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A lot changed in very little time, sending Aaron reeling. Light engulfed the clearing, and then it was gone—the area was still illuminated, but it was as if everything but himself, Varis and the doorway had been totally erased. He whirled around, looking for anything that may have remained, but it was no use; they were standing in a blank abyss, occupied only by them and a number of dark tiles shifting around on the ground. 

Coming back to his senses, Aaron noticed that the pain in his arm was gone. 

[color=f7976a]“What in the Queen’s name is going on here?”[/color]

Aaron took a breath to answer, but his words were halted by a strangled cry of terror as he watched one of Varis’ arms swipe directly through his chest. [color=f0d705]“Ah!”[/color]

He scrambled away on reflex, backpedaling into the door—or rather, [i]through[/i] it, stopping just inside the tree. Aaron froze, staring wide-eyed down at himself and patting his chest and legs. Perfectly solid, as they should be, but then what the [i]hell[/i] was that? Staring incredulously at the door, he reached for it, but his hand went right through as if there were nothing before him but air. A few more tries yielded the same result, with his hands, arms, and even his head passing through the door with no issue. 

As he forced himself to calm down and [i]think[/i], Varis’ trembling voice brought him back to the main issue at hand. [color=f0d705]“Master! I’m here!”[/color] He called, rushing back to the Count. He was still searching the space around him with his arms, and Aaron tried his best to stand in front of him while avoiding his lashing hands. 

[color=f0d705]“I’m still here, it’s not a trick,”[/color] he explained more calmly. [color=f0d705]“I’m right in front of you, but—I don’t know, it’s as if I’m a ghost. Your arms passed right through me, I walked through the door…”[/color] Aaron knew magic could do unimaginable things, but this was [i]really[/i] messing with his head. [color=f0d705]“When I turned the key, I went cold, and now… I feel solid to me, but my hands go right through you and everything else I try to touch. This must be what the riddle meant...”[/color] 

Looking around again, Aaron thought it would be apt to fill Varis in on the rest of the details. [color=f0d705]“When the key turned, light poured out of the door, and now it’s as if the clearing’s been erased. You and I are standing in a white expanse with only the doorway and…”[/color] he examined the tiles moving across the ground for a moment, deciding how he should describe them. [color=f0d705]“It looks like the mounds from before have turned into dark tiles of some sort. They’re shuffling around on the ground, and one stops in front of us every few seconds before moving again. One of them is lighter than the others—I think that’s the one I dug up.”[/color] 

He took a few steps away from Varis to peer inside the doorway, more carefully this time, and noticed the shovel. He tried to grab it, but sure enough, his hand just passed through. [color=f0d705]“There’s a shovel inside the hollow of the tree, but I can’t pick it up either. Above it is a message: [i]Find your spoils in the shifting soils but be wary of their moves. They resent your claim to victory and will kick and buck and bruise. Heed close the voice that watches in time with shifting spoils to keep two feet upon the land or find your game is forfeit.”[/i][/color]

Curiously, Aaron approached the tiles. That warning was foreboding to say the least, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to get too close to them. Pulling his gloves out of his pocket, he tossed one cautiously at the tile stopped in front of Varis; it landed softly, with no reaction at all from the tile. When it was time for them to shuffle again, the tile moved out from under the glove, and the next one slid in beneath it, not disturbing it at all. 

[color=f0d705]“Hmm…”[/color] A little more confident, Aaron stepped a little closer, coming up next to Varis and picking up his glove. When the next tile settled before them, he gingerly touched it with his foot, then put his weight on it completely when it didn’t react. As before, the tile didn’t seem concerned with him, carrying on with shuffling without so much as nudging his shoe. 

[color=f0d705]“The tiles have no reaction to me, Master,”[/color] he explained finally, though he was a little sheepish to say his next piece as the gravity of it dawned on him. [color=f0d705]“I… I can lead you, but it seems like you might have to be the one to do the digging.”[/color]
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