When fire meets spirit, the soul is tested anew." — Igbo Proverb
Night had taken the forest in its velvet hands by the time Obinna and Adaeze resumed their journey. The glimmer of the Eclipse Grove was far behind them, its pillar's light still kindled deep in Obinna's heart like a gentle ember. Azụmiri glided through the upper branches like a phantom, a lone streak of light weaving among the trees as if leading them toward something ancient and half-forgotten.
Each breath felt thicker as they moved onward. Trees gave way to bent hills and jagged outcrops. A peculiar heat began to rise from the soil itself — almost as if someone had kindled an enormous hearth beneath the forest floor. The Fifth Ring was near. The Ring of Fire. And its challenge was not one of muscle or might, but of will and soul.
"This trial," Adaeze said, voice steady as they crossed into unfamiliar ground, "will show you who you truly are."
He glanced at her. "And if what it reveals is something I fear?"
"That is part of the test," she replied, hands tightening on her staff. "You must embrace it."
The Hollow of Embers
Before long, they broke into a broad glade bathed in a copper glow. Roots curled like knotted hands around scattered stones, and a wind as warm as breath kissed Obinna's face. Leaves rustled overhead like whispered incantations. From the center of the glade rose a natural altar — a jagged boulder glowing with blue flame. Unlike any fire he had ever seen, it burned soundlessly, its light neither warm nor cold as it danced upward into shapes that reminded him of dancers, warriors, and long-lost spirits.
Obinna stepped into the hollow, heart pounding as the blue flame reached toward him like a familiar. Every loss, every sacrifice, every fleeting moment of triumph rose up inside him like a tide. Memories of his family, of his home before the war, of the countless nights spent fighting ghosts and shadows — they all pressed against his ribs like eager hands.
"That fire," Adaeze spoke gently behind him, "reflects who you truly are."
And Obinna felt it. Deep inside him, a fire was stirring — one born of pain and endurance, of all the people and places that had been taken from him. A fire that had never truly been allowed to breathe.
He reached inward, calling that heat up through his soul like a rising tide. The flame answered in kind. The blue fire at the altar surged higher as if recognizing its own, forming into a shape like a spirit beast — proud, wild, and glorious — reaching toward him.
"Show me your fire," the shape intoned in a voice like a hundred embers crackling at once.
And so he did. He let go of hesitation and embraced the burn, pouring his will into the fire until his hands glowed gold and orange, until the altar flared so bright that Azụmiri gave a startled cry and Adaeze's face was illuminated with awe.
And with that fire now fully his, Obinna felt himself change — sharpen, steady, and more alive than he had ever been.
📖 Mini-Dictionary
Ring of Fire — The fifth trial of the Nine Realms path, testing one's ability to embrace their passion and will.
Hollow of Embers — The sacred glade where elemental fire spirits gauge the strength of a soul.
Blue Flame — An elemental fire of willpower, fed by one's inner truth.