The final silver trials, or the silver finals, were going to be split into two days of competition. All of the silver prospects would be competing against each other in different timed challenges. At the end of the two days, the prospects’ scores would be tallied up, and those with the highest scores would pass on to the gold tier; the five prospects with the lowest scores… well, I could only hope I’d managed to change Draven’s mind about weeding out the weak.
Today, all of the qualifying silver prospects had been gathered in the gymnasium where we would be prepped for the first series of trials. I was glad Fate and Ness had only just made it through to this tier and wouldn’t qualify to join us, otherwise I’d have had to compete against them, and I didn’t want that. All in all, there were about twenty of us, each waiting patiently for the instructor—or instructors—to arrive.
Felice found me and stepped up beside me. “Hey,” she said, fastening her plum hair into a tight ponytail like mine.
“Hey,” I said, “You ready for this?”
“Ready to kick your ass? Shit yeah.”
“Pretty sure I’m gonna be mopping the floor with you. Didn’t you hear? I beat everyone’s with the Smother.” I grinned, and Felice returned the grin.
I was glad for her not throwing my obvious disadvantage into my face, but that just told me we’d become friends, and I was happy with that. She nodded over at Ferrum and his minions, who looked like they were watching us from the other side of the gym. “Look at those idiots,” she said, and waved at them, “That’s right, I’m talking about you.”
“Got something to say?” Ferrum asked.
“Yeah,” I said, “When the three of you are snuggling in bed, which one is the middle spoon?”
Ferrum pointed at me. “I warned you not to come today,” he said, “You’re gonna fail, and everyone’s gonna see it. I hope you’re ready.”
The door to the gymnasium opened before I could get another retort in, and Aaryn stepped inside, looking resplendent in her black bodysuit. She shut the door as she came through, her hips and shoulders swaying with confidence. Each and every prospect present shut their mouths in her presence, and when she stopped in the center of the room and turned to look at all of us, we each stood at attention, our hands behind our backs, our chests out, our chins up.
“Some of you may have noticed I haven’t been around the last couple of days,” Aaryn said. “Do not take that as an indication that I have forgotten how to be tough with you. I have instructed all of you ever since you arrived at the Black Fortress, you will know how tough I can be on slackers.”
A big grin swept across my lips. She was okay. Despite her ordeal with the stone, despite the way she’d returned to the fortress after her encounter with it several days ago, she was okay and ready to kick some prospect ass.
Aaryn started walking from one side of the gymnasium to the other, still addressing the prospects. “Ahead of you,” she said, “Lay two trials separated over two days; the first you shall compete in tonight, the other tomorrow. Before you can even attempt tonight’s trial, which will be split into a series of smaller, timed challenges,” Aaryn said, “You must be prepared. One by one, you will come and join me in my office, where I will brief you on what your own personal challenges are so that you may begin training. Seline, I will start with you. Follow me.”
“Special treatment,” I heard Ferrum mutter.
I frowned at him, but I didn’t engage. Instead I followed Aaryn through a side door in the gymnasium and into a small office. There was a large, wooden desk here covered in papers, multi-colored post-it notes, and an array of pens and markers. I spotted my name on one of the sheets, as well as Felice’s and the others; I guessed that’s where they’d be keeping track of our numbers. The moment we stepped through, a series of candles scattered around the room erupted, bringing light to the darkness.
“Shut the door,” Aaryn said.
I turned around and closed it, then I stood in front of her desk with my hands held behind my back.
Aaryn sat down in her chair and looked up at me. “You can relax,” she said.
I took a deep breath and let my hands slip by my side. “I’m glad you’ve made a recovery,” I said, “I was a little worried.”
“I’m sorry you had to see me like that. I know I didn’t make any sense.”
I shook my head. “It’s fine. I really was only concerned with your wellbeing, who cares what you were saying?”
“I do… but that’s not important right now. What’s important is about to happen today, your trials.”
“I know. I’ve been training as often as I can.”
“And yet, I worry that isn’t going to be enough.”
I cocked my head. “I don’t understand.”
Aaryn’s crystal-clear blue eyes softened. “Seline… I have something important to tell you. Several things, in fact. Things I have been keeping from you for the sake of your training. Before I go any further, I need you to not ask questions. There are some things I want to say now, and other things which I dare not say until I know for sure. Do you understand?”
“I guess so… I keep getting told I ask too many questions, though, so, I can’t make any promises.”
Aaryn nodded, breathed deep, and pressed her lips into a thin line. “The day I learned you belonged to my house, I could’ve wept. I have been on earth for a very long time, the Order has been collecting the fallen for years, but I had never seen another Aevian of Dawn, until you. I kept my distance at first, as I’ve been trained to do with the prospects, I’ve watched you thrive, and now… I wasn’t going to tell you, but after my near-death experience the other day, I couldn’t risk the truth dying with me one day without you knowing it.”
“The truth?” I asked. I realized I’d asked a question and froze. “Sorry… I warned you.”
She shook her head and took another deep breath. “There are precious few of us left,” Aaryn said, “Our home was destroyed long ago, Seline… our people were slaughtered, our city burned. Some of us believe it happened during the war of the Houses, others speculate it happened as a result of a fiend attack, but it’s gone.”
Slaughtered. She’d given me a second to process what she’d just said, and I needed that second—and maybe a few more after that. I stood before her, trying not to let the wave of emotions spill out of me uncontrollably. I caught a glimpse of light in the dark of my mind that reminded me of my mother. Desperately I held onto it, wishing it would intensify and become something more than just a faded memory, but something real.
It didn’t.
“I’m sorry to be the one to tell you,” Aaryn said, “But it’s important that you know the reason, should you go the rest of your life without meeting another one of us.”
“I… don’t understand. This is something that should be common knowledge to people like Draven, and Crag. Are you telling me they knew about this and didn’t think to tell me either?”
“Draven has his reasons for keeping the truth from you, and Crag is under orders not to engage with the prospects unless instructed to. I, however, had no real reason for not telling you except the obvious one.”
“What’s the obvious reason?”
“Your disadvantage… you are already facing incredible odds during these trials, the added pressure of knowing the truth about your house… that could’ve been enough to see you fail, and I couldn’t watch you die. But I have watched you flourish into a powerful young prospect, and what I have told you today will serve as a source of strength, believe me.”
“Where was this concern when Felice and I were facing off against the fiend? Or when I decided to throw myself against the Smother to beat some high score like it was a game of Pac Man? I could’ve been killed either of those times, on your watch.”
“I know, but I am not sorry. I had to be hard on you because life will not be easy for you.”
“Because my kithe don’t work.”
“Seline, an Aevian’s magic is pure and
wonderful, but it is focused through our kithe. You are experiencing pain and great difficulty expressing the magic side of yourself because your kithe are dormant. Until they come to you…”
“But they aren’t dormant. I’ve seen them. Crag has seen them, and so has Draven.”
She dropped her gaze and stared at the table. “The stone,” she said in a low voice. “I have been told what effect the stone has on you, and I have been told what you have experienced. At first, I didn’t know what to make of it. Wings of light? Glimpses of the world beyond the rifts? No one has ever heard of anything like this until you came along… we weren’t sure you were credible.”
“Oh, that’s awesome. So, you guys think I’m a liar. Great.”
“That’s not it. Our minds are shattered and fractured, few of us know what is real and what is fragmented garbage; a product of our imaginations trying to make sense out of the chaos. But you’ve been having clearer dreams, you’ve been using magic even though it costs you greatly—you have been acting like a member of our house, a caregiver, to others. I believe your true self is coming out more and more, which is why I have decided to help you.”
“Help me?” I asked, “With what?”
“My father was an Oracle, an Aevian with the gift of divination and foresight. He was the leader of a group who had foretold of our city’s demise; a great darkness was coming to consume us all, it would come silently and swiftly, and we would not be able to withstand it. The Council of Dawn did not listen to him, and his vision came true. I thought I’d lost this gift, but during my recovery, while I was at my worst, it came back, and I saw something that may help you.”
Aaryn reached into a drawer in her desk and pulled a dagger out. It was still in its sheath, the handle was white and gold, with a little amber gem built into the hilt. She took hold of the handle and pulled the dagger out. The blade gleamed in the light, drinking in the ambient glow and shining in response. There were patterns etched into the metal, runes I recognized but couldn’t quite read. Carefully, she slid the dagger back into its sheath, stood, and handed it over to me.
“I want you to have this,” she said.
“Okay, I know what it is, but… what is it?”
“Think of it as a way to level the playing field out there.”
“It’s beautiful…”
“I made it for you, though I can’t take full credit for its construction.”
“You made this?”
Aaryn nodded. “Like I told you before, an Aevian’s magic comes from within them, but it works through their kithe. Our wings act almost like a lightning rod for our magic, drawing it out of us and bringing it smoothly into the world, but it wasn’t always like that. Before our kind learned to live in the skies, we dwelled on the ground, blending in with the other races by hiding our kithe using a very primitive form of glamor. During this time, our kind had to find another way to channel our magic—we did it through items we called foci.”
I held the dagger in my hand. It was light, and cold, and well balanced, and while it was very pretty to look at, my attention was drawn to the gem. It was like a little light lived inside of it, a small, shifting thing that shied away from my eyes when I looked at it. “You saw this all in a vision?” I asked.
“I had a vision of you holding this very dagger… you were standing in front of a raging storm, the dagger glowing in your hand, magic pouring from you like a waterfall. Ours was a house of thinkers and lore keepers. There wasn’t a child among us who didn’t know Aevians came from below and not from above. Two and two happened pretty quickly after that. Channel your magic through it. You will never be as powerful as you will be when your kithe return, but maybe it’ll help with the pain… I hope.”
I slid the dagger back into its sheath and looked Aaryn square in the eyes. “I don’t know how to thank you,” I said, “But… I feel like you’re keeping more from me, aren’t you?”
Aaryn sighed and softly nodded. “I hope you understand I am not keeping things from you because I don’t want you to know.”
“Then why?”
“Your silver trials are important. You must pass them. When you do, we will talk more. I feel like I may have a lot to tell you, some of which you will not like.”
“I’m gonna hold you to that.”
Aaryn nodded, and smiled. “Please do.”
“No, I mean it. I don’t forget stuff.”
“Good. Now, go, and train; you don’t have much time. Practice your magic with the dagger, and see if it helps. Your first trial will be tonight, and you’ll need to be swift and tough.”
“Swift and tough?”
“Defensive magic will be important, as will speed and physical endurance. The faster you are, the better.”
“Be fast, be tough. Got it.”
Aaryn gestured to the door, and I made my exit, holding the dagger behind my back as I went to rejoin the rest of the prospects. Ferrum was called immediately after I’d been dismissed, and while we crossed paths, he didn’t say anything—he only glared. Kicking his ass was going to feel fantastic, especially after everything he’d said to me so far. I had to say my confidence was up now that I had this dagger in my hand, but the other stuff Aaryn had told me had left thoughts in my head that were now scattering around like rats, nibbling at my ability to hold a single, focused thought.
She must’ve had a reason to tell me all of that right before my silver trials, but I couldn’t see it right now. All I could see right now was that castle in the sky in Ness’ sketch, burning. It made my heart hurt, my chest tighten, and my blood boil. Our city had been burned, our people slaughtered, and I was one of the last ones left. Where my family was, or if they were even alive at all, I didn’t know.
More than ever, I knew, I had to be the best; if not for me, then for all of them.
I hadn’t been given nearly enough time to practice with my dagger when the prospects were shuffled out of the gymnasium and led into the Fortress’ underbelly. It wasn’t that I didn’t know how to use the dagger, even holding it I could feel a certain kinship with the weapon, a very weak connection that I knew I could reach into and use, if only I concentrated hard enough.
The problem was with the people around me.
There weren’t a single pair of eyes that didn’t at some point glance in my direction, and the last thing I wanted was for them to see me wielding this ornate, handcrafted dagger I’d never been seen using before. My practice with the blade had been subtle and brief, and while I believed Aaryn when she told me I could use it to channel my magic, I’d have no choice but to test it on the field and hope she wasn’t wrong.
Aaryn walked ahead of the crowd of prospects with her hand held up, a glowing ball of light sitting its palm. Already my heart was beating at a frantic pace, the darkness around me closing in like a hand around my neck. I held my dagger firmly against my side and entwined two fingers into my hair, encouraging it to glow against the dark. That helped, but not much.
At the foot of a spiral staircase we reached a large door that Aaryn only had to whisper to make it open. Several heavy locks clacked apart, reminding me of the door to the vault Crag had led me into, only beyond this door wasn’t a dark room filled with glittering heirlooms and magical items. The air was cold on the other side of the door, and the ceiling—I couldn’t see it. More than that, I felt like it wasn’t even there.
Aaryn flicked her wrist and sent her ball of light into the air as the rest of the prospects filed into a small opening just beyond the door we’d entered through. The ball hovered slowly, rising like a balloon and then stopping. It pulsed once, twice, then Aaryn said “Lune esperia,” and the ball of light exploded like a firework, sending an array of smaller, glowing orbs shooting off in all directions.
What the orbs shed light on wasn’t a room or a vault, but a cave, with an impossibly huge ceiling made of rock inlaid with what looked like tiny gems that glittered like stars. Ahead of us was a wall about five feet tall, and along that wall there were
five gaps large enough for about three people to walk through at a time. Each of the openings seemed to be breathing, blowing cold air out of them in soft, dreadful pulses.
Aaryn stood in front of the center door and turned around to address the group. “Prospects,” she said, “Welcome to the labyrinth. This is where you will complete your first trial.”
The balls of light still hung in the air, floating softly like flares in the cavernous sky. How deep were we? It didn’t feel like we’d travelled that far. Ferrum walked up beside me, but he didn’t stop—he shoved my shoulder hard on his way to the front of the line of gathered prospects. “You’re gonna die in here,” he whispered as he went. It would’ve been so easy to slip my dagger out of its sheath and dig it into his back. My biceps twitched from the urge, but Felice wrapped her hand around my arm.
“Save it until the trial starts,” she whispered, “Then all bets are off.”
“Completion of this trial is simple,” Aaryn continued, “You will decide which of these doors to go through, all of them will potentially take you to the center. All of them will potentially lead you back here, if you are not careful. The five fastest prospects to reach the center of the labyrinth will be awarded a bonus that will help them in their next trial. Do you have any questions?”
“Can’t we just fly over it and reach the center?” someone asked from behind. I recognized the voice. Dirk, one of Ferrum’s goons.
“Attempt it if you wish,” Aaryn said, “However, you will find that this trial is lethal. The dangers you will face on your journey are real, and there are no medical staff here to help you. You are on your own… with only the other prospects around you act as friends or foes. Is that understood?
Aaryn received a chorus of acknowledgement from the prospects assembled in front of her. She then flicked her wrist, there was a flash of light, and a ghostly, golden hourglass appeared in front of her. It turned on its head, and phantom sand started flowing from the top half into its bottom half. “Your time starts now,” Aaryn said.
The Obsidian Order Boxed Set Page 28