[https://img.wattpad.com/story_parts/1256501337/images/1709b379ade639f7423203923912.png]

"Th-that dragon seemed pretty d-dangerous," Vix said.

Most of the other students nodded in agreement.

"What I don't get is why it wanted to cause a volcano to erupt in the first place," Beto said thoughtfully.

"Maybe it just wanted things to feel more homey," Fiff suggested.

"Or maybe it wasn't even doing it on purpose," Trom said.

Sophie was only half-listening to the conversation. Her thoughts had again wandered to that creature that may or may not have been controlling Drim, and to Ignortus' words about the creature possibly appearing soon. She also wondered about Elva's behavior. Why was it so important to her that everything had to be a certain way? And why did she look down on anyone who did things differently from her? It was exactly how things had been at Sophie's previous schools – when Sophie didn't do things the same way as everyone else, she got excluded.

That seemed silly. Why should there only be one way of doing things? Maybe there was some other reason. Elva had accused her of lacking respect as well. Maybe that was what Sophie was doing wrong? She did have a tendency to get caught up in the excitement of her own ideas and forgetting to listen to people around her. Come to think of it, she hadn't even asked for permission before she began rearranging Vix's body parts. So maybe she should show more respect in general?

Elva stopped suddenly, which caused Trom to walk right into her.

"Ouch... Come on, Elva, you can't just stop for no rea..." Trom then spotted the thing that had made Elva stop. In front of them stood a giant statue of a sphinx, watching them with a pair of glowing yellow eyes.

The statue looked just like the descriptions and drawings of sphinxes that Sophie had seen in books: A lion's body with a human head.

The face of the statue was that of a woman with thick hair that kind of looked like a lion's mane. Growing from the statue were lots of thorny vines which blocked the path ahead. Elva stepped forward. She was just brimming with confidence after having stopped the lava flow, and she addressed the sphinx.

She was just brimming with confidence after having stopped the lava flow, and she addressed the sphinx [https://img.wattpad.com/bf66355e49229e9a06606d8dec5d867043dc9c99/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f526e4b596d6b725f664d4a5245673d3d2d313235363530313333372e313730633235653466396534656537323133353036363634323433342e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]

"Let us pass!" she commanded.

The sphinx directed its catlike gaze toward Elva. Suddenly Elva seemed a lot less confident.

"Um... I mean, if you please."

The sphinx spoke: "For four hundred years I have been standing here, and not a one has been allowed to pass without first answering my riddles."

None of the kids were particularly surprised by this. They all knew that sphinxes loved riddles. What was more worrying, though, was what would happen if they got it wrong.

"What's the riddle?" Elva asked.

"THREE riddles," the Sphinx said resolutely. "You must answer all correctly before you may pass, and you get one guess for each riddle."

"And w-what happens if we get it w-w-wrong?" Vix asked.

The sphinx regarded the class with cold and emotionless eyes.

"Then you will become one with the thornbush that you wish to pass."

A collective gulp was heard from the entire class. They glanced nervously at each other.

"Sh-should we try to find a d-different path?" Vix asked.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"Nonsense!" Elva said confidently. "I know thousands of riddles. I can handle this. What's the first riddle?"

Sophie stayed in the background. As much as she loved solving mysteries, she'd never been particularly good at riddles.

"Here is the first riddle: What goes down but never up?"

Sophie and the others looked at each other confusedly. They had no idea.

"Maybe it's food? It goes down in your stomach and then... it keeps going down," Varis suggested, looking to the others for help.

"Food can come up as well. It doesn't feel great, but it happens," Beto replied.

"How about poop, then?"

Beto sighed wearily at Varis.

"That's easy," Elva said directly to the sphinx. "The answer is rain. It falls from the sky, but it never rains upwards."

"Elva!" a frustrated Fiff exclaimed. "You can't just guess without talking to the rest of us first!"

The sphinx wrinkled its nose unhappily. "That is correct." It didn't seem to like how quickly its riddle had been solved. Elva smiled haughtily and gave the rest of the class a condescending look.

"Prepare for the next riddle," the Sphinx said. "I am the part of a bird that is never in the sky. I can swim in the ocean without ever getting wet. What am I?"

Again the students were at a loss.

"Maybe it's energy flows?" Fiff ventured.

"I doubt that it's something that complicated," Trom responded.

"M-maybe it's like a-a..." Vix suggested, but before he could finish his sentence, Elva stepped forward. She was almost dripping with confidence.

"The answer is a shadow. It's part of every creature, but it's always on the ground and it can't get wet."

"Elva! Talk to the rest of us before you blurt out an answer!" Fiff said. Like the rest of the class, she was getting very fed up with Elva.

"Why would I?" Elva said arrogantly. "I know the answer and you don't."

Sophie looked at Elva, puzzled.

Now Elva was the one who didn't show any respect or listen to others. She was doing exactly what she had been criticizing Sophie for.

"Elva, you were the one who said that we should respect the way things are done," Sophie said.

"Elva, you were the one who said that we should respect the way things are done," Sophie said [https://img.wattpad.com/e3a234b4c9a3f101b5eb2808db1601984f89ba12/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f794c4f2d39345831454c4c7331513d3d2d313235363530313333372e313730633235663063656136613833313139383232353036353236332e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]

"I don't see how that's relevant now," Elva said, then turned back towards the sphinx. "Well, was my answer correct?"

The sphinx ignored Elva. Instead, it looked at Sophie, who it hadn't noticed until now.

"A human child? How exciting. I haven't seen one of your kind in centuries."

Elva glared at Sophie, then raised her voice.

"But was I right!?"

"Once again you are correct," the sphinx said.

Elva let out a triumphant "Ha!" and looked back towards the rest of the class.

"The third and final riddle... Hmm... Yes, this one seems appropriate: In the morning I walk on four legs, at noon I walk on two legs and in the evening I walk on three. What am I?"

Elva's smug look instantly evaporated. She didn't know the answer. The frustration was clear on her face, and the rest of the class were faring no better. Except for Sophie. For once, she knew the answer to a riddle. It had been part of one of the stories that she had read.

"I think I might know," she said quietly

The entire class turned towards her in surprise.

"Impossible. How would you know the answer to such a difficult riddle?" Elva asked skeptically.

"I've heard the riddle before... It's part of a famous story in the human world," Sophie explained. "It's more than a thousand years old, but in that story the answer is a human. Because as a child it crawls on all four, as an adult it walks on two legs, and when it gets old it walks with a cane, which is like having three legs."

No one else in the class would have been able to come up with that answer. They knew very little about humans. In fact, some of them thought that humans hatched from eggs, while others were pretty sure that it was storks that made the human babies somehow.

"I don't have a better guess, so if you're sure, Sophie, I trust you," Fiff said. Most of the other kids agreed.

"You can't be serious!" Elva exclaimed. "It could be a million other things."

"Do you have a better idea?" Fiff asked.

Elva grew quiet. "Well, no, but there has to be..."

"I-I think Sophie's thing sounds p-pretty good," Vix said.

Elva crossed her arms angrily. "Fine! Go ahead and let the human decide our fate, if that's what you want."

Sophie walked over to the sphinx and took a deep breath.

"The answer is a human."

The entire class grew extremely quiet. They barely dared to breathe as they waited for the sphinx's judgment. Would they be allowed to pass through the thornbush, or would they be made part of it?

"That is correct," the Sphinx said.

The class cheered. Even Elva let out a sigh of relief.

"Hooray for Sophie!" Fiff shouted.

"Sophie!? She only answered one of the riddles! I answered two of them!"

The whole class glared at Elva. "But Sophie didn't shout it out without talking to the rest of us," Fiff said.

The sphinx let the thorns pull back, and Elva was the first one to pass through, stomping her feet angrily as she went.

The sphinx let the thorns pull back, and Elva was the first one to pass through, stomping her feet angrily as she went [https://img.wattpad.com/cd3243bc902ad03646ac6dc163c89b16546542ef/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f69573658694b4f426765654878773d3d2d313235363530313333372e313733663662323863393934373934343633343235363930343130342e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]

- Next chapter Monday the 3th of April