
"What is this nonsense? It does not tell us anything useful."
Part of Mathew wanted to agree, but an ominous feeling was digging its way into his soul. Something about those words resonated with him, and he found himself mouthing two words over and over: "Eternal Sky."
"There are a few spoils of war left over from our battle," Pandarus said. "How should we divide the numens?"
"Keep the sword that is already in your hand," Ophelia told him. "I will remove this strange armor from this fallen creature. Dread, you can take the leftovers."
"Gee, thanks," Mathew told her. He wasn't sure he wanted a permanent reminder of his literal trial by fire, but he wasn't going to openly complain. He couldn't use his own flames at will anyway, so he might as well use a substitute until he could figure it out.
Ophelia carefully pulled the discolored breastplate off the despondent metal skeleton, her own golden armor disappearing in the process so that she could replace it.
She would have to stay in contact with it for a few hours before she could properly place it in the divine realm.
That also meant Mathew would be lugging a wrench around for the foreseeable future.
"My lady, what is this strange object over here? It seems to be made out of some sort of glass-like crystal." Pandarus was indicating the vertical case at the back of the chamber.
Ophelia shook her head in response.
"You do not know?" Pandarus said. "I assumed you had knowledge of all the treasures of this room."
Honestly, Mathew had assumed something similar, but she hadn't seemed to be aware of the metal skeletons, or that she couldn't carry the lantern herself. He wasn't even sure she knew what the lantern did.
It was hard to get a gauge on how much Ophelia really knew or how much the goddess of order had shown her in the vision.
Mathew moved to stand next to Pandarus, inspecting the case. It was made out of a transparent crystal, like glass that had been tinted purple. It almost looked like a casket that one would place a dead body in for a funeral.
What was unnerving about that comparison, though, was that the "lid" of this casket had been shattered, leaving a large hole in the case big enough for a person to get through.
"It looks like the zombie woke up and escaped," Mathew said softly.
"What was that?" Asked Pandarus.
"Oh, uh, nothing. I was just wondering what this crystal box contained." Pandarus nodded, looking above the box.
"There is a description here too," He said, and he reached up to wipe some dust off of a metal plaque that had words carved into it. He began to read:
"Here the Moon is sealed, that eternal darkness shall never again roam the land. And if it should ever be free, the night shall swallow the world. Beware the Moon, for it holds the greatest fear of all."
"Great." Said Mathew. "More cryptic messaging. What does 'beware the moon' even mean?"
Pandarus shrugged, then glanced at Era Belle.
"I don't know what it means either." She admitted. "I have never even been in this room."
"That's a shame. Guess the riddle will remain unsolved." He said with a sigh.
"Well, we have that which we entered the temple for," Ophelia said from behind them. "It is time for us to return to our companions."
"She actually called them companions," Mathew muttered.
"What was that?"
"Nothing." He said. She narrowed her eyes at him. Then she addressed Era Belle.
"Girl, lead us out of here."