Callan leaned against the doorframe as he studied the room. The flames in Sevvir’s hand reflected off the copper platforms, making their surfaces ripple in irregular patterns. He judged exactly how difficult it would be to jump, and while he was fairly confident he had sufficient Brawn to clear the distance, he didn’t like the idea of sliding across the slick surface and tumbling off the other side.

“It can’t be that simple, right?” he asked. “I mean, if it was just a matter of jumping, Xeph and I would have had that figured out in a few minutes. There must be more to this.”

“You’re not wrong,” Sevvir said. She kicked her feet idly as she leaned back and looked at him. How she could sit so casually on the ledge’s lip with half of her dangling out over nothing, Callan couldn’t fathom. “You’ll notice that there are two platforms within jumping distance.”

Callan nodded. Then he blinked. “We have to choose which one we jump to.”

“Exactly. And if you guess incorrect...” The mjolk made a whistling noise that progressively dropped in pitch. She slapped her hand against the ledge, the sound echoing through the chamber. “...Well, I think you get the idea.”

So it is a trial of chance, then, Xeph noted. We must take an equal probability of death with every leap. I do not like those odds over so many platforms.

“Yeah, you’re telling me. This whole thing has a real Squid Game vibe to it,” Callan noted.

“Squid?” Sevvir asked, the same moment that Xeph said, What do squid have to do with the situation?

“They don’t, it’s just a—” Callan paused. “You have squid here? Wait, don’t tell me—they’re monstrosities hundreds of feet long that drag ships into the deep, aren’t they?”

Don’t be absurd. They’re small creatures, barely larger than your finger. You find them in tidal pools and salt marshes, mostly. Why? Are the ones on your world...?

“They vary in size.” He pushed off the wall and stepped forward, studying the platforms. “Actually, we do have a variety that can get about a hundred feet long, now that I think about it. They don’t drag down ships, though. Not big ones, at least.”

What a terrifying thought.

“Oh please, like you don’t have fifty other things on this world that are straight out of my worst nightmares.”

“This world?” Sevvir said. Callan waved the question away and gestured towards the platforms.

“So how does it work? Does the wrong one collapse when enough weight is on it or something?” He was already considering possibilities. They could chuck a few rocks or even use his Rock Sling to try and set off the wrong platform prematurely.

Honestly, this didn’t seem like that difficult a challenge.

Sevvir shook her head. “I’m actually not sure. When I encountered one of these challenges before, it involved activating a small gemstone at the center of either platform, but... too many factors are different. In that place, each platform had a color sequence of glowing lights that could be used to determine the proper jumping pattern. But here... nothing. No hints, or sequences to follow. Every challenge here so far has been like this. As if this place is... abandoned. Dead.”

Are such traps common in temples in this era? Xeph asked. I do not recall ever encountering anything like this before, and what we have witnessed so far has not unlocked anything, either.

Callan repeated the question, which earned him a strange look from Sevvir. She shook her head again.

“I don’t know about temples. The last place I went to with traps like this certainly wasn’t one. Honestly, until you told me about that other god, I thought that feeling I was getting in this place was just my nerves.”

“Really? What was it like in the place you were before?” Callan asked.

“Like this, mostly,” Sevvir gestured around them. “But the lights still worked, and there were traps around every corner, most of which had some trick to figuring them out. And there were monsters trying to kill me, or at least keep me from getting to the treasure at the center.”

Monsters? What nonsense is this? Xeph grumbled. There are no such thing as monsters, just creatures that are not properly understood by science.

“Yeah, tell that to those city-destroying worms you’ve mentioned.” Honestly, from Sevvir’s description, Callan was getting that Dungeons and Dragons vibe again. But that was probably just because it was still on his mind from earlier. He brushed the thought aside and looked at the mjolk. “You said something about treasure? Is that why you’re here?”

“That’s right, so don’t go getting any big ideas about taking it for yourself.” She patted her bag. “I’ve got your signed promise that you’ll help me achieve my goals. Acquiring what’s waiting at the center of this place is all that matters to me.”

“Doesn’t the contract also say we can terminate it at any time though?” Callan asked. “What’s to stop me from doing that and taking the treasure for...”

He trailed off, seeing the expression on Sevvir’s face. Xeph shuddered, which felt like a bee suddenly getting loose inside Callan’s skull. That would likely go quite poorly for us, mortal.

“Okay, okay, just asking. Sheesh.”

“Getting back to the matter at hand,” Sevvir said, acting as if their exchange never happened, “You need to figure out a way to determine which is the correct panel, and then we’ll work our way across. Simple.”

“Wait, why I am I the one that has to figure this out? I thought we were partners!”

“We are.” Sevvir showed him a mouthful of teeth again. “And my part was making certain you didn’t simply jump to the first panel unknowingly and plummet to your death. Seems like that agreement between us is working out in your favor, isn’t it?”

Hmmph. This mjolk is rather arrogant, but they’re not wrong. We do owe them on several counts. And I would prefer not to end this little arrangement still in their debt if we can help it, mortal.

“I’ll try to think of something,” Callan said, “But we’re overlooking a critical detail.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m not jumping anywhere.” Callan thumped on his leg for emphasis, making himself wince. “Not anytime soon, at least.”

“Oh, of course, I’d forgotten about that.” Sevvir stood up. “Take off your pants.”

“What???” Callan spluttered. The mjolk rolled her eyes.

“Don’t be so modest. You don’t have anything I haven’t seen before.”

“Still, you can’t just ask me to—”

Human, Xeph interrupted, She wants to inspect your wound, not bed you. Either way, there’s not much you can do to stop her if she puts her mind to it. Best just get it over with.

“That is easily the creepiest thing I’ve heard you say before, Xeph.” Still, after a moment of grumbling Callan complied, tugging off his shoes and stripping away the pants, which were partially stuck to him with dried blood.

“Hmm.” Sevvir leaned in, peering first one direction, then another. She pulled the bandage away and made a clucking noise. “It’s gotten worse since I patched it. I should have gotten to work immediately after you awoke, so I guess apologies are in order. This might sting a bit.”

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“Got to work? Work on what—” Callan’s words cut off as he let out a screech of pain. Sevvir had clamped down on his wound, and waves of agony unlike anything he’d felt before rocketed through him. A hissing noise emanated from between the mjolks fingers, accompanied by thin trails of smoke.

It was all Callan could do to remain standing. When Sevvir finally released him, he slumped against the doorway, his legs turned to Jello. The pain faded rapidly, but its ghost lingered behind, silent echoes causing his body to spasm periodically.

“What... what did you do to me?”

Sevvir climbed to her feet, slapping her hands together, which made her claws give off a musical chime. “Healed you.”

“Really? Because that didn’t feel like friggin...” Callan paused. He glanced down at his leg.

The wound was gone. So was the pain, now that he’d stopped quivering long enough to notice.

He glanced back up. “What, you have, like, healing fire?”

“Ooh, that’s a good name for it.” The mjolk smirked. “My teacher had a longer, fancier term. But healing fire really just lays it right out there.”

“I honestly can’t tell if you’re mocking me or not.” Callan shook his head. “Thanks though, I guess.”

“Just another perk of signing a contract with a mjolk,” she said, matter-of-factly.

“Wait, is that why you didn’t heal me while I was unconscious?” Callan ground his teeth as the girl nodded. “Great. Fantastic.”

“Why, is something the matter?”

“No, never mind. Let’s just get back to solving this puzzle.”

Moving to the edge of the shelf, he studied the two closest platforms, then picked one at random. Taking aim, he fired off a rock at it.

Alert: 12.5% Apotheosis used.

Total Apotheosis is at 12.5%

This was the first time he’d used Rock Sling since upgrading the ability. And while he had a tangible measurement for how much the distance had improved, he hadn’t really been sure exactly what sort of an improvement a ‘medium’ stone would turn out to be.

The answer was... more than he’d expected, honestly. Before, it had been about the size of his fist. Now it was easily two, maybe three times that large. He’d need to see one up close to be certain. Not this one, though. It rocketed away, impacting the platform well before the forty feet maximum.

Then it kept going, sliding along the copper surface until it plummeted off the other side.

Well, that went about as expected, Xeph muttered inside of Callan’s head.

“Oh, like you knew it would do that.”

Did I know that a highly accelerated object impacting a low friction surface would continue moving? Of course not, mortal. My understanding of physics is clearly as rudimentary as your own.

Callan, who’d been worried that he might do much the same thing as the stone if he jumped over there, swallowed down any further vitriol. He was more mad at himself than Xeph, if he was being honest.

“It was a bad idea, anyway,” he said. “We can’t afford to be shooting rocks at every platform. It’d take us days to recover our apotheosis before we got across.”

I also do not think it such a simple matter to test these platforms. If they could be tricked by simple applications, they would not serve as any true form of trial.

“And if they were working at whatever capacity this place is supposed to be, I’d agree with you. However, I don’t think we can rule any ideas out at this point.”

Hmm. Valid. In that case, best summon another stone.

“No, I actually just thought of something easier.” Turning, he marched back to the cave in. A moment later he returned to the trial room hefting another stone about the size of his head.

“Here... goes... nothing!” With all his strength, he hurled it at the other platform. A small part of him noted with satisfaction that he’d managed to put as much power behind the throw as what Rock Sling achieved. The jury was still out on whether that orison would ever prove to be a wise skill investment.

Unfortunately, while his power was equal, his aim was not. The rock barely clipped the edge of the other platform, bounced, then sailed away into the dark.

Hmm.

“Don’t say it.”

I think you need another rock, mortal.

Callan gritted his teeth. “Goddamnit, Xeph.”

Turning, he marched back down the tunnel, returning with a slightly smaller rock this time. Easier to fine tune, he reasoned. He hurled it towards the platform.

And hit it dead center. The rock skipped across the surface three times before slipped over the far side and plummeting into the pit.

“Okay, results are in.” Callan turned to look at Sevvir, who’d been following all of this with a bemused expression. “And I think we can conclusively determine one of two things.”

“And what are those?”

“Either both platforms are safe, or rocks are an ineffective method of testing.”

The mjolk girl’s lips pulled into a tight line. “Hmm. And how do you intend to narrow down these choices?”

Callan turned back. He studied the platforms. An idea occurred to him, but it was such a bad one he didn’t dare speak it out loud for fear of what Xeph would say.

“It’s alright, Callan,” Sevvir said, while he stewed in his own thoughts. “Let’s return to clearing the tunnel. If we can reach my camp, I have a few supplies we might use to—”

Before he could lose his nerve, Callan took a step back. Then he launched himself forward and over the edge.

He heard Sevvir cry out at the same moment Xeph let out a screech, both sounds intermingling in his mind and becoming unintelligible. Then Callan’s feet slammed into the base of the right platform, and all his concentration went into arresting his forward motion.

He managed to stop a foot or so from the opposite edge, arms pinwheeling for balance. The metal was even more slick than it appeared, with an almost glassy consistency under his feet.

Turning, he waved at Sevvir. “I figured it out!”

Mortal, Xeph growled. That was without a doubt the most impetuous risk you’ve taken! So much so that I begin to wonder if you even appreciate the gifts that I have provided, given how you seem willing to risk them in reckless, foolhardy—

He didn’t get to finish before the floor dropped out beneath them.

----------------------------------------

Sevvir watched as Callan returned with another stone, hefted it, and threw. He actually managed to hit the platform this time, which was honestly a bit impressive. Of course, the stone simply bounced and slid off the other side the same as the first, telling him nothing.

She hadn’t bothered to let the yeth boy know she’d already attempted this trick. Better to let him think himself clever. At least for a bit.

Eventually, he would see there was no way across. It frustrated Sevvir, but she’d determined hours ago the only way to navigate the room would be to sink spikes into the walls and take the long way around. She’d done it in several others already. All they needed were the supplies back in her camp.

But in the meantime, she was enjoying what futile efforts he came up with. It wouldn’t matter. They’d inevitably use her equipment, and that would be one more mark in her favor, one more way she endear herself to him.

Already she’d seen the fruits of her efforts using the ancestral Sunndarae techniques her mother had taught her. While they hadn’t been nearly as effective on the men back in Amon Tul as she’d hoped, perhaps she’d simply chosen the wrong targets. Callan certainly was responding with the perfect ascribed mix of confusion and embarrassment. It seemed she’d chosen well.

Yes, she just needed to finish her mission here, and by that time the little avatar would be perfectly ensnared, primed for signing another contract...

“Okay, results are in,” Callan called, bringing Sevvir’s attention back to the room. The avatar proceeded to lay out his theories while she nodded along. Meanwhile, her mind returned to business.

She still couldn’t believe he’d refused the first contract so quickly. Sevvir had worried he’d known her ultimate purpose for him then, that the god inside his head had informed him about paragraph 28e subsection eight. But he hadn’t made any other comment about it, so that didn’t appear to be the case.

Which was good. Because she fully intended to enact it upon him. Then she’d return to her clan a conquering hero. After all, no one had ever managed to enact that particular clause with an avatar before—at least not that Sevvir had ever heard in any stories. Surely she’d be the first.

And if she managed that, her mother would have to forgive her for that mess back in Amon Tul.

Callan had resumed studying the platforms, clearly without a clue as how to proceed. Time to lay on the charm again. She cleared her throat.

“It’s alright, Callan. Let’s return to clearing the tunnel. If we can reach my camp, I have a few supplies we might use to—”

The avatar took a step back. Sevvir frowned, about to ask him what he was doing, when he started forward again and leapt across to the first platform! The fool!

She stared, aghast, as he turned around to give her the most asinine grin she’d ever seen. “I figured it out!”

Well, maybe he is smarter than I gave him credit for—

The platform beneath Callan’s feet shattered, sending him tumbling into the abyss. Sevvir lurched forward, but there was nothing she could do. Her cry of shock echoed into the chamber, punctuated by a loud thwomp.

Thwomp?

She looked down. A white barb, oddly reminiscent of the shed mungandir scales she’d seen for sale at the Amon Tul bazaar now protruded from the stone between her feet. Glancing out further, she saw a line of similar scales—these the more common black color—stretching away into the darkness.

And at the very edge of her vision, a hand, reaching upward. It seized the scales before hauling...

“Callan,” she breathed as the rest of the yeth avatar came into view.

“Yep... Be with you... Shortly...” Despite his clipped words, he hauled himself hand over hand at a rapid pace, and moments later was heaving himself onto the ledge next to her.

“See, I told you I had it figured out. Just give me a few minutes and I’ll try that with the other platform.” He grinned maniacally. Sevvir found herself grinning back. What a mjolk-ish sort of thing to have done. Completely un-yeth like. She’d made the right choice.

Yes, she’d be getting him to sign a contract for certain. There was just the pesky matter of dealing with her obligations here, first.