Marik didn't have to relieve himself like the other guys did, so he joined Serenity in guarding the wagon. They watched the other three disappear across the forest line in amicable silence.
"Are you enjoying the adventure?" Serenity asked. "Was it everything you hoped for?"
Marik nodded quickly. "After seeing so much, I'm learning a lot. Mostly about myself." And he looked off in the direction they had just left.
Serenity bit her bottom lip wondering whether it was worth it to mention Malik and the Quickening. She was spared the decision by the sight of a shadow swiftly gliding over them. They both looked up and saw a dark figure circling in the sky before landing just up ahead on the road.
The thing was actually golden, its metallic hide making it appear more machine than animal. It had large wings that folded into its side and a long tail it swished back and forth lazily. Its body looked vaguely like a lion, but its face was too humanoid. It lay down on its belly, effectively barring the path, and watched them carefully.
"What is it?" Serenity murmured.
Marik shrugged. "Want to find out?"
The two nodded in agreement and approached the thing, their wagon and friends forgotten. The flying beast huffed as they neared it, making Serenity think the thing was alive after all.
"Hail, travelers," it spoke.
"H-hello," Serenity returned, giving it a half wave. "If you don't mind us asking, what exactly are you?"
It huffed again, sounding like a chuckle. "I do not mind at all," it began. "I am the Riddle Sphinx, given life by legend. I traverse the Betwixt to test the mettle of travelers."
"Are you here to test ours?" Marik asked.
"Yours and whoever ventures this path," the Sphinx replied. "Should you pass my trial, you may continue on your journey. If not," the Sphinx licked its lips, "then I will devour you both."
Marik and Serenity gulped. "May we have a moment to discuss our decision?" Marik asked, already tugging Serenity away from the beast.
The Sphinx nodded, and the pair scurried back to their wagon. Joey, Bakura, and Yami were walking out of the forest and met them there, questioning looks on their faces.
"We left for two minutes, you two couldn't have possibly gotten into trouble that quick," Yami said, his hands on his hips.
"Yeah, everything okay?" Joey asked. Then he spotted the Sphinx. "Whoa, what is that thing?"
"The trouble," Marik replied. "It's a Riddle Sphinx and it won't let us pass unless we take its trial, and if we fail, it'll... eat us."
"A Riddle Sphinx, eh?" Bakura asked. "I swore it was just a campfire story."
"What should we do?" Serenity asked. "We have to continue down this path."
"Not necessarily," Yami said. "Can we double back and take another route?"
Joey unfurled the map and traced his finger along the path they were on. "We could go back and circle around, but we'd lose a lot of hours, days even. We'd also have to circle around to go to the Empire afterwards and waste even more time." He rolled it back up with a sigh. "The best way to the City is through."
They each grimaced and regarded the Sphinx, which hadn't stopped staring in their direction.
"Maybe if we just ask it what the trial is, we could gauge how ready we are to take it," Yami suggested, sounding confident in the simplicity of his idea.
"Nothin' to lose," Joey agreed, and they marched together to the Sphinx, Serenity and Marik leading them.
"Uh, h-hello again, O Sphinx," Serenity said, hoping this was the correct way to greet a legendary beast. "Before we take your trial, can we know what the trial is? It'd help is make a decision."
The Sphinx yawned. "The trial is a test of wit and wile. You must answer a riddle."
Serenity gave the thing a blank look; she could have guessed that from its name. "What kind of riddle?"
"The tricky kind. I cannot tell it to you unless you agree to my terms."
"May we each have a try, at least?" Bakura asked.
"No. You travel as one and must answer as one."
Joey growled. "This is a set up! We're supposed to just gamble with our lives without even knowing what the odds are?"
"Consider the gravity of your journey. Is it worth these stakes?" The Sphinx lay its head down on its paws, clearly having lost interest in the conversation until the travelers came to a decision.
"We must do this," Yami said softly. "For the King."
The others nodded, and Joey stepped forward a bit. "Okay," he said resolutely, "we'll answer your riddle."
The Sphinx lifted its head again and swished its tail a few times. "Very well. Here is my question. One of you is traveling with a velox, a galla, and a sack of grain. You arrive at a river that you must cross to continue your journey. You notice a rowboat anchored at the shore that is only large enough for you to cross with one item at a time. You know that if you leave the velox alone with the gall], it'll eat the bird, and if you leave the galla alone with the grain, it'll eat the sackfull. How do you get everyone across in the fewest trips possible?"
The group stood in stunned silence, each visualizing the mental puzzle. They exchanged nervous glances, none of them confident enough to speak their answer aloud.
"Take as much time as you need. Though if you try to run, I will chase you and gnaw on your bones." Serenity didn't know what was worse – the threat or how passively the Sphinx spoke it.
"Anyone got a clue?" Joey whispered (for some reason).
"Not unless gallas are capable of rowing boats," Yami said with such solemnity that it made Serenity and Bakura snicker.
Marik, meanwhile, stared at the ground in fraught concentration as his mind quickly charted out paths the traveler in the riddle could take. He thought back to his old life, of similar tasks Karan would order him to carry out and found it helpful to put himself in the shoes of the nameless traveler. How would he do this?
"I...I have an idea," he said finally, and everyone else's ears perked up. "Here, let me draw it out." He grabbed a stick from the side of the road and began doodling a diagram, complete with arrows and numbers indicating the trips and their order. "Make sense?" he asked.
The others circled around the diagram with varying expressions of understanding. "Oh, I get it!" Joey said. "Let's give it a shot."
"If Marik is wrong somehow, I just want you to know it's been a pleasure traveling with you all," Yami said.
"It certainly was interesting, at least," Bakura added.
"You've all been wonderful," Serenity said, and it was taking all of her courage not to keep her voice even.
Marik, though, wasn't anxious. In fact, he was quite pleased with himself, so sure was he that he'd figured out the riddle. He turned to the Riddle Sphinx and cleared his throat to get its attention. "We've solved your riddle," he said. "To get across the river as efficiently as possible, I would take the galla over first, come back for the grain and swap it for the galla on the other side, then swap the galla for the velox and leave it with the grain. Finally, I'd go back for the galla and bring it to the other side. That's five trips total."
The Sphinx stood, much taller than Marik and almost as wide, and huffed its chortle. "You are incorrect, traveler. The correct answer is one trip – all the traveler would have to do is go back to collect building supplies and use the boat to construct a bridge across the river. I'm going to eat you now, and I think I'll start with the little one." The Sphinx opened its maw, growling at the back of its throat and breathing hot air over the group.
Marik stepped in front of Serenity. "Hold on!" he cried. "You're not eating any of us today." He turned slightly to Bakura, though he didn't take his eyes off the creature. "How many units of wood would it take to build a rowboat barely large enough for a man and a velox?"
"W-what?" the woodsman asked, the sudden question making him pause in his retreat from the Sphinx. "About thirty units, why?"
Marik smirked. Now, as inexperienced in the world as he was, he did know a thing or two about building and measurement. From helping Karan and the town with menial tasks to smithing for hours a day, he knew that a small rowboat could never make for a great bridge. "That's not enough material," he told the Sphinx. "You're wrong, the traveler would never be able to cross the river that way."
The Sphinx closed its mouth and looked down at him for a long moment. "Congratulations," it said at last, "you've completed my trial. You are free to continue your journey." It unfurled its wings and gave a mighty push off the ground. "You have demonstrated intelligence and bravery through this trial. I wish you the best of luck on your travels."
And the Sphinx took off in the direction the companions had left, quickly disappearing over the horizon. The group breathed a collective sigh of relief. Any day not being devoured by a legendary beast was a good day. They returned to the wagon and settled in, all too glad to be back on the road. As Serenity wrapped a blanket around herself, she wondered if the Sphinx really would have eaten them after all.
