Jeb found himself in a clearing much like the one he had just left. He looked at the Bear, who shrugged as though to say, “I’m not in charge.” Looking around, Jeb could tell that he was in a different place, though only because he had become so intimately familiar with every piece of the clearing he had spent three days in.
In the time it had taken him to look around, the Bear had pulled a meal and table from somewhere. Sitting on the ground, he gestured for Jeb to join him. Bemused, Jeb did.
Jeb ate a filling meal of berries, honey, and fillets of some fish. The Bear must have eaten his own meal, because his plate grew empty and the large creature refilled it. Try as he might, though, Jeb was unable to catch the Druid bring a single bite to his lips. When the meal was finished, the Bear gestured behind the two of them, and Jeb saw that a small tent had been erected.
“Sleep and recover,” the Bear said. “Someone will come to rouse you when it is time for you to begin the next phase in your Trial.”
As Jeb settled onto the woven mat beneath him, the Bear popped his head into the tent to give a final piece of advice. “You believe that you failed the last Trial because you did not become a Druid. Do you truly wish to become a Druid?” Without waiting for Jeb’s response, he left.
Jeb stared at the canvas above him and tried to think. His thoughts eluded him, however. The three days without sleep had left him more exhausted than he had realized. Dreams of life as a Druid battled against images of himself wielding Glyphs and Druidic Magics together as he slept.
Jeb woke to find that the tent had disappeared while he slept. Someone was gently shaking his foot, and he slowly blinked his eyes open. The stars shone brightly in the darkness of the new moon, and Jeb knew that it was just a little past sunset. A Druid he did not recognize stood when they saw that Jeb was awake.
“Trialist, you will now begin the next phase of your Trial. Unlike the tasks have come before, this Trial carries with it an inherent risk of death. If you wish to leave the Enclave never to return, you may abandon your Trial now. If not, however, prepare yourself.”
“What’s the Trial?” Jeb asked, still coming to his bearings.
“Do you know where you are?” the voice asked, seeming to ignore Jeb’s question.
“In the Druidic Enclave?” Jeb replied, more than a little hesitantly.
“Yes, but do you know where you are within the Enclave?”
“Not at all,” Jeb replied.
The speaker nodded. “Find your way to safety. If that means cloaking yourself in the rushing tides of the sea, then search for salt air. If that means shielding behind bark and wood, then find the dancing tree. If that means standing alone where nothing can hide, then find the summoning cliff.” With each word, the speaker faded from Jeb’s vision, their voice fading with them. He was certain that the voice had listed other locations, but could not make them out over the wind that had suddenly picked up.
The sounds of the forest suddenly quieted. Jeb froze.
In his time within the Enclave, the forest had never been silent. Jeb knew enough from his time growing up to be aware that a silent forest meant that all of the creatures which normally made a sound were hiding. The only reason that all of them would be hiding was the presence of some large and dangerous predator. Doing his best not to panic, Jeb closed his eyes and strained his ears for the sounds of anything coming towards him. Try as he might, though, Jeb was unable to hear where the creature was.
Well, at least I know why they warned me of danger, Jeb thought to himself. Despite the alleged offer that he could leave, he did notice that he was never once asked if he wanted to take part in this Trial. I suppose that leaving the Enclave is a choice of its own to find safety.
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Looking at the stars, Jeb realized that they were different than the stars he was used to. It was subtle, but each of the constellations was shifted ever so slightly from the ones that he knew. The pointer star was slightly lower in the sky than it should have been, and Jeb abandoned the idea of navigating by starlight alone. Even if he had a clear idea of where in the Enclave he was, he was no longer certain that he could follow the stars to trace his own steps.
The lack of moonlight made his trek all the more difficult. Beneath the tall canopies of the trees, Jeb was barely able to see his own hand when held directly in front of his face. If he stretched it out in front of him, it was completely cloaked in shadow. He stumbled through the woods like that for what felt like an hour.
When he found himself in the same clearing as he had begun, Jeb’s brows furrowed in frustration. Trying to create a Glyph, Jeb was shocked to find that his Magic was not bound away or restricted. He racked his mind, trying to think of any piece of Magic he had learned at the Academy which could help him here. There were plenty of path finding Enchantments or Dances, but all presupposed that he had marked his starting location well. Jeb made a note to always leave a marker when he was moved to a new location.
Thinking about markers, Jeb remembered his bees. Try as he might, though, he could not find his connection to the Hive. Even more disconcerting, he could not feel his connection to the lute. Or, rather, he could not pull on either connection. It was not that he had lost the Bindings, but more as though one of his limbs was suddenly numb. He could still tell that it was there, but that was the extent of his control.
His soul sent out a small aching pulse, and Jeb remembered the Bear’s chiding remark that Jeb had a tendency to rush headlong into a solution rather than think through what he was planning. Looking at the pointer star, Jeb hoped that it still showed the way north. He quickly sketched a small compass rose, taking the few extra seconds to make it beautiful. What compelled him to do so, he could not say, but he trusted the instinct.
With the compass as a guide, he sketched out the Enclave as best as he knew it. If it had been bordered on a single side by the sea, Jeb would have had an easier time. However, he knew that there were large bays and inlets throughout the Enclave, and even an inland sea, if the rumors were to be believed. Giving up his hope of finding the sea right away, Jeb felt a sense of rightness.
His path to safety was not hidden behind rushing water. As though that revelation was the last stick holding a dam in place, thoughts rushed through Jeb. He was once again forced to confront the Bear’s question. Did he want to be a Druid?
The Magic around him roiled as he wrestled with his own mind. So lost in his thoughts, Jeb did not notice as the night progressed ever onward. When the first rays of sunshine finally broke through the horizon, the Magic around Jeb suddenly stilled. He had not come to a conclusion, but he had come to a realization. Even before the speaker returned, Jeb knew that he had failed.
“Trialist, you are where you were left. Why did you not leave?”
“I did leave,” Jeb admitted, weariness weighing him down. “After an hour of blind wandering through the forest, I found that I had somehow walked in a circle back to here.”
“Why did you remain?”
“Honestly, I was lost in thought.”
“Were you paralyzed with indecision?”
“No.” Jeb was confident in that answer. If whatever had been out hunting last night had come for him, he would have defended himself. Even as his Magic and mind grappled with the choice in front of him, he had never once let his attention slip from the space around him. He knew that the predator had not come near.
“Did you choose to stay here?” There was a weight to those words, and Jeb knew the answer to the question, even as he was loathe to admit it.
“No.”
The speaker nodded and waved a hand. Vines laced up through the air to form an arch, which began to glow softly. Within the arch, Jeb saw the stone where he had begun his Trial.
“You have failed this portion of the Trial.”
The speaker did not put any emotion behind the words, which surprised Jeb slightly. All of the other Judges had seemed connected to their Trial in some way, but this Druid acted as though they were only following orders, completely indifferent to the results of Jeb’s Trial. It was a good reminder of the fact that the world did not revolve around Jeb, even as it stung slightly. Even without asking, he knew that the Judge would not have shed a single tear if he had come back to find Jeb torn limb from limb.
The speaker stepped through the portal, and Jeb hesitated, unsure if he was supposed to follow. As though taking the option away from him, more vines stretched up and pulled him through the gate. Jeb found himself surrounded with scores of Druids, many of whom looked at him intently with weapons in their hands.
“Your next Trial,” the Archdruid called out, “begins shortly. Prepare yourself.”