This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

Kain's tirade was not dignified by the relic with a response.

Just as his voice cracked mid-curse, the room vanished.

There was no warning. No flash. Not even a hum.

Just—cut.

The cold matte stone of the waiting room evaporated around him like smoke. The scent of blood emitting from himself and his allies, was replaced by something sickly sweet—like honeysuckle and fresh grass. After a slight feeling of floating, the sensation of the ground returned.

When the world reassembled, Kain was standing alone in the middle of a vibrant, oversized forest. The trees were crystalline, their translucent trunks refracting the dim lavender light that filtered through a shimmering 'sky' that looked like a stained-glass ceiling. Thick vines drooped like ropes from violet-leaved canopies, swaying unnaturally despite the still air.

Queen, Aegis, and Bea were gone. Vauleth, too.

He also wasn't able to use the star space to summon them to his location.

Not a combat trial then. Or if it is, it's a trial he's expected to fight alone.

Kain sighed. "Fantastic."

Then he noticed the plaque at his feet—half-buried in flower-laced moss.

"Welcome, Wanderer. You are being judged by the eyes of the Aruvan.

Find the object you are destined to carry. You may find it… or trade for it. But choose with care.

A lie hides the truth. And the truth hides the path."

"…That's not ominous at all."

As if on cue, a rustle came from the trees. Kain spun—hand reaching for a weapon he didn't have. A figure emerged from the underbrush.

Not a beast.

A man.

Or… something close. Tall, thin, robed in iridescent fabric that shifted hue with each movement. His skin was like porcelain shot with faint veins of gold. Eyes too wide, pupils strangely star-shaped instead of circular, and long violet-white hair and pointed ears reminiscent of an elf.

Aruvan.

Kain recognized the race from a dusty corner of his mind. Some brief information about the race was transferred into his mind from his 'research assistants' when he was using them to study all of the required knowledge of the Pathfinders.

Extinct for centuries. Diplomats. Tricksters. Said to have brokered peace between empires and assassinated kings in the same breath.

Due to their chaotic and untrustworthy nature, they were among the most despised races by the honest and peace-loving elves.

Interestingly, both races were renowned for being unable to lie. But whereas elves were somewhat naïve and overly trusting of others, assuming that others like themselves would also never lie, and were known to be the most trustworthy; the Aruvan actively worked around this handicap and revelled in deceiving all and leading to the demise of many using only 'the truth'.

And so elves hated these tricky fellows the most. They detested them even more than truly evil races, like infernal creatures or demons, in part due to some of the similarities between both species.

With some magical modifications, Aruvan would often disguise themselves as elves and, taking advantage of the elves' impeccable reputations, would gain the trust of others easily and then wreak havoc.

The being smiled, revealing small fangs.

A voice flowed like silk across bark and air.

"I saw you tumble from sky to soil,

Clutching pain and pride as spoil.

But coin and fate do walk entwined—

Would you like what you're meant to find?"

Kain narrowed his eyes. "And you know what that is?"

The Aruvan gave a low, lilting chuckle.

"Beneath twin-glass trees where waters sleep,

On the stone where secrets keep.

A coin of sun, both dull and bright,

Waits to serve your future right."

"That's suspiciously detailed."

The Aruvan's smile widened, teeth sharp.

"The wisest fool walks where truth bends,

The clever lose when judgment ends.

So take the coin, or let it be—

The path hides more than what you see."

It bowed low with an unsettling elegance.

"Take care, young seeker, when you choose:

The ones who carry oft must lose."

It bowed slightly and vanished in a blink.

Kain stood still for a moment, then muttered, "I already hate this."

He found the coin exactly where the Aruvan said. Small. Metallic. A little rusty.

"I might have said I'd accept a rusted coin as a consolation prize, but did you really have to give it to me?" Kain was not at all pleased with getting exactly what he'd technically asked for.

He picked it up with some caution, but nothing happened. Examining it, it was blank on one side and then had the emblem of the sun on the other.

This was the right item.

…Or was it?

"Find the object you are destined to carry. You may find it… or trade for it...trade?"

The second part of the trial had begun.

On his way back, he encountered another Aruvan, seated beneath a large willow tree. This one was a woman. She looked remarkably similar to the previous one, except for the silhouette of her body and more feminine cut to her clothes.

A different voice drifted through the glade, soft and intangible like smoke.

"Ah, a hand now warmed by sun and brass,

Yet wonders pass the ones who pass.

You've found your fate—or so you think,

But truth runs deeper than the brink."

She opened her palm, revealing the shimmering obsidian shard.

"A memory carved from time ahead,

Where thoughts of futures softly tread.

I offer this, not out of spite—

But will you trade your dusk for night?"

Kain eyed the shard but didn't move. "Why?"

Her lips curled.

"The game is fixed, the board unseen,

Each piece disguised as what has been.

I cannot lie—but lies may gleam,

Where truth is wrapped inside a dream."

Kain weighed his options.

He didn't know the rules. He didn't know what counted as "winning." He only knew that the trial was judging him—and everything here wanted him to think he knew more than he did.

A lie hides the truth. The truth hides the path.

Should he keep the coin?

Should he trade it?

Or should he walk away entirely and search for another answer?