A Race of Trials

  I started to feel like a museum exhibit. It was a relief when the houses trickled out of sight and were replaced with farmland, with a ginormous mountain range and more forests in the distance.

  “How far have we got to go?” I called out to the guard from the open window.

  “’Bout an hour or two… depending. You just get comfy. There’s bread and water under the seat if you get hungry,” he replied.

  I thanked him and continued staring out of the window, letting my mind relax in anticipation of the long journey. The ride was smoother here, and I let go of the seat, sinking comfortably back into the cushions. As I looked out over the flat plains of the meadows, the image of Tejus and his lack of attire this morning flickered briefly in my mind, and I hastily shoved it away.

  Don’t go back there, I warned myself.

  Roughly an hour later, we started to enter the forest. There was a wide path cut through in the middle of it, and we trundled along, a few stray branches scratching at the body of the carriage. I realized that I hadn’t heard the carriages behind for a while, and stuck my head out of the window to look. They were gone. We were alone.

  “Where are the others?” I called out to the guard.

  “Still awake, are you?” He smiled down at me. “They’ve gone someplace else. You’ll see why later. Don’t worry though—I know this place like the back of my hand. My ma was a hermit and lived on the other side of this place. Know all its tricks,” he murmured, looking around at the looming trees and moss-covered rocks that lay on either side of the path. “Not much further to go now,” he continued, “you just relax. We’ve got a bit of a walk ahead of us.”

  Once again I thanked him and lay back in the seat. But I couldn’t relax. The forest was pleasant, with its dappled shade and sweet-smelling perfume of oak and aspen trees, but something about it made me uneasy and tense, as if there were eyes watching me from the undergrowth, creatures that hid from the light of day. I shuddered and resisted the urge to close my eyes—I didn’t know what this trial would entail, but if for whatever reason I needed to get myself out of this forest, knowing the trail would work in my favor.

  The trail started to incline, and we no longer went in a straight path, but seemed to be winding our way around the base of a mountain. The sheer drop below, on the right side of the carriage, became higher and higher at each twist and turn.

  Eventually we reached a flatter section of the path, and it widened out onto a small grassland with narrow trails winding off up into the mountain.

  “We stop here,” the guard alerted me. “How are you feeling?”

  “I’m fine,” I replied shakily, stepping out onto the solid ground with relief.

  “Good.” He smiled as he jumped down from his bull-horse and retrieved some small black items from a sack by his seat. “Now comes the uncomfortable part. I’m going to need to blindfold you and tie your hands behind your back.” He revealed the items to be a short piece of rope and a blindfold.

  Are you kidding me?

  “What!” I exclaimed. “No way!”

  “Don’t worry, nothing’s going to happen,” he tried to reassure me. “Look, now that we’re here I can tell you the details of the trial. The aim of this game is for your champion to ‘find’ you using your mental bond, so your senses become a guide for them. What you smell and hear will alert them to your location—that is, if they know enough about the lay of the land, and are able to fully immerse themselves in your bond. A trick that few can manage, as I understand it, but you’re with Tejus,” he concluded merrily, “he’ll have no problem.”

  I digested the information, horrified by the fact that I’d be stuck in a strange forest with my senses impaired. Once again it angered me that the trials appeared to be putting the humans in danger, just for the sport of the champions.

  “So you’ll just leave me alone… in the forest?” I confirmed.

  “Oh, no. The prince would have my neck. I’ll be a few paces off, keeping watch—you won’t come to any harm.”

  That reassured me, but only slightly.

  The guard started to bind my wrists together behind my back. The knot was tight, but not uncomfortable and I found that I could flex my wrists easily.

  “Why do I need to be tied up, anyway?” I asked.

  “So you can’t cheat and remove your blindfold,” he replied. “The ministers aren’t really a trusting lot.”

  Next he tied on the blindfold—a thick piece of fabric that was densely woven so that nothing could be seen through it. He wrapped it around my head three times and then tied it securely at the back.

  “How many fingers am I holding up?” he asked.

  “I don’t know,” I muttered. And I sure wouldn’t tell you if I did.

  We continued upward, walking on what I assumed was one of the paths I’d seen leading from the grassland. The guard led me the entire time, his solid presence the only thing I had to guide and anchor me.

  I didn’t like it. I felt helpless and debilitated. Our journey was slow and frustrating—I was so wary of making a wrong move that I hesitated each time I took a step forward, leveraging my foot down slowly to check there was nothing but firm earth beneath me, even though the guard assured me I was safe.

  I huffed, but didn’t reply. Soon I felt the earth flatten out beneath me and become softer than the dry dirt we’d previously been walking on.

  “We’ll stop around here,” he told me after a while. “I’m going to sit you up by a tree so you’ve got something to ground you. You can move around if you want, but be careful. There’s a cliff edge not far off, so go slow.”

  Great. A cliff edge.

  The guard helped me sink down next to the tree, and I felt the bark graze against my back.

  “So, soon you’ll feel Tejus reach out for you. Let your senses guide him so that he can find you,” he instructed.

  “But I feel sense-less!” I said. “How long is the trial expected to last?”

  “As long as it takes until you’re found.”

  I leaned glumly back against the tree.

  “I’m going to back away from you now,” the guard said.

  I heard his heavy footsteps walk off into the distance, and eventually the shake of shrubbery and breaking of twigs as he found a place to wait, which I presumed to be further back in the forest.

  I waited and waited, until finally, I began to feel the familiar soft, feathery touches fluttering at my temples and inside my head.

  Tejus.

  I reached out to him as best I could, accepting the bond and trying to keep a steady hold of it. Which was difficult. We’d never attempted this at long range before, and it was almost like trying to get a crappy radio signal, with the frequency jumping in and out.

  Not wanting to waste time, I tried to send him images of my recollections from the journey—the ride over the meadows and then into the forest. I felt him latch on to the forest image, and assumed that he clearly recognized it, but then the bond became agitated and I could feel his frustration—where in the forest?

  That I didn’t know exactly. I could only send him the last image that I’d seen, and the multiple pathways that had snaked off into the mountain.

  The connection broke.

  I strained my ears, but heard nothing but the fluttering of leaves in the breeze and the sporadic chirps of birdsong. I twisted my wrists in the bonds, wishing I could in some way feel the land around me. There was nothing I could touch but a few stones around the base of the tree…

  The stone!

  It was in the pocket of my robe. I was positive that it would help strengthen the connection—maybe give Tejus some access to my memory that would help him. The only problem was my hands.

  Slowly I struggled into a standing position, and leant against the tree. The robe was a loose garment, and I thought that if I could twist it round enough, using the trunk of the tree, I’d probably be able to reach the pocket.

  I ran the material across the bark, trying not to look too
weird while I was doing it so as not to attract the attention of the guard. Eventually the fabric caught on the bark, and I dragged it round, grabbing on to its folds with my hands. It took a while, but eventually I was rewarded by the heavy clunk in my hands. My fingers fiddled with the fabric, trying to find the pocket opening.

  Come on… come on…

  I wanted to grab the stone before Tejus tapped back into my mind and saw what I was doing. Eventually my fingers touched the cold, smooth surface and I mentally gave myself a pat on the back.

  I held the stone tightly.

  Nothing happened for a few moments, and I panicked that even the stone wasn’t going to be of any use in this ridiculous trial. As I waited for something to happen, I started to see dark shadows through the blindfold. At first I just thought it was my imagination getting bored of seeing nothing but black, but the shadows morphed into an image that became clearer and clearer by the second, as if I was seeing a photo negative held up to the light.

  What the hell…

  The images grew sharp. I could see the trees and the stone clusters in front of me, the long grass that surrounded the tree. I turned around, and saw the cliff edge about three yards ahead.

  The stone has given me the sentry True Sight!

  The realization was so shocking I almost dropped it from my hand.

  As it was, I suddenly felt overwhelmed by its powers. I had always assumed it was an energy stone, not much different from the crystals that Tejus kept in his cubby hole, just more potent. I had seriously underestimated the kind of power that it had.

  Pushing the thought to one side, and determined to make the most of its powers before Tejus connected again, I shuffled onto my knees and hobbled off toward the cliff edge. Once I was close enough, I lay on my stomach and peered over the edge.

  Its drop seemed to go on for miles, and there was nothing but an almost smooth drop of rock—except for the waterfall that cascaded through a crevice in the stone down to the left. I could just about hear it from here—the violent crashing waters cascading into a river off in the distance. This must be able to help.

  I shuffled away from the cliff and placed the stone in the back pocket of the trousers I wore beneath my robe. I couldn’t afford to still have it in my hands when Tejus found me.

  I focused on trying to call Tejus back and grow the bond once more. After a few tries I found him and latched on, feeling his relief floating through the connection. I pictured the waterfall in my mind and sent it over to him, encapsulating as much of the image as I could recall. I felt the vision ‘take’ and then a burst of recognition and surprise flooding through our bond.

  Satisfied, I let the connection go.

  Now all I had to do was wait, and while I was doing that, come up with a good excuse as to how I’d seen the waterfall in the first place.

  It didn’t take long.

  I heard the sound of a bull-horse cantering up the mountain, the boughs of trees whipping as it crashed through the undergrowth.

  “Hazel!”

  Tejus might have me on edge most of the time, but right now his voice was the thing I most wanted to hear in all the world.

  “I’m here!” I cried out.

  “Are you all right?” I heard him rushing toward me, and then he knelt down and took me roughly in his arms.

  “I’m fine,” I murmured, my voice muffled by his cloak. He ripped the blindfold off my face and looked into my eyes, his face barely an inch from mine.

  He jerked away from me suddenly as the guard came forward from his hiding place.

  “What were you thinking?” Tejus snapped at him, jumping to his feet. “Do you know how much danger she could have been in?”

  The guard held out his arms in defense. “I was only following orders, Prince Tejus—rules of the trial and the ministers.”

  “He was kind,” I interjected on the guard’s behalf. “It’s not his fault.”

  Every muscle in Tejus’s body seemed to coil with tension.

  “Leave. We’ll be behind you,” he commanded the guard coldly. The guard nodded before he shot off down the path to his waiting carriage.

  When he was gone, Tejus resumed his study of me – checking I was unharmed. He turned me around slowly, making sure I didn’t lose my balance, gently pushing me to lean against his chest while he reached down and untied the bonds. When the rope fell to the ground, I flexed my wrists and cramped fingers. I felt Tejus’s hands close over my lower arms, and he slowly, but firmly rubbed up and down, helping the blood rush back into my hands.

  “I’m fine,” I murmured, hearing his rapid heartbeat thump furiously against where my head lay resting. His closeness was making my throat constrict, my stomach lurched uncomfortably as I inhaled the muskiness of his scent and my frame felt completely eclipsed by his. Mouth dry, I took a step back – afraid that he would soon hear my heartbeat hammering like his, for no logical reason.

  What is happening to me?

  Just because my rescuer had come dashing through the forest to untie me, it did not mean that I should fall into the role of the panting damsel in distress. I really needed to get a hold on myself and reality, now.

  “I don’t know how you did it,” he said with a curious expression, seemingly completely unaffected by our closeness. It helped reality assert itself. “How did you see the waterfall?”

  “My blindfold slipped a bit when I crawled to the edge—obviously I didn’t know it was a cliff edge,” I bumbled, averting my eyes from the intensity of his gaze. He was silent for a moment, watching me.

  “All right,” he said slowly. I sensed he was suspicious, but he didn’t ask me any further questions, which was a relief—I didn’t know how long I would have stood up to his scrutiny.

  He hoisted me up onto the bull-horse and then leapt on himself, placing himself in front of me.

  “Hold on,” he said, and then set off at a thundering pace down the mountain. I clung to the solid muscle of his waist and leaned my head against the folds of his robes. I closed my eyes, preferring not to see the side of the cliff face dropping below us or the trees rushing past us in a green blur.

  In half the time that it had taken me to get there, I was back in the castle courtyard. A bunch of ministers and red robes observed with their jaws hanging open. There was no crowd yet—everyone must have presumed that the trial wouldn’t be ending for hours.

  We did it too soon!

  I realized that in my haste to get out of there, I had put us under suspicion. It didn’t matter what the ministers thought—they were overjoyed that Tejus had gained yet another twenty points, putting him on par with Ash for the time being. If Ash also succeeded in this trial, he would gain ten points and remain slightly ahead—but as there were only two more trials to go, the competition between the two would now be a very close call.

  When the congratulations from the ministers died down, Tejus took me aside.

  “We need to go back inside,” he said.

  “I want to see if Ruby and Ash make it,” I said. “I’m worried about Ruby—it’s going to get dark soon.”

  “Fine. You can watch from the tower.”

  That worked for me. I didn’t particularly relish the thought of waiting around for hours surrounded by ministers.

  After a quick bath, I wrapped myself in a thick blanket and I went up to the tower. Tejus joined me, sitting on the other side of the turret, his eyes off in the distance—apparently unconcerned with who returned now that he’d succeeded in winning the trial.

  It was just after dusk when Ash and Ruby arrived. There was a crowd gathered below now, and they’d lit bonfires and torches across the grounds to greet the champions. I smiled to myself as she disembarked from Ash’s bull-horse, and they raised their arms to greet the waiting crowd.

  A figure walked up to them and tapped Ruby on the shoulder. She turned round to greet the stranger, and after a few moments they walked together over to the nearest bonfire. In the light I could make out the unmistakable blue robes a
nd pronounced features of Queen Trina Seraq.

  Well… that’s strange…

  What could they possibly be talking about?

  Benedict

  Jenney had covered all our cuts and bruises with a thick, nasty-smelling paste that hadn’t really improved my mood. Not only did my entire body ache, but now I smelt like some kind of disgusting herb.

  No one spoke at the breakfast table, but there were some dark mutterings coming from some of the older kids, and I had a sneaky suspicion that there was a revolt afoot within the Hell Raker ranks regarding leadership. Julian was not popular right now—our mission had been a total and dismal failure.

  As soon as we’d heard the eerie sounds of howls echoing through the forest, we’d all turned and run. I didn’t want to wait around to see what bloodthirsty creatures waited for us in the undergrowth—we’d faced enough danger since we’d entered Nevertide. We’d only stopped when we reached the castle walls, and then, panting—and with some of the younger kids crying—we’d all returned to our living quarters. Jenney hadn’t said anything, just pointedly sighed in Julian’s direction and muttered something about ‘impatience’ as she tended our wounds.

  In the short time that we’d been gone, new recruits had arrived. There were three, one girl and two boys. As they tucked into their breakfast with enthusiasm, I couldn’t help but notice how much healthier they looked than the rest of us. One of the new boys, Dean, was seated between Yelena and another kid who had been with us from the start. I couldn’t understand why they looked so drawn and pale, listlessly prodding their food, while he looked the picture of health—hadn’t his mind been drained to exhaustion by the sentries? And why did all the other kids who’d been here longer look so crappy? I looked over at Julian. He didn’t look much better than the rest of them.

  As far as I was aware, I was the only one having trouble sleeping and experiencing weird dreams—none of the others had complained of anything, not that I’d heard anyway.