Chapter 14: "I'll Take Door #3..."
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	Locke was rather exhausted.
	He'd opened the door, only to practically be fried by an Aura
Flare from... something.  Whatever this large snakelike thing lying
on the floor was.  He hadn't met anything like it before, and he
didn't want to again.  That Aura attack was at least as strong as the
strongest spell he'd learned, Flare.  <Too bad Strago wasn't here to
study that one.>  If he hadn't 'found' that Elixir, he would probably
be the one lying lifeless on the stone floor.
	And for what?  This was a dead-end room, with no furnishings,
no other openings, very little light, and certainly no treasure.  Why
had it been put here?  Unless... He stood and carefully studied the
walls.  <There.>  A hairline crack, the tiniest discoloration.  <A
secret door.>  He smiled.  <Maybe this will be worth it after all.>
	He passed through the portal and began to descend a stairway.
He took care to make no noise as he continued.  The darkness here was
becoming an obstacle... A room.  <Something at the center... a column?>
He could hardly see at all.  <No sound.  Let's hope the room is empty,
I can't fight in this darkness.>
	Cautiously Locke approached the column.  As he came closer, he
could see that it was a pillar with some sort of dome resting on top
of it.  The darkness of the room seemed to be concentrated here.  He
poked at the dome with Valiant.  The blade encountered no resistance,
but the room brightened slightly.  Quickly he drew the dagger back,
and the room's darkness returned.  There was no mark to indicate that
the dome had been penetrated, nor had his blade changed.  <No heat,
no cold, no obvious effects... I guess I might as well try it.>
	He thrust a hand through the dome, and the room brightened
perceptibly.  There was a strange tingling sensation, but nothing that
seemed dangerous.  His hand brushed against something metallic.  <Aha!
Let's see what we have here.>  He grasped the disk-shaped metal and
pulled it.
	As the metal contacted the dome of darkness, there was a flash.
The room was brightly lit!  The dome had vanished completely.  The
thing in his hand resembled a medallion, but it was glowing much too
brightly to be studied.  Locke realized that he could see no more than
when he had been blinded by the shadows.  <Too bright... but it's got
to be magical, I can't just leave it.  Now, if only I could find a way
out of here...>
	The metal throbbed, and he nearly dropped it in his surprise.
He felt strangely exhilirated.  For five seconds.  Then a wave of pain
crashed over him, driving him to his knees with a quickly-stifled cry.
It faded to a dull ache, but left him with a feeling of something...
more...
	The metal throbbed.  This time he dropped it quickly.  <Too
dangerous to have that thing touching my skin...>  He quickly scooped
the strange disk into his pouch, holding it open in case he felt a
second shock.  But no more happened.  <It must have to touch flesh.>
When he closed the pouch, he noticed that the glow shone through,
faintly.  <How inconvenient.  I'll have to get rid of this fairly soon,
there's no way something like this can go unnoticed for long.>
	He still felt strangely charged from the experience.  <Wait...
I've felt this before...>  He'd found his way out.  "Warp!"
	Space shifted around him as his "charged" feeling drained
away, but the spell worked.  He was on the surface, although the sun
seemed faint after the disk's radiance.  And he suddenly felt very
tired.  <Uh oh, I wonder if there are side effects...>
	He stood, took a step forward, and promptly collapsed.