Chapter 27 Masika
MASIKA
A heaviness followed the group on their third day trekking through purgatory.
Masika sensed it with every step. Not only were they approaching the third and final key—according to the map they’d discovered after revealing their innermost truths—but they had also begun to venture eerily close to Blackwood.
The school’s perimeter wasn’t far…perhaps less than a day’s hike away.
Masika swore she could even feel it. It was something in her chest. A knowing pull in the core of her soul.
Come back, something seemed to whisper inside her. Come back to us.
“Seems a bit odd, doesn’t it?” Dina remarked, pulling Masika’s focus.
The silver-haired girl spun one of her many daggers between her fingers.
“You know, hiding his soul so close to Blackwood. Every key we find takes us closer and closer to the school’s perimeter.
You’d figure the True Headmaster would have hidden the damn thing as far away from Silas as possible. ”
“It doesn’t really matter where it’s hidden,” Catherine reminded her. “No keys? No access.”
“Yeah, obviously, but…” Dina shrugged. “I don’t know. Doesn’t seem like an entirely logical plan.”
Analisa hummed knowingly, staring up at the canopy of trees above them. “Sometimes logic is hidden beneath chaos.”
Dina rolled her eyes. “Whatever. My point still stands.”
“We’re not far,” Catherine muttered under her breath, staring down at the map in her hands. “It shouldn’t be too much longer.”
“What do you think happens once we have all three keys?” Emilio asked. He had Benji cradled in his arms, and the little creature was staring up at Emilio with adoration in his beady red eyes.
“Well, clearly we’re going to use them to unlock something,” Dina mumbled. “Perhaps his resting place requires the keys.”
“Or maybe he’s sending us on this wild-goose chase for a good laugh.” Olivier sighed, kicking a pebble in his path.
“Always the optimist,” Masika muttered, elbowing Olivier in the ribs.
The boy winced, offering her a shrug. Although his relationship with Emilio had finally blossomed, Masika couldn’t help but notice a slight strain in Olivier’s face.
A palpable concern. She supposed she couldn’t blame him—given the dwindling countdown that had begun in his mind.
“You okay?”
Olivier chuckled hoarsely. “Define okay.”
“He could help you,” she whispered. “The True Headmaster. If anyone can…it has to be him.”
Olivier offered her a tight-lipped smile. “I suppose we’ll see.”
Masika sighed. She was seconds away from making what she hoped would be another encouraging comment when Emilio’s voice cut in, echoing just behind the group.
“Uh…guys.”
Masika whirled on her heels, eyes skating over to where the other boy was looking, and something in her chest surged.
The others saw it too. A glowing path had appeared in front of Emilio, like speckles of starlight glittering upon the dirt floor.
It was leading them northeast, deeper into the woods.
Analisa walked over to Emilio and bent down. She dug her fingernails into the dirt, the glittering starlight twinkling in her palm.
“Fascinating,” she muttered. “It feels…warm.”
“Should we follow it?” Olivier asked, tentatively approaching the glowing path.
Dina shook her head. “We should follow the map. We have the map for a reason.”
“Hold on.” Catherine glanced down at the map and then back up to Emilio. She furrowed her brows, clearly piecing something together in her mind. “How did…I don’t understand…”
“What is it?” Masika asked, approaching Catherine.
The other girl shook her head in disbelief. “I swear this wasn’t here before.”
Catherine angled the map toward her, and Masika saw what the other girl must be referring to. A glowing yellow light now emanated from the map, the same trail that Emilio had discovered reflected upon the map’s illustration.
“It wants us to follow the path,” Masika whispered. She looked up to find Catherine staring at her intently.
“I think so.”
“Well.” Dina let out a weighted sigh. “Following a mysterious glowing path would not be my first choice—but screw it.”
Catherine continued to stare at Masika, as if weighing her options.
Masika shrugged.
“Screw it?”
Catherine sighed.
“Screw it.”
They followed the path for what felt like hours.
And given the darkening sky stretching out before them, Masika assumed it truly had been hours.
She watched as the familiar silver glow of Blackwood washed over the horizon, thin ribbons of mist gliding beneath her feet.
They had to be close to Blackwood. Dangerously close.
Masika nervously drummed her fingers at her sides, willing her body to ignore the strange pull that seemed to be coming from the north, guiding her back toward Blackwood.
Luckily, it was at that same moment that something in the path began to change. The glowing speckles of light widened, veering suddenly right. Catherine’s eyes narrowed as she picked up speed and followed the path’s new direction, while the others struggled to keep up.
“What’s happening?” Emilio asked, scurrying forward.
“Something in the path is changing,” Analisa muttered, inspecting the path with wide, curious eyes.
“Hurry!” Dina exclaimed, ushering the rest of the group forward.
They trailed the glowing speckles of light, practically running as the path widened and widened—until finally…
The group came to a sudden halt.
Emilio cocked his head. “A door.”
The glowing path had abruptly stopped. What lay before them now was a door embedded in the ground, almost like the entrance to a cellar. Without hesitating, Catherine placed her hand upon the doorknob and twisted, opening it with a flourish. There were stairs inside, steps descending into darkness.
Catherine lit a small flame at the base of her palm, igniting the air in a faint orange glow, and turned to face the group. “Stay close.”
They ventured forward, slow and cautious.
There was no telling what was waiting for them below in the darkness.
Each key had come with its fair share of danger, and Masika could only imagine that the final key would be no different.
If anything, a part of her feared that the final key might pose an extra challenge—one that, perhaps, they would fail.
But as they reached the bottom of the stairs, entering a small circular room comprised of stone walls and nothing else, confusion settled upon Masika. Because what waited for them at the bottom was no monster or beast or terrifying test. It was far simpler—and far more confusing.
Standing on the other side of the room, a third key tucked in its mouth, was a fox.
Instantly, Benji let out a deep and guttural growl, squirming in Emilio’s arms. Emilio did his best to comfort the little creature, shielding him from the fox’s line of sight.
But the fox didn’t seem at all disturbed by Benji’s obvious disdain, nor did it seem to care much about the group’s presence.
It simply watched them.
Waiting.
“Are you kidding?” Dina barked, gesturing toward the fox with a wave of her hand. “I don’t get it. Are we supposed to just walk up and take it?”
Olivier snorted. “I doubt it’ll be that easy.”
Dina raised a brow at Olivier in a silent challenge. And before anybody could dissuade her, the silver-haired girl gave a determined nod and charged forward, straight toward the fox.
But Olivier had been right.
One moment Dina was standing in front of the fox, hand outstretched toward the key, and the next she was doubling over in pain, a broken cry erupting from her throat.
Catherine’s eyes widened and she instinctively jolted forward, but when she reached Dina’s side, her own face contorted in agony, knees buckling as she clutched her head.
Masika felt her body move, but Catherine extended her hand before Masika could close the distance between them.
“Don’t—move.” Catherine gritted her teeth.
She slowly peeled her eyes away from Masika, seemingly using all her strength to grip Dina by the collar and yank her backward.
The second the pair fell a few feet away from the fox, whatever pain had been coursing through them seemingly vanished, and their faces instantly relaxed.
“What…the hell…was that?” Dina asked through labored breaths. She fought to right herself, swaying as she found her footing.
“It must have some sort of defensive barrier,” Analisa commented, inspecting the fox from a distance. “Though I’ve never seen one quite like that before. Defensive barriers usually limit mobility, not cause pain.”
“Well,” Dina huffed. “That thing caused pain, all right. I thought I was dying all over again.”
Catherine winced. A sweat-slicked strand of hair clung to her forehead, and Masika resisted the urge to brush it back.
“That must be the final test,” Catherine muttered, panting. “Find a way to pass through the defensive barrier and take the key.”
Masika eyed her carefully. “Are you okay?” she whispered.
Catherine gave a feeble nod. “I’ll be fine.”
“Well, how the hell are we supposed to dismantle a defensive barrier we’ve never encountered before?
” Olivier asked, exasperated. He pointed at Analisa.
“You! You’re a healer! Can’t you do one of your—” Olivier wiggled his fingers, making what Masika assumed was a poor attempt at re-creating one of Analisa’s famous healing spells.
Analisa sighed. “No. That’s not how this works.”
The others began to argue back and forth, different theories and ideas being hurled left and right, but Masika could barely hear them. As the room exploded into arguments, Masika felt something stir inside her.
It started at the base of her spine. A faint call. A strange awareness. Masika wondered at first if it was her own voice—her subconscious whispering to her in the back of her mind. But the longer she listened to it, the more she realized that it wasn’t her, but someone else.
Something else.
A voice.
Closer.