THE SWORDSMAN TEST

“This is the test?” muttered Rohane, hoping he sounded disdainful. In truth, he was nervous. Peering into the cave in which his test would take place, he noticed how dimly lit it was. A few stones embedded into the ground marked a pathway; otherwise, the cave was a maze of tunnels, all hiding their own secrets.

 

            “Um, Hazel,” said Rohane, acting indifferent, “if you, um, did get trapped in the cave, or, you know, like, lost, will someone, um find you?”

 

            “Well,” said Hazel, looking serious but mocking, “There once was this novice that got lost inside. He called for help for days and days before they found him, raving mad, under a rocky cleft. He’s still in the care of the nurses today.”

 

            Rohane gulped as he stepped into the maze. He heard the echo-y goodbye of his brother a short laugh, and then silence. Looking down, he noticed for the first time that in between the stones were green patches, and holes that lead to darkness. Curious, he lightly tapped on a green patch with his foot. The entire area gave way, the green disappearing. After a moment, he heard a splash.

 

            Oh great, if I fall, I’ll need to swim in this monkey suit!” he thought as he looked at his basic novice armour.

 

Advancing into the cave, his eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness. A few scattered torches were the only source of light. Twice, he accidentally stepped on a green patch. The first time, he caught himself before putting his full weight on it, but the next one caught him off guard completely. Rohane felt himself falling, his feet slipping from beneath him as he futilely screamed for help. He then noticed he had stopped falling; the sword in his flailing hands had dug itself into a sturdy area of packed dirt. He carefully climbed out of the hole, making sure to watch his step.

 

Soon, the green traps grew less and less, until they had disappeared altogether, Still, Rohane watched his step, and he sighed in relief that he had been careful. His foot was suddenly just inches away from a cavernous hole; in fact, he was now standing on a stone platform. Two long, wooden planks were the only bridge to the other side, where two torches shone dimly. Holding his breath, Rohane began to cross one of the planks, noticing how narrow it was. Carefully keeping his balance, he had reached about the middle of the cavern when he heard a noise behind him.

 

Rohane froze, his arms outstretched to maintain his balance. Was it some monster? Was crossing the wooden planks one of the traps? Would it at any time just give away, sending him to the bottom of the pit where he’d crawl under a rock and lose sanity?

 

Then, he heard a voice, its familiar characteristics getting louder every second. A boy appeared at the stone platform, and Rohane turned slightly to see purple hair gleaming in the dim torches’ lighting.

 

“Nyroc? Is that you?”

Nyroc had been an old friend of Rohane’s. In the past, they had gone on adventures together, searching for hidden passages or secret caves that might lead to one of Prontera’s many treasure store holds. Nyroc was as daring as he was dense, always getting himself in trouble for his acts of ‘bravery’ that were, in reality, acts of sheer stupidity.

 

“Rohane Brooklander. Last place I’d find you, although now that I think of it, you’d want to follow in the footsteps of your father.”

 

“You’re taking the test too?” asked Rohane as Nyroc began to cross the second plank, slightly faster than Rohane had been doing.

 

“Of course! My dad told me this maze is one of the easiest things, if you know what you’re doing. Easy enough for someone as clumsy as you to pass, I guess, since you’ve made it this far.”

 

“Hey, at least I didn’t try to toss Aunt Henrietta’s chickens down the chimney, painted red, so that she’d think Old Saint Nick existed.”

 

Nyroc had reached the place Rohane was standing at, still balanced. They both continued in silent concentration until they had reached the stone platform on the other side. As both clambered quickly towards what looked like a continuation of the original cave, Rohane tripped, sending both boys sprawling.

 

“Watch it!” cried Nyroc. “You could have killed us!”

 

Indeed, they had landed only edges away from a sinkhole.

 

“Me, watch it? It was your foot that I tripped over, Sanzio.”

 

“Don’t call me that, Brooky.”

 

After getting up, Rohane asked the question they had both been thinking. “Do you think we could, you know, finish the maze together? Because, um, you know, so that we’ll get out faster and the evaluators will think we’re really good?”

 

“Evaluators? Will they mind us working together?”

 

“I don’t think so. My brother worked together with…”

 

Rohane paused as he looked ahead. The cave was suddenly getting brighter. He could make out a patch of sunlight at the very end.

 

“I think we’ve reached the exit! Wow, that was easy!” Nyroc whooped for joy, and rushed forward.

 

“Stop!” Rohane grabbed him just in time. The earth before them had split into two narrow strips, with severely bumpy land-bridges leading to the other side of a dark passage. The one torch lighting the area was far beneath them, and they could see something dark and shiny scurrying about underneath.

 

“Scared, Rohane?”

 

“No, I just didn’t want you to fall.”

 

“Right. I knew it was there all along. Anyways, don’t you dare back out on me. There are two bridges here; one for me, one for you.”

 

“But that torch isn’t nearly enough light to see where we’re going. There are so many holes in these bridges. What if it falls like the green traps?”

 

“Well, if you want to wait for some evaluator to come rescue you, go ahead. I’m going to the exit to pass the test.” With that, Nyroc stepped into the darkness.

 

I don’t want to be rescued by an evaluator. I don’t need rescuing, I’m a swordsman, thought Rohane as he determinedly walked towards the other bridge.

 

He could see Nyroc stepping onto the green patch. Suddenly, he disappeared. The ‘ground’ beneath him collapsed; the entire bridge plummeting into the darkness, Nyroc falling with it. Thankfully, Rohane thought fast�"he grabbed Nyroc’s hand as the large chunks of earth fell out of view onto the black mass. It shrieked, and fled out of their sight.

 

“Nyroc, you idiot, that’s why I don’t just charge forward whenever I want to. You could have gone mad!”

 

Nyroc gave him a puzzling look as he pulled him up. “Mad? You actually believe that old swordsman tale? And anyways, I wanted to get out. It was impulse�"could have happened to anyone…”

 

Suddenly, both of them heard a female chuckle from behind them.

 

“Boys are such fools. And chickens�"look at you, cowering there on the floor.”

 

She then proceeded to skip across the remaining bridge, much to both boys’ surprise and embarrassment.

 

“Hey, how did you�"”

 

“Have you guys noticed anything about this maze? All the patches that felt were light green. Just walk on the darker patches and you won’t fall. But step on a green patch and everything green falls.”

 

Rohane stood up, looking at her superior smile.

 

“But, how did you know what was dark and what was light? There’s no light in there.”

 

“Did you fools bring anything into the cave? Hello�"the Beginner’s Guide to the Swordsman Guild tells you to bring a lantern into the cave. Here, I’ll go back and light the way.”

 

Soon, they had all crossed, and Nyroc was his daring self again.

 

“Told you it was easy, Rohane. Even that little girl could do it…”

 

“EXCUSE ME?” roared the girl, looking as if she had just grown twice her height.

 

“He meant, um, thank you for helping us,” Rohane assured her quickly.

 

“Oh. Well in that case, my name is Eglantine. Nice meeting you.” With that, she walked deftly out of the cave, leaving Nyroc in a cloud of dust her shoes had stirred up.

 

“Women,” he muttered, while coughing. A moment later, they too emerged from the cave, greeted by a mixture of laughter and applause.

 

“Finally,” sighed an evaluator, “somebody fell in the purple dust at the exit. “Oh, ho, ho, are you a sight for sore eyes!”

 

“Actually, my hair’s naturally purple…”

 

Rohane doubled up in laughter. Nyroc was purple head to toe, his carefully cleaned novice outfit polka-dotted in spots of various shades of violet.

 

“Well, no matter, you’ll be receiving your new outfits. Congratulations, you’ve passed the test!”

 

Rohane soon said goodbye to Nyroc as he met up with his family again. Hazel scowled slightly upon seeing Rohane had not fallen into a pit, but looked pleased that his brother had upheld their family reputation. Rohane looked around his family, trying to spot Mipsy.

 

“Where’s Mipsy? And Aunt Shurna?”

 

“The left for Geffen, dear. I told them to get a head start, because they have just received news that the landlords of her building realized a mix up had occurred involving the rental fees, and that she had actually paid the rent for the next two months.”

 

“Oh…that’s nice.”

 

The family returned home after feasting at the best restaurant in Izlude, and gradually, life returned to normal. People spoke less of Father Niacha, and instead gossiped on who was being chosen as the next leader of the church. Meanwhile, Nyroc had returned to his parents, who were highly ecstatic over Nyroc’s success.

 

“And,” said Nyroc, “while I was in there, I helped this boy and girl out of the end. They just didn’t realize it was the darker patches you had to step on.”

 

“That’s my boy!” chuckled his mother, as they too travelled home.

 

It seemed the peace had been restored in the town. After Moonlight Flower’s destruction, there were gradually less and less monsters seen in the outskirts. Niacha was found guilty, and backed by the supreme evidence found within his chambers, he was sent to life imprisonment at Glast Heim.

 

 

Author's Note

please read the entire book, and review it, tear it apart,

thanks

Reviews

[Yurianna Aquierl Hoffen..]

That was brilliant. Their shared friendship, their shared stupidity...though Nyroc sounds way too old for his actual age saying when he's referring to Eglantine as "women". I guess that some 9-10 year-olds know a bit too much. (And yes, I finally figured out my password, haha)

The description "looking serious but mocking" sounds a bit off to me. Maybe you'll need to find another word or phrase that flows better with that sentence.