The kingdom of Oathenshire sat in the middle of the autumnal lands. The domain was filled with hills and wooden houses with thatched roofs. Large trees populated the land and were painted with orange and purple leaves, leading into a dense forest. Deep within the forest where the tree turns gargantuan, there was a priory dedicated to the collection and protection of artifacts left by the draconic gods of this world. The buildings circled around the trunks and went up into the branches and were connected to each other with a series of rope bridges. The grounds of the priory were filled with acolytes, mainly wood elves. Still, the priory accepted anyone who was dedicated to the cause.

      Ophelia Ivyrock, a young wood elf, sat atop one of the tallest branches of the trees and looked out into the horizon, watching the sun sink beneath the tree line. She hugged her knees to her chest, brushed the small pieces of her copper hair that fell, and clung to her tear-stained face behind her ear. Her mind still reeling from her fight with her mother. She said she needed more time to be ready to compete in the yearly tournament that acolytes could compete in to join the Seekers rank. Being a Seeker has been a dream of Ophelia's for as long as she could remember, she wanted to go out into the world and find artifacts to bring back to the priory.

For her entire adolescence, her parents were excited about her future and potential as they taught her the knowledge of the dragon gods. Only now, when she was at the precipice of adulthood and wanting to go out into the world, her parents didn't want her to grow up. She knew she was ready to set out into the world, she was raised for this, and her parents just won't let her prove herself.

For the century that had been her life, Ophelia had studied everything about dragons under her mother, who was the prioress and practiced archery from her father, Prospero. If they were her mentors, how could she not be ready? Ophelia was tired of always following orders and recalled her mother's words that she should wait, not that she had to wait. She didn't need her parent's permission to compete anyway. Ophelia smirked and climbed down the tree, she had a big day tomorrow and needed to rest.

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The next day Ophelia got up early to start her routine early and avoid running into her parents before they could figure out what she was planning and try to convince her to change her mind.

     She made her way to the grounds where the tournament was being held. It looked like more forest, but once she passed through the abjured barrier, a colosseum stood in the middle of the field. She looked for the entrance for contestants and got in line. At the doorway, she was met with Dain Dacyne, an elven man and one of Cordelia's advisors.

     "Ophelia?" He said. "I'm surprised your parents let you compete."

     Ophelia gave a soft awkward laugh and felt her palms become sweaty. “Me too, but I was finally able to convince them.”

     Dain looked at Ophelia with a crooked eyebrow, and she tried to give him the sweetest and most innocent smile she could muster.

"I see," He said, still sounding skeptical. "Well, I'm sure you know the drill. Make it to the labyrinth's center, grab an artifact from the center, and make it back out without any guards catching you, getting stuck in a trap, or forfeiting. No killing the guards, or your fellow competitors. If you get stuck and need help, blow this horn." Dain hands me a carved horn. "Good luck, and there is always next year."

Ophelia thanked him and made her way inside. When she got to the arena floor, Ophelia couldn't help but feel like an ant to the crowd above her. In front of her was a massive labyrinth with thick stone walls covered in ivy.

     When it became time for the tournament to start, the crowd finished trickling in. As Ophelia was being led to her starting position, she spotted her parents in their usual booth. Cordelia sat with her brown curly hair pulled back from her face with her dragon headpiece, her ash wood skin highlighted with gold shimmer at the peaks of her cheeks. Prospero sat beside her, he had the same copper hair and birch wood skin as Ophelia. An elven announced, projecting his voice with magic to project his voice across the Colosseum, going over the tournament rules. Ophelia spotted Dain whisper into Cordelia's ear and saw her mother's eyes snap onto her. Her eyes widened, then narrowed. Ophelia's heart sank to her stomach, and she felt like a small pup with its tail between its legs. She hardened her face to keep her mother from knowing that.

     "What do you think you're doing?" Her mother said, using her magic to communicate to Ophelia through her mind, her tone was harsh as a hurricane wind. "I told you not to compete."

      “No, you said I shouldn’t compete," Ophelia said, causing Cordelia's nostrils to flare. She knew she was being a smartass, but she was stubborn as the woman who had birthed her.

      “You are not ready,” Cordelia said, Ophelia could see her mother gripping the arms of her seat.

      "If I'm not ready, then I will fail this tournament, and I'll tell you you were right, and I'll try again in a few years when you think I am," Ophelia said. "But I know I'm ready, so let me at least try."

     Ophelia could tell from the look in her mother's eyes she was debating tearing Ophelia a new one in front of everyone or hurting her pride by giving in and letting her compete. Cordelia just turned her head away as if she couldn't stand to see the sight of Ophelia.

Ophelia shook out her extra nerves and finished walking to her starting line. Doubt started to creep its way into her mind. What if her mother was right and she wasn't ready? Would she be able to face her after such a humiliating defeat?

     A horn let out a loud BRRRRRRRNNNNN, at first confusing Ophelia. Shit, it's starting, she thought. Even if she lost a few seconds, every single one of them counted. She sprinted into the maze while taking her bow off her shoulder to prepare for any attack that might come her way. Every turn she made, she stopped and picked up a piece of rubble from the ground ahead to ensure there were no traps or wards ahead of her.

     Suddenly, Ophelia was on the ground, and her bow clattered in front of her. She looked back and saw that she stepped on a trigger and heard a cranking of chains as the floorboards began to open. Her elven ears picked up a low growling, and she saw slitted eyes moving toward her.

     Ophelia began to say every curse she could think of as she scrambled her way up, grabbed her bow, and shakily drew an arrow as she came face to face with the lion creeping its way up to her. She remembered what her father taught her all those years ago when she first was learning to shoot, "Focus on the target, take a deep breath in to draw, and let go with the exhale." She did what was ingrained into her, and the arrow hit as the lion began to pounce. It howled in pain and landed, but it wasn't dead. The growling deepened as it was getting up, and Ophelia started running. She zigged through the maze, hoping to lose the lion but realized too late that she'll also be lost in it. She continued running forward, thinking she lost the lion, until she reached a dead end, she couldn't turn back.

     "Fuck, navigating this looked so much easier from above sitting on the stands," Ophelia said to herself between her heavy panting for breath. An idea rang through her mind, filling her body with electricity. She examined the wall, and she could see divots in the wall for her to climb. There weren't any rules that said she couldn't navigate the maze from above, she just had to get an object from the center and make it back to the exit. So she threw her bow over her shoulder and began to climb towards the top.

     When she was halfway up, she heard a roar from down the corridor, and she began to climb faster. The lion was heading straight towards her, it lept and clawed at her calf, Ophelia yelped in pain. She almost fell, but she used the ivy to cling to her position on the wall and continued to climb. She reached the top in time to avoid a second swipe from the lion. Ophelia thought about killing the lion, she wasn't sure if the lion was a conjuration or real, but either way, the blood rushing out of her leg was as real as it could be. She decided to focus on the real task at hand.

     She did a quick survey of the layout of the labyrinth and spotted the center. She moved at a quick enough pace but not too fast to make her lose her balance. She jumped from wall to wall, silently thanking her mother for those decades of dexterity training. She could barely hear the crowd over the noise in her ears. As she made her way to the center, she noticed some other contestants spotted her and shouted up at her, but she couldn't understand it.

     When Ophelia got to the center, she crouched down and crawled along the edge to avoid detection by the two guards below. In the middle was a pile of weaponry, jewelry, and armor. From her vantage point, she examined the maze's layout, there were four entrances to the middle, and the door opposite her had the quickest path to the exit. She made a mental note of the course to the exit: two lefts, straight, then left again, then two rights. She prayed to the dragon above that she'd remember. She found a cracked wall part and used one of her daggers to carve the chunk. She threw as far as she could to make a noise and caused the guards to move to that area. When the site was clear, she dropped down from the wall, her ankle sang with pain, but it didn't seem broken.

     Ophelia crept towards the loot in the center, she didn't know which item to pick. She heard the guards returning, grabbed a piece of large carnelian, stuffed it into her small satchel at her side, and bolted to the door she made a note of. The guards shouted and started to go after her.

     She took the first left, and as she ran, Ophelia winced every time her right foot hit the ground, but she couldn't allow this to slow her down. She took the second left, she internally cursed as she saw she was leaving a trail of blood behind her from her wound from the lion, then continued straight through the next cross-section. When she reached the next fork in the road.

     Fuck, she thought, do I have another left, or is it the two rights. She stole a quick glance over her shoulder and saw the guard was getting closer, and she turned right, and when she turned right again, she reached another dead end. She couldn't let this guard reach her and steal her chance to prove herself. She knew Cordelia would hold this over Ophelia if she failed. She could already hear her mother go,      "Well, the last time you said you were ready, and I knew you weren't," and then go on about honor and how Ophelia should listen to her because she was her mother and had five centuries of experience on her. Ophelia could not let that happen, she couldn't fail, especially when she was so close to her goal.

     "Well, since it worked great the last time, why change it up?" Ophelia said aloud and started to climb again.

     The guard turned the corner and shouted, "You're not getting away that easy!" and began to try to climb the wall. When Ophelia reached the top, there was a roar down the corridor, and they saw the lion b-lining towards them. She mentally patted herself on the back, she knew she shouldn't have killed that lion.

     "Looks like I will!" She said with a laugh to the guard, trying his best to climb to the wall. "You have fun, though!" The guard dropped down and drew his sword to ward off the beast.

      As she ran towards the exit and got closer and closer, pure ecstasy coursed through her blood. She climbed down the wall using the ivy, and when she crossed the threshold of the maze, she took out the piece of carnelian and held it proudly above her. The crowd cheered. She had done it. She looked at her parents in their booth and saw their faces were a mix of surprise, but they were both beaming with pride. She knew right then and there that her adventure was only just beginning.