The guard and the witch heard the rhythmic thuds. They looked towards where the thuds were coming from and saw a silhouette in the distance, coming towards them at a terrifying speed. Their expressions turned grave.
The guard looked back at Raven, his face contorted in a sneer. "It's following us because of you." He continued, "You are cursed by the constellations."
Raven scoffed internally. "Oh, really? That's the excuse you're going for?"
"I'll make it quick," the guard said, a cruel glint in his eyes. "Pray you will be forgiven."
"As expected," Raven replied, his smirk widening. "You didn't disappoint my expectations."
Raven had seen it coming from the start. He had expected the pious guard to abandon him instead of the witch, given how the constellations were treated as gods in this trial.
The guard's eyes went wide. "You knew?"
Raven's smile grew. "It was child's play."
The guard drew his sword, its steel glinting in the sun. "Your sacrifice will allow us to escape."
Raven drew his own short sword with his right hand, a smile still on his face. "Who decided that?"
The witch, watching the exchange, had a dumbfounded look on her face. Her expression slowly shifted as understanding dawned on her. She backed away from the conflict happening in-front of her.
Raven's gaze dropped to the sword in the guard's hand. He swiped his left hand toward himself. The heavy, polished steel vanished from the guard's grip as if it were a mirage, leaving his hand empty and his face frozen in shock.
Raven threw the stolen sword into the sand; the heavy blade sinking out of sight. It was a useless weight to him, anyway.
The guard screamed in a mix of fury and disbelief and scrambled for the discarded sword.
The rhythmic thuds were getting louder by the second.
Raven reached into his bag and pulled out a gem-like shard. He had taken two from the huge bag at the beginning of the trial, using the first to trap the Desert Reaper in the quicksand. He had kept the second one hidden, and the witch seemed to have forgotten about it, giving Raven his opportunity. Holding the shard in his left hand.
He threw the shard toward the guard, who was still scrambling for his blade.
The rhythmic thuds disappeared.
With a deafening boom, a cloud of sand erupted to his left. Raven's gaze was fixed on the figure within the cloud. He had made a miscalculation. The Desert Reaper swiped a massive, razor-sharp claw at him, trying to get rid of the vermin in its way.
Raven positioned his short sword to meet the incoming claw. As he did, he swiped his left hand out, once more attempting to steal something from the monster.
His short sword pierced the creature's paw and broke with a 'ting'. Raven was sent flying toward the beach by the strike.
He was in a world of pain. It felt like his right arm was plunged into hot lava, and with a thud, he landed on the beach on his back.
"Ahhh!" Raven screamed in agony.
The pain was getting worse; the sand was making the wound burn. After what felt like hours of pain, it began to numb a little. Raven had the ability to think again.
"Fuck that cursed wretch." He exclaimed.
Still feeling the pain, he hissed and supported himself with his left arm. He got up and examined his wound. There were three red claw marks on his right forearm, the wound was still bleeding. But the pain had numbed by now; he only felt coldness in the wound. There was a torn-up bag and a huge nail of the monster lying on the sand beside him.
On the dune, the guard was battling the Desert Reaper, dodging and weaving its claws and striking at its legs while spewing out curses.
"Die, wretch!" the guard yelled.
The witch was far from the battle. She was speaking an unfamiliar language. Suddenly, the creature's limbs burst into blue flames.
"Die, devil!" the witch hissed.
The Desert Reaper ignored the blue flames, lowered its maw—saliva dripping from its long, forked tongue—and lunged at the guard. The guard didn't manage to avoid it; instantly, his face up to his shoulders was in the creature's mouth.
With a crunch, the guard's body was decimated. He was dead.
The witch, on the other hand, watched the guard get eaten by the monster, her eyes filled with horror. She turned and sprinted back toward the desert, murmuring in a low voice, "Constellation of Leo, I pray for your help," a prayer she repeated again and again.
The constellation didn't help her; the Desert Reaper was faster. The creature used its four legs to run toward her and, with a single swipe of its claw, sent her head flying.
A lonesome, dark, domed shrine stood tall against the raging winds by the beach. The swirling patterns of constellations and celestial symbols were intricately carved on the shrine's weathered stone walls and roof.
Under the sunlight, a young man with pale skin and black hair reached the shrine's entrance. However, his looks didn't match the magnificence of the scene: wounded and staggering, he looked pathetic and weak.
The young man looked like a walking corpse.
His coarse tunic and cloak had tears and blood smeared on them, and his body was bruised. His eyes were cloudy and lifeless, and his left arm had three claw-shaped cuts. There were specks of bloody foam on his lips.
He was hunched over, cradling his right forearm. Each step caused him to grunt, a ragged breath barely escaping through gritted teeth.
Raven was hurting all over. But most of all, his right arm felt like it was freezing.
He just wanted to lie down inside the shrine and fall asleep.
"It will be over soon," he thought as he entered the shrine's entrance.
He continued walking because he believed that the Trial would be over soon.
Inside, there was a large hall with the walls covered in patterns of constellations and celestial symbols.
Raven arrived in the middle of the hall, and his legs gave way. He collapsed onto the ground on his back. He saw that the ceiling was covered in swirling patterns of constellations.
Remembering the guard's words, he struggled for a bit and raised his left hand. He curled his fingers, leaving the middle one upright, pointed it at the ceiling, and said,
"Fuck the constellations."