Midnight Stories [On-Going]

Chapter Four - Riddles & Trials

The group faced a gigantic version of Ravenclaw's door knocker, anxiously awaiting the first of three riddles.

The eagle's eyes glistened. "Glittering spears with downward thrust. Sparkling spears that never rust. What am I?"

"Glittering spears with downward thrust..." Raven sighed. "That could be anything. Icicles, maybe? No..."

The other watched as the girl paced the floor.

"How long does this usually take?" Katie whispered.

"Give her some time," Jenna replied.

"...Ah. Got it." Raven looked directly up at the eagle. "There is no right answer. It could either be a shooting star or an icicle. Neither of them rust when falling downwards."

The eagle stayed silent for a few moments, then nodded. "Reasonable answer."

The door opened as the eagle mounted itself onto another door ahead.

"Now, the second riddle..." The door knocker's voice echoed around them. "Seas with no water, hills with no earth. Roads not stepped on. What am I?"

"A map," Raven said confidently.

The eagle screeched happily. "Another right answer. You're one step closer to your goal. But this final riddle will stump you."

Raven nodded. "So, isn't there another door?" She looked around.

"You might want to look behind you and keep your friends in line. Lest you want them to be buried by the sands of time..."

"Wh—" Raven turned and gasped.

The other students and Alex were magically concealed inside of the Ravenclaw house point hourglass.

"I'd hurry if I were you. The clock is ticking..." The eagle said.

"What's the final riddle?" Raven asked.

"What came first: the phoenix... or the flame?"

"The phoenix or the flame?" Raven sighed. "It'll go in a circle— er, cycle. It'll..." she looked back at the hourglass.

The grains seemed to be falling to the bottom and then magically rising back to the top using the pipes on either side.

"It'll never end..." Raven looked over directly at the bronze door knocker. "This is a trick question, innit?" She smiled. "The cycle has no end!"

The eagle screeched loudly and folded its wings as the door opened up.

The hourglass keeping the group captive magically disappeared.

"Raven... you did it!" Jenna grinned.

"Where does this lead to, though?" Michael nodded towards the door.

The sound of an orchestra tuning up could be heard within the dark void.

A pair of names glittered in the darkness: NICK; EMILY.

"Wait, Nick already went through his dream, didn't he?" Alex asked.

"Yeah. Why is he going again?" Michael added.