by Clayton Wood
As if summoned by her thoughts, Master Thorius strode into the room without warning, stopping before them all, his hands clasped behind his back. Sukri found herself sitting up a bit straighter in her wheelchair.
“Today,” he declared, “…you will undergo your second Trial.”
Sukri felt a chill run through her, and she glanced up at Gammon.
“This Trial,” Thorius continued, “…will be one that requires a Seeker’s most important skill: the ability to sense the influence of objects and people around them.” His gaze fell to Sukri. “Without an understanding of the world around them, a Seeker cannot evaluate potential dangers outside of the city…and will fall prey to them without even realizing it.”
Sukri lowered her gaze, remembering how she’d laid into Kris that day, minutes before he’d been murdered.
“You cannot resist the forces around you if you don’t recognize their existence,” Thorius continued. “For this Trial, your ability to navigate and manage a hazardous area will be tested.”
Sukri glanced up at Gammon, who smiled back at her. As usual, the big guy seemed utterly at ease…and probably was. Not for the first time, she wished that she had his temperament. She played at being in control, but her emotions always got the better of her. Gammon really was in control…and he’d proven it during their trip through the Fringe, not to mention during the fight with the Ironclad.
“Seeker Thomas will bring you to the site of your second Trial,” Thorius stated. He nodded at the group. “Good luck to you.”
With that, he left, and Seeker Thomas, a squat old man with short gray hair, gestured for them to follow him out of the room. He led them through the hallway and into the foyer, then forward through another hallway, one she’d never been in before. This led to a steep ramp sloping downward at the end; Seeker Thomas brought them down it, bringing them to the basement of the guild. Sukri struggled to prevent her wheelchair from flying down the ramp; luckily Gammon had her back, holding onto her chair from behind. They were met with another long hallway, but this was markedly different than the ones upstairs. For one, it was made entirely of stone instead of the usual wooden floors and paper walls. The ceiling was roughly three meters high, with large wooden beams supporting it. With no windows, the hallway was quite dark, lit by flickering torches bolted to the walls. Seeker Thomas strode down the hallway to a door at the end, using a key to unlock it. Then he opened the door, gesturing for everyone to walk through. They did so, Sukri taking up the rear. Seeker Thomas closed the door behind them, leaving them in the room beyond while he remained in the hallway. Sukri’s eyes widened as she took in her surroundings.
The room was huge.
Stone walls some eight meters tall rose upward, the ceiling high above hidden in darkness, the light from torches bolted to the wall barely sufficient to illuminate the room. There were glass cubes as tall as she was in three rows of three spaced evenly throughout the room. Each contained squat wooden boxes as big and tall as a small table within, and atop each box were various…things. One had a simple metallic lever in the center, while another held a glass beaker. The glass cubes were entirely enclosed, save for a single opening in the front. The size of that opening varied from cube to cube, allowing only one way to access the various items within.
Sukri heard a click – the sound of the door behind her being locked from the other end.
“Welcome to your second Trial,” a voice boomed from overhead. Everyone looked up, seeing a series of rafters high above their heads…and Master Thorius standing there, looking down at them. “You have one objective: make it out of the room through that door.”
He pointed, and Sukri looked, seeing a large door at the opposite end of the huge room.
“This room,” he continued, “…has various contraptions. There are three locks on the door that must be unlocked, and three of these contraptions unlock them.” His expression grew grim. “But beware…all of the other contraptions represent a danger to you. Choose wisely.”
With that, Thorius walked out of view, leaving the initiates alone in the huge room.
“Okay then,” Udeln declared, looking around. “We need to find the right three contraptions. Question is, how do we know which ones are the right ones?”
“We should start with this one,” Donahue declared, walking up to the cube closest to them. Everyone followed him, peering at the machine within. It was quite simple: a metal table with a single lever angled away from them.
“So we just pull the lever and that’s it?” Udeln asked. Sukri glanced at Gammon, who shrugged. It seemed too simple.
“We have a one in three chance of being correct,” Yala calculated.
“But how do we know which ones are the right ones?” Udeln asked. “We can’t just choose them randomly.”
“He’s right,” Yala agreed. “With five of us, and six potential wrong choices, there’s a chance that we might fail even if we choose indiscriminately.”
“Hmm,” Gammon murmured, rubbing his chin. He glanced at Sukri. “Any ideas?” She hesitated, then shook her head, remaining silent. Gammon gave her a strange look.
“I’m checking the other ones,” Donahue stated, walking to the cube to the right of them. He studied it. “This one’s got a metal plate on it,” he said. “With a beaker of water or something on top of it.”
Sukri rolled her wheelchair over to Donahue’s side. He was right; it looked like a glass beaker of water sitting on top of a plain metal plate, which was, in turn, resting on a large wooden box.
“Weird,” Udeln stated. “What are we supposed to do with that?”
“Beats me,” Donahue admitted. He moved on to the glass cube to the far left, as did everyone else. Sukri lagged behind, glancing at the first cube they’d seen. She wheeled herself up to it, stopping before the opening and peering at the lever. She hesitated, then reached for the lever, touching it with her fingers.
Don’t do it.
She pulled her hand back, feeling suddenly uneasy.
“What’s wrong?” she heard Gammon ask from behind her. She nearly jumped, turning around to face him.
“Nothing,” she replied. “I mean…” she glanced back at the lever. “Something about that thing gives me the creeps.”
Gammon frowned, gently pushing her to the side, then bending his huge frame over to peer through the glass. He hesitated, then reached for the lever as she had, touching it. He kept his hand there for a long moment, then pulled it away.
“I don’t feel anything,” he admitted.
“You never do,” Sukri retorted. “Not emotions, anyway. I mean, from other things.”
“True,” he agreed, stepping away. “But you do.”
“Yeah,” she admitted ruefully. “I’m a frickin’ sponge.”
“Guys, I think I found one,” she heard Donahue call out.
She turned, realizing that the rest of the group had made their way down to the second row of cubes, at the rightmost column. She and Gammon walked over, seeing Donahue hunched over, looking through the opening. Inside, there was a wooden box with an empty metal plate inside, identical to the one they’d seen earlier, but without the flask of water.
“I bet if we take the beaker from the other cube,” Donahue stated excitedly, “…and put it here, it’ll unlock one of the locks.”
“Or maybe two of them,” Udeln reasoned.
“There are three pairs of cubes that are similar,” Donahue continued. “Each is an incomplete version of the other. Like this one,” he added, moving to another cube further down. In it was a wooden desk with a single silver key laying atop it. “There’s another cube with a keyhole,” he explained.
“Makes sense,” Udeln reasoned.
“But Master Thorius said there were only three contraptions that would unlock the door,” Yala countered.
“And only one of each pair is actually a contraption,” Donahue reasoned. “The others just hold what we need to activate the contraptions.”
Yala con
sidered this, then nodded grudgingly.
“Let’s do it,” Donahue stated, walking back to the cube with the beaker of water. “We’ll take this to the other cube and set it on the metal plate.”
He leaned over, reaching into through the opening in the glass, and grabbed the beaker.
“All right,” he declared, lifting it upward. “Now…”
The metal platform shot upward suddenly, slamming into the bottom of the beaker. The beaker shattered, glass flying everywhere, the water spilling all over Donahue’s hands and the wooden desk below.
“Shit,” he blurted out, jerking his hands out of the opening.
Smoke began to rise from the wooden desk.
“Shit!” Donahue shouted, backing away suddenly, rubbing his hands on his shirt. “Ah, dammit!”
“What?” Udeln asked.
Donahue screamed, doubling over in pain, his hands balled into fists. He lurched to the side, running toward the door they’d come through.
“Help!” he screamed. “Open the door!” He pounded on it with one fist, then cried out, clutching his hand. Sukri stared at him; the skin on his hands was turning bright red, the fluid eating away at his flesh. Smoke rose from his sleeves, holes appearing in the cloth.
“Open the door!” Sukri yelled, glancing up at the rafters. Thorius was nowhere to be seen. “He needs help!”
There was no answer.
“Damn it!” Donahue shouted, sliding down onto his butt in front of the door, cradling his hands in his lap. “Come on!” He stared at his hands, his eyes widening in horror. The skin on his fingers was melting away, exposing pearly white bone at the tips. Blood poured from the wounds. “Oh god,” he cried, scrambling to his feet and stumbling backward. “Oh god oh please god help me!”
“They’re not going to help,” Yala stated, staring at Donahue’s hands. “Stay away from him,” she added. “You don’t want to get that stuff on you.”
“She’s right,” Gammon agreed, pulling Udeln away from Donahue. Udeln turned on him.
“We can’t just stand here,” he protested. “We have to help him!”
“If you touch him,” Yala interjected coldly, “…you’ll end up just like him.”
Donahue fell against one of the glass cubes, sliding back down onto his butt. He stared at his hands, sweat pouring down his forehead. His breath came in short gasps, his eyes wide. The flesh on his fingers was starting to separate from the bone; blood spurted from the base of each finger, the skin on his wrists sloughing off. Without warning, blood shot out of the arteries there, and everyone backed away from the spray.
“Oh shit,” Udeln blurted out, staring at Donahue, his face pale. He turned away, stumbling a few feet, then vomiting.
Sukri stared at Donahue, at his ruined hands, feeling suddenly sick. Images of Kris came to her, of the Ironclad snapping his arm in two. Of the thing ripping his arm off, blood spurting from the wound.
His screams.
She turned away, burying her head in Gammon’s belly. She heard Donahue scream, a soul-piercing howl that send chills down her spine. She felt Gammon’s hands cover her ears. She could still hear Donahue’s screams, but they were muffled.
After what seemed like an eternity, his screams stopped. She hesitated, then backed away from Gammon, pulling his hands from her ears. She turned around, steeling herself.
Donahue was lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood, his eyes staring unblinkingly at the ceiling far above. His hands – or what was left of them – lay at his sides. Countless holes had been burned into his sleeves, blood staining the cloth around them.
Shit.
She turned away, taking a deep, steadying breath in. Gammon was staring at her.
“You okay?” he asked. She shook her head.
“I don’t want to do this anymore,” she whimpered. He sighed, leaning in and hugging her, his lips at her ear.
“Sorry Sukri,” he murmured. “We don’t have a choice.”
She nodded, knowing he was right. There were only two ways out of here: through that door, or by joining Donahue.
“We need you,” Gammon whispered. “I need you.”
She sighed, pulling away from him. He was right; he’d been the one to save her when the Ironclad had nearly killed her. She had to return the favor…or at least try to.
“Okay,” she replied. “All right.”
“I can’t believe they let him die,” Udeln muttered, staring at Donahue’s body. “I can’t believe they just let him fucking die.”
“He’s gone,” Sukri stated coldly. Everyone turned to her. “There’s nothing we can do about that. But what we can do is save ourselves.”
“What are you proposing?” Yala inquired.
“This is a puzzle,” Sukri reasoned. “Donahue tried to solve it with logic and that failed. This isn’t a test of reasoning…Master Thorius said it was a test of our ability to sense the forces around us.”
“What forces?” Udeln pressed.
“Ones we can’t see,” Sukri replied. “The influences around us…that’s what he said.” She strode back to the first cube she’d seen, the one with the single lever. “When I reached in here, I felt something. It made me nervous.”
“You’re saying it’s another trap,” Udeln reasoned.
“Maybe,” she replied. “We need to go to each of the cubes and see how we feel with each of them.”
“You’re saying the emotions around the cubes will give away which ones are safe?” Yala pressed.
“Right,” Sukri confirmed. “Maybe this room has been used before, for other trials,” she reasoned. “If so, then the cubes that are traps will have absorbed the negative emotions of the people who triggered them.”
“And the ones that don’t have those emotions are the safe ones,” Yala concluded, giving a rare smile. “That’s a good idea.”
“I sense emotions really well,” Sukri stated. “So I should be the one to test them.” She went to the rightmost cube in the first row, leaning before the opening in the glass. Within was a bare metal box with another beaker of clear liquid sitting within. She hesitated, then put an arm through, holding her fingers close to the glass. She closed her eyes and waited.
Nothing happened.
She let go of a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding, withdrawing her hand, feeling relieved.
“This one’s not bad,” she declared.
She moved to the next one, which had another lever in it, this one colored red. She reached in again, touching the lever lightly with her fingertips.
Terror gripped her.
She jerked her hand away, backpedaling from the cube.
“That’s bad,” she warned.
She continued onward, testing each of the cubes – except for the one Donahue had triggered, of course – eventually coming to the end. Two of the cubes had made her feel relieved…the rest had either scared the crap out of her…except for the first one, which had made her profoundly uneasy.
“These two are definitely good,” she concluded.
“There are supposed to be three,” Yala countered.
“I know,” Sukri replied. “But I’m telling you what I felt, and that’s what I felt.”
“So we trigger those two,” Udeln stated. “And then what?”
“Then we have to make a choice,” Sukri answered. “I can check them again.”
“With Donahue’s trap and two good ones, we’d still have six cubes to choose from, and only one correct choice,” Yala reasoned. “We could all die trying to find the last one.”
“First thing’s first,” Sukri countered. She wheeled herself back to the cube with the beaker of liquid in it, and reached in again, holding her hand near it. Again, she felt nothing. She brushed her hand against the glass, half-expecting it to shatter…but it didn’t. Relieved, she hesitated, taking a deep breath in.
Here goes…
She wrapped her fingers around the beaker, then lifted it upward, closing her eyes and turning her he
ad away.
Nothing happened.
She opened her eyes, staring at the beaker. It was intact!
Sukri breathed a sigh of relief, pulling the beaker through the opening, then handing it to Gammon. She heard a click in the distance.
“The door,” Udeln exclaimed. “Did you hear that?”
“Okay,” Sukri stated, rubbing her sweaty palms on her pants. “Next one.”
She wheeled herself over to the next safe cube, stopping before the opening in the glass. It was the one Donahue had mentioned earlier, with a wooden desk and a metal platform in the center of it. Donahue had proposed they transfer the beaker he’d taken to it; he’d clearly chosen the wrong beaker.
“Get me the beaker,” she told Gammon, who handed it to her. She held it carefully, being sure not to spill any of the liquid, then reached inside the cube’s opening, setting it on the metal platform.
Click.
“It worked!” Udeln stated excitedly. Gammon smiled at Sukri, putting a hand on her shoulder.
“Good job, boss.”
“Thanks,” Sukri replied, smiling back at him. “Okay, there’s one more,” she added, looking around. “I’m going to test the rest of them again.”
She got to work, repeating her initial scan. The results were identical…most of the cubes scared the shit out of her, while that first one made her very uneasy.
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “They’re all not great.”
“Which is best?” Gammon inquired. She paused, then wheeled herself to the first cube.
“This one makes me uneasy,” she answered. “The rest are much worse.”
“So that’s the one,” Udeln reasoned. Sukri frowned.
“Maybe.”
“It’s the most logical choice,” Yala piped in. Sukri gave her a sour look.
“Logic didn’t work so well for Donahue.”
“That was the wrong logic,” Yala shot back. Sukri sighed, knowing she was right.
“I guess we have to try it,” she muttered, wheeling herself up to the opening. Inside was the single lever, angled away from her. She hesitated, then reached in…and felt a hand on her shoulder. She twisted around, pulling her hand out. It was Gammon.
