Dall gripped his daggers and sighed. "Are you all ready?" he asked the constellations. These strange magically beings are weirdly intelligent; when they saw him grabbing his stuff and heading towards the gate, they all began to group around him once more; Flower took it's position scouting above his head, while the rest began to dance around him in an alert but relaxed manner.
Dall made his way to the gate and peered through. Despite having been in the labyrinth safe-room for a whole day, he hadn't once gotten up and looked beyond the gate. It was mostly a mix of exhaustion and fear that kept him from aimlessly wandering around. If he found something he didn't want to see, then he probably wouldn't have been able to push forwards and keep going.
You'd figure that, when Dall entered the region of the labyrinth that was roofed, then the rest of the labyrinth would be the same. That was indeed the case. What Dall saw on the other side was a narrow hallway that was dimly illuminated by blue flame torches. Instead of the traditional white stone, it now was made of a darker colored black stone that made the place all the more eerier. Dall thought it looked like a dungeon, as concerning as that is. Though it seems that once he got to the safe-room, not only did the atmosphere change but so did the entire maze itself.
He sighed, how much longer until he escaped this circular mess of infinite change? Dall moved forwards and opened the gate; it hadn't been used for a while, so when he pushed it open, it made an eerie creaking noise like that out of a horror movie. The snake and a few other constellations hid behind his back, the only ones leading were the lion, bear, and of course the aquamarine rose, who stood out the most beyond all of them.
Dall started forwards, however what he soon realized is that this corridor didn't go down as far as he thought. It was difficult to see at first due to the lack of lighting, but with the light of the constellations, he ended up only taking around ten large steps before he reached the end where an intersection broke into two ways. He turned to look at the door to the safe room, obviously it was gone. He sighed, "No going back now"
On the wall in front of him, there was two runes etched into the wall. This time they weren't constellations but rather symbols: On the right, there was a sword etched into the wall, below it was an arrow pointing down the path. On the left, a staff with sparks coming off of it, the arrow below pointed it's respective way. It wasn't magic runes this time, but instead a marker of what lays ahead for each trial. It seemed that now the twisted maze was testing him on his skills. Of which he didn't have.
"Which way is better" he looked up to the flower. The flower didn't move for a second, seeming as if it was deciding which path was better. It then moved forwards towards the wall and circled the sword, before flying back above Dall's head. "Do the rest of you agree?" he addressed the constellations, they all looked up a flower, seemingly as to tell him that the flowers word is absolute. Dall chuckled and began off the pathway of the sword. The moment he walked down the path, a wall slide up from the ground behind him, solidifying his choice and not letting him change his fate. When the wall had touched the ceiling, lanterns on either side of the hallway began to light up one after another in sequence. Stopping about twenty feet ahead.
Dall began walking towards the end of the hallway; he got halfway down when he noticed that on the wall between two lanterns, a mural was etched into it. It depicted a man holding a sword, he appeared to be a knight and was standing in some large chamber. In front of him was an elf, not the one from his dream but this appeared to be a gorgeous maiden. She had a bow, and was fastening it towards the man who was standing before her, ready to open fire.
Was this a hint towards what the trial was? He would have to battle an elf? He continued forwards a little more weary now, hoping that what would be that negative encounter wouldn't come to pass. Finally, he ended up arriving at the end of the corridor. There was a metal gate, which had a stone sign above it that said in Zorosh, "Courage". Since he had gotten the constellations, he's been able to understand Zorosh, which is helpful for an ancient elvish ruin that only writes in such language.
Courage? Is this a trial of courage? Dall thought back to when he was a child and in middle school, where he and his friends would have tests of courage walking in hiking trails at night completely alone. Often times, they would hide along the trail, in order to jump out and scare one another. He nearly laughed, before he set his focus back on the gate. Inside, it appeared to be an armory of sorts, with another gate on one end. It was loosely illuminated by a blue-flame lantern, and filled with rusting swords and armor pieces.
He stepped inside and surveyed for any useful items. The swords wouldn't help as they were so rusted they shatter to the touch. All the armor looked too heavy and like it would hinder movement. On a bookshelf in the corner, there was dusty books all in Zorosh. If Dall hadn't been in a labyrinth about to take a test of courage, he would have most likely had read them. What really interested him was a ring that sat on the far end of the bookshelf, it was made of a gold-like material, and had runes etched into it. The constellations were circling it and seemed to take an interest in the item.
Dall picked it up and threw it on. Who knows, it could be some magic device after all. After studying the room for another good few minutes, he took out his blades and walked to the next gate. Outside it, looked like another long corridor that turned to the left, only this time it was already illuminated by the lanterns. However, the fire in them was burning a bright white color, almost the same color as the constellations.
Dall wanted to avoid fighting at all costs, because he knew he probably couldn't win. So, his goal was to try and sneak by whatever was living inside of the next room. If it was anything at all. Getting in unnecessary life-threatening battles was not his forte, he didn't want to do anything that chanced death. However, he had no choice as the only way forwards was through the gate, and he needed to get out of this labyrinth soon or he would go insane. On top of that he would end up starving as well.
He opened the gate and started down the hallway, trying to stay as silent as he could. When he reached the end, he stuck to the wall and peered around the corner. What he saw was a large empty room, however it was too dark to see any other details. He walked forwards, the constellations illuminating his way. When he reached the entry to the room, he finally saw inside completely. It was a large opening, that had chandelier fire lamps hanging from the ceiling. On the floor, there was a massive circle rune carved into the middle, with Zorosh characters carved in it as well.
He took a few steps forwards in awe of the massive battle chamber. Other than the lamps and circles. It was, empty...
There was no boss, or enemy, or anything. Only Dall and the constellations. He took a few more steps forward to observe, when a large gate slammed down from the entryway he just game from, locking him from going back. He rattled it in an attempt to loose it but it was no good.
Soon, the entire room began shaking. Carvings he hadn't noticed on every wall started to glow, they were constellations, but not the ones he had. Elves, Some weird deer-man creature, a ghoul looking creature and more. The room started to whirr with the sound of magical runes lighting up. When all the walls runes lit up, their light converged into the middle rune, which began to light up and glow. Blinded by the light Dall squinted, however before he opened his eyes it was too late. Something had already appeared.
The constellations stood on guard, hovering in front of Dall looking towards the newly formed enemy. Dall's eyes adjusted when he began to see what was standing in front of him. It was a towering sight, which made all the blood in Dall's body run dry. It stood over him intently and its eye glowed a radiant green aurora. Under the light of the chandelier, its full appearance was revealed.
It was a giant... wolf?