§
The door stood before them. Raven knew with that moment, that if they should open it, there would be no turning back.
It was dwarfingly large and made of iron steel welded into symbols with garnet swirls struck into it. At the top of its curved head, the metal gleamed so purely that it seemed to be a waxy mirror, distorting the images of people far below. Then came an image of long steps, some painted crimson with the melted jewels. After the long, winding staircase that led along the rim of the door, there was a single path cut among a sea of hot magma. The path failed at times along the way from dark magic, and it called fiends to form from the fiery liquid. Then came a part where nightmarish creatures swayed along the path jutting half-way in the iron mass. It ended in a twisting black hole, a stream of red flowing through to come out the other end and form a sort of plateau. From the hunk of land descended to four paths, a demonic form at each end. Two of them had splashes of garnet, and ended it the most powerful appearing beings. They branched together to a gray grassy field and down to the very bottom of the massive door. It depicted a battlefield, souls and skeletons crawling along dead grasses strewn with bodies. Far at the south end of the deadly field lay a door within the door, made entirely of shining garnet. Small symbols criss-crossed in hauntingly beautiful design along the rim opposite the carved stairs. They were in ancient Azeranian. Raven could only pick out some of them.
"What does it say?" Robin solemnly stood next to her, sensing her wandering eyes.
"It's written in an almost forgotten tongue. I only know a few words... The doorway into the Tombs of the Dead... walk through the blood-line... Stay back for we take spirits... only dead may walk, only dead may walk. Everything else is lost to me." She admitted.
"Sounds happy." The green changeling muttered .
Celeste was standing right at the base, her slender fingers looking starch as she felt along all her height could reach, twilight eyes running along the border. There was a time of silence and then the Queen of Azerath stepped back and spoke.
"Are you ready—Think before answering. I will not force any of you to come."
Desparos was the first to step forward. "I walk wherever you trod."
Robin next. "This is my world you go to save, and I will be damned if I sit back and watch you put yourself in danger."
Starfire floated along. "I will go with Robin, he is our leader wherever he may lead us."
Raven had stayed, not because she did not want to go, but because she had a strange feeling that she had no choice whether she went or not... also because she wanted to see if Beast Boy would go—which she doubted.
When neither BB or Cyborg stepped forward she decided that her waiting was over. Pushing back disappointment and nervousness she took her place.
"I caused this all and I have to help undo it."
Her mother's curved lips moved as if to speak, but she held her tongue as the clownish titan walked over.
He shrugged and looked slightly embarrassed. "Well, there is nothing else to do."
"I'm with ya all." Cyborg smiled ruefully and followed.
Finally only one figure was left. The small girl Adena, her night-spun hair up in a delicate silver tie and crimson eyes wise for a young face. Celeste didn't seem surprised. Instead she said,
"Will you wait?"
The strange child nodded gravely and sat down, crossing her legs and sitting in a meditation pose on the colorless earth.
Then she turned, and placed her hand right on the door where a doorknob should be, but wasn't.
" Azerath Celestion notrion Annikki sayy Zinn mostrador."
The Queen of Azerath bids entrance, for Annikki's will must be found by Zinn's hand.
The door swung open into an eerily empty blackness and they strode in file. Celeste, Raven, Starfire, Cyborg, BB, Robin, and Desparos. The effect was immediate, as all senses went numb and they had no feeling of movement or self even as they moved forward. It is frightening to not be able to see yourself, it is terrifying to not be able to feel yourself. Time had no place in this shadow but at last it ebbed, and a dim fire-lit light came suddenly.
While mother and daughter appeared unshaken, for the goal of Azeranian is to empty ones emotions and it was not such a strange feeling; Robin was starch white under his mask, Starfire was shaking as she bit her lip until it bled. Beast Boy looked ill as he wandered in a half-cat form, his powers confused by the emptiness. Cyborg had nearly shut down and it took a few minutes to revive him fully. Desparos, of course, was a demon and the dark magic didn't bother him.
"What was that?" The shifter asked as he took in raspy breaths.
"It is shadow, a place devoid of life and light. It is empty of that, but not nothingness because it is dark." Her answer probably confused them more helped.
Starfire was gripping Robin's wrists hard. He gritted his teeth against the pain and asked in as smooth a voice as any,
"Will there be more shadow?"
"There is always shadow, in every last breath of every fading life. Will you half to walk through it again? Not until you die, but this is only part of the first challenge children. Do not let it shatter you or else you will not live through the rest... There is no way back now." Celeste said after a short pause.
When everyone was composed again, she led them on with a torch in hand down long, winding stairs of dark stone. The group was jittery and the contrasting light from the faint fire made the dark, normal shadows seem longer and reminded them of the strange, empty shadow they had just walked through. At times, the woman would jump across stairs, and instruct the titans to follow. No one bothered to ask what would happen if they touched a bad stair. No one really wanted the answer.
§
They walked along in this manner, skipping a step occasionally and slowly their nerves cooled and their eyes adjusted to the pale light. As carved on the door, the stairs were extremely long and always leading down. Down, down down, never resting... Jump, walk, walk, walk, jump... down, down, down... Hours went by of monotony. No one spoke, and only the sounds of a foot striking stone and an occasion loud breath resounded. Cyborg tried to tell how much time had gone by, but his internal clock didn't work far down underground in a planet far away from home. There was no sky to compare it to, so they simply stopped trying to tell how many hours had gone by walking down the winding stairs. Of course, it was hardly dangerous unless you fell off the edge so they walked in single file and stayed away from all the stairs their guide jumped over. Beast Boy changed into a number of forms to keep himself occupied, the green titan feeling bored as he flew in his latest humming bird shape. Do these stairs ever end? He wondered bleakly. Well at least were safe and we don't have to go through that horrible shadow stuff again... but I wish something would happen... Just as he thought this, he suddenly dropped from his bird body and fell, right toward a forbidden stair.
Raven saw his fall from the corner of her eye and quickly summoned her power to catch him, but to her surprise the well of power was locked, as thought she was a trespasser of her own soul.
Robin reacted fast, jumping over and catching him before the boy touched the dangerous ground.
"Do you want to get us killed?" The boy-wonder snapped.
"It's not his fault—something is wrong with out powers." The Gothic girl defended him.
"We have reached the end of the stairs." Celeste pronounced. "The black enchantments that lie here prevent you from any power until we reach the end of the path."
For the stairs had stopped and below them now lay a straight path through streaming lava. It was made of broken bones
Raven flinched as her feet smacked against a bone, snapping it with a horrible noise. There is nothing wrong with bones, they are just pieces of fiber sewn together with vitamins. She reminded herself.
Still, it was sickening to step on human bones, piles of them. But, orange-glowing lava flowed around the path, stinking the air with toxic sulfur that caused them to gag and choke.
"Cover your mouths and breath through cloth. It will catch some of the gas for you." Desparos told BB, Robin, and Raven. Celeste seemed had already pulled her cloak around to cover her face and Raven did as well. Robin tore a piece or his cape and tied it around his head. Then he helped Beast Boy tie a piece around his head so they looked life Sahara bandits. The magic that allowed Desparos to take human shape had drifted away so he was in a fearsome demonic form, but they adjusted quickly to it. Cyborg did not necessarily need a lot of oxygen and neither did Starfire so they trod on finely. Still, the going slowed as less life-giving air reached most of the travelers, but never stopped. There was no chance for resting in this strange harrowing place.
They walked on single-file until a different noise reached the party's ears. It was the sound of magma splashing up and voices whispering words of power.
"Get ready everyone we are going to have to fight!" The noble woman shouted, stepping back to draw a long, barbed whip from her belt.
"How can we? We have no powers!" The green one replied shortly.
"You do not need magic to fight." The guardian told him with a low growl, lowering his humanoid form to the ground to appear like some sort of reptilian wolf with burning scarlet eyes and tattooed stars burnt on his skin.
Robin held his bo in hand, twisting it around as the titans took their places.
The thing reared out of the fiery lava.
It was in the shape of a stallion and rider, made completely of burning liquid. Oranges splashed with charred yellows and coal reds. The horse was at least fourteen hands, and the rider six foot. The animal form was wild-looking with burning nostrils that spat out toxic sulfur and glowing eyes as it tossed its flaming mane around. A liquid bridle held it and led up to the gauntleted hands of the rider. A broadsword clung to his belt, and heavy armor coated his body from underneath chain-mail to fire-spun shin-pads, arm-guards and spiked helmet.
He charged.
Celeste spirited away from his path, turning to catch the horse's foreleg with her crackling whip. The smell of it burning choked the air, but the woman allowed it only enough time to sink into the ever-changing flesh and then twisted it, barbed ends pulling surreal flesh off the left leg and in the same movement, snapping back to clip the right leg hard before drawing back to its master.
The horse gave a shaking neigh as it buckled to the ground, quivering on two back legs. Swinging easily off the saddle the rider approached the titans.
Robin attacked immediately, his double-sided staff catching the blade of the lava knight. Only its sword was not entirely made of the stuff. It was hard ore with dancing flames cascading along it that would have burnt through Robin's bo had it been wood. Still, the young leader clashed on, parrying each swing of the blade and jabbing at the ethereal man. The sword and staff became a blur as movements sped. Robin was faster, but the rider was stronger. With the man standing so close to him, the pounding heat emancipated from his body and cut off more of his oxygen. The dizzying, lightheaded feeling washed over him but the masked teen fought on with his characteristic stubbornness. The fiery opponent was gaining ground, and he swung left to cut across Robin's wrist. With a cry of surprise, Robin dropped the bo. The rider didn't hesitate to swing again, and only his reflexes saved him. The boy-wonder hit the ground and rolled, lava being right behind him.
"Hey fire-guy!" Beast Boy called in desperation to let his leader escape. "Chill out!" He threw a sharp bone hard at the being, and watched as it shuddered, and then turned to him without any injury.
The shape-shifter gulped and through a skull at the advancing rider. The tall sword deflected it and then came hammering back down straight at the living skull, more bones for his collection. Before a breath, the armored knight was buffeted across the path by a strong punch from Cyborg.
"Get him Star!" The half-robot cried.
The alien girl ran over as the summoned being stood up, pumping her strength to hit him away from the fiery edge and across the bone-path where Desparos was waiting.
With a gripping roar, the demon charged straight into the burning flesh. There was a scuffle of beast and rider, the smell of burning skin and finally the knight gave an unearthly cry and as his body ripped apart, spraying everyone with drops of fire from which he came. The horse, its rider gone, picked itself up one last time to charge straight into the lave river it came from, melting away in the current.
A pause ensued, in which everyone caught there breath and Celeste tore her cloak off to bandage the wounds Desparos had gained through his recklessness as best she could with a handful of herbs and a small vial of water to make a healing paste. No one else had much more then a minor burn or cut and the Azeranian ruler assured them that she could make it through the sulfured air without a covering, which was of course a lie and Raven tore her own hooded cloak so her mother could at least cover her mouth.
They began to walk again, and as the adrenaline left them the entire group felt bone-achingly weary, but no one asked for rest. They stopped caring about the bones that crunched under their feet or the floaty feeling in their heads. It was back to walking without time.
§
Presently, Celeste halted and turned to them. "The trial of fire and shadow is over. Pass this walkway is the second task we must face. You will gain your powers back when we go through the portal, as black magic doesn't lie on the other end.
"What was that fire-thing?" Robin finally asked.
"It was a black-magic construct. A being made of fire and spells to harm us. There will be no more of them ahead, but do not dare to hope as the next will be much harder." She replied.
Beast Boy's heart sunk.
The path widened before them and soon they were all lines up, looking over the edge of the path. It ended abruptly and a black hole swirled around at the bottom, looking like it came straight out of a science-fiction novel. No sound uttered from it as it pulsed slowly.
"We have to jump?" Raven guessed.
Desparos nodded. "Your magic will come back as soon as you are in it. Hold hands so that none of us may fall, for that would be a fate worse then death."
"How do we get through?" Starfire asked worriedly, her cheek bleeding slightly.
"Raven and I will bring you through." Celeste told them with an approving nod at her daughter. "We can use our magic to go through the portal instead of down it, but we must use it the instant it is returned, lest it take us. Do not let go no matter what happens... Is everyone ready?"
They linked hands. Celeste stood at one end, holding onto Starfire and Cyborg. Raven stood at the other end, holding Beast Boy and Robin so that Desparos was in the middle, joining them together on the right while Star and Robin joined the circle on the left.
With steadying breaths and racing hearts they plunged, deep into the silent darkness.
§
A/N- Each chapter after this will be a trial. Next after this is the demonic roads and split paths... Any ideas/comments/questions—feel free to review. I'll reply to you if your registered and give me an email if your not. Hope you all enjoyed!