Atrius looked across the raging ocean. A great distance away stood two ancient volcanoes — one silent, the other steaming. May the breath of Tebouder be with me, Atrius thought. Tebouder was the volcano on the right, letting out a steady stream of smoke.

Atrius heard the splash of a wave below him. “I best be going,” he said aloud. “The tide will not wait for me.” Atrius walked down closer to the water, approaching the challenge ahead: the Cliffs of Adab-adab. These cliffs were known for claiming the lives of those who had dared to pass beneath them. For instance, in an old dialect of the Real People, Adab-adab means, “death, yes, even death.” If death is what faces me, Atrius thought. I will overcome it.

Crossing beneath the Cliffs of Adab-adab was Atrius’s final trial before he would be known as a Proven Paladin of the Unknown Order. If I survive, Atrius thought as he crossed over the black and jagged rocks that separated the sloping beach from the path underneath the cliffs.

There was no retrying this trial. If you failed, you died. Success was survival. It didn’t matter if you ran through the whole thing or dragged yourself slowly across the rocks. You could take as long as you wanted. As long as the waves from the rising tide didn’t crush you against the cliffside…

Atrius scrambled over the first bolder in his path and then leapt down onto a flat rock below. A large wave hit the shoreline to his left, spraying mist onto his cheek. The water was already discomfortingly close. The master Paladins always give you only just enough time, he mused. There’s no room for mistakes.

As Atrius jumped between the various-sized stones that made up his path, he glanced up at the cliffs, wondering if he could climb them in order to escape the rising water. But he already knew the answer: The Cliffs of Adab-adab were made of an extremely brittle rock. If you tried to climb them, they would simply break and throw you back towards the water.

Up ahead was the largest obstacle he’d seen so far. It was a large profusion of rock that jutted out of the cliff and went almost all the way to the boiling water. I’ll avoid that pit of death as much as I can, he decided.

Atrius ran up to the wall of stone, reached for a good hold up above him, and began climbing. Another blast of mist hit him from the violent waters, hurrying him up the side of the rock. The icy water on his skin felt like a burning acid.

Without warning, Atrius’s lower foothold gave way. He would have been fine, but his falling weight caused one of his hands to slip, and his remaining handhold ripped as it couldn’t support his entire body.

Atrius fell and hit the rough stone behind him. However, it is noteworthy to say that he landed with the expertise of a Paladin of the Unknown Order. That is to say: he was fine.

Unwinded by his fall, Atrius quickly considered his options. It was unlikely he could make it over the fickle stone without falling again — wasting precious time. I’ll just have to face my fears and walk along the water’s edge, he resolved.

He crept along the edge of the wall towards the ocean. He paused for a moment, staring into the watery depths, imagining the deadly jellyfish and violent sea creatures that lurked within.

Carefully, Atrius grabbed onto the rock face beside him and stepped along a thin ledge. A few feet below him were some tire-sized stones covered in slippery kelp. If he fell down there, it would be extremely difficult to get back up again.

When he got to the other side, a cold ocean wind hit him. That means I’m halfway done! he thought jubilantly. The Paladins told me, ‘When you feel Ae-eader’s breath, the trial is almost met.’

But then his inner thoughts froze in shock. And the dark foreboding cliffs to his right and the swirling and churning water to his left faded from his mind. The path in front of him led straight to… Water! What?! Already??

Was the tide coming up quicker than he could escape? Would he be dashed against the rocks like the poor souls the legends spoke of? Would future paladins hear the tale of Atrius? — a promising member of the Unknown Order whose body was found eaten by seagulls on some forlorn beach.

That’s not going to happen! Atrius mentally shouted as he scrambled over the rocks towards the water.

Atrius reached the water’s edge and stopped, panting. The foamy, swirling liquid filled an indent in the path. It was far too wide to jump. And the cliffside bordering the water was too smooth to even attempt climbing. He would have to walk through it.

It’s just water, he contemplated. But he knew that wasn’t true. “The waters in Tebouder’s sight are deceitful and full of spite,” was the local saying, after all. Walking in the shallows could swiftly turn into a permanent residence at the bottom of the ocean.

Couldn’t he turn back if it got too risky? No paladin had ever given up on this trial. And Atrius was not planning on being the first.

Might as well get it over with, he concluded.

Atrius stepped into the frigid water and put his hands on the cliff face to steady himself on the slick, kelp-covered rocks. He moved forward along the cliffside, sinking deeper and deeper. The water rose over his feet, up his shins, across his knees, and finally, above his waist.

The water continued swirling calmly, but its freezing temperature was unforgiving. As it flowed through his legs, the cold mercilessly swept away his warmth. Atrius began to shiver, but he couldn’t move any faster lest he risked slipping on the rocks and being dunked entirely.

As Atrius saw the path on the other side grow closer, he grew hopeful that he would get out of this situation without much difficulty. But the ocean had other plans.

The waves behind him had continued their noisemaking, until… they didn’t. Then he heard a loud roaring sound. Atrius looked behind him and saw a huge wave rushing across the rocks toward him. He gave up being careful about slipping and rushed towards the dry ground ahead of him. He stumbled, fell, half-swam, and half-ran. But he was far too late.

The wave overtook him, grabbing him in its icy grasp and throwing him against the cliffside. His head slammed into the jagged rock, and he saw the water spray upward. He knew he was probably bleeding now.

The water rained back down on him like a multitude of frozen bullets, and the ocean immediately began pulling him out to sea as the wave retreated.

Atrius clawed at the stones, desperately trying to prevent himself from becoming seagull food. The slimy kelp eluded his grasp, until, at last, he caught hold of a clean rock. The ocean swept by him and the water around him temporarily became calm.

Then he heard another roaring wave.

“I’m done with this!” he said to himself. Then he forcefully splashed through the water until he made it to the other side.

Atrius pulled himself out of the water, walked a few steps, and then collapsed. He felt like a lifeless chunk of glacial ice. His head was bleeding, his pants and shirt were terribly torn, and he was too exhausted to move. How could he go any further?

“Atrius!” a voice called in the distance.

Could it be the master Paladin’s? Had he made it to the end? Did he really survive the final trial?

If that was true, then he didn’t need to go any further. The wise and thoughtful members of the Unknown Order would find him and bring him home. They would treat his wounds, give him warm clothes, and —

“Attie boy! Are you over here?”

Wait a minute, who was this? The Paladins didn’t address him with “Attie boy.” But whoever this person was, maybe they could help.

“I’m here,” he called out. “By the water.”

The owner of the voice became visible in the distance. They were wearing strange and remarkable clothing, of the like that he had never seen before.

“Atrius James William Carter!” the figure shouted. “I leave you alone for five minutes and you run off into the wilderness to kill yourself!”

Oh no, he thought. This must be one of the dreaded sea nymphs! The sea nymphs in this area were known to kidnap weak and injured individuals.

“Stay away from me, dreadful sea nymph!” he yelled. “Or I will invoke the curse of the ocean upon you.” Atrius struggled up onto his knees. Maybe he would need to defend himself. He didn’t actually know what the curse of the ocean was, but he hoped that would scare the nymph away.

“So you were playing your frightful adventure game again…” the figure said as she walked closer. “We named you Atrius because it’s a nice, calm, homey name — and because your father’s a historian. But I told him, ‘It’s too similar to Atreus. He’ll end up being either fearless or tormented.’¹ I think you ended up with both.”

“Mother,” Atrius sighed. “You ruined it.”

“Don’t complain to me, Attie. Look at what happened to you!” His mother was now beside him, and she inspected all of the damage. “Your clothes are ruined, you’re bleeding, you almost died! I’m going to tell your father that we can’t go on any more vacations if this is what’s going to happen.”

“Oh… please don’t,” he whined.

“As long as you don’t run off again. Got it?”

Atrius nodded his head, defeated.

“Now, let’s get you fixed up back at the hotel.” And the two of them walked away from the rocky shoreline.

While they left the Cliffs of Adab-adab, Mt. Tebouder, and the roaring ocean behind them, Atrius never forgot that he was now a Proven Paladin of the Unknown Order.

The End

Notes

1. In Greek, “Atreus” means fearless. Atreus is also the name of a mythological character who was tormented because of a curse on his family. ↩︎

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