Esmurus (Original Draft)

Chapter 7: Trial of the Ranger

The door it...opened. Sarah looked back at Strider's unimpressed face as the giant door became transparent. He nodded to her and she began a slow walk, with her left hand in front of her, through the transparent door. Strider followed her silently.
On the other side was a gigantic hall. With three exits. One to the left with a letter H, one that was barely readable, above it; One to the right with a letter R above it that was again barely readable; and one directly opposite the entrance - that had death written above it, but this, this time it was readable..

As our two heroes ventured into the middle of the room the door morphed back to how it was before and closed behind them. A white light on the roof of the hall flickered on and off before permanently remaining lit. The light left a white spot on the floor. Sarah and Strider both look at each other before stepping forward once more and walking directly under the light. A deep, dark, voice began to talk.

[????] "Why do you come here humanoids? This place is FORBIDDEN."

2 stone spires forced themselves out of the ground. One next to Sarah and one next to Strider. Purple lights flashed out of them as they began to scan our heroes; retrieving information such as their name, blood line and heart rate. Sarah unlatched her bow from her back and attempted to fire and arrow at the spire beside her. But after a flash of yellow light she found herself struck by paralysis. Strider stared at her. "Sarah?"

[????] "Ah. That's why you're here. The prophecy. The Chosen One and the Prodigy...The Hunter and the Ranger. You have no idea what you're getting yourselves into. This is the Tomb of Magna. This is the final resting place of the Order that brought the continent of Uditela to its knees."

Strider turned his attention to the spire next to him.

[Strider] "We came for the Crystal of Creation."

[????] "Then. Ranger. You came to the right place. In this chamber there are 3 exits. Those 3 exits each lead to a separate trial. To your left The Trial of the Hunter; where the hunter becomes the hunted, To your right The Trial of the Ranger; a race against time, and straight ahead of you is The Trial of Death; a fight for your lives. Once you complete these trials you will have your Crystal. But first Ranger. To get your 'friend' the ability to move you must complete your trial. Good Luck."

Evil laughter full the air as the voice disappeared from the ears of our heroes. The spires shot back into the floor and Sarah was left paralyzed in the air with her bow in a firing position. Strider stared at her and began to panic; fearing for her life. But he pulled himself together. Pulling his sword out of its sheath and walking towards the exit on his right. He stopped, looked back at Sarah, and pushed the iron door in front of him open - slamming it behind him.

The other side of the door was, well, dark. Very dark. The only source of light was a crooked blue-green torch connected to the broken wall beside him. He reached out and pulled the torch off the cracked and broken grey stone wall; shining it on the floor to see where he was going. The floor was made of cracked grey stones stuck together with green liquid that was placed between the cracks. Strider began to walk forwards one step at a time to avoid any-CLICK.

Bars shot up out of the ground around his perimeter. Blocking of all his exits. The light above him turned on removing all the darkness surrounding him and absorbing the light from the torch. Strider looked around him with his big crimson eyes; from wall to wall he was trapped. The ominous dark voices vibrated walls around him.

[????] "Strider. You dare to deceive me? I know who you are. The last surviving member of the Order of Apex. Our sworn enemies and you dare come to our turf?"

[Strider] "I had no choice Dorchadas. Rancid has returned. We need to recover the crystals."

[Dorchadas] "No choice?! The world deserves to suffer. Even you, the ones who protected it, lie to the ones you love. That girl. You love her don't you?"

[Strider] "Yes. I do. I lie because I have to. If she knew I was bringing her into a death trap she wouldn't even come here"

[Dorchadas] "She follows you blindly boy and you were supposed to be the last remaining 'good' guy. If you ask me. We were the good guys. If given the chance we could have saved this planet-"

[Strider] "If given a chance?! This planet gave you a chance and you brought it to its knees. You tried destroying it from within and when the Orcs came you left us to rot."

[Dorchadas] "Your descendants forced our hand Strider; and now just like them you are forcing my hand all the same. So if you can't defeat the ghosts of the past in this chamber. She dies. [Sarcastically] happy fighting."

The voice disappeared once again and in front of Strider. A transparent red warrior appeared, and another, and another; the three drew their swords and looked directly at Strider. He readied himself and gripped his sword tightly in both of his hands; staring straight at the eyes of his three ghastly opponents. They pounced simultaneously at Strider clashing all four swords against each other. Strider was clearly outnumbered but gave it his all by slashing and hacking back at the three ghosts with his sword. How is he supposed to beat a ghost?

Strider focused in on one of the red ghosts slashing harder than before trying to out power the ghost. The swords clashed as he thought of the one ghost whilst alternating between blocking shots from the other two. His strength was unbelievable. Heavy blow after heavy blow; violent strike after violent strike; ferocious hack after ferocious hack - Strider fought this battle like no other. His unrelenting power was resonating off his body creating a red aura around him. He used all his power and raised his sword over his head for one violent shot against the blade of one of the red ghosts. The opposing sword snapped in half and the ghost evaporated. "One down..two to go."

Strider turned his attention to the other two and jumped over their heads as they attempted a double team slash down his body. He threw away his cloak and gripped his sword tight. The two enemies attempted, again, to slash our hero but he blocked it with all his might breaking the ends of both swords. He slashed and hacked his way past their defences and knocked each sword away to the walls at either side of him; successfully evaporating the ghost-like enemies.

Clap. Clap. Clap. Another hooded figure walked out of the shadows. Strider turned around and walked towards the figure with his sword in his hand. The figure began to talk.

[????] "So you finished the challenge huh? Or so you thought."

His voice was deep. His voice was familiar. Strider readied his sword again and looked directly at the hooded figure trying to make out a face underneath the hood.

[Strider] "So that was all a test?"

[????] "It was Strider. Now is the real challenge"

Strider gave a confused stare at the figure as he reach his hands in the air. The figure removed his hood; throwing his cloak to the floor. Strider continued staring, then his eyes widened. This figure. Long black hair, a black hood, the voice. Strider's sword clattered and scraped along the floor as he dropped it. This figure had to be a figment of his imagination; surely it wasn't real.

[Strider] "You can't be real. This isn't happening..."

[????] "Oh but it is Strider. It's happening."

The ominous figure that was stood directly in front of him. Was himself.

[Strider] "You're me..?"