CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Day Two of the Trials arrived, and the entire Academy was a living storm.
“Welcome to Day Two of the Aegos Trials! Yesterday, twenty-five teams fell. Today, fifty remain!” The announcer’s voice boomed, and the roar that followed shook the dome, rattling straight down into my bones.
“Today’s challenge—the Elemental Phase!”
The arena floor groaned, shifting and splitting into massive, distinct sections.
Gates rose like jagged teeth, each glowing with the iridescent wards of the elements: fire, shadow, earth, wind—and finally, water. A cold, heavy mist rolled from the Tideris gate, spreading dampness across the dirt until silver droplets clung to my skin.
“Each team will face a randomized elemental trial,” the announcer intoned. “Timed. Ruthless. Designed to test not only your magic—but your bond. Only the strongest will move on. Remember: there is no killing.”
The crowd erupted again, a wall of thunderous sound.
Beside me, Asher’s shadows curled possessively around my boots, tugging at the bond like he was staking his claim in front of the entire continent.
After nearly losing me yesterday, he had spent the night worshipping every inch of me; I still felt the shiver of it in my marrow. He leaned closer, his voice a low, dark growl against my ear.
“Breathe, darling. We’ve got this.”
Gods, my knees nearly buckled.
The bond purred so intensely it made my head swim, and when he caught my eye, he gave me a slow, knowing grin that promised even more once we were out of this pit.
I looked toward our friends standing nearby.
We had all survived Day One, but we certainly didn't look our best—bruised, soot-stained, and weary.
Ezra and Ember were already in their combat stances.
Havoc and Ruin, the twin heads of Ezra’s massive bloodhound, watched Luna with fierce protectiveness.
"They are surely mates," I whispered through the bond to Asher.
Asher assessed them, his gaze sharp.
"I hope so. I’ve never seen Ezra like this—acting like one of those damn lovesick puppies." He tapped his boot against the ground, a restless, anxious energy radiating off him.
“Do you hope we are?” I whispered. “Mates, I mean.”
His boot stilled.
His gaze snapped to mine.
Before I could blink, he grabbed my face and kissed me with a possessive, soul-deep intensity.
I melted into his arms, oblivious to everything until the crowd went absolutely feral.
“UMbrA! IGNIS! PYRESON! MADDOX!” they screamed, the names of our houses and lineages clashing in the air.
Asher pulled back just enough to grin at me, his thumb grazing my lip. “I hope that answers your question, my flame.”
The ground beneath us suddenly shuddered. The air thickened, buzzing with a localized magical pressure that made my stomach clench. Dread rose in my throat.
“Asher—” I started, but then the transport magic hit.
It yanked me out of the world. My vision shattered into a thousand jagged shards, my veins feeling stretched to the snapping point as my lungs hollowed out. It was like being dragged through the eye of a needle, every bone in my body ready to splinter under the pressure.
I almost vomited on the spot.
"Darling," Asher’s voice threaded through the bond, a mix of velvet and steel that gave me something to hold onto.
His hand clamped firmly around mine, his shadows acting as an anchor against the teleportation storm.
"Breathe for me."
If not for him, I was certain I would have come apart at the seams.
Then—impact.
Solid ground slammed into my boots with jarring force. I doubled over instantly, gagging as I clutched my stomach, my whole body trembling.
My braid fell over my shoulder as I braced my palms on my knees, fighting the vertigo.
“I hate this,” I gasped, my voice thin. “Every godsdamn time.”
The air didn't just hit me; it scorched the back of my throat. It was thick with the scent of sulfur, vibrating with a dry, blistering heat that felt like a physical weight. I forced myself to stand, my boots crunching on brittle, cooling obsidian.
We were in the Fire Realm.
Jagged pillars of red rock pierced a sky choked with ash, and all around us, rivers of molten lava hissed as they carved glowing veins through the earth.
Every few seconds, a geyser of sparks erupted from the ground, raining down like lethal fireflies.
The transition hadn't even finished settling before the first scream echoed across the volcanic plain.
To our left, through the shimmering heat haze, I saw a team of second-years from Zephyrion.
They had materialized too close to a lava vent, their white silks already smoking as they scrambled for higher ground.
Above us, the barrier dome flickered, and three names flared bright red before dissolving into smoke.
Eliminated.
“Ten minutes,” Asher said, his voice cutting through the roar of the magma. He stood tall, his shadows already boiling at his feet, desperately trying to find a purchase in a world made of light and heat.
“The announcer said ten minutes per round. We just have to hold this ground.”
“Easier said than done,” I muttered, my palms beginning to glow.
The heat of this place was fueling my magic, but I could feel the familiar pain twisting deep in my abdomen, warning me not to take too much.
A low, guttural snarl vibrated through the stone beneath our feet. Between the glowing rocks, eyes began to ignite, dozens of them, the color of dying embers.
Fire wolves.
They weren't made of fur and bone; they were creatures of living flame and hardened magma, their bodies wreathed in white-hot ash. They moved with a terrifying, fluid grace, their footfalls leaving charred pawprints on the obsidian floor.
“Aether! Zya!” I shouted.
The panthers moved into position, their black coats reflecting the orange glow of the lava.
Aether’s golden eyes were fixed on the lead wolf, his muscles coiled like a spring.
“Stay back to back, darling,” Asher commanded, his daggers sliding into his hands with a lethal click.
“The wolves are just the start. The other teams will be hunting for a way out, and in here, you’re the biggest target on the map.”
I straightened my spine, the fire in my veins singing a war song as the first wolf lunged—a blur of orange and gold.
“Let them hunt,” I rasped, my eyes turning a brilliant, dangerous white. “I’m the Princess of fire. They’re in my world now.”
Asher’s response was a low, vibrating hum of approval in my mind. He didn't just look pleased; he looked hungry.
“Gods, let your fire roar, darling,” he murmured through the bond, his silver eyes tracking the way the white-hot flames danced across my skin. Through our bond, his thoughts were a heavy, pulsing weight of desire—dark and dangerously unfiltered.
“If I could fuck you in your own domain...”
My mouth went bone-dry. The heat of the realm felt like nothing compared to the sudden, scorching spike of the bond.
I could feel his hunger, a dark tide of shadow wanting to swallow my fire whole right here in the middle of the ash and sulfur.
"Asher," I breathed, my warning undermined by the way my skin tingled under his gaze.
"Focus, firecracker," he whispered, though his grin was devastating. He hadn't moved an inch, but the air between us was electric.
"Save that heat for the wolves. For now."
The lead wolf snapped its jaws inches from my face, and I met it with a blast of pure, concentrated heat that sent it skidding back into the sulfurous fog.
The clock was ticking, and the Fire Realm was just getting warmed up.
The last fire wolf lunged, its maw a furnace of molten rock, but Asher’s shadows were faster.
He drove a silver dagger upward through its jaw, the blade exiting between its glowing eyes.
I followed with a sweep of white-hot fire that severed the creature’s connection to the realm, causing it to explode in a spray of thick, dark ichor—hot and viscous like liquid tar.
The blood hissed as it hit the obsidian floor, splattering across my face and drenching Asher’s soot-stained leathers.
I didn't care.
The adrenaline was a wild, screaming thing in my chest, and the look in his eyes—primal, possessive, and utterly wrecked—was the only thing I could see through the haze.
I lunged for him.
I grabbed the front of his jacket and kissed him ferociously, my mouth tasting of salt and smoke.
Asher let out a low, guttural sound, his arms wrapping around my waist and hoisting me up until my feet left the ground.
He crushed me against his chest, his shadows roiling around us in a protective, violent storm that defied the dying embers of the wolf pack.
The bond was a live wire, sparking with a mix of lethal triumph and the raw hunger he’d teased me with moments ago.
Above us, the light of the dome flickered as the counter began its final descent.
5...
Asher pulled back just enough to press his forehead against mine, his breath coming in jagged hitches. "You were magnificent, my flame," he rasped, his thumb smeared a streak of dark wolf blood across my cheekbone.
4...
The air around us began to hum, the familiar, nauseating pressure of transport magic starting to warp the edges of the Fire Realm.
3...
"Hold on to me," he commanded, his grip tightening until we were a single silhouette against the red horizon. "Don't let go, darling."
2...
"Never," I whispered, digging my fingers into his shoulders, bracing for the inevitable pull.
1.
"Let's go, darling," he murmured.
The world shattered. The heat of the volcanic plains vanished in a heartbeat, replaced by the violent, bone-deep ache of the warp.
I held on tight, my eyes squeezed shut, as we were dragged through the void toward the next trial.
···
The transition was a violent, bone-deep shock. The scorching sulfur of the Fire Realm was ripped away, replaced instantly by a humid, salt-heavy gale that stole the breath from my lungs.
Impact.
My boots hit soft, shifting sand. I stumbled, my arms windmilling as I fought for balance.
We weren’t on a volcanic wasteland anymore; we were standing on a tiny, tropical spit of land—a miniature island of white sand and leaning coconut trees, surrounded by a churning, midnight-blue sea.