Zahra had stayed up longer than the others watching the storm and so it took her some time to motivate herself to get out of bed. She got dressed in her regular clothes and entered the common room as Cairee and Dounia were talking.
She grabbed whatever hot caffeinated beverage was available along with some cucumber water and a few pieces of fruit. She put her snack down on a small table and flopped in a chair. She sipped her hot drink and caught the last of what Dounia was sharing about Kingsworthy. She looked horrified, "That's my fault! I should have just danced with the jerk. Is Prem ok? I'm glad you were there to stop it."
The sorceress had her own tale to share. She told the others about Hallwyn disappearing into the storm. "I wouldn't be surprised if that storm was his doing entirely. It did start forming after what happened with the Sisters and he didn't look happy during that whole exchange."
The gift of the potions brought a smile to Zahra's face. "After everything I've seen the last couple of days with people betting on others to die, it's encouraging that there are still some that choose to appreciate what is right."
She took the potion handed to her and placed it in her bag. "I guess we are as ready as we are going to be. Cairee and Tymythy are both sporting new garments that make them look quite dashing and heroic. All that's left is to choose our door. Shall we?"
A genuine look of confusion covered Zahra's face as Tandyraman announced that the Sisters were forfeiting. They had seen so adamant about continuing last night. But there was no reason that she could think of that made any sense and there was no time to ponder as the choice of door began.
The creature on the Door of the Iron Bands caught the sorceress' attention - maybe because it reminded her of a distant relation four times removed. It looked like a wyvern, known as a pseudo-dragon.
Then everyone began scrambling for their doors and Zahra rushed to their chosen challenge. She really hoped that she would be able to help her team more than she did the last couple of challenges.
Tymythy smiled softly as he was shown the note that had arrived with the unexpected bounty of potions. It had not been his intention to garner favours by restoring the damage they did to the portraits, but it was nice to know there were people here who shared his opinion about at least some things. He’d have to find a chance to express his thanks to the gnomish party later on.
Tandyraman, "Excellent! Fair well. As second in the list, it is time for The Black Birds to declare their challenge!"
”For us, the Portcullis door,” Tymythy said simply, then marched towards the door and the battles ahead.
”Everyone ready?” he asked, hand reaching out towards the gate. He expected there to be no fancy locks or devices blocking this particular door, but then again, he was prepared for this strange plate to prove him wrong again.
As they waited by the gate, Cairee whispered a familiar prayer over all of her friends, asking Saiph to help guide them through this challenge. Then she reached into her little linen pouch of spell components and retrieved a folded cloth. She carefully opened it, revealing several strands of a coarse dark hair. She plucked one and tucked the cloth away. She stood near Tymythy, bull's hair pinched between her thumb and index finger, waiting until the last possible moment to recite her prayer.
The song of ten sounded and Tandyraman yelled, "Begin!
As Tymythy took hold of the grating, he felt Cairee's light touch on his shoulder. The priestess whispered a few words and strength unlike anything he had felt before flooded into the young hunter, causing him to gasp in wonder. The metal grating of the gate suddenly seemed a little less intimidating.
He took hold of the gate and gave it an experimental tug. "Heavy. Heavier than I thought it would be," he muttered, then took a deep breath and put his back - and his newly-enchanted muscles - into it. Groaning with effort, the gate began to rise, slowly but steadily. "Please hurry," he murmured to Dounia, maneuvering himself to rest the gate on his shoulder. "I don't think I can keep this up for long."
Cairee cast her spell on Tymythy, weaving the coarse bull hair gently through one of his braid while murmuring a prayer to Saiph. She heard him gasp, saw him stand a little taller, and could feel the strength emanating from him. It almost felt like a little of his borrowed power transferred back to her. That's not how it works, she thought. But still, something told her to try. Tymythy lifted the first gate and Cairee rushed through to the second. She squatted down, grabbed the metal bars, and heaved up.
Round 1
As soon as Tymythy had the gate up, Dounia slid in beside him. She hammered the piton in at just the right place, so it would hold up the gate. But it was heavy, and it wouldn't hold for long. "We have maybe 20 seconds if we're lucky!"
Round 2
She then rushed over to the second gate, which Cairee, somehow, was holding up. "Praise be to Saiph!" she said, only half joking. This time it was a bit easier, and she got the next piton in a bit more securely. "Maybe 25 seconds on this one."
Zahra brought up the rear more by accident than design. She rushed after the others, her reflexes slightly slower. She kept close to the others and because her hands weren't needed right away, she attempted to help with her eyes and her magic.
She spoke the arcane words she had learned to reveal magical auras. She then looked for any signs of hidden magic. She also looked for anything on the upcoming gate that would prove helpful to them in getting it open. She couldn't make out anything overly helpful so readied herself to help with the third gate should it prove harder to lift than the others.
Impressed by the fortitude shown by Caree as she muscled up the second gate even easier than he, with all his blessed strength, managed the first, Tymythy heard Dounia’s assurance his gate was going to hold for a spell without him. He let go of it gingerly, feeling the heavy grating shift and shudder as it strived to come falling down... but Dounia’s piton held for now. Without wasting any time he rushed to the third gate, grunting with effort as he tried to get that, too, off the ground.
Zahra saw Cairee and Dounia still dealing with the second gate and Tymythy struggling with the third gate so she rushed forward to help him.
She tried to get purchase on the door to help lift but it proved difficult and she felt her hands slip a bit.
Zahra finds no magical auras in the area and the gates are the plainest of devices. There are no stones, boards, or metal bars to help.
Dounia was starting to get into the swing of things. It was a bit harder to squeeze in with both Zahra and Tymythy holding up the gate, so it was a good thing she was small. Again, she got another piton, hammered it in just so, and she could feel it take the gate's weight. "Good to go, get the next one!"
As soon as Dounia gave the go ahead, Zahra was moving towards the next gate to give her help in the lift. Her grip had slipped a bit on the last gate so she was determined to do better.
But she couldn't find a proper place to hold on to and wasn't able to help like she hoped. Not wanting to remain in the way for others to help, she squeezed out of the way.
"It's slipping," Tymythy grunted, trying in vain to keep hold of the heavy gate.
Cairee felt powerful as she lifted the second gate all by herself and glowed with pride as she held it up while Dounia secured it. She saw Tymythy and Zahra heave together to lift the third, but they couldn't hold it. The cleric rushed forward to help with her new-found strength. She squeezed between her two friends and grabbed the bars.
Her hands were slick with sweat and slipped right off the bar. The gate crashed down. Cairee, Zahra and Tymythy stumbled back, and the cleric found herself under the second gate, jammed up by Dounia's clever work.
For the second time that day she had felt prideful, and Saiph had immediately responded. A lesson Cairee usually appreciated - for those who walk with pride walk alone. But could the lesson not have waited until my friend's lives weren't on the line? she asked her goddess.
The cleric rushed back to the third gate. She dried her hands on her robe, squatted a little, braced her thighs and back, clasped the bars, and waited for Tymythy's word to lift.
Tymythy struggled to get the grating he had already lifted once up again, but the heavy metal seemed against the idea. ”It’s not budging,” he grunted. ”Did something get stuck?”
The Black Birds were amazing!
The first gate was lifted. The second gate was lifted. The first gate was blocked and held in place!
The second gate was held up. The second gate was blocked. The third gate was lifted!
And nothing came without the strength and guidance of Saiph through her conduit Cairee.
But, on the thirteenth heartbeat since the challenge started, the third gate began to slide down. Tymythy strained, Cairee and Zahra rushed to help. Dounia rushed to block it. With the gate slowly descending she couldn't get her wedge in a confining two foot lane between first and third gates.
Everyone had to give up and get out of the way or be pinned to the ground!
Tymythy pushed hard against the gate and something in his left shoulder flared with a searing pain that left the arm weak.
The wedge shattered on the first gate and it fell violently. It brushed against the team's backs, closing The Backbirds in.
Dounia stood, heart pounding, as the others struggled with the third gate. She almost dropped her tools to help, but she knew she was the only one who could jam them open. "Come on Zahra, you can do it! Use those dragon muscles!" she cheered her friend on.
Zahra gave Dounia a grateful smile at her encouragement and then faced the gate with focused determination. Last time the gate had slipped in her grasp so this time she willed her claws to grow to get a better grip on the gate.
She then channeled the many porters she had seen in the bazaar and lifted with her legs to heave the heavy gate. She couldn't keep the look of surprise off her face as she actually felt the gate begin to budge. "Now it's up to you, Dounia!"
Woohoo! You go girl!
So that brings us to round 5? Somebody get that last gate up! I don't even need to jam it, because then we're in the arena, right?
The jammed second gate slid downward suddenly, but stopped three inches from where it'd been jammed. The wedge was cracking. Then Zahra put her shoulder into the third gate and, miracles!, it drew upward. Dounia jammed it there.
One gate left.
Through the final gate they could see a sixty foot hall that led to an open arena. What looked to be an oval one hundred and twenty feet wide by one hundred and eighty feet long. On the far side was a set of double doors flanked by two gates.
Grimacing with pain from a muscle he had pulled wrestling with the third gate, he still moved forward at Dounia’s go-ahead to attack the last gate, very much conscious of the grating and groaning noises of the gates still held up by Dounia’s arts objecting to their treatment. It was going to be difficult with one good arm – he was not going to test his luck by trusting too much to his left shoulder, with actual battles looming ahead – but with the help of the others, there might be a way.
With a grunt of effort Tymythy got the fourth gate off the ground, lifting it a dozen inches with one hand, then pushed his enchanted usriev into the gap with his left hand, kneeling quickly to rest the shaft on his good shoulder, then used his legs and his back to lever the gate into the air.
”Cairee, Zahra, if you would,” he grunted, feeling he could use all the help available.
Cairee and Tymythy struggled at the third gate, but they couldn't find purchase. Fortunately Zahra stepped in and managed to lift it on her own. Tymythy hurried to lift the fourth gate by himself. The strength of her team was amazing! She ducked under the gate and started down the hall. "Ciga Mtce Ted" she muttered as she walked, inspecting the hall for any magical auras.
"YES!" Dounia hooted in glee as Zahra muscled the third door open. As she jammed it open, Tymythy ducked under and got to work lifting the final gate. Not needing to prop the final one open, she scooted underneath just in time to jump as the second door crashed down.
"Amazing!" she said, pretending to caress Zahra and Cairee's arms. "So strong!" She turned to do the same to Tymythy, then caught herself, blushed scarlet, and turned away.
Ahead was the hallway that led to the arena. She didn't expect any traps here, but on the other hand, the challenges did keep getting harder. "Let me take a look," she instructed, as she made her way forward.
There was a sandglass tipped on its' side. It was attached to the wall an a swivel mechanism. It seemed to be a half-minute glass and there was still sand in the top section.
Dounia could see nothing amiss until she arrived at the gateway to the arena. Faint sounds of machines and the feeling of humming coming up through her shoes hinted at some massive complex machine. At least part of it was connected to the ten foot square slate at the base of the doorway. Most likely, a trigger to shut the door behind them ... and get the party started.
Cairee couldn't see any magical aura at the beginning of the hall but, as they came closer to the arena, there was a powerful single aura above them and encircling the open space. It threatened to knock her out much the way detecting Kamzar's spell on Dounia did. Zahra could feel it to and even a little focusing of their 'sight' made their knees weak.
"Amazing!" she said, pretending to caress Zahra and Cairee's arms. "So strong!" She turned to do the same to Tymythy, then caught herself, blushed scarlet, and turned away.
”Hardly worth the praise,” Tymythy murmured, rolling his injured shoulder and doing what he could to massage the muscles he could reach under his new pauldrons. ”Cairee, your blessing proved very useful – clearly I need to step up my training if a few barriers like that proved that much of a challenge.” But there was time aplenty later to regret his failings – they had got through, as a team as they should, one stepping up to help where another was struggling. And the actual battles still awaited them.
”Remember, the grains of sand are already tricking down the glass,” he reminded the others. ”I don’t think we got confirmation if we have time to prepare here, before the battles, but it is certain that once the first gate opens the others are not going to wait upon our pleasure.” He hurried towards the gate on their right hand. ”So if there is something for us to learn before we make our first choice, let’s get on with it. But do not wander too far... just in case.”
Cairee could feel a powerful magic encircling the arena. Probably to keep them contained within. She decided not to investigate further - the doors (and when they might open) was more important. "Dounia and I will check the door on the left. Zahra, why don't you go with Tymythy? Let's see if there's a way to open or 'choose' a door, or if they just start opening."
She approached the door carefully, looking for any indication of what might be behind it, or how/when it would open.
Dounia shook her head. "No, you guys look at the doors and pick. I'm going to take a look for the helpful items. And see if that door at the end is a fifth challenge or something. Also, I'm pretty sure that as soon as we're all in here, that gate is coming down. I'm not even going to try to jam it."
And with that, Dounia sprinted straight ahead, head swiveling both directions as she looked for the "helpful items". The other times they were in soft stone, or behind glass; what would it be this time? Behind a gate? Hidden under one of the stones she was sprinting over?
Zahra scooted under the fourth gate into the arena. "There has to be a way to choose which door opens and we'll have to choose quickly or the choice is taken from us. It may be best to know what is behind each gate to know what our options are."
As she jogged to the right to check the first gate, she assessed her surroundings as she went. She looked at the floor and the walls. It didn't take her long to get to the first gate and she looked inside to see what was there.
Tymythy and Zahra rushed to the gate to their right . The iron portcullis was made up of three inch flatbars welded and riveted together, leaving nine inch square spaces in between. Above the portcullis on the wall was a carving of a crescent with what looks to be a rope wrapped around it. To the right of the portcullis there was a pull chain that disappeared into a flute hole in the wall.
Beyond the gate was dark and it quickly lit with Zahra's magical encouragement. The walls were dungeonous stone, cold and damp. The floor was stone covered in old straw. There was a space around a corner that couldn't be seen but something lay there just at the turning.
It looked like a tarpaulin. It was dusty and nearly the colour of the stone but perhaps darker. It sparkled faintly with the light. It felt wrong, eerie. It wasn't fabric ... it looked more like ... skin.
On the far back wall there were markings. They looked like symbols, both pictograms and some form of numerology, made by scraping stone against the wall.
-
Cairee rushed to the arch on the left . There was a pull chain to the right of the iron portcullis. Above the gate were three symbols carved in the wall.
At the far end of a little space beyond the gate, little more than a deep rectangle, there were three stone bowls set into the floor. The space was dark but the first bowl gave off a faint orange light, the second the tiniest white light, and the third a bright orange light.
-
Dounia rushed towards the middle of the arena as the two twenty foot tall wooden doors closed behind her and her team.
The outside walls looked featureless and were capped by a strange grey nothingness. Inside the nothingness, however, there were shadows. It looked like the different forms of spectators, some the size of a man, some smaller, some describing creatures more than twenty feet tall. Only about half of the figures were human shaped. There was a distant susurrus as the shadows in the nothing spoke to each other.
The floor of the arena seemed to made of sandstone dyed in four basic colours: blue, green, yellow, and red. They seemed to have a deep groove around their ten foot sections and the spaces in between, the thin walls and corner squares, seemed connected without grooves.
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Tymythy leaned in closer to the portcullis gate to peer into the darkness lit by Zahra’s conjuration. There was a strange musky odour in the air, something distantly familiar but that the hunter couldn’t quite place... that and the piece of hide lying on the straw-covered stones.
”Spirits below!” Tymythy muttered an oath as he suddenly snapped his head reflexively back and raised his usriev by reflex. Not hide, but skin. Shed skin. Combine that with he smell... the smell of a snake mixed in with something else. ”An evil beast, a fusion of a serpent and the woman it tried to swallow whole. It’s geed proved greater than its appetite and it choked on its prey, even as its fangs bit down around the woman’s waist, filling her veins with its venom. Some wilful spirit took pity on the creature and its prey, and in its inhuman, unknowable way, sought to balance the scales, giving back one life for two taken. Thus were the naga born, as venomous as the serpent, as wily as the human, and blessed with a plethora of mystical gifts.”
”This one is a dangerous foe,” Tymythy murmured, his voice not entirely displeased. For there was honour to be found in combat, and the greater the foe, the bigger the reward. Then he frowned, as his eyes caught something else at the back of the naga’s lair, a reflection of metal on the wall. Picture-writing, the likes of which he had never seen before, he believed. But the general purpose of the markings seemed clear enough to him, having sneaked out with his clan’s other youths on many a night to spy on the shaman’s rituals.
”Charts for tracking the phases of the moons and the movements of the celestial spheres,” he muttered, not knowing how this could be relevant to their current situation but filing the fact for later use.
When Tymythy recognized the Naga skin, even as he spoke the words 'Thus were the Naga born ...', it was as if something struck the quillon of Kizu'gina. A vibration went down to the base and up to the point simultaneously. The metal sung out a tiny ring in his ears and the shaft became hot in a way that was somehow bearable to hold.