I don’t respond. I’m too overcome with worry for each man about to step through a portal, possibly to his death.
With a flick of my fingers, I release the ribbon of darkness coiled between my palms. It leaps off the edge of the balcony, sliding silently across stone and air until it reaches the courtyard and attaches itself to Koen’s shadow.
It’s risky to use my shadow magic like this in front of so many, but the weave was subtle. I only needed one thread, oneeye tethered to him.
Something had changed in him. He’d seemed distracted at breakfast yesterday. Quiet, almost distant. It wasn’t just nerves. I know nerves. This is something else.
The way he talked to me…I deserved it. I know I did. But it still hurtmore than I would care to admit.
My mother is wrapping up now. “You will each be given the same supplies: a small pack with rations, a magically imbued waterskin that is capable of cleansing any source of water, and a single parchment map marked with the portal’s destination. Beyond this, you must rely on your strength, wit, and endurance. The land is unpredictable, as are the creatures that still inhabit it.”
Guards hand out the supplies, then step back again, and the pixies begin to drift forward—six of them again, though two remain hovering off to the side. One has its eyes downcast, as if in mourning for Aleric, who had not returned from the catacombs.
Four portals shimmer open in the courtyard.
Torin steps up beside Koen and leans in close to murmur something. I can’t make out the words, but Koen nods once, jaw set tight. I’ve never seen him look quite so serious.
Then he’s gone. Stepping through the veil of light and into whatever dangers lay beyond it.
One by one, the others follow. The last to go is Lioran, who flashes a confident grin up to me before vanishing into the unknown.
As the courtyard empties and the portals collapse into sparks, I let out a slow exhale.
Closing my eyes, I let my awareness drift until I feel his, carried by wind and darkness. A man who had once been just another candidate. Now, I don’t know what he is.
I onlyneed to know why he makes me feel so damn much.
------------? ? ?? ?------------
Koen
The portal spits me out into knee-deep, murky water that reeks of brine and rot.
I stumble forward a few steps, my boots sink slightly into the soft, muddy ground beneath the water. The horizon around me is fractured, a broken, gray sky stretches over half-submergedruins and clusters of jagged, moss-coveredstones. No trees. No hills. Just endless, stagnant water broken up by scattered isles of crumbling stone and sickly grass.
My map is rolled tight and tucked into my satchel, pressed against my side. My waterskin thumps lightly at my hip. This is all I have.
Click. Click. Clickclickclick.
My head snaps toward the sound. I look left, then right. Nothing. Just rippling water.
The clicking comes again, faster and closer. The water to my right explodes.
I barely get my arms up in time to shield my face as something lunges from the surface, with sharp legs. I catch only a glimpse of chitin, black eyes, and a needle-thin stinger poised to strike. Then it’s gone again, diving beneath the surface with barely a ripple.
“Shit,” I breathe.
I reach for my sword, drawing it in one smooth motion, trying to steady my breathing. “Scorpion. Giant scorpion. That’s new.”
Click. Clickclickclick.
Behind me.
I whirl, blade ready, but again it vanishes, diving before I can get close.
“Coward,” I mutter. My hands are sweating as I grip the hilt almost too tightly. My moves are slower now. I circle, trying to listen. Every splash of water I make seems deafening.
It lunges again, this time from directly in front, and I manage to slash it across its side. My blade scrapes shell, causing sparks.
