Roughly another one to two hours passed after they got past the pillar section and nothing seemed to bother them during that time.
They could feel the thrum of excitement as they realized they were nearing the end of the trial and would soon be more than just a simple crosser. They would be true-blue two star crossers who had ventured past the Beast Glades.
One star crossers were of course respected, they had survived through the Beast Glades and made it to the trial fountain, but compared to a two star crosser, it wasn't that big of a deal. Two star crossers not only survived a different section were not only the creatures, but the environment was against you, they would have to pass an actual trial.
For Sera it was a chance to become more like her parents, for Iris it was the possibility of getting closer to finding her parents in the third section and for Bo, it was the opportunity to become stronger and explore more of the bridge– maybe also found out how he came to be.
They had been through a lot but it would be worth it once they finished— they were especially looking forward to the trial rewards. Their pace picked up by a tiny bit but they made sure not to put their guards down again, lest another injury occur.
A water/snack/bathroom break or two later, they felt the floor underneath them change. Since the beginning, the pathway was made of a consistent sleek stone path of a singular gray color but now they looked down to see etching of unknown symbols covering the floor.
‘We’re close!’ Bo couldn't wipe away the smile on his face. Tightening his grip on his machete, he waited to see what was to come.
Suddenly his vision cleared up as there was no longer any fog blinding the environment. In front of his eyes was a massive circular opening with stone walls easily over a 100 feet tall. In the center of the opening a fair distance away was a temple in the shape of a pyramid with stairs leading up to the top, made of a similar stone as the walls. At the top was a singular golden bell that gleamed in the light that shone down from above.
The ground was covered in a vibrant green grass that danced with the energy of life and a few scattered trees here and there. One of the first things Bo noticed beside the temple and the walls, was a stone circle that was part of the ground in front of them
Bo then looked up and wondered where the light was coming from but he was distracted by Sera pointing to his left and saying, “Look it's Zorn!”
His eyes followed where her finger pointed to and like Sera said, standing a few feet in front of a stone gate was Zorn. Curious, he turned around to see they had also appeared from a stone gate
“There's also other people over there!” Iris said and looked to her right. A group of four people were the same distance away as Zorn, but to their right. They could guess that another group of people were on the opposite side of them but they just couldn't see them because of the temple in the way.
“We should go say hi and then look around to see what this place is.” Sera suggested and Bo and Iris agreed.
Before they could walk any further, they felt their bodies lift up and move without their control. They struggled trying to squirm their bodies but nothing worked, they couldn't stop themselves from floating onto the stone circle in front of them.
“What the fuck is happening?!” Sera cursed.
“I don't know but it's probably related to whatever challenge this section has.” Iris replied. “According to what's happening… the odds… no it can’t be?”
“What is it? What's going on Iris?” Bo questioned her but before she could answer a powerful aura pressed down onto everyone.
They all subconsciously looked to the top of the temple and were shocked to see a human— or a human looking woman float above the temple.
The first thing you would think when looking at her was, “She's beautiful!” She was 12ft tall and wore a glowing pink robe with silvery flower patterns that seemed to move and dance on her robe. On her lime green hair that shimmered with sparkles in the light were two wooden horns that curved slightly inward. Similar to her robes, she had silver markings on her gorgeous face that if you took a closer look, you would see them moving around.
“It can't be!” Iris squealed in a whisper and her eyes seemed to jump out of her face.
“Explain Iris, please!” Bo said, and Iris nodded fervently.
“She’s most likely an apostle of the Bridge. Do you remember reading about them?” Iris asked.
“A little bit. I remember that the odds of them appearing are slim to none.” Bo replied.
“You’re right and you're wrong.” Iris cleared her throat. “Apostles have been recorded many times throughout history appearing inside trials. Each time they appear, special challenges are played in the trials that are unlike normal ones and special rewards are given out to the winners. As for how often they appear, it exponentially increases depending on which section trial you're in. The reason as to why they appear or who they are is one of the four great mysteries of the Bridge.”
“From the accounts of many four star crossers, the odds of an Apostle appearing in the fourth section is almost 100%. Accounts of the fifth section aren't really public information so maybe we could ask Sera’s mom. But anyways, one appearing in the second section is rare but it's definitely happened before, that means we need to be prepared because whatever challenge this is, won't be easy.”
Bo and Sera soaked in that information and readied themselves. Were they lucky running into an Apostle? That's for the future to find out.
The Apostle addressed the people here in a voice ethereal and calm in nature, the sound of her voice directly played into the mind of everyone in the arena at the same time.
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“Greetings. A special challenge has occurred. For the winners, there are great rewards. For the losers, you will be sent back to the beginning.” She waved her hands and four pillars rose from the ground in between each stone circle, making a diamond shape if you looked down from above.
“The goal of the challenge is simple. Reach the top and ring the bell before the time runs out. The pillars keep track of time but also represent an adversity for you to overcome. Once all the pillars are gone, time is over and you lose.”
“Monster. Magic. Madness. Myth.” She said one by one, pointing to a different pillar each time.
“You have one minute to prepare. Good luck.” She floated onto the top of the temple and sat cross legged on the little roof hanging above the bell. The second she said good luck, the stone gates behind everyone closed, blocking the only way out.
Bo asked, “What should we do?”
“We need to stick together at all costs for starters—” Iris looked down at her chest pouches and said. “I have 2 rock blast potions and 1 stink potion left beside the relaxant potions.”
She continued by saying, “With what the Apostle said, most likely we'll face one of the four adversities at a time— monsters are pretty self explanatory but the rest I have no idea what they could be.”
“Okay—Should we rush to the top and try to get there before anyone else?” Sera asked. “Me and Bo are pretty fast and if I carried you we should be able to get to the temple quickly considering it's only a few hundred meters away.”
“That works. We should try to get the bell before anything bad can happen.” Without too much time left, Iris hopped onto Sera’s back and the three readied themselves to take off towards the temple when the minute was over.
“10 seconds…” The apostle said. “3…2…1…Go.”
The invisible wall Bo was pressing his hand against disappeared, signaling the start of the challenge. They took off as fast as they could sprinting through the green grass below leaving indents of their feet due to how much pressure they pushed off with. Sera did not go full out and made sure to stay with Bo’s pace, lest she get too far ahead or overexert herself too early.
A vibration crawled through everyone's feet and the voice of the Apostle spoke up once again, “The first adversity is… Magic.” The pillar she pointed to whilst saying magic during her explanation, began to descend back into the ground at a slow pace.
Bo had to dive to the side as a fireball the size of a head rocketed his way. It hit the ground where he used to be and exploded, sending debris everywhere and left a huge scorching mark on the grass.
The ground shook and blocks of rock shot out of the ground in random chaotic patterns leaving no room for deciphering. Balls of water and harmless looking clouds grew out of midair and floated throughout the arena waiting for victims to fall into them.
“Holy fuck!” Bo screamed and hurriedly stood back up to catch up with Sera who had skidded to halt further ahead.
“Come on Bo!” Sera shouted and was suddenly propelled upwards as a rock column came out of the ground right under her feet. She found herself flung into the air before landing on her feet on top of the stone pillar.
“Same plan, we just gotta be more careful!” Iris yelled.
Bo ran around the column while Sera hopped down and the two were back to sprinting side by side, but this time there were a lot more obstacles. Fireballs would come flying at them from everywhere while the stone columns were a pain in the ass to weave around or vault overtop of— they didn’t even want to find out what happens if they fall into one of the blobs of water or clouds.
The temple was inching closer as they had already cleared about half the distance but they were suddenly thrown up by another stone column that lifted them straight into the sky. By coincidence or not, a fireball shot right at Bo who couldn't dodge because he was stuck in midair, flailing his limbs.
BOOM!
It hit him straight in the chest, sending him spiraling towards the ground which he crashed into with a heavy thud. The momentum sent his body skidding across the ground in a horrifying fashion until he hit a tree which stopped him.
“BO!” Sera and Iris cried out. Once they landed on the ground, they ran to the tree where Bo was with worried expressions.
Sera turned his body over and saw a discolored circle on Bo’s chest where the fireball had hit him. “Are you okay?!” She shook him, worried he was injured.
“Cough cough, I'm fine— just stop shaking me please.” Bo shook his head, a little disoriented and stood back up.
“Sorry. Are you alright to continue?” Sera asked.
“Hold up.” He stretched his body seeing if anywhere hurt but it felt fine. “Yep, my body seems fine.”
“Thank god!” Iris breathed a breath of relief. “Your body is really amazing!” Bo blushed but realized he didn't have time to get caught up with small things.
They looked to their sides and saw Zorn also struggling a little with dealing against the magic adversity and similarly the group of four were not faring that well either. It was a chaotic mess all around the arena, but they seemed to be the closest so far to reaching the temple.
“One more minute.” the Apostle said.
They looked to the magic pillar and saw it was already well into the ground, only a third of it remained above ground. If each pillar lasted this long— their time was running short.
Not wanting to waste another second, they took one last look around the battlefield and then took off towards the temple. This time they managed to not get hit by anything and made decent progress, they were only a hundred meters away from reaching the temple.
A loud ‘Ding’ sounded out as the magic pillar’s time limit was over. All the elemental magic disappeared as quick as it came and the next adversity was upon them.
“Next. Monster.” The apostle said, watching the challenge atop the bell with a bored expression.
“ARRRRRHHHHHH!” A loud roar tore through the air and made everyone take a step back from instinctual fear.
A massive humanoid creature emerged from the ground near the group of four crossers. Its body looked to be made of bones but black vines wrapped around it covering most of its boney body underneath. Its face was more animal-like with a long protruding face and two large fangs hanging down from its bony jaw. Besides its fangs, its arms went down into a sharp point like a blade where the hands would normally be.
Without hesitation it attacked the group of four who looked a little shaken by having this thing appear in front of them, that one of their members, a frail looking woman, couldn't dodge one of its attacks fully in time. The woman managed to lean back but with a single swing, the monster sliced through her arm like it was made of paper.
Even from afar they could see the look of fear on the woman’s face as she fell on her backside and the splash of blood that followed. The smell of iron seemed to wake up the rest of the group members and they readied themselves to fight against the monster.
Bo, Iris and Sera looked at each other and without even needing to say another word, they changed courses and headed towards the monster instead of the temple.
Atop the temple, the Apostle saw them change direction and a smile tugged on her bored face, in her mind things were now starting to get interesting.