Step, step, stop. Step, step, stop.
My skin begins to prickle, the cold losing its grip on our senses. Every limb is alight with the sensation of pin pricks as the feeling is returning to them.
The throbbing where my head hit the solid ground intensifies, and a wave of dizziness washes over me. My hand slides from Chiron’s shoulder as I drop back onto the stone steps behind me.
“Wait.” The footfalls cease. Silence engulfs the downward chasm. I pull my knees up close to me and rest my head on my arms. I’m careful to avoid my aching wound, turning my face to the side and taking slow, steady breaths in through my nose.
I have no wish to retch on these steps, but my insides roil all the same. A cool, gloveless hand soothes the side of my cheek, carefully avoiding the swollen mass at my temple.
“My love, Netta?” Chiron’s quiet words rouse me from my misery.
I open my eyes to him, reminded that it is still pitch black in the stairway.
“I’m alright, I’m just dizzy.”
His exhale is long, and his hand presses comfortingly on my cheek once more.
“Let me carry you, please?”
My chest swells. He would. The fact that I am nearly as tall as he is has no bearing on him; Chiron would take me the rest of the way down if I needed him to.
I lift my face to him, searching out his crouching form in the darkness. My lips part at the touch of his instantly. This is a quick, soft kiss, his devotion in the form of touch.
His care for me is bolstering, and I find the strength to rise with his help.
“I know that you would, but I am well. Let us continue.”
I place my hands back on Chiron’s shoulders now, and Wren resumes our blind descent.
No more than a few minutes pass when we take a curve in the endless spiral, and a soft glow appears in front of us. It feels bright against my closed eyelids, unaccustomed as we have become to the light. I blink my eyes rapidly, trying to acclimate as our feet land on the first smooth stones of the cavern.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Vonetta
All around us, rock formations rise from the earthen floor of the great cave. That this even exists is a feat I can only attribute to the Gods themselves. Great gaping holes cast blinding light into the space, painting shadows over the reds and oranges in hues both bright and dark.
The floor drops off in places, so deep into the space that you can see nothing but black in its depths and the steam that rises out of them. The air is considerably warmer down here. I feel truly as if we have stepped down into another world. Wren turns in fascination, inspecting every inch of the great cave.
Chiron walks ahead of us, staring out in front of him, shoulders squared. I follow him there, reaching his side. There is a path leading farther into the cavern, so far that I cannot see the end. The stone floor is hollowed out on either side, a sort of bridge formed by stone before us. The width of the path is enough for the three of us to walk side by side, but the drop-offs on either side? Terrifying. I do not typically fear heights and had no such concerns on the mountain. But inside of it? My empty stomach fills with dread. Chiron’s arm snakes out around me, pulling me tight to his side as I gape down at the floor.
“We’ll take this together, green one,” He says, leaning down to say it low into my ear. His teasing reminds me of our first days together, though now I assume it’s more my pallor than my newness to the trial.
Wren joins us at the bridge, awe still written into his expression. The trial of Sky is his domain, and should any of us know what to expect of this, it is Wren.
“What do you think this leads to?” I ask, my words disappearing into the vast space.
Wren shakes his head as if to tell us, I have no idea.
But Chiron speaks. “My father told me that whatever happens in this trial will change us forever, all of us. But he was not permitted to tell me what exactly that means.” His voice is serious, the weight of what comes next unknowable.
So we walk. Chiron to my left, Wren to my right. I loop my hands through both of their arms, holding onto them as we make our way across the chasm.
The closer we get to the wall of the great cave, the more I can make out a passageway ahead of us. There is an arched doorway cloaked in shadows, carved into the stone.
A humming vibrates up through my feet, disturbing the quiet journey. The closer we get, the stronger it feels. My intuition tells me that we mustn’t stop here. Our pace quickens, as if we all feel a sense of urgency to move through the arch and whatever awaits us there.
I release Wren’s arm from my grasp, though I do not wish to. Every instinct in me screams that what we are about to do cannot be undone. Wren makes ready to go through first, but before he does, he turns back toward Chiron and me.
