I went first so that I could take the brunt of whatever might be waiting below. We walked in silence and I strained to listen, to hear if there was something waiting for us.
Io whispered, “Which goddesses do you think have created tests?”
I shushed her. I didn’t want to think about that—I needed to be ready for whatever was coming. I also really hoped that the trial of water and trial of aether weren’t in this cave.
At the base of the stairs, there was a door with a sign:
Bravery
I spoke the word for my sisters who couldn’t read.
“That can’t be good,” Io said. “A trial or test that’s going to require us to show our bravery.”
Like being sucked into the earth or nearly tossed into a ravine hadn’t been trial enough of my bravery.
“Ready?” I asked.
The others nodded and I opened the door. There was a large room, but it was completely dark. We walked in and I kept my sword out.
“Do you see anything?” Ahyana said.
When we were all inside, the door slammed itself shut. I felt Zalira moving next to me and heard her grunt.
“The door is locked. I can’t get it open,” she said.
That had been our only source of light.
“We should have brought a torch with us,” Io said.
A light flickered at the far end of the room. A tiny spark.
“Is anyone there?” I called out.
The flame floated in the air. It turned into two flames. Then four. And eight. It kept doubling and doubling.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Zalira said.
The flames combined to form a giant wall of flame, filling all the space in front of us.
“Lia can go through it, and then we’ll see what happens,” Ahyana said.
“Did we all just see the same thing?” I asked. “That is not a normal fire. What if it’s a magic fire that can burn me?”
“Magic fire? That doesn’t make sense,” Zalira said.
“None of this makes any sense,” I told her.
Ahyana took a step back. “It feels like a real fire.”
She was right. The room had become exceedingly hot. Almost like we were standing in an oven.
“Could you call a storm down here?” I asked Zalira. “Put the fire out?”
“Let me try. Dea Maimaktes.” She waited and then shook her head. “Nothing’s happening.”
“I know which story this is!” Io said, and we all turned toward her. “Maia told me this tale once where Dea thanked human hosts for taking her in and sheltering her by putting their infant son in a fire.”
“What?” Ahyana asked.
