Lydia ran down the hall again. The exit had to be somewhere!

But once she reached the 30th pillar, bears attacked her again. And without fail, they vanished after she killed exactly 5 of them. It was infuriating!

"Raargh! Huff, fuuh." Gasping for breath, she flopped onto the ground. Always the 30th pillar. No matter if she walked down the hall or ran as fast as she could. And she was always returned to the start.

"Brute force doesn't work. Think, Lydia. You're not as bad as Roric. You didn't fail the dungeon theory test. Huff. The basics. Search the surroundings for clues."

A long hall. Two rows of pillars, a runner in the middle. Fox statues in the walls, either sitting or lounging. All smirking at her. At her? She stood up and walked past the first two pillars. Or something behind her?

[One challenger has finished their path. You can now choose between finishing your challenge or taking up a riddle,] grumbled the fox as it appeared before her.

"Someone did? Must be Thira." But her mind was occupied. Where were the statues looking? She turned back. The tori? Now that she looked at it, there was something written on the cross beam.

"Right is Left, Back is Front, Down is Up? Wait a moment. Back is Front... Front is Back? Hah! I can't believe it! I was an idiot!"

[Looks like you won't be choosing a riddle. What a bummer,] muttered the fox.

Lydia stabbed the stone wall with her spear to confirm her suspicion. When it sank into the stone without any resistance, she walked through it.

The room behind it was laughably small compared to the hall. Three treasure chests stood before her, a familiar portal shimmered behind them. To her right sat Crear on the ground. His face was pale, but he didn't look too exhausted.

To her left stood Roric, with his hands stretched in front of him. Both his and Thira's eyes were closed tightly.

"What are they doing?" whispered Lydia. Part of their challenge?

"Dunno," shrugged Crear.

[Well, well. You all made it through. I assume congratulations are in order?] Thira and Roric opened their eyes and sheepishly looked at her as the fox started to speak. [Maybe not. I have here one treasure chest for each path that was completed. Since one of you only made it out thanks to someone else being faster,] the fox looked intensely at Crear.

He must've hidden until Thira finished her challenge, thought Lydia. Understandable, with that wound.

The fox swiped its head over to Thira. [You two will have to solve a riddle to open your treasure chest.]

Wait, what? Crear made it out first?! When he can barely walk?

[A word of advice may be necessary. The chests hold some of the usual treasure you humans crave so much. Gold and jewels and such. And a hint to achieve your deepest desires. - Now, onto the riddle! What runs but never walks, murmurs but never talks. Has a bed but never sleeps. And has a mouth but never eats. What is it?] The fox sat on the left chest with a self-satisfied smile.

"Can anyone join the riddle?" asked Crear.

[No! They have to solve it themselves. Only if they ask for help can you answer for them. But their reward will be reduced even further.]

Lydia had the sudden urge to punch the smug look from the fox's face.

"What runs, but never walks. Murmurs, but never talks. Eh... can you repeat the riddle again?" Thira pulled a paper out and scribbled the first two lines down.

[What runs, but never walks. Murmurs, but never talks. Has a bed, but never sleeps. And has a mouth, but never eats. What is it?]

"Has a bed, but never sleeps... Mouth but never eats... Hmm... Runs but never walks..."

Crear made a groaning sound, earning a glare from the fox. Lydia gave him the evil eye. "Hush, you! It's not an easy one."

Instead of staying silent, he pulled his flask out and drank. Water splashed on the ground as his trembling hands stoppered it again. "Sorry," he murmured without meaning it.

Lydia could've strangled him.

Thira looked up at the sound. "Runs, but never walks... murmurs, but not talks... bed but never sleeps... mouth, but never eats... A river?"

The fox hissed angrily and jumped down from the treasure box.

[You have guessed correctly! I'll need new rules for the next time!] Without warning, the fox was gone, leaving them with three treasure chests and a shimmering portal.

"Thank the Spirits that it's finally gone," sighed Crear, but he made no move towards the chests. His face twitched slightly.

Roric was the first at the chests, his hands reaching for the leftmost.

"Wait!" cried Thira. "Traps, remember?"

They all looked at Crear.

"Go ahead. They're not trapped." He waved their concerns away.

Relieved, Lydia stepped next to Roric, watching as he opened the chest and reveal two gold coins, a claw-pendant on a leather thong, a pair of earrings and two scrolls. One was sealed with a staff picture, the other with a shield.

"Guess it's obvious which one goes to who?" mumbled Roric and grabbed the scrolls. The one with the staff, he handed back to Thira, while he unfurled his own scroll.

Lydia glanced over his shoulder.

The key lies within your companions.

"Huh. That's like a line from a fortuneteller," commented Thira. Before Roric could grumble at her for reading over his shoulders, she added: "Mine reads: Look not far, nor wide. Grab your destiny before it slips away. It's just as strange as yours. Lydia, what about yours?"

"Oh, just a moment." Lydia opened the middle chest. Her chest held 7 gold coins and two rubies the size of a fox's eye. Her scroll was sealed with a spear picture. Unrolling it, she read it aloud: "Persistence will help you. - Gee, thanks. What is that supposed to mean?"

"Dunno," shrugged Thira. "What about you, Crear? You also got a fancy fortunetellers line?"

Crear glared at them from his spot against the wall. "None of your business. And if anyone so much as touches that chest..." His bow was strung, though without an arrow.

Lydia stepped forward. "We wouldn't dare. It's your reward. But at least let me help you move there?" She gave him a hand and helped him hobble to his treasure chest, ignoring his grumbling.

The chest held a pouch and a hip flask with an engraved, smirking fox. The scroll was sealed with a bow symbol. Crear scooped the three items up and stored them in his backpack.

Aww. Whatever. Maybe he'll share whatever's in the scroll later. Then again... It really isn't our business, is it? Sigh. Lydia put a smile on her face. "Now that that's done, let's leave this dungeon and report to the Guild."

Roric quickly put their new riches away and they stepped through the portal behind the chests.

Their surroundings stretched, folded in on itself and snapped back into place. They stood in a white forest. In front of them was the dilapidated building with the broken fox statue. Behind them was the tori with the portal.

"It's morning. Third bell, maybe," said Crear after a look at the sun peeking through the canopy.

"Three hours by foot. Let's see if we can catch a cart when we're back on the street," added Lydia.

They walked around the portal and made their way through the snow covered forest.

Lydia didn't say anything as Crear leaned more on her the further they got away from the dungeon. His face looked even paler in the sunlight than it had in the blue light of the dungeon. She could count the sweat drops on his forehead as they froze in the cold.

"Say, Thira, what was your challenge about?" she asked, just to get a conversation going.

"A dumb riddle," huffed Thira. "We didn't even know about it until one of you two had their challenge completed and the fox told us to walk through the closed tori."

"You also had a riddle?"

"Yeah. What did it say? Something about Left is Right, Up is Down, Front is Back."

"At least we got out of there," laughed Roric.

"I thought it was a warriors challenge. There were even bears to fight! But I always got magicked back to the closed tori. Until I turned around and saw the riddle. What about you, Crear? You got out first. Did you also get a riddle?"

Crear snorted. "You were stumped by that little thing? And it was so obvious, too."

It turned silent again. Lydia saw him make a pained grimace as his left foot bumped into a stone hidden beneath the snow, but she didn't say anything.

All that snark and bravado to hide his pain.

"I still haven't thanked you for helping me with that last riddle," started Thira.

"Didn't do anything," mumbled Crear.

"Yes, you did! If you hadn't splashed that water around, I would've never guessed that the answer was River. Thank you!" Lydia could hear the beam in Thira's voice.

"An accident," mumbled Crear.

"That was to help her? And I thought you just wanted to annoy us further!" laughed Lydia. Then again, the fox looked very angry when he did that.

"It was an accident," insisted Crear stoically.

They lapsed into silence once more, soon stepping out onto the street. Lydia blinked against the dazzling sunlight.