Page 26 of Fallacies

My heart rate picks up. The poor thing had just settled.

Knowing that nothing will prepare me for whatever I’m about to walk into, I move forward despite the fear, pulse thrumming down the sides of my neck.

In one quick step, I turn around the next corner and find myself smack dab in the middle of a desert. I’m high up on a dune, sand shifting beneath my feet. All evidence of the maze disappears. I’m somewhere else entirely.

The sky is black and riddled with heavy clouds, but I make out a few stars tucked behind it all. I quickly steal the smallest ones, storing their light for myself. It glitters like fireflies as it seeps through my skin, the soft glow dancing around my outstretched fingers.

There’s another blinding flash of light, illuminating the entire desert, and I barely jump back in time as lightning strikes the sand only inches from my feet.

Before I can fully get my bearings, a second strike comes down, followed by a clap of thunder so loud I feel the vibration in my chest.

Boots skidding through the sand, I slide down the side of the dune, flipping onto my stomach as soon as I get to the bottom. Heart in my throat, I peer around the mountain of sand, hoping to get a better view of the desert.

As if the dimly lit space isn’t bad enough, rain begins to fall—slow at first, then all at once—until I can hardly see anything through the downpour. The white sand darkens, the rapidly falling drops pelting the grains as another lightning strike hits the sodden ground.

But this time, when the light bursts, illuminating the desert, I spot a dark figure standing on top of a faraway dune.

Another strike hits, only inches from my shoulder, and I catch a glimpse of red hair peeking out over the top of his mask.

Pax. But there’s some kind of neon light wreathing his fingers. It wraps all the way up his arms, and⁠—

Oh, shit.

Pax has lightning.

The clap of thunder that follows has me spinning until my back is against the bottom of the dune, hopefully keeping me out of his view. I take the brief moment I have to search the dark sky, scanning the far walls for a way out, but I don’t see anything. What the hell is the objective here?

I squint through the downpour, and suddenly my eyes catch on a glint of silver nearly a hundred yards away.

A target.

The bullseye is no more than a speck from here, but I can easily make out the rings around it.

Lightning hits the sand beside me, and a clap of thunder follows only three seconds later.

It hits me then, like a punch to the gut. No, a boulder to the gut.

I’d bet every ounce of magic in my bones that I need to hit that target, but not with fire or starlight…

Another bolt strikes the sand beside me.

With lightning.

I mean, why else would he be throwing it at me in this way? He doesn’t want me to dodge it; he wants me to catch it. Steal it like I stole fire from the three-headed snake.

Matrons save me.

The transfer will have to be faster than a blink, and the sparks from the lightning will have to sink straight through my skin. I was able to withstand the fire long enough to absorb the flames from the serpent, but with lightning? I won’t have any spare time.

The manipulation of it will have to be seamless. Perfectly permeable. If it isn’t…Gods, I wish I could check the timer on my mender pill.

I curse under my breath, taking a few seconds to collect myself before forcing my legs to move. I climb back to the top of the dune, keeping low as if that will help, and shield my eyes with my hand as I look out through the downpour.

It’s a matter of seconds before Pax throws a bolt across the desert, the sky cleaving in two, buzzing electricity barreling straight for me. I make myself permeable, raise my hand towards the end of the strike⁠—

Then I dodge it. Stepping aside at the last second like I godsdamn coward.

“Fuck,” I curse, the sound muffled through the roar of the rain.