[God Quest] Fool's Gold

the VOICE In reality's shadow the blind see best To the heart. Yes, that was perfect. The obsidian hollow within the tree would indeed pulse and glow, the light racing out across its branches in brilliant flickers. Where the illumination touched Bastien and, indeed, the stone, the Accepted would feel himself becoming warm, comforted almost, as though a thousand soft fingers traced across his skin. The stone in his hands would grow heated too, and then hot, and if Bastien tried to let it go he would find himself quite unable to do so. It began to thrum and quiver, then with a peal like a bell it shattered, showering him with sparkling shards. He might feel a sharp prick of something against his neck, and should he look later he would find one such golden shard embedded there, flush against the skin in a crescent shape. "You have done incredibly well, pure one." Bastien would hear the Voice inside his head, as if she were murmuring directly into his ear. "Now you shall be able to hear me always, without needing to visit such arbitrary places."