#16 - Beyond The Door

Gleefully, he gripped tighter on the door knob and wiggled until it clicked loose in his hand. He turned it and tugged. But it didn't move. Had his bronze key not worked? He tugged harder. It felt stuck somehow; that was all. Kaspian and pulled with all his might, but still would not yield. Was there a special trick one had to know to get into one of these rumored skill rooms? He narrowed his eyes, husbanded his strength and focused for one final, mammoth effort.

He thought of the way a door would usually feel when he turned the knob and it swung open. He thought about thrusting his whole weight upon it -- although there wasn't much of it. Then, he turned the knob and pulled. Suddenly there was a crackling in the air and a quick whiff of magic, and Kaspian practically stumbled into the room. After catching his balance, he meticulously drew the door behind until it clicked to a complete close. He'd found it.

The room wasn't what he expected, almost ordinary in appearance. His eyes scanned the stone walls and floors, taking in the room for what it was before his gaze settled on the nine wooden boxes. They were filled with different stones, all different colors and each alluring in their own strange way. It only took him a moment to read the plaque and realize this was a game of sorts -- and a possibly scary one at that. Poisons, cursed objects and deadly spells? Didn't sound fun.

Mustering his courage, Kaspian turned his mind back to his objective. He held his breath, then reached for one of the hovering blank cards (E) and pressed his hand against it, doing his best to push it downward into its corresponding bin. Though it wasn't without some extra effort, he managed to submerge it beneath the orange stones and waited for something to happen.

Somewhere beneath the stones, Kaspian felt an icy sting. He jumped a little, in turn making him retrieve his hand as a lingering pain shot through to his wrist. Shaking the pain away like an annoying fly, he noticed the card change color and slowly reveal a symbol. Was his objective to find more of the same? This reminded him of one of those memory, matching games he used to play as a child. He had always been told they helped with improving critical brain functions.

He didn't know if there was a real strategy to them, as these types of games relied a lot on luck from the start -- and from the look of it, Kaspian would need all the luck he could muster. If he was going to experience a pain for each card like he had the first, it was ideal for him to pick the least amount of cards possible. So with another silent selection, he reached out for another card (A) and repeated the same motion as before and sunk it below the allocated box of stones.

Kaspian's heart caught in his chest as he felt that familiar icy sting. No matter how much he had prepared himself for it, the pain still hit as quickly as it did the first time. He yanked his hand back and watched as the card hovered into position again, now identical with the same color and symbol as his first selection. Kaspian breathed out and began to connect the dots in his head. This card had the same affliction as his first did too, which meant the pair was a match.

If he remembered the game from his childhood correctly, and if that's what this was, in order to win he needed to quickly determine whether or not a flashcard matched the one presented two times previously. Kaspian already got two of the same card, so he needed one more to claim victory. Two for two wasn't bad at all, and mustering up whatever luck he had seemed to be working. Exerting a similar energy, he submerged his next card (I) and awaited the pain.

Pressing his hand against the card felt like holding a lit match too long, and he pulled free, staring at his own fingers as if in a daze. A burning lingered in his palm, straight up his nerves and into his mind. How had these cards been as painful as they were, but no markings were left in their stead? It was peculiar, but then again so was the concept of the room. The fact this game existed, and not knowing it's overall purpose, was confusing to the point of obscurity.

The symbol of the card wasn't identical to his last two, meaning it wasn't a match. Kaspian grit his teeth at the revelation, trying his best to combat the painful sensation in his hand and the disappointment of his choice. Contracting his hands into fists, he felt his nails dig into his palms. He opened them again, staring down at the half moon indents, before reaching for another card (G). With an exhale, he pushed the card downward until it was submerged under the stones.

There was that familiar sting, icy cold in temperature, as his hand tingled with what felt like a frozen burn. Kaspian gasped and yanked his hand back, unprepared for what came next. The usual reset of his cards were no more, instead each one bursting into flames and crumbling to ash. But that wasn't all, as the remnants swarmed him, forming out of nowhere. It climbed up his legs in loose coiling, merciless bands, and caused him to panic in fear of his safety.

But that was it. It faded to nothing, no pain, no consequence, nothing to prove that he'd been there playing a game for however long. It was odd, Kaspian felt, how everything disappeared without warning. A piece of him felt cheated, swindled out of a ceremonious victory. He'd won, at least he believed he won based on the game, yet there was no clear indication he had.

Kaspian sighed and crossed his arms together. There was nothing left for him to do in the empty room, so he headed for the way he came. Twisting the knob of the door, he stepped through the frame and back out onto the open flooring beneath the staircase. An emptiness nagged at his insides, poking him to do another. He swayed with the debate in his mind, eying another door directly across the way. It taunted him and the two bronze keys in his pocket.

"I reckon one more won't hurt, right?" The question sounded like someone's famous last words, but Kaspian pushed that to the back of his mind. He closed the distance between him and the new door, promptly shoving his next key into the lock and turning it with a click.

The roaring flames burst forth from either side of the door, forcing Kaspian to stop a moment. He debated whether or not to enter, beginning to question his decision to unlock another door. As he stood, he breathed in the fire and it ignited his lungs, causing him to stumble into the room in a fit of coughs. Was it a even room? There were no walls. Just black darkness. The only thing that was material was the floor, and a glowing blue line between the door and the fire.

He coughed on the smoke, or what he believed to be smoke, but was in reality just his mind. How was there all this fire but no smoke to speak of? Feeling his breath quicken, he pulled at his throat and tried to make sense of it. While it didn't make sense, Kaspian wasn't going to go out of his way to complain about it. Fumes filling his lungs would only make matters worse.

After reading the plaque, he got the general gist of what needed to be done. This task was more straight-forward than his last, and for that he was grateful. He repeated the rules under his breath and looked up, aiming his wand toward the pale, blue line. With a bit of speed on his side, he whipped his wand forward, casting a spell in hopes of conjuring more bricks.