Quill: Marcus (40r) - Capture Staff (45r) = -5r Squishy: --- The door to the temple opened with a loud creaking sound, and Marcus could tell that the heavy metal hadn't been touched in a long while. A wave of heat blasted him in the face when he stepped inside, and he winced. The temperature wasn't enough to kill him, thanks to some unknown magic, but it was still really uncomfortable. "Fire," he grumbled, looking over the edge of his small platform at the lava bubbling below. "Why is it always fire?" He really didn't want to be here, but the volcano was threatening to erupt over the small island village, and he couldn't just leave them to their dooms. Red Bubbles dove in and out of the quivering lava, cackling eerily. Marcus couldn't tell why, but there were lit torches burning brightly on the walls. The lava produced quite enough light, he thought, but he decided not to question it. Burning keese soared around the room, and he drew his Magic Rod, ready for one of them to swoop in. He glanced at the far door, separated from him by many pools of lava, and groaned at the sight of the bars chaining it shut.
This was something entirely different than the Ikanan wasteland, Morgan thought, as he approached the heavy temple doors. First of all, there was the incredible heat coming from the volcano and the volcano itself. Morgan couldn't help but marvel at the idea of a mountain that could actually spit fire. It had sounded like it came straight from one of the fairytales his brother used to tell him when he was a child. The villagers of the volcanic island had requested him to head into temple to prevent the volcano from erupting. Morgan had happily obliged. For a large reward of course. The call to adventure was the main reason he had accepted the request, but a little bit of money would never hurt anyone. In the meantime he had stepped through the doors, the heat inside hitting him like a blow to the face. He had to take a few deep breaths to steady himself, droplets of sweat already forming on his brow. He had expected to be alone in the temple, but to his great surprise, someone else was already inside. Judging from the other person's stature it was probably a young man, not much older than himself. Morgan quietly approached the figure. "Hey, you."
On the list of bad ideas, surprising a nervous teenager holding a charged weapon is definitely somewhere near the top. Marcus gasped and spun around in shock, instinctively shooting off a wave of concussive energy at the stranger. He hadn't meant to do it, but he had been so nervously watching those Keese- he wasn't used to being in these temples alone, see. He usually had Loft, or Horus, or someone who could actually fight. There was no-one with him when he'd entered, though, and he had been keenly aware of his own shortcomings when it came to combat. His Magic Rod was all he had, and the repercussions of using it too rapidly were too great to consider. He'd been eyeing a nearby Fire Keese with anxious anticipation, waiting for it to wing near enough for him to blast it, when the words came. He must've jumped a foot in the air, and the blast came out of the ready Magic Rod before he could stop it.
Morgan had dropped himself to the floor just in time to avoid getting hit in the face with some spell, though he was pretty sure it had singed some of his hair off. "Woah woah woah! Easy there!" He shouted from the floor, daring to peek up from between his hands. He had been correct in guessing the figure was a man and around the same age as himself. "No need to be jumpy!" He quipped with a grin, trying to calm the other down. Morgan didn't really feel like getting hit for real with one of those maigc bolts. "So, is it, er, safe to get up...?"
