The door shook. A bronze glow ran up grooves that branched across its surface like the roots of a tree. It crawled to the edges, continuing onto the frame and the many shapes that marked it.

They're runes, Ash realized, as the patterns began to light up one at a time.

Once the final one was lit, Moradin removed his hand, his aura fading. “We might want to back up. I’m not sure what it's trying to do.”

Ash did exactly that, stepping out of the massive frame.

The wind buffeted them as they watched the door. It continued to shake, the sounds of unseen stone mechanisms shifting into place.

The air before the door began to shimmer, as if heated by an invisible flame. The shimmer gradually solidified into an amber-hued translucent veil. Ripples expanded outward from its center like waves across a pond. Energy continued to pour into it, making it grow increasingly opaque.

Suddenly, the shaking stopped, the sound of stone-on-stone halting. The glowing runes faded, leaving a horizontal pool of rippling amber to tower over the two of them.

“What is it?” Ash asked.

“A portal,” Moradin answered, concern on his face.

A portal, Ash mused while staring at the doorway. He had read about portals, but this was his first time seeing one in person.

“I don't love this,” Moradin said with frustration.

“Why? It's basically just a door with a few extra steps, yeah?”

“A door you can open and see through. A door you can break down and escape from. Portals, on the other hand…” Moradin trailed off while approaching the mana-dense wall. “Portals are tricky. You don't know where you'll end up, or how you'll get back.” He flicked it with a thick finger, making waves spread across its surface.

“So, what then? We turn back?” Ash asked, disappointment in his voice.

Moradin turned to him, a devilish grin on his face. “Might as well stay in bed if you're not willing to take a risk every now and then. Fortune favors the bold.”

Hearing those words caused a devilish smile to appear on Ash’s face as well, a smile he quickly discarded. The old fool’s rubbing off on me.

Moradin’s face went serious again. “We enter at the same time. Reduces the chances of it separating us.” He stretched out his neck. “You ready?” he asked with a smile.

Ash nodded, trying to hide the anxiety welling up in his chest. He walked up to stand side by side with Moradin. Looking up at the large man, he gave a face that signaled he was ready.

“Cautious curiosity,” Moradin reminded Ash with confidence.

“Hmph,” Ash acknowledged.

“On three,” Moradin said, entering a prepared stance.

Ash faced forward and waited for the count, his heart racing in anticipation.

“3… 2… 1.”

They both dashed forward.

When the portal’s amber energy enveloped Ash, it felt neither hot nor cold. In fact, he noticed there was nothing to sense. Only the tremendous amount of mana encompassed him. Strangely, it felt nice, drifting in deprivation.

However, the calm feeling was ripped away from him like warm sheets on a cold night. He felt like he was falling in every direction at once—down was up, right was left. His body was being pulled in directions that he didn’t have a name for. Blood rushed to his head and rushed right back out, over and over. His equilibrium screamed.

The next thing he knew, he slammed into a bed of coarse sand as if it was a brick wall. He reeled in it like a dying worm, his body still trying to figure out what direction was which. He rolled to his side and vomited. Keeping still, he clenched a handful of sand as he waited for his equilibrium to readjust.

“Moradin?” he tried, spitting out bits of sand.

No response.

“Fuck,” he cursed under his breath. The world was still spinning around him like he was a drunk out on a bender. He maneuvered into a seated position and took a moment to gather himself, wiping the sand from his coat. He grabbed his waterskin from his coat and tried to clean his mouth out as he scanned his surroundings.

He seemed to be in some sort of walled-off colosseum. Empty rows of seats circled the arena of sand he sat in. The light brown stone of the colosseum contrasted heavily with the encircling gray walls that rose up to form a dome high up above him. On the wall of the arena itself loomed three gates, each with a differently colored gem embedded in its center.

Where in the hell am I?

He reached out with his senses to see if he could feel Moradin close by.

The only things he could feel were auras that emanated from the three gates. Each felt slightly different; however, they were too faint to make out any details. He was going to take a moment to look at them more closely; however, his attention quickly shifted to the fourth aura he sensed—the one radiating from directly behind him.

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“Hello!” the voice of a chipper girl called out from his back.

Ash whirled, pushing off the ground and twisting midair to confront the unseen figure. The sand splashed as he skidded backward to a stop thirty feet away, red mist already evaporating from his summoned daggers.

“Now, that was pretty cool,” the girl said with obvious sarcasm.

Ash didn't know what to say—the girl's appearance catching him off guard. Maybe a few years older than him, she wore a well-tailored outfit of various shades of white and gray that fit nicely over her lean build. Her pale auburn hair was kept in a loose braid with bangs that stopped just above her smug eyes.

She stood in a loose, but confident, stance, her hands interlocked behind her back.

“Cat got your tongue,” she mocked with a Cheshire grin.

“I… uh…” Ash stammered. He blinked, trying to get his words together, but when he opened his eyes, the girl was gone.

“Nice pokers you got there,” Ash heard from his side, the girl crouching down to tap at the tip of one of his daggers.

He whirled a second time, kicking off the sand again to gain some distance.

“I'm going to start calling you Rabbit if you keep hopping around like that,” she said as she watched Ash glide through the air away from her.

He slid to a stop.

“Who are you?” he managed to get out.

“That's not very polite, you know, asking for a girl's name before you've given your own,” she said with a pout.

He paused for a moment, thinking over how wise it was to give—whoever this girl was—his name. “I'm Ash,” he eventually called out, instantly regretting his decision to do so. Stupid, he chided himself.

“Ash… hmmm,” she looked up and to the side as if she were playing around with how the name felt in her mouth. “I think I prefer Rabbit,” she said with a smile. “Suits you better. You even have the hair to match.”

Ash's face went hot at the comment. “Your name?” he called out.

“Hm?” she looked at him, confused, until realization suddenly appeared on her face. “Oh! I almost forgot.” She cleared her throat with a faux “Ahem,” before bending over to give Ash an exaggerated bow. “My name is Reylia, the Third Watcher of the Lethrian Trial. It is my duty—no…, my honor—to guide you through this challenge, young Aspirant,” she said in an overly formal voice.

“Hello, Reylia,” Ash started, his tone unimpressed. “I didn't understand half of what you just said.”

“As expected, young aspirant,” she continued in the same voice, still deep in her bow. “Rabbits do have small brains, after all.” She looked up at him with a mocking grin.

Ash just stared at her blankly, his face straight as the edge of a table.

“Fine,” she said, dropping the polite act—obviously upset that she couldn’t get a rise out of him. “As I said, this is the Lethrian Trial.” She gestured to the three gates. “Made to test aspiring youth and give them the tools that might aid them in their journey ahead,” she said as if she were reading from a script.

Ash just stood there, no longer in a defensive stance—his flat stare unchanged.

“Sharp as a marble, this one,” Reylia muttered to herself as she rubbed the bridge of her nose with frustration. “Do you want to take the trial or not? I wouldn't have let you in here if you weren't at least somewhat capable of completing it.”

Ash didn't know what she was going on about. His top priority right now was finding Moradin. “Have you by chance seen my friend? Giant. Big hammer,” he asked.

“Oh, that old monster? I didn't let him in,” she answered while looking over her nails. “I shot him right out of the portal. Tried his best to get in. Still is, actually. Persistent bastard, that one.”

Old monster? Ash wasn't sure she was talking about the same person. “The big guy's okay though, yeah?”

She looked at him like he just asked if water was wet. “My little portal isn't going to hurt someone like him.”

“Good,” Ash nodded, relief filling him. He unsummoned his daggers. “Could you show me to the exit, then, please?”

“Huh?” she said with disbelief at the comment.

“The exit. Or you could just point me in the right direction.”

“Kid, did you hear anything I just said? You realize this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? I won't let you back in here if you decide to leave.”

Learning that he couldn't return gave him pause. Moradin had spent the better part of a month getting this place open. It would be a shame to see all that go to waste. And, if everything this girl was saying was true, then Moradin would probably slap him over the head for not taking the opportunity, whatever it was. The big man's words rang in his head. “Fortune favors the bold… Cautious curiosity…”

“What do I get for completing your trial?” he asked.

“Depends on how far you get,” she answered, arms crossed. “However, even the lowest-tier reward will put those little pokers of yours to shame.”

Ash looked over the three gates that surrounded him. “And what does the trial entail?”

“Can't say.”

“Why not?”

“Against the rules.”

“Whose rules?”

“Can't say,” she finished with a smirk and a quick raise of her eyebrows.

Ash glared at the woman. She wanted him to take her damn trial but wouldn’t give him a lick of information. “Who even are you anyway? Why are you stuck in some random ruins in the middle of nowhere?”

“Can't say,” she replied again.

Ash was growing visibly frustrated.

“Fiiiii-ne,” she said, drawing out the word. “If you manage to make it to the end, in addition to any reward you get, I'll also answer one question.”

“Any question?” he clarified.

“Any. Question,” she confirmed.

Ash took a moment to think about it, weighing all the factors. Generally, he would take the safe option and back out; there really wasn't enough information about what he was getting into. However, the ruins; the portal; the colosseum. There had to be something worthwhile here.

“Fine,” he eventually said.

“Fine? As in, you agree to take the trial?”

“Yes…” he answered, already regretting the decision.

“Yay!” the girl cheered, clapping her hands together. “So,” she started, pointing at the gate closest to him. “Something big and scary is going to come out of there. All you have to do is try not to die for three minutes.”

“Wait, hold on—” Ash tried to cut in, but failed.

“Any questions? No? Perfect!” She hopped up and down like a kid in a candy shop. “Good luck! I'm rootin’ for ya,” she finished with a wink, before disappearing into thin air.

The massive crystal embedded in the gate began to glow a crimson red, an ominous aura blaring out of it.

“Fuck,” Ash cursed, daggers appearing in both hands.