Chi grabbed her wrist and stopped her. “Maybe you should give him some time alone.”
Allyra smiled tightly and gently extracted her wrist. “Might as well get it over and done with. I get the impression that he’s not going to cool off anytime soon.”
“Work together!” Adriana called out as Allyra walked away. “And don’t die.”
They were good words to live by…
* * *
The Council Chamber was a smaller version of the Great Hall at the Elemental College. It was dominated by an ancient and majestic oak tree at the back of the room, clearly a Gate into the Between. Other than special circumstances, such as The Five Finals or when she’d fallen into the Between, the Council would only meet once every year. And the meeting place for this annual gathering would be the Council Chamber here at the Training Grounds. It was considered to be neutral ground, away from the Great Colleges over which the individual Council members presided.
Jason hadn’t spoken to her all night, and now, some twelve hours since the challenge had been issued, his rage was undiminished. He stood next to her, his jaw still clenched in anger, and a dangerous type of silent intensity had taken hold deep within his dark eyes.
A wide array of weapons had been laid out for them, and Marcus gestured casually for them to take their pick.
Just as they had done in the Final Trial, both she and Jason chose twin swords. The swords were held in a leather baldric, identical to the one she’d worn while training with Alex in the Between. The leather felt warm and familiar as she swung it over her shoulders and started to strap it on. It was only when her fingers fumbled over the straps that she realized how nervous she truly was. She looked down at her fingers and the almost imperceptible tremor that ran through them.
Hydrogen. Helium. Lithium…
The periodic table tumbled through her mind, element after element cascading over each other as she willed the anxiety away. She would not fall at this first hurdle.
Iron. Cobalt. Nickel. Copper…
Jason turned to her, his leather baldric already strapped firmly across his chest. Impatiently, he brushed her fingers away. His touch was cool and steady, and his deft fingers did up the straps swiftly.
Allyra looked up and met his eyes. They had not lost any of their intensity, but his fury had burned down to something much more dangerous—diamond-hard determination.
“We’re going to win this,” he said with steely belief.
It wasn’t a question, but Allyra nodded nonetheless, her anxiety washed away by the force of his conviction, leaving only resolve in its wake. Her mind cleared to razor-sharp clarity.
I’m ready.
I will win.
They would win.
Beside them, Don chose a two-handed sword, so large it would’ve been as tall as Allyra had she stood beside it. She smiled—Don didn’t know it yet, but a weapon that large was a poor choice for the confines of the Tunnels. Clara chose more wisely, opting for a short, curved scimitar and a sturdy coiled whip.
Once they had all armed themselves, Marcus gestured for them to follow him. With a careless flick of his hand, Marcus opened a stone slab on the floor. It slid open soundlessly, and she followed the Council into a spiral walkway down toward the Tunnels.
As she stepped into the walkway, Allyra took one last look around the Council Chamber. For a second, she saw Alex, or at least a memory of Alex, watching her go. His expression was unreadable, but this time he didn’t look away.
She was jolted from the memory as Don crashed into her.
“Move!” he growled.
Allyra forced herself to walk on. There were memories here, and Allyra resolved to come back for them, but right now, it was time to face the challenge.
The spiral walkway ended in a square room, one with a doorway into the Tunnels. As had been the case at the Elemental College, the doorway to the Tunnels was simply an inky darkness formed into the shape of an arched door by a tangle of tree roots. And standing before this door, Marcus made his final announcement.
“Each pair will walk in together. As the challengers, Don and Clara will have the advantage of going in first. Allyra and Jason will then follow. The first pair back wins, and you have three hours, after which both pairs will be eliminated. Good luck.”
Marcus curled his lips into some sinister mix between a grin and a sneer. “And remember—you won’t remember.”
With little fanfare, Don and Clara disappeared through the doorway together, the darkness seeming to reach out and swallow them whole.
And then it was their turn.
Jason and Allyra offered their hands to the waiting Sentinel. With her mind filled only with thoughts of the challenge ahead, she barely felt the twist of the Sentinel’s blade against the palm of her hand. Once the Sentinel bowed its acquiescence to allow them through, Allyra glanced at Jason and gave him a tight nod. Without a word, he took hold of her hand, and for perhaps the first time since arriving at the Training Grounds, Allyra felt as if she and Jason were working toward the same goal. Side by side, they stepped into the darkness.
For a moment, Allyra was enveloped by the comforting, infinite brightness of the Source; it extended around her and beyond her in every direction, intact and pure.
Words flashed before her eyes, seared into the back of her eyelids, written in flame and fury.
Trust only the Gift
And then, she was through—into the heavy, suffocating darkness of the Tunnels.
* * *
The Tunnels were exactly as she’d remembered from the Second Trial—dark and narrow with barely enough light to see even one step ahead. But for Jason, or anyone
