by S T G Hill
“What? I’m trying to concentrate here,” Thorn said.
“Try harder!” Matilda glanced wide-eyed back into the dim path, “I want to get out of here.”
“This place is a maze, right?” Ellie said, remembering seeing the series of corridors in her mind when Belt first announced the Trial, “And this is supposed to test our ability?”
“Yeah, so?” Miles said. He had also turned to face the hall behind them. Everyone could feel it now, that sense of approaching violence.
That sense of being hunted, of being watched.
Ellie persisted, “What if this is a test for someone strong with prognostication? Thorn?”
Thorn let go of the pearl with a frustrated sigh, “It’s my weakest school. But I didn’t feel anything bad happen. Jackie, you want to give it a try? Jackie?”
“What?” Jackie said. Her eyes strained wide, trying to penetrate the blackness of the hall behind them.
Ellie couldn’t blame her. Whatever came up behind them was hungry. And mean.
“Try the pearl,” Thorn gestured to the ball.
“Right,” Jackie said, casting glances back over her shoulder while she went over to the pearl.
She reached out for it and touched it, first with one hand and then both. Her eyes closed. When they opened they were pure white, the pupils and irises gone. Casey’s mouth dropped open and he took a step back in Thorn.
“What do you see?” Ellie said.
“I… I see the way. I think. It’s blurry, but it’s getting clearer. I just need more time.”
“I see something!” Miles said, jabbing a finger down the hallway.
Everyone but Jackie whirled around, squinting into the smoky darkness. At first, Ellie saw nothing. Then something moved, dragging itself towards them one laborious footstep at a time. No, not something, many things.
Numerous sets of glowing eyes peered at them from the darkness, little points of yellow that alternated to green depending on the angle.
Ellie’s stomach went cold.
“Jackie? Which way?” Thorn said, trying to shield the rest of the group with his body.
“I… I can’t tell yet!” Jackie said.
Then Miles stepped out in front of them, both his hands glowing. The air rippled around his fists. “They’re going to be here before she figures it out.”
“It’s fifty-fifty,” Matilda said, “Let’s just pick one way and go.”
Ellie couldn’t stop staring down the hall, her eyes trying to make some sense of those shapes moving in the darkness. The cold in her stomach turned to ice water. Her body trembled. She wanted to know what those things were, but also didn’t. “Maybe we should just pick a way.”
“No!” Thorn didn’t look away from the threat, “Who knows what will happen if we go the wrong way. We need to make sure.”
“Then let’s buy her some time,” Miles said. He lifted his glowing hands and charged back down the way they came.
“Wait!” Thorn said, turning back to the others he said, “Stay here. Keep her safe.”
Matilda whirled around on Jackie, “Come on, which way is it? Left or right? Is it really that hard?”
“Leave her alone,” Ellie said.
Then Thorn and Miles reached the monsters. Thorn cast an arm out, flinging a ball of light back down the way they’d come. It shot down the narrow space. When the light touched the monsters, they recoiled from it.
“What are they?” Ellie said, taking an involuntary step backwards.
They looked like large, brutish gorillas. Pale fur coated their bodies. Oversized fangs protruded from their jaws, and their eyes stared ahead, dead and black like a doll’s.
Miles faltered in his charge when he saw them, but picked up steam again a moment later.
“Stay back! Stay away from them!” Thorn called out, but Miles was too far ahead.
Miles attacked. He swung a glowing fist at the nearest ape’s face. The punch connected, the magic of the blow crackling in the air and shooting off sparks. Miles cried out in victory.
But then his cry turned from victory to terror. The monstrous ape grabbed him by the shoulders and pinned him hard against the wall. Its jaw yawned wide, revealing even more fangs within its maw.
It looked like it wanted to bite Miles’s head clean off. And it looked like it could open its jaws large enough to do it.
Thorn stopped and took up a wide stance. Then he threw both his hands forward, casting a forked bolt of lightning. The bolt took the big ape square in the side. It roared in anger and pain. The smell of singed hair wafted back to them.
And it dropped Miles.
Thorn cast another few bolts towards the monster to hold it off long enough for Miles to retreat back to him. Then more of those floating eyes resolved into a pair of those ape things.
Matilda took one look and then grabbed Jackie by the shoulders. “Which way?”
“I… I can almost see…” Jackie said.
“Well we’re all going to be gorilla grub if you don’t see a bit faster!” Matilda said.
Thorn cast another tongue of lightning out at their attackers. The lead ape batted the bolt aside so that the lightning crashed and crackled against the wall. Then it continued forward, its dead black eyes glinting with hunger.
Thorn threw both his hands out again. This time a shimmering, transparent wall appeared between them and the apes. “Miles! Help me with this!”
Miles added his strength to Thorn’s just as the lead ape crashed against the magical barrier. The force field buckled in against the weight and strength of the creature, but held.
Then the second one pressed its shoulder to the force field. The crackling wall began creeping back towards them. Some invisible force pushed at both Thorn and Miles.
“We can’t hold them back! Get over here and help us!” Miles screamed back at them.
Casey rushed forward, joining the two older boys. He held out his hands and the magical wall regained some of its energy. Then the third ape joined in and the wall buckled once more.
“I’ll help!” Ellie said, starting forward.
Immediately, Thorn shouted back, “No! You’re too weak! Matilda, get over here!”
“I don’t want to…” Matilda started, taking a step backwards.
“Get over here now!” Thorn yelled, his face a mask of effort.
Matilda went forward and joined them. She closed her eyes and held her hands out and the barrier once more regained some strength. But not enough. The shield of energy crept backwards along the wall towards the fork in the path inch by inch.
“I see it! I see the way!” Jackie shouted, “We have to take the left fork!”
“Finally!” Matilda said. She dropped her arms and ran for the left fork.
Right away, the apes pressed the shield forward.
“Come on, Jackie, let’s go,” Ellie said. They all knew the barrier couldn’t hold out much longer.
Jackie’s smile faltered. “I can’t let go!” Her fingers flexed, but couldn’t break free.
“What?” Ellie said.
Jackie tugged at her hands, her arms trembling. Ellie grabbed one of Jackie’s wrists and pulled. It was like someone had superglued Jackie’s hands to the oversized pearl.
“I can’t!” Jackie said, her voice harsh with panic.
“What’s taking so long?” Thorn yelled back at them.
“Jackie’s stuck! She can’t let go,” Ellie tugged harder, but it did no good.
Her efforts only left red welts all over Jackie’s wrist.
The barrier lurched backwards hard enough that Miles lost his foot and fell back on his butt. The glow disappeared from his hands.
“Get back up and help me hold this!” Thorn said.
Miles looked from them barrier to Jackie and then back again, “Sorry. But only one of us can win. We have to let them take her.”
“No!” Ellie said.
But it was too late. Miles pushed himself to his feet and then ran down the left hallway, following in M
atilda’s footsteps.
That left just Casey and Thorn holding back the full brute strength of the apes pressing against their magical force field.
Ellie grabbed Jackie’s wrist again and hauled as hard as she could. It gave, just a little. “It’s coming loose!”
“I can’t hold this much longer,” Thorn said, his face red with the strain.
Ellie glared down the left hall where Miles and Matilda had just disappeared. If they’d waited a little longer, helped out more, then maybe they could get Jackie free…
But it wasn’t time for such thoughts. Each moment brought the apes closer. And Jackie’s hands pulled free of the pearl’s surface so slowly.
“Don’t leave me. Please don’t leave me,” Jackie said, her lips pulled back from her teeth in a rictus of terror.
“I won’t leave you,” Ellie said, “Because you’re coming with us. Look! You’re coming free faster now!”
The apes forced Thorn and Casey back so quickly now it looked like they were trying to jog backwards. The force field crackled and buckled. So much magic discharged as sparks into the air that the whole hallway smelled like an impending thunderstorm.
Ellie could just about reach out and touch Thorn’s back if she wanted, they were so close.
Thorn looked over his shoulder at her, his eyes full of meaning. Just leave her. Let’s get out of here while we can, his eyes said.
Ellie looked away from him and hauled hard on Jackie’s hands.
This time, they pulled free. “Let’s go!” Ellie said.
They all sprinted down the left hallway, Thorn and Casey releasing the spell that had created the magical barrier. It shattered behind them.
A thunderclap of broken magic pursued them.
“Look! They’re not following!” Casey said, not far down this new hallway.
The four of them stopped. Ellie’s lungs burned already, but she wanted to keep going. She didn’t want those things to get any closer.
Then she turned and looked back. The trio of monstrous apes glared at them with their doll’s eyes from the mouth of the hallway. But they didn’t come any closer.
Thorn shook his head.
“What?” Ellie watched him.
“It’s the test,” he said cryptically.
“What about it?” Ellie said.
“Only one person can win, so the test is trying to pit us against each other,” Thorn said. He nodded at Jackie, “Someone strong with prognostication needs to touch the pearl to find out which path to take. But while they do it those monsters attack. And it keeps them trapped against the pearl after they figure it out.”
“Why would it do that?” Casey said. His eyes looked all watery in the poor light of the sandstone hallway.
Ellie saw it all now, too. “Because,” she said, “Once they tell us where to go, we can leave them behind. One less person to compete against.”
“Or the prognosticator can tell the other Chosen to go the wrong way,” Jackie said, “If they think they can get away quicker.”
“I don’t like this game,” Casey said, hugging himself while he stared back at the monsters.
“That’s because it’s not a game,” Ellie looked down this new hallway. It seemed the same as the last one.
“It is. To Belt it is,” Thorn said. “We have to keep moving. There’s no telling where Miles and Matilda ended up. Or if those… things will come after us again.”
They continued down the hall.
“I’m hungry!” Casey clutched at his stomach.
“We’re all hungry,” Thorn replied.
“There’s bound to be food somewhere, right?” Jackie combed her fingers through her hair over and over.
When that didn’t work, she walked with her arms clutched tightly around her, her skin tinted orange from the sputtering flames in the wall sconces.
“Probably,” Thorn said, “We need more light.”
He held his right hand palm up. A pinpoint appeared in the air above his skin, it grew into a sphere about the size of a softball. And it glowed gently, spilling white light around them.
“So how long has it been since the last Trial?” Ellie suppressed a shot of jealousy at his working magic so easily.
Thorn shrugged, “I don’t know. Decades? Centuries? Belt or Magister Cassiodorian are probably the only ones who could say for sure.”
“Imagine training with Darius Belt!” Jackie said.
Ellie knew that Thorn didn’t have to imagine.
“Hey, there’s more light up ahead!” Casey said, pointing.
Sure enough, more light spilled around a slight bend in the hallway. The group hurried on and found Miles and Matilda waiting at another juncture in the hallway.
“Three paths this time,” Ellie said, counting the various forks.
“Okay,” Thorn said, “Here’s the plan: Jackie will figure out the path while the rest of us set up another shield to keep those things back. With all of us holding it, there should be more than enough time for her to figure it out and for the pearl to release her so we can all get away.”
“Who died and made you boss?” Matilda said.
Thorn rounded on her, “No one. Yet.”
Matilda bristled, crossing her arms, “It’s pointless anyway! Only one of us can win. May as well start eliminating some of the competition now.”
Miles joined in, “Yeah, Thorn. You’re already a senior. Your training’s almost all done anyway. Yet you’re the only one who volunteered for this. What gives?”
“I don’t need to justify myself to you,” Thorn replied, his eyes steely.
“I know why,” Matilda looked at Ellie, “He likes the ab.”
Ellie laughed at that, short and sharp. They all looked at her, “Yeah. No,” Ellie said, “That’s not it.”
“Then why?” Miles cocked his head.
“Guys…” Casey said, his voice small. No one paid him any attention.
Just like no one paid any attention to how Jackie had taken the opportunity to go over to the pearl. She placed her hands on it, her eyes glowing white again. Back down the hallway, something stirred.
Thorn’s jaw worked while he glanced from Miles to Matilda.
Matilda shook her head, “Don’t deny it. I see the way you look at ab girl.”
“Matilda…” Ellie said, “Don’t take out your feelings on Thorn. Just because your dad—”
“Shut up!” Matilda shrieked, her eyes going wide. She threw her hands out and Ellie found herself pinned to the wall.
“Let her go!” Thorn said.
Miles grabbed him, his hands glowing. “You’re just waiting for the chance to betray us!”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about! Let us go before you regret it,” Thorn said, lips pulling back from his teeth.
“You know what?” Miles said, “I don’t think you can make me regret it. I don’t think you’re all healed up yet.”
Ellie’s hands clenched into fists. Adrenaline coursed like fire through her veins. The power within her ached to be released. It would be nothing for her to make Miles and Matilda stand down.
Thorn caught her eye and shook his head.
Miles saw. “Yeah, you better not try anything, ab.”
That stung. She barely knew Miles. He barely knew her. Why would he just fling that word at her like that?
“Guys!” Casey said, retreating back a few steps towards the pearl, his eyes wide.
“Shut up, kid,” Matilda said. She lowered her hands and Ellie felt the force holding her against the rough sandstone fade away.
Ellie caught the smell first. Low and unpleasant. Animal. Like an old, unclean barn. Her body broke out in goosebumps when she realized she’d been ignoring that looming sensation of danger this whole time.
“Look out!” Thorn’s eyes widened when he saw the threat.
A feeling told Ellie to duck. She did. A massive, furry hand swept through the air where her head had been. She leapt forward, away from another grasping paw.
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The lead ape growled in disappointment.
“Which way?!” Matilda yelled at Jackie.
“Too late!” Miles said, “We need to get out of here!”
He let go of Thorn just in time to avoid a huge and sweeping arm. He stumbled back a few steps, eyes wide and hands glowing.
Thorn fell to his knees. A moment later he cast his arms up and created another shield in time to stop a crashing attack. “Get over here and help me!”
A second ape joined the first, smashing the shield so close to Thorn that it crackled against his skin. Casey rushed forward and threw his own energy into it just in time to keep it from collapsing.
“Now! Let’s go!” Miles trotted towards the forks in the path.
“But we don’t know which hall to take yet,” Matilda said.
“Literally any that isn’t this one,” Miles replied. He grabbed her by the hand and they ran down the second path from the left.
“Wait!” Ellie said.
The third ape joined in the attack on Thorn’s barrier.
“I… I see it…” Jackie said, her voice barely audible over the electrical crashes of the monsters against the magical shield.
“Ellie! Help!” Casey said.
Ellie rushed over to where Thorn and Casey held the monsters at bay. She thrust her hands out, clearing her mind of everything but one thought: strengthen the shield.
The power coursed down her arms, filling the air like static so that her skin prickled. Immediately, the shield strengthened.
Thorn glared at her.
“Don’t give me that now!” Ellie said.
“I’m sorry…” Jackie said from behind them.
“What?” Ellie said. She barely had time to turn around before Jackie’s spell hit the three of them.
It knocked them all to the side. Ellie’s shoulder slammed painfully against the wall. The shield fell. Ellie couldn’t hide anything any longer.
But she also couldn’t afford to look back and see which path Jackie took.
The apes closed in, the light glinting from their hungry, dead eyes. They snarled, revealing sharp, white fangs.
“Stop!” Ellie said, working from instinct rather than any particular spell.
She swept her hand out, slicing it through the air. A glittering wall of energy followed the gesture, catching the horrible apes up and slamming them bodily into the sandstone walls so that dust and mortar spewed from them.