by Kaden Reed
Chuckling at the obvious irony in my friend’s statement, my nerves started calming down. By all appearances, the corridors appeared to be designed to be as utilitarian as possible. Although I did take a couple of minutes to wonder about the glowing balls of light that appeared to be encased within the stone ceiling. The lights were spaced about every ten feet down the entire corridor and kept it as brightly illuminated as the sun at noon, on a clear day.
The only thing that offered any variety during our trip to the holding area was the purple line we were told to follow, which glowed in the center of the floor. Occasionally, large purple arrows would form in the line in front of us and glide forward in the direction we were supposed to go. Looking back the way we had come, the line appeared to be gone. I retraced my steps a bit, back the way we had come, and when I turned around to resume my trek, the purple line was back in front of me, guiding my forward.
“Wow,” the sheer sophistication in this magical system was mind boggling. I’d never seen or even heard of anything like it.
“This place makes the Tortilla’s fountain look like a cheap toy,” Marty said in awe as we repeatedly watched the arrows form, glide forward and then disappear.
“It is a cheap toy compared to this.” The Tortillas are one of the richest families in Glasden. A couple of years ago, an article was being passed around our school about an amazing new fountain they put in their courtyard. It was reportedly the newest creation by a great Dwarven artist. Naturally we decided that we needed to go and see what the big deal was. Luckily their compound was only about half an hour walk from Dor’s Crossing, so we snuck onto the Tortillas property and hid in the bushes until night fell. Then we stealthily made our way from each sculpted shrubbery to the next, until we were finally in front of the fountain.
At the time, we thought we had witnessed the pinnacle of artistic achievement. The fountain’s color shifting water that shot in a dizzying array of directions, some of which seemed to defy gravity altogether, was synchronized with the shape changing statue in the middle. One moment it was a woman holding a pitcher, then a leaping young Shokari warrior with outstretched claws and bared fangs the next. The soft chimes and melodic splashes of the water played an orchestral arrangement that soothed our attentive minds to a state of relaxation, as we watched the arranged dance play out in front of us.
Although we spent hours watching that fountain and repeatedly trespassed onto the property in the following months, so we could watch it again and again, it paled in comparison to the simple purple line that was on the floor at our feet. Sure, the fountain was a marvel to watch, but all it did was constantly repeat the same pattern. In contrast, the line didn’t do anything that anyone would consider fantastic or even entertaining, but whatever magic that was controlling it, was intelligent enough to adapt to a changing environment. That by itself put it in a category that was head and shoulders above the magical fountain. Something like this would likely be unaffordable to even the Tortillas.
By the time we reached the doors that our purple line was directing us through, my nerves were mostly under control. Only a slight feeling of apprehension still resided within me as we walked through the doors, that slowly opened to let us into the room. We paused in the threshold and looked around to take in our surroundings.
There was a collection of couches and recliners that were arranged in varying sized clumps, scattered throughout a room that was perhaps a little larger than the apartment Marty and I shared for the past year. Over two dozen people were already occupying some of the seats, but everyone seemed to be keeping to themselves.
Walking a little way into the room, we made our way to a pair of recliners that were near the center. Sitting down in one of them, I looked up in time to meet the eyes of a red skinned orc sitting a couple of seats down from me. I nodded to him in greeting, but he just looked away without acknowledging me. I noticed most of the other people in the room cast furtive glances at each other, but no one was talking.
“So how about the Trinity,” when Marty interrupted the stillness in the room with his loud question, quite a few of the others jumped slightly and then shifted nervously in their seats, “anyone? Come on people, we are all here to join the Akashi Dungeon, you can’t sit here and tell me you weren’t pumped to see the Trinity kicking ass yesterday.”
Near the front of the room, a young Shokari girl was sitting alone. Her white fur with grayish black stripes running down the length of her back, made her stand out from the crowd. Her tail started languidly swishing back and forth behind her at Marty’s question, “oh little gnome, you are quite right. The Trinity are the best the Shokari have ever offered to the Akashi,” her voice was soft with a slightly melodic tone.
“There we go,” Marty was starting to get a little amped that he had a crowd that was forced to listen to him, “at least we have one fan here.”
“Yes I am, as you say, a devoted follower of the Trinity,” the Shokari girl turned her head to look directly back at Marty and then her green luminous orbs flicked over to study me, as I was sitting next to him, “my people have chosen me to be offered to the Akashi now. I will become as powerful as the greatest of the Trinity, one day,” she paused before continuing, “then, when I am too strong to be refused, I will choose Shino to be my mate. I will lay my Sorah on his sleeping pad and he will accept his place by my side.” Her tail quivered slightly as she purred her claim to the room, “it is known.”
Marty shrugged and said, “okay, crazy lady. Don’t you think that you are going full fan girl on him? I mean, he is famous, so he probably has the pick of the ladies. I’m sure dozens have tried to claim him over the years.”
“No, little gnome. I do not care for other women. He will be mine,” the calm assurance in her words made it seem like it was already concluded, the intervening time just a formality. Her eyes were half lidded as she turned back around in her chair, her tail swishing languidly behind her.
Marty looked at me like he was seeking support, I shrugged at him, “well I won’t get in her way. I wish her and Shino a long and happy marriage.”
Several of the nearby people chuckled softly at my comment. A dwarf that I hadn’t noticed when we walked in smacked his arm on his recliner, “that is one thing about being famous no one ever tells ya. All of the adoration and well wishes from the fans is appreciated but there is always a bit of the crazy that grips some of them. It shows itself just in time to knock you right in the pecker when ya aren’t expecting it. Then it leaves ya standing there, holding your jewels, wondering what-in-all-the-Dungeons just happened to the world?”
Marty met my eyes with a slight grin, “do you ever get the feeling that sometimes we just might be the sanest people in the room?”
Laughing at his comment, “I’m not sure that has ever happened before.”
The room quickly quieted down when two men walked through the doors to stand facing the crowd. Both were wearing black tailored suits, jackets unbuttoned and hanging open. After he was assured that he had everyone’s attention, the taller of the two announced to the onlookers, “we will begin the Trials shortly, but I have a couple of announcements to get through.”
The nervousness that I had thought was mostly under control redoubled its efforts but the blood that began pounding in my ears wasn’t loud enough to drown out his next words, “first things first, you all may have heard the rumor that if you fail the Trials, you die,” he paused as he scanned the faces looking at him attentively, “I want to confirm to you right now that what you have heard is one hundred percent true. You will die if you fail the Trials.”
The entire room was so unnaturally still at this pronouncement, my ears started ringing slightly in the silence. He continued after letting that sink in, “anyone that is not okay with that risk needs to step forward now. You will be taken to another room where a magical seal will be placed on you. It will bind your ability to talk about anything you have seen, heard or done while in the Compound today. All you will be ab
le to tell anyone is that you didn’t take the Trials. Then you will be allowed to leave and return to your civilian life.”
Both men in the suits stood waiting at the front of the room for any takers. Eventually a tall lean man stood from a recliner in the back of the room and slowly made his way forward. From his build I thought he might have some elvish blood in him. When he reached the two men in the front of the room the second man, who hadn’t been addressing the room, waved for him to stand next to him. This opened the floodgates and more people quickly stood up and joined the first.
The first man addressed the people still seated, “any last takers? Once that door shuts, there is no turning back.” At his words a couple more people got up and hurriedly exited the room.
When the door shut behind the group of people who left with the second man, I looked around the room and estimated that only about a dozen people remained in their seats.
The first man continued, “alright, now that we have gotten that bit out of the way,” he held his arms out to the people that stayed, “welcome to the Khanri Trials.”
“My name is Eli and I will be your guide,” he introduced himself with a nod to the onlookers, “I know you all probably have a lot of questions, but this isn’t a meet and greet. If you pass the Trials, then we can talk. Right now, just listen to what I have to tell you.”
“Do you all remember the magical circuits that were placed inside of you when you crossed through the gate?” He paused as realization crossed all of our faces, “those circuits are controlled by Akashi himself. The Trials will be conducted internally and are between you and him. No one else will ever see them, nor can anyone intervene. Akashi will either make you a Khanri or you will die permanently, got it?”
Various people nodded slowly at his words, “alright then, Shino it’s your show,” he waved his hand at the wall in the back of the room. We all turned to stare at the place that he waved at and then looked back and forth between the empty wall and the man in the suit as he stood with his arms crossed behind his back, completely at ease.
Confused at what Eli was talking about, a lady with a mop of red curls that hung passed her shoulders near to the area he indicated, raised her hand and called to him, “um, sir, no one is back here but me.”
Eli looked at her and gave her a pitying smile, “I hope to see you on the other side.” I looked back at her and saw that her head was rolled to the side. I thought she might have been sleeping until I saw the small red gash that was opened in the side of her neck. A thin stream of blood was running down and mixing with the green of her blouse.
I jumped to my feet in shock and yelled, “she’s dead!”
At my pronouncement several others got to their feet and that’s when I realized that half of the room wasn’t moving. The dead appeared to be slumped in various positions in their seats.
“By the Dungeons!” The dwarf that had been talking earlier cried and jerked twice before falling back into his chair as two red flowers appeared to bloom on the white of his tunic.
My eyes wide in horror, I ran to the dwarf, pushing seats out of the way and tried to stop the bleeding, while chanting, “no-no-no,” in a sudden panic.
“This-“ the dwarf struggled to get words out as his lungs quickly filled with blood, “this isn’t how-“ his voice was wet and gurgling as his body slowly slid to the floor at the foot of his seat and lay unmoving.
Grunts and screams could be heard surrounding me, but I couldn’t move my gaze from the dwarf as the light slowly faded from his eyes. Although I’ve known people that had passed away, it wasn’t until this moment that the awful finality of death really struck me, “no, this isn’t right,” I looked up at Eli and my voice shook with emotion, “this isn’t right!”
Eli looked at me with sympathy, “this is how it has always been done.”
I gasped in shock at the sudden violence that had gripped the room as I looked around and noticed there were only three people left standing, the Shokari female, Marty and myself. So many bodies were scattered in various poses across the room. Some could have been just sleeping while others, their faces frozen in a rictus of fear, anger or surprise.
Shino seemed to step out of the shadows as he approached the white furred Shokari. He stood staring into her eyes for a handful of seconds and then reached his hand out and grabbed the scruff of her neck, pulling her into an embrace. She let out a purr that quickly turned to a fierce hiss, then she slowly lowered her head down to rest on his shoulder, her eyes drifting shut with a look of tranquil acceptance on her face. As her strength slowly left her, Shino gently eased her body onto a couch. I saw a smear of vibrant red mat the white fur on her chest and realized that he must have went right for her heart as he pulled her in close.
I looked at Shino as he stood over the young female. Without taking his eyes from her, he withdrew a small knife from the webbing on his chest and then threw it offhand to his side. Marty jerked as the knife slammed into him.
“By the Dungeons!” he screamed as he fell to the ground, clutching at the knife in his side.
Seeing him go down, I ran over to him and quickly pulled the knife out. I bit my lip at the spurt of blood that erupted from the wound and pulled off my tunic and pressed it down on the small opening with both of my hands, “it’s okay Marty, this isn’t too bad.”
Gasping in pain, he looked up at me, “well, this isn’t how I expected to meet one of our heroes.” I couldn’t help myself and started laughing at the sardonic response. That is Marty, even at a time like this, my friend still had to joke around.
Although I was still laughing, tears started welling in my eyes, not my friend. Akashi can’t kill Marty too. “You will be okay Marty. Everything will be okay,” I managed to say as I choked back the panic-stricken sobs that tried to force their way past the lump in my throat.
Marty tightened his grip on my shoulder as he started trembling uncontrollably in my arms, “I- don’t feel-.”
I looked up at his face and noticed the pink foamy froth that was spewing out of his mouth. Tears running down my face, I pressed harder into the wound on his side in panic, knowing there wasn’t anything I could do. His body convulsed a handful of times and then stilled, with the look of bewildered disbelief still on his face.
Abandoning all attempts to control my emotions I began sobbing in abject misery at the death of my dearest friend. I looked up to see Shino calmly standing in front of me, “why? Why weren’t any of them worthy of being Khanri?”
Shino looked into my eyes for what seemed to be an eternity, but I know it was only a handful of moments, “whether or not they are worthy is not for me to decide. This is how it is done. This has always been how it has been done. You must die, so you have a chance to pass within. Akashi will choose who will live,” his voice was both soft with understanding and as unyielding as stone, at the same time.
I didn’t resist as he reached down and pulled me to my feet. I numbly stared into his eyes as he slid his knife into my throat. Gasping at the shock of pain, which sucked blood into my lungs, instinctively my body tried to cough to clear the fluid from where it wasn’t supposed to be, sending a small fountain of my precious lifeblood to spray across the white diamond of fur on Shino’s chest. Although, my lungs quickly started to burn for lack of oxygen, my body slowly started to relax, like I was drifting off to sleep.
Knowing I was dying, I reached out to Shino and clutched at him in desperation as my strength left me. I felt him wrap his strong arms around my shoulders as he slowly placed me on the ground, next to Marty.
I laid there as my life gradually slipped through my grasping fingers and realized that after the brutality of the last few moments, I’m not sure if this is a world I wanted to be a part of anymore. I thought that I knew what I was signing up for when I told everyone that I wanted to be a Khanri. I was just a kid, raised on stories of epic heroes that I wanted to be like someday. I was wrong though, so very wrong.
Shino knelt next to me as the sen
sation of the final sleep beckoned me to let go of this world and I heard him softly say, “death is nothing to fear young one. This is the first lesson a Khanri learns.”
Staring into his golden eyes, I tried to smile at him and tell him, I’m fine if it is the end. This is enough for me. This one moment is enough. If this is it, I am glad I met it with my friend at my side. With the comfort of the knowledge that my life wasn’t stolen from me, that I now readily gave it up, I stopped grasping and let it go.
Chapter Five
Lessons
It is unknown who was the first Khanri. All we have are vague second or third- or fourth-hand accounts of people that say they were there. However, it is widely thought that Akashi was the first Dungeon to form a bond with the sapient races, which eventually gave rise to the City State of Glasden. Although one would assume that such an advantage would give Glasden more power over the other budding nations at the time, they were, and remain, the weakest of the three.
- Excerpt from The Rise of the Dungeons, by Raine Royce, University of Glasden Historian
Drifting in the emptiness, the ebb and flow of the minuscule currents of air bore the small kernel of my consciousness onward as it gradually became more aware. Floating in a void of complete darkness a thought suddenly occurred to me as if it was a newly discovered idea – open your eyes.
I pondered what the thought had meant when it talked about eyes, then something awoke in my mind and I remembered. As I slowly lifted my eyelids and looked around, the black void gave way to the purest white. I marveled at the new sensation of sight. Peering in every direction that I could, trying to absorb every minute detail of my surroundings, I rapturously gazed at the flat empty pure white landscape that seemed to go on, as far as my new eyes could see.
As my consciousness continued to expand, a memory of something – more, popped into existence. Before I had a chance to focus on the thought, to attempt to discern what the more was, another connection was made in my mind. Like two halves joining for the first time, I realized that I was a who instead of a what. Excitedly I looked down at myself trying to see who I actually was. Where my memories told me my body should be, white smoke was spinning like a small tornado. I watched in amazement, as the outline of hands and arms became more defined as the dense smoke contracted and was gradually absorbed into the form that made up my body.
