The stone rolled aside to reveal a rounded chamber illuminated by blue cryst-light.
"How did you…" Derek trailed off as he stepped up to the threshold next to Kar and peered inside.
"I just put my hand here and it opened." Kar said, gesturing toward the impression he'd touched.
"Well, we all did too, but it didn't do anything for us."
Kar moved to step into the chamber.
"Wait," Derek said, holding up an arm to bar the way, "I've got a weird feeling about this place. We should go get the others before we go in."
Kar nodded reluctantly. He felt that strange pull again, like the one that had led him to Ember. That realization brought him to his senses. Maybe he didn't want to mess with whatever was in there. Memories of those figures frozen in time flashed through his head.
"You guys are such little girls." a voice said behind them.
They both spun around, on edge, to find Lore leaning against the wall, arms crossed.
"Oh, it's you." Kar said, relieved.
"What are you doing here?" Derek asked.
"I was bored," she responded, "thought I'd come see what you two are getting into. Did not disappoint."
She stepped forward—light on her feet—and brushed past Kar to stand on her tip-toes before the threshold. She crossed her arms behind her back and leaned forward, looking side to side.
"Let's check it out." She said, then stepped over into the room beyond.
"Come on Lore," Derek groaned, "Why are you always messing around with stuff?"
"Because it's fun." She replied, turning around and flashing a mischievous grin.
Kar swallowed, feeling a stirring of something within him. He liked this girl. Which made him do something incredibly stupid. He stepped into the chamber after her.
Derek muttered something unintelligible, but followed along behind them.
Inside the vaulted, circular chamber were a series of concentric crystal rings inset into the floor. Light shone from similar veins of crystal encircling the edges of the ceiling.
Lore walked to the middle of the room and Kar followed in her wake. He turned in circles, noticing the oval panels set into the walls at regular intervals. At the very back of the room—opposite the entrance—was another circular stone door. The patterns around the frame of this one were different from the one through which they'd just entered.
Directly in the center of the chamber, Kar noticed something else; a well worn impression in the floor surrounded by its own small ring of crystal. It looked similar to what he'd just used to access this chamber.
Kar shared a look with Derek, then Lore. Derek shook his head side to side slowly, while Lore nodded.
"Come on, let's see what it does." She said.
Kar again felt that now-familiar tugging on his mind. He knelt and placed his hand down. Immediately, the bands of crystal set into the floor all around them lit up brightly and the circular door behind them rolled shut.
A loud voice echoed throughout the chamber. Its tone deep and inhuman.
YOU HAVE ABANDONED ME, YET MY OATH STILL BINDS US.
BEGIN, THE TRIALS OF VALORA.
GROW, SO THAT YOU MAY FACE THE DARK ONES.
FAIL, AND PERISH...
"What in the hells…" Derek whispered, spinning warily.
Kar rose slowly from his crouch, feeling uneasy.
"That's different." Lore said excitedly, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
The oval panels in the walls began to rise, revealing alcoves hidden behind them. Out of those alcoves stepped crystalline figures. Only, they weren't like any of the beasts Kar had seen thus far in Iridess. They looked… human. And they were tall—taller than Kar, Derek, or Lore—and all wore crystal armor and helmets that covered their faces. They carried weapons with them too, swords and spears, axes and hammers, all made of white crystal.
Kar turned slowly, counting them. "There's at least twelve," he said.
The Cryst-soldiers stepped slowly into the room.
"Get behind me!" Derek yelled, backing towards the now closed door through which they'd entered.
Lore darted back, eyes wide.
Kar cursed himself. He should have listened to Ember about this place. Derek and Lore were now in danger because of him. He held up his fists, focus-rings brandished, as the Cryst-soldiers advanced. It felt like a pitiful gesture. He and Derek edged back, side by side, never taking their eyes off the soldiers.
"I don't see a way to open it!" Lore screamed behind them.
Kar turned and dashed over to examine the door's frame. There was an impression on this side, same as there had been on the other. He slammed his hand against it but nothing happened. Then, that voice rang out again,
THE WAY WILL REMAIN SHUT UNTIL YOU HAVE PROVEN YOURSELVES WORTHY.
Derek yelled behind Kar and a womping boom rang out. The sound of shattering crystal filled the air.
Kar spun to go help his friend.
There were so many of the Cryst. Derek leaned back—barely avoiding a sword swing—then lunged forward and delivered another focused blast that flung one of the soldier's crashing against the wall. Kar rushed forward but too slow; a spear's point drove into Derek's leg and he fell to one knee. Derek whipped his arm around even as he screamed in pain. A wide blast pulsed from the ring on that hand, knocking back all the Cryst that had been advancing on him. Kar ran and slid to the stone next to him. He didn't know if he could fight these things, if he could even damage them. But he could keep Derek standing. He grabbed one of his shards and focused—healing his friend's leg wound—then helped Derek stagger to his feet.
Lore flashed by and grabbed a hammer that one of the Cryst had dropped. She hefted it and hopped back to stand with Kar and Derek. The remaining Cryst-soldiers spread out and advanced in a semi-circle.
"Take these," Kar said, handing a Shard to both Derek and Lore.
They each snatched one then Kar held out his hands and focused fire from each of them. Gouts of flame leapt toward the cryst, engulfing a few of them. They stepped through the blaze unfazed.
So that was useless.
Derek hobbled to his left, "We can't let ourselves get surrounded!" he yelled. Kar shadowed him. He glanced over and saw Lore dash the opposite direction with unnatural speed. She swung the hammer as she ran, smashing it against the knee of one of the cryst. It went down in a heap, dropping its sword. She followed up with a cracking blow to that soldier's helmeted head. It shattered to pieces and the cryst's form went limp.
Another cryst-soldier turned toward her and swung its axe, but she slid beneath the swing and jabbed the head of her hammer into its chest, knocking it down. She jumped up and danced back as two more cryst turned towards her.
The remaining six bore down on Derek and Kar.
Derek focused a blast toward the nearest of them and it was thrown backwards off its feet. Kar then attempted a funneled blast of his own that staggered another pair of them. He was forced to throw himself away from Derek by a cleaving, overhanded sword strike.
The crystal blade cracked on the floor and Kar scrambled away. Leaving him on his own. The cryst swung its sword again at Kar; he dodged away but was too slow to avoid the soldier's follow up thrust. The crystal sword's point drove into Kar's shoulder and he screamed in pain. Blood stained his shirt. The cryst withdrew its blade and Kar gritted his teeth then half-stumbled, half-lunged toward his foe. His ringed hands grabbed hold of the cryst's armored chest plate and Kar focused as he did when holding a shard. He was operating purely on instinct, not sure what he was doing.
But it worked.
Energia flowed from the cryst into Kar's shoulder, healing and energizing him. The soldier seized up as Kar continued to draw on it. In desperation, he kept going, pulling more and more Energia from the cryst-soldier. Finally, the cryst collapsed, and Kar let it clatter unmoving to the floor. He felt like he was going to burst, every fiber of his body burning with Energia. As another of the Cryst leapt towards him, Kar released a blast of Energia that shattered it on impact with a thundering clap. Kar himself was knocked back into the wall by his own focusing.
He slid to the ground disoriented, his ears ringing and his vision swimming. The chamber was chaos. Lore danced back and forth with her assailants, but had slowed noticeably. Blood soaked her clothing and hair. Derek was down on his knees, bits of broken cryst scattered all around him. None of his foes were left standing.
Kar shook his head to try and clear it, then pushed himself up the wall and to his feet. Another cryst went down under Lore's hammer, which broke apart in her hands. A spear thrust took her in the side and she collapsed in a heap.
"No!" Kar screamed.
He ran forward but Derek beat him there. The last two Cryst-soldiers went flying and broke apart against the wall and ceiling.
Kar fell at Lore's side and frantically tried to heal her. Her other injuries closed, but the wound in her side continued to gush blood. She gasped in pain and whimpered. He couldn't stop the bleeding.
That voice resonated around them again,
THE FIRST OF MANY TRIALS, YOU HAVE PASSED. COME AND TASTE YOUR REWARD.
The second stone door along the back of the chamber opened, revealing a much smaller rounded room. At the center of it was a round basin, filled with effervescent light that eddied and billowed like a pool of glowing clouds. Beyond that basin was yet another sealed, circular door.
The contents of the room beckoned to Kar. In desperation he stood, pulling Lore up with him, "Help me!" He called to Derek, his voice strained.
His friend stumbled over and together the two of them hauled Lore into the smaller chamber, her arms draped around each of their necks. They staggered up to the stone basin and grabbed hold of its edges. Lore gasped in pain, and Kar thrust an arm into the depths of the basin's swirling contents, his other still wrapped tightly around her.