Caldena stood, motionless, waiting for something to happen. Nothing did.
Suddenly, she saw the floor before her cave in, like rocks on a cliff. It was a cliff, she realised. The groung beneath her shoeless feet felt like rocks though a moment ago it had been cold, flat stone.
Slowly, she stepped forward, as a light, magical, she decided, drifted into the air. And she saw, over the edge of that cliff, exactly what she had expected to see. In front of her was a vast, infinite blackness.
The rocks that she stood on began to shake, and then caved in below her, falling into that infinite blackness that she feared so much.
She was bearly able to stop herself from screaming as she fell. She grabbed the very edge of the cliff, and swung herself towards the sides of it, trying in vain to pull herself up.
Silent tears falling down her face, of frustration and of pain, she finally managed to climb onto the ground. When she looked back into the hole in the ground that had almost killed her, all she saw was a huge stone floor.
And then she fell, and she was lying flat on the ground, surrounded by a ring of fire. And she heard a voice coming from behind the fire:
"Cal, are you there? Cal?" it was Natalie of Silvermoon, one of her best friends at the palace.
"Cal?" Natalie repeated.
Now Caldena could see her friend's face on the other side of the flames, and she was sure her firend could see her.
"Cal, are you okay? Just a minute, I'll help you!"
Natalie couldn't see the fire!
Her friend walked into the flames, and Caldena tried to close her eyes as she saw Natalie scream, and burn in the white-hot fire, but for some reason she couldn't, something was making her keep them open.
Then she saw all her other friends coming, looking for her, like Natalie was. And she wanted to warn them, but she couldn't.
It's just an illusion, she told herself, It's not really them, and don't scream. Don't!
She didn't scream as she saw her compagnons perish. But then they were gone. Their bodies were gone, and no one came. But the flames were slowly creeping towards her. They covered her body, and the rest of the Chamber of the Ordeal. And she was still tied down by the chains, as it burned her as it had done to the others.
Caldena closed her eyes, trying not to feel herself burn. The chains were melting, the liquid metal burning her wrists...
And then it was all gone. She was still burned, but not as badly as it had seemed, though her robes were blackened and most odf her hair was synged off.
A man walked up in front of her, broadsword in hand. He sneered at her, and his sword slashed at her face. Caldena covered the wound on her cheek with her right hand, but the man just kept hitting her with his sword.
She ran. She ran as fast as she could, but she had never been able to run fast. He was, though slowly, catching up to her.
And then her sword appeared in her hand. She slashed at the barbarian standing before her, not listening as her cried in pain. She knocked the sword out of his hand, and knocked him over with the flat of hers.
"Kill me," he said, lying on the stone floor, and Caldena was surprised that he spoke Common without the silghtest trace of an accent, "Kill me now."
Caldena opened her mouth to refuse, stopping only when she remembered where she was. Sweat ran down her face. She couldn't kill anyone, she never could.
The man reached back to grab his sword. "Kill me! Or I'll kill you!"
It isn't real! she told herself, just kill him!
The man was getting up, sword in hand. He slashed at her, but it was too late for him. He screamed as she ran him through. When he was dead, the sword evaporated into the heavy air. She couldn't move, it was as though her legs were too heavy to let her walk, and her neck too stiff to let her turn away. His body lay on the ground, motionless.
I killed him. she thought.
And then she was falling, the magical light that had been there was gone, and the floor as well. She fell into the infinite blackness, with nowhere to land.
But she did land, kneeling, in front of the Chamber doors as they slowly opened and sunlight once again flooded the room. Her ankle hurt, but none of her bones were broken, because for vsome reason she hadn't been falling very fast. She ran out of the Chamber, not looking back at it. I never will. she told herself. She could never go back to that place.
She woke up, finally. And Natalie was there.
"You're lucky I woke you up," the young squire said, "Or you'd miss the ceremony."
Caldena scowled at her friend. "Can't I sleep just a little longer?" she asked.
"Of course not." Natalie said, smiling. Then, tuning more serious, she asked: "What was it like?"
"I can't tell you." she replied, "But it was terrible. I could never do it again."
The ceremony started less than half an hour after Caldena awoke. The soon-to-be knight was too tired to really care.
"Do you swear to serve Tortall and the Crown for the rest of your days?" said the king.
"I swear."
"I dub thee Sir Caldena. Serve honorably and well."
