I awoke in pitch darkness to a soft voice that gradually grew clearer. “Don’t explode, Volatis!” Eris repeated until I grunted a breath. I was about to criticize her until I remembered dropping her.

“I’m glad you're alive too. It’s dark, I can’t see anything, is there anything you can do?” I checked my body for the bullet holes and gash across my chest as if double-checking Eris’s healing abilities.

“My magic doesn’t create light, it’s only visible because light refracts through it.” Eris continued after a short pause. “I can sense a lot of magic around us.”

“Can you tell which direction it’s coming from? Maybe we can try and find a way out.” I reached around on the ground. If only we could find our bag that fell down with us. Our emergency kit had flares that we could use to illuminate the area.

We searched around carefully and after twenty minutes Eris had found one of our belongings. I followed her voice to search in the same area. Piece by piece we were recollecting the contents of our bag which had scattered everywhere. Two hours later I found one of the rations Mia handed us. Nearly sixty percent of the bag was recovered at this point and still no flare!

I called Eris over to eat the MRE before continuing our search. “Wow, these are much better than I imagined.” Eris made an audible agreement and probably nodded as well.

It took longer to find other pieces of our inventory. Things were scattered further apart and roughly another hour later Eris had found the flares. “Hurry light it!”

We could see again with the flare lighting up the surroundings. All around we could easily spot the remaining pieces of our backpack and also where the bag landed. I ran over and grabbed the backpack to place everything back inside.

Only one flare remained and the magic within only lasted for half an hour. A time limit of one hour was set for us. We needed to find our way out and fast.

The area was vast with rocky walls and tunnels leading in every direction. It felt like we were stuck in a labyrinth. I asked Eris which direction had the highest concentration of magic and we started heading in that direction. I figured we would at least find something at that location rather than getting lost trying to find an exit.

Eris put on the backpack and got a piggyback ride as she pointed in the direction I needed to run. There were no monsters down here which made me feel uneasy about the situation. Ten minutes later my anxiety grew as the tunnels seemed endless. Our pace increased as time passed until eventually, the light on the flare started flickering.

The flare burnt out and I came to a halt as I thought about activating the last one. “The source feels very close. We’re almost there.” Eris voiced the directions to progress forward. I didn’t want to use up our last flare just in case we needed it later. We should be okay at a careful pace so long as we don’t fall into another hole.

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I’ll have to get Eris to study the definition of close if we make it back home. Roughly two more hours of walking and we finally saw a source of light in front of us. Blue crystals the same as up above where everyone was fighting filled the area with light.

Something strange caught my attention as we approached closer. Metallic columns lined the walls of the tunnel stretching all the way towards an opening. We reached the opening and before us was a vast area filled with buildings in the middle of a mountain. The ledge we stood on had stairs leading down into the streets of this ghost town.

Eris was confused much like myself. Where was everyone that used to live here? We explored cautiously to see if there was any evidence as to what this place was and what may have occurred down here. The buildings reminded me of Avalon but somehow older but newer at the same time.

One of the buildings had sliding glass doors to enter but didn’t activate so I forced it open. There was not a single trace of the prior tenants but the entire place was filled with furnishings as if it was meant to be lived in and no one ever moved in yet. The sliding glass doors, monitors, and tech placed about implied a source of power was meant to run through this entire place.

We walked back outside onto the street that had a shiny hue a metallic blue much like all the buildings here. They all seemed to be made out of the same type of material. After checking our fifth building much to the same results as the first one I remembered how the layout of the town pointed to a structure in the center. It looked more like a shrine or palace than anything else.

A massive set of stairs led all the way to the top entrance. Once at the top I looked back to see a nice view of the town. Eris lingered behind exhausted by the number of stairs. I thought about how she was going to have a rough time training with everyone in the mornings.

I looked up ahead and saw an entrance into the shrine. I allowed Eris to catch her breath before we walked inside. The moment we stepped foot past the entrance, lights shined above us illuminating the entire room. In the center stood a pedestal with a small object on display.

“Intelligent life signs detected, initializing…” A mechanical voice spoke into the chamber through the ceiling.

“Traveler, before you are a set of tests you may choose to partake. Succeed and be granted wonderful gifts. However, fail and you will perish. Wear the ring if you wish to proceed.” The mechanical voice changed to an elderly man’s solemn tone.

I momentarily stared up at the ceiling speakers then closely inspected the ring in front of us. What kind of test would it be and would it be worth my life for unknown rewards? I’ve made it this far while escaping certain death on multiple occasions. If passing this test can give me an edge against everyone else then I’m willing to risk my life. To live peacefully I need power. I won’t let anyone look down on me.

“Eris..., I’m going to put on the ring.” I stepped forward reaching for the ring.

“It’s dangerous. Are you sure?” Eris made eye contact as she asked.

I nodded and grabbed hold of the ring. “This is a chance to get stronger. I can’t pass it up. I have to succeed, for all of us.” I waited for no response as I used my left hand to slide the ring onto my middle finger.

My vision whirled as my surroundings distorted and the sight of Eris slowly vanished. All around me was an empty white space with no visible end in sight.