The Elemental Trial

by Claire Luana

  “Of course, we have schools here. What do you take us for?” Dulcina scoffed.

  “It doesn't make sense then. How can it be in a school if it isn't in the faerie realm?”

  It was clear that lateral thinking wasn't Phillip's strong suit.

  “You've been quiet?” I pointed out, turning to Orin. “Do you have any ideas?”

  I certainly hoped so, because I didn't know the answer. Though why had the sphinx called the realm Faerie, not Faerwild, its name?

  “I'd want a life preserver if I fell in a pool, but I don't see how that fits in with the rest of it,” Orin admitted.

  Dulcina jumped up. “We don't have life preservers in Faerwild, but you might find one in a school if the school has a pool.”

  This was beginning to sound like a Dr. Seuss story. “It's not a life preserver,” I said, shutting my eyes. I had it. I had something—but whatever thought was in my mind swirled around uncrystallized and refused to come to the front.

  “We have the answer,” Ario stepped forward.

  We all looked up in horror. We were just about to be eliminated.

  19

  “The answer is human knowledge,” Ario said.

  My lungs felt like they were going to burst as the Sphinx paused. Stupid reality show drama…

  “That is incorrect,” the Sphinx said.

  I blew out a shaky breath. Oh, thank god. That answer didn’t work with the straight and curly clue. They must have been panicking. Like we now didn’t have to. I turned my attention back to the problem, and to the thought that had been tickling the back of my mind.

  Phillip began, “It migh—”

  I shushed him, closing my hand like a trap. I ran the poem through my head a few more times. It wasn't what it appeared to be, and it wasn't a stupid answer like the king.

  “I know it!” I grinned.

  “Are you sure?” Dulcina asked, “because you thought you knew the last one, and you couldn't have been more wrong.” I pursed my lips. Thanks for the vote of confidence!

  “I’m sure,” I whispered my answer to them and watched as Orin, Dulcina, and Phillip all considered, rolling it through the clues.

  “Genius,” Orin grinned.

  I stepped forward once again and gave them my answer. “The answer is the letter L. It's not in the word faerie, but it is the words world, life, and school. If you don't use it in the word pool, you'll fall in something you'd never want to fall in.” The audience laughed as I explained my answer. I held my breath waiting for the sphinx to tell me I was wrong.

  “Correct!”

  I pressed my hand to my chest as if I could hold in my heart. I'd done it. We were still in the race.

  I felt like I had been run through an emotional ringer as I walked back down the steps on shaky legs. The beautiful faces and gorgeous dresses blurred around me, the cheering nearly overwhelming. I was normally okay around crowds, but right now, I wanted to crawl under the covers.

  Then I felt a steadying hand on my back and realized it was Orin. “Want to get some air?” he asked.

  I nodded gratefully. We snaked through the crowd and pushed out a set of glass double doors onto a wide veranda. The cool breeze stole the flush from my skin, and I sighed even as the goosebumps pricked on my arms. I could finally clear my head.

  Next to me, Orin was standing stiff as a board, backed against the wall of the ballroom. “Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea.”

  Oh, yeah. He was afraid of heights. I went to stand before him, blocking his view of the green expanse below. “Just focus on me,” I said, putting my hands on his shoulders. “Breathe.”

  He took several deep breaths, gazing directly at my chest with a glazed expression, his eyes wide with fright. “Better?” I asked.

  He nodded.

  “Good. I’ll excuse you staring at my boobs then,” I said.

  Orin looked up, shocked, his cheeks reddening. “I wasn’t staring at—”

  I started laughing, and he rolled his eyes. “I suppose they are preferable to the alternative.”

  “Plunging to your death?” I snorted. “You flatter.”

  “Nice job in there,” Orin admitted. “The letter l. I never would have gotten it.”

  “Just did what I had to.”

  “Well, you did good.” It was my turn to blush. I was finding compliments from Orin to be a treasured commodity.

  “You know we have Tristam and Sophia as our teammates for the next leg?” I asked.

  “If he has a heart of gold like his father,” Orin shrugged. “How bad can it be?”

  “That question was such bullshit!” I shook my head. “Stupid nepotism.”

  Orin chuckled. “Ready to go back in there?”

  I pulled in a breath.

  “There’s food…”

  I threaded my arm into Orin’s, and we turned back toward the door. “You should have led with the food,” I said. “That’s a strong selling point.”

  I collapsed onto my bed that night, my feet killing me from the heels, my back aching from the tight dress, my mind still uneasy over my possibly-hallucinated sighting of Cass. But the evening hadn’t been all bad. We had actually talked and joked a bit with Phillip and Dulcina, the food had been bomb, and it wasn’t so bad having faeries come up to me and ask for my autograph. There were worse things.

  But the sunlight spilled through my wall of windows bright and early, and it took all my effort to drag myself from bed. The next leg started today, and after the break we’d been given from death and danger, I had a powerful suspicion that we were about to face something awful.

  I showered, brushed my teeth, and went to put on a clean FFR uniform. It would feel good to be back in the functional clothing, even though I knew it meant more dirt and danger and cold nights and hungry days. But when I opened the wardrobe, the FFR uniform I found was new. Different.

  I fingered the fabric. It was thick and squishy, like Neoprene. I struggled to pull on the skin-tight bodysuit, my mind racing. When I finally got the silver and blue suit on and zipped it up, I regarded myself in the mirror. It looked like a wetsuit. Crap.

  When I walked into the main hall, where a buffet of breakfast food was laid out, I spotted Orin. The guy looked…pretty damn good in a skin-tight wetsuit thingy. It highlighted the muscled V of his torso, his strong legs, his…really cute ass.

  “Eyes up here, Cunningham,” Orin called from around a bite of muffin, motioning to his face with his two fingers.

  I let out a strangled laugh, hurrying over to a three-tiered silver tray laden with strange colorful fruits. “You wish.” But my heart wasn’t in it. Because I kinda wondered if he wished. And sorta wished he wished, too. I shoved a slice of pink melon into my mouth, wishing whatever watery hell we were off to next would just swallow me up now.

  I kept my eyes fixed firmly at eye level for the few minutes it took me to eat, chug a cup of coffee flavored with some delicious nutty creamer, and head out to the wide veranda where we’d first landed.

  Tristam sauntered up to us, Sophia in his wake. They both looked annoyingly perfect in their wetsuits, like a couple of Baywatch cast members. What was next, FFR? The swimsuit competition? “Think we’re headed under the sea?” Tristam asked, his arms crossed over his broad chest.

  “Didn’t your dad tell you?” I asked with mock sweetness.

  “Tristam hasn’t gotten any special treatment,” Sophia shot back.

  “Of course,” Orin said mockingly. “We each had a riddle specially tailored for us, didn’t we? Oh wait…” he tapped his chin as if considering.

  “It’s not Tristam’s fault he’s the son of the monarch of the entire Seelie Courts.” Sophia took a step closer.

  “But it is his fault that he’s a two-faced, cheating liar,” I said, matching Sophia step for step.

  “Ladies,” Tristam chuckled as if we were fighting over him, and it took all my restraint not to pop him in the nose again. God, the guy infuriated me!

  “We’re going
to need to work together on the next leg,” Orin said grudgingly. Patricia hadn’t announced it yet, but we’d already been paired with the other two teams. It was a process of elimination. “Let’s just put our feelings aside for this next leg. Agreed?”

  I chewed my lip but nodded.

  “Fine,” Sophia huffed.

  My attention was drawn by something soaring through the bright morning towards our platform. I squinted into the sun to make it out.

  “What is that?” I asked.

  “I think…a star-horse carriage,” Orin said, awe coloring his words. “I’ve never even seen one. Star-horses are super rare.”

  “It’s my father’s personal carriage,” Tristam said, and Orin placed a hand on my arm as my fists automatically started to rise. It wasn’t my fault; I was like Pavlov’s dog—needing to punch every time Tristam said something infuriatingly pretentious. Which was ALL. THE. TIME.

  The carriage came to a halt before us, and I couldn’t help my mouth falling open. The huge silver-gilded coach was pulled by four ebony stallions with coats that shimmered like the Milky Way on a dark night. They snorted and stamped their hooves, sending sprays of starlight off like sparks. They were mesmerizing—perhaps the most beautiful things I had ever seen.

  I barely heard as Patricia announced the teams for the last leg and explained that we would be journeying under the sea to the land of the Mer Folk. I had the most powerful urge to vault onto the velvet back of one of those magical beasts and ride like the wind.

  Orin tugged my hand as the rest of the contestants filed into the carriage. I let him tow me forward, shooting one last longing glance over my shoulder at the beautiful ethereal beasts. I guess I didn’t come this far only to give up and ride off into the sunset.

  The inside of the carriage was plush and opulent, gilded with silver and gold and upholstered with thick crushed velvet. Orin sat looking at the floor, his fingers digging into the bench beneath us as the carriage rose into the air, dipping and swooping like a swallow. I pressed my face to the window, wishing they would open so I could hang my head out like a dog. Faerwild sure was beautiful. Especially from afar, when it couldn’t kill you.

  The carriage banked, and I caught sight of the island city of Elfame. I had been convinced Cass was there until I thought I saw her at the Sylph Court. But maybe that had been my imagination. She could still be in that city. I just needed to get there.

  We circled the bay from the city and eventually touched down on a white sandy shore. We filed out and met our camera crews, who were outfitted with cameras in special waterproof covers. I gave Ben a little wave, and he gave me a thumbs up.

  Patricia turned to us, dressed in a green and blue leaf dress like she was heading to a Hawaiian luau. “At the end of the Sorcery Trial, each team was given a gift from the Faerie King himself. These gifts will enable you to navigate the next leg of this Trial—the dark underwater world of the Mer Folk. This realm is even more dangerous than those lands you have tread before and has never been seen before on television. Be on your guard. Trust your teammates. And may the best racers win.”

  20

  I exchanged a quizzical look with Orin. Were we just supposed to plunge into the water and swim? I guess I wouldn’t mind that, the blue water lapped lazily against the pale sand, inviting me in. The sky overhead was clear, the sun shining upon us, warming my face.

  I'd never been to the Caribbean, but I could imagine I was there. This, actually, wouldn’t be a bad spot for a vacation. It was a pity that's not what we were here for.

  It very quickly became apparent we were going to be transported to our destination by boat. Not a nice yacht. No, that would be too easy. Two long canoes, decorated with flowers and each with an oarsman, pulled up to the beach near us.

  Sophia grabbed Tristam's hand and ran to the nearest one, eager to secure her seat at the front. It was fine by me. I'd rather be behind the pair of them anyway. That way, they wouldn't be able to stab me in the back on the way there. Tristam, ever the gentleman, took the front spot leaving a pouting Sophia to take the second seat.

  I looked at Orin and shrugged. We were really going to have to do this. He took my hand the way Sophia had taken Tristam’s, but when we were at the boat, he helped me into the third seat before taking the fourth and final place himself, our oarsman behind him. With a little shove from the FFR staff on the beach, both boats were off. I peeked a look at the other team. None of them seemed any happier that we were heading out into the open water, and Dulcina, at the front, looked positively green. Water was obviously not her element.

  At least, seasickness was not something I had to worry about. Sophia lounged back in the small canoe and lifted her legs over the side, trailing them in the water. She posed herself like a supermodel in a perfume commercial, and I noticed all the camera crews in their motorized boat were filming her. Even Ben seemed to have his camera trained on her sultry profile, tilted to soak up the sun.

  My mind was coming up with so many possibilities for what was about to come next that it was almost a relief when we got to our destination and docked against a small wooden platform of about ten square feet. The other team had been taken to an identical platform about a hundred yards from where we were.

  The oarsman helped Orin out and then held his hand down to me. I was surprised to find that he wasn't human, but some strange aquatic faerie with luminescent blue scales covering his skin. I needed to pay better attention to my surroundings. Being stuck in my head was going to be no help during the next leg.

  I stepped onto the platform beside Orin and waited for the other two to join us.

  As soon as Tristam was on deck, the oarsman dropped a shimmering clam on the boards next to him, jumped back into the boat, and began to row away. We were well and truly stuck with no land nearby. There was only one direction we could realistically go.

  I peered into the murky depths, hoping to see something, but the sea was cloudy, and I couldn't make out anything.

  I pulled out the small vial I'd been keeping safe since the Sorcery Trial. The two pearls inside looked so ordinary that I couldn't see how they would help us at all. Tristam picked up the clam and then pulled out a similar vial and passed one of the pearls to Sophia.

  Theirs were different from the ones Orin and I had been given. Where ours were small and white and insignificant, theirs were larger with a beautiful pink sheen.

  “I think we swallow these,” Tristam announced, popping one into his mouth, followed quickly by Sophia.

  Almost immediately, I saw the change in them. Sophia's face contorted into a look of anguished shock, and she fell to the platform, gasping for air, her teeth bared in pain. Her wetsuit split at the seams, and her beautiful legs grew scales, suctioning together until they formed a tail. Holy crap, Sophia was a mermaid.

  The charge of magic dissipated, and Sophia pushed herself up to a seat, her face pale. Her shock seemed to drain away as she regarded her new tail, flipping it with a grin. She dangled her fins into the water and waved at the boat of camera people who lapped it up. “Mermaids are so on trend right now,” she purred, before slipping majestically into the water and disappearing below the surface.

  Tristam had followed suit and now sported a similar tail. He also gave a wave and dove head first into the dark water.

  “After you,” I said, popping the pearl in Orin's hand. He threw it back into his mouth and swallowed. I popped mine in my mouth, and as it traveled down my esophagus, I waited for my transformation. I didn’t really want to be a mermaid, but I’d be damned if I let Sophia and Tristam show us up.

  Pain snaked through my body, hot and sharp, seizing my lungs. I looked down at my legs, but my body remained the same at it always was. “What's happening?” I croaked in horror as my throat began to close.

  “Quick, get into the water.” Orin placed a firm hand on my back, pushing me into the sea. I made a huge splash with my belly flop. It was hardly the graceful dive Sophia had completed, and I was sure the camer
as had caught that too. But, oh, sweet relief. I could breathe again. I expanded my lungs, and water flooded my mouth, causing me to choke. I could breathe underwater, but barely. The effort just to keep oxygen flowing was immense.

  Anger flooded through me. Why had Tristam and Sophia turned into merfolk while Orin and I looked like a couple of flounders out of water? At least, it was calm under the surface, and I could see slightly better. I floated, enjoying the serenity that only being underwater could bring.

  “Cheating rat bastard,” Orin cut through my moment of peace. His voice was strong but distorted under the water. We were both in our human form. No pretty mermaid tails for us.

  “I should have known when I saw the pearls,” he continued. “Did you see them?”

  I nodded. They were hard to miss. “Tristam managed to screw us over before we even started.”

  I thought back to the person who'd given me the pearls. It hadn't been Tristam, and the ones Orin and I had swallowed had been in my possession the whole time. “Actually I don't think it was Tristam,” I began.

  Orin looked at me, incredulously. His dark hair floated about his head like a wavy halo. “Please tell me that you aren't sticking up for that pretty boy? Not after everything that he's done to us.”

  I shook my head, keen to dispel that particular thought. “It was the king who gave me the pearls. They looked that way right from the start. They were never large and pink like Tristam and Sophia's.”

  Orin's eyes widened even further, giving him the appearance of a startled guppy. “You think the king is trying to sabotage us?”

  I thought back to Zee and Genevieve's rings that didn't work in the first leg of the race and the refusal to give me a replacement. If anything happened to me, I was a goner.

  “Maybe. It wouldn't be the first time.”

  I was about to say more, but a large splash told me that we were no longer alone. Ben waved at us from a little underwater submersible that just enveloped his body.