“What’s going on?” I ask, worrying that we’ll never pass the first trial if we can’t even get there.
“Neither of these is correct. These are fake, and the path that’s true is there.” Ryker points down an empty path of jewels through a very spiky road that looks more dangerous than when we faced off in the ravine with Pteroraptors.
Looking up at Ryker, I take in his set jaw and tense green eyes, and I immediately know he means business. He’s not joking or teasing. He’s convicted in his stance. Hell, he’s a fae and one of the Horseman, and illusion is his forte. We should listen to him if he says this is the path, but convincing the others will be the hard part.
“Ry.” I place my palm over his heart, leaning into him and urging him to look at me. “I believe you and trust your instincts completely,” I whisper, nibbling along his jaw. “This is your specialty, after all, and even though I can’t see it, can you just explain it to the others?” I ask, pulling back when he shifts his gaze to me. “It might help ease their anxiety before taking that leap.” He nods and reaches down to hold my hand. As I turn, I find the rest of the group surrounding us.
“Well, I’m sure I’m not the only one who felt it, but since we’ve all connected with Rez and received our tattoos, I’ve gained more power. It wasn’t as strong until we came down here, at least for me, but I can feel closer to the former Horseman down here. Therefore, I canseethe other path right there.” He points again to the horrid path. “Just because you see the jewels pointing in the other directions, it doesn’t mean the path of emptiness isn’t a path of its own. Don’t rule out the blank path. To you, you see an empty path. To me, I see a clear, white path surrounded by darkness on either side, and I know that’s my powers working for me.”
I squeeze his hand before wrapping my arms around his waist as we wait for the group to respond. There’s a brief moment where Knots’ expression wavers between frustration and hurt before quickly settling on acceptance until someone speaks up. Levi is the first.
“Who am I to question my brother, Pestilence,” he says, stepping towards us and the road of spiky death we’ll have to weave through.
“Aww hell, Ryker, we’ve been through worse,” Zeke agrees, and once he starts moving, everyone else moves with him. “But you’re freaking leading this, and if anything happens, you’re at fault, and I get your collections.”
Ryker laughs and agrees. “Deal.”
This seems like another trial, but leading to what is the question. Traveling down the path isn’t as bad as I thought. It was just another illusion, of course. It’s still dark, but once we pass the first few feet of thorny bushes, as long as we stay right behind each other, the vegetation isn’t thorny. The flowers are small, barely coming up to my ankle, and still no animals to be seen. It isn’t until we have another break that we find out the answer; a platform.
“Is this what we came here for?” Lynx wonders, slapping his hand against the big black slab of rock.
“No clue, but I’m ready for a nap,” I admit, and lean my head against JP’s shoulder.
Lights burst above the platform, and music starts playing as if we’re on a game show. Startled, we back up to see the stage better and, finally, our host. Lumbering onto the stage on the back of a massive bear is a creature with three heads.No wonder I couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman.The first head is a bull, the second a man, and the third is a ram.
“Ah. Welcome to my game show. I am Balam, your host. I see that you have made the correct choices and didn’t meet the yetiin the Winterland or eaten by the sandworm in the desert. Too bad, they really are hungry. And congratulations for making the correct choice and following the true path with the jewels. That would have added quite a few hours onto your time wandering around the land out there. So you have an impressive record-beating time on top of making outstanding picks. Let’s see how the children of Lilith, and L.A.M.B.’s protégé fair in my trial.” The human head smiles while the Bull snorts, and the Ram bleats and shows its teeth.
“You know who we are?” Ryker’s jaw is slack, and his green eyes widen.
“Of course we do, but even if it’s for a good cause, we can’t let you go without testing you,” the Ram head says. “But, we’ll go easy on you and only give you two tests. Most demons that get the honor of coming this far get three tests.”
“Oh, that’s not too bad,” Lynx chimes in.
“From each head,” the Bull says with a snort.
“Thank you for your generosity, and we would be honored to take your trial,” Levi says, ever the diplomat.
“Goodie. Come on up,” Balam says, and stairs appear out of the rock. Quickly climbing, we find eleven human-sized jewels embedded in the rock. “Please go ahead and step on a jewel, and I’ll explain the trial and answer any questions that I can.”
I place Reaper on a jewel and pick the one next to him, hoping he understands the word “stay” when I tell him to. I really do need to get on the ball and train him properly.
“In a moment, we will test your bonds and how well you know your fellow companions. There will be restrictions that you will soon find, but those I will not tell you. After all, this is a game for me to enjoy. After some time to sort things out, I will bring you up individually, and you will have to tell me who they are. You must guess correctly to move on to the next level, and there are two rounds. Any questions?”
“Yeah, what happens if we guess wrong and fail?” Moni asks.
His mouth widens more than a normal grin like the joker. “You forfeit your soul to me.”
Plop…I glance over my shoulder and find Moni passed out on the floor. I forgot to count, so I have no idea what number we’re up to. But I don’t feel comfortable about this game any longer. Before I can raise my hand for a question or ask to pause, a flash of light hits me.
Opening my eyes, I immediately notice I’m in a different spot on the stage, and Balam is laughing.
“What the fuck!” I shout before I gasp. “Shit, that’s not my voice,” Lynx’s voice says, and I grab my throat, realizing it feels thicker than normal. Looking to my—uh, his…theleft, I notice my body and do a double take. Someone is feeling me up with my own hands.
“Wow, so this is what it feels like to have breasts this big,” my voice says, and my mind immediately goes to Moni. I internally chuckle at her antics at finding herself in my body. But I’m also secretly relieved that it’s her and not one of the guys. I can’t even imagine right now what they would do in my body, but at least Moni gets to see what it’s like to be tall and human on top of blessed in the chest.
‘How in the hell do you walk with this thing between your legs? It’s mass—’I attempt to reach out to Lynx, but I find our link closed tight.Huh, so this is what Balam meant by some restrictions will be in place.
“Aww yeah, baby, look at this! I get a tail. It’s stubbier than normal but I can still think of a few things I can do with it plus I can grow big and small. Do you know all the freaky shit you can do in this body?” Moni’s body flies around like a damn hummingbird before crashing and skidding across the floor.
