Page 73 of The Fifth Heir

“His gate requires him to extinguish them.”

Rafe looked toward the fourth vane.

The first had already begun slowing. Silver light dimmed along his distant gate.

“If I stop, I lose my progress.”

“If you continue, Sebastian may fall.”

“He can shift.”

“Not in that corridor.”

Rafe’s mouth lost its careless curve.

“How much time does he need?”

“I don’t know.”

“Find out.”

I returned to Shadow.

Sebastian had created a small pool of violet light around his feet. It exposed the break in the floor, but the gap extended from wall to wall.

“I stopped Rafe from activating the last vane,” I said. “How do you cross?”

“The lamps retract the bridge sections when they go dark.”

“Then relight one.”

“The Trial requires all of them extinguished.”

“The last one you extinguished—can you restore it long enough to cross?”

“Shadow does not create light.”

“No, but you said it searches for available space. Pull it away from the lamp instead of adding more.”

He looked back at the nearest dark fixture.

“It may relight on its own,” I said.

“And if it does, I lose part of my progress.”

Everyone said the same thing.

Torren needed his fire. Leander needed his ice. Rafe needed his wind, and Sebastian needed his darkness. Each path taught its heir to use more power, move faster, and disregard the damage spreading beyond his own route.

Exactly as a contest should.

Except none of them could complete it without destroying another man’s way forward.

“There’s no other bridge,” I said. “Try.”

Sebastian drew his Shadow back.

The lamp flickered.