Mark of the Rising Sun
Into the Pits of Hell

I was enveloped by darkness, I couldn’t even see the hand in front of my face. My only comfort was that Hope was by my side. She had not shrunk down to hide herself, but had come into the building in her regular form. I did a quick light spell to banish some of the darkness around me. I was right, it was indeed an old school building, long ago abandoned by its students and teachers. The halls were quiet and unoccupied, except for us and probably a number of spiders and insects.

After taking a moment to get my bearings, I started walking through the building. I was unsure of where to go, but figured that they would give some indication of where they wanted me. It was a trap after all, and it was almost time to spring it on me. I had been expecting to meet someone by now, to have to fight, but I realized that this was a part of the game too. They wanted me to panic, to lose focus. I would not play their game, besides, I was not alone in this cave of iniquity.

After much wandering, I finally found a sign that I was going in the right direction. It was an arrow painted in red that I hoped was not blood. Below that was a picture of my parents, in worse shape than they were before. Realizing that they were trying to anger me and throw me off of my game, I ignored the photo and continued along the corridor, following the arrow and looking for more around the old school.

After several twists and turns, I reached a staircase. Again there were no lights, and there was an ominous mood around the place. With grim determination, I delved down into the depths of the building. Hope had to glide down as horses don’t go down stairs well. The stairs seemed to go on forever in the poor lighting, and it seemed to take hours before I finally reached what I assumed to be the basement of the school.

More arrows pointed me deeper into the gloom and as I followed them, I noticed a gradual increase in temperature. When I started this adventure, it was rather cool as the building hadn’t been used in some time. The further I traveled, though, the hotter it got, and soon I became rather uncomfortable. I was beginning to sweat, and travelling fast was getting hard. I used a wind spell to cool the air around me, but the hotter it got, the more energy I had to put into the spell. It was as if I was walking towards a furnace, or perhaps something worse.

When I thought I could travel no more, I reached a door that I couldn’t open. The arrows had led me to this point, so I was sure that I was supposed to get through, but how? I inspected the door and found a small hole in the door, similar to a keyhole. I inspected it for a while trying to figure it all out, but nothing came to mind. Eventually Hope spoke in my mind.

We know that they wanted us to come alone, and they seem to know a lot about you and your past. Perhaps this is supposed to be a test only you can pass. They probably know that we are attuned to the air element. Perhaps only an air spell will open the door.

It’s worth a try I guess. The worst that can happen is that nothing will happen when I try.

They won’t make it too hard, they want you inside. They just don’t want anyone else getting in here first. Just try a simple spell and be done with it.

Okay, I replied as I sent a small puff of wind through the hole in the door. Surprisingly, there was a soft click and the door swung open before me. I was blinded by a sudden light on the other side, and it took my eyes a moment to adjust. I let my light spell dwindle away before moving cautiously into the new room. There on the ground in the corner were my parents, still tied up, but looking better than what they had shown in pictures. They probably had doctored the photos to get my attention.

I rushed over to them and started working on the ropes. It didn’t take me long to get the ropes cut and the two of them free. They were a bit worn and malnourished, but otherwise in pretty good shape and had a fire that showed they were ready to fight back.

My old mom spoke up first, “Angela, is that you? Why have you come here? Why are we here?”

“It’s okay, you’re going to be alright. They are after me; you have been dragged into a war between light and darkness. You were kidnapped to get me to walk into a trap, to get me alone and vulnerable.”

“But why you?” My dad asked, “What makes you so special?”

“When I got infected and changed, I received magical powers. It was a genetic thing, based on mom’s genes. Then I was chosen as one of four warriors to fight in war to determine the fate of the world for the next thousand years. I am strong, and have Hope to fight with me. This is Hope, by the way.” I say pointing to the pegasus.

“She’s beautiful. But if you are so important to this fight, why did you come here to rescue us, and why are you all alone? We aren’t worth the trouble. Leave us and save yourself.”

“I can’t do that, you gave me life and taught me everything. I had to come and rescue you. They said that if I didn’t come alone, you would be killed. I couldn’t risk that happening. Besides, it’s too late to turn around now. I’m here and there will be a fight before this is all over. I want you to stay here and when it is all over, find your way to safety. No matter what happens, don’t do anything rash or stupid, I don’t want to have to worry about you in the fight to come.”

They argued some more of course, they were my parents. In the end, however, I convinced them that I needed to face this alone, that they would only be a hindrance to my fight. With many tears and hugs, we parted, perhaps never to see each other again. I walked over to the doorway that I had noticed at the end of the room. It too needed a little wind to open, and when I did the spell, there was a loud groaning as the door opened.

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