I extinguished the fire above me and retrieved the fire ropes I’d anchored to the cliff. Wrapping them around my hips once more, I commanded the flames to coil tightly around the rock above.
The fire pulled me upward, inch by inch.
The climb back was faster than the descent. When I reached the top, I didn’t hesitate and I turned toward the academy and started walking.
I walked for hours with the Osiris North Star guiding me. I wanted to run, but I couldn’t move any faster.
My body refused. Every step sent a dull ache through me—bruised, battered, especially along my rib cage. If I’d still hadmy healing potion, I might have used it. Nothing felt broken, at least. Just pain layered over pain.
It was almost dawn, and I still had at least an hour of walking ahead of me, but I had to stop to rest.
I stopped by the river to drink water and caught the first light of morning reflecting on the water’s surface. The sun was rising. At least, I would begin to recharge my magic soon. Not that I felt completely depleted, despite how much fire I’d burned lowering myself down the cliffs.
As I drank water, an unnatural wind howled in the distance.
Birds burst into the sky, startled, scattering in frantic waves. Somewhere nearby, someone was already deep into their second trial; that much was clear.
I’d heard it on my way here, too. A bursts of fire, sharp winds, the crash of water against stone.
And still, mine was not close. I removed the dangerous and threatening comparisons from my mind. They would only hurt me more. So I continued my walk toward the marked spot on the map again.
I walked by the river for an hour towards the academy. When I was almost at the meadow, the air shifted in a second, and rain started pouring, heavy and dense. Given the violent change, this was another student in their second trial. I could barely see ahead, but I knew which way I was going. I had swum in this river just a few weeks ago.
As I hit the meadow, rain was still heavy above me. I stood in the middle, grass high above my knee. It was empty, but I knew I was unmistakably right about this location. I turned around towards all angles in the meadow to look for the siren,but I didn’t spot her. The rain was heavy, making it impossible to see beyond a few feet away.
Then, my skin started itching—my hands, my arms, my shoulders, just everything exposed. Then the itch quickly turned into a burning sensation, but the skin did not peel. I looked up to the sky, clouds and rain pouring, but the color of the rain had changed. It was a shining green liquid. It was not water, it was acid. One of the storm's wielders was able to control wild acid, and I was in the middle of an open field in the forest.
My fire magic couldn’t shield me from water or acid, for that matter. My fire would get extinguished in an instant. So I ran towards the sequoias for shelter.
Branches tore at my arms as I dove beneath the canopy of an ancient tree, pressing myself against the trunk as the downpour turned violent. The leaves offered some protection, but drops still slipped through, striking my shoulders, neck, and hands.
I hissed in pain. I looked down to examine my body. My green uniform had holes everywhere from the acid, but I could barely see. My nerves screamed, my vision blurred. I had to close my eyes as the burning sensation washed over me.
The rain came harder, louder, pounding the meadow with relentless force. The ground beneath my boots grew slick, the scent of scorched earth rising around me. My heart slammed against my ribs as panic clawed up my throat.
I pressed myself deeper into the tree’s shadow, teeth clenched as another wave of pain tore through me.
“Please,” I whispered, unsure who I was speaking to—the god of the sun, the professors, or the forest itself.
The rain answered by intensifying.
My knees buckled. I sank to the ground, curling inward as the drops struck my back and arms. My breath came in ragged pulls, my vision narrowing to pinpoints of light.
“Thea Solenhart.”
The voice slid through the storm like silk through water; melodic and ancient. I opened my eyes but couldn’t see anyone. Then, I remembered. I knew that voice.
The Siren spoke again, from somewhere and everywhere at the same time. “Come out to the meadow.”
I shook my head, pressing my back harder against the tree. This couldn’t be part of the test. This had to be some trick meant to kill me.
“I won’t go out!” I screamed into the rain. A long silence stretched.
“Then don’t,” the Siren whispered.
My heart pounded with the debate raging inside me. I opened my eyes and looked down at my body. It still burned everywhere the acid rain had touched me, pain flaring sharp and relentless but I couldn’t see my skin peeling away. My mind felt unsteady. My body was reacting to something my eyes couldn’t see.
Perhaps I didn’t have mental magic. Possibly, someone was coercing my mind, bending it, twisting reality around me.
