The further he walked the darker it got as the weak light from the outside world had difficulties penetrating very deeply into the gelatin. Chris maintained his focus and moved forward. He tripped over random objects on the ground and one time stepped into a deep crack that almost made him lose his focus. He was extending the tunnel as he went and still keeping the back portion open. He had to keep it open behind him in order to get oxygen. He was starting to feel the strain of trying to keep the crushing weight of the gelatin from collapsing the tunnel while still making sure he was following the trail of golden bricks that he could no longer see. He made a note to figure out how to make light magically. He needed to make sure he always had a flashlight with him from now on.
At least he was starting to learn the magic users aversion to technology. Anything with electronics built into it was something which could be impacted by your standard magnetic lines of force. Technology was great right up until something you needed failed on you the first time you used magic near it. The magic lines of force hurt electronics about a thousand times more quickly and more brutally than magnetic lines of force did. Hence the reason a kid wizard wasn’t going to get a game boy for Christmas and the strict rules around not using magic in an airplane. Once he figured this out it answered a lot of questions about why in his youth they’d always had issues with things like VCRs and microwaves.
He felt something more solid up ahead with the tunnel so he stuck his hands in front of him and kept walking. There was a huge crevasse in the side of a giant stone wall in front of him. He pushed the gelatin up and proceeded through the crevasse. Gradually the weight of the gelatin lessened as he went through it until he was finally able to pop his head out of the gelatin. He waded through it at waist height towards the other side of the crack where the soft light was coming through. He moved towards the light and was eventually standing on a narrow ledge on the side of a cliff overlooking a gigantic glowing jungle.
The jungle was red and all of the things coming out of the ground seemed to be glowing with that strange reddish light. Light seemed to be different here so Chris couldn’t be sure it was red but it was the closest color he could put a name to so he went with it. There were things moving through the jungle. The yellow bricks went down the cliff and into the heart of the jungle. Wishing he’d been allowed to bring his sword and a few spears and maybe a bazooka Chris wearily began the climb down the cliff to continue following the golden markers. At the base of the cliff it was a good hundred yards before the jungle started. The things resembling trees were glowing and swaying but there was no wind. Keeping a strong shield spell around himself Chris steeled his nerves and began walking towards the jungle.
The trees seemed to be reaching for him. He had stopped about fifty feet from the edge of the jungle and watched as the trees swayed towards him. He walked forward another twenty feet and a glowing vine spiraled out from one of the trees and fell just short of striking him. He looked at the bricks again hoping they had been altered to go around the jungle instead of straight through it. No such luck. He directed some more of his focus to the shield around himself and began walking forward slowly.
Multiple vines snapped out at him and hit his shield spell. They bounced off but began thrashing around and attempting to encircle him. For the hundredth time he wished he had a sword with him. Wishing wasn’t going to help though so he started pushing the vines away with his mind. They continued to come at him so he reached out and violently yanked them out of the trees. The trees screamed. It wasn’t an audible scream but it echoed loudly inside his head. In his mind’s eye he felt the tree thing as it’s vines were ripped out of its body. It felt to him like someone popping his finger out of his hand.
He knew then that the trees were just curious. They used their vines the way snakes used their tongues to test the air. If you let them alone they’d probably leave you alone but if you reached over and ripped out the snakes tongue you were probably going to get struck. The trees were no longer neutral. The vines being extended towards him now had a much more violent purpose. There was fear of him in the trees but they also didn’t want him to get through them. They wanted retribution and to rip his arms out of their joints so he could feel the pain he had caused them. Chris began popping out more vines. The screaming was in his head and making him lose his focus as well as making him feel like some kind of sociopath.
Looking to get through the forest and away from the psychic screams as quickly as possible he started using battle magic to run through the trees. He was careful to stay on the path. He wasn’t sure if all the Wizard of Oz references were correct but he wasn’t going to be taking any chances with wandering off the path in the middle of a bunch of evil trees. As he ran he distanced himself from the trees he had originally hurt but the message was moving quickly through the forest. An intruder was causing pain and needed to be stopped. Vines reached for him and entire trees swayed down in his direction. Roots reached up to try and trip him as he ran. He saw light and sprinted for it. A hundred vines tried to grab him and with a great magical outburst he ripped them all out of their trees.
He hit the ground and rolled. Getting up he spotted a yellow brick and focused on running to it and then to the next one and so on. The trick was to ignore the cries of the injured trees he had left behind as they screamed out in pain and fury. He ran for hundreds of yards before he collapsed to the ground in a puddle of sweat. His head was pounding and he felt the beginning of a migraine coming on. He took a long draw from the camelbak and forced himself to stand up and take a look around. Up ahead was a field with purple and pink flowers sticking out of it. The bricks ran into it. On the other side of the field was a huge fortress. From this distance the fortress looked like it hadn’t been on the winning side of the last siege it participated in. Gates and walls were broken and battered. No flags flew from its towers and he couldn’t spot any life at all moving around the place. Sticking carefully to the path he jogged towards the fortress. He made it thought the field fine and came to a stop in front of the open gates.
The gates were at least twenty feet tall. Two giant metallic gates guarding the entrance to the fortress. One side of the gate was slightly open while the other side had been blown completely off its hinges. Something had hit it hard. The fortress itself seemed evil. It reminded him of the aura of the necromancer. There was something off about the place. The architecture, the stone itself, the air surrounding the walls of the fortress and the lines of magic here all seemed dark to him. Regardless, the yellow brick road called and Chris knew the song it sings. He followed the damned yellow bricks right into that fortress of evil and up a long winding staircase into a large tower. In the tower was the man shaped skeleton of a being that looked to have been at least eight or nine feet tall and massively built covered in a suit of ebony plate mail.
When Chris entered the skeleton animated and stood up. Chris summoned his magic and was fixing to see if the skeleton would explode when it pointed up another set of stairs instead of attacking him. The giant dead thing was on the yellow brick road so who knew. Chris warily walked past the monstrosity and then up the stairs into a room that overlooked the whole of the massive fortress. In the room was a grey chalkboard where the royals had written their names as they came here. Chris looked around on the board until he found the beautifully flowing script of his mother as well as the block letter name of his father. He stood in awe for a minute as the realization settled over him that his true parents had stood here the same as he did now.
Looking around the rest of the room he saw a podium on which sat a book. The book was closed so Chris walked over and tried to open it. The title of the book was simply nisi royal. Chris focused on the book and saw where he could open it. He reached down and opened it. The book itself appeared to be the history of the Xandians. Looking at the handwriting it looked like each royal who came here got a page to write about what had come before them. Chris read through the entries. Some of them were written in languages he did not
know but when he focused all of it flowed. When he was done reading he flipped to the end of the book. He cast around for a pen to write his story but saw it had already been written. In his handwriting and another blank page had filled in after it. He read it and saw that it was exactly what he would’ve written.
He marveled at the beauty of the book and the breadth of everything he had just read. Then he walked over to the wall painted white and pressed down on the third brick as the book had told him to. The brick popped out easily and a golden coin fell into his hand. It was the coin he needed to show he had completed the trial. The book had told him via it’s stories what a heavy weight of responsibility he now had as a royal. Rather than just saying he was the blood of his people the stories had shown him how the royals before him had lived up the highest ideals.
He’d also learned he was far from the first to dream of scouring the universe of the horde. He’d read in the book about the exploits of his ancestors trying to bring light to the darkness. For the majority of them it had not ended well. The fortress he stood in now was a rare exception. Over ten thousand years ago the Xandians had controlled hundreds of planets along the portals. Then they had come in contract with the horde who had taken over half of them within a few years of them having made contact. The Xandians had learned they needed to stop using the portals or the horde could find them too easily. This led to the planets all becoming isolated and one by one they had been found and overrun by the horde.
The planet he was on right now was known as Eor and it had been one of the greatest planets of the Xandian worlds. Full of natural resources and strong in lines of magic. A king of old who had wanted to reclaim it for Xandia had launched an assault on the horde who had taken it over. He had brought thousands of battle mages and knights with him and they destroyed the evil that was on this planet. In the end the king had killed the dark one who controlled the forces on the planet. The skeleton of that dark one was below and could not be moved from this tower. The forces used in the battle had been so strong that the planets magic itself had been drained. Where it had been full of places for portals the potential had been completely drained.
The magic that was left was dark for the most part. The king decided that they should not try and inhabit this world but they should shut it off. They had destroyed all the portal locations except for two. The one that came here and the one that left. Chris had come through the portal that came here. Neither could support an army. The portal that left was downstairs in the dungeons and was protected by evil magic still. His last challenge for this trial was to fight his way to the portal and back to his planet. The kings of old had setup this trial to test the potential for magic as well as the ability to avoid corruption and their bravery. All characteristics needed in a royal of Xandia. An interesting tidbit of knowledge Chris had not considered before reading about it being that even a royal by marriage had to prove themselves by taking the trials or they would just be labeled as a consort.
Chris put the coin into an inner pocket of his robe and sealed it. He took one last look at his mother and fathers signatures on the chalk board then he headed down the stairs. The evil aura around the skeleton king was palpable this time as he walked past him. From reading the book he knew the dark lord who had ruled this fortress and this planet had been so powerful in life that even in death no one was able to move his body out of this tower. He felt the skeletons mirth at his peoples inability to move him as he walked past it. Chris turned and smiled at the skeleton. Then he focused on a large wardrobe on the floor above and had it drop onto the evil kings remains.
Let the evil king enjoy eternity as a pile of broken bones at the bottom of a ratty staircase. Indignity was the least the creature should suffer for the evil he had done. Chris walked out the door as the bones began working on trying to put themselves together again. He walked out and entered the fortress. Signs of a battle were all around but the remains of the bodies had been removed. The Xandians who had fallen in the battle had been taken back to Xandia for burial as no one wanted to leave them here in this land that evil had ruined. The horde creatures had been taken out past the fields of flower and burned. From their ashes had risen that jungle.
Ignoring the evil aura emanating from the stairs leading to the dungeon Chris went down them. It was too dark to see so he just shut his eyes and used his mind to guide him down the staircase. He passed levels of prison cells and torture chambers. He felt the evil acts that had been pounded into these walls. Some evil had been pounded so hard it had formed charms. These charms took the form of ghostly figures trying to stop him in his decent. Chris just gently shoved at them with his mind and they moved out of his way. The closer to the portal he got the more terrifying the creatures that came at him and the more powerful their charms. None were powerful enough to cause Chris any harm once he had controlled his fear.
He finally ended up in a round chamber where he felt the call of a portal. He twisted the portal and stepped into it. Purple lines of force bubbled and swayed around him. He felt himself spinning.
Chapter 27: The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday
Chris opened his eyes and realized he was underwater again. Completely disoriented he forced himself to calm down and focus. He shot a tunnel of force in various directions until he found the surface. He used magic to propel him out of the water. He saw a large ski boat bouncing over the waves towards him. He thought he was going to have to fight until he saw Miss Penny standing in the bow waving at him. Rather than have them drag him on board he pushed a little bit and rose out of the water where he glided smoothly onto the boat. If by smoothly you meant forcing Penny to duck and knocking the guy driving the boat into the water.
He stood up to apologize and realized he was very sick. He barely made it to the side of the boat before losing the content of his stomach into the ocean. The same section of the ocean the man he had knocked overboard was trying to swim back to the boat in. Chris helped the man into the boat then fell back against the side to rest his stomach for a minute. His head was pounding again as well. He apologized to the man driving the boat.
“No worries your majesty. I can only imagine what you’ve been through.” The man spun the boat around in the water and got them moving.
Miss Penny walked over and handed him a bottled water. Shew asked him how he felt.
“Feeling pretty good now that I’ve almost killed and puked on everyone in the boat.”
“Not everyone your majesty.” Niko rose up from where she had been sitting quietly in the back of the boat. “Welcome back and congratulations your majesty.”
“Hey Niko. Thanks. Where are we anyway? Can someone let my mom know I’m alive. How long before we get to the island?” Chris looked around. Something was odd. “Where are we?”
“Off the coast of Kauai your majesty. We’ll be headed to the airport once we get back to the marina. We have a car waiting for us. Your plane is ready to go once we get there.” Niko was doing that thing where people look at you to make sure you have all your fingers and toes. Chris sighed, he guessed he should just be happy the portal had taken him back to the correct planet. You can’t really complain about ending up on Kauai. The island is gorgeous even when compared to the island hosting the hallowed halls. Penny must have been on a plane headed here almost as soon as she had kicked him off the boat.
The journey back to the island was uneventful. Chris was learning that adventure was something more fun to read about than to experience firsthand. Uneventful was fine. He caught up on some reading in the plane and tried to get Penny to tell him what was expected of him in the third trial. Her smug answers normally revolved around them not having planned the third trials since they hadn’t expected him to survive the first two. Niko had fallen asleep almost as soon as they had boarded the plane so before long Chris had his nose shoved in a book and they flew in a comfortable silence.
On landing the stairs had barely been attached to the plane when Glenda, Omasa, Nicole, Brent and Wessel were up in
side the plane to congratulate him. Glenda hugged him with tears streaming down her face. Everyone else was more reserved but all the powerful wizards there had a deep respect for Glenda and gave her the courtesy due the mother of their king. Chris began to get a little embarrassed when Glenda still hadn’t let go of him after a few minutes. He coughed and she smiled and let him go. She paused to wipe away the tears and tell him she loved him. He told her the same and after everyone had given him a hug they all headed down the stairs.
On the tarmac they set a time to meet the next day for dinner in Glenda’s suites and departed. They had wanted to celebrate tonight but Chris was still queasy and Penny let everyone know very loudly that she had reason to believe the king wasn’t feeling well and probably just needed to rest tonight. Everyone began wandering off as Chris announced he’d like to speak with Wessel. Omasa offered to walk Glenda back to her suites and once they had left Wessel walked Chris over to a picnic table by the tarmac where they sat down.
Wessel handed Chris another bottled water. “You need to drink as much water as you can your highness. Going through portals is powerful magic and can mess with your whole body. I suppose you’re wanting to know what you need to do to wrap up these trials.”
“I do. I feel like I’ve got real work to do and this is just standing in the way.”
“I think this third trial is going to suit you just fine then. Once a royal has proven himself as a knight and as a mage they’ve pretty much covered the mixed territory. The third trial has always been about using your powers and leading our people against evil. That normally meant that you picked a few of your retainers and went and killed an ogre or a nest of those giant spiders or something along those lines. You’ve already led a group of us against a powerful enemy and won. You’ve done it twice actually between the necromancer and his army at the battle of Ireland. We all feel like you’ve already passed this trial but unfortunately that happened before you passed the trials. You follow your highness?”
Son of the Keeper: Book 1: Principles of Magic Page 23