AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I don’t,” Rowan retorts, leaning against a wall with his hands behind his head. “The instructors act like we’re all going to die. It sounds pretty tough.”
Vinnie lets out a huff. “It’s not just an exam. Those who fail will either be sent to fight on the front lines at Whales of Tauh or get slaughtered here.”
Rowan swallows hard. “It’s happening so fast… What if some of us don’t pass the second exam?” He sullens and I firm my jaw at the thought of any of them dying.
“You probably won’t,” Tamaris’s raspy voice roars down the steps, announcing her arrival. We all glance up as she approaches. Tamaris brings a fight with her wherever she goes.
“Oh, hey, Tamaris.” Rowan rolls his eyes.
Aervin and Corvus are a step behind her yet she is just as tall as they are.
“I’ve seen how lazily you train,” she grumbles and Rowan crosses his arms.
“Not all of us are as strong as the others. Why even try? We know how it will end.” Rowan’s bleak words strike my chest.
I step up to him and clench his shirt tightly, lifting him nearly an inch off the ground. “None of you are going to die. We are all going to make it out of Alkrose together, Rowan. I don’t want to hear you talk like this again.”
Why are they already giving up without a fight? Hasn’t this been what we’ve trained for all this time? Against all odds, against the casts placed over my power.
I release my grip on Rowan, letting him sink to the floor and catch his breath. “Damn… A warning next time,” he wheezes as he stands back up.
Corvus ignores the others and looks at me. “Prepare yourselves. We will be entering the portal shortly.” His raven hair contrasts his purple cloak, not long enough to reach his shoulders but enough to pull back. Corvus steps over to the portal and the others watch as he prepares the doorway.
After a few minutes of silence, he speaks again: “Aervin. Rowan. Are you ready?” Corvus asks, glancing over his shoulder at them. They share a nervous look and approach the barred door, one on each side as they practiced, and then they whisper the names of their Shadows.
“Avantis,” Aervin whispers.
“Broktium,” Rowan murmurs.
A cloud of Shadows as dark as night engulfs their hands, sending ebony fissures up Rowan’s side of the embedded spear and veins of black splinters on Aervin’s side. The spears of Kai’s magic crumble into fine, ashy dust and they smile with relief.
“We did it,” Aervin says more to himself than any of us. The corners of my lips turn up as I step toward the portal, brushing my hands over the grooves of the delicately sculpted stones. Finally. My blood thrums with the first steps toward our revenge. Who knows what wealth of knowledge we’ll find on the other side.
Lucina steps up next to me and sighs. “Are you sure about this?” She speaks only loud enough for me to hear. I shoot her a look and when she doesn’t look away, I give her a stern nod. She shuts her eyes. “Okay. We can do this.”
Corvus reminds everyone of our order. Tamaris and Alani take the head of the group. Lucina and I walk behind them while Rowan, Vinnie, and Aervin guard the back. Corvus is to remain the gatekeeper in case a professor should stumble upon us.
“Be careful and return if anything goes wrong,” Corvus says.
I tilt my chin up in acknowledgment. “Let’s go,” I say in a low voice. Alani and Tamaris open the doors to the portal. They swing heavily and a blinding light showers over us. My heart thrums.
Sully is muted deep inside me. If it has any warnings for me, I cannot hear them.
We walk through the portal.
A cooling sensation covers my cheeks. I can’t see anything except the light—no sounds or smells either. My hand searches the space near me but I don’t find Lucina. A flicker of fear washes over me. We’ve only just entered the portal. There’s no way we’ve already been separated.
“Lucina?”
Nothing.
A bead of sweat rolls down my forehead but I keep my composure. It’s okay. Everything is fine. I stop walking and focus. Without Sully in my head, I’ve learned to use the power without asking it specifically to do things. I let out some of the darkness I’ve been collecting and try to dull the blinding light surrounding me.
Power thrums through my body and jerks the muscles in my jaw. Dark wisps of sand-like grains twirl in the air around me and lash out into the light in every direction like a wave. The grains pull the light away with them, darkening the space around me to a level I can see in.
Trees sway in the distance as a chilly wind blows through. I find myself standing on a large boulder by the sea. The mist carries the scent of salt that stings my nose, reminding me very much of Za’Afiel.
None of my comrades are in sight. I look behind me and my eyes widen with disbelief. No portal; There’s nothing.
