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Aaron did his best not to roll his eyes again, though while he couldn’t guarantee success, Varis would never know the difference. He had to wonder, as he folded his gloves into his pocket and rolled up his sleeves, what Varis’ contention with his suggestion was; was he really just [i]that[/i] averse to the idea of his mage getting a little dirty? Aaron was a tidy man, but he wasn’t the type to shy away from a little dust and blood when the situation called for it—it wasn’t news that Varis wasn’t the same, but one would think he’d put his reservations aside a moment for necessity. And surely Varis couldn’t have entirely discounted the possibility of using those mounds, either. They were dug very deliberately, and Aaron found it hard to believe they would have been included if they weren’t relevant to the riddle. Or, that was what he hoped, anyway. He didn’t really have any other ideas. 

The Count’s grip on him was still painful and kneeling to dig was awkward, as Varis seemed unwilling to move unless absolutely necessary, but Aaron managed. The first mound (and the rest, it seemed) was about a foot and a half by a foot wide, and the dirt inside was loose, coming up up in handfuls easily; it was hardly a minute before he’d dug as deep as he could reach, though he found nothing but soil for his efforts. 

[color=f0d705]“Nothing in this one Master, though it seems as if the hole goes deeper than I can reach,”[/color] he reported, standing and brushing himself off. Weird, he was among the tallest people in the Academy (short a few veritable giants, that is), so he doubted there were many students who could reach farther down than he could had they been the ones to stumble upon this puzzle. So why were they so deep? And for that matter, [i]could[/i] anyone else have come across this puzzle? Were their origin points in the forest random, or had each puzzle been designed for the pair they were intended for? That seemed like a lot of different puzzles to design, but he wouldn’t put it past this Academy to undertake. 

As he carefully manoeuvred Varis around the newly-dug hole, a faint, distant scream stopped Aaron in his tracks. Without a second one, he couldn’t pinpoint a direction, but it definitely sounded like a woman crying out in fear. His heart sped up a bit and his hand instinctively reached for his sword (only to come up empty, to his considerable chagrin), but he was quick to stop any burgeoning panic in its tracks. As displeased as he was to be thrust into the forest unarmed, there was no way Princess Ryner would allow any of her students to come to harm here, so there was no reason to fear. Whoever that was probably just got startled by something, that’s all. Still, that scream made him antsy, and Aaron suddenly found himself eager to move on. 

[color=f0d705]“On second thought, Master, maybe it would be apt to try the key first,”[/color] he suggested warily.

Varis’ nearly endless grumbling ceased immediately as he whipped his head around at the sound of the scream. His grip tightened for a moment and relaxed as he remembered, once again, he couldn’t see anything. [color=f7976a]“I believe you are…”[/color] Varis turned his attention back to the boy, catching the words on the tip of his tongue. [color=f7976a]“Then, hurry up and be about it. The sooner we open the door and move on, the better. Fumbling around in the dirt while people are being murdered, unbelievable.”[/color] 

The ominous grumbling was the least of Aaron’s worries; he was too busy holding back the smirk that struck him when Varis was [i]almost[/i] forced to admit that he, the bumbling Starag oaf, was [i]correct.[/i] He moved quickly, though, tucking his small victory away to be savoured later and somehow getting Varis over the terrain to the left door before producing the key. 

[color=f0d705]“Alright, here it goes.”[/color] He hesitated only a moment, the door looking a fair sight more daunting up close, before inserting the key and turning it. 

The instant he did, Aaron felt as if he’d fallen through ice in the dead of winter, a cold he could only relate to that instant of teleportation penetrating into his core. He couldn’t react—he couldn't [i]breathe[/i]—but the instant the key completed its full turn, the cold was gone.

[color=f0d705]“What the—?”[/color]
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