The final challenge had begun, and we were already behind.
I hoped we weren’t too late.
The Third
WITH EVERY STEP I TOOK along the orichalcum path, more lights appeared in the distance. Their orange and red flames revealed patches of smooth and polished stone engraved with intricate shapes that reminded me of the battle scenes Eric had pulled from the web. They were so vast, and so far away, though, that it was hard to be sure what they represented.
The path was so narrow we had to walk single file, and the dead silence from my friends told me their nerves were getting the best of them. Even Eric, who’d been so excited to begin this challenge, hadn’t made a peep since we’d passed through the arch.
“Stay with me, guys,” I called out. “This is all for show. Don’t let it get in your head.”
“We’re so high up.” Eric’s voice was uncharacteristically thin. “I can’t even see the bottom of this pit.”
“We’re just walking.” I raised my voice and forced a chuckle for their benefit. The truth was, it did seem that our path was hundreds of feet over a gaping chasm’s floor. “The path’s plenty wide. Keep one foot in front of the other, and you’ll be fine.”
“Thanks, man,” Eric said, and his voice seemed stronger, more confident.
“And I’m right behind you, Eric,” Hagar said. “I’ll snatch you with my webs if you trip over those big feet of yours.”
“You’re hilarious,” Eric said.
Good. I had no idea how long we had to walk, and I needed my team to keep their heads on straight. Panicking out here in the middle of literal nowhere wouldn’t help anyone.
More lights appeared in the darkness ahead of us, just a few yards away from either side of the orichalcum path. The flames revealed statues, humans on the right, dragons on the left. Each pair stared at their opposites with expressions that started as admiration and grew into angry glares the further we moved down the pathway.
After long minutes of walking between statues, I noticed their styles had changed. They were cruder now, more primitive, and so much angrier than they had been before. The dragons reared up, and stone tongues of flame burst from their mouths. The humans wielded spears and swords and axes, or held bows drawn to fire at the statues across from them. It was as if we were walking back through centuries of an uneasy alliance to the first battle between humans and dragons.
“It makes you wonder,” Clem said. “Why would the Empyrean Flame make two creatures so proud? It had to know they’d compete for dominance.”
“A wise ruler never lets his generals know which is his favorite.” Abi’s words sounded like they’d come from some memory of a lesson he’d heard long ago.
“So they never get complacent?” Eric asked.
“No.” Abi’s voice grew solemn. “Uncertain men spend their time competing with each other, and don’t try to become rulers themselves.”
That killed our conversation for a while as we all considered Abi’s wise words. It made sense that the Flame wouldn’t want either men or dragons to get too complacent. If they were at one another’s throats, they’d be too busy to wonder if they shouldn’t set their sights a little higher.
That line of thought gave me some questions to ask the Flame when I won this thing.
“Look, we’re almost there!” I pointed ahead of us.
A light blossomed in the void. A door framed by a statue of a human and a dragon locked in mortal combat lay at the end of our path. The human’s hands were wrapped around the dragon’s throat. The dragon’s claws were buried in the human’s stomach. The statue was so lifelike I expected to see blood run from those wounds.
And then, it did.
We were just yards from the doorway when brilliant colors flowed into the statues. Vivid scarlet splashes marred the stone below the man’s feet, and the dragon’s wings changed from pale gray to deepest black. The sculptures moved, the details of their combat so exquisite they burned themselves into my thoughts. Battle cries rang in my ears, and I knew that this wasn’t just a fight between one man and one dragon. I watched a representation of the cataclysmic war that had shaken Earth to its foundations. When the most powerful creatures in existence vied for supremacy, they threatened to destroy everything their creator had wanted for them.
The message wasn’t lost on me. The bad old days were coming back, in more ways than one. Heretics gnawed at the roots of Empyreal society. The dragons yearned to be ascendant once again. And the humans in charge of the Flame’s message were so corrupt they’d plotted to sell us all out in a vain effort to cling to their pathetic power.
The path widened and the orichalcum door beyond the statues yawned wide, revealing a swirling crimson mist.
For one painful moment, I considered turning back and leaving the challenge. The way ahead was so dangerous, not just for me but for my friends, that I wondered if it was worth it. We had no allies here. No matter what we did, someone would be angry with us. Even if we won the Gauntlet, the Inquisition would still be in charge of the Grand Design. They’d use their power to punish me.
And, most likely, my friends.
Everyone had gathered around me and we stared at the door together. I sensed their nerves, their anger, and their support.
“We can’t let them get away with this,” Clem insisted.
Hagar glanced quizzically from Clem to me.
“There’s something I should know?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “About that.”
We filled Hagar in on the situation, and her eyes darkened with every word. By the time I’d finished my little story, her arms were crossed over her chest, and daggers shot from her eyes.
“And you
