The Gauntlet

The Gauntlet was by far the most famous coming of age ritual known to all Atlanteans. Usually reserved for the bravest of Iguanodon adolescents, it was technically open to all species when it came time to choose what way they wanted to earn their place in the court. Generally, Ovis and Euoplos found other ways to make themselves useless and earned their warpaint that way, leaving the grandstanding and pageantry to the biggest species among them. For Lego and Argos however, they weren't being given much of a choice in the matter.

"Are you sure you'd like to take on the Gauntlet?" Blackmist asked, adding extra gravitas for speaking the name of the famous trial.

"We're sure," Wollemia answered confidently. She was barely at eye level to the older crested Iggy's chin but she held herself tall anyway. 

"I was asking all three of you," Blackmist clarified as diplomatically as he could, turning directly to the others, "You are sure, yes?"

"I'm sure," Argos said firmly, fluffing his chest feathers out.

"And so am I," Lego chirped, more cheerful but no less convicted. 

"Very well," Blackmist said after a moment's pause, "Then you are officially on the Gauntlet, the purple starfruit awaits you. The very best of luck to all three of you." The final statement was delivered with as much sincerity as an upper member of the court was allowed to show. As Blackmist stepped back, he revealed the looming form of Queen Rhys on her throne, overlooking the adolescents waiting in her hall.

"I second the sentiment, young trial goers," she spoke with a deep timbre, reverberating through the stonework of the mighty hall, "Your trial begins now, please return to us safely." With that, she lowered her gaze and the three Atlanteans were dismissed as she returned to the carved wooden throne.

"Alright, let's go over the plan one more time," Argos said, wringing his hands furtively as they hurried from the castle.

"Not again," Lego groaned, "We could recite the plan in our sleep at this rate!"

"Humour him," Wollemia said patiently, "Once more for luck." Lego grumbled but stopped her brisk walk and faced the Oviraptor, waiting for him to launch into his agenda.

"We enter the Gauntlet trail via the west entrance, the longest path but the one of least resistance," Argos rattled off, "If the vines are lying clockwise, we turn left at the fork, anti-clockwise means a right turn. We avoid the river entirely if we turn left but the right path requires a careful crossing. We cannot touch the Strid, if we touch the Strid we die," he almost yelled the last word for emphasis, those his companions remained unmoved, "Then, if we're on the right path we should begin to see the ruins, in the ruins we'll come across some of the more mobile plants, the wandering mangroves and such, they'll both attack us and change the scenery around us as we go, making the path hard to see. The left path avoids the mangroves entirely but goes through a patch of extremely explosive mushrooms. Once we're past that part, the paths should converge in the same place, the old fountain. From there, the fruit orchard is a stone's throw away." Argos stopped, catching his breath after finishing his spiel.

"Yep, hasn't changed since last month," Wollemia remarked drily, "Shall we go?"

The plan had been formulated from the consistent efforts of all three of them, interviewing various citizens of Atlantis to gauge the layout. As far as they knew, the path was fairly well charted up until the mangroves, though thankfully the presence of vines laying out their tripwires in a clockwise direction meant they avoided that ever-changing landscape entirely. It also meant they avoided the river, the source of many sleepless nights for Lego, who feared her ability to clear the fast and deep stream with her short legs. Instead they had to creep quietly through a clearing pockmarked by clusters of vibrantly coloured spotted mushrooms. Some were taller than Wollemia and others were as squat as Lego, all brimming with their foul poisonous spores. The mushrooms seemed to shiver as the dinosaurs passed by, like they were simply dying to release the spores over them at the slightest provocation. It felt too volatile to even speak, but Argos' full regiment was still engraved in their heads and they didn't feel the need to confer. He had plotted out nearly every step of the journey from the interviews, assembling a verbal map of the Gauntlet that was probably as thorough as it would ever get. He wondered what lay beyond the fountain and into the orchard, why none of the folk they had spoken to seemed to have any memory of the place. Was it a way of keeping something sacred secret? He hoped that was the reason and that there wasn't some incomprehensible evil lurking around the purple starfruit tree they were looking for. 

The fountain was able to be heard from a distance, leading them through the tightly packed thorny bushes until it finally came into view. To their surprise, the carving in the centre depicted all three of their species with each ejecting a spout of water into the tile base of the fountain. All three were crested, making Argos feel a little left out compared to the others. 

"Did humans make this?" Lego pondered, circling the fountain and taking in the exquisite detail of the stone.

"It had to be, the monkeys are clever but I don't think they could do something like this," Argos remarked, also leaning towards the fountain.

"Stop!" Wollemia barked, making them both shrink back.

"What's wrong, Lemi?" Lego asked, her tail cocked to the side. 

"The trees above the fountain are getting lower," the crested Iggy noted, jerking her head up at the canopy. In horror, the other two looked up and saw the sky above them had indeed grown darker from branches extending down towards them slowly. Even as they ran away, the branches didn't move any faster, just kept up their glacial crawl in the direction of the fountain. They coiled their way around the statue and began to tug futilely at it before retreating at a similarly gradual pace.

"How creepy," Lego shuddered, "let's go out of here." She found no argument with the others and they hurried past the fountain into a large orchard that had a small wooden fence that seemed more like a formality than a barrier. Like a hallway, plain starfruit trees lined the way to their end goal, a tree with branches groaning under the weight of the large purple fruit they had been sent to retrieve.

"Do we take one each, or just one? Oh dear," Argos fretted, pacing around the large tree.

"One," Lego said firmly, "We'll put it in Lemi's bag and carry it back that way, we wouldn't fit three in there, look how big they are!" 

"How do we even pick one?" Wollemia asked saliently. The branches, as bowed as they were, still hung high above their heads. Even standing on her hind limbs, the biggest among them could only swipe feebly at the fruit, inches short of grabbing it. 

"Well, this must be why the Gauntlet is only done in teams," Lego said brightly, "We have to work together!" Wollemia looked at her for a moment before crouching down.

"Alright, get on."

"No, no, no, wait!" Lego yelped, "I'll flatten you! I meant we should come up with a plan."

"I think you could probably throw me up there," Argos said thoughtfully. Despite the Euoplo's protests, Wollemia was already grabbing Argos and chucking him into the canopy.

"Lemi! You could've killed him!" Lego reprimanded, making the Iggy duck her head. 

"I'm okay!" a voice called from the tree, "I got the fruit!" A combined effort from both Lego and Wollemia caught him before he hit the ground and he brushed off his feathers with his free hand while grasping the starfruit in the other.

"We did it?" Lego asked incredulously.

"We did," Wollemia gave a rare smile, "I knew we could." She crouched again to let Argos place the fruit carefully in the backpack strapped around her shoulder.

"We did it," he said proudly, "I mean, we still have to go back but the way back should be easier in theory." He looked back to the entrance of the orchard and felt the shiver of anticipation run through him. They would return to the court, hold up the starfruit to the Queen and automatically earn their warpaint for completing the Gauntlet. The first Ovi and Euoplo to complete the Gauntlet in as long as written record went back. Something like defiance ran through all three of them, somehow managing to follow an ancient ritual in their own way that spat in the face of tradition. With a shared look, the three of them knew this meant more than the three of them being knighted, much more.