While Lady Maria had never delved into the ancient Pthumerian ruins, she had read of the forays into it by long-gone knights of Cainhurst in the library of the castle, and more recently from reports from Byrgenwerth and eventually the Healing Church, speaking of the strange parasites, living dead, beasts and other beings that dwelled in its depths. They spoke of those who had been driven to frenzy by the things learned there, sometimes by the mere sight of new rooms.

As Maria Campbell double-checked her long dagger concealed in her sleeve and the long length of oak she held like a walking stick, preparing herself for the Academy's practical exam to delve into the ancient tomb of a sorcerer, she wondered what the Academy's attrition rate of madness was. She fully expected to come out of this with some of her classmates talking about how eyes in their brain were writhing or that the moon was talking to them or that some huge spidery monster was looming perched on the roof of the library.

The ruins were vaguely pyramidal. Blocks had been dislodged by growing flora and whatever structure had been built at its peak in place of a capstone had long collapsed. It did not look ancient so much as ill-maintained. Everyone was for once wearing uniform clothing provided by the academy, probably so no one would need to have their fine clothes ruined. The uniforms themselves were nonetheless very fine themselves, with braid and golden trim and a broach at the neck. It would have made a fine garb for some new hunter to hunter their first beast or two before they were messily disemboweled. A pity she was required to wear a largely ornamental skirt.

Thankfully, they had been allowed to carry tools into the exam, once they had been inspected for hidden maps and other dishonest guides. While many had not outfitted themselves, seemingly confident in their magic, Lady Claes was carrying a satchel over her should in addition to the belt pouches that came with the uniform. It probably contained tools to compensate for her allegedly weak Earth magic. Maria herself was equipped with a small, portable hand lantern that hung from her belt since, ironically, Light magic was actually useless for producing light by which to see. She had also wrapped a bandage around one eye to begin acclimating it to darkness, as well as her own satchel containing rope, wax, spare fuel for her lantern, and other things that had bewildered their teachers but had been allowed.

Random selection had placed her in an 'exploration team' with Prince Alan Stuart, the fourth prince, and his fiancé, Lady Mary Hunt. Had Maria been superstitious, she'd have called it sign. But then, if she'd been superstitious, she'd had worn a belt on her right leg and been clad in brass armor to protect herself from the beastly scourge. The two eyed her awkwardly. They were not especially close, despite their being part of the student council. And while their mistress was clearly intent on adding Maria to the her harem, Maria had observed that they all vied jealously for her attention. Her harem clearly did not want her time divided by one more way, but were equally unable to speak out against her intentions. Maria made do with a polite greeting, no different than if it was just another day working at the student council. Prince Alan gave her his usual frown, which meant he was in what was for him a fair mood, and Lady Hunt returned her greeting with a perfect, bland pleasantry, followed by the usual look of suspicion. Of all Lady Claes' harem, Lady Mary was the most possessive, eclipsing the third prince and Lady Claes' own brother. Maria pegged her as the one most likely to permanently eliminate her fellow lovers in a bid to monopolize Lady Claes' time.

Eventually they stepped away to bask in their mistress's presence one last time before they were separated by the exam, while Maria wondered if she should have some sort of head covering. The uniform was good and all, but it felt incomplete without a head-covering. Perhaps a hat of some sort. She missed her old hat, lost a nightmare and a lifetime ago…

As it turned out, Maria had no need for her lantern. The so-called 'ancient ruin', its dressed stone halls as clean as if it had recently seen an army of servants rid it of every speck of dust, were brightly lit by a regular series of candles on both sides of the hall, their lights intersecting such that, while it was hardly a noon brilliance, it was at least brighter than twilight. Maria could have read a book with ease, despite Lady Hunt pronouncing it dark.

Still, she kept her other senses sharp. The terms of the exam– that only the team that returns with the magic stone (or perhaps 'magic stone') would pass the exam– meant it was likely that they would need to do battle with other teams of students to take the stone from whoever has it so that their team could pass. While the Academy had many virtues over Byrgenwerth, at least the latter had never decided their student's academic worth by de facto trial by combat. Though she supposed such a system was meant to encourage the virtues and vices the young nobles would need in the ruthless world of the royal court.

That put her at a definite disadvantage. Maria did not doubt that the prince and his fiancé were under orders to hand the item they were seeking to Lady Claes. She would have to be watchful for the sudden and inevitable betrayal from her 'team'.

The moved in a single file, the prince leading the way, followed by his fiancé. Maria brought up the rear, trying to block out Lady Hunt's ruminating about her mistress as she counted her strides, trying to keep her pace straight and even as she used a small stick of charcoal and a sheet of paper to begin to map out the hallways, trusting that Prince Alan was keeping an eye on the path ahead whenever she had to look down and draw.

Apparently not. She looked up in time to see Prince Alan walk right past an open doorway as he stared intently at the empty, blank wall opposite it while Lady Hunt sighed dramatically and monologue about her mistress. Maria sighed. If they were both too occupied to notice something so obvious she would have to do everything herself. She looked into the door, seeing something bright red and gold that broke the monotony of the stone. "Lady Hunt, Prince Alan, is this what we are looking for?" she said, pointing blandly at the open door.

Lady Hunt turned, looking surprised at having missed the doorway, and walked towards Maria. Prince Alan, in the lead, took a bit longer to turn. When she looked into the room, Lady Hunt gasped and exclaimed, "It's the magic stone!" and hurried towards it.

"Lady Hunt," Maria began as Prince Alan came closer. Lady Hunt picked up the large, ostentatious red crystal. "Be careful. It might be a–"

The stone turned to dust in Lady Hunt's hands. The room gave a shudder… and then the floor furthest from the door began to collapse.

Maria was already moving, leaping with the skill of a hunter if not quite the full speed. Still, she had managed to train her body enough to be capable of the smooth movement needed to avoid the claws of beasts, and it stood her in good stead as she reached Lady Hunt before the girl had even taken her second step. Before the redhead could react, Maria bent down and pushed her shoulder into Lady Hunt's midsection, put an arm around her legs and hoisted the noble in a carry. Not turning around, Maria swiftly backstep-leaped back the way she came, keeping an eye on the collapse as the raised stone dais that had held the bright lure collapsed into the dark space beneath.

There seemed to have been nothing supporting the stones that had made up the floor, no pillars or foundation, only emptiness. As the floor continued to fall, the arch of the doorway swept past Maria, and she stopped before she and Lady Hunt's face struck the opposite wall. Soon, the entire floor of the room had collapsed into a deep pit.

Maria stared at that pit. Absently she set down Lady Hunt. Prince Alan rushed to her side, asking if she was all right, but Maria paid it no heed. Keeping a firm grip on the stone of the doorframe, she peeked inside. A pit, just as it seemed. Stare as hard as she could at the walls, including what she could see of the wall her doorway was recessed in, she could see no sign of any sort of retracting mechanism, no possible way to explain the slow, progressing collapse. No way to explain how the floor had managed to support Lady Hunt at all when she had walked upon it.

Staring at the gaping abyss before her, Lady Maria felt her hair standing on end. Was it her imagination, or was the abyss staring back? She–

A hand fell on her shoulder and pulled her roughly back from the doorway. She found herself suddenly looking at the Fourth Prince. "You just managed not to fall in," Prince Alan said, the scowl on his face more severe than usual. "Don't do it now."

Maria blinked at him, then shook herself. "I– yes, thank you Prince Alan. I don't know what came over me." Though she suspected…

"No, thank you for saving me, Miss Campbell," Lady Hunt said. "I was careless, to fall for that trap. This exam is more dangerous than I expected…"

Lady Hunt shuddered, and Maria couldn't tell if it was genuine or affected for her benefit. She was correct, however. That was too dangerous for only a mere practical exam. The possibly, the near-certain likelihood, of death had been all too real. The stones that had fallen sounded like they had gone a long way down. Not even someone with the resilience of an experienced hunter, with many echoes in their blood, would have survived such a fall.

It did, however, explain why only one group was meant to pass. The Academy expected fatalities this day. To weed out the unworthy among this generation of nobles, those who focused not on learning or thought but pretension, in the most final manner?

And to do so in this place…

She thought of the ancient Pthumerian ruins, on the reports on ancient, murderous mechanisms that still functioned after all these centuries, of the eldritch truths found therein that had driven men mad.

The thought of how the abyss had seemed to stare back.

For the first time in this life, Maria Campbell shuddered in true fear.

"Let us get going," she said, turning away from the doorway, and the mocking abyss beyond the threshold…

+1 Insight