It didn’t take long for them to run into the first Sentinel. One moment they were jogging down a dark tunnel, Jason running his graceful fingers along the wall to guide them. The next, the tunnel was filled with the bright, ethereal light of the Sentinel.
Jason ducked beneath the Sentinel’s first slashing blow, tucking into a roll and getting back to his feet in one easy, uncomplicated move. Allyra slid her swords from the baldric and met the Sentinel’s next attack. Its sword crashed into hers with a jarring metallic clang, sending shockwaves reverberating up her arms.
Jason turned and slashed his sword through the Sentinel, but it passed through nothing but mist and light. His face registered a brief moment of shock.
“Run!” Allyra screamed at Jason. “There’s no point fighting it. We can’t hurt it.”
Allyra slid past the Sentinel and broke into a sprint, grabbing onto Jason’s sleeve as she passed him, dragging him with her. There was no winning a fight against the impervious, magical Sentinels. Fighting them was a waste of time and a great way to die. They only had one weakness—that they were rooted to one spot, and once past, they could not follow.
Soon enough, the Sentinel’s light began to fade, and Allyra glanced over her shoulder to see it standing still, watching them go. She slowed back into a steady jog.
“How did you know to run?” Jason demanded.
“You saw how your sword passed through it. Staying and fighting would have been utterly pointless.”
“Yes. But how did you know it wouldn’t follow?”
She didn’t have to do it.
She didn’t have to lie.
Jason wouldn’t remember a thing she said as soon as they left the Tunnels, but lying had almost become a second nature to her.
Allyra gave Jason a long look. “I didn’t. But what other choice did we have?”
He nodded in acceptance, and she realized that she’d become a much better liar than she’d thought. Alex would’ve been proud.
* * *
The Tunnels dictated their path, and walls moved at will, on random and unpredictable paths. At times, they had to turn around when they landed in a dead end, and at others, there was no choice but to climb. All they could do was to move as quickly as possible and hope that Don and Clara were moving slower or had been caught up by a Sentinel. There would always be an element of luck associated with the Tunnels, which could only be combatted by constantly moving forward.
A couple of hours passed by, and they’d both remained mostly unscathed; the worst of their injuries were a few cuts and scrapes from getting past the various Sentinels which appeared without warning and at random points. They were both moving at a steady jog when suddenly the walls moved again, and a huge wooden door held together with long iron slats confronted them. Fiery writing flashed before her eyes again.
Forget me at your peril, for I have lessons to teach for what is yet unwritten.
It wasn’t the first time she’d seen this door. She had been confronted by it once before, in the Second Trial, but at the time, she’d been too terrified to even think about opening it. It had happened right after she’d seen the room filled with dying Cleaners, after she’d made the promise to come back for the green-eyed Cleaner. Then, she had been running from a Revenant. But now, she felt curiosity—the type that killed cats or a Five Finals Competitor who didn’t know how to mind her own business—and she reached out for the door handle.
Jason slapped her hand away. “Are you insane?” he demanded, “We have no idea what might be behind that. And those words are obviously a warning.”
“It might be a shortcut,” she said, her words sounding unconvincing even to her own ears.
“Or it might be something that has been locked away and should remain that way,” Jason retorted. “We don’t have time for this. Let’s go.”
He was right, of course. Again.
Allyra turned from the door reluctantly. She couldn’t help the nagging feeling that this door was important.
They’d barely taken two steps when, without warning, the ground fell away from beneath her feet. Jason instinctively reached for her. He managed to grasp her hand, and for a second, they teetered before the ground tilted again and sent them both tumbling downward.
During the seemingly endless tumble, Allyra decided it was incredibly inadvisable to tumble head over heels with swords strapped to your back. Eventually, they landed with a crash, limbs tangled together and swords clashing with a metallic clang.
Allyra got to her feet gingerly, bruised and battered, but without serious injury. She offered her hand to Jason. He shot her a disdainful look, ignoring her offered help and stood, brushing himself off. He looked past her and raised his eyebrows.
“Perhaps that wasn’t such a bad thing after all,” he said lightly.
She turned to see what he was looking at.
It was the exit.
Light flooded through the doorway, and beyond it, like they were standing in a different world, were the Council members. It felt like déjà vu. Last time she’d been here, standing with the finish line within sight, had been the moment Pierre had allowed her to finish ahead of him. It was a decision that had cost him his life. But for his kindness, she would’ve been locked away in the dungeons below the Elemental College, and Pierre would’ve been alive to be here beside Jason at The Five Finals.
It was a reminder that she had much to achieve and many debts yet to pay.
“Let’s go,” she said bluntly, forcing her regrets away and
