The Trials

by Zee

Ch 3: Wind or Water

After some careful contemplation, she decided to take the right path towards the sound of crackling fire; the idea of drowning in a cave sounded a bit too unsettling to her.

Steeling herself, she began her trek, making note of a tall stalagmite sitting at the entrance of the other path in case she came back.

No time to rest, she must advance.

The echoes of the cracking of fire loudened as she walked, until she was finally able to see an orange light in the distance.

The sight was almost surreal, as though she were walking on a lightened platform approaching another with a wide area of emptiness in between. She felt as though she could leap off of her platform and fall into the darkness.

After another several minutes of walking, the distant light became close enough to her that she could make out the details in the surroundings. It looked dim, as though she were only peering into a distant corner of a lightened room whose fire was at its core.

An unsettling feeling overcame her, however, when she realized that there were no other sounds than her own and the distant fire. It could be a trap.

The surrounding, cave-like walls began to give in to a more artificial look. The walls, floor and ceiling all became flat as though they were part of a structure. Strange, unreadable symbols lined the walls, and the ceiling held a swirly, cloud-like carving that covered the entire surface.

Finally, her personal orb of light merged with the other as she passed the entrance of the room. She paused, taking a good look at her surrounding,

The rectangular room followed the same style as the hallway where she came from, sporting strange symbols and patterns on every surface. However, leaning against the walls were dozens of stone sarcophagus's. Each of the sarcophagus's had carvings on them, and a thin film of dust covered every surface.

They towered over her, almost touching the ceiling itself. Whatever rested inside of them were definitely not ponies.

At the centre of the room lay the light source: a haphazard pile of burning wood, as though it were a make-shift campfire. She made a few reluctant steps towards it, unsure of what to expect. The wood in the fire seemed only half-burnt, meaning that it was probably ignited not so long ago. She unsheathed her sword, preparing for the worst.

The silence dragged on and her heart began to race, telling herself not to get eager. Still without a response, she slowly resumed inching her way towards the fire, minding every step in case of a trap. Despite the maze of sarcophagus’s, the room posed no threat so far. However, the fire begged her gaze and she offered it, locking her eyes onto the lively spectacle.

A pair of unseen, magenta eyes opened to her left.

With but a faint whirl of wind, the sharp head of a spear thrust out and towards her. Barely, she dodged the thrust and sliced her sword upwards at the spear, hoping to deter her attacker from pulling it in to thrust again.

Hidden in the shadows between several sarcophagus’s, the attacker gave out a feminine grunt as they struggled to balance their spear.

The bat pony took the opportunity to grab at the exposed spear with her front hooves, but the attacker succeeded in reeling in their weapon out of her reach. In a dark, grey blur, the attacker pounced out of the shadows and tackled her, pushing her against a sarcophagus. Before she could react, she got shoved again, toppling the heavy stone sarcophagus to the ground.

She sliced her sword towards the attacker, but met air. A dark figure flew up from underneath her muzzle, knocking the sword out of her mouth's grasp. Her head ringing, she desperately flailed her hooves forward, hoping to knock the attacker away.

However, the attacker pounced her before she could land a hit, quickly wrestling her to the ground with ease. She felt the weight of the attacker on top of her, pinning her to the ground with powerful limbs. With clenched eyes, she struggled to get loose, but her assailant did not budge.

That is, until a pair of wet lips pressed against hers, and a tongue forced its way into her mouth. A familiar taste.

Her amber eyes shot open and met a pair of magenta, slitted-pupil eyes. The 'attacker' pulled away from the sloppy kiss, giving a half-lidded, toothy smile. A fanged smile.

"Hey, Echo," the bat pony on top of her said, her voice deep and alluring.

"Pfft... haah...!" Feeling the grip on her limbs loosen, Echo pushed the bat pony off and wiped her lips. A deep, cat-like giggle rung in Echo's ears. "Nngh... Night Watch!" she breathed with disbelief.

"Hey there, beautiful," Night Watch said with a flick of her blue mane.

Echo stuck her tongue out and wiped it with her hooves. "Pah! You almost killed me!"

"No, I didn't."

Echo stood up on all of her hooves, her dark purple wings spread wide. "You almost stabbed me!"

"I missed on purpose," Night Watch teased, giving her a wink.

"Guh... Why!"

"Well, I didn't want to really stab you—“

"No! I mean... why didn't you just come out of the shadows? You nearly gave me a heart attack."

"'Cause it's fun? You're hot when you're all riled up like that."

Echo rolled her eyes. "This is why I don't like sparring with you. Pah." She spit into the fire, hopeful to get more of Night Watch's saliva out from her mouth.

"Heh... that's what they all say."

---

The two bat ponies sat by the fire, taking several moments to rest. Echo used that time to calm down her adrenaline.

"So... have you seen any of the others?" Echo asked. Night Watch, who was examining her blue wings, took a deep breath.

"No, you're the first. I haven't really been through much to get here, though, aside from my starting room," she responded, shifting in a hardened leather suit that covered most of her body. The many pockets that lined her chest and leggings were empty.

"Huh. Well, I almost got killed by a giant spider-thing, but made it out in one piece." Echo chuckled, rattling in her armour. “I came across a fork in the tunnels and took the one that sounded like there was a campfire.”

"Interesting. I came across a fork a little ways down that way, too," Night said while pointing to the other entrance to the room. "I thought I heard wind down the other way. It sounded creepy, so I went this way instead. Then I found this room. There was a chest with weird things inside of it. I decided to just burn the chest."

Echo stared into the fire, taking in a deep breath. "There was what sounded like rushing water down the way I didn't go."

Night Watch eyed the glowing crystal on Echo's left shoulder. "You got a cool glowing crystal? All I got was a weird square prism, thing,” she said, pulling out a wooden object from one of her saddlebags.

"Neat. I got one, too, except it's a triangular prism," Echo said as she pulled hers out of her saddlebag and compared it to Night Watch's. "They look similar. Maybe they're both used for something in these tunnels."

After several more minutes of rest, the fire finally died down and the two of them were left in the light of Echo's crystal.

Author's Note:

Echo: http://zee66.deviantart.com/art/Echo-the-Bat-Pony-14-390849358
Night Watch: http://equestria-prevails.deviantart.com/art/Night-Watch-351459117