Her True Form

Yvette could barely keep her hands from trembling, all she wanted to do was reach out and grab Gervas’ hand and hold it close, but she knew better than to do that now.

The pair stood before the massive doorway, easily large enough a fully grown troll could have lumbered through with ease. Behind the stone doorway rested a massive, damp cave. Unlike the pit, this cavern seemed almost natural, though empty. The walls, floor and roof were smooth and covered in small bits of green, slimy moss. She could barely make out the wall at the opposite end, but she could just see it.

It didn’t appear to be very big at all, she didn’t see any kind of challenge to threaten them. “Is this it?” she asked softly. “Do we just go in?”

“I think so,” Gervas said. “Come on.” He stepped into the cave, her trailing behind slightly.

Yvette barely resisted screaming when suddenly tall, blue flames rose up, illuminating the cavern and almost encircling them entirely. With the new light, she could now see a doorway on the opposite end of the chamber, made of a silvery metal and covered in jewels and etched with golden letters which were beginning to glow, the heat spreading through them to make them shimmer. The fires covered the way forward, the only opening back the way they came.

Worse, the fire was growing, slowly. Beginning to close in on them. She could no longer resist, she reached out and grabbed Gervas’ hand.

“Can you read those?” he asked, nodding towards the door.

“If we had time, I could!” she said. “Should we go back? I-I don’t know what it says.” The heat was only rising, though. “If we go back, if we have time, maybe I can look in my book and translate it. Maybe--”

The glowing letters were now fully glowing. With an almost ear splitting creak, the metal door began to swing open, revealing a second chamber, though the light of the room didn’t seem to penetrate it.

“I think that’s our invitation,” Gervas said. “Back or forward, Yvette. Your choice.”

Yvette stared at the growing fire. The flame was so thick now that she wasn’t sure they could leap over it. If they landed in it, they’d die. But if they made it through, she was sure she could heal it. Maybe.

If they went back, what if they couldn’t try again?

“Forward,” she said, before running forward. To her delight, he ran with her, leaping with her through the flames.

To her surprise, despite the heat, the flames didn’t burn at all. In fact, they felt almost pleasant. She hit the ground on the opposite side and stumbled forward a few steps. A moment later, the fire behind them went out.

Her cheeks then turned scarlet when she realized the obvious. “Blue flames.”

“What?” Gervas asked.

“The Flame of Rebirth. They walk through it when they decide to become a zmaj and join the chiogn. Fire isn’t scary for one of them. It’s not meant to hurt them, just ensure that they are one of his subjects,” she said sheepishly. “I can’t believe I didn’t realize that.”

“It has been a rough morning,” Gervas said, shaking his head. “It’s hard to think when you’re worried about being burned alive, as well. It looks like we passed the first trial, at least. Let’s go,” he said.

Yvette nodded and looked to the door. The least she could do was try and translate the door now.

However, when they moved to it, the words were now gone, only the thick, metal door remaining, worn smooth. “That’s not fair, the words disappeared with the fire,” she said softly.

“Of course they did. Nothing can ever be easy, can it?” Gervas asked.

She shook her head, kneeling down in front of it and going through her bag. Even if the words weren’t there, she could still remember some of the symbols. It didn’t take her long to find the correct book. She formed a small light with her magic, making it hover overhead while she worked.

Unfortunately, it didn’t prove much use. She could only clearly translate one symbol from it. “I’m sorry.”

“No luck?” Gervas asked.

“Sorry. Guardian, protector, defender. I don’t know the context, though. It could be referencing the dragon turtle himself, or one of of the zmaj. Or even calling those taking the trial one.”

Gervas held out his hand to help her up. “It’s okay.”

“If I’d had more time, I’d have studied the language more,” she muttered, before taking his hand and letting him help her up. Together, they walked into the new room.

The door slammed shut behind them, cloaking them in darkness. After a few moments, torches lining the walls lit with blue flames, illuminating the small chamber they were in.

The chamber was an almost perfect cube, with a single door opposite the door they had come in through. Other than that, there didn’t appear to be a single thing in the room. No messages, no signs, nothing. Just them and the torches.

She waited, but nothing happened. “Do… you think it’s broken?” Yvette asked. “What do we do?”

Gervas sighed and looked around. “I don’t know. I guess we just need to find the trick somewhere. There’s probably a message, somewhere.”

Yvette nodded before walking to the door. Behind her, she could hear him walking along the wall, examining it as well. She leaned in as close as she could to the door, squinting.

Her heart did a small leap when she realized there were words written on the door. She moved her light in closer, illuminating it. Her heart sank back down when she realized something about them.

They were old and faded. While there had been letters here once, likely in dragon tongue, they had long since faded to only a few scattering of half marks. Still, it was better than nothing. She started trying to translate them, flipping through her book.

Unfortunately, with the marks so badly damaged it was impossible to read any of them, with the marks each having nearly a dozen different symbols they could have been before they had long since faded. She felt her frustration growing. How was she supposed to solve some stupid trial if she couldn’t even read the instructions? She had no idea what she was supposed to--

The door suddenly began to open. Her mouth fell open. “H-how did I--” She was cut off by a cough and she glanced back.

Gervas was standing by one of the torches, his hands wrapped around it and having pulled it out. The torch was a carefully concealed lever. She flushed and turned back towards the opening. “Well. I guess that was easy enough,” she said with a sigh.

Suddenly the door slammed back closed, nearly hitting her in the face. She turned back to Gervas, who had let the lever go. “I’m sorry, I thought that was it,” he said. “One second.” He pulled it once again. This time, he waited until the door opened fully, before letting go. However, once again, the door slammed shut once he let go.

Yvette stared at him, then the door. Finally, she glanced to the lever. “Is… can only one of us go forward?” she asked.

“I don’t think so,” Gervas said before pulling it back down. He moved it around a few times once it was fully down, then frowned. “It’s broken.”

Yvette stared at him. “What?”

“The lever. Its broken. There’s a clip right here, I can feel it. It’s supposed to hold the lever down. But...” He released the lever slightly, moving his hand up above it. It drifted back up, just a little, before it suddenly snapped back up and he caught it, pulling it back down.

The mage stared at it for a few moments before shaking her head. “Really? A massively powerful dragon turtle and he can’t even make sure his trials still work?” she asked, barely keeping the frustration out of her voice. First the faded words, now a broken lever. She wondered if the words on the first door were supposed to have remained as well, if maybe they had faded out once the illusionary flames had disappeared.

Was this entire trial just a broken down mess? Had the dragon turtle given up on letting anyone meet with him when he isolated this island from the outside world?

“So only one of us can go, then,” Yvette said, her voice filled with disappointment. “But what happens if--”

“Nope,” Gervas said. “Bring over your bag. I have an idea. Hold the lever down.”

Yvette nodded and walked over, holding the bag out to him. Once he had it, she held the lever down. He pulled his own bag out, then pulled out a small metal spike and a hammer. “What are those?” she asked.

“Piton. Like this...” he muttered, before jamming the piton into the small hole the lever pulled out from, driving it in with the hammer. “Now, let it go.”

She did as she was told and, to her surprise, the lever didn’t move. Instead, it held itself open, now jammed by the piton. “That’s… wow,” she whispered. “Clever.”

“Old trick I learned, they’re great for jamming things. Come on, let’s go.” He put his hammer and bag back into hers, before holding it out to her.

Yvette nodded, taking the bag and following him into the next room. Her light followed closely after her, glowing bright after a moment to reveal the area. Her mouth fell open and she couldn’t stop herself from gasping.

The last door was open already, only partially closed from the last time it had been opened. Across the wall there was a long faded picture carved into the stone, though the only piece of it that seemed to still remain and be recognizable was the dragon turtle’s form. “It’s wrecked,” she whispered. “What kind of trial is this?”

Gervas shook his head. “We saw the turtle dragon. As big as it is, it can’t be easy to have come here to fix it. This trial is probably at least a few centuries old, as well.”

“But all of this was made with magic,” she muttered before shaking her head. “At least, I thought it had been. But this is a mess.” She walked to the dent in the wall, trailing her finger along the edge. A chunk of it fell off, clattering to the ground. “If this trial is so important, why leave it like this?” she asked.

“Maybe it’s part of the trial,” Gervas offered. “Dragons are weird. Maybe it’s to see how we react to it being in pieces.”

Yvette gave a nod before sighing. Maybe it no longer felt a need for the trial? What if it no longer cared for those who visited it? If none had returned, maybe the dragon turtle had decided that her kind weren’t worth seeing anymore. She walked forward through the open doorway, having to take a moment to squeeze through to get to the other side. Her light illuminated another long, stone stairway leading into the depths.

“Do you really think it’s part of the trial?” she asked him.

“No. I think that this place is falling apart,” Gervas said before shaking his head. “But we can’t go back, either. We’re blocked off. At least, not without breaking the first door. I know how, but--”

“But she’d kill us, wouldn’t she?” Yvette asked. “Unless we pass this trial, we don’t have much choice, do we?”

“We don’t.”

She started walking down again, her stomach doing small flips with every step they took. What if her suspicion was correct? It was possible that it was too much effort to repair the trial. But what if the dragon turtle only desired to be alone? What if it refused to listen to them?

Her heart beat harder at that horrifying thought. If it wouldn’t listen to her, how could she get it to turn over a scale? Would it be easy? How about leaving this island, would she be able to convince it to allow them to leave? Had there been others who had passed this trial? Had it allowed them to leave just so they would stop bothering it, or had it slain them? What if it didn’t understand her request at all? Did dragons even HAVE concepts of genders? The others had called it a him, but dragons were such strange creatures as it was that she couldn’t begin to guess if it was, or if it was just the gender they assigned to it over time.

The scent of seawater soon filled her nostrils and she could hear light splashing, shaking her panicked thoughts from her mind. She gave a soft, nervous gulp and glanced back to him. “I’m sorry for dragging you into this.”

“We’ve had this talk before, Yvette. I told you. I chose to be here.”

“I’m still sorry you had to make that choice,” she said sheepishly.

Her light illuminated the last step and she gave a shudder, before stepping out into the main chamber. She held out her hand and her light began to grow until it illuminated a large section of the chamber.

“W-wow,” she whispered. The stairway came out onto a small, stone platform that pushed out only a few feet. While the chamber itself was massive, it was filled almost entirely with water.

Even with the light, she couldn’t see how deep the water went, though she could make out small beams of light from outside, under the water’s surface. The chambers walls were smooth, encircling the entirety of the chamber.

After a few moments, a stone slab crashed down, blocking off the steps and making her shriek, stepping closer to Gervas and grabbing his arm. “What was that?” she asked.

“The door,” he said, his grip on his spear tightening.

She glared at him. “I know that! I mean, why did it--”

‘Hello, my child,’ a voice said, making her pause. She looked around, though she couldn’t find the source of the voice. It seemed to be coming from all around, yet from nowhere at the same time.

“Hello?” she asked. “Gervas, did you hear that?”

“Yes,” he whispered, looking around, before looking down.

Far below the water’s surface she could see a massive, but dim glow. The same glow she had seen when she had first arrived on this island. She let out a soft gasp, her eyes widening. “Is that the...”

“I think so...” Gervas said, digging the flat of his spear into the ground. Even he was starting to look nervous.

‘Yes, my child. It is I, Lord Hsgrogan,’ the voice said. She realized it was in her mind, not her ears. She relaxed slowly, a smile forming on her lips. He was here. More importantly, his voice was soothing and soft, gentle. Masculine and protective. Warm. It oddly reminded her of her master when he had been mentoring her.

Yvette took a deep breath and walked to the water’s edge, kneeling down in front of it. The glow seemed to slowly be rising towards them, getting bigger. “Oh, Great King, I’ve traveled far to ask for your aid. I… I ummm...” She flushed and stared at the approaching mass. She had practiced what she’d say to it in her mind so, so many times. Yet, now that it was that time, she found herself unable to come up with the right words. She just wanted to shake and give a light whimper. “Just… please. I need one of your scales. I need it for a spell to, to fix myself. I have a… I’m… sick, I guess. In a way. And one of the pieces I require to cast the spell to fix me is a scale of a dragon turtle. You are the only dragon turtle I know of, as far as I know, the only one that exists. So please, help me,” she pleaded, trying to keep tears from forming in her eyes.

‘Of course, my child,’ the voice said once more.

Yvette relaxed and glanced back to Gervas, a smile on her lips. “I… I can’t believe it. This was so...” Her heart lifted. Was it truly so easy? “Will you allow us to leave this island, as well? So I can continue to gather what I need to fix myself?”

‘Indeed.’

Now it was all she could do to stop from squealing with delight. However, she couldn’t help but notice that Gervas looked just as tense as ever. But she didn’t care. They’d done it. She was going to get the first piece of the spell. They’d get off this island. They’d made it through that silly, broken trial, but it was worth it.

She stared down at the creature far below the water. More of its massive body was becoming apparent when it rose, though something seemed off. It was round, of course. But the way its claws moved, the way they glowed. They didn’t look like claws at all. “My… lord?”

‘Yes, my child?’

“Your trials. When we came to face them, they were in shambles. In heavy need of repair. If… I may ask, why do you not fix them?”

‘Ahhh, but of course. To come to me willingly, my child, is the true trial. There is no need for one to suffer in order to seek my aid. After all, am I not the guardian of this island? Why must I make my subjects suffer so?”

Yvette nodded, though despite his calm, gentle words, she felt her unease growing. She closed her eyes and reached out with her magic, feeling for the magic around her. Feeling the magic of the creature coming closer.

She could feel the power and magic radiating off the creature, enveloping it. The power was strong and old.

But so much weaker than she expected. A frown formed on her lips. The power she felt didn’t feel as if it was a creature that was born and lived by magic, in fact it only felt like a very, very powerful spell. She prodded just a little more, but she was certain. That WAS definitely a creature. But the magic didn’t feel right at all. She opened her eyes and peered into the water.

Something was off.

Her eyes widened after a few moments when more of the creature became clear and she let out a soft whimper. “Gervas. Can we go back?”

“What?” he asked. “I thought--”

“That’s not a dragon turtle,” she said, her eyes locked on the form below.

It was finally close enough that she could make out its form. It truly was a massive beast, easily bigger than any vessel she had ever seen. But its form was nothing like it was supposed to be. The massive mouth was, rather than wide, shaped like a beak. Its legs were small and stumpy, nothing like the great claws of a great beast.

It wasn’t a dragon turtle. It was some kind of massive turtle. Judging by the magic she had felt, its form was formed by magic, nearly entirely. She gave a soft whimper and lowered herself down. “Gervas, we need to go!”

The voice let out a soft laugh, echoing in her mind once more. ‘Oh, have you figured it out? Worry not, my child. Your suffering will be over quickly.’ The gentle, soothing tone was now gone, now one of amused cruelty.

Gervas and Yvette backed away when the water began to move up, the massive frame of the creature pushing it aside. Waves of water splashed against the wall and platform as, foot by foot, the turtle’s full form appeared.

It was the largest creature she had ever seen, its head alone bigger than many homes. She gave a soft, gentle whimper and stared. “W-what are you?” she asked weakly.

The voice laughed once more. ‘Is it not obvious, my child? I am the current guardian of this island,’ it said, its voice amused. ‘Chosen by Hsgrogan himself.’

“But you’re a, why? I mean, why are you...” She gave another soft whimper, reaching out with her magic. There was definitely a powerful magic emanating from the monster, a spell of some sort. “Here?”

‘Why need I go anywhere else, my child? There is all I need, here. The worship of the zmaj, their tribute. Willing sacrifices that walk into my mouth.’ Its massive beak moved forward, resting against the platform and making it shake. She could see its great eyes locked on her. It seemed almost amused, before giving a soft, hissing laugh like the zmaj had done.

There wasn’t any escape from this. The wall behind them was solid stone and with the creature so close, even if they could break the door down, they wouldn’t be able to get away before it could grab them and devour them. She looked the creature up and down.

New, fresh hope flowed in her. “You truly are m-magnificent,” she said quickly. It was a turtle. Massive, yes. But still a turtle. No sign of it having been altered or shifted by dragon’s magic aside from its size. However, there had to be powerful magic to it, otherwise there was no way it could have been talking to them. Intelligent as it was.

The creature itself wasn’t magical, but there was some magic on it. She just had to find it. If she could find a way to disrupt the spell, then it would revert back to its true form. Her eyes widened. “Y-you’ve been here for centuries, guarding this place. Haven’t you?” she asked. She reached out a hand and gently placed it on Gervas’, catching his eyes and giving a small wink. Maybe they could make it out of this. She just had to stay calm. “Are you the reason no one can leave this island?”

‘Indeed, my small snack. None may leave my presence. For I am--”

She barely listened to him anymore, her attention focused on what she could feel. Somewhere on the bottom of his shell. The source of that magic. If she could find exactly where it was, maybe she could end whatever spell gave him this power.

But to do that, she would have to go into the water.