Chapter 4: The First Challenge…Underwater
"So, I have to go in there?" Max asked from where he was standing next to the large lake. A waterfall was off to the far left. The lake was a deep blue colour and it got darker as it reached the bottom.
"Yes, the first challenge is the underwater challenge," River Dog told him, amused at his reaction. Max nodded.
"Yeah, I know…but I guess I kinda thought it was just a…metaphor," Max admitted.
"How can an Underwater Challenge be a metaphor?" River Dog asked, confused. Max shrugged, obviously not having an answer to the question he had posed in the first place before sighing to himself. "So, I gotta swim all the way to the bottom then through the correct channels to reach the guardian?" Eddie grinned from where he was standing to the other side of Max.
"Yes," Eddie said and Max nodded.
"Any tips on how to breathe underwater for a long period of time?" Max asked and Eddie grinned.
"The answer is in the water," Eddie told him. Max just looked at him with a puzzled look before shaking his head, mumbling how people were just too confusing when it came to riddles and wondered who on earth had thought up the challenge in the first place.
Max walked over to the edge, took a deep breath and plunged into the water. He only wore a pair of black shorts. He swam down to the bottom as far as he could before the need for air started to become a necessity. He looked back up to the top only to see that it was too far up and there was no way he would be able to make it. He looked around once more for anything that he could help him but saw nothing.
There was giggle of to his side as the water stirred. Max spun around only to see a water form shaped female floating in the water. She had long hair and a tail. She smiled at Max before doing a twirl as she moved in closer. Max backed away, startled at the sight. He had heard of mermaids but had never seen or heard of one that was a water based. The girl moved in closer, reaching out a hand toward Max's cheek before she leaned in, pressing her lips against Max's.
Max resisted for a moment before he closed his eyes, surrendering himself to the pleasure as he slid his hands over the mermaid's waist, pulling her in closer. She felt solid for a water based form. She slid her hands over Max's shoulders, pulling him in closer before she licked his lips, encouraging him to open his mouth.
It was weird, kissing underwater and kissing a water-based mermaid. Max had expected it to feel wet but her tongue felt soft and warm…like he was kissing a real person. He pulled away to breathe only for his eyes to widen when he found that he could breathe underwater – he didn't feel like he was suffocating anymore. He met the eyes of the mermaid only to frown when he could see that she sort of took on a coloured tone. Her eyes were a dark brown shade and her hair was also dark brown.
The mermaid giggled as she reached in and kissed Max once more before she arched her back and burst into droplets, her figure melding in with the water once more till the water stilled and everything continued on like nothing had changed.
Max, startled, looked around the area only to see that the mermaid was no longer around anymore before shaking his head. He could still breathe but he didn't know how long it would last for so he needed to get a move on. He made his way over to the twin fork and looked at the paths that lay ahead – one led into darkness while one led into light.
She gasped as she burst out of the lake that was in her room, her brown hair flying, the water dripping down her naked body. She slumped back down on the water, floating as her eyes were closed as she took in deep gulps of breaths till her breathing turned to normal.
Opening her eyes, she straightened up in the water leaving her lower body submersed and her wet brown hair covered her naked breasts as she lifted a finger to her bottom lip and a felt a dreamy smile curve her lips. He was a very good kisser. She giggled as she swam over to the edge and pulled herself out of the water, grabbing the thin sheet at the side and wrapped it around her body as she made her way through the hallway and into her bedroom where the crystal ball showed Max picking a direction to go in. She couldn't help the smile when she realised that he was doing fine without her help.
Max had made his choice and decided to go down the darken channel. He didn't know why but something was pulling him down that direction and his gut instincts have never been wrong so far and he wasn't going to give up on it now.
He slowly entered the channel only for it to brighten with light when he entered it. Closing his eyes and shielding it with his arms, the light died down almost abruptly, startling Max into bringing his arm down and opening his eyes to see a small ball of light was floating in front of him, almost dancing.
It did a little twist loop before it floated on ahead before dancing, almost if it was beckoning Max forward. Max swam forward, following the little ball of light as it danced side to side, lightening up the dark passage that lay before Max.
He didn't know how long he had been swimming for but he wasn't feeling tired. He couldn't help but feel confused about everything. He could breathe underwater after kissing a water based mermaid, a light was dancing in front of him, helping him to where he was supposed to go and he wasn't feeling tired despite swimming for a long time.
Max came to stop when he saw there were three different channels and looked at each one in confusion. One of them was pitch black while the other two were filled with light. The little ball of light just floated around Max's head, it wasn't allowed to help him to find the guardian, it was only allowed as light.
Max swam closer to the channels only to see something glinting at the bottom. He turned his head and saw that there was a small gold glint. Frowning, Max moved down closer only to see a gold band stuck halfway in the mud. He reached down and pulled up the gold band only for a skull to pop out of the wall along with its body, startling Max into swimming backward till he got his bearing.
Max shook his head before he moved back toward the body and eyed it, it was still decomposing but it was unrecognisable as a human being, the eyes had already been eaten while the skin had been nibbled upon by fishes and other creatures. Max looked back down at the ring and tugged it off before he lifted it up and read the inside of the band.
'Through the Dark Leads the Light. Through the Light Leads the Dark' Max mouthed to himself before he swim upward, dropping the ring. He had a feeling that he wasn't allowed to bring it with him and wasn't going to allow any wrath to happen. He reached the channels once more and went through the right light tunnel only for it to darken as he entered it. The little ball of light gave a little loop jump before leading the way once more, letting Max know he had chosen the right path.
Max couldn't help the amused smile that crossed his face at the light's antics; it was like a little dog. He continued to follow the light, keeping an eye out for anything that could help him or scare him like the body had done. He had gone through four more different tunnels till he reached the last one. Looking around told him that it was indeed the last one, there was no other pathways.
The light bounced in front of him for a short moment before it bursts into a shower of sparks, disappearing in front of Max. Max swam through the dark tunnel till he saw light at the end. He swam faster till he reached the end of the channel.
Max looked up and he could see light shining from the top and that there was a circle ledge. He swam upward till he broke through the water, breathing heavily as he did and looked around. The cavern was made of ice but there were large metal baskets of fire. He swam over to the edge and touched the ledge only to draw back in surprise. It had the texture of ice but it wasn't cold…it was warm.
Shaking his head, Max grunted as he pulled himself out of the water. He looked around to see that there were no exits and a large ice statue of a dragon was sitting on the platform in front of him. He frowned, realising that the dragon was the guardian but didn't see how it would help him so he looked around once more.
"Welcome Seeker of the Seer," a gravelly voice greeted and Max turned to a see a large dark blue dragon sitting almost royally on the platform where the ice dragon had once sat. It had ice blue eyes and was decorated with ice blue and electric purple spikes and decorations. "You have passed the first challenge by following the correct path.
"Thank you," Max bowed his head, still stunned that the dragon had been made of ice only a few minutes ago but knew that he had to respect the dragon.
"Will you tell me why you wish to seek out our mistress?" the dragon asked as it lay down so it was giving Max all of its attention.
"I wish to know my true path," Max told the dragon. "I have been told that I make my own destiny only for someone to come along and tell me that my destiny has already been laid out and that I am expected to follow it, naturally, I am confused." The dragon nodded.
"So you seek out our seer in hope she would be able to lead you to your correct path," the Dragon summarised and Max nodded.
"Yes," Max confirmed and the Dragon eyed Max with an amused yet curious glint in its eyes.
"You are allowed to ask me a question if you wish," the dragon told him and Max ducked his head, embarrassed over being so obvious. The Dragon's eyes lit up with obvious amusement, it was clear that he had never encountered someone like Max before.
"I was just wondering…why are there challenges?" Max asked. The Dragon lifted its head; taken aback at the question…it had been so long since it had been asked that question.
"Our Seer needs protection," the Dragon explained before bowing its head. "There are many people out there who would love nothing more than to use her for their own use. She has a big heart and would help them all if she could but using her powers takes a lot out of her and she must be very careful who she reveals the future to. Many people would love to have the power that the Seer controls and would do almost anything to have it."
"So the challenges are to weed out the people who are obsessed for her power and for the people who genuinely wish to know their paths?" asked Max and the Dragon nodded.
"Yes," said the dragon.
"How?" asked Max and the Dragon sat back.
"The challenge requires you to think deep inside of you in order to pass the tests, to prove your worth. The people, who are obsessed, always fail the tests at one point or another because they are focused on their goals of achieving the one dream – capturing and using the Seer. The people who wish to know their path are focused on their faiths to pass the challenge and lead them to their answers," explained the Dragon. Max opened his mouth to ask something else when the Dragon stood up and shook its head sideways.
Max felt himself being lifted up into the air and looked down to see himself enveloped in an ice blue light. "Your time is up – you have passed your challenge but you have more to go if you wish to complete it. Good luck on your travels young man." The dragon's eyes flashed icy blue for a moment and Max disappeared in front of him. The Dragon bowed its head and looked toward the figure that made her way into the cavern. "He is worthy my mistress."
The Seer smiled as she moved closer to the dragon and placed a hand on one of its arms.
"I know," she whispered. "He even called forth the lights without realising it. They never help unless they have form an attachment to the humans as they have only ever done it once before." The Dragon eyed the Seer.
"And I feel you have an attachment to the young man too." The Seer looked up at the dragon with dark eyes before she shrugged.
"There is something about him," she told him. "He feels familiar to me yet I do not understand why…yet. I feel he is worthy to learn his path – his soul is so torn over everything that he is supposed to do and I feel the need to sooth the soul back into one." The Dragon nodded.
"Just be careful mistress, I do not wish for your heart to be torn into two because it turns out that he is not worthy of you," The dragon warned. The Seer smiled up at the dragon.
"You always did have a soft spot for me, Icicle," she teased and the Dragon rolled its eyes.
"You always did have a way of worming your way into my heart," the dragon teased back before it bent down and nudged her with its snout. "Now go back to your home, River Dog will throw a fit if he ever finds out that you were here where the Seeker could have seen you before he had completed his challenges." The Seer giggled as she hugged the Dragon's snout before leaving the same way she had entered, leaving the Dragon shaking its head with amusement as it curled back up to go back to sleep, becoming an icy statue once more.
Max opened his eyes when he felt his feet land on hard ground once more and saw that he was back on the land in front of the large pool. The people cheered when they saw him and realised that he had passed the first challenge.
River Dog and Eddie stepped forward, clapping him on the back in congratulation, both of them now sure that he was the man that the Seer had foretold so long ago. They led Max toward the village once more so he could get fed and dried and rest after his long journey, the next one was more dangerous and he needed all the strength he could gather.
In the chambers once more, Shalula was playing with a ball of string before she turned onto her side and lifted her head up to see her mistress step into the chambers, now dried and in clothes. She wore a dark blue outfit similar to her gold one before. Shalula got up and moved over to the Seer. The Seer chuckled as she bent down and lifted the cub into her arms before she moved over to the orb to see that Max was now sitting in front of the large fire with a cover wrapped around him to help him heat up and dry out from his wet challenge.
The Seer was happy that he had passed the challenge, it gave her hope that he was beginning to be worthy of his future but it was early times and there were many other challenges ahead of him.
"He is becoming more interesting," The Seer whispered as she waved her hand over the crystal ball, turning the vision into mist once more. She could only hope that he lived up to her expectations and didn't disappoint her in the later challenges.
TBC
First Task done and dusted.