First Flame

Quill was cursing every single thing he could think of, hanging off by one hand as he tried his best to reach the ledge in the cave. 

In the peripheral of his eye, the Lizard was stomping towards him, it's bony tail flipping around behind it. 

Gritting his teeth, Quill decided to abandon caution to the winds, and just jumped down, wobbling around for a second at the impact on his feet from the sudden fall. Above him, the lizard looked down at him. 

'...Too fat to come in, you greedy beast?' Quill grinned for a second only to quickly roll back a second later, as the hanging eyeball was lowered into the hole, staring at him, much to his horror.

The eyeball stayed suspended, and Quill was torn between dashing forward to retrieve the fallen torch, and running away into the forest before the lizard caught up to him.

Instead, he watched, in a mixture of disgust and horror, as the nerve holding the eyeball snapped, and it rolled on the floor, leaving behind a faint trail of blood.

Suppressing his urge to puke, Quill carefully walked by the side of the eyeball, and grabbed the torch. Then, like an idiot, he chose to glance at where the lizard was.

The lizard, now blind, was ranging and thrashing around. In a fit, one of it's legs had gotten stuck in the hole. Meaning that he only saw a grotesque foot wildly moving around his head. 

Quill ducked, and then dashed back the way he had come. Every moment felt like an eternity. 

'If that lizard can't come down, it'll be waiting for me near the cave's entrance..!' 

The caves were limited, and offered little leeway to dodge the lizard's attacks. Going out into the open didn't particularly mean the situation would get better, but it was still a better option.

Quill quickly ran over the list of items he had in his possession, considering if even one of them could hold any use.

'...Wait, if the lizard is here, doesn't that mean that the platform should be empty?' 

Quill glanced down at the torch in his hand. Well, at least that was one decision out of the way.

---

Quill breathed slowly, clinging to the stone wall tightly. Most of his body was hidden in the hole of the wall, and the rest was covered by the wild moss that seemed to cover the walls.

The cuffs of his pants were completely torn from getting stuck on the jagged rocks. Every so often, Quill could feel them flapping around his ankles. The position was horribly uncomfortable, but it was still better than dealing with his actual predicament.

Every so often, he could hear the thumping footsteps of the lizard. 

Quill had miscalculated so badly, it could have been a joke. The Lizard might have not been small enough to fit through the hole, but it did have enough strength to completely tear through the rock, collapsing through the rock.

He found that out only a second too late, standing in the very center of the cave. He had been catching his breath, and when he heard thumping footsteps, he had gone back into the left cave, expecting the lizard to come out of the entrance.

So, to say that he was horrified when he saw the bony figure of the lizard appear behind him was an understatement.

He had run for his life, dashing into the right cave. Dashing through the dark halls, as the lizard's footsteps echoed loudly behind him.

By some stroke of mercy from the heavens, he had found an alcove in the stone. It was purely by chance, and for the first time in life, Quill had thanked every god he could think of. 

The alcove wasn't that big, however, and Quill was forced to cling onto the walls to keep himself covered.

The torch had been shoved in his pocket to avoid accidents. While it did stick out awkwardly, he could deal with it.

Quill was just about to reach for the torch, to shove it deeper, when suddenly he went dead still.

A second later, Quill felt a sticky mass of flesh just lightly brush against his exposed ankle. It took all of his willpower to not shudder at the feeling.

However, the lizard didn't seem to notice him.

Quill was just about to breathe a sigh of relief, when the lizard thrust its entire head into the alcove.

It all happened so fast, Quill just about barely processed it. Quill instinctively darted forward, but his hand was still struck. 

Quill fell out of the alcove, hitting the ground with a heavy thud, as pain seemed to numb his body for a moment. 

The torch dropped out of his pocket, as stones came hurling down from where the lizard had hit.

Quill opened his mouth, a few drops of blood dripping down his chin from where the stones had struck.

The torch was just next to his hand, but Quill couldn't reach out. He was on the ground, and the lizard was towering over him. Quill scrambled around, trying to get back on his feet.

His fingers finally closed around the torch, and nothing but desperation ran through his veins. 

The Lizard pounced, and Quill lost all reason. Like an angry child throwing a tantrum, Quill gritted his teeth and moved out of the way, but at the same time struck the torch down with all the force he could muster.

As expected, it did nothing, but atleast it alleviated some of it's anger.

Quill was on one knee, holding the torch tightly. 

'...End it all..! Finish...this...trial..!' He struck down the torch again, wishing that it would just break. 

The lizard seemed to be facing him, though it was hard to see in the darkness. No doubt that it was planning to pounce. 

Quill struck the torch down one more time, struggling and stumbling to get up. Anger and desperation consumed him, simultaneously wanting to destroy the torch, and hoping that the lizard might be scared and stop attacking him.

Instead, within a blink of an eye, the situation changed completely.

Holding the torch, he had wished it would just light up. Banging it against the floor, loose rocks had scattered everywhere. 

As for what happened next, Quill could only guess.

The lizard leaped forward, and Quill raised his hands to defend himself, all while trying to roll to his side.

It was as if, in that moment, energy seemed to flow through him as he easily flattened himself on the ground. 

The lizard seemed to leap over him, as Quill rolled back onto his ankles.

However, his attention was stolen by something completely different.

The torch, which had been empty so long, seemed to changing.

Hard, grey fragments seemed to condense together, creating a small grey structure. 

The entire structure seemed to resemble a roaring flame, except that instead, the flame was stagnant and hard.

Quill's eyes widened, but before he could process anything, strings of glowing runes appeared next to him, floating in air.

[ Congratulations to Torchseeker Quill Sagis-Williams for lighting their first torch! ]

[ Now, please drop the Torch in the pit of Will to successfully complete the trial ]

[ As a welcoming feature of the Path of Purity in the first trial, The location of the Pit of Will has been marked ]

[ Finishing the trial will allow for First stage Enkindling ]

[ Best Wishes! ]