by Prax Venter
The ground began to shake as the wall to the right of the brazier raised up into the ceiling. When the rumbling stopped, there was long, dark hallway open to them.
The voice spoke again. “The second lesson- Keep me fed, and I keep you warm but get too close, and I make you burn. Make your offering.”
When the voice finished and silence filled the room, everyone looked at Vale.
She shrugged. “All I know is we need to make the right offerings and pass the tests.”
“Only one way to go,” Roo said, pointing to the open path.
They all moved at once towards the dark square tunnel, and it was wide enough for Vale and Ahnix to take the lead with Mark and Roo covering up the rear.
As the light of the brazier faded behind them, a pale white light took over, and the air began to grow noticeably colder. Before long they came to the exit of the tunnel and found themselves standing in a snow-covered forest bathed in the light of a full moon. Mark looked behind them and saw a vertical wall of stone bricks that went straight up as far as he could see. It was like they were in a forest in a box.
He turned to face forward again and noticed the tall, black trees were all evenly spaced and none of them had any branches or leaves. They all looked dead.
“I hate the damned cold,” Vale said. “I kind of wish I had my fur blanket.”
“Why don't we just go get our furs? Roo?” Mark said, wrapping his arms around himself to keep warm.
“Mark, I don't think that's a good idea,” the dark-skinned naga said, her teeth chattering.
“Doesn't matter,” Roo said, with a shrug. “I can't summon a door in here.”
“What?” Mark said, growing a little nervous. He had felt confident walking into anything because they could always take Roo's exit door if shit hit the fan.
“I tested it when the fire spirit said we'd be stuck here for eternity. Didn't work.”
“Movement in the trees,” Ahnix said, calmly.
Everyone followed her glance, and Mark saw what looked like a charred, giant naga, weaving his way towards them. Ahnix took up a defensive position and let out a tiny hiss, and it wasn't until the snake-man was closer that he understood why. Half of his stomach was missing, and Mark could see white ribs poking out. The creature looked horribly burned and barely held together.
“Naga zombie?” Mark said, pulling out his crossbow. It was moving relatively slowly, weaving through the snow, and Mark quickly launched a ball of energy at its head.
There was a spectacular explosion, and the undead naga slumped to the ground.
“Two more!” Vale said, pointing into the trees.
This time, Roo launched an iron ball into the head of one, and Ahnix teleported behind the other, removed its head with one swipe and then Retracted back to the group.
“These are easy,” Mark said.
“Yeah, well here come four more,” Ahnix responded dryly. Mark looked into the trees and noticed the slowly moving, giant naga zombies making their way forward. There was no way they were there a moment ago.
“Wait!” Vale called out after they all got ready to fight. “Every time we kill them, they double in number. I don't think we're supposed to kill them.”
“What, then?” Mark asked.
“We need to find the offering, right?” Roo said.
Vale slid forward, out into the silent, snowy forest. “Exactly.”
They all followed Vale as she made a wide circle around the undead. She pulled her shield off her back and held it close to her chest.
“You three look for the something to toss in the brazier, I'll defend you.”
Mark scanned the snowy ground between the tree trunks, and he noticed that the trees were all fake and made of stone.
“These are stone trees,” he said, hoping someone would find the information useful.
“There.” Ahnix pointed off into the distance and sprinted off. Roo and Mark followed her while Vale took a few hits on her shield from two of the closest burn-victim naga.
He saw the cat-girl bend over and pick up an axe off the ground. It looked like something a lumberjack would use.
“An axe? That doesn't seem right,” Roo said, jogging up.
Mark agreed with her. The fire spirit wanted food, and an axe didn't seem like a good fit. He looked around at all the stone trees and was at a loss.
“Maybe not all of these are stone?” He said, gesturing to the forest around them. “A log seems like the right answer.”
Roo nodded. “Yeah, fire food.”
Ahnix looked around. “Alright. Let's split up. I'll head this way.” She extended one of her furry arms back deeper into the forest.
As they each ran different directions, he yelled out to his giant naga keeping the other naga zombies occupied.
“Vale, keep an eye out for a wood tree!”
“I'm a little busy here, Mark!”
He grimaced and went about feeling the trees. One after the other were solid, gray stone, and the cold started to seep into his bones. By the time his teeth were chattering, he was getting frustrated. Maybe there wasn't a real tree in this place. He looked up and saw Vale quickly circling the naga zombies like a sheepdog controlling their flock. She was probably trying to stay warm.
“Over here!” He heard Roo's voice echo through the stone poles.
Ahnix was already biting into the wood with the axe when he got there. To his surprise, Roo held out her hand and created a small iron axe out of thin air. When it was complete, she tossed it to him.
“Get chopping.” She said, her black eyes sparkling.
Mark took up position on the other side, and with both of them hacking away the tree fell pretty quickly.
When it hit the ground, Ahnix started attacking it with the axe, attempting to get a log small enough to take back with them.
“Please hurry, I'm freezing!” he heard Vale call out. Mark debated calling her over to do the chopping- she was the strongest one of them and probably would have hacked through in three whacks.
But Ahnix was halfway done, and before too long, they had an arm-length wooden log. Mark bent over and picked it up, the frozen, jagged wood terribly cold on his hands.
They all ran towards Vale, and Ahnix called out when they passed her.
“Leave them!”
As a group, they moved back to the tunnel entrance, and without looking back, they raced to the brazier in the room where they started.
The closer they got, the warmer it grew, and Vale practically wrapped herself around the brazier when they made it back. Mark didn't hesitate to toss in the log and then took a step back when the voice of the fire spirit started talking again.
“Correct. Your offering is accepted.”
The room began to rumble again, and the wall across from the brazier slid up into the ceiling. After the second tunnel opened, the voice continued.
“The third lesson- Your friend against the hunters in the night. I shield you from fangs that rend and bite. Make your offering.”
After Mark and Vale warmed themselves up, they were ready to move into the next tunnel. As they moved further in Mark heard the unmistakable howling wolves in the distance. When they exited the tunnel, they came to another forest, but this one was on a majestic mountainside with a view of a bright, starry night sky between the sparse pine trees spread out before them. A crushed stone path continued ahead and ended at a primitive altar in the distance. Two torches sat in iron sconces, affixed to the mountain that towered over the tunnel.
Vale started down the path towards the altar, but after she moved a couple of yards, hundreds of huge wolves came bounding towards her from every direction.
The giant naga slid backward and pulled her shield while Roo launched a needle into the furry chest of one of them and Mark launched an explosive ball of energy from his crossbow, blasting about half-a-dozen wolves to bits. Not like it mattered, there were far too many snarling beasts flying towards them, and he was sure they were about to be torn l
imb from limb.
He started contemplating enhancing his own shield ability, but when the wolves all stopped a few feet away, silently staring at them, he paused.
Mark had never seen so many animals in one place. The glittering eyes of hundreds of wolves stared back at them, some sitting, some panting, but all of them watching. They stretched back past the altar, and as far as he could see, filling every inch of space between the trees on the mountainside.
“Okay,” Vale said, lowering her shield. “That's a lot of wolves.”
Ahnix relaxed her pose as well. “Like before, I don't think we supposed to kill them all.”
After a moment, Roo turned back to the tunnel entrance and pulled out one of the torches from the iron ring holding it in place.
“What are you doing?” Mark asked. She usually shied away from fire.
“I'm trying something. Keep your magic shield ready.”
The fabric-girl held the torch out from her as far as she could and took one step past Vale, her high-heeled boots crunching on the gravel path. The wolves nearest to her whined and moved back a bit. She took another step, and the wolves pushed back even further.
“Nice work, Roo,” Vale said, a smile on her lips.
Roo turned to look back, “The spirit said something about fire being a shield.”
Sure she was doing the right thing, the velvet-girl slowly walked forward down the path. The light cleared the way as the animals closed in behind as she moved. Mark was still uneasy, watching as his velvet girl wadded into a sea of beasts that could easily swarm her and spread her stuffing across this mountain to such a degree that he would never be able to heal her. All it would take was for them to change their minds- that, or a strong breeze.
She eventually made it to the altar at the other end of the path. She saw something on its surface and bent down slightly to retrieve it.
Whatever she found, she clutched it to her breast as she made her way back, the light from her torch pushing the wolves around her. When she made it back to the group, she opened her hand and presented the prize- one, very large wolf fang.
Ahnix patted her on the back. “I'm proud of you.”
Mark saw Roo give her a bashful half smile, but inside, Mark felt a swelling of pride radiate from the velvet-girl.
“Fire has its uses, I guess. Let's go give our offering.”
Roo put the torch back in the holder, and they all walked back down the tunnel to the main chamber with the brazier. Roo stepped up to the flames and tossed in the fang.
“Correct.” The voice boomed. Mark might have imagined it, but he swore he heard a softness in the deep voice this time. “Your offering is accepted.”
The wall to the left of the brazier pulled up into the ceiling, opening a third tunnel to them.
“The fourth lesson- It is I that allows you to see. There would be no sight if it weren't for me. Make your offering.”
They all moved down the newly-opened tunnel and eventually came to what looked like a junk-filled attic. Mark carefully entered the clutter and searched for any clue for what they were supposed to do here. Light spilled in from a round skylight creating a pool of radiance on the dusty wooden floorboards. In the center of the room was an old wooden cupboard holding nothing but a candle that seemed to be hovering in place. He reached his hand in, and it passed right through like the candle was just a projection.
“Any thoughts, Roo?” Vale asked, inspecting an iron teapot with its lid placed in the top sideways.
“Not a one,” The velvet-girl said, looking around, her soft hands clasped behind her back.
Ahnix was standing by a vanity with bottles of perfume and a relatively clean mirror. She tried to pick up one of the colorful, half-filled bottles and found that it was stuck to the surface. She tried others and found them all immovable.
“Is everything frozen in place?” the cat-girl asked, looking up at Mark, standing over her shoulder. They tried to move various things, and after a few minutes, Mark found a polished spoon he could pick up.
“Well, this has to be it,” he said, sarcastically. “We have our offering.”
None of the girls laughed, but Vale took the spoon from him. She looked around the room and moved over to the light spilling onto the floor.
“This has to be some puzzle, maybe there's an inscription...” the giant naga said, holding the spoon out to the light. A powerful beam of energy burst forth from the spoon and hit Vale in the shoulder.
It went right through her armor like it wasn't there and came out the other side, stopping in a rack of clothes behind her. She dropped the spoon to the floor, screaming in pain. Mark rushed to her side, feeling the burning hole in own shoulder. He located her wound quickly and poured healing energy directly into the spot, regrowing muscle, bone, nerves, and tissue.
Vale sucked her breath in as the familiar sensation of Mark's healing ecstasy replaced the terrible pain from the cauterized hole in her shoulder.
When she was whole again, she opened her stunning violet eyes and moved in to hug him.
“You're always so fast with healing. Thank you, Mark.”
“Anytime, you sexy beast.” They pulled apart and looked at the spoon lying on the floor outside of the light, then he added, “It's a good thing that didn't hit you in the face.”
She gave him a concerned frown and then carefully, bent down to reach for the spoon. She turned it around in her hands and looked around the room again. She settled on the back of the wooden cupboard with the ghostly candle floating on the other side.
“I think I know what to do. Everyone might want to get down for this.”
Ahnix, Mark, and Roo knelt down, waiting for Vale to try again. The naga turned the spoon in her hand, so the rounded part was facing upwards, and then slowly moved it into the ray of light coming in through the window.
The searing beam shot out from the spoon again, but this time it was angled up to the ceiling. It made an audible tinkling noise that Mark found rather pleasant. With great care, she angled the spoon, so it hit the mirror on the vanity. The beam bounced off and struck the wall over Roo's head. The velvet-girl let out an, “Eep!” and ducked her head further down.
“There's got to be something else,” Vale said, holding the polished spoon as steady as she could. Mark was starting to get the idea. She was trying to bounce the light around the room, so it struck the front of the cupboard and hit the candle.
Vale slowly panned the beam of light across the junk scattered around in the dim attic, and then spotted something that caught her attention. She twisted the spoon up slightly, and she was able to hit the lid of the old teapot she had inspected earlier. The beam bounced off and instantly illuminated the candle. Mark was crouched right in front of it and watched as the energy entered the ethereal stick of wax, making it whole. A moment later there was a thud as the freshly-solid candle dropped down on to a wooden shelf of the cupboard.
Vale pulled the spoon out of the light and put it back where they found it. When she came around the cupboard, Mark handed the candle to her.
He smiled. “Nice. Now let's go toss it in a fire.”
They all exited the cluttered attic and made their way back to the main chamber. Vale tossed the candle in, and the flames grew higher afterward.
“Correct.” The voice boomed. “Your offering is accepted.”
The ground shook and all of the other walls, closed while the one near the brazier pulled up into the ceiling. Heat and light spilled through the gap as soon as there was one. As the wall moved out of the way, another room with a wall of flames in the back was revealed to them.
“The final lesson- You want something important from me. I want something important from you. I await your offering.”
They all looked at each other and entered the final room. Half of the floor was missing and blazing fire made up the rest. Once all of them were inside, the wall behind slammed closed, locking them in.
Mark looked around for something to toss into the fla
mes, but there was nothing.
“Are we supposed to toss one of our possessions in?” Ahnix asked.
Vale looked deep into the flames. “I believe so. Something important.”
Mark took stock of the things he had; his new cloth armor, his magic crossbow, and Roo's iron heart in his pocket.
He pulled out the heart and held it out. “This is important to me.”
Roo walked over to him, a smile on her big, perfect, velvet lips.
She closed her hand around his, squeezing the heart tight. Roo leaned in and kissed him once on the cheek then whispered into his ear.
“Hold on to this for me.” Then she pulled away and walked up to the flames. Mark's brow wrinkled, trying to grasp what she was doing. The velvet-girl in the white mask turned to face her friends and gave them a weak smile.
“Thank you for everything,” she said, before jumping backward into the fire with no hesitation.
“No!” Mark screamed, running forward to stop her, but it was beyond too late. Her flammable body went up in smoke instantly, and she was gone. An intense sense of loss and confusion expanded violently inside of his mind like a drop of black ink absorbed by pure white paper. An entire future of building memories and soft kisses turned to ash, and he wanted nothing more than to have her in his arms again.
“Your offering is accepted.”
- 16 -
Mark blinked, and he was standing back in the cave where they killed Razura. He looked around and sucked in a shuddering breath when he saw a tall girl with fabric-skin and short lilac hair standing in black, thigh high boots in front of him, facing the flames. She now also had a gold belt wrapped around her black, leather corset.
The voice of the fire spirit boomed again.
“Roo, I have granted you The Sash of Ashes. But I have also given you much more. Centuries have passed since I have felt such a powerful offering. A creature so delicate and filled with terror embraced the flame not only with her mind but with her body and soul. I have opened a new Path for you to follow- if you so choose it. May the flames light your way, my new disciple.”
A massive rush of essence entered Mark in a torrent of energy for completing the fire spirit's trial. Roo took in a deep breath and bowed to the raging inferno in the back of the chamber. Then, she walked over and fearlessly stuck her soft, velvet arm into the fire.