Something to Prove - Part 1

Astryon stood at the precipice of a lake of fire, the heat blistering even high above the roiling, seething mass of molten rock and who knew what else. The light from the liquid inferno lit the cavernous space, everything shaded in hues of crimson, rust, and carnelian. His own own midnight blue and cloudy white coat was dyed deepest violet and an unbecoming shade of pink. 

“I don’t know why I let you talk me into this.” Astryon said, turning from the cliff’s edge to regard his travelling companion. 

Terrence swished his tail in amusement. “Because you think I’m pretty?” The Courser declared, striking a pose. His opalescent blue-black coat had taken on a nightmare-aspect, his coat now the red-black of cloth soaked in blood. 

“You’re prettier by the light of day… or even moonlight.” Astryon countered. He and Terrence had been friends for a long time, though they came from vastly different backgrounds. Terrence was the son of big-name Dungeoneers… Astryon was the son of a noble house which he refused to acknowledge to any but his most trusted friends… like Terrence. 

Despite their disparate beginnings, they both had things to prove to their families, and neither of them wanted to rely on the position or prestige of the families they’d left behind. It was the common thread that had bound them into friendship, and the actual reason why Astryon was willing to let Terrence drag him down to this hellscape level of the Dungeon. 

“I’m pretty no matter WHAT lighting conditions.” Terrence huffed, the old joke a familiar path for them to tread. Terrence’s ego was responsible for their first meeting, having come up to Astryon in the tavern, the midnight Courser deeply soused, and propositioned Astryon then promptly passed out at Astryon’s feet. The Heraldic had taken pity on the other Courser, and helped get him up and get him home, and thus their friendship had begun. 

“So this passageway you think you’ve uncovered, what makes you so sure no one’s investigated it before?” Astryon asked as they picked their way carefully over the scree slope that led down to the flat plain just above the level of the lava flows. 

“Because it’s covered up.” Terrence declared, sounding much too pleased with himself. 

“Aaaand… you’re certain it’s there, sight unseen, becauuuuse…?” Astryon drawled, hoping he hadn’t gotten himself into a wild goose chase. 

“Because! I mapped a section of tunnel, each of the adjacent passages are the same shape, same size, same space between. Then there is a section where there just… isn’t. It doesn’t make any sense. So I looked around, and I found a section of the wall where it looks like some ceiling bits collapsed a good long while ago. Long enough that they’ve somewhat cemented into place. But I figure with two of us, we can clear the rocks, and then explore the tunnel. If my calculations are correct, there is a chamber down there that possibly no one has seen in... in forever!” Terrence’s excitement multiplied exponentially once he got going, until he was practically dancing along. 

“Aaaah. I see. You wanted someone along to help you do the heavy lifting.” Astryon teased, amused despite himself. 

“Well, of course. I’d hate to sully my lovely hide.” Terrence quipped, prancing slightly ahead of the Heraldic.

The Courser’s exuberance stilled as they came to one of the most infamous features of this level of the dungeon. The bridge had hung, suspended across the lava, for as long as anyone could remember. Terrence’s parents had spoken of it. His grandparents remembered it. Crispin, Guildmaster of the Dungeoneers’ Guild and the oldest Courser anyone knew, claimed it was there when he was hardly more than a foal. No one had the least idea how old Crispin actually was, possibly not even Crispin himself. 

The bridge was constructed of ropes stretched mostly taut a few dozen feet above a wide river of lava. Wooden boards, grey with age beneath the hellscape glow, created a plank surface spaced just right for the average Courser to traverse at a walk. Too fast or too slow, too big of steps or too small, and hooves would miss the boards entirely, falling into the gaps between the planks. It had become something of a rite of passage to cross the bridge. There was another way across, a narrow place created by overhanging cliffs where a healthy Courser could leap the gap easily. But the gap was several hours further along. The quickest way was undeniably the bridge.

“Sooo… you go first, since you’re lighter and I’ll follow.” Terrence proposed, shuffling his hooves uneasily. 

“Oh, so you want me to loosen the threads for you?” Astryon countered, an air of goading. 

“Okaaaay… so I’ll go first.” Terrence said, not at all sounding like he was sure that was how things worked.

“Huh. So YOU want to loosen things for ME to cross?” Astryon picked, getting far too into twisting poor Terrence around, the other Courser not yet realizing that Astryon was tugging his tail. 

“Well… what do you propose, then? We could flip a coin? Heads I go first, tails you do.” Terrence demanded, stomping one hoof. 

“Why are you heads?” Astryon  demanded, willing to take things as far as he could before Terrence caught on.

Fortunately, Terrence finally seemed to realize that Astryon was giving him a hard time, because he just puffed up and struck another pose. “Because I have the pretty face” He declared. He gave Astryon a sideways glance, amusement in the prick of his ears and his flagged tail. “You get to be tails… because you’re an ass.” 

Astryon laughed, accepting his just desserts with equanimity. “Alright, pretty-boy, flip the coin and let’s get this done. You know I don’t like to be out on the bridge any more than the next Courser.” 

They tossed, and Astryon lost. He made his way out onto the derelict bridge, hoping that this would not be the time it decided to finally give up the ghost.

It seemed like the bridge stretched on for miles, though in reality it was only a couple hundred feet. Long, yes, but not impossibly so. It creaked and swayed slightly under Astryon’s weight, and he felt as though he didn’t breath the whole time he was crossing.

“Remind me to stop letting you talk me into things.” Astryon said when Terrence finally joined him on the other side. It had taken Terrence a bit lot longer because he was almost too short for the spacing of the boards. He had to mind his feet more carefully than Astryon did. 

“What would be the fun in that?” Terrence asked, his tone jolly now that they were safely across. “C’mon… we’ve got hidden wonders to find and explore.”And with that, he was off again, aiming for this ‘secret passage’ he thought he’d found.