“I’m trying not to believe in it,” Seth said.
“So am I,” Merek said.
“It’s still there,” Seth observed. “You’ve gotten past it before?”
“I did so alone,” Merek said. “I pressed against the rocks, disbelieving them, until they yielded. I know of no other way.”
“Should I leave?” Seth asked.
“Just retreat around the corner,” Merek said. “Count to a hundred. When you look again, if I’m gone, I’ll be waiting for you on the other side.”
“All right,” Seth said.
Seth walked several paces along the hall and went around the corner. He stood with his back to a wall and started counting. He kept the pace slow, whispering the numbers and resisting the urge to count by fives.
What would happen if he looked too early? What if Merek was partway through the wall, Seth wondered—could he think it into existence, trapping Merek or even killing him?
Seth took the nineties extra slow just in case. Then he listened, hearing nothing. A quick peek around the corner revealed an empty hall.
Seth walked to the supposedly fake wall and gave it a gentle kick. It seemed undeniably tangible.
Closing his eyes, Seth imagined the wall disappearing. Eyes still shut, he held out a hand, hoping to feel nothing. When his fingers came up against cool stone, he tried not to feel disappointed.
The wall wasn’t there. He was putting it there himself. He had to really believe it.
Unless Merek had tricked him.
Seth opened his eyes. The hall extended a long way. While Seth was around the corner, Merek could have easily snuck away. And left him standing here like a sucker, trying to walk through an absolutely real wall.
Seth listened carefully. He heard no footfalls. But that was no proof—Merek could be walking quietly. Should he try to catch up to him? Was Merek’s head start already too big?
Or had Merek told the truth? Should he stay here trying to push through a stone barrier?
Reaching out with both hands, Seth pressed against the wall. The texture felt perfectly real. Why would Merek lie? He had voluntarily invited Seth along.
Seth closed his eyes again and leaned into the effort, telling himself that the stone against his palms was imaginary. He found that as he relaxed and pushed less hard, the wall began to yield. Gradually, his hands began to sink into the stone, at first like it was clay. Then it began to feel less substantial, like putty, until it became almost like liquid.
As his hands sank deeper into what had previously behaved like solid rock, something clicked inside Seth, and he knew it was an illusion. No stone wall would soften into goo under pressure.
Suddenly the wall was gone. Seth walked forward into a broad hall. When he looked back, the wall was still gone.
“Seth,” Merek called, poking his head around a corner. “I stayed away in case my mind would interfere with your efforts.”
“Was the wall gone when you looked back?” Seth asked.
“Yes, but it returned when you began to make your attempt,” Merek said. “It’s still gone now.”
“How did you ever figure that out?” Seth asked.
“I had help from a friend,” Merek said. “A master illusionist. He lost his life at the end of this hall.”
“How?” Seth asked.
“I’ll show you,” Merek said.
They advanced until the passage ended at a circular room.
“How many doors do you see?” Merek asked.
Seth counted five doors along the curved wall. “Five.”
“All of them lead to death,” Merek said. “Make a circle with your thumb and forefinger.”
Seth mimicked his okay sign.
“Peer through the circle,” Merek suggested.
“What?” Seth exclaimed. “Now there are six doors.”
“Do you see which one is visible only through the circle?” Merek asked.
Seth broke the circle, then formed it again. “Yep.”
“That is the door we want,” Merek said. “My illusionist friend died when we opened the wrong one. As the poison took hold, he experimented with several ways the right door might be hidden and figured out the trick. The door he found stole my memories.”
Seth went to the door visible through the circle. “Then our answers are behind this door. Will it take our memories again?”
“I’m not sure,” Merek said. “Better let me try.”
“I have fewer memories to lose,” Seth said, quickly turning the doorknob and pushing the door open. He stepped into the room beyond, and Merek followed.
“Are you all right?” Merek asked.
“I’m still with you,” Seth said.
A bell sat atop an ornate altar on the far side of the lavish room. Hangings made of beads decorated the walls, and fur rugs covered the ground. The altar glowed red, providing light.
They approached the altar.
“Ring the bell?” Seth asked.
“If we ring it, who knows what it might trigger?” Merek said, eyes roving the room.
“What did you do last time?” Seth asked.
“I found myself here, confused, and I wandered away,” Merek said.
“Did you ring the bell?”
Merek glanced at the altar. “No.”
Seth picked up the bell and gave it a shake.
With a flash of light and a puff of smoke, a dwarf appeared atop the altar. His forked beard was an auburn color, streaked with gray. He smiled and tossed glitter into the air.
“Congratulations!” he crowed. “You have passed the trials entitling you to learn the true Game!”
“Are you Humbuggle?” Merek asked.
The dwarf pressed his palm to his face. “Oh, no. You wasted your only question. Back to the start for you! Always listen to the rules before speaking.”
Merek stared at the dwarf in frustration.
“I’m teasing,” the dwarf said. “Yes, I’m Humbuggle. And you are Merek. And Seth remembers me, if not much else.”
“I lost many years here,” Merek said.
“Everyone loses many years here!” Humbuggle said. “At least you are making progress. And you found a new friend. I love when my Games bring people together.”
“I earned my way to this room before,” Merek said.
“But you didn’t know why you were here,” Humbuggle said. “You wandered off without ringing the bell. We provided a good life for what remained of you.”
“You’ll tell us the true Game?” Seth asked.
“Yes,” Humbuggle said. “Very few ever learn it. I could
