Before I could strike again, I felt her hand slide into my pocket.
What was she doing if not defending herself, fighting me? Then realization hit hard. She had taken the healing potion.
"You can't," I shouted, lunging for it, but she threw it away from us. I saw the glass vial flying into the air and shattering as it hit the ground.
I screamed in fury.
Without the healing potion, I was going to continue my trials with bruises and pain if I got past this one.
I launched at her again, landing punch after punch as I pinned her down with my body weight but she grabbed my wrists and used my momentum to flip me over her.
I slammed down at the very edge of the cliff.
Marla rose slowly, smiling as she held something up in her hand.
A Paper. But it wasn't just any paper, it was my map. She had also taken it sometime during our fight.
"There are no rules against sabotaging your trials. It's all part of the survival," Marla said with a smirk I wanted to wipe off her face.
I pushed myself to my feet, but she threw the map, landing dangerously close to the cliffs. I had seconds to decide, fight her or retrieve the map.
I took a deep breath and let logic take over instead of impulse. If I didn't win this trial, the map wouldn't matter.
So I chose to fight Marla and end her.
With a sharp cry, I drove an uppercut into her face. Bone cracked on impact. I had broken her nose. Marla lashed out with a kick, which I blocked and twisted, throwing her off balance. Then I landed a final kick that sent her face-first into the ground.
She didn't move.
Had I just knocked her out?
I rushed to her side and checked for a pulse at her wrist. She was alive.
I searched her pocket to see if she had a healing potion. I never knew what second years were allowed to bring to thefirst trial, so it was worth checking. But I found nothing, just an empty vial.
The Auroric suppression veil began to lift as a portal formed beneath Marla's body. Slowly, she was pulled into it. Then, a gem fell from the sky and anchored itself on the golden ring on my finger.
I had passed my first trial. I had achieved the topaz.
The rush of victory barely had time to bloom before it vanished. My gaze snapped to where Marla had thrown the map.
An orange light shimmered in the paper. The second trial spot had just appeared on the map.
But then, a light breeze swept through the clearing, nudging it closer to the cliff's edge. I launched my sun ropes, trying to snatch it back but the wind caught hold and carried it over the edge.
Chapter 35: Lost
Iran toward the cliff, pain flaring deep in my rib cage with every step. When I reached the edge, my legs gave out, and I sank to my knees, physical pain, and despair crawling through me as I stared at the quiet horizon below.
My gaze drifted to the gem on my finger. There was no joy or excitement. I had earned the gem but I had lost the map. Or worse, I’d been careless, distracted long enough for Marla Yung to take it from me.
I could dwell on this longer and beat myself up or do something about it and continue to my next test.
I forced myself back onto my feet and stepped closer to the cliff’s edge. I had to find that map. Without it, I didn’t stand a chance.
I lit a small fire to see more clearly toward the cliff. It had to be at least a hundred feet down to the beach below. In the darkness, I spotted a faint golden dot on the sand. My mind or my vision, might have been playing tricks on me, but I had to try.
I took a deep breath, forcing my emotions down as logic took over. Finding a path on foot to the beach below would take hours and I didn’t have that kind of time. It was alreadymidnight, and I needed to reach my second trial before sunset. The test could be just beyond the cliff or hours away from my current position.
