Chapter 19: The End of the First Trial

Kay stood in the middle of the fiery plain, watching as the small flames inched closer to him. The knight whom he'd spent the last few days fearing lay motionless at his feet. There were no visible signs that he still lived, though there was also no obvious blood or gore indicating his death. That didn't matter at the moment.

He peered to the right, towards the now undefended tower. Apart from the sea of fire nothing stood in his way; the first trial was effectively over. He hadn't been tracking time, but knew that no more than minutes remained. 

'I suppose I should get moving.'

In the bubble of the silence spell everything was eerily calm, maybe a little too calm. Knocking on the spell's boundaries were the scent of combustion, a roar of flames, and Sanson's moans.

'I'm the last one standing' he thought, pride alleviating the danger from the fire and time limit.

Sanson's help had, of course, been invaluable. Kay's plan had been a simple one: using the threat of the mage's overwhelming magic to play a game of chicken with the knight. 

Knowing that his strongest spells were plagued by low accuracy, there had been three points for him to aim: to the left, to the right, or straight down the middle. In addition, after casting a silence spell on Kay, he possessed only enough mana for one attempt. 

So, Kay had told him to fire to the right. Meanwhile, he had circled around, finding cover behind the tower. He waited on the left side with a stone he'd found nearby. 

With both sides covered, the knight was guaranteed to lose no matter which side he chose to dodge in, Kay's just happened to be the less painful of the two. 

However, there was the possibility that their target could have maintained his position. In such a case, they would've been screwed. With the tower to guard his rear from Kay, and Sanson collapsing from his own spell, the knight's victory would've been guaranteed. 

Luckily, as their strategist, Kay had thought the scenario unlikely. In the man's exhausted state, paranoid after a full day of constant vigil, his higher thinking would be disabled. Only capable of fleeing the impending fiery death, the plan had a pretty good probability for success. 

'Not bad for a skill-less loser' , he thought, equal parts self-degradation and dignity. Nine-tenths of the plan fell on Sanson, the missing ten percent being Kay's ability to hit things with rocks. 

Sobering from his thoughts as the flames approached, he carefully skittered towards Sanson. Effortlessly lifting the old elf onto his back, as he only weighed around one hundred pounds, Kay set off for the tower entrance. 

He gave one last glance towards the fallen knight. There were definitely people who would've saved him. A minority, of course, but some would aid their former enemy desiring friendship. Others would hope to maintain a code of morality they'd set for themselves. 

"..."

Still under the effects of the silence spell, Kay felt movement from his back, as well as labored but purposeful breaths hitting his neck. He surmised that Sanson was trying to talk. 

They were feet from the end. Kay struggled to imagine anything worth saying, but stopped nonetheless. Weighing the remaining time in the trial with the duration of the spell, he knew that words were meaningless.

The tower entrance mocked him, simultaneously beckoning him inside. Grand and bathed in orange lights from the fires, it looked enchanting. Inside, he could barely discern a small circular room with a spiral staircase that snaked upwards.

More movement, and Kay gaped as he witnessed the mage point a weary hand to the left. He was momentarily terrified, as he followed Sanson's intent, thinking that the knight had risen. Surely, his partner was trying to warn him of some danger. 

However, the knight remained inanimate, still as a corpse. Kay craned his neck backwards, his eyes peering into the weak but resolute eyes of the elder man. Offering a small nod in the knight's direction, the mage's nonverbal actions put a sickening thought in Kay's head.

'Does he want me to save him?'

He had never pegged the erratic mage as some hopeless romantic who insisted on leaving no man behind. Surely, his old age was making him senile, right?

When they'd first met, the old man had recounted to Kay how he'd wiped out entire armies. He specialized in grand magic, which resulted in devastation after a single spell.

Sanson had even casted such a spell towards the man. If he had dodged to the right he would certainly have been dead. 

Yet, he was asking for the man to be saved. He was advocating for the man who had tried to kill then, and whom Kay suspected had killed the missing seventh contestant.

'I'm not even sure if he's alive.'

Though it was possible that the impact had simply knocked the man unconscious, Kay doubted it. Fueled by the adrenaline of their split-second confrontation, he had exerted all his strength into ensuring that the knight wouldn't rise again. Even now, as the fire's licked at his fallen body, he didn't move. 

A tinge of remorse tugged at him. Sanson expected their former enemy to be alive. Would his new friend think less of him for having killed so easily? 

'I could go check but, what-if?....'

Not wanting to confirm any of his suspicions, Kay propelled his feet forward. He felt Sanson struggle on his back for a few paces, before succumbing to exhaustion. 

Kay was overcome with regret. Sanson was the one person he'd managed to befriend in the trials. A few points earned in the first trial would seem trivial if he lost Sanson's respect and trust. However, he refused to check the knight's condition. 

He hoped that they'd have a chance to talk later, ideally before the second trial started. Though they were a tool he rarely used, Kay genuinely wished to hear the words and feelings of the old man.

The first trial had been difficult enough. Without Sanson's help, he would've failed. There was no doubting that. Kay needed his help for the second and third trials, though he wasn't sure what they'd entail.

He remembered the god's words. "Those who fail the first trial will incur a demerit in the second". Regardless of the knight's life or death, he would be present after the first trial ended. 

Kay shivered in the scorching plains. He desperately wished that Sanson would help him defeat the warrior a second time. 

With that thought, he readjusted Sanson's position on his back, assuring that the old man would cross the tower threshold first. He was fine with one fewer point if it meant keeping the old man's favor. 

Kay took a final step, entering the circular room. As he did, the god's voice reverberated through the tower. 

"Sanson Galantine has been awarded four points"

"Kay Solus has been awarded three points"

"The first trial has now ended"