A blinding flash of light drove away the darkness, disappearing almost as quickly as it came. Ihra's vision swam as her eyes struggled to adjust back to the pitch darkness of the city. She pressed hard against Jasper’s back, swishing her dagger back and forth through the air in front of her fruitlessly. But no attacks came.
As her vision cleared, a welcome sight met her eyes. The copper door stood ajar and, within its chambers, the darkness of the city was replaced by a pale, gentle light.
The two surged forward, throwing themselves into the waiting sanctuary. No sooner had their feet crossed the threshold, then the door of the vault slammed shut behind them.
Kaksû's Sepulcher was lined with the same pale green stone that dominated the architecture of the upper city and here, surrounded by a sea of eternal darkness, the stone’s supple light was never quenched. Ihra's heart beat rapidly as she searched the corners for any sign of the hideous, pale monsters, but the room was empty.
Ihra sagged against the vault doors as relief flooded through her veins. She knew she’d had to brave the dark corridors of the city again, but for now, she did her best to put the thought out of her mind. After all, she had a trial to complete.
Before they did anything else, they ate. Ihra wasn't sure how long they had been down in the city, but judging from the ferocious knotting in her stomach, she guessed it had been at least a day, perhaps more. Their progress through the city had slowed to barely above a crawl once they were forced to leave the main road behind.
But hunger, at least, was a problem easily solved. Nabul’s bag of holding had quickly proven itself to be her most prized possession; while its capacity was far from endless, it eliminated most of their logistical concerns. They could be trapped down here for weeks, and they’d still have food to eat and water to drink. Ihra had been disappointed to discover it wouldn’t keep food hot, but she supposed that was too much to ask. Can’t complain.
When she had finished scarfing down a few sandwiches, Ihra finally turned her attention back to the room. Compared to the elaborate facade outside, the interior was surprisingly austere. The walls were crisp and clean, utterly unadorned by any sort of bas-reliefs, and the only furniture in the room was a series of benches that lined the walls - in surprisingly good condition, compared to the furniture in the ruined homes - and a statue. The titular Kaksû, I suppose?
She walked over to it, examining it curiously. Despite the masculine name, the statue was that of a woman. Highly stylized, the woman sported two large wings that arched behind her back; their tips met above her head, forming a circle, while she aimed a taut bow off into the distance. A dagger hung at her side and a necklace of long, jagged teeth dangle from her neck. Were the pillars outside representations of her? Perhaps to the original inhabitants, each one would have represented some story from the heroine's life.
Ihra stared at the statue for a long moment, as a sudden feeling of melancholy washed over her. There's something rather sad about this place, she realized. Whomever Kakŝu once was, she must have been a legendary warrior at the time, her trial a treasured monument in a bustling city. Now, her story was forgotten - her tomb lost to the ravages of time. Ihra wondered how long it had been since someone had come to face her challenge and how long it would be before another would find their way here.
Everything fades, save for the Mourner. She suppressed a shudder as her thoughts turned to Jasper’s goddess; she didn’t know how he could stand being around a being of such fate, although, she supposed, he didn’t really have a choice.
The only other objects in the room were the three doors in the back wall. Miniature versions of the verdigrised copper door at the entrance, these doors still shone as bright as if they had been polished yesterday. Nothing was written on them, but Ihra knew that they must lead to the trial. Or at least one of them.
She found herself drifting towards the one on the left. Her hand hesitated over the pull, afraid she’d try to open the door only to find another lock, another puzzle, barring her way. She ran a nervous hand down her side, feeling the bow and quiver attached to her back, the dagger hanging from her hip. I’m as ready as I’m going to be. With a final muttered prayer to Selene, her hand closed around the handle. The door swung open easily, and she stepped inside.
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Jasper almost choked on his sandwich as Ihra disappeared through the door. Dropping it on the floor, he dashed to the door, forcefully yanking at the handle. The door didn’t budge. Damn it. He didn't bother whaling on the door, having already learned the futility of that task on the sepulcher's front entrance. Guess she's doing the trial by herself.
With a sigh, he wandered over to one of the benches that lined the walls; he cautiously lowered himself down on it, afraid the ancient furniture would it break at the first sign of stress, but the wood held.
Exhausted, he slumped against the wall, keeping one eye cocked on the door Ihra had disappeared through and the other on the main entrance. Feeling himself drifting off, he slammed his hand into his leg, letting the pain wake him up; he couldn't let himself fall asleep. Even if the door seemed secure, nothing in the accursed city felt truly safe.
If I ever get out of here, I am never, ever going underground again, he vowed to himself, but even as he uttered the words, he knew how silly they were. Still, it felt good to say them - truth be damned.
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He let himself rest his eyes for just a moment, but one moment turned into two as he slipped into a sleepless slumber, haunted by visions of a pale, gangly body and an even paler face.
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Boom. Boom. Boom.
Ihra emerged through the door, flinching as the ominous thuds met her ear. Her bow sprang into her hand with practiced ease, and she quickly strung an arrow as she scanned her surroundings for the source of the sound.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
She was standing in a great hall with architecture quite unlike any she had ever seen. If Jasper had been there to see it, he would have described it as a Gothic cathedral on steroids. The roof soared far above her head, born aloft on rows of delicate pillars.
The floor of the cathedral was shattered, the grass having reclaimed most of the land, and thick vines wound their way up the soaring shafts of the pillars, covered in thousands of pale, white flowers. Compared to the darkness of the underground city, the strange temple was shockingly bright, the rays of the sun brushing against her face with a warm, almost gentle, caress. Is this place real? An illusion?
Ihra stepped forward uncertainly, her eyes searching for the source of the thunderous sound.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
With slow but steady steps, a giant humanoid form approached her. Thick plates of golden armor covered every limb of its body and the ground shook beneath the weight of its steps, but it held no weapons. A golem.
Ihra's hand hesitated on the taut bowstring. The trial was probably a combat test, but a hint of doubt slowed her actions - after all, sometimes trials were designed to make you think outside the box. She didn’t want to fail because she attacked some friendly guardian.
Any lingering doubts were shattered a moment later when the golem roared at her. A gust of wind shot from its mouth, smashing into her with a force so great that Ihra was tossed to the ground. She landed hard, the arrow tumbling from her hands as her nose was buried deep into the soft grass that broke her fall. It took a second for her rattled brain to reset, but as the fog begin to clear, Ihra realized the grass was growing around her. Already, small tendrils were wrapping around her legs, her arms - her throat.
The sudden pressure on her windpipes shook her out of her fog. With a mighty heave, Ihra shoved herself off the ground; the still-fragile vines snapped beneath her strength as she rolled off the grass onto the damaged pavement, snatching up her fallen bow.
She swayed, gasping for air, but her hands were already in motion as she reached for another arrow. Alright, message received - stay off the grass.
The golem’s jaw opened again and Ihra had no time to think further, throwing herself to the side as another blast of wind rushed past where she had been standing. She stumbled as she rose but somehow managed to keep her balance. Running as fast as she could, Ihra circled around behind the golem.
It turned, trying to track her, but its movements were ponderous, unable to keep up with her speed. Coming to a stop, she snatched an arrow out of her quiver and aimed for its head, holding her position until the first of the golem’s eyes was visible. Despite her quivering hands, Ihra’s aim was true as she fired off an arrow at the golem.
The arrow slammed into the ruby-red eyes of the golem with a loud clang and bounced off, landing harmlessly on the ground. With another roar, it charged forward, the hulking set of armor moving at a far faster clip than before. Great, I just made it angry.
The next few minutes passed in a blur. The enraged golem was surprisingly fast, but not quite fast enough. Pushed to the edge of her abilities, Ihra somehow managed to stay just out of reach of its flailing arms and wind-infused screams.
But she wasn’t making any progress either. Her arrows were useless against the creature’s heavy, plated armor. She wasn’t sure she had even managed to make a scratch in its golden sheen.
And then the inevitable happened. Ihra fired another useless potshot at her adversary, the arrow pinging off into space harmlessly and, as always, the golem shot toward her, the ground shaking beneath its rampage feet. As she had done dozens of times already, Ihra dove to the right, her arms tucked close to her chest as she prepared to roll her to her feet. Except, instead of her typically graceful landing, she sprawled face-first on the ground.
She hadn’t noticed when a small part of her heel had slipped off the broken pavement, too focused on her aim to feel the grassy tendril that snaked its way up her thigh. She lay on the ground, stunned; her head rung from the impact with the pavement, the trembling of the ground beneath the golem’s charge only making her thoughts more muddled.
Ironically, the tendril that tripped her also saved her.
As Ihra lay there, helpless before the golem’s approaching charge, the vine pulled her further into the grass. Its tendrils quickly wrapped around her as it pulled her out of the path of the golem's charge. Her mind still foggy, Ihra struggled weakly against the bonds that were quickly closing in around her, even as a tendril begin to slither over her mouth.
The golem, however, quickly noticed the absence of a warm, sticky goo coating its feet. The ground shook as it turned its head, searching for its adversary. And then it roared.
The blast of wind smashed into her like a load of bricks, turning her already ringing head into a veritable choir of bells, but the vine wrapped around received the brunt of the attack. The wind tore through her grassy shackles, ripping her free of her binds. Somehow, Ihra managed to roll to her side, rolling off the grass back onto the pavement.
Her body driven by instinct more than thought, Ihra crawled across the pavement. Her knees scraped against the broken shards of stones, leaving a trail of smudged blood behind as the ground began to shake again. She fumbled for her bow, her mind still unclear, as she turned to face her foe.
Then the shaking stopped. The golem had charged right at her, but its path had led directly through the damaged vine. As the golem's feet stepped onto the grass, dozens of tendrils surged around it, bringing its momentum to a sudden, grinding halt. Most of the vines snapped beneath its ponderous weight but it was enough to throw it off its balance. With a thud, the golem landed on its knees, more vines surging forward to wind their way around its limbs.
And there, on the top of its head, Ihra saw her target. A large blue crystal was lodged in the top of its head, a single place unarmored. Somehow, she managed to fire a shot. The arrow flew true. It smashed into the crystal, bouncing off like every arrow before it - except this time, there was a scratch. The crystal didn’t shatter, but a crack ran across its face.
She didn’t have time to fire a second arrow. With another scream, the golem blasted the vine of its body, the wind slicing through the fragile tendrils. A moment later, Ihra was once again running for her life, narrowly diving out of reach of the golem’s rampage.
But now she had a plan.