After his initial panic and subsequent sedation, the kid had finally come to the conclusion that he wasn't going to be killed by the island's occupants. Furthermore, it became readily apparent that very few people would even show an interest in his comings and goings, making it even more unlikely this was still part of the trials.
But even with all immediate danger suspended, the trainee didn't dare put one foot out of line. So he did what he was told, wandering here and there, looking for signs or any indication he was heading to the 'cove', all because he was too afraid to ask anyone. It was purely luck that had led him to this dark, spooky place.
The torches that lined the long stairs flickered and cast ominous shadows all around him as he made his way downward. The angles of light shifted with every step, and the fluttering flame turned them into dark spectres at his feet. The sort of darkness he was going to fight… Everything would have been okay if he had just not seen them, just not looked at them, and now here he was in the faint, medieval light with darkness surrounding him. It would have swallowed him up had the next torch not been set to light his way.
At the bottom he was unsure of what to do, or where to go. It sounded like he was supposed to get something, but he hadn't been paying much attention at the time. Whatever medication had dulled his panic had also led to hazy memories of that particular point in time. Normally he would be okay with that, as fainting and panicking wasn't exactly him at his strongest point, but now he was in danger of messing up, or failing. He hadn't given the best impression of himself, and the dread in his heart quickly refocused on not messing up this one thing. There was no danger now, but how could Oliver be sure whomever decided to bring him back wouldn't decide he was of no use after all? He didn't want to die all over again. Even living and being afraid was better than that.
There was nobody else in the huge cavern, and Oliver bit his thumbnail nervously as he looked around. No sign of anything familiar or normal. No pamphlets or signs, or little displays that said "Take Me" or bored officials to point him in the right direction, he was all on his own.
The boy stood there for a couple minutes, but only silence waited on him. Whatever he had to do, he had to do it alone.
Once he had gathered up his meagre shreds of bravery, he set to exploring the area. The most interesting part was the one section, where it looked like each stone had been set with a symbol. They glowed from inside, yet looked very much like normal stone. While most of his mind was still wary, a small part wondered if it was LEDs, and why so much effort would be dedicated to setting up such a wall in such a place.
Oliver approached and reached out a hand to examine the surface of one of the stones, and pulled his hand back like he had been burned as the glowing light behind it seemed to become brighter, and a bizarre humming whisper seemed to come from inside it.
Hesitantly the boy put his hand near another stone, and got a similar response. This time he pulled his hand back, but didn't step away. Touch capacitive stones? They felt like stones, but clearly responded to him. And they still looked very much like stones. Just regular, glowing stones. Oliver began to walk down the length of the wall, examining the glowing symbols and watching the lights brighten slightly under his touch. There was one thing they all had in common, each glowing rune seemed to depict some sort of weapon. Even the ones that initially looked like nothing became clearer once that realization struck, a little sun on a string was a flail, the knobby-ended U was a bolas. There were swords and spears and polearms and bows, and even though the boy grew slightly more skittish at the thought, he kept moving along the wall.
And then there it was. He hadn't touched it, but for some reason it caught his attention. The stone tablet had a symbol on it that looked a little bit like an axe. A little odd for an axe though, the blades were not symmetrical on both sides. Oliver reached out for it, feeling like he needed to touch that one in particular.
Expecting a mild glow like all the other tiles, the boy was shocked by the sensation he received. It felt like something had… woken up. He was so startled he nearly tripped over his own feet as he stumbled backwards. That stone…
Oliver gaped and stared.
"W-well?" The trainee repeated, eyes wide. Was he really hearing that? Was it some sort of bizarre technology, the low, rumbling voice that spoke in his mind?
Not one to ignore a deep, intimidating voice echoing inside his mind, Oliver nervously touched the stone again. How was he supposed to- Oh, that was how. The stone fell into his hand easily. And then… It was no longer a stone.
With a purring rumble it had somehow transformed, and now resembled that odd axe depicted on the stone face. The texture was cold beneath his hands, like metal, but the haft resembled the vertebral column of some spiky monster. And the axe blade itself… were those teeth?
The boy held the weapon out awkwardly away from himself, but nothing bad happened. The rumbling voice seemed satisfied for the moment. It was silent. Oliver began to wonder if maybe it was some trick, maybe the acoustics in the room, or just signals from a brain implant stuck in his head while he was 'dead' that doubled as a tracking device… But all sci-fi movies aside, it had been a pretty crazy day to begin with, so anything was possible really.
Oliver began to examine the weapon a little closer, and noticed a little switch embedded amidst the bony curves right near his hands, and a long groove that ran vertically down the length of the axe shaft. He flipped the little switch, and nearly dropped the weapon as the large axe blade slid down the groove, and the blade that formed the back of the axe flipped over to rest against the larger blade with a mechanical clunk. He was now holding a large sword, two axe blades coming together to form one long cutting edge.
"Uh, that was really cool," He finally said out loud. "But how do I put the stone back?"
The rumbling voice in his mind seemed to hold a mix of amusement and irritation.
"Wait, w-what?" Oliver stammered, not sure whether he should direct his conversation to the switching axe-sword in his hands or to somewhere else in the room. Like some wizard hidden behind a curtain pulling a prank on him. "That can't be right!"
Oliver had to admit that made sense… But how could it really be his? Was he even allowed to have it? Where would he put it? How would he carry it?
The rumble echoed in his mind again, as though it could see his thoughts and laughed at them.
What was he supposed to do, just wish for a smaller axe or something? Oliver was just starting to think he was once again in waaaay over his head, when instead of an axe in his hand, he held a tooth on a cord. A long, spear-like tooth with only a slight curve, like a gharial or dolphin. It was larger than any tooth he had seen before, half the length of his palm. Like… a dinosaur tooth or something. Now he was sure he was in over his head.
But he couldn't put the stone back if it was a tooth or an axe and not a stone, so for now there was nothing to be done. With the tooth in hand, he ran back up the steps and out of the dark cavern. The rumbling voice said nothing further, but that presence remained in the back of Oliver's mind the whole time.
