Wings of Fire: The Prequels

4.5

Not that he was given a chance to try, seeing as a much faster brick tried to maul him. Although he had steady ground to stand on, that didn't make it much easier as everything sped up to be faster than before. So the basis of the trial was don't get smashed into a million pieces while trying to find stable ground that would only make it harder to not get destroyed.

... That made no sense, like the rest of the temple.

Nonetheless, Gust continued with the trial. Now given a basis, he tried to find a hint of gold. It wasn't easy, especially considering that the weird void walls were giving a dull ache at the back of his eyes, but he managed it. And he did so again, and again, and again.

The last one left five bricks to do the job and they did it well. Aching and sore, the bricks got a few good hits in, one of those hits dislocating one of his wings, before Gust grabbed the slightly golden one with firm talons. They finally settled like the rest of the bricks, letting him take a deep breath.

After a second or two of blessed lack of change, that time ground to a halt. Literally. Starting with the outer-most circle, the orbiting bricks slowed to a stop. The bricks that had started the settling of their fellows began glowing a little brighter, blazing a clear path to the empty space.

Inhaling sharply and letting out a sigh, he followed the path. This time, he could get through the blank space. He entered a new room, not all that surprised when the blank space slammed shut like before.

In a blank black void, Gust couldn't do much else but explore. Brushing his talons across the walls, ceiling, and floor, he tried to find something. That something came in the form of another blank space that he couldn't enter.

So he tried again, searching for a glow or glint of gold that he might've missed. Edging up the wall, he met the ceiling and started to trace that to-- Wait, wasn't that higher before?

The realization came with a groan. If it wasn't bad enough that he got slapped around by nonsentient bricks, now he was going to get squashed in a void. The animi who made this temple didn't have a concept of holding back.

Slightly desperate, he lit up his scales to try to catch the gold in their light. Slight tugging at his leg caught his attention. A current formed at the sight of the light, him falling limp to let it take him where he needed. It spun him around a few times as a type of whirlpool until it dragged him through the blank space.

He landed in a bright white void of a room that made him close his eyes with a hiss. After a moment of adjustment, he observed the room. Most of it was a white void, only a black table with three bottles and a blank space doorway saving him from getting lost in the void.

The three bottles had golden glowing circles outlining them. One was made of the vantablack material, the other of the white void material, and the last one of the blank space. Maybe he had to take the right one to the door?

Shrugging, Gust carefully sniffed each one. The black bottle smelled of the ocean, the white one of herbs, and the blank space didn't smell like anything had smelled before. Considering the strangeness of the temple, the blank space bottle had a point in its favor.

Sighing at the idea he had, he chose his least favorite claw and stuck it into the black bottle to see what the contents felt like. It didn't burn off his claw right away, so that was a plus. Anyway, it was like a stew with liquid and a few chunks of... something.

Using that claw again, he tried the white bottle which didn't burn off his claw off either. The contents felt like sludge, trying to tug his claw back as he pulled it out. The blank space bottle got the final point in its favor, seeing as it was a liquid but it felt like that weird in-between that every liquid felt like in this place.