Rian watched the strange boy in the lead freeze. She hoped he got caught like the others in whatever doubts they have. A few more would be academy applicants peeled off every few minutes, quietly or with sobbing and whimpering that bothered her. She had stopped crying a long time ago. "Gramps." Jon breathed sadly next to her.

Rian poked him in the side through a hole in his armor, she'd put work into that boy and wasn't going to lose him now. "Get control of yourself. We're almost to the next gate."

As Rian finally caught up to the boy that opened the last gate, she saw him turn his face to the group. He wasn't sad, stressed, or angry. He held a smile that had hunger in it, and the area around his eyes and cheeks had a practiced kindness. Rian could only see a coldness in how the boy's pupils dilated and moved from person to person. She let her own face be calm when she saw he was about to look to her. She knew this odd, half-naked one was dangerous.

"I'm Raff. I want to apologize for opening the last gate early. I didn't know it would open like that when I touched it. I want to go together with you all this time. If you'll forgive me." The almost nieve sincerity in his voice set the hairs on the back of Rian's neck prickling up. She had seen something there, and even she almost believed this Raff's lazy naivety.

Jon extended his hand first. "Glad to have your support."

Rian just gave a friendly nod as she watched Raff grasp Jon's hand and shake like they had been lifelong friends. She pushed her legs forward quicker, trying to not let any doubts around this new factor dig into her mind.

Asper continued to chase the group from behind, pushing harder and passing those who had stopped or were trying to wander back. There weren't as many as the first ring where many had collapsed physically. It was almost worse to watch big strong young men sitting, crying, rocking back and forth. One girl lay unconscious in a small pool of blood. Asper had watched her do it, but couldn't make himself move fast enough to stop her. She had pounded her head into the ground until she stopped.

He knew his father would welcome him back with open arms and give him a job handling the counter at his store. He'd heard rumors about the journey to get one's status, but nothing that lived up to this. He wondered if this is what he wanted, it would be so easy to go home and... His thoughts drifted back to the damned thorn bushes. For years he hacked them down, and every time they grew back. He knew he may not be good enough, but he was stubborn enough. He focused on that and let it give him energy, and pushed off into a jog. He knew he might not catch up with the group, but he was going to try.

Raff wondered if this was magic as he watched one of the applicants in the group grow pale and then step off to the side, done with her journey. He knew magic existed, but had never seen it. Like an Ocean or the firewood trees. The rumor was that you could learn magic at the academy, but Raff had dismissed that because he never saw it in the city that was around Pricore academy. He had seen a few feats from adventurers, but nothing he had considered special. Boons granted by skills adventurers had after they leveled. Becoming an adventurer had never seemed worth it until now.

He did wonder if he might become bored with having such power himself. Usually, he knew he'd eventually get bored. Shoes, why even train with a cobbler. As much as the last pair he had made was a masterpiece, he knew that for him, his calloused feet were better. Magic, though, causing people to grab onto the past and fail to move forward. He wondered if Graft had him sent the spot for the academy. It was supposed to be dangerous, and he knew far too much to make Graft comfortable. He'd show that man and be as gifted in this school as he ever was working on that man's projects.

The door to the next ring seemed dark, a gray in a sea of white. The number of applicants was still sizable as they gathered at it, only a few lingered behind, still trying to push forward. Everyone seemed hesitant to touch it. Rian watched to see what the barefoot boy would do. She just watched him take in the group, not even trying to hide his odd fascination with what was going on. Not wanting to stick out herself, she nudged Jon in the side again to get him moving. The armored lordling put his hand on the door, and it started to open. Rian had researched enough to know that passing through the third ring was considered the worst and steeled herself.

The door swung open to what looked like night. An inky blackness clung to everything, like the dark structures soaked up light. Only a glance upward to the sky seemed to imply it was still day time. Rian felt more comforted by that sight than she had in the almost blinding white of the second ring. The buildings that lined the broad path that led to the center of the school all looked unfished or broken. Holes in dark stone and wood walls that let you see inside to the buildings where the darkness seemed to get deeper even as it showed you glimpses of tables, chairs, dishes, and toys. Every building looked empty.

Rian reflected on the fact that she'd seen only applicants on this path and wondered if it was just like this for the first day or this path. She knew this was a test, a trial for those who wanted to join the academy. She'd pieced together what she could from stories and writings. The trip to see your status and become a student stressed your body, your emotions, and now your fears.

Rian stepped into the dark ring. Her whole body shivered, and gut clenched like she'd just been punched. As a witness and participant to horrible things, never had she felt so strong a reaction. Logic didn't stop the hairs from standing up on the back of her neck.

A cold breeze chilled her cheeks and brought voices. "Sarah." Rasped a harsh man's voice.

"Fell." Pleaded a woman.

The names kept coming. Names Rian had taken and used up like a bit of kindling. Some names that no one else should know.

She pushed herself to keep walking forward. Once the names ran out, the whispers turned to other things. "Crinkle bridge. The stoops." Locations where secrets have been formed.

"You hear this, Jon?" Rian called back.

Only silence answered her.

"Jon?" Rian turned around, and she was alone. It was then that ice seemed to grip her heart.

Raff watched the girl enter first. After a few steps, the darkness swallowed her and then swallowed her friend in armor who was only a place behind her. He grinned and wondered what surprises he would find here and took his own first hew steps into the third ring.

Asper cursed his being forever last, as he pushed himself forward. He watched as a girl stepped through the open door into the next ring. Now there was none between him and the entrance. The familiar sound of the door starting to grind closed started up again. As always, when he felt like he might not make it, he forced a pulse of energy into his body and picked up the pace. He sucked in his gut and squeezed through again. The door scraping his arm as he pulled it through. The door shutting with a click behind him.

A high pitched whine made him wince. "ERROR unauthorized." came a voice that was like nails scraping on an anvil.

Then Asper's ears popped, and his nose and ears felt wet. When he touched on his lip, his hand came away red with blood. "Black luck." He muttered and let his eyes adjust to the darkness of the ring. He could see the other perspective students staggered about, most of them moving forward slowly.

He spotted a young man who had made his way into one of the broken open houses. He was sitting in a chair, sobbing uncontrollably. He started to hear screams and moans from the others, so he jogged up to the closest student, a girl who twisted and tugged at her long braid. He watched her eyes dart around but not see him. She inched forward but acted like he wasn't there. He waved his hand in front of her face, and there was no reaction. She was muttering faintly, and Asper leaned in to listen. "Uncle, it hurts in the cupboard. I don't want to go in there again."

Asper pulled away. He moved onward down the black stoned streets where whatever lights shone only cast shadows, searching for someone else not in this dreamlike state.