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Kelsana was devastated when Everdale had been unable to save Garett. The rogue had taken the sting meant for her. Garett was the only one who ever showed any real sympathy in the group. Darius displayed his gruff stoic demeanor and Everdale only frowned and shook his head in disappointment. Neither even seemed to care!
She cursed under her breath. Darius might be the soul of the group and Everdale the brains, but Garett had been the heart. The others had ventured further down the dark passage to ensure no more monsters lurked while she built a crude cairn for her friend.
“Goodbye, Garett. Thank you for everything you’ve done, and I hope you find better friends than us in the next life. I wish I had met you before Darius, maybe things would be different now.” She stopped crying as the pain in her side started to throb more painfully.
She could feel blood leaching through her bandage. The cursed blade the Necromancer had stabbed her with was getting worse. She quickly changed the wound’s dressing and tightened the wrap. She staggered as her vision dimmed momentarily. She staggered to her feet unsteadily and hefted her bow. Darius soon came tromping back waving to her with his glowing sword.
“Everdale has found a passage into the lower level. Let’s go, my dear. We mustn’t waste this opportunity. Garett paid for it with his life.” Darius’s loud voice echoed around the cavern. Kelsana frowned but said nothing and followed her fiancé.
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Everdale led the pair to an ornate archway. The passage was obscured by swirling grey mists. He stopped them with a pained expression. He steepled his fingers and spoke.
“Ah, I was hoping that the account regarding the Hall of Reflection was an exaggeration. Unfortunately, it appears I was wrong. The dungeon is going to test us individually. There is a potential that we will see reflections of our future. We may need to make a choice. I’m not sure what the dungeon's goal is, but if it likes your choice, it will give us a key to the final room.” He said.
“Sounds simple enough, between my faith and your cleverness perhaps Kelsana won’t need to face the trial.” Darius said confidently. Kelsana flashed a wary look down the hall.
“Is there a way around for me?” She asked.
“I’m sorry. I believe all who want to pass must take the trial…and all must face their future alone. I had hoped this trial wouldn’t appear. The records show that the dungeon doesn’t always present the same challenges. Please choose wisely, some reflections can be more…dangerous than others. I’m not certain, but perhaps if Darius or I can gather the key, the trial may be less strenuous for you.” Everdale looked awkward, explaining the unfortunate turn.
“Very well! I will be certain to succeed then!” Without a second thought or hesitation, Darius marched into the mists.
Darius walked confidently forward; his shining sword held in front of him. The mists swirled about him as he walked. He glanced back but he could no longer see his friends. He turned and turned, unable to determine his direction. He caught a shadow in the mist and pushed forward determined to pass the test.
…
The mists parted suddenly and Darius found himself in a small room. Despite the warning from Everdale, he gasped upon seeing two perfect copies of his own face each standing within a phantasmal diorama, a tableau showing different potential futures.
To Darius’s left, his duplicate tended to a child with a broken arm. His kindly face glowed as his hands healed the injury. He wore shining plate mail, and his shield carried the image of Valus.
Across to the right, his phantom image had a much fiercer look. He strode across a battlefield. His alternate wore the colors and tabard of Severus. His hard demeanor promised merciless justice. He stopped as he reached his destination, a chained prisoner being presented by jailors. It was his friend, Everdale! The version of Darius removed the mage’s head with a heavy sweep of his large sword. Darius screamed to stop, but it was too late.
Both images stepped out, leaving their scenes fading from view. They soon stood to either side of a door. Both had a large key hung about their necks. The door had a large lock. No words were spoken but the room boomed with a command.
CHOOSE
Darius’s heart filled with joy. A future with Valus. His father would be proud! He reached for the version with kind eyes and a smile. Darius was shocked when a harder version intercepted his reaching hand and grasped his wrist.
“Betrayer! You would turn your back on your Patron Severus?!” The battle-worn version screamed. Darius tried to pull back, but the vision gripped harder. Its great strength deformed his armor wrist bracer, the metal biting into his arm.
“The world needs mercy! I will fulfill my promise to my father.” Darius yelled back, tugging his arm. The Paladin of Severus’ grip was like iron.
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“Pathetic! You choose mercy because you are WEAK! The world needs Justice!” The unkind Paladin pulled Darius’s hand towards the key hanging around its neck.
Darius’s eye flashed and he struck his other self with his blade. The pommel of his sword smashed into its face. It fell backward, back into its battleground scene. Darius saw red as his head thundered and a searing pain bloomed from his nose.
Quickly, Darius snatched the key from his Paladin Valus alter ego. He used the key to open the door and swiftly exited the scene with a smile on his face. He tasted blood on his lips.
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Everdale rolled his eyes at Darius's swift departure. He glanced at Kelsana and spoke.
“Give it a few minutes before you enter. I don’t think there is any time limit, so go slow. We will do our best. I hope this will enable your trial to be easier. See you on the other side, girl.” Everdale backed into the mists, turning, and walking forward into the grey swirling chaos.
…
Everdale cautiously advanced, his eyes darting all about until his challenge slowly formed. Everdale quickly assessed the scene presented to him. To his left, a familiar place. The high council’s court for the Society of Magi. He saw his future. He was sitting in the Arch Magus’s seat! His image slammed a gavel down, dismissing the room. Mages and supernatural beings excused themselves in casual displays of arcane power. The image was exciting; the summation of all his careful plans for power; arcane, political, and personal.
He looked across to the right. His image there was seated in a tavern surrounded by friends and family. Despite the mage’s thread-bare clothes, aged complexion, and stooped figure; despite his disfigurement, he appeared quite happy. Not a single sign about him showed power or prestige. He was a joke to Everdale’s eyes. A betrayal of his every desire.
Both images strode out of their fading scenes. A door with a lock appeared and they took up position on either side. Everdale quickly noticed the keys each was wearing and was very ready when the voice boomed from the walls.
CHOOSE
Everdale traced a complex mandala that floated in the air in front of him. When the spell form was complete, he fed it with his mana until it pulsed with glowing energy. Everdale smiled and spoke a word of power.
“Starkenschlag!” With the shout, he pushed the spell forward with his last burst of mana. It flashed forward, throwing the lesser Everdale back into his pastoral scene. He was surprised when the spell rebounded sending him crashing into his Magus image.
He staggered up, dusted his robes off, snatched the key from his Magus alter ego, and exited with a frown.
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Kelsana waited nervously facing the mists, wary of any threat from inside the door or behind her. She coughed, holding her side. The wound from the Necromancer’s blade burned. She took a series of quick breaths.
“Ok. Ok. I can do this. The boys will get the key and I can just sail on through. I just need to go slow. Come on. I can do this.” Kelsana slung her bow and palmed a skinning knife, unwilling to go into the blind without some defense. She took a deep breath and staggered into the mist.
…
Kelsana’s sharp eye detected the change in the mist quickly. She oriented upon the shadows and lights and approached cautiously. A solid door with a padlock on it faced her, two ghostly scenes played out on either side.
On the left side, Kelsana saw herself but almost two decades older. She had new scars, grey hair, and lined skin. She looked down across a ghostly land from a balcony, looking every bit a majestic lady. Royalty. She looked unhappy and pensive, like a trapped animal. Looking at her set Kelsana’s guts roiling.
She pivoted to the right. This scene was worse. An older Kelsana again, but this one a withered husk. Her frail form was confined to a rocking chair where she petted a cat while slowly rocking. The woman shivered in the cold morning as the fires dwindled in her hovel. She struggled to eat the last spoonful of her porridge; with shaking hands, she placed the empty bowl carefully on the table beside her chair with a slight smile on her face.
Both women stood and took positions beside the locked door. One was sadly regal and the other stooped and frail. The whole room shuddered, and a voiceless command boomed.
CHOOSE
Kelsana frowned, then saw the keys strung about her two duplicates’ necks. She held her breath and considered them. She needed to choose but with no indication of how or why. She imagined the path each must have taken. The regal lady was comfortable, perhaps powerful, but appeared like she had hard choices to get there. The frail lady was near the end of her path, it looked like her wound had never healed. The dying woman seemed…satisfied though, not quite happy, but at least satisfied.
Kelsana decided then and there what she wanted and chose. She reached for the dying woman. Before she could touch the frail form, her Royal aspect grabbed her by the shoulder and yelled in her face.
“You fool! You would choose death. Are you insane?!” She yelled. Kelsana hyped and primed for danger reacted badly. Her palmed knife was up and between her and the aspect, its blade deep into her heart.
Kelsana felt released and light as a feather as her alter ego fell away. She took the key from her dying counterpart and exited the challenge. As she closed the door behind her, the room pulsed, and the voice spoke again.
SACRIFICE ACCEPTED
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Darius fumed in front of the massive door. His broken nose throbbed. The key had faded as he exited the challenge. He didn’t understand. He assumed the choice between mercy and justice was obvious. If the challenge was to be true to his heart, he should have passed. Doubts plagued him. Was his direction and purpose flawed?
Everdale’s exit forestalled any further introspection. The disheveled and battered mage revealed his empty hands and a confused expression. Darius snorted and then worried all the more. Kelsana would come through soon. He hoped she would succeed. He wasn’t sure what they would do if she failed as well.
“If she doesn’t have a key, I’ll break the damn door down. I need to save her, Valus damn it.” He spoke.
“She’s a smart lass. Maybe she will understand the dungeon’s challenge better than us.” Everdale said wearily.
The door opened and Kelsana staggered through. Her pale face was calm and dreamy, as if sleepwalking. Her hands were clasped to her chest. She looked at each of the men and smiled. She opened her hands, and they gasped seeing the ornate golden key.
Before they could cheer her good fortune, an arterial jet of blood arced from her chest, where she had gripped the key tightly. The new wound was an injury shared with her future aspect. Kelsana’s extreme rejection, killing her potential future self, resulted in a very serious wound. Her curse had already whittled her health down to dangerous levels and this final damage pushed her to the edge.
Kelsana gasped and crumpled to the floor. She felt so sleepy…the boys seemed concerned...but a quick nap first and she could ask them…why they were upset.
She closed her eyes…a smile on her face.
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