As everyone continued to move forward, the pressure kept increasing. There were only 14 hours left out of the total 24. The challenge was far from over, and not a single group had yet reached the center of their chamber.
In one of the chambers, Sera was moving with determination. Even though fear lingered deep in her heart, she kept pushing forward. She was afraid of being alone, afraid of getting lost, and afraid of the strange sounds echoing around her. But she reminded herself again and again, she couldn't afford to be the one who slowed everyone else down. She didn't want to be a burden to her team. With every step she took, her courage grew a little stronger.
She soon entered a cave-like path, its walls rough and cold. As she carefully stepped over uneven stones and dark corners, she suddenly heard a sound from behind her. It was the sound of a small stone falling.
She stopped.
Her heart skipped a beat.
Fear tried to grip her again, but she bit her lip and forced herself to stay calm. Maybe it was just a loose rock. She decided to keep moving.
But then she heard the same sound again, this time louder. It echoed more sharply, making her legs tense up. Her breathing grew faster, but she kept walking, trying not to let panic take over.
Suddenly, there was a much louder crash behind her.
She turned around halfway and saw it, large pieces of the ceiling rock were breaking off and falling to the ground. And they were slowly getting closer to her.
Her eyes widened. She didn't think anymore. She turned around fully and ran. Her feet pounded against the stone floor, and her arms pumped by her sides as adrenaline surged through her veins. She didn't care about anything except getting away from the falling rocks.
Then, without warning, she crashed into something—or someone.
"Ahhh!" she screamed as she stumbled back.
But then a calm and warm voice replied, "Are you alright, young lady? I promise I'm not that scary."
She blinked, still breathing hard, and opened her eyes slowly. Standing in front of her with a gentle smile was Zerik. He extended his hand toward her, and she reached out, taking his hand as he helped her to her feet.
Once she stood, she quickly looked around and noticed another person a few steps away—Ruvan. He was closely inspecting the cave walls as if trying to understand something.
Zerik gave her a short nod and began explaining, "It seems like this is some sort of trap, or maybe even a hidden path to the center."
Sera looked confused. "A trap?"
Zerik continued, "Yes. I was walking down this path earlier when rocks started falling from the ceiling, just like you saw. I tried breaking them, but they kept reappearing on the ceiling and falling again. The only option was to keep moving forward. At first, I thought I had fallen into a trap. But after a while, Ruvan arrived as well, and he faced the same thing."
He pointed back toward the path. "And now you too. That tells me something. If all three of us came from completely different paths and ended up here, then there must be something important ahead. We just need to find it."
He smiled again, placing a hand lightly on her shoulder. "And we will. Okay, young lady?"
Sera nodded slowly, quietly saying, "Hmm."
There was a sense of relief in her chest. She had finally found someone else. But at the same time, a new pressure settled in. She had never really interacted with Zerik or Ruvan before. They were part of the The Black Sigil. She felt a little awkward and nervous being with them.
What if I mess up? she wondered. What if I slow them down?
Still, she knew she had to keep moving and help them however she could.
As Zerik and Ruvan discussed and began exploring the chamber further, looking for a way forward, Sera stood still for a moment. She kept thinking about how she could assist them. She didn't want to just stand and watch. She needed to do something, anything, to help.
---
Meanwhile, two more hours had passed, bringing the total time elapsed to 12 hours. That meant half of the allotted time had now gone by. Yet, none of the groups had reached the center. The sense of urgency increased. But despite the pressure, everyone continued to remain calm and composed. No one let panic take over.
And in another chamber, the signal Sylra had been sending out by playing her note had finally reached someone else. Her ability to detect life through sound helped her sense someone nearby. She immediately turned to Lila and said, "Lila, I've found someone. Be prepared. We don't know if it's a friend or an enemy."
Lila nodded, and Fizzle floated up, alert.
The three of them moved carefully through the passageway, staying quiet. Then, just before they turned the corner, Sylra suddenly stopped them.
"Wait. Stop. Don't worry," she said in a calm tone.
Lila tilted her head, confused. But before she could ask anything, someone leapt down from above and landed in front of them with a confident jump.
It was Cyrus.
He smiled widely as he stood up straight and dusted off his pants. "Hello there, Sylra. Oh, Lila and Fizzle are with you too. That's good to see."
Sylra replied, "Yes, good to see you as well"
Cyrus grinned. "Well, there were 17 of us when we began, and now we're four here. And considering there are five commanders in total, this might be our group for this chamber."
Sylra thought for a second and nodded. "You're probably right."
"Great," Cyrus said. "Well, that's one thing to worry about less. Now all we need to do is reach the center as soon as possible."
Everyone agreed. With their group now stronger, the four of them pressed onward, hoping they'd reach the center before time ran out.
---
Meanwhile, another two hours passed.
Now, the time had reached 14 hours.
In another chamber, the group of Junith, Nira, and Doran walked down a strange path. After a while, they noticed something wasn't right.
Junith came to a halt and looked around.
"Stop," she said. "If I'm correct, we've been walking in circles. We've passed this same road four or five times now."
She furrowed her brows, going silent as she began to think deeply. Nira and Doran, standing a little behind her, leaned in toward each other and began whispering.
"What do you think she's thinking?" Nira asked quietly.
Doran shook his head. "How would I know?"
"You're right," Nira said with a smirk. "How would you know what's in her head? Maybe I should go ask her."
"Shhh! Don't ask her," Doran hissed. "She's probably thinking about how to get us to the center. We must not disturb strict-nith right now."
Just then, Junith snapped her fingers. The sharp sound echoed around them.
Doran got some jumpscare, thinking Junith might have heard what he just said.
Nira skipped over to her. "What is it?"
Junith pointed to the ground. "Can you see this strange circular pattern here? This symbol? It appears in two other places along this same path."
"So?" Nira asked, curious.
Junith explained, "So, this is not random. We probably have to do something with these patterns. My guess is we need to flow magic into them. Since there are three patterns and we're three people, it makes sense that we need to activate them at the same time."
Nira looked amazed. "Wow, you're so smart!"
Junith didn't smile. She stayed focused. "The only problem is, we don't know what will happen if we don't activate all three at once. There could be a trap, or we might miss our chance. We can't take that risk. But the patterns are a bit far apart. How do we time it exactly?"
As she was thinking, Doran stepped forward with a confident grin. "Just leave that timing part to me."
They split up.
Junith stayed at the first pattern. Nira ran to the left and quickly reached the second. Doran jogged to the right and arrived at the third.
Standing at their spots, Doran shouted loudly so his voice would echo, "ARE YOU READY?... 3... 2... 1... GO!"
As soon as the word "GO" reached their ears, all three of them channeled their magic into the circular symbols.
The symbols began to glow, pulsing with a deep black light. For a moment, everything went dark. A wave of shadow passed over them, engulfing their entire surroundings.
But in the blink of an eye, the darkness disappeared.
They found themselves standing together again, this time in front of a huge stone door.
Next to the door, carved into the wall, were glowing scribbles that read: '3 - Done'.
Junith stared at the writing. "This probably means this chamber had three people, and all three of us have now reached the center."
She looked up at the door. "And this door… I guess it won't open until everyone else from their chambers reaches the center too."
---
And so, after 14 hours, the very first group had finally reached the center of their chamber.
The others were still making their way through the trials, walking uncertain paths, facing unknown dangers, and slowly, but surely, moving forward.
But time was slipping away.