"I accept." Neveah replied with no hesitation.

At Neveah’s words, the stone doors lifted up of their own accord with an echoing groan, slowly revealing the entrance to the Ever-burn cave.

The moment the stone door had moved up high enough, Lord Skiren nodded to Neveah, taking a step back.

"There is a time limit, young rider. You cannot know how long, you need only bear that in mind." Lord Skiren added.

Neveah understood she was to proceed alone now and she stepped through the entrance into the cave.

The moment Neveah was through, just like before, the stone doors slammed back shut, stirring up a wave of dust and causing a brief tremor .

Neveah tilted her head away from the dust particles, lifting a hand to shield her nose from it.

The dust soon settled and Neveah could now take stock of her environment.

Once the door was sealed, Neveah’s trial had truly begun. Neveah could no longer exit the cave from that entrance and the only way ahead was forward.

Neveah stood, glancing at the stone door for a brief moment before she turned to face the other side.

The Ever-burn cave was just as dark as the path leading up to it, and without Lord Skiren to guide the path, Neveah took a moment to let her vision adjust.

Neveah walked on slowly while her vision adjusted to the darkness, she could hardly see more than a few steps ahead but Neveah knew after only a moment, the darkness would become easier to see through.

And it did become easier, Neveah had only taken a few steps further into the cave when her vision adjusted to find herself standing at the very edge of a chasm.

Neveah had glanced down at just the last moment and her eyes widened slightly to see she had reached the end of solid ground and a step ahead was a deep fall into a dark abyss,

Far greater than the fall into Lord Skiren’s pool.

Neveah’s feet were right at the very edge and just a single step forward would have sent her tumbling down to the unknown.

Neveah took a step back, away from the chasm and then scanned the cave, her eyes squinted slightly.

Not far to the left, there was a thin path that stretched across the chasm, a path so thin Neveah was unsure anyone could place both feet side by side.

It was impossible to get across such a thin path steadily but it was the only path across the chasm and the only way ahead...other than falling down into the abyss.

Based on the structure of the cave, Neveah was certain even if the fall did not kill her, it would take her far down all the distance she had climbed up to get to this mountain range.

This was within the mountain itself, one could not tell what Neveah would find down below but Neveah did not consider that a reasonable direction for the heart of the Ever-burn cave.

Instead, Neveah was certain where she needed to go was deeper into the cave.

Neveah slowly walked over to the thin path, a path that put even the rickety bridge to shame.

It was only wide enough for Neveah to place one feet ahead of the other and it would require extreme caution too.

Other than that, the path did not go on so far, crossing it would take only a few minutes before Neveah would be on solid ground again.

Neveah headed for the path and placed a foot on it, it was solid enough and Neveah proceeded to cross.

There was no trouble until Neveah had gotten halfway and it was then her ears twitched, picking up the sound of whirring mechanism in the quiet cave.

Neveah sensed something shoot through the air, heading straight for her and she leaned to the side just as what seemed to be an arrow whooshed by.

Before Neveah could right herself, another arrow shot for her and Neveah twisted around, nearly slipping off the path due to the speed of her movement.

Neveah narrowly maintained her balance and it was then it dawned on her why Lord Skiren had said it was only probable she would actually reach the heart of the cave.

The Ever-burn cave was ridden with various traps, which had now become apparent to Neveah as more arrows shot for her.

The arrows moved so fast, Neveah barely caught their sound before they were already within her range.

Neveah twisted around as cautiously as she could to escape the arrows and still avoid falling off the path at the same time.

Neveah had already crossed halfway, returning back was not even an option and so she pressed forward.

The arrows had a pattern, Neveah had realized it after dodging a few.

They were shot in sets of two and it took at least three heartbeats for the mechanism, wherever it was to shoot out another set.

This meant Neveah would have three heartbeats to cover as much ground as she could before having to fend off another set.

Neveah’s sensitive hearing was strained, picking up the arrows as soon as she could so she could dodge them in time and still move on.

A quiet hiss of pain escaped Neveah as an arrow scratched her just as she ducked two at the same time, but she did not let that slow her down.

After every set was fired, Neveah moved on, stopping after the three heartbeats had passed to fend off the next set.

Soon, she was on the other side and the whirring sound of the mechanism quietened...as did the arrows.

Neveah lifted a hand to her cheek which had been grazed, it had already healed up and just a trace of blood was left behind.

’If the cave is filled with traps, this is surely just the start and it is not overstepping to say they will be more difficult as we go on.’

’Do you suppose we are in the right state of mind to face this challenge?’ Neveah’s wolf thought to her.

"Why would we not be? Nothing has happened beyond what we already expect... what we are already used to."

"I know my lot, why must I be troubled by it?" Neveah murmured as she continued deeper into the cave.

Up ahead was a thin passageway leading away from the first cavern Neveah had just gone through.

Neveah walked into the passageway, and just at that moment, there was a tremor beneath her feet.

Neveah had seen that effect enough to know what would happen next and so she immediately broke into a dash.

Neveah head a booming crash from behind her, right where she had been standing but she did not bother glancing back.

Not when right in front of her, there were four stone doors, each closing down at various speeds.

The crash behind Neveah was certainly a closed door, there was no retreat and if Neveah was not fast enough, she would be stuck in this passage way.

If Neveah was stuck, she would have to forfeit the trial or risk suffocating to death.

Neveah did not bother shifting even when that would improve her speed, the passageway was much too narrow, her wolf form could never fit in it.

Neveah ran past the first stone door when it was a short distance above her height and soon past the second when it was right at her height and she barely passed by.

The third and fourth stone doors closed ahead of her, the fourth closing up at a greater speed than the third.

Neveah ducked beneath the third door and dashed on, sliding down right beneath the fourth stone door a short moment before it also slammed shut.

Neveah passed a glance over her shoulder, the stone doors had all closed up now and there was no lever in sight to get them open again.

Not that Neveah would bother risking another dash back through the passageway when she could have gotten crushed in it.

’I doubt they would actually let us get killed over a trial...there would be a method to ensure there are no casualties.’ Neveah’s wolf thought to her.

"With dragons? One could never know." Neveah murmured a response to her wolf.

Neveah lifted a hand to brush away the stray strands of hair that got into her eyes before she dusted her rider’s suit.

"Whichever cavern is passed, there would be some mechanism to prevent us from heading back, I see." Neveah observed.

"And every cavern passed leads us closer to the heart of the cave." Neveah added.

’We had best not get ahead of ourselves, Veah...who knows how much more of this we would have to go through?’ Neveah’s wolf cautioned her.

"We will get to see, I suppose." Neveah replied as she fully stepped out from the shadow of the passageway and finally spared a glance around the large cavern she had now entered.