The emerald meridian stretched across the endless horizon. It was too vibrant to be a natural color, which weirdly enough wasn’t the weirdest part of this experience. Both Sasha and Todd were pretty certain they had just been in the middle of a cave, yet here they were standing on a hill staring down into a lush forest.

“I didn’t realize teleportation magic was a thing” said Todd

“That’s ridiculous. Of course teleportation magic doesn’t exist, we wouldn’t need horses around if it did. I’m guessing the sky is some sort of an illusion.” responded Sasha

“Looks pretty real to me”

They descended from the their hilltop and entered the forest. The orange and yellow leaves in the trees suggested it was Autumn wherever they were. As the wind slowly swayed the branches back and forth, leaves parachuted to the floor. The weather was just cool enough to leave goosebumps along the arms of Todd and Sasha.

Walking through the forest became a blur as they passed tree after tree. All the plant life was the same variety, so it was easy to lose track of which direction they came from. Only an outcropping of rock that had been behind them, was visible over the tree line. It suggested they were going in the right direction.

“We’ve been walking for hours. It seems like we’re in an endless forest. Are you sure we’re walking in the right direction,” complained Todd who was starting to get worried.

“Well that cliff has been behind our backs the whole time, so we must be heading in the right direction.”

“But you said yourself that this might be an illusion. How do we know that stone behind us isn’t moving when we’re not looking?”

“Well, what are we going to do about it.” huffed Sasha who promptly crossed her arms and decided to sit on a tree’s roots.

Todd decided he could use a little break as well and decided to lean up against the truck of a tree. Only the rustle of leaves could be heard as Todd brainstormed their dilemma. As a young boy, he remembered hearing stories of people getting lost in the woods, how they managed to use a river or the sun’s position to find their way to civilization. He, however, didn’t have a river to follow or a reliable direction the sun set.

“How much bread did you bring” Todd asked

“I have about 3 loafs. Just because you’re all skin and bones doesn’t mean I’m going to share any of my bread with you. I told you to pack enough for three days,” Sasha said in her defense.

“What if we pool are bread together and make a trail to see if we’re going around in circles?”

“That’s a decent idea, but then we won’t have that much food if we get stuck somewhere.”

“It seems like we’re stuck right now,” Todd snarkely replied. He wasn’t in the best of moods.

After catching their breath from their long hike, Todd followed Sasha, leaving a breadcrumb trail behind them. Instead of hurrying along the path they slowly shuffled their way forward so they could thoroughly lay down the trail. Whenever they looked back to see if the trail was curving, they would straighten themselves out.

Eventually both Sasha and Todd found themselves nearing the end of the forest. They could see the grass for miles and miles, that peaked behind the few final trees. As the sprinted for the finish line, a dizzy sensation overcame both of them. Slowly their eyes closed.

Appearing into the temple once more, Todd and Sasha found themselves in a large underground coliseum. To Todd’s horror memorable figures stood on the other side of the room, they had previously stabbed him and left him crippled in a cold dark alley. The hooded man was fairing far better than his compatriots. The skinny one looked as if he was going to die of starvation and the fat man had somehow managed to break his leg. Todd assumed it this was probably due to the large explosion that pried the temple open.

*BOOM* An ear splitting sound sent everyone to their knees covering their ears.

“Both groups have made their way through the first trial. Only one group will be able to proceed, so you’ll be pitted to the death. It is too late to turn back now, either fight or die at the hands of your opponents,“ a godly voice resonated throughout the room.

“Thirty minutes is the time allotted before the fight begins. Prepare in whatever way you feel necessary.”

“What’s our plan?” Todd squealed in a panicked state. He wasn’t fond of the idea of getting stabbed to death for a second time.

“I’m still thinking. Take my spare dagger, it’s not much but it’s better than being weaponless,” said Sasha. “In the worst case scenario point the pointy end at the enemy and jab, jab, jab”

“I know how daggers work” Todd frowned

The dagger was substantially smaller than Sasha’s longsword strapped to her back. Todd felt unsatisfied with the tiny dagger but he had no reason to complain. He contemplated whether or not he would buy his own shortsword if he managed to survive this temple.

After twenties minutes of thinking among themselves, Todd and Sasha reconvened to share how they were going to tackle this situation. Currently the duo was outnumbered, but they devised a plan that would most likely get them through to the next trial alive.

As the timer ticked to zero, the gates on opposite ends began to creak. The chains on either side of the door were pulled down slowly lifting the gates open. Both Sasha and Todd braced themselves in anticipation.