22. Chapter 21 #2
Three of them nodded. Ivy took a deep breath and walked in first. The walls of the small room faded to black, making way for towering hedges, a stretch of sand, and a dark expanse of water ahead.
The air was humid and earthy, as if it had rained not too long before she arrived.
Above her, the night sky with a crescent moon and glittering stars shone on a marble statue and four empty pillars in the center of the lake.
Soft thuds came from behind her when the others entered.
“Whoa,” Liam gaped, stepping forward to scan the stretch of empty beach.
“I can’t believe this was hidden here,” Maeve exclaimed. An excited smile stretched across her face as she grabbed a handful of sand. “I’ll have to ask a professor how they do it. Must be some illusion spells mixed with other forms of magic to represent each school.”
“I’m assuming we each have to get to the statue to complete the exam,” Ivy said, taking a step closer to the water’s edge.
Ezra’s magic reached out, wrapping itself around her as if to hold her back. “It’s too simple. I can’t imagine we’ll beat this with a long-distance swim. Besides, only two people were wet.”
“I didn’t say it was easy. But there’s nothing else around.” She turned to face him and propped her hands on her hips. “Unless you can make any sense of this?”
“The water is wrong,” Maeve mumbled, studying it as she stepped closer. “It’s completely still; not even the shoreline is moving. The moon’s gravity controls movement in the ocean…but it’s having no effect in here.”
“Hard to tell where the beach ends,” Liam said. “If there’s something along the shore to help us, it would probably be close.”
“Fine, water it is,” Ezra said. He took a step forward, and as soon as he touched the water, a violent wind whirled around them. The ocean raged, its disturbed waves crashing against the beach and getting their feet wet. The group jumped back to avoid being pulled in by the force.
“Oh, that’s…interesting,” Maeve said, squinting at the sky. Ivy followed her gaze, and the crescent moon had transformed into a full moon. But stranger were the seven new moons stretching out next to it, each with the thinnest outline of light around them.
“Interesting as in bad?” Ezra asked as he stepped farther back onto the beach.
Liam adjusted the bag on his shoulder. “When has having multiple moons ever been a good thing?”
“Could be the timer,” Maeve said. The next moon slowly grew into a waning crescent, and as it did, the waves thrashed harder and lapped farther up the sand. “Okay, not just a timer.”
The ground beneath them rumbled, and Ivy leaped to the side as the sand parted beneath her feet.
A stone platform rose from the ground where she was standing, grinding loudly as it came to a stop just above her head.
More grew out of the sand, rising like steps leading to a long, narrow bridge over the water to the statue.
“What do you think these are for?” Liam asked. She looked to where they had entered and saw a stone table rise from the sand. Four glass orbs, their insides sloshing with water, sat on it.
“Probably to carry across to the statue,” Ezra said, grabbing one of them. “There are the same number of pillars.”
Sweat beaded at her temples as nausea flooded her stomach. She focused back on the lake, following the row of stone platforms ascending above the wild waters. Thunder rolled in the sky, and her hands shook.
“Do we all have to cross?” Ivy asked, the words barely leaving her mouth as she approached the orbs. She swallowed roughly, trying to push down her urge to vomit.
“I’m not sure,” Ezra said. He tucked the orb he had already grabbed in one arm and went to grab another, but it wouldn’t budge from the table.
Shit.
“Put them in your bags,” Maeve said, grabbing an orb from the table and securing it in her backpack before turning back to the water. “It looks like these platforms can fit only one person at a time, so it’s probably best to have our hands free.”
“Good thinking,” Liam said, grabbing the third orb.
Ivy stepped closer to the table, her hands trembling as she reached for the orb.
“Hey, are you alright? You look like you’re going to be sick,” Ezra whispered
She scoffed. “Thanks.”
“I didn’t mean it like th—”
“I’m okay,” she muttered, snatching the orb. Once the last one was taken, the table slipped back beneath the sand. “Let’s just get this over with.”
Once each of them had the orbs secured, they turned back to the water, and the crescent moon was inching closer to a last quarter moon.
“Any takers for who goes first?” Maeve asked.
The group was silent until Liam stepped forward. “I suppose I’ll give it a go.”
“I’ll go next,” Maeve said.
Ezra placed his hand on Ivy’s shoulder. “You should go next, and I’ll take the back.”
“No,” Ivy blurted out. She cleared her throat as the others noticed her trepidation. “I mean…I’m the shortest. I don’t want to slow you down with my small strides.”
Ezra tilted his head, taking a step toward her. “Are you su—”
“Yes, we don’t have time to argue,” she said, shifting her attention back to the moon clock. Ezra gave her one last look before he lined up behind the others who were climbing onto the platforms over the water.
Her breath shallowed with every inch forward.
The first five or so steps she could manage.
They weren’t too high. But as she watched Liam climb higher and higher above the water, the more her heart beat out of her chest. Soon enough, she was at the first step, and her palms were drenched with sweat.
She wiped them on her pants before raising her leg high enough to put her foot on the stone.
You can do this, you can do this, she thought to herself. She tried to take a deep breath, but her chest was so tight she only managed half of one.
Every step she climbed got harder and harder.
All she could concentrate on was the next one.
The thrashing waves, the chatter ahead, all faded into the background.
By the time she reached the last step, bile lingered at back of her throat.
She grasped the ledge of the bridge, securing herself as she moved to the last step.
She wobbled as she stood, her bag throwing her off even more, and she cursed under her breath before regaining her balance. She kept her eyes straight ahead or on the sky. If she were to look down…
“We’re halfway through the third moon!” Maeve shouted from ahead. Ivy’s focus darted to the moons, squinting at how bright the area had become. “We’ve gotta move!”
They shuffled along slowly. Luckily for her, she could walk along the platform with her feet side by side rather than having to balance them one in front of the other like the others were doing.
But that didn’t help her keep pace at all.
Ivy’s heart picked up as the distance between her and Ezra became farther apart.
She was nearly a quarter of the way through when dark clouds rolled in above them, partially covering the clock they’d been relying on.
Lightning cracked in the sky, and she screamed.
Ezra glanced over his shoulder, and his brows shot up when he realized how far back she was. “Ivy!” he shouted, before scrambling over to her. “Are you okay?”
Her breathing was coming too fast, her head spun, and tears sprang up as she tried to brush it off.
But then she looked down. Fuck, why did she look down?
Her heart plunged into her stomach as she zeroed in on how far the water was.
It crashed against the stone pillars holding them, and she swore she could feel the water chipping away at the beams.
“Ivy!” Ezra called again, his hands coming to her shoulders. “Look at me.”
She shook her head. “No, no, no, I can’t do this.”
“What’s going on? Ivy, are you good?” she heard Maeve in the distance.
But she was frozen, too consumed by the water that threatened to engulf her if she fell. Then Ezra’s hand was on her cheek, pulling her chin up to draw her to him.
“Eyes on me,” he murmured. “I’ve got you.”
“It’s too h—”
He swept his thumb across her lower lip, quieting her, and her breath hitched. “Don’t think about where we are right now. Just focus on my face and move with me. Understand?”
She nodded slowly.
“Good,” he said, his thumb sliding from her lip and off her face to grab her hand instead. “We’re okay!” he shouted over his shoulder as he took a short step back, and she followed.
A few more steps, and she wasn’t feeling like she was about to pass out anymore.
She kept her eyes on Ezra, just as he had told her to.
It was the first time she’d spent so long staring at his face.
She wasn’t sure if it was her anxiety or if she was moving past all of his slights, but he was devastatingly handsome.
His curls were damp from the humidity in the air, droplets clung to the stubble lining his jaw, and the gentle curve of his lips coaxed her across the bridge, pushing away her worries.
“You’re doing good, Snapdragon,” he rasped, and his magic, that silk-like ribbon, curled around hers as they continued to move together. “We’re getting close.”
A raindrop fell on her cheek. Then another. And another. The sky opened up, sending a torrential downpour on them. Her heart raced again, and she clenched her jaw as she tried to follow his instructions.
“Shit!” Liam cursed. Ivy broke her focus away from Ezra, noticing that they had caught up with them. God, they were barely halfway across the water.
“It’s getting worse,” Maeve said. “Raise your shields if you can. I’ll try to control the storm, but it’s outta contro—”