The three Heroes and two wolves stood at the threshold of the ancient tomb. It was actually just a big hole dug at a descending angle in the ground. The ground slanted downwards into a dim tunnel.

"Shall we?"

"You first," Valentine hedged. "It's your Trial."

Lazarus smiled. "Okay. Oh, one more thing," he turned to Nyx, "Val knows this, if anything happens that we would be better off dead ... kill us."

Nyx frowned. "What do you mean, kill you?"

"Just that. Kill me. I would rather die cleanly and re-spawn to try again than be captured and stuck in there for an undetermined time."

"B-but I have never killed before! NPCs and monsters, yes, lots of them but Heroes?"

Lazarus shrugged and walked to the mouth of the ancient tomb.

Valentine caught her hand as she was about to follow. "Just do it," he said in a low voice. "Trust me, you wouldn't want to get captured and tortured. He knows first-hand."

"Oh!" Nyx's hand flew to her mouth, her eyes opening wide. She remembered. Being an avid Orc Wars fan she had followed Season One religiously. She had whole files of downloaded footage, both official and behind-the-scenes. She loved and followed many Heroes but Lazarus was her favourite. She had followed his journey from when he was a level 1 Hero. She had seen the footage of him being tortured by Varbuk, the orc Lord Commander. It was not a pretty sight. Her eyes darted to the assassin's figure. He was busy checking out the opening.

"After that, he made sure to never be captured again."

Nyx looked into Valentine's serious face. "I understand."

"And Nyx? Don't get offended but the principle applies to you too. He will kill you and me too if we are in trouble and the situation warrants it."

She swallowed, nodded and followed the Thief.

"Ready? Follow me. Stay alert." Lazarus was all business. "Anya, keep an eye on Nyx will you? Val you take the rear."

"One eye on her and one eye on you."

"Copy that."

Tania trotted beside Valentine as he ushered Nyx in between them. "And I will keep both my eyes on you," the Thief's familiar said to him.

All went into battle mode before stepping into the tomb.

Lazarus took a deep breath as his mouth curved up in anticipation. "Here we go."

They stepped into the dim passageway. The deeper they went, the darker it became and the brighter the soft glows of the two familiars shone. They were proving to be useful besides being fighting companions in the trial. Their natural light helped Lazarus and Valentine find their way. Only Nyx was left stumbling in the dark. She could not see the familiars' glow.

The air became stale and musty, the hard packed earth walls gave way to solid rock. They navigated their way for a few minutes, hands out stretched, using the rough walls as a guide. The only sounds that could be heard were the scuffling of their boots and heavy breathing.

The stone surroundings soon became claustrophobic, the heavy solid rock around them seeming to close in. It bore down on the group as they made their way slowly forward. The mental pressure slowly building until Nyx was ready to scream.

"Stop." Lazarus's calm welcome voice sounded in the gloom. Immediately the mental weight lifted, like a broken spell. Nyx sighed in relief.

"It should be here somewhere." Scuffling sounds came from ahead where Lazarus was.

"Ahh!" he sounded pleased. "Found it!"

"What?" Valentine asked.

A short lived flare answered his question. It died but was almost immediately followed by another flare. They could see Lazarus's crouched silhouette as he worked to light a torch. A whole pile of the tightly bound straw torches were on the floor, neatly stacked against the wall. Lazarus lighted another one before passing it on to Valentine.

"Better?" Lazarus asked Nyx gently.

She gave a small grateful smile. "Yes, thanks."

He had been aware of her carefully controlled fear. Only Nyx was blind in the tunnel, not being a high enough level to benefit from the familiars' glows. The dark was a test of sorts, leaving Heroes to torture themselves with their own imaginations. It was dangerous. Those with vivid imagination usually fared worse than those who did not.

The flickering flame lighted their surroundings, smoke rising lazily from the burning torches. Even with a bit of light, the atmosphere felt much better. Not so scary.

"How did you know they were there?"

"I did a little research."

"You mean Kirana told you," Valentine deadpanned.

"Shhh, you are giving away all my secrets."

Nyx gave a short laugh recovering her good spirits. "It's okay. I'll pretend I didn't hear anything."

"You have excellent PR (public relations) skills. You will make a great assassin indeed," her mentor praised her.

Valentine snorted at Lazarus. "You are ruining her, Laz. Nyx, better stay away from him or you will get permanently contaminated by his really weird sense of humour. Look at me ... I'm a prime example of a lost case," he mourned.

"You guys are funny. I'll stick to these two beautiful wolves, they seem to have more sense than their humans."

"I really, really like this girl," Anya quipped.

"Me too, she has a good head on her shoulders unlike someone else I know." Tania said as she nudged Valentine.

"HEY!!" Valentine was about to continue when they heard an odd sound.

"Shhh! Quiet everyone."

The scurrying of many metallic feet could be faintly heard. They were getting louder.

"Please don't be spiders, please don't be spiders, PLEASE DON'T BE SPIDERS!!" Valentine chanted under his breath.

Nyx giggled and looked at Lazarus' amused face. "Okay, then we go right ... away from the invisible spiders," the assassin said as they came to a fork in the tunnel.

"Very funny." Valentine grumbled. "Just wait till we come across something you are afraid of."

"Like what?" Lazarus asked confidently as he led them down the right fork.

"I don't know, but I'll think of something and ask Constantine to incorporate it into this miserable Trial."

They continued down the path which had widened. Suddenly Lazarus stopped. Nyx was alert and stopped before bumping into him. Valentine peered over their shoulders, and whistled. The path had disappeared. They were standing on the edge of a cliff with a sheer drop to only God (and Constantine) knows what.

"Oh my god. If we didn't have the torches, we would have just walked over and fallen into that," Nyx shuddered.

Below them were swirling white mists, obscuring whatever lay at the bottom of the chasm.

"What do you think is down there?"

"I don't know. Water? Or jagged rocks?"

"I wouldn't put it past that crazy warlock to put something worse down there."

"Like lost souls swimming in the river Styx or hot lava with the undead waiting to grab the unsuspecting victim ..."

Lazarus gave a small laugh. "Someone has been watching too many movies."

Valentine shrugged. "All I'm saying is, you never know."

The only way forward was a flimsy chain bridge suspended in the air. It's base was a braid of thick linked chains. Supporting chains at waist level were secured to the base on either side at intervals forming a 'V'. It ran from their ledge into the unknown. The other end of the chain bridge disappeared from view into the creepy swirling mists.

Lazarus tested the bridge with one foot, making it sway and bounce a bit.

"It's solid enough. I think we can handle it, being light-footed assassins and thieves." He smirked mischievously at Valentine.

"No problem my evil friend. This is child's play."

"What about your familiars?" Nyx asked worriedly. "I wouldn't want them to fall in."

"Awww, she cares," Tania rubbed her furry head against Nyx.

Anya transformed into human form and smiled at the girl. "No problem, assassin. We will use this form for now."

Tania changed too as Anya finished speaking. Lazarus signaled and they moved forward. He did not worry about them, he knew how agile those two were. They had stalked him for weeks appearing at the weirdest places before Valentine leveled up enough to choose.

"Try not to bounce about. Keep it stable."

They moved cautiously, Lazarus leading, then Anya, Nyx, Tania and Valentine. The mists were rippling and spinning lazily below them. Sometimes it thinned enough to see dark shapes moving about, but they strangely made no sound. It had a hypnotic inviting quality to it.

"Don't look down."

"But I want to see what's down there," Tania objected.

"You can't see anything from here. Let's just keep moving."

Nyx smiled at the curious familiar. "We are going downwards. Maybe we will be able to see once we reach the other side."

"Hmm, okay."

It took them almost half an hour to make it to the end. They hopped off the bridge onto a small rocky plateau. They collapsed onto the ground, tired from their strenuous crossing. Keeping their balance on a slippery, mouldy, swaying tightrope whilst gripping the rusty handrails was not a walk in the park, not to mention the constant fear of falling into the unknown.

"We will take a five minute break," Lazarus said.

"Hang on, I'll follow you," Valentine got up as Lazarus was about to explore the place. "You all get some rest, we'll be back soon."

The two Heroes walked the edge of the plateau. It was an island, in the middle of nowhere. Four chain bridges like the one they had come from anchored the little island from four directions.

In the middle of the plateau, stood a huge statue. It had a human body with a bird's (falcon or hawk?) head wearing a moon-disk on top. It held a 3-pronged head staff with a crook, flail and sceptre. Lazarus crouched down, there were hieroglyphs at the bottom of the statue. He traced the symbols lightly with a finger.

"Any idea what this means?"

"Nope, but this guy is familiar. That moon thing on his head..." Valentine squeezed his eyes shut lifting his head. "Ahhh! This is driving me crazy, I know this guy!"

Lazarus lifted his eyebrows. "Where did you see him?"

"At the museum, when I went with Chloe. She said he was better looking than me, of all the nerve ... I got it! Its Khonsu, my rival!" Valentine did a happy dance. "I remember. We were joking about him later because he comes with an inbuilt mirror for her to check her make-up. He is the God of the Moon, God of Travels, I think, like how the moon travels in the sky."

"Wow, Constantine is really into this stuff."

"What does it say at the bottom?"

"I don't know. Probably his name or beware or Valentine is better looking than me."

"Yeah, right."

"Constantine sure has a thing for falcons. Even his familiar is one."

"Shhh!!" Lazarus held up his hand and cocked his head. The ominous scurrying sounds they had heard earlier were back and it was getting closer.

"I don't like the sound of that," Valentine said looking around. Suddenly his eyes widened. From where they were, they could see two of the four bridges ... and they were both swaying slightly. They circled the statue, coming into view of the other two bridges and the girls. The bridges were all moving as if something was moving along it.

"Let's get out of here! Get the girls," Lazarus said urgently. "There must be a way out and this is the only thing here."

"I'm on it." Valentine sprinted to the girls. They were already up and in battle stance, facing the swinging chains. The familiars were growling in their human forms, glaring into the gloom.

"What is it? Do you see anything?"

"Nooo ..."

Suddenly, Anya yelped and backed into Nyx. Tania cringed beside her. "Rats ... hundreds of them!" she whispered in horror.

They stood transfixed until Nyx pulled them in panic. "C'mon, we have to warn Laz!!"

They ran to Lazarus who was frantically searching the statue, looking for clues. He was patting it, feeling along it's edges and carvings. Pressing and rubbing all around it in hopes of activating something to stop the approaching danger.

"Hurry! Hurry! They are almost here!!"

"I'm trying!!"

Now they could hear the high-pitch squeaking and the clicking of little sharp claws. Hundreds of tiny feet were scrambling towards them, warm living fresh meat. Blinking red dots materialised along the metal ropes as hungry eyes focused on their target. There was no way out. They would feast tonight.

"Hurry! I don't want to be eaten alive."

"Anya, Tania, Nyx, help Val!" Lazarus instructed the familiars. His heart was hammering in his chest as adrenaline coursed through his veins. "Buy me some time."

Nyx already had her bow in hand and nocking an arrow. Valentine stepped forward to her right, gleaming sword in hand. His sword work was legendary. He cracked his neck muscles easing the tension and went into battle stance. The two familiars had extended their claws and were baring their teeth, fangs elongated.

"Whoa, I didn't know you could do that!" Valentine said in fright at Tania's ferocious face.

She just glared at him, too anxious to answer. Nyx had started loosing arrows and hitting the small targets. Furry bodies combusted in the surging tide. The squeaks had turned to vicious squeals, little jaws with sharp teeth snapping in anticipation.

"Laz!! They are almost here!! What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm thinking!!"

"Well, think faster!! Damn it!"

The four moved forward as the first few rats flung themselves onto the plateau.

"Laz!! They're here!!"