A/N: Decided to put all four of them together because it's basically a one large challenge spilt into four.

Chapter 7: The Last Four Challenges…Will he Pass?

Max found himself walking through the jungle once more but this time, the sun was high in the sky and the trees were blocking the rays of the sun as much as it could, leaving the jungle cool for Max to walk around.

He had been waiting for a while for the fourth challenge. He had spent ages trying to figure out what he could give the Seer as a gift but had no idea and no one in the village could tell him, they said that the gift changes all the time so there was no way they would be able to guarantee him the correct gift.

He had also spent ages looking at everything the village, the forest, underwater, heck, even the volcano for something that could be a gift and match the Seer's personality but came up with nothing, something that frustrated him to a no end. He wanted to pass the challenge but he couldn't do it, not unless he had a gift for her.

Thankfully there was no time limit on the gift challenge, the Seer had obviously foreseen that people would have problems with the gifts and had decided to give the Seekers time to figure out the answer.

Which had explained why he was walking through the Jungle, he had asked for directions to the door that would lead him to the last four challenges so he could take a look at the door for himself, maybe there was a clue on the door that would be able to help him. And it also gave him time to think.

Riverdog and Eddie had been acting strange since Max had told them that he had seen an outline of a female every now and then, which made him confused. What did it mean that he saw the outline of the female – it couldn't possibly be the Seer as they weren't allowed to see the Seeker before they passed all the challenges but the way they had acted told him that there were more than he was being told but he pushed it out of his mind.

The other problem he was having was the dreams that came to him every night. He had a feeling that it was related to the other man but he couldn't help but wonder why he was having dreams of the past relationship and wondered if the Seer would be able to help him out with that, she was the Seer that the other man had saw so she would have the answers he needed for that particular question along with trying figure out where his true path lies. He was sick and tired of all the questions and lies that tried to cloud his judgement every time.

Max stopped when he reached the clearing and looked at the three different directions. He remembered that Riverdog said he was to turn right and he took the right path, continuing on till he reached another clearing. Cautiously moving in, he looked around till he could see something that would lead him to the place that he was to present the gift to.

He stopped when he came to the stone double doors and looked at it. There were two unlit torches attached to either side of the doors and the doors itself had a small riddle on it with a small half bowl sticking out that was filled with water. Looking closely, he could see a small raised altar that looked like used to have something attached too.

Shaking his head, Max looked up at the doors once more and peered closely at the riddle.

'To pass this obstacle, a gift must be given. The Seer requires neither wealth nor possessions. The gift must be attached to the altar but must match the Seer's personality. If given the wrong gift, you must face the wrath of the goddess that protects this door as she will swallow you whole,' Max muttered before he made a face as realisation crossed him.

"Great, an Earthquake – why am I surprised?" he muttered to himself as he pushed himself away from the door and over to the tree and sat down with his back against the tree as he thought about it. "She doesn't value wealth so anything containing money or gold is out of the question. Possessions – things that are personal to the person themselves means nothing to her because she has no use or need for it. They said that she doesn't value vanity so anything to do with her look is also out of the equation."

Max plunged his hands into his jean pockets as he rested the back of his head against the bark of the tree only for his hand to encounter something cool and solid. Sitting upright, he pulled out the object and held it up to see the necklace that Serena had given him before he had left.

The sun glinted off the clear crystal and something Serena had said came back to his mind.

'She's playful…she is just playing a game in order to test their worthiness – if they truly deserve to be told their true path'

"Her moods changes," Max whispered in understanding. "Each times a Seeker comes forward to seek her out, she changes her idea of gift to suit her personality but it's also to do with her moods. The Guardians are a represent of her moods, the Water dragon because she can be still as water but go as deep and turn dangerous when the moon is high. The Fire Dragon because of her fiery nature – the way she guards herself against strangers who wish harm on her but she can be warm like a fire to the person she cares about the most and she is the light. The Wolf is my inner animal but she is like the wind – she can enter your life, turn it upside down and disappear without a trace but it's never in an upsetting way but a way that makes you re-evaluates your life." He laughed. "No wonder people have a hard time deciding what to get her when you find it very had a to find a mood-stone in a small village like this…then again, not everyone is an alien."

Max stood up and hurried over to the small bowl. He detached the small clear ball from the necklace, held it in the palm of his hand and closed his fingers around it as he concentrated.

After a few moments, he opened his hand to see that the clear crystal slowly changed to yellow, indicating his happiness at finding the answer to the riddle before it turned to a dark blue of hope that he had passed the test.

Max rolled the ball into his fingers and placed it on the small altar before taking a step back to see what will happen.

The altar holding the mood-stone slowly sunk down into the bowl before there was a clicking sound. The water started bubbling as it changed different colours, indicating all the moods that a person can have before the small ball disappeared down the hole.

The writing on the doors started glowing light blue before it changed.

'Congratulations young Seeker, you have understood the riddle and passed the challenge, you may enter,' Max whispered and the doors opened, creaking as it did. The torches on the sides of the doors burst into flames as well as the torches that lit the way off the passage.

Max swallowed before he straightened up and made his way through the doorway and into the hallway only to stop when he heard the doors creak once more before they slammed shut, blocking the way out completely. Max just exhaled slowly before he kept walking, he was nearly there, he just needed to keep going, he couldn't lost his faith.

"He did it – he passed the gift challenge," The Seer exclaimed, happiness shining brightly as she turned away from the crystal ball and over to the small stone bowl that was sitting next to the bath. She reached in and pulled out the small clear ball that the Seeker had presented as a gift and watched with delight and joy as the little ball changed colour to light pink to light blue then to light purple.

She looked at the Crystal once more and saw that the Seeker was nearing closer to the next challenge…the riddle.

Max sighed to himself as he reached another stone door and wondered just how many stone doors he had to go through before the day was over. He looked at the writing on the stone and instantly realised that it was the fifth challenge – the riddle.

'Before you pass this door – you must ask the question that your heart yearn the answer to. Failure will send you back to the beginning and you will never be given another chance. Honest will send you forward, another step closer to the Seer,' Max whispered before he hung his head.

This was the challenge he dreaded the most, he didn't want to voice the question that his heart yearned to know the answer to, it meant completely baring himself, soul and body and he wasn't sure if he could allow himself to become that vulnerable.

He strived in being in control; it was the only way to protect him from people trying to enter his mind to make him see things that are not his, to prevent people from doing things and trying to break him.

But he had to if he wished to see the Seer to get the answer he seeks. Max took a deep breath and closed his eyes, unwilling to look at the door.

"Am…" he faltered and inhaled deeply before exhaling as he tried once more, "Am I even allowed to love and be loved in return or is it became I'm unnatural, I am not allowed to know the meaning of unconditional love from a lover?"

The Seer felt her heart break at his confession and she could see the fear clear on his face and even feel it. She closed her eyes as a tear slipped free from her eyes before she waved her hand over the Crystal ball.

"He passed…he's telling the truth from the heart – let him in," the Seer whispered before she rested her index finger on Max's face. "I can only hope that I can give you the path that you deserve."

Max, cautiously, opened an eye when he heard a creaking sound and saw that the words were changing while glowing. Opening both eyes, he read the new writing.

'Congratulations Seeker, you spoke from the heart…you have passed the test…please go forward,' Max bowed his head in relief before shaking himself, he never realised how emotional exhausting the challenges were and realised that's why the Seer had set up the challenges, finding the person's true path was emotional exhausting for her and she needed to make sure that they were worthy of the pain that she obviously went through to get those answers.

Max made his way through the passageway till he came to another clearing but this one had a row of a stone wall with a gap. He frowned as he moved closer before he caught sight of writing on the wall next to the gap.

'The Maze of Faith,' Max whispered, 'To pass this maze, you must rely only on your faith as it will lead you to the correct door but failure will send you to a depth worse than hell.'

"Talk about a death sentence," muttered Max as he stared at the words before shaking it off, it was obviously mean to scare people into losing his faith but he had come too far to fail now. He moved over to the entrance but didn't go through it; he needed to get his bearings up before he even attempted it.

Once he was sure that he was fine, he inhaled and stepped through the passage, causing the once opened passageway to slide a block of stone in his way, blocking his way out. He looked forward and started walking. Every time he reached different directions, he would close his eyes, breathe for a few moments and open his eyes, walking the path that his eyes had slid to and his heart would beat a little harder at that moment, letting him know that he was on the right path…beside, it wasn't like he could go back, the stones slid into place behind him, preventing him from turning around.

He didn't know how long he had been in the maze for, only that it was beginning to drive him stir crazy, he swore that he had seen that stone ten times now. Max stopped in his place and wondered if he was going round in a circle.

He put his hands into his pockets and rooted around for something before he felt something and pulled out a packet of gum. He placed it on the ground and continued the path he had been taking the whole time till he came across the packet of gum once more. He was walking in a circle.

He turned to the large stone that was driving him nuts before looking around. He moved closer, waving his hands over the gap before stopping when he could feel the air and realised that this was the way to the passage but it was blocked.

"Faith…" Max muttered before he realised something – all the stones that had blocked his way, what if they weren't blocking his way…what if they were illusions that merely made him think that they were blocking his way. It was amazing, people never stopped to think that what they were seeing might be something that was a trick…they just assumed it was really because they never touched it – if they can see then it must be real.

Max picked up the packet and placed it into his pocket before looked at the wall once more. He closed his eyes and took a step forward, half expecting to bump into the wall only to open his eyes when he saw that he was no longer in the maze but in a torch lit pathway.

He looked behind him only to see that the wall was no longer blocking the maze and he grinned. He had passed the test now there was one more challenge – the guardian. Max could only hope that it wasn't another dragon, he didn't fancy facing them down.

Max made his way through the hallway once more, taking in the sights. He was definitely getting closer to meeting the Seer, he didn't know how he knew but he could tell deep within himself and felt a sense of feeling of De-Ji-Vu that was beginning to freak him out.

He reached another clearing but this time; there was a snow white adult leopard with deep blue eyes flecked with sliver sitting in the middle. It reminded him so much of Serena that he almost laughed before shaking the thought out of his head and met the gaze of the leopard, instantly locked in the stare.

'You must let all of your feelings and thoughts go. Leave your fears and worries behind as they have no concern here…live in the now and realise that the past is something to learn from…not to be burdened with…' a female voice whispered.

Max did what he was told, he allowed everything to slowly disappear, all his worries of who and what he was faded, and his so called past also disappeared. The only thing left in place was Max Evans, the adopted son of Diane and Phillip Evans who loved him with all of their hearts even thought he wasn't biological theirs.

He was the friend of Alex, Courtney, Kyle, Maria, Tommy and Serena. He didn't have a destiny to live up to, he didn't have enemies…he was simply Max Evans, someone who just wanted guidance to find his path.

The leopard stared at Max for a long moment. Max just swallowed but fought hard not to blink as he continued to meet the leopard stare when it bowed its head. Max staggered back, blinking desperately to get the most needed moisture over his dry eyes before he opened them once more to see that the leopard was now standing over at the entrance, looking over its shoulder to meet Max's gaze once more before gesturing its head toward the entrance.

Max nodded as he straightened his shoulder and followed the leopard to meet the Seer, the one person who he had done all this for so he could get the answer he needed.

The Seer smiled as she waved her hand over the ball. He has completed all of them…he had proven his worth.

TBC

Next chapter – Max meets the Seer – will he get the answers he so desperately seeks?