“It’s too early for a mission.”
“Too bad, we signed up already.”
Liz sat down on a bench. Vio stood against the western gate as they waited on the maid to come.
“You think she bailed?”
“No, the spirit contract makes that impossible,” Vio refuted, “Any way, she’s the one who commissioned us, why would she bail?”
“Because it’s too early?”
“She’s not you.”
The sounds of footsteps rushed their way. The maid looked flushed as she ran up to them.
“Sorry! I overslept for a bit, please forgive me.”
Vio smiled, “It’s fine.”
The maid smiled back, “Anyways, good morning!”
“Good morning,” Vio replied. Liz nodded.
“What’s the mission anyway,” Liz asked.
The maid smiled and brought out a map. She pointed at a mark.
“That’s our mission.” The maid said.
“What’s so special about it?”
She looked around and brought them closer. She whispered, “It’s the lair of a level 9 mage!”
Liz and Vio looked uneasy. The maid spotted the tense atmosphere and quickly comforted them.
“Don’t worry! He’s already dead, for thousands of years now actually! All the traps he placed are probably too old to work!”
“I hope your right.” Vio grabbed her bag and asked, “Are you going to lead the way?”
The maid scurried on her feet and went in front of Vio.
“As per our agreement, you must try to protect me from all harm, though I’ll understand the occasional slip-up.”
Vio smirked, “And as per our agreement, you must help us with two favors, one for me and one for Liz. Don’t forget it!”
The maid gleefully smiled and held out her hand, “Let’s reintroduce ourselves! I’m Mary, Mary Watch.”
Vio shook it, “Vio, Vio Luna”
Mary looked at Liz, who reluctantly held out her hand, “Liz”
Mary laughed and said, “Nice to meet you team!”
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They stepped into the forest. The dark-wood trees flourished, the sticks on the ground snapped as they went deeper. The smell of decaying organic matter filled their lungs. Liz looked up, the tree’s branches were lush. The sun rose high, the sunlight peeked through the small opening of the leaves and splashed on Liz’s face as she ventured forward. The repeated formation of trees forged a feeling of Déjà vu for Liz. The sounds of the birds echoed within the forest, a symphony in Liz’s ears. She missed her old life. A life of hunting.
The deep entanglement of the tree’s roots blocked the way, Mary chose many different paths and went even deeper. The bushes scraped Liz’s claves as they went towards their destination.
“Here we are!” Mary exclaimed. Vio rushed to her side and looked.
Liz closely followed behind and looked at the scenery.
What filled the area was a lake, a nearly round lake. The lake’s glassy surface reflected the sky’s image, a high-rise sun with the blue skies painted in the background. Though the image was fleeting, only to get ruined by a falling leaf, which rippled the water and distorted the image.
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“A lake?” Vio questioned.
“Yes, a lake.”
Mary walked forward and spoke out a language. Liz couldn’t understand it, but Vio looked impressed. The lake stopped, the ripples leveled out. Mary stepped back and threw a rock in. The rock sank in without producing a ripple.
“Perfect, if you guys could follow me.” Mary jumped in.
Vio followed suit and Liz crawled in.
The feeling of emptiness surrounded Liz as she free-fell from the lake. She closed her eyes and braced for impact. A few seconds passed and she opened her eyes. She was on the ground, perfectly fine. She brushed herself off and looked over at the other two. They were in front of the cave entrance. Liz got up and walked over to them.
“The home of a level 9 mage!” Mary gasped in astonishment, “Amazing!”
Vio smiled and followed Mary as she walked in. Liz stayed behind to see the symbols, she didn’t understand them, but she saw them before. The symbols covered Vio’s sword, these were magic symbols.
Liz briefly looked then went back to the others. The sounds of footprints echoed the cave as they traversed. The walls were dripping wet, with vines spread out on the ceiling and walls. Liz smeared some on her hand, wet and mushy, like she thought as she wiped it off.
The caves darkened as they went on further, Liz brought out a match. She felt a touch and saw Vio, who shook her head. Liz looked at Mary who held her staff close.
Through a chant, Mary summoned ball of light, or more like a furry ball, thought Liz. The caves lit back up and the group continued. The cave narrowed, Vio took the front position, Mary in the middle, and Liz placed herself in the back, in case they get ambushed. Minutes passed as they returned to a wider cave, Vio occasionally hummed a tune and Mary fiddled in her map. The first trial came.
Vio stopped and looked ahead, Mary walked to her side. The road split into two paths. The right door framed with a cracked arch, many bed of unknown flowers placed in front, the scent allured their sense of smell. To the left, littered on the floor were human and animal skulls. Cracked bones splintered the ground. Dried blood was prominent shown on the spikes that laid above. To any sane person, it was a trap.
Mary walked between the doors and dusted off the wall, large carved letters suddenly appeared in front of them.
“The trial of…” Vio squinted at the letters.
“Wits. The trial of wits.” Mary replied. She walked towards the right and inspected. She repeated the same step for the left and went back.
“This trial is easy,” Mary simply stated, “Liz, could you follow me.”
Liz complied and followed Mary to the left door. The skulls obviously symbolized danger, why did she pick this door? Liz questioned but never asked.
“Please shoot the chain holding the spikes please.”
Liz followed her direction and shot the chain. The spikes came crashing down and firmly planted itself in the ground. Mary looked happy as she walked over the spikes. Liz and Vio followed behind and continued the trail.
“Man-slaughtering flowers. One of the most lethal plants in the world, once they have an animal within arms-distance, they could easily kill a villager, or maybe even a knight if they aren’t careful.”
Vio silently agreed while Liz took some mental notes, even a beautiful delicate plant like those could be dangerous.
They went on the cave, spiraling down stairs after a while. Liz wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead. Mary panting as she kept the light going. Vio looked fine, she even joked about their appearance.
Liz frowned, she knew this sweat wasn’t from the short walk, it was the heat. The cave’s temperature rose as they went in deeper. Liz could see the heat waves distort the view in front of her. Mary didn’t look great herself, she struggled to keep the light up as she went on, the ball of light constantly flickering. Vio still looked fine, though she looked a bit more concentrated.
The heat son got too unbearable for Mary as she collapsed, Vio quickly scooped her up and place Mary on her shoulder. Mary apologized and drank a bit of water. Liz unequipped her leather gear and placed them in her bag.
They reached the next trail soon after, a dead-end. Vio walked up and brushed the wall.
“The trials of will,” Mary struggled to say, “Wait ten days.”
Liz lost a bit of hope. Ten days are too long, Vio doesn’t have ten days to spare nor did she.
“Mary, sorry, but we may have to leave here. We can’t affort ten days.”
Vio sadly agreed and placed Mary down.
“Please wait 10 minutes,” Mary whispered.
They looked at each other, Mary looked determined. Vio sighed and agreed to Mary’s selfish demands.
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Nine minutes passed, Liz stripped down to a plain shirt and shorts, still sweating furiously from the heat. Vio still didn’t have much sweat on her, while Mary sat still.
Liz counted in her head. A few more seconds, and she could leave this place. At this point, she couldn’t care less about the favor. Suddenly, Mary opened her eyes, while coincidently the ground started to shake. Liz steadied herself and looked towards the dead-end. There was now a small opening in the wall, Liz ran and slide through, Vio grabbed Mary and crashed her way in. Liz breathed in, cold air swept in her lungs.
Vio exhaled a cloud of mist. Mary hugged Vio tightly for warmth.
“The next part of the trial, the frozen wasteland.”
The cave was now made up of blue stone, icicles hung from the ceiling. The walls and floor covered on slippery ice and the path ahead seemed bare and distant.
Mary squeezed out a smile, “At least we passed the trial of will without dying.”
Liz sighed and carefully slid across the ice. Vio did the same and continued on the frozen trail.