Tiger looked extremely scared and angry. He seemed to be ready to light Truth on fire. And that worried Maple. Being an older sister herself, she felt the urge to wrap her wings around him. But that would not be acceptable. Not because of the work code, but because he barely knew her. She wanted to console, to play, and make him smile as she did with her younger sister.

She put a talon of his shoulder to stop him. He jumped and looked at her, frightened.

Maple had always been around strange people. But they thought her strange more than they were strangers. She loved books and hated crowds and most social gatherings. A cup of coffee over a game of chess with a friend was what she liked. What she would’ve liked, if she had any friends there was more to this than just being socially awkward though. If she could’ve had coffee and played games with Tiger they might become good friends. But it seems that the mission ruined that possibility. He would’ve been her first friend she was not related to.

“Why would the Master be here?” Nightfall–no, Truth– muttered.

No one answered. Not Maple, nor Tiger, who was still in shock, mouth agape.

“Truth. Do you know anything about this?” asked Maple. She was very suspicious if Truth was really part of her organization. He seemed to be working for a slightly different cause than she.

He shook his head. Then did so again. More aggressively this time.

“I knew Jaguar had a plan. But it may have been all a ruse to get us here,” he said.

“And you KNEW!” Maple yelled. “You jerk! Did you want us to die in the fire!”

“I did not know that this was in store for us,” he shouted, “I am only a pawn in the scheme of things. Tiger is the one that is not expendable. Whereas I AM EXPENDABLE! I am only a toy and a means to an end for the god of this realm!”

“HAVE YOU THOUGHT THAT I MIGHT BE THE SAME THING?” Maple screamed. “I MIGHT BE EXPENDABLE AS WELL!”

Truth held his tongue back from a retort.

Sighing, Maple took the rock in her talon turned away from Truth and Tiger, and stared at it. She stood there staring at it for quite some time. “What is the Trial?” Maple shouted. Not knowing what to expect, she waited.

Truth looked at her, stunned. “Why did you do that? It seemed like a risky choice.”

“I did not think about it,” Maple said. “I didn’t want to because I'm a little ticked off.”

The answer to Maple’s question came when a rock hit her in the side. The rock, of course, had a message. But the rock could have been delivered in a much nicer way.

She started reading it aloud. “Solve the maze puzzles just down the corner. Go forward, friends. Beware of the dangers of the maze.”

“Tiger? You good?” said Truth.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Tiger nodded absently, looking dazed and woozy.

“Do we need to do the maze? You seem to know the way out. So is that necessary?” Truth asked.

“To make it out in one piece? Yes. I’d guess.”

Tiger looked hilariously absent and unafraid at this as they rounded the bend. Though there was nothing funny about it. Nor was his fear of Truth funny either. It seemed to grow ever so greatly when his name was revealed. Sisterly instincts came. She had to resist once again.

Maple saw a small maze sculpture on a table. It was probably the one the “Master” had referenced. This was the trial. And it was. So Maple went up and touched it only to be surprised by a third rock that smacked her in the face. Toppling her into the underground river that was in this cavern. The water was cold. Colder than the rest of the cave.

No message this time. It was just a rock that wanted to spite her. Or more likely, the Master testing her patience. She had a lot of patience. She waited for friends that needed to cancel or something of the like. She thought it was just them avoiding her. She was the daughter of an “evil” dragon. Everyone hated her because of her heritage. It was a burden she bore alone.

Befuddled, she stood there. Frozen. Not by anything magical, mind you. She was frozen because she was befuddled by the spiteful rock. She did not notice Truth and Tiger getting hit by two more rocks. But, alas, By the time she came back, Tiger had taken one of the rocks and put it in a grove in the ground. But he was not moving.

She walked over and touched the stone.

The stone was cold as an icebox. But not quite as cold as the river.

Cold.

Unlike the fiery wind earlier.

The stone was cold.

But not as cold as the river, thankfully. She had enough of coldness. She had enough of the cold shoulders from everyone around her, despising her for her father’s connections. But soon after pondering these things, her mind returned to the situation at hand: the frozenness.

Her body was frozen and her mind was not. Was this the trial?

I doubt it, she thought. A challenge? A trap? Maybe.

Truth broke her train of thought when he smacked her. Maple could not get a break from having inanimate objects and very much alive talons collide with her. The smack hurt as it should. It was proof of her sanity. But she still could not move. She wonder why she wasn’t frozen when the rock had smacked her. Maybe she needed to touch it for an extended period of time for the frozenness to take action.

As he waved his talon in front of Tiger, a thought struck. This is the trial. But it is one for Truth. I hope he knows.

Did he know? That was something she could do. She was quite literally an ice cube. She could do nothing but watch Truth prove himself a friend or a foe. She secretly hoped he was not a foe. She wouldn’t admit it then, but a bit later, that would change.

But there was also the issue of why the Master was talking to them?

Note from King Dlaerious

As you all know someone had put wanted me dead. And so I now am. It is strange, I’ll let you know. And yes, this book will be strange as I will talk to you, observer, from time to time.

But Truth will take the test of Proving. Even though he has done some illegal activities, I trusted him as he seemed to be a capable dragon. I knew of my incoming demise. So I talked to Jaguar who was part of the Providence Fjord. I did not know that that was the organization that wanted me dead. But I was able to get them to spare my son.

You, observer, keep watch of him as he sees a looking glass and you see a window.

–Dlaerious