The Trials of the Elements

Chapter 4: The Water Trial

With her body aching from Isaure's trial, Hope slowly made her way through Broken Myth Forest. If Llyn's trial was anything close to what had happened the day before, she was sure that she wouldn't be able to walk again. Once she had arrived at the willow tree portal and stepped inside, she could see the blue wisp waiting for her.

"You're late." Llyn stated.

"I'm really sorry it took me a while to convince my care workers to let me go outsi-" Hope began before being cut off by the orb.

"I don't want to hear your excuses Hope. Now, it is time we begin your trial. Follow me," Said Llyn seriously.

Before Hope could move a muscle, the wisp darted towards the dew-covered orchid tree and entered the pool of water surrounding it. Quickly, she ran towards the tree and looked down into the clear water. The wisp was nowhere to be seen.

I guess I have to follow it... Hope thought to herself hesitantly.

Once she had taken her shoes off and placed them near the edge of the pond, Hope placed one of her feet in the shallow end of the small pool. The water felt cool and refreshing as it swirled around her bare skin. As she slowly waded into the centre of the pond, bubbles began to erupt around her. When she reached the place where the wisp had previously disappeared, the bubbles became larger and more chaotic to the point of engulfing her. With her vision obscured by the swirling water around her, Hope could feel her body being transported at increasingly faster speeds across space and time itself, causing her brown hair to whip her face. As the resistance of the wind began to make her feel light headed, the water cleared away to reveal an underground cavern.

In front of her lay a vast expanse of water with blue, white and magenta crystals growing along the walls and ceiling, casting a gentle violet light all across the cavern. Sharp, pointed stalactites hung from the ceiling, creating a slightly ominous feel to the place. Droplets of water hitting the surrounding lake and Hope's steady breathing was all that could be heard in this place. The small stone island the girl was standing on felt smooth underneath the soles of her feet. But as Hope looked around, she could not see the small wisp anywhere.

"Llyn?" Hope called out.

"Are you there?"

The only response she received was from the echo of her own voice. Staring at the underground cavern around her, she couldn't help but feel lost. What was she supposed to do? Squinting at the darkness at the far side of the cave, Hope could just make out the faint outline of what appeared to be the mouth of the cavern - possibly even the exit. Seeing as there was nowhere else to go, Hope took a deep breath and took a step into the water. Instead of feeling the cold-water swallow her feet, she felt as if she had stepped on concrete. Looking down, Hope could clearly see her foot on top of the water and not in it. As she placed her other foot on top of the water, she realised that she was standing on it. To test her theory, Hope began jumping up and down and it felt as if she were on solid ground.

"Huh, who would've thought it?" Hope muttered to herself, still amazed at what was happening.

When she began walking towards the cavern's exit, Hope noticed two things: that with every step she took, small ripples of waves spread outwards from her feet and hat she wasn't getting any closer to the exit. She began walking faster, and faster, and faster, and faster until she was running with all her might but to no avail. Out of breath, Hope sat down on the water cross-legged and planned her next course of action. Closing her eyes and putting her head in her hands, she wondered what was happening and why. As she opened her eyes, a glint of silver coming from underneath the surface of the water caught her eye. Moving her face closer to the "ground," Hope could see a strange silver-like string in the dark water. Keeping her head down to make sure the silver line was in sight, Hope slowly stood up and began to follow it. Although she couldn't see the mouth of the cavern, she could tell she was getting closer to it. The thread twisted and wound around in the water, creating strange patterns and shapes as it went. About halfway across the lagoon, the thread split in two: one to the left and one to the right. As Hope looked off into the distance, she could see that the threads split into even more directions, some with dead ends, and some even making the her walk around in circles. And it was at that moment, Hope realised she was in a maze.

Of course it wouldn't be that easy... she thought to herself disappointingly.

Deciding to follow the right path, the girl had officially entered the water maze. Left, right, middle, middle, dead end, back, right, left, left, left, stuck, back, middle, right, left, middle, dead end, back, right, left, middle - at that point Hope had lost track of her turns. As much as this task seemed tedious and annoying, Hope was having fun as she could tell she was making progress. The more mistakes she made, the more likely she was to find the correct path. After what felt like another hour or so, Hope arrived 7ft away from the edge of the island that led to the cave exit. Looking around the edge of the stone isle, she could see that there were no threads that directly led to the island. She had to jump, but if she did not land fully on the island, she would be stuck in a state of no progression, as she had previously done when she didn't see the silver threads previously. Hope closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

This is it.

After taking a few steps back, the small girl began sprinting towards the exit. As the last bit of thread left her line of sight, Hope leaped across the water. As she landed on the other side, her foot slipped, causing her to lose her balance. Teetering on the edge, almost touching the water, Hope used her remaining momentum to throw her body weight forward, causing her to fall onto the hard stone floor beneath her. With her body aching in pain at the sudden impact, a familiar fluid-like voice came above her:

"That was quite the landing," the blue wisp said chuckling.

Dusting herself off Hope replied, "Nice to see you too Llyn."

"Well congratulations, you have completed my trial. The purpose of this task was to show you that there is more to people, objects and life than what lies on the surface, or meets the eye. Water is also ever flowing and ever changing, so learn to accept your flaws, but know when to change as well. Keep this in mind as you use your powers."

Before Hope could respond, strands of blue essence began to seep out of the blue orb and weave it's way towards her body. As the first threads of magic connected with her chest, her eyes rolled to the back of her head as she began to glow a radiant blue. She could feel the powerful magic snaking throughout the veins in her body. With one final flash of blue light, the ritual ended. Looking down into the lake beside her, Hope could clearly see two curved lines on either side of her neck representing gills, and as she lifted her hands up to touch them, she noticed that her writs had small ocean waves following the outline of her veins.

As she marvelled at her new markings, Llyn floated towards her and asked, "Are you going to just stare at yourself or are you going to try out your new powers?"

Rolling her eyes, Hope stood up and faced the large expanse of water. Opening the palms of her hands towards the left hand side of the cave, she pushed the air with her hands, thus creating a large wave that crashed into the walls of the cavern, sending a loud thunderous boom to echo around the area.

"Remember what I told you Hope... Remember..." Said Llyn's voice as the underground cavern began to disappear.

As the sound of the waves muffled and faded, Hope found herself back at the willow tree, and back in Broken Myth Forest.