Blanketed under the ever-falling snow, Alexander felt his life trickling away. Tormented by the guilt he had done his best to bury, he thought not of the incoming death but about the man who had taken him under his wing like a father. That stupid old man is not allowed to be dead because I still have to show him everything I’ve done. The long-forgotten tattoo of the 9-colored flame over his heart glowed brightly, coinciding with the white flames blazing around Alexander’s body. The healing properties of the flame returned the life the storm had stolen from him as he slowly got to his feet. Speaking out loud, Alexander reproached the phantoms. “Dr. Hernandez would never resent me.” Taking out the letter he had kept on his person his whole time in Kedra, Alexander pointed at the words. “He told me to be free to do what I love, and that’s what I intend to do. No ghosts from my past will ever stand in my way!”
Conviction evident in his eyes, he strode straight through the apparitions of his parents, but they faded into the storm before he could make contact.
The phantom of the doctor smiled earnestly. “That’s right, sonny. Don’t let anyone interfere with what you want to do.” Dissolving into the storm, the doctor’s apparition never stopped smiling.
Alexander continued his trek through the snowy plains, unfettered. Occasionally he would hear the voices of Thomas, Brandon, his parents, and the doctor call out to him, but he persisted in his journey, ambulating through the endless storm. Eventually, he could even hear Pengu chirping along with Kai and Pola, but they sounded muted, a mere backdrop among the cacophony of the winter storm. The white flames supplemented his mind to remain strong as he decided to continue robotically marching forward, paying attention to nothing but the snow.
An undetermined amount of time later, the snowstorm ending, allowing the sun to shine down warmly on the land. He was no longer in a plain defunct of anything other than snow. Instead, Alexander found he had entered a kingdom of ice.
Thousands of igloos sprawled over the ice with interspersed maple trees adding some life to the snow- although the trees had frozen over, with icicles in place of leaves. Each of the igloos contained a splash of color as the blocks of ice used to build the structures were not only white. Red, green, and purple ice bricks gave the area contrasting color accents, but more than the architecture, Alexander was focused on the inhabitants of the igloos.
Anthropomorphic polar bears, all uniformed in blazers and glasses, pranced through the roads, heading deeper into the city. One of them noticed Alexander standing outside with his mouth hung wide open and motioned him over. “Arturt? You were invited to the poetry circle. Why must you play your silly little turtle games and morph into someone else just to sneak in? No bear has that ability. We all know its you.” The rest of the polar bears, seemingly headed to poetry circle, nodded their heads.
Dumbfounded, Alexander had already been unwillingly dragged into walking beside them. “Poetry circle? I’m not here for- I walked through the storm. There were ghosts.”
“Hmm?” The polar abruptly stopped walking. “You came from the storm?”
Another polar bear cried out. “It’s the challenger! Someone go let Bearnardo know. My apologies, challenger, we were awaiting a guest for our poetry circle and mistook you for them. I must commend you for making it through the Haunting Plains so fast. Nobody was prepared to receive you so fast.”
The other polar bear jumped back in the conversation. “Yes, the Turtle Saint dropped by our town hall meeting not so long ago to inform the Bear Saint of a challenger visiting us in a month’s time. I must ask. I can understand the first two visits, but how did you overcome the third round of phantoms so quickly? Ahh, never mind. After you complete the second challenge just drop by the auditorium. You’ll miss the poetry session, but you should be in time for the haikus. Please prepare one to describe your tribulations.”
Several other polar bears agreed, encouraging Alexander to write not one but five different haikus. Saving Alexander from the mob, a seven-foot-tall polar bear dressed in a penguin tail tuxedo jacket and a monocle yelled out. “Give him some space, you leeches. Regardless of how fast he got here, anyone who conquers the Haunting Plains needs some time to decompress.”
“Bearnardo, let us pick his brain a little bit. Some of us weren’t even alive last time a challenger visited us!”
“Denied. The challenger will be given a hut to rest in, and then he will continue through the second trial.” Bearnardo had taken out a book from his inner pocket and was now disinterestedly answering the crowd.
“Fine, but what if instead of letting us converse with the challenger you let us go into the Haunting Plains.”
“Please! Great poetry is born from tragedies and suffering.”
“We want the pain!”
Ignoring the pleas from the aspiring poets, Bearnardo asked Alexander to follow him before walking away.
Catching up to him, Alexander called out to the polar bear. “Sir? What just happened. I mean back in the storm. Was any of that real? And why did the bears mention three rounds of apparitions? I was only visited by the phantoms once.”
Pausing for a second, Bearnardo put down his book and faced Alexander. “The Haunting Plains, as we call them, are meant to test the strength of your mind, much like the Turtle's Swamp of Illusions. The ghosts of your past visit you three times in an attempt to hamper your progress. If anyone succumbs to their words, the blizzard will begin to sap them of their energy. The first and second rounds of apparitions are not deadly. When a sliver of life is left, the winds of the storm will push you back to the beginning. The third round, however, is capable of killing challengers. Our intention is to test the challenger's mettle after the turtles show them their lives. Nothing any of the ghosts say is necessarily real; it is merely sourced from the challenger's mind. But you say you only faced a single round of phantoms? That is most peculiar. Here, follow me to the guest area first before I get to the bottom of this.”
The rest of the journey was traveled in silence giving Alexander time to take in the sights of this unique location. Past the igloos, several more buildings of ice sprouted from the ground. Many of them were rectangularly shaped with pillars holding up an extension of the roof to create grand entrances. From the name plaques on these buildings, Alexander noted they were all libraries, but there were also some tall temples here and there. Old, wizened bears wearing hooded leather tunics stood on podiums outside of these temples preaching their philosophies. Alexander heard the bear monks shouting passionate invitations for bear passerby to join their schools of thought.
Soon enough, Bearnardo opened the wooden door to the largest igloo he had seen yet. It had four entrances, one in each side, and was the only building emitting smoke from its top. Once he stepped in, Alexander was surprised to find how cozy the inside was. The room was an open concept with two staircases leading downwards beside the fireplace. The stone floor of the igloo was mostly covered in a gray rug, and a stout fireplace sat in the center of the building, connecting to a chimney. All manner of furniture and blankets decorated the edifice, providing any guests visiting the polar bears with some much-needed warmth.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Coffee and hot chocolate stations by each of the entrances were lined with what Alexander supposed were the guests of the bears. Floating turtles with bow ties, well-dressed lions, and falcons wearing top hats made the guest accommodations bustling with life. The polar bears were a regal people it seemed as all their guests were quite posh.
Sitting down on an unoccupied bed near the fire, Bearnardo handed Alexander a mug filled with hot choclate and patted the seat beside him. “Okay, now about your peculiar visit to the Haunting Plains. Recount your journey to me and leave no detail out.”
Alexander slumped on the couch as he took in the warmth of the fire. He wasn’t sure when, but the blaze of white flames surrounding him had been doused, allowing the biting chill of the cold to seep into his bones. After the fire breathed some life into him, Alexander told Bearnardo about his experiences in the plains.
The large polar bear sat in silence for a few seconds after Alexander had finished. “Okay, I think I understand the gist of what happened. Would you allow me to inspect your body?” Alexander nodded his head in affirmation. “Perfect, you are going to feel some foreign mana enter you, but you must not fight it.”
Bearnardo lifted his paw and tenderly placed one of his claws in the space between Alexander’s two eyebrows. Slowly, Alexander sensed a heavy mana flow in through his forehead. It was grainy, cold, and inexplicably gave him the feeling he wouldn’t be able to stand up no matter how hard he strained his legs. The feeling only intensified as it coursed down his head and into his chest. Using all his self-control, he prevented himself from flailing his arms as he felt the mana crushing his lungs and heart. All too suddenly, the weight dispersed; the mana exiting his body through his mouth.
“Interesting. Very, very interesting.” Bearnardo asked Alexander to remove his coat and lift his shirt, before adjusting his monocle. “This is no mere tattoo, challenger. I believe it is an imprint of the 9-colored flame itself.” Signaling Alexander to lower his shirt, the bear continued. “I do not know much about the Agni clan. Most of us have only ever meet their progenitors in battle after they began their inquisition to claim the other noble clans' divine treasures, but I think the imprint cleared the trail for you after a fail-safe mechanism was activated. Having white as your very first color is special. It is empowering you, protecting you, and most importantly improving your body for the future.” Standing up, Bearnardo concluded. “The sleeping quarters are just down those stairs. Catch some sleep for now, and I will grab you in the morning to continue your trial. I will go and report this to Nidra. Together with what the Turtle Saint has already reported, you are making for the most interesting challenger we have ever had.” Excited by the new developments, the polar bear guffawed as he exited the building.
Alexander absentmindedly descended down the stairs and entered an unoccupied room. Laying his things down in a chair, he flung himself on the bed and closed his eyes without even taking a moment to change. I’m the most interesting one? This is supposed to be Thomas’ adventure. I just tagged along… His final thoughts before submerging into the land of sleep.
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A loud knock at the door awoke Alexander. Save for a small candle in the corner of the room, it was pitch black. Being in an underground chamber, there was no natural light, and Alexander had no idea if he had been sleeping for a minute, an hour, or a week. Groggily, he rolled out of bed and opened the door.
An impeccably dressed Bearnardo sporting a red tuxedo jacket waited in the hallway. “Morning! Hmm, you’re still wearing the same clothes as yesterday. Unacceptable!” Dragging Alexander out of the room, the polar bear led him to a restroom. “We keep every restroom stocked with a change of clothes, a shower and a bath. Clean yourself and meet me outside. I will not have a guest of the polar bear clan besmirching our reputation.”
Half an hour later, Alexander, now dressed in a brown coat, a white long-sleeve dress shirt tucked into navy pants, and brown dress shoes, exited the guest house. Finding Bearnardo he quickly asked, “Why do you have an entire floor dedicated to clothes? There was even a human room!”
“A good host is always prepared to receive any guest. We have many animals from Nidra’s kingdom wanting to visit us. It makes sense for us to have a change of clothes for all their species, and the challenges were originally made for humans who were summoned to help our people, so we prepared facilities for them long ago.”
Not expecting such a logical response, Alexander was quiet before changing topics entirely. “How did the meeting with Nidra go? Is there anyting I should do or know? What did you mean when you said I was the most interesting challenger yet? And what did the Turtle Saint report to Ndira?”
“You will learn of that only once you overcome all three challenges. Now, follow me to begin the second part of the Bear Saint’s trial.” Ignoring the rest of Alexander’s barrage of questions, Bearnardo led him south of the icy village.
Before long, the two had left behind the igloos and buildings for more of the snowy plains. The only sign of civilization was a paved road surrounded by frozen maple trees at even intervals. Off in the distance, fog covered mountain came into view. Eager to do away with the quiet, Alexander asked. “Are we gonna go up the mountain? Is the challenge up there? What is the challenge anyway?” Now that Alexander had a full night’s sleep away from the stresses each of the challenges had brought, he realized how starved of social interaction he had been. For 4 days, his only conversations had been brief and meant to be educative. Walking beside someone who could satisfy his hunger, he was disappointed to be met with silence as the polar was immersed in a book. The walk had been going on for an hour, and any attempt to spark conversation was met with failure.
Crestfallen at his most recent failure, it took Alexander a moment before he processed what he saw was not a mountain. Walking several feet closer, he identified the object as colossal pagoda made from the same multi-colored ice blocks the buildings in the village had been. A mountain formed of stone stairs blanched in snow led to the pagoda. “Am I climbing those stairs?”
Finally ending the silence, Bearnardo spoke. “The stairs are your second trial. The Bear Saint awaits you within his pagoda. The challenge is for you to ascend the stairs until the Bear Saint certifies you have done enough to pass.”
Waiting for the catch, Alexander stared perplexed. “That’s it? I just need to walk up some stairs? I mean there’s a lot of them, but I hardly see how that’s a challenge.”
Bearnardo snorted beside him. “Similar to the Haunting Plains, these steps will test your conviction. We do not gift power to just anybody who asks. The Turtle Saint views your life and decides if you are worthy. We polar bears are a lot more old-fashioned. If your character is strong enough to endure the pain each step will cause, we will be happy to be the oil that allows your fire to turn into an inferno.”
“The steps hurt?”
“Get on with it, challenger. The Bear Saint does not like to be kept waiting.” Roaring to the heavens, Bearnardo proclaimed. “I now declare the second challenge has begun!”
The icy mountain came to life in response to Bearnardo’s call. The stone steps glowed yellow, with the hue becoming deeper the higher Alexander looked. Moving closer to them, he could hear an audible hum of power coming from them. He looked back to the polar bear to ask for direction, but Bearnardo was already walking back down the path to the village.
Seeing he would be receiving no help, Alexander placed his foot on the first step. Critically analyzing the differences between his left leg currently on the step and his right leg that was still on the road, Alexander found the left leg was slightly heavier. It felt as if it was bogged down by a minuscule amount of mud. Laughing to himself, he thought. This isn’t half bad. Director Li made me run miles with weighted vests. If the steps are additive, I’ll only have a few pounds on me by the end.
Encouraged by his findings, Alexander speedily ascended the mountain of stairs. The increment of weight given by the first ten steps were easily ignored by him, but when his foot touched the eleventh step, his knee creaked slightly. Shaking off the feeling, he realized the weight had exponentially jumped from the tenth to the eleventh step. Counting the remaining steps, Alexander saw there was 101 stairs total. If these stairs all radically increase the weight on me every ten steps…. I’m gonna have to be okay with breaking a few bones to succeed here.