“Now, the winners will be awarded based on several factors. If one team successfully reaches their opposite side, all members intact, that will be an automatic win. Following that, it will be the team with the most members to reach their winning side. If, after three days, there is still no obvious winner, we will end the trial and assess,” Kamari says like it’s nothing. “There are no other rules in the Warrior trial. One weapon only, if you have it on your person now. And no provisions, as an added incentive.” She finishes outlining the rules. “Ever, your team need to make it to the cliffs.” I hate that she identified our team as mine. “Ten, yours must reach the staging area.”
“This will serve as the first trial of your skills, but also a useful lesson in survival as I imagine only a few of you,” Orion takes over and his eyes pause on his son and his friends, “would be stupid enough to play in the forest. You have five minutes.”
Five minutes, there’s no time to go back for anything.
I round on Ten. “You said that we can’t get hurt in the trials. That these won’t kill us. Kamari used the word intact, which doesn’t sound harmless.”
“They won’t let any of us die. And I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
“How?” I plead. “We’ll be on different teams in there. And if anyone takes you out, then what?” Panic rips at my stomach, rising through me like a caged animal trying to escape, and the torrent raging around my chest makes it worse.
“None of your team is strong enough to take me out,” he dismisses my concern with the authority that comes naturally to him.
“What, you’re going to fight your team to protect me because I’m sure that Ascella and Crimson, even Azur, are coming straight for me. You’ll just be in their way.”
His jaw flexes.
“Come on, Ever. We need to go.” Micah steps towards me, his face grave. I glance behind his shoulder, where Capella, Raiden, and Ravi have already gathered, all looking equally concerned and a little pissed off.
My eyes close for a second, gathering myself. I’ve done scary and intimidating things already, so this is just another in the seemingly never-ending list right now.
I can do this.
I nod at Micah and turn to leave with him. The urge to cling to him for moral support springs up in my mind, but I have to push it back.
“Ever.” As Ten grabs my wrist, a jolt of heat races to the surface where we touch, and my breath catches as he spins me to him. “It will be okay. Trust me.” His thumb skims over my skin, just above my racing pulse. The sensation makes me dizzy like his touch is filtering straight into my blood, carrying sparks directly through me.
His eyes watch mine. A second. One more.
A skittering of images starts to flash before me, one full of green and one of the sky, a dark night sky filled with stars. But he pulls away before it has a chance to fully take shape.
He doesn’t say anything else but stalks off towards his new team and doesn’t look back.
“Come on,” Micah encourages.
We join the others off to the side, all a little tentative and shy in the face of what we’re up against.
“Tell me, you guys used to play in the forest as children?” I try to make my voice light, like Kyra’s. She told me abouther first trial, and I know that not everyone will come back to training after this.
“Er, no. We might have gone to the edges of the woods before it got too dark, but never in the forest. It’s haunted by more than just magic. So, we’ll need to watch our backs for not only the other team but for the Jarkoreth as well,” Raiden states.
“What is a Jarkoreth?” I ask, not wanting to know the answer but unable to stop my mouth from asking.
“I’ll tell you later,” Micah offers in his best reassuring voice.
“Later? This thing starts in minutes. We don’t have later, Micah.” My panic bursts through, lashing out at the wrong person.
“This thing won’t last until nightfall, so you don’t need to worry. The others will pick us off before then.” Ravi’s optimism is encouraging.
“Hey, that’s not helping,” Raiden scolds. “We are not going to let them intimidate us before we’ve even started. Now,” she looks at us, “we have the advantage that I’m a Natural, and so is Capella. With us and Ever on our side, we’re equally matched.”
“We grew dead branches when we connected,” I remind Raiden, not seeing that as any advantage.
“And you turned invisible with Capella and Micah. At the very least, you three can just walk right over to them,” Raiden counters. “We don’t know what’s possible with the three of us,” she says, as if reassuring me.
I’d forgotten that. Between the five of us, there were still so many possibilities for our power.
Some connections needed something else for the magic to manifest. When Calix, Capella, and I tried, nothing happened until Capella touched a plant. It began to come apart, the very sinews and fibres that held the plant together unwound before our eyes. Perrin suggested that we repeat the experiment on a body, which turned us all a little green. The pit in my stomachhad opened back up because it forced the one question back into my mind, the one where my magic—being a Fifth—seemed to be a gift of death. That’s what we did to that plant, so if we touched somebody, would we kill them? Taking apart their very flesh and organs, like un-mending them. It would be a formidable weapon against enemies.
