Journey

Chapter 4

"Which one should we choose first?" he asks me. I turn around and scan all the stages. There are three on either side of us and the largest podium in the front.

"That one?" I point straight ahead. He nods in agreement and we cross the sand to the center podium. Just then, I hear a swishing sound and musical call. I turn and see a small red scroll, unrolled and flying towards us. "Look." I nudge him. The scroll circles us a few times, causing our to scarves light up.
"What are these things?" I ask.

"I think they give your scarf energy so you can fly." He replies. "Come on we don't have time to worry about that. Let's go." We fly up to the steps and reach the large podium lit up from the ground. In the center rests a ring of long plaques etched with the dessert language. I walk towards one and watch as it glows to life. Soon, all the plaques are lit and a white circle appears in the center. We exchange a look of agreement and stand above the white light. A force pulls us down to a crossed-leg position and my mind goes blank. In the bright space of nothingness, a figure slowly walks towards us. Shiroka...I think to myself. The hooded figure wears an elegant white robe lined with gold silk. The scene changes and shows a golden map. The image moves: a red carpet swirling upwards to a gold star. Suddenly, my mind returns to reality. In front of us, an enormous gate in front of us creaks open revealing another sandy plane. We walk through and see multiple pillars at least fifty times as tall as ourselves. Everything is in ruins and the cool wind blows around our feet, creating an ominous and somewhat lonely atmosphere.

"This is the first test." He says.

We walk around for a while until I come across a large metal beast, half buried in the sand. On top of the metal, another scroll, this time longer, blows in the wind. I jump onto the contraption and crouch next to the scroll, pressing my palms into the chill of the scrap. It's instinct and involuntary but as I press my palm in, a gold aura surges from my body, rippling up the scroll; each inch of the scroll my gold aura touches, glows to life. Then the scroll slowly disintegrates leaving a rumbling in the ground. I jump off and see almost a hundred smaller scrolls fly out of the metal giant. They fly past me up to the top of the pillars, creating a red bridge from the first pillar to the second.

"What was that?" he comes running over and sees the bridge. "Wow." We both stare up at the pillars in awe.

"There should be other scrolls that do this, the bridge isn't complete." I say, still looking up. He nods in agreement and we separate once again to find the scrolls.

Every time I find a scroll and press my palm to the ground, causing the surrounding area to glow gold, I feel power. Before this test, I would have never known what it felt like to have power but now...

"LOOK!" he calls from another metal beast. There are small red scrolls swirling over him and connecting the bridges. It's finished. I run over and together we go to the first bridge. As we step on, immediately the red carpets start to glow and we glide swiftly across. That feeling...power once again. The wind ripples our robes while glittering sand prickles our faces as we ascend. Finally, we reach the top of the bridge; I assume about thirty meters from the sandy ground.

"Same thing?" I ask.

"Same thing."

We walk around the plaques and watch as they come to life, creating the glowing white circle in the center.

"Wait!" I stop him just before he enters the white circle. "Do you see that?" I point below near where the sand cascades over a canyon rock.

"Should we check what it is?" he replies. I nod and we jump down.

"It's the golden box from before." I climb up to the rocks edge and watch as the box breaks apart. The gold dust circles to my scarf, adding a few more inches to it. It reappears and he steps forward.

"We should watch carefully in the next stage." He says.

"Yeah, let's go." We ascend the bridge again and sit in the white circle. Our minds travel to the blank space where Shiroka waits...
The image has changed; the red bridge straightens out into a long hall made of gold columns. The hall ascends, becoming pillars. The dessert figures stand above gold scrolls that act as flying carpets. Our minds return....

"Wow..." I hear him say. I look ahead and see the wall of flowing sand part, leaving an opening into an ancient hall. At the end of the hall are stairs leading down to our next test.