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I WATCHED MY BROTHER for what felt like hours. Gazing at him through the cloudy-green crystal. He knelt before the Mother tree holding snowdrops in his hands. When I looked closer, I noticed the ground around the trunk was littered with the same tiny blooms. White and greens decorating the base like the first snow of winter. His lips moved but I couldn’t decipher his words, I could only assume he was praying to the Wildmother for continued protection for his hunting party, until I finally heard his voice.
‘I come to you again, Lady Melora, to ask for the protection of my little sister,’ Nolas spoke softly, as he laid the bundle of snowdrops at the base of the trunk. ‘Please return her to me safely.’
A warmth surged in my chest as the image disappeared from the crystal. I slumped onto the ground, feeling defeated despite winning my battle against the Darkling.
‘Saria,’ a voice said, and I recognised it as Tarasque. Her hand was on my shoulder. ‘You did great.’ She was referring to the way I’d defeated the Darkling, despite how hesitant I was.
I shook my head as I got onto my hooves and slid the fluorite into a pouch at my hip. ‘I did what any of us would have done. It was nothing,’ I replied, glancing back at the fiend. His tiefling form still hung, suspended from the earth by my vines.
‘We should go,’ Barcius said, adjusting his glasses. Unlike Tarasque who was covered in blood and bruises, he appeared fine but I sensed his pride had taken a bit of a hit from the fiends dirty tricks. Above his gilded cage hung open, the gate busted and pulsated with a lightning energy.
‘Yeah, but where’s Mitztail?’ I asked, glancing around the throne room, but couldn’t find any sign of my tabaxi comrade.
‘Don’t mew worry, I’m right here,’ I heard him call, running over to us on all four paws.
Now the four of us were reunited and the fiend finally vanquished, a portal materialised in the centre archway where the stained-glass windows once were. My comrades stepped ahead of me, taking the lead now our business in this realm was concluded. As I stepped towards them an electric shock jolted through me and brought me to my knees.
A shrill shriek pierced through my ears. ‘Pathetic, little lamb.’
I turned around to see the Darkling’s golden daggers on me, ‘How?’ I asked.
‘She’s coming,’ he said, blood spilling from his lips as he spoke. ‘The archfey will come for you míolra and she won’t stop until all you traitorous satyrs are dead.’
No sooner had the words left his mouth, did a fireball collide with his body, burning him alive. He writhed in agony until he shattered into a thousand glass shards.
I glanced back to my comrades, there was no doubting where the spell had come from. Tarasque stood before me, her hand outstretched towards the fiend, with her tresses ignited. I mouthed, ‘Thank you,’ to her and she gave me a quick flash of a smile.
‘Time to go,’ the fire genasi said, hurrying the rest of us towards the portal.
A herd of heavy footsteps stopped me from proceeding, and as I glanced back, a small hunting party of firbolgs entered the throne room, with weapons poised for battle. But upon seeing us adventurers and the pile of black glass littering the marble tiles, their postures softened. They withdrew their weapons, with a single firbolg taking charge. A face I’d not met before.
‘You did it,’ he said. His tone sounded almost shocked. ‘But how did you manage it?’ He walked over to me, while his men set about examining the throne room.
I looked to my comrades, unable to find the words to explain what happened. ‘It was nothing,’ I replied, refusing to make eye contact.
‘Our tribe owes you a great debt; for the safe return of our children and the Darkling slain, please how can we ever repay you?’
I gave his words a moment's consideration. There was nothing we desired or needed, the fiend had been a means to an end for me as well. Then the idea hit me, ‘Remember our names,’ I said softly, before turning away from the firbolg hunting party and entering the portal with my comrades close to my heels.
We arrived back on the secluded beach moments later. The salty air hitting the back of my throat made me gag, my body finally giving into the effects of battle. I moved away from my comrades, walking over to the oceans edge, with a limb in my step. I needed to rest but I wanted to be comfortable and not be bombarded with questions about the events that transpired in that realm. I wanted to forget it all, forget the Darkling existed. But his final words still replayed in my mind, the archfey was coming for my tribe, yet I was stuck here until the final trial was completed.
I pulled the fluorite crystal from my pack and turned it over in my hand, smoothing the surface with my thumb. I didn’t ask for it to show me my homeland, or the image of my brother or father or even Elder Sheatu. Although I wished I could thank her for showing me that spell, that had been my saving grace against the fiend. I wanted to tell all of them what I’d accomplished, but I don’t think they’d believe me even if there was a way I could. My mind began to wonder if the Calling Stone was a blessing or a curse; to be able to see my loved ones whenever I liked but never being about to touch or speak to them again.
The waves lapped at my hooves, the chill from the water soothing my aching muscles. I slumped down in the sand with a thud, and closed my eyes to listen to the ocean sounds.
‘Saria.’
I opened my eyes and turned back to see Barcius a short distance away, holding Cogsworth under his arm. ‘Would you mind if I sat with you a little while?’ I nodded to agree and the tiefling sat beside me. He slammed down his pack and began rummaging through for his tools.
‘What are you doing?’
Barcius looked up, his glasses almost falling off his nose. He pushed them up his nose and collected the tools he needed. ‘This little guy took quite a beating in that realm. I kept it in my pack to prevent any further damage, but it’s not looking too good.’ He scooped up the automaton, sat it before him and crossed his legs before starting to check Cogsworth over
I looked at the automaton, its copper paintwork scratched in some places, and the links on its tail hanging off. I didn’t pry further into what had happened, but assumed it might have happened when my comrades and I got separated in the realm. I continued to sit in silence, taking solitude in watching the tiefling work.
‘How did you do it?’ Barcius asked, not taking his eyes away from his work.
I was taken back but replied, ‘What do you mean, do what?’
The tiefling let go of the breath he was holding and said, ‘Each of you have tackled your trial gates, and fought valiantly, I will add. But with each trial, the difficulty of the challenges seemed to have increased.’ He took a moment to pause before continuing his admission, ‘Mine is the last to come, which stands to reason that mine should also be the most difficult to face.’
‘None of the challenges have been easy,’ I said. ‘Every trial took its toll on each of us personally, even when the challenge was not our own.’ I thought back to the first trial, where Barcius had almost given his life to save Tarasque. ‘Would you not agree you’ve been valiant too?’
The tiefling shook his head, ‘No. I’ve been nothing but a coward,’ he said. ‘I know how scared you were to stand up against that fey fiend. I won’t pry into how many years you’ve dealt with that torment, I know all too well how horrible it can be. But to face your biggest fear is truly something to be proud of.’
‘I was scared of a fiend that plagued my dreams and who almost destroyed my homeland. Tarasque was scared to live her life without avenging her beloved and Mitztail was scared to compose music after losing his friends.’ I considered my next words carefully, ‘So, what is it you are scared of?’ I asked.
Barcius stopped working, dropping his tools into the sand and covered his face with his hands, ‘Myself.’ he said, but he spoke so quietly I could barely hear him. After a few moments, he moved them away from his face to speak once more. ‘How did you overcome your struggle?’
I realised I hadn’t answered his original question, ‘I don’t honestly know,’ my reply was soft, ‘One minute you were all beside me; Mitztail ferried out the firbolg children, Tarasque was toe-to-toe with the fiend and you were assisting. But in the next you were all taken from me.’
As the words spilt from my lips I became uneasy in my position and shifted in my spot, sand crunched beneath me. ‘I was never taught offensive skills, the Elders believe women should be Druids and the men of the tribe should be hunters. Fighting back against the Darkling was difficult to say the least.’ I placed my hands on my knees and rested my head on top, gazing out at the waves.
‘Was you not scared?’ Barcius asked. He’d picked up his tools again and was focused on fixing Cogsworth’s tail.
I hummed to agree, ‘Petrified. But the fiend had threatened to kill you all and the Nymphood tribe if I didn’t fight back,’ I said, fiddling with the embroidery on my skirt hem. ‘I couldn’t let that happen, not a second time. As long as you’re true to yourself, you’ll win your fight.’
‘That’s what I’m afraid of.’ The tiefling said, but didn’t pry further into my history and for that I was thankful for him respecting that. I didn’t want the group learning anymore about that fateful night, now the Darkling was vanquished, there was no reason for me to relive that day again. I only hoped that when sleep found me, my mind would be empty of it too.
‘What relics have we gained now?’ Barcius asked as he screwed the joints of the tail together.
I thought back to the previous three trials, ‘The Tempest’s Shield. The Moonweaver’s Lyre. The Wildmother’s Crystal,’ I said. But even as I recalled each one of them I couldn’t decipher a connection. ‘Why would anyone ask for such a strange assortment of objects?’
This was where one of his hypotheses or theories would have come in handy right now.
‘I have given it some thought,’ Barcius announced. He finished tightening up the loose joints of the automaton and returned his tools to his pack. Cogsworth waddled a short distance away. ‘I’ve considered several possibilities as to why a sorcerer such as Ser Raexius would want these sacred relics. The only logical explanation I could think of was he’s possibly a collector, but even that seems a little extreme given the trials we’ve faced.’
No correlation between the trials, the sacred relics and the sorcerer. So what is truly our purpose for completing them and retrieving these relics?
I didn’t push any further. Instead I stood and gestured for my comrade to follow, ‘We should reunite with the others.’ He nodded to agree and we hurried off together back to where the final trial gate was waiting for us, with Cogsworth toddling close at our heels.
When we reached the others, Tarasque was propped up against a rock tending to her wounds with gauze bandages and ointments. She tipped droplets onto the deep set cuts marring her arms, wincing as the skin burnt. The wounds stitched together, the dark crimson stains wiped clean, until all that was left was a raised pale lump. Mitztail was seated a short distance away from the fire genasi, strumming peacefully on his lute. His fur in disarray with a gash in his side, that didn’t seem to be bothering him, the wound was sealed properly. He lifted his head and noticed our arrival.
‘Did you have a nice chat?’ the tabaxi asked, with a little disdain in his tone.
‘One trial left,’ Tarasque grunted, fixing a bandage around her arm and pushed herself off the rock. ‘And now you choose to talk when the sands of time are against us?’
I opened my mouth to speak, but closed it again, my mind unable to process my thoughts quick enough. I shuffled on the spot and glanced up at Barcius.
The tiefling adjusted his glasses as he spoke, ‘My apologies for keeping you. Our friend here needed a few repairs. After all, we were entrusted to keep him close by during our adventure.’
‘Amongst other things,’ Tarasque muttered as she fastened her armour.
Barcius ignored her comment and clapped his hands together, ‘I trust we’re all ready to proceed.’ Each of us gave a nod to confirm. ‘Then let’s finish this.’
I smiled upon hearing his words, and hoped our talk raised his spirits somewhat.
The tiefling led us to where the final trial gate waited. I looked up at the structure, admiring the obsidian door embedded with three amethyst eyes in the centre. An eerie decoration that caused a chill to spider climb down my spine. But when Barcius placed his hand against the stone, the eyes flickered open and glared at each of us in turn. I felt a wave of uneasiness in my gut and I glanced away in an attempt to avoid their gaze.
Barcius wrapped his knuckles against the stone, and the gate creaked open. I didn’t think the final trial would’ve been that easy to open, but then everything so far had been unpredictable, why would the final leg be any different.
I caught sight of his face, and although he was hiding it well, I could see how nervous he was for this trial. There was something he was hiding from us, but this wasn’t the time for speculation.
The trial gate doors flew open and we were greeted by a swirling nebula, in hues of deep blues and purples, littered with a thousand stars. Barcius let go of the breath he was holding and stepped into the portal. My comrades followed with me close at their heels.
When we stepped out into the open air, we were greeted by burning skies. A realm of shadow, where the night sky seemed to rule. As beautiful as the hues of deep blue were, they were spoiled by the reds and oranges on the horizon. The entire city burned, with shadow creatures moving freely through the streets.
Ahead of me, Barcius stood frozen in place, his eyes fixed ahead. I grabbed his arm, shaking him slightly but he refused to move. ‘Do you recognise this place?’ I asked, following his gaze to a chateau sitting in the distance. An settling aura surrounded it.
‘Yes,’ he replied quickly ‘But this isn’t possible. Something is very wrong here. This just isn't right. It looks nothing like I remember.’
‘What do you mean, where are we?’
‘My homeland, the City of Starstrand.’
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