That night, I had trouble sleeping.
Capella’s magic lent itself to healing. Alone, she was able to make things grow, knitting things together. Until I connected with her. And poisoned her.
“What’s the plan?” Ravi asks, and thank the stars, he looks at Raiden. She seems to be a natural to take the lead. Capella is still quiet, as she usually is, her dark eyes keen and observing. She’s unassuming, but I like her. She offered to help train with me, but only on her terms, which I respected.
“We find a suitable place to hide that’s protected from sight. Capella and I can see to that when we’re deeper into the forest. We’ll need high ground, too, a defensive position.” We all agree as if this were just another lesson.
“They’ll attack. They’ll come looking to take us out.” Ravi’s back on the optimism drive. “We can’t just sit and wait for them.”
“Don’t discount Ten,” Micah starts. “He sounded pretty sure he’d keep Ever safe.”
My cheeks warm with embarrassment that he heard that.
“Are you willing to bet your life on that?” Raiden questions.
“Hey, these trials aren’t life or death.” My voice is sharp, betraying how strongly I feel about this. We are not going to die here. This is training, that’s all.
“Huh. Depends on how you look at them,” Ravi adds.
“What do you mean?” I turn to him. “Ten said they wouldn’t let us die.”
“Oh, not here, no. But the trials will form the basis of what your life will be outside of training. If things don’t go well, you can kiss goodbye to the life you might have wanted. So yeah, if we make the wrong judgment, if we make the wrong call, and it ends badly, it’s more than training. You’re a Fifth, so have no fucking worries.” His words sting because, in a way, I know he’s right.
“Okay, okay. Plan now, political debate later.” Micah raises his hands between us as if he needs to keep the peace. “We’ll be dismissed any second.”
“Hang on. Do we start from here? Can’t we just run?” I ask.
“And beat two speed Warriors?” Micah gives me a look.
“I could,” I mutter.
“They’ll be transported to somewhere on their side of the forest because it’s a day’s trek to reach the other side, at least. This is about strategy for the Warriors as well as outright battle.”
Battle?My stomach flips at the thought. And I’m suddenly thinking of those visions in my mind. Ascella. With Ten. I shake them off. We aren’t going to battle. So, I pick another question. “Transport? How?”
“Really, Ever? We’ll explain later,” Capella finally speaks up. “Can you project your magic?” She sounds bored.
“Project? I’m not sure.” I’m not telling her I can speak to Ten in his head.
“Okay. We can work on that when we experiment. We’ll have some time unless Crimson literally comes for you out of the gate.” She offers me a tilt of her head, telling me she thinks it’s a possibility.
“The Ten-effect will stop her,” Micah says again, and I’m confused about where his sudden belief in Ten comes from.
“Ladies and Gentlemen. Trainees.” Orion’s voice booms over us. “The final preparations are in place. The first trial begins now.”
I look back to find Ten, one final glimpse, a last reassurance, maybe.
But Portia and two others stand in a circle, their arms outstretched, encompassing Ten and the rest of the trainees.
And then they’re gone.
Transported.
I wonder what other gifts of magic are amongst the people here, the Heads of each Order and The Chamber members—picked for their talents and gifts, according to Ravi.
“Come on. Time to go,” Raiden slides back into command, and we all fall in behind her, following into the dark and gloom of the forest. We keep the river on our right as we start our journey. It will act as a natural guide to help us back out and keep us on track. I think it’s an obvious position for anyone coming for us, but I stay quiet, adjusting to the light and hoping that my mind and fear don’t get the better of me like before.
Soon, I’m too distracted to focus on the terror that grips me. The forest is beautiful. It sings and dances with the wind as we walk through its dappled cover, and the darkness I glimpsed on the way to the Transference spot doesn’t materialise, not in the same way as I’d imagined. The air is heavy still with a hint of salt mixed with cedar and earth and pine. You can feel the majesty here, the age and wisdom, as if the trees see everything. Know everything.
