Cedric sighed. “Honestly, Thraigg. It is first thing in the morning. Is that sort of language necessary?”
“Get out here and take a look for yerself, Ric. Then ye can tell me what’snecessary.”
Cinching his sword belt around his waist, Cedric dragged himself over to Thraigg, an admonishment on the tip of his tongue. One that he swallowed the instant he looked through the open doorway at the scene before him.
“Fuckin’ told ye.” Amusement danced in the dwarf’s eyes as Cedric took in the sprawling, verdant landscape. Lush, feathery grass. A halo of oak trees encircling them, easily a hundred feet tall. And high above, a blue, blue sky—endless sky.
It was breathtaking.
“Impossible,” Cedric whispered, though he didn’t know why. He’d experienced firsthand that there were no rules when it came to the Sanctum. It switched antechambers for winding corridors at the twist of a doorknob and flipped night and day as easily as rolling dice. This new development should hardly have been shocking. And yet...
Cedric stepped through the doorway onto soft grass. He ran hisfingers along the stone wall that stretched on either side of the doorway, as if verifying it was really there. It looked like the exterior wall of any building—perfectly normal, had he not known that this grassy clearing was a dining room twelve hours ago.
“Do you think this means the Trial of Magic has started?” Zephyr’s voice came from behind him.
“What else could it be?” Tenebris Nox’s voice filtered over the sound of footsteps—heavy boots crushing grass.
Cedric turned to see the nocterrian walking over with Gael Winters and Cyren Tenrider. The two fae hovered just over the ground, their glittering wings flapping behind them, flared as if they wanted to stretch as far into the sunlit scene as they could.
Further down, Belien and Leona emerged from a door of their own, wonder plastered across their faces. One look at the other gathering champions, however, and their typical looks of ire and disdain were back in place.
“Just like that?” Cyren asked. “No grand announcement this time? Norules?” He attempted a poor mimicry of the Arbiter’s thoroughly inimitable voice. “Champions, the Trial of Magic awaits. Go forth! Only, make sure to hug and hold hands the entire time becauseunity!”
A melodious laugh rang through the air. Cedric’s muscles seized.
“Not bad, Tenrider,” said Elyria as she approached, Kit trailing behind her. She donned a cloak over a cream-colored top, smooth leather vest, and brown breeches, a lightness in her step that had been missing the last time Cedric saw her. She did not look at him.
Humming, Elyria bent low and skimmed splayed fingers across the grass. A delicate vine of white and purple flowers sprang from the ground. She plucked a few fresh blooms and tucked them into the periwinkle hair braided in an intricate coronet across her head.
Cedric clenched his teeth to keep his mouth from doing something stupid like falling open.
“Maybe the Arbiter thinks we should understand how it works by now,” said Gael.
Kit frowned. “But then...doesanybody know how it’s going to work this time? What exactly are we supposed to be doing here?”
As if the Sanctum had been waiting for someone to ask that veryquestion, the doors behind them suddenly slammed shut. The ground began to rumble and shake.
“What the f—” Thraigg’s outcry was swallowed by a deep, rolling boom coming from the earth—like thunder.
“Elle?” Kit’s voice jumped an octave.
“It’s not me.” Elyria’s eyes moved frantically over the grass, as if trying to locate the source of the quake. “I’m not doing that.”
As quickly as it began, the rumbling ceased.
Nobody was fool enough to think that was the end of it.
Gael and Cyren passed uneasy whispers back and forth. Hands on their tokens, Leona and Belien exchanged an urgent look. Thraigg spun the handle of his hammer in his palms, ready to start swinging. At his back, Cedric felt Zephyr step closer.
Green eyes met Cedric’s for the briefest moment. Elyria’s lips parted like she was about to speak.
And the ground erupted.
The earth split open, grass disappearing into fissures that cracked through the soil.
Champions scattered.
Belien and Leona howled at one another as they tucked themselves against the building.
