Jon's Ordeal
I entered the Chamber prepared for what I thought was the worst that could happen going in without any weapons. I
didn't know it was a mental and visual battle more than physical. This I wasn't quite ready for. The heavy doors closed
behind me, sealing me in the cold, dark chamber.
The first thing I saw was Alanna who was dressed as Alan of course. She was training, no, actually fighting someone!
A man almost two feet taller than her was battling tooth and nail with a sword in one hand and chipped but sturdy looking
dagger in the other. She was holding her own for the moment with Lightning, but soon began to lose. I heard a cry that I
recognized as my own, and she looked up. This cost her. His dirk entered her chest, and went almost undoubtedly through her
heart. The next moment her swept his sword across, levelly, decapitating her. Her head rolled across the floor, leaving a
trail of blood, her eyes wide with shock and mouth fashioned in a silent 'o'. My lips moved in the shape of her name, but no
sound came out. Sound is forbidden in the Chamber.
Then suddenly she was gone, as was the man. I heard a noise and turned to see an older version of what I realized was
myself being crowned. My coronation day? I didn't seem that much older than now, but then there was a commotion and an arrow
headed for me. Not the older me, but the me that was taking the Ordeal. I dropped to the rough floor of the magical room and
rolled to my left swiftly, jamming my elbow into the wall and, my Gift permitted me the knowledge that I had only bruised it.
I looked at where the image of the older me had been and saw a shadowy figure remove the crown from in front of me and place
it on their own head, declaring them monarch of the country and a picture of Tortall in ruin flashed through my mind. That
could not happen to my country! That was a fear of mine- ruin and ultimate humiliation. I opened my mouth to protest, but
remembered that I could not speak, only watch it happen. Sound is forbidden in the Chamber.
Then I felt it. Pain like no other. I saw blood streaking down my arm as it pressed against something I could not see.
There was a blinding light and I felt as if I could see into people's minds. I heard/felt fear, pain, wishes, all kinds of
things. I saw all hundreds of bahzir going through what I was now, feeling like I carried every woe in the world on my s
houlders, like I had no privacy in my head. I felt a life leave something close to me, and something in my head said something
about 'The Voice', though what that was, I had no clue. It said 'now you are The Voice'. The pain was now almost unbearable,
but I could not scream, my teeth were clenched together so tightly that no sound could escape my lips, but that was okay.
Sound is forbidden in the Chamber.
Suddenly everything stopped. It was once again dark. I was exhausted, my head pounded, and I could feel a trickle of
blood running down my forearm. The doors opened. I saw that it was only a shallow cut that I had gotten and knew that it would
leave no scar. Stumbling out, Alanna, who was to be my squire, and my cousin Gary were there to catch me if I fell.
Gary would take his Ordeal next. What would it be like for my cousin in there? What would he see?
I entered the Chamber prepared for what I thought was the worst that could happen going in without any weapons. I
didn't know it was a mental and visual battle more than physical. This I wasn't quite ready for. The heavy doors closed
behind me, sealing me in the cold, dark chamber.
The first thing I saw was Alanna who was dressed as Alan of course. She was training, no, actually fighting someone!
A man almost two feet taller than her was battling tooth and nail with a sword in one hand and chipped but sturdy looking
dagger in the other. She was holding her own for the moment with Lightning, but soon began to lose. I heard a cry that I
recognized as my own, and she looked up. This cost her. His dirk entered her chest, and went almost undoubtedly through her
heart. The next moment her swept his sword across, levelly, decapitating her. Her head rolled across the floor, leaving a
trail of blood, her eyes wide with shock and mouth fashioned in a silent 'o'. My lips moved in the shape of her name, but no
sound came out. Sound is forbidden in the Chamber.
Then suddenly she was gone, as was the man. I heard a noise and turned to see an older version of what I realized was
myself being crowned. My coronation day? I didn't seem that much older than now, but then there was a commotion and an arrow
headed for me. Not the older me, but the me that was taking the Ordeal. I dropped to the rough floor of the magical room and
rolled to my left swiftly, jamming my elbow into the wall and, my Gift permitted me the knowledge that I had only bruised it.
I looked at where the image of the older me had been and saw a shadowy figure remove the crown from in front of me and place
it on their own head, declaring them monarch of the country and a picture of Tortall in ruin flashed through my mind. That
could not happen to my country! That was a fear of mine- ruin and ultimate humiliation. I opened my mouth to protest, but
remembered that I could not speak, only watch it happen. Sound is forbidden in the Chamber.
Then I felt it. Pain like no other. I saw blood streaking down my arm as it pressed against something I could not see.
There was a blinding light and I felt as if I could see into people's minds. I heard/felt fear, pain, wishes, all kinds of
things. I saw all hundreds of bahzir going through what I was now, feeling like I carried every woe in the world on my s
houlders, like I had no privacy in my head. I felt a life leave something close to me, and something in my head said something
about 'The Voice', though what that was, I had no clue. It said 'now you are The Voice'. The pain was now almost unbearable,
but I could not scream, my teeth were clenched together so tightly that no sound could escape my lips, but that was okay.
Sound is forbidden in the Chamber.
Suddenly everything stopped. It was once again dark. I was exhausted, my head pounded, and I could feel a trickle of
blood running down my forearm. The doors opened. I saw that it was only a shallow cut that I had gotten and knew that it would
leave no scar. Stumbling out, Alanna, who was to be my squire, and my cousin Gary were there to catch me if I fell.
Gary would take his Ordeal next. What would it be like for my cousin in there? What would he see?
