Nox moved like a shadow, darting back several feet.
In an instant, and to Cedric’s immediate relief, Elyria was in the air, wings materialized on her back, purple and green shimmering in the sunlight as if pulled from the aurora itself. She, Kit, Gael, and Cyren floated over the sundering ground, their wings rippling with an ethereal grace that nearly had Cedric forgetting about what was happening.
With a yelp, Zephyr pulled on the back of Cedric’s armor, moving him out of the way just as the dirt where he’d been standing crumbled into nothing.
“Move, Thraigg!” she cried.
Cedric’s gaze shot to the dwarf, still braced in his battle stance, hammer aloft, as a crack ripped through the ground, racing toward him.
Cedric moved as if he could reach Thraigg before the fissure did. He wouldn’t have been able to, but it didn’t matter. A gust of wind rushed past him, hitting the dwarf squarely in the chest. Thraigg flewoff his feet, soaring backward into one of the closed bedroom doors with a groan.
When Cedric looked up, he saw Cyren hovering in the air nearby, hands outstretched. He gave the stormbender an appreciative nod.
Thraigg grumbled a low thanks—first, to the fae who’d saved him, then to Cedric as he helped the dwarf to his feet. A cacophony of rustling and crunching overtook anything else Thraigg might have said.
Roots burst from the rifts in the earth, twisting as they snaked over the ground. They wound between the trees, locking the trunks together. Thorny vines crept down from the treetops, weaving together with the roots to create a nightmarish tapestry that seemed designed to showcase the dark side of nature.
Eventually, the roots and vines slowed. With a creak so loud it was as if the very earth was groaning in pain, they stopped, leaving behind an impossibly tall, impenetrable wall.
The champions were surrounded on all sides. Trapped.
“There’s your answer, Kit,” said Elyria as the two of them touched down in front of Cedric, her wings vanishing again with a burst of magic that left the scent of bitter almond grazing his nose.
“You asked what we’re supposed to be doing here?” She pointed to the trees. “We have to figure out how to get through that.”
PART III
FLAME
28
THE THIRD TRIAL
ELYRIA
Everyone froze for several heartbeats.There was nothing but the sound of settling earth and stunned breathing. The air felt thick, magic and tension clogging Elyria’s nostrils.
To her mild surprise, it was Zephyr who broke the silence.
“What in the Earth Mother’s name do we do now?” she asked.
Kit snorted. “Apt choice of words, given what we just witnessed. Fucking celestials. Aren’t they supposed to stay out of mortal affairs?”
Thraigg guffawed as if that was the funniest thing he’d heard in ages.
Elyria rolled her eyes. “I doubt this was Gaia’s intervention. More likely, it’s the magic of the Crucible itself. And either way, it hardly matters. Not when there’s a literal blockade preventing us from proceeding.”
Stepping carefully over the fracturedground, she moved toward the wall of root and thorn. She reached out a tentative hand, feeling for the wild magic that pulsed within all of nature—some thread she could grab onto, could use to create an opening.
Her brow creased. She could sense it, could tell it was there. But it was faint. Blocked.
A spark of recognition flared in her chest as she heard footsteps behind her. “I’m not sure I’m going to be able to do much to break through here, Kitty Kat,” she admitted.
“Why not?” asked a voice much lower and smoother than the one she expected.
She turned. “You’re not Kit.”
One side of Cedric’s mouth curved up. “That sounds familiar.”
