We all just had to hope we were worthy.
Chapter 22
We didn’t fall for long, and when we landed, it was in a squishy substance. The darkness was the sort where it felt like no light would ever penetrate it, and since my magic was still beyond my reach, I remained in that dark hole, wondering what the fuck was around me.
I ran my hands over the ground, noting it was both soft and firm, with a velvety coating, like you’d find on the outside of a peach. “Jessa?” I called softly, not wanting to alert anyone to our presence, but also not hearing any sound of life around me.
No reply.
“Mischa? Josephina?” I’d reached a whisper yell.
No reply again.
True unease slithered through my body. It was strong and fast, and it almost crippled me with the need to get out of here, to run and run and run until I was no longer in this place that had creepy tendrils chasing down my spine.
I fought against my panic, refusing to let hormones and instincts scare me. I was stronger than this reaction.
Like I’d just issued a challenge to the universe, whatever was affecting my central nervous system kicked up some more fear. With it came the brief thought that I was being controlled.
It was too unnatural to be anything else, but what was I supposed to do to counter it? Should I wait until something happened and react from that? Or was it a better use of my time to move through the darkness and find my way out of here?
With my mind moving in frantic, jagged thoughts, it was so hard to think rationally.
Getting out of here was appealing, but I wouldn’t leave without my friends.
Sucking up some bravery, fighting through the falsely induced panic, I shouted: “Jessa Lebron!” I was standing now, ready for the enemy to attack in the dark.
“Jess! Mischa! Josephina!” I called their names loudly, and then, like that’s all the darkness had been waiting for, everything lit up.
Bright. Blinding. Scorching my eyes until they adjusted.
Blinking, I found myself standing on a path of pure gold. It glinted without a visible flaw, so shiny that I felt like I’d slide right off it if I took a step. The darkness still lingered on the edges, leaving the path clearly defined, but I’d never been one to just blindly follow the obvious route.
I took a second to really think about what I wanted to do. All of this was a test. Now that I was out of that dark, squishy-floored room, I sensed that part was designed to see how I’d react when my fear and anxiety were ramped up while alone and vulnerable. Apparently screaming loudly for my friends had been step one.
This golden path was another test, and for the life of me I couldn’t figure out what I was supposed to do.
I took a step, bracing myself for the slide, but my foot landed firmly on the surface. Glancing down, a distorted view of my face reflected back at me, and even with the abstract nature of my reflection, I could see the tension lining my forehead.
Get it together, Maddison.I had to get it together or it’d be over before it began.
I took another step. And then another. The next step I moved right of the path, pushing the sphere of light across. The darkness receded further as I stepped to the right. Soon the lit path was so wide that it was closer to a field of gold. Joy lit up inside me, and with it came a push to take that beauty for myself. So much gold. I would be rich. Richer than anyone.
The gold is everything. The gold is strength. The gold is power.
It took me a minute to realise that was not my inner voice chanting those words at me. It felt so much like my own thoughts, and even when I shook my head to dislodge the voice, it would not abate.
No!I bit back, the same way I would have talked to Asher.Gold is not everything. It’s not even in the top ten things I love. STOP!
The chanting continued, and my hands itched to reach down and touch the beautiful path. A path I now realized was no longer smooth but littered with gold bars. Large and small, up and down the surface, piled high in some places and almost flat in others.
No!I repeated, and I jerked my hands higher.No one controls me. I don’t need gold. I need answers. I need a way to save the world.
The chanting stopped. The gold faded. The path turned to a dark gray rock and the gold bars became nothing more than stone.
All that glitters is not gold.
One final whisper of words and then the voice was gone.
