I slide my Pegasus dagger into my boot and strap my two new blades into their leather holsters, resting low against my back, just above my hips. I turn to face the mirror. My reflection stares back, serious as the grave.
The corridor stretches before me, cast in torchlight and shadow. Night presses down like a weight as we gather before the maze. The sky above is eerily clear, but the jagged peaks thatsurround the keep loom like ancient sentinels. The air smells faintly of damp stone and scorched herbs. An enormous pair of doors, threaded with ivy and moss, yawns open before us like the mouth of a beast.
Arther stands before it, cloaked in dark leather, his expression unreadable. His sharp eyes sweep over us. “Listen carefully,” he begins, voice calm but heavy. “This is your first Trial. The objective is simple: Make it out of the maze before sunrise—or survive the night.”
Beside me, Cassy takes in a sharp breath. Mariel places a steadying hand on her shoulder.
“You may help one another if you choose,” Arther continues. “But although it’s tempting to stick together… It is strongly encouraged that you face whatever you find in there alone.”
Alone?My stomach twists.
A cold gust rushes down the mountain pass, and I catch Seraphina’s smirk from the corner of my eye. Her braid gleams like polished silver. Her eyes glitter with something too eager to be fear. The wind shifts again, and the torches flicker, their flames dancing sideways.
The air thickens. The ground seems to hum beneath our feet. Cassy grips my arm, her trembling fingers digging into my skin.
Arther steps aside. “Good luck.”
The gates groan open, and vines retract like snakes. The six of us step into the dark.
The walls rise high above our heads, twisted corridors stretching in all directions, impossible to map. The hedges pulse faintly, as if breathing. The torches inside burn blue-green instead of orange, casting shadows that move even when we stand still.
At the first intersection, we pause.
“We should split up,” Seraphina says.
Mariel whips her head around. “Are you insane? That’s the opposite of what we should do.”
“No,” I say slowly, surprising them all. “She’s right. But not all of us. Two groups.”
Tension swells like a storm about to break. No one wants to be the one to say it, but we know it’s the only way to cover ground fast enough, and it’s our best shot at survival. If we all go together, we’ll all die together.
After a beat, they agree. Mariel, Cassy, and I take the left, and Seraphina, Elena, and Vivian take the right. We don’t bother with goodbyes.
It starts with a sound, a low, guttural growl that echoes through the passage like the deep shifting of the earth.
Cassy freezes. “What was that?”
Mariel doesn’t hesitate. “Run!”
The torchlight warps around us as we dash away. Behind us, something crashes through the hedge wall—a hulking shadow with gleaming eyes and rows of jagged teeth. As I round a corner, I glance back to see a wolf the size of a horse, its body stitched together from bark, bone, and bramble.
Cassy screams, and her curved dagger falls from her hands. I quickly swoop down and snatch it up. The hedge beside her comes alive, vines twisting like arms, snaring her wrists and ankles, pulling her in.
“Cassy!”
I rush forward, but Mariel is faster. She grabs a stone and strikes it against her sword, sending sparks hissing into the dry leaves. Fire erupts, forcing the vines to retreat, and Cassy collapses to the ground, coughing violently.
The beast snarls, retreating from the flames, but doesn’t leave. It circles, herding us like prey.
“Dead end!” Mariel shouts.
I spin, heart hammering, as the wolf rounds the corner, staring us down with hungry eyes. I throw Cassy’s curved blade at the beast. The metal sings as it flies through the air and embeds itself in the wolf’s shoulder, but the beast doesn’t even flinch.
A shadow catches my attention out of the corner of my eye. Above, I see a rectangular gap in the ceiling, too high to climb.
But the ground… It’s wrong. Too smooth. Too flat.
“Up is down,” I whisper.
