Trials of Asrar

The flowers were pretty. That was the first thing that came to my mind when I gazed upon them. Children of the night, blooming in the moonlight. They decorated the shores of the lake.

Was I really doing this? Were the legends true? I had nothing left for me in Asrar. They had closed themselves off from the world, and the world had left them behind, traversing the skies while the city struggled with the spherical earth.

I had no idea how my family had come there. They never told me, and never ceased to tell me of the wonders of the modern world. Their towering buildings, their lack of shadowy forests and twisting trees.

I spared a glance at the city. It was useless to go back. I never said goodbye…

But what good would that have done? We needed help. The city was in ruins now, destroyed by decades of in-fighting and poverty.

I walked into the shimmering lake. There was no splash. I went deeper. It must have been chest-high now. Deeper. Deeper. This was the first step. A sign of faith to the lake.

If you believe in the lake’s power, find it at the darkest hour. Dive till the earth does bend, and your trial shall then end.

I couldn’t yet see where the earth bent, but it must have meant some kind of hole in the lake-bed. My vision was dark, yet somehow, I could make out color and shapes in my mind. They flashed before me in vivid, startling episodes. There were lines, triangles. Even ovals. But not anything even remotely resembling a bend in the ground.

I felt around with my hands. Only water. Wasn’t there supposed to be a floor here?

I should’ve been suffocating with lack of air by now. Minutes had passed by like centuries, and yet I was just as full of air as I was before. I was intrigued. What properties did this lake have, to preserve my life so well?

I shook off these thoughts. They weren’t important here.

I finally found it. A thin line, beginning high and dipping low before coming back up again. A bend.

I lunged towards it. It was so close. So close.

My chest heaved as air cut away from me. All that fruitless searching was taking its toll. Bubbles of precious oxygen fled the water.

I willed my muscles to move. My fingers were numb, my flesh refused to cooperate.

I clawed through the water. My body was numb, almost ice-like. But I wasn’t going down like this. Not until I saw what was beyond Asrar. I had to know if there was something there. Something that could heal these dying lands.

I gripped the line with both hands and pulled myself through the bend. A dolorous cry rumbled through the water. Was the lake mourning the loss of its next victim? I wondered.

That didn’t matter. I had survived.

Now onto the next trial.

This would be a bit harder. The second trial wasn’t so straightforward. The first was a test of faith, to see if I truly believed in what I was searching for. The second, was a test of what I was willing to sacrifice.

Three paths lead to what you desire. Each is lain with rivers of fire. To be reborn, sacrifice must be made. Give up your light, and the dark shall fade.

The world was black around me. Three paths stood before me, each glowing with sickly light.

The first was red. I could feel the power radiating from it. But there was something else…

Whispers brushed against me. Voices and laughter that all combined into a singular chorus of madness. Sanity would be the price for strength, a price I couldn’t pay.

Power had been the catalyst of Asrar’s destruction. I would not allow it to be my undoing too.

The second was blue. A calm blue that reminded me of the ocean. Different from the red path. Peaceful. I shuddered. When had it become so cold? Health left my aching body.

I left the path. Newfound vitality filled me. Now I understood the price for the path of peace.

The third path was yet again different. Glowing vividly with a strong green, I felt the life around me. The whispers of the wind, the swaying of each leaf. How all of Nature’s creatures worked together in harmony. But there was something else.

I felt my resolve weaken. My will faded away. Why did I want to come here again? Why not just stay, feel the power of the earth forever? Who cared about Asrar anyway?

I stepped off the path. Determination filled me again. Memories of why I was doing this. The cost of life was clear.

I stared at the three paths, contemplating my actions. Peace, life, or power? What would I choose?

And what would I sacrifice along the way?

Power would strip away my sanity, while life would rob me of the resolve to complete what I came here to do. Surely health was a small price to pay, in exchange for the restoration of Asrar?

I was wrong.

It was the worst price I could have ever paid.

The moment I stepped onto the path, my legs felt frail. My frozen flesh refused to move.

The blue-shaded world around me felt sinister.

I continued on the path. My life-force faded from my body as I continued. Years of my life drained away. I went as fast as I could, passing strange rivers, twisting corridors and endless labyrinths until finally, I saw it.

The fog yielded to my touch, dividing to reveal the final trial.

I inhaled deeply. I had to keep my head here. This was the hardest. A trial of chance.

Of luck. Nothing would be certain here.

Three cards lay on a table. A hooded figure sat on a chair opposite to mine.

Whoever it was, their hands were slender, fingers dirty. Their nails looked more like talons to me.

Hands shaking, I picked the third.

An upside down “World” stared at me.

A female voice echoed throughout the room.

“The world. Perhaps you actually stand a chance at this.”

It chuckled, as if it had made some great joke. My stomach turned. The world around me began to twist and change. The table pulled apart like clay and put itself back together. The shadows slithered like snakes. Stabs of cold waged war on my mind.

The woman laughed high and shrill as darkness hid her from my sight.

An eternity must have passed, yet it was over in minutes.

As I emerged from the lake, wet and alive, I rolled over onto my side in relief. I had done it. I had found the other world. The modern world. A world that could give us the aid we needed. It was over…

As it turns out, it was over.

I stared at the desolate buildings. The faces of dissatisfied people. The dying nature all around me. Clouds of noxious, white smoke filled the sky above. They never noticed me. I could’ve cried. Monstrous abominations littered their streets, and horrendous sounds assaulted my ears. This, was the world I thought would save Asrar?

There really was no saving Asrar after all.

It was, in fact, over.