Trial and Flame

by Kevin Murphy

  The rest of the party stared at Dakkon as he indulged his love of food. His incessant eating—and utter enjoyment of the meal—caused the rest of the party’s mouths to salivate.

  “Looks safe to me,” Roth said as he approached the table.

  “No, wait,” Dakkon said—mouth full—as he held up one hand, the other still clutching a large roll. “I feel something…” He took another bite, then smacked—open-mouthed—as he chewed before burping loudly. “Ah, never mind.”

  Mina frowned at the crude display, but Roth guffawed. “Spare a little for me, will ya?”

  Soon after Roth had given into temptation, the others’ resolves caved as well. Before long, they were all feasting to their hearts’ content.

  “How did you know, Roth?” Mina asked between bites of a butter-layered pastry. “About the secret door?”

  “Denial, mostly. I really wanted following those compound arrows to be the end of it. So, if there was no right way to keep going, I figured we must be right where we’re supposed to be.” Roth shrugged.

  “But then, if those were the right arrows—does it mean there are immortals in Chronicle?” Mina wondered aloud.

  “Maybe the gods,” Dakkon said. “I’m guessing you were right about including them in ‘everyone.’”

  “Who cares?” Melee said as she leaned against a pillar and kicked her legs up on the overloaded banquet table, causing an extra hunk of rare beef to drop to the floor for Jinx to enjoy. “It doesn’t really concern us.”

  “You’re not wrong,” said Dakkon—finally calming his ravenous assault on the table. “But it’s interesting, nonetheless.”

  “Yeah, Amelie, there may be an immortal up there on that sky castle. It couldn’t hurt to know a little bit more about them, if so,” Mina said.

  Melee simply waved away the comment from her reclined position. “Whatever. Right now, I’m more interested in how much of this food we can pack into our bags.”

  “Good call,” said Roth. “I think I’m gonna need to let my food settle a bit, first, though.”

  “It’s a game world,” chided Mina. “How can you possibly eat so much that you need a break?”

  Roth cocked his head as if to consider, then simply raised another bite of cheese-smothered mashed potatoes to his lips. “Like this,” he said before taking another bite.

  “Maybe this is another trial,” Mina said shaking her head.

  Dakkon noticed Cline had been staring blankly toward the murals on the walls. “What’s up, man? You’ve been silent since we got in here.”

  “I was just thinking,” Cline said, absentmindedly.

  “About immortality?” Dakkon asked.

  “Huh?” Cline seemed to be caught a little off guard. “Oh. Yeah, actually.”

  “Why don’t you go look at the murals for clues. I’m just about done here, so I’ll join you after another three helpings of whatever this gravy is,” said Dakkon.

  “Hmm,” Cline said, still distracted. Then, he snapped himself out of his reverie. “Sounds good. Let’s see what we can find.”

  Chapter 22: Ascension

  After a break to look over murals, to stock the bags full of food, and then grab yet another bite of the tantalizing meal before continuing on, the party finally made their way up the wide spiral staircase.

  The stairs were built out of white marble wound around a gray stone pillar, both of which were so free from tarnish that they softly reflected light. Each step was wide enough to accommodate the whole group, had the party felt so inclined, but the actual mechanics of walking up such a large set of spiraling stairs meant everyone wanted to stay as close to the pillar as possible for the easiest climb. The peculiarity of the design trivialized the outside railing, though its gold finish spiraling upward gave the staircase a striking appearance.

  At the top of the stairs, on the ceiling, there was another door that looked like the others which had admitted them to the various trials along their ascent, but this one was made of the same clean, white marble as the steps and had no accompanying mural or inscription. When Dakkon placed his palm upwards on the door above them, it swung outward gradually, revealing the expanse of a wide, blue sky.

  They had made it to the top of the tower.

  The five adventurers and Jinx walked out onto the rooftop. Four raised spires of stone designated corners and sides of what would otherwise have been a perfectly rounded area. On the side of the tower which overlooked the canyon below, there was a slightly raised pedestal which held a theatrically-oversized lever which rested at a 45-degree angle.

  “So, all that’s up here is a lever?” Roth said. “That seems a bit… anticlimactic.”

  “Well, we haven’t exactly pulled it yet, have we?” Melee said with a grin on her face.

  “We’re going to pull it?” Cline said, worried about the outcome.

  “Cline, we didn’t climb up this crazy tower to not pull the giant lever,” Mina rebuked. “Of course we’re pulling it.”

  “Right…” Cline said, burying his reservations. “Who wants to do the honors?”

  Dakkon stepped forward and looked back over his shoulder to the rest of his party who encouraged him with nods plus a thumbs-up from Roth. Dakkon put his feet to either side of the lever and bent over it. He craned his neck as if to pop it, then pulled back on the lever with all his might. As soon as the lever locked into its new position, a bolt of lightning struck the raised, flat ground of the plateau which lay directly beneath the tumultuous clouds hiding the flying castle. Immediately, thunder clapped then rolled.

  Without further warning, the castle dropped from its place in the sky. As it plummeted straight downward, Cline managed to say, “Uh oh,” before the large stone structure slammed violently into the ground. An explosive, deafening *thud* rang out, amplified by the bowl of the canyon. Despite their distance, even the tower beneath them shook in response to the castle’s landing, and a massive cloud of dust grew to obscure everything significantly more than the clouds had before.

  As the chill wind picked up, the debris of shattered stone floating in the air began to clear, giving the party a hazy line of sight to the now-grounded castle.

  “Woah, that was wild,” Roth said, then added, “… wait we still have to walk down there?”

  As if in answer to his question, long beams of light made visible by still-lingering dust began to coalesce. The beams abandoned their rigid, angular nature and slowly braided themselves strand over strand into some sort of pathway—stretching from the side of the tower where they now stood all the way down to the castle below. The trail of light was a translucent yellow, with raised edges on either side, giving it the shape of a large, uncovered slide.

  Dakkon, standing closest to the commotion, looked back to the others and smiled at the varied looks of surprise on their faces. Then, the rest of the party also stepped onto the pedestal to take a closer look.

  Melee poked at the light bridge with her foot, finding it solid to the touch. “It’s slick,” she said.

  The others touched it one by one. Finally, when Cline bent over to have a feel, he said, “I mean it seems sturdy, but who would be dumb enough to—” but he was interrupted as Mina nudged him onto the slide made from braided light.

  “Ahhhhh—” could be heard fading into the distance as a scrabbling Cline grew smaller. Dakkon found himself briefly alarmed for the fate of his friend, then relaxed once Mina threw herself onto the slide face-forward. Melee grinned at the other two and hopped onto the slide next, followed shortly by Roth with Jinx, then Dakkon.

  The ride was a fast one. Whatever magic had made matter from light had given that matter very little resistance. Dakkon rocketed down on his back, then rapidly slowed as he reached the bottom where the castle waited. While the sudden shift in momentum proved a safe and efficient way to travel, it generated a rather unpleasant tug on his clothes which resulted in a wedgie that would need to be sorted out immediately.

  The structure before him was enormous.
The castle, which now sat raised atop a defensive plateau above a sea of trees, had impressively-tall outer walls. Conventional siege tactics would have to be rethought entirely—though the walls of the canyon might still be near enough for volleys providing invaders could tame the surrounding forests.

  A massive arch and entryway was open before them. Luckily, or magically—more likely—the spike-tipped portcullis hadn’t slammed closed when the castle dropped. Without a word, the party walked slowly forward as if drawn to do so.

  A bit of the wonder soured as they stepped beyond the second portcullis into a courtyard behind the outer wall. Like the rooftop before the final trial, everything was thoroughly covered in bird waste—from the old, empty wooden barrels to the remnant scraps of tattered cloth from a different age. It seemed that whatever magic had kept the castle afloat did nothing to stop avian visitors from dropping by. As foul as the scene was, the party was excited to explore deeper.

  It was quickly clear that there was enough space within the castle to garrison a small army, or board the population of a small city if needed. Proper exploration would take time—but off in the middle of nowhere, time was something which they had to spare. For now, though, they decided upon making their way to the throne room. If they happened upon the treasury or armory along the way, they’d be happy to take a peek at those, too.

  The path to the throne was surprisingly easy to navigate. Large doors aside, it was a straight shot from the outside gates. When they tugged open the massive stone door to the audience chamber where the castle’s lord might’ve sat, their excitement crescendoed. Their eyes followed the aged red carpet up to a massive stone throne accompanied by two smaller ones to either side. Aside from the thrones, the grand scale, and its tapestries, the room had another surprise. In front of its left wall, there sat a massive stone tablet of a sort that Dakkon had seen once before—when he became an edgemaster. Once he’d laid eyes upon it, Dakkon’s curiosity forbade him from looking elsewhere. He immediately moved towards the tablet.

  “What’s up Dakkon?” said Roth when he noticed Dakkon’s bearing. “Don’t you want to go sit on the thrones?”

  “Come check this out first, guys,” Dakkon said. “I think this tablet might be why this castle was marked on my map in the first place.” Dakkon tilted his head toward the tablet then said, “There should be a symbol on it like on my map—there it is.” Dakkon pointed to two thin rectangular boxes surrounding an ‘M’ made from negative space which it borrowed from a black rectangle.

  “So, this is what you came here looking for?” Mina asked.

  “I guess so,” Dakkon said as he inspected the tablet more closely.

  “So, that’s all you wanted from the castle, then, right?” Melee said with a wicked grin.

  “Ha ha,” Dakkon said, dryly. The map’s symbol may have led them there, but Dakkon didn’t really even know what he had expected to find. “Now let’s take a closer look at this thing.”

  “It’s in some weird script I’ve never seen before,” Mina said. “It almost looks like it’s… changing.”

  “Just focus on it,” Dakkon said, remembering when Yill had commanded him to read the first stone when he couldn’t. “It’s some sort of magic.”

  As Dakkon focused in on the text before him, the scene of the old throne room faded. Suddenly, he was taller. He stood in a throne room, filled with colors that were rich and vibrant. It could have been the same room, perhaps, from a different time. He couldn’t turn his head to get a better look. Dakkon bowed down before a youthful king with amber-colored skin, shaded platinum hair, and piercing blue eyes. The king wore a wreath of holly above his thick brow line. It was clear that this ruler was of some race which Dakkon had never seen before.

  When Dakkon stood, he held out a hand to the man on the throne who—in turn—looked reluctant. Then, after another moment’s pause, the amber-skinned king motioned to an attendant at his side who readily presented him with an object. The king then held out a scaled gauntlet which appeared to be constructed of silvery leaves layered amongst jade-green gemstones. Dakkon slowly wrapped his fingers around the gauntlet, then, once the king nodded, Dakkon turned his back—snapping around in a flourish—and the vision ended.

  |You have discovered a relic: Oath Tablet

  A window appeared for him, as it had when he found ‘Mordurin’s Class,’ the relic which had given him the option to become an edgemaster. This time, however, there didn’t seem to be any choice to make.

  “Woah, what the hell was that?” Roth exclaimed.

  Suddenly, new words scrawled themselves beneath the others on the stone, glowing brightly. Had they been there before, only then did they make themselves legible. Dakkon read them aloud:

  “While seasoned leaves wither, the supple vine thrives.

  We molt rotting husks for a few false lives.

  The throes of fear merely water the seed.

  All chaos bends to benevolent creed.”

  [You have found a fragment of Mordurin’s past.]

  [Edgemaster ability: Transcend 50% unlocked! One additional fragment is required to unlock it.]

  “Dakkon, are you all right?” Mina asked, with a note of concern permeating her voice.

  “Huh? What do you mean?” Dakkon asked, caught off guard as he pondered the implications of the system message he’d just received. The odd message seemed to only present more questions. What did the poem mean? What exactly was ‘Transcend’ supposed to be? Were these tablets somehow linked to his odd class? If he could power up through exploration, just how many fragments were out there and how could he find them?

  “Well, after having that weird vision you just started—" Mina began to say.

  “Talking about vines and seeds and whatnot,” Roth finished for her.

  “What? I was just reading this bit on the bottom here,” Dakkon pointed to the lines which still glowed faintly green.

  Everyone looked at him curiously for a moment.

  “There’s nothing there, Dakkon,” Melee said.

  Dakkon found himself confused, so he ran his finger along the lines and read them once again. “Right there, see?”

  “Dakkon,” Cline said as he checked the expressions of the others. “We don’t see that part.”

  “In that case,” Dakkon said. “I’m really gonna need to write this down.”

  The group had no paper, but a desk within the audience chamber contained a roll of aged vellum. Dakkon took his time to carefully copy the message in its entirety, should he ever need it.

  While seasoned leaves wither, the supple vine thrives.

  We molt rotting husks for a few false lives.

  The throes of fear merely water the seed.

  All chaos bends to benevolent creed.

  Something was up. If the system message about unlocking a skill and his ability to read script that no one else could see were any indication, he had unwittingly become a part of it back when he became an edgemaster. Of course, he wanted to continue developing his class, but even beyond that—his curiosity was peaking. He wanted to know more. Fortunately, the system message had clued him in that he might find more answers from another tablet. He’d have to look more closely into information about the one in Yotgard which Qirim had mentioned.

  “Well, whatever,” said Melee. “We’ve got a castle to explore—and that big throne right there is calling my n—what! Roth! When did you get over there!”

  “I saw an opportunity and I took it,” Roth said, letting loose a patient, regal yawn. “Worry not. There are other, less-important chairs for the likes of you.”

  “I’ll get you out of that throne one way or another,” Melee said as she marched over toward Roth.

  “Wait, hold up!” Roth said while holding out a placating palm. “I’ve got some interesting news to share with you guys.”

  Melee stopped in her tracks. “What sort of interesting news?”

  A devious grin spread over Roth’s lips.

  “Roth?”
Mina asked. “What sort of interesting news?”

  Roth pulled out a scroll from beside him on the throne. “When I sat down, I—or we, I should say—acquired something.”

  “And that is?” Dakkon asked.

  “It’s the deed for a long-forgotten, flight-capable castle, and it’s in my name,” Roth said.

  “Woah!” Cline said.

  “Now don’t worry,” Roth quickly said to mollify, holding up both hands this time to forestall any potential resentment before he could explain. “It may be in my name, but I think it’s only fair that it belongs to all of us. What do you guys say, do you want to start a kingdom?”

  The room fell silent for only a moment before Melee spoke up. “No way, man,” she said. “Let’s hawk it after we’ve cleaned the place out. Having a castle sounds cool and all, but there’s no way I’m getting stuck out here in the middle of nowhere trying to govern and fix this place up. That sounds incredibly lame.”

  “I’m with her, there,” said Dakkon. “We’ve got places to be—things to do. We can’t be stuck here. Plus, I have no idea what a fifth of a castle can buy, but I really want to find out. I think something like that might really upgrade my living space. I expect to own a hot tub or two at the very least.”

  “For the record, building an empire sounds pretty intriguing to me—but, I know there’s no way Melee is staying put, so I’ll have to pass on trying to rule for now,” Mina said.

  “Yeah, no way,” Melee echoed.

  Cline shrugged. “I’ve got no idea how to run a kingdom.”

  Roth sighed, but still wore a big grin on his face. “Fine, fine. Maybe for the next one, eh?”

  “Selling it actually sounds like a pretty sweet deal,” said Mina, excitedly. “Trade the headaches away for heaps of gold, eh? I’ve got no idea how we’re going to find a buyer and sell it, though.”

  “I think I might know,” said Dakkon. “It just so happens that I’ve got connections with a group that makes their money through selling off whatever items they manage to find in game—well, I’ve joined them, actually. I’m sure we’ll probably lose a little value in the transition, but if there’s anyone who can find a buyer for it, I’d bet it’s those guys.”