Chapter Forty-Three
Bechora
We gathered in mine and Shadrie’s dorm room again that evening.
We’d all survived, but the mood was more somber than the evening before.
Even Zypher lacked his usual cheer after whatever he’d faced in the upper-classmen’s trial.
None of us could bear to share what we’d experienced, each of us too lost in the haunting memories of what we’d survived.
Zypher and Gabriel joined me in my bed again that night.
We clung to each other as if we could survive the next two days by force of will alone.
“A package came for you,” Shadrie mumbled when we finally stumbled out of my room the next morning.
Zephyr and Gabriel followed close behind as I moved to the counter where she’d left the package.
It was wrapped the same as every other gift I’d received throughout the term, but my demon mate’s presence was enough to tell me it hadn’t been sent by him.
My hands trembled as I opened the small box, realization washing through me that if he hadn’t sent this one, he hadn’t sent any of the others either.
Inside sat several small vials of liquid, but there wasn’t a note to tell me who my secret benefactor was.
“Someone is helping you, Dilectus,” Zypher said softly.
My brows dipped as I frowned. “What do you mean?”
Gabriel gently nudged me aside and peered into the box.
“He’s right. These each have a specific purpose.
” He lifted a vial of deep green liquid from the box.
“This is meant to mimic earth magic in people who don’t have access to it.
Based on the coloring, it’s quite strong, too.
If you use this, you should be able to control earth magic for hours and with the strength of a natural wielder.
” He gently set the vial aside and pulled another one free.
This one was a milky white substance with a slight shimmer. “This is called Obscuration powder.”
“But it’s a liquid,” I interjected.
“Only until it’s exposed to the air,” Zypher offered in explanation. “The moment you uncork that vial, it becomes a powder that will temporarily hide you from sight.”
Gabriel nodded as he continued to remove vials from the box. “Ice magic, storm magic, speed. Someone has provided you with tools to give you a leg up in today’s trial.”
“We don’t even know what it is; how could someone possibly know what I’d need to help me?”
Gabriel shrugged, and Zypher shook his head.
Shadrie cleared her throat and pushed my mates out of the way to study the vials lined up on our counter.
“It has to be someone on staff,” she said.
“That’s the only way they’d know how to help in advance.
” I looked at her in disbelief, opening my mouth to argue, but she held up a hand, silencing me.
“I know it doesn’t make sense, B, but you should still stick these in your pockets just in case. ”
The look on her face didn’t leave room for argument, and I grabbed the vials, putting them in the pockets of the sweats I'd put on before leaving my bedroom. I’d decided the moment I opened my eyes that if I were going to die today, I was going to go out comfortable.
Nobody said another word as we left our dorm in a slow, fragile procession and headed to the dining hall.
The tables were packed tighter than usual.
Everywhere I looked, students sat in clusters, some with a dazed, empty expression on their faces, others crying softly.
Zypher led us to our normal table before he and Gabriel headed for the buffet line to gather our meal.
They’d barely returned, setting the plates in front of us as Professor Snowthistle flitted into the hall.
Her face was drawn as she made her way to the front of the space.
She didn’t have to call for quiet. Everyone’s attention had gone to her the second she arrived, only the occasional sob or sniffle breaking the heavy silence.
With a sad look, she cleared her throat and began calling off the names of the students who hadn’t survived the first trial.
My stomach lurched, my food turning to ash on my tongue.
I tried to force another bite down, and it threatened to come back up, so I pushed my plate away.
Shadrie’s hand gripped my arm, her nails digging deeper into my skin with each name called.
I counted them all, seventy-three students lost by the time the last name was called.
When we were dismissed, the movement toward our assigned meeting points for Trial Two felt like a march.
No one laughed, no one joked. Zypher wrapped his arms around me before he had to split off toward the Third Year meeting point.
I had the overwhelming urge to cling to him, as if keeping him here a moment longer could keep him from whatever he would face in his own trial.
The thought of losing him had silent tears spilling over my lashes.
“Do not fear for me, Dilectus,” he murmured, pulling back and swiping tears from my cheeks with his thumbs. “We will endure.”
He looked over my head at Gabriel before stepping back. My vampire mate took Zypher’s place as the demon turned and strode away. Gabriel’s hand slipped into mine with a reassuring squeeze, and he led me in the direction of the cathedral.
The space was eerily silent for the number of students sitting in the pews.
The heavy oak doors boomed shut behind us, and the air inside the cathedral tasted of ozone and smoke, as though it already carried a warning.
Dean Femirea stood on the dais once more; her hands folded loosely in front of her as her eyes scanned over us.
When she spoke, her voice filled every corner of the room.
“First Years,” she began, her emerald eyes sweeping over us.
“You have survived the Labyrinth of Shadows. Now you will face the second trial: the Elemental Trial. You will be cast into a pocket realm of shifting terrains and volatile magic. For one hour, you will endure. Survive the threats the elements place in your path, and you will be permitted to return. Fail, and you will not.” Her lips curved faintly, though the expression didn’t reach her eyes.
“It will be up to each of you whether you aid one another or not.”
A ripple of unease passed through the pews.
Someone whimpered; another muttered a hurried prayer.
Gabriel’s hand was steady in mine, though I felt the faint tremor beneath his skin.
Shadrie and I shared a glance before turning our attention to Miles.
Words weren’t needed to know that whatever waited for us in the pocket realm, we’d face it together.
Femirea raised her hand, and the dais split open to reveal another portal. “Step forward when your name is called. The trial awaits.”
Names began to echo through the cathedral, each student stepping forward and dropping into the portal swirling in the raised floor.
Some strode forward with their head held high, confidence radiating off them.
Others dragged their feet as if the few seconds of delay could save them from their fate.
None refused, the portal swallowing them whole.
When my name rang out, Gabriel released my hand reluctantly, his gaze burning into me.
“Stay alive long enough for me to find you,” he murmured. I nodded, steeling my spine before marching forward and dropping into the waiting portal.
The world slammed into me with a force that knocked my breath from my lungs.
I staggered onto rough stone, jagged cliffs rising all around me.
The air was thin, sharp, and laced with the scent of lightning.
From somewhere far below me, the sounds of waves crashing against the unseen shore pounded out with a fury that echoed like war drums. I barely had time to find my footing before the wind howled, whipping hard enough to nearly hurl me over the edge.
My hair ripped across my face, stinging my eyes.
A sharp crack split the air as lightning cleaved the ground a few feet away, shattering rock and sending sparks skittering like living fire.
Heart hammering, I stumbled back. My hand brushed the vials hidden in my pocket. Someone prepared me for this.
I forced myself to remain steady and scanned the horizon.
The realm around me seemed endless, with different terrain just barely visible in the distance.
There weren’t any sounds of life, and it only took me a moment to realize that wherever I had landed, I was completely alone.
The air crackled again, my hair raising on end as the scent of ozone thickened around me.
I needed to find shelter, somewhere to hide from the violent elements.
I reached for my well of power and grabbed the strength I’d copied from Gabriel, coaxing it into my limbs as my eyes searched for a way down from the cliff I’d landed on.
Hidden among the shrubbery to my left, a dirt path beckoned me forward.
It took all my focus to hold the magical strength in my limbs as I picked my way down the rocky cliffside.
Rocks skittered off the sharp face of it under my feet as I moved.
I was nearly halfway down, sweat dripping down my back and between my breasts, when the temperature suddenly shifted.