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Commander Hogsmith claps his hands together, the sound reverberating in the open air, silencing us. “I understand all of you have been made aware of the most recent status report from one of our most trusted field scientists?”
I nod my head along with others.
“Then you’ll understand soon why we must double our efforts.”
Gryphon moans.
Commander Hogsmith sends a stream of air around Gryphon’s legs, hauling him upside-down over the ledge of the Pit.
“Oh shit! Sorry Commander!”
“Looks like you are first down the Pit. The rest of the class will join you shortly. You can get your instructions from them.” And with that, he releases Gryphon into the giant cylindrical hole in the ground.
To his credit, he doesn’t scream.
“I’m sure he’ll cast something to catch his fall,” I whisper to Ramona.
“I hope so. He’s got a game coming up.”
“Ramona!”
“What?”
“You can’t be more concerned over Solarball than him living or not.”
“Okay, fine.” She shrugs, nonchalant.
“Not believable.”
“Well, I’m not the Teller of us two.”
Fair point.
Commander Hogsmith struts along the group of cadets, scowl tugging on his mustache. “Today’s lesson is all about endurance and creativity. You will all soon find yourselves at the bottom of our largest Pit, far away from your connection to the celestial powers you pull on.
“The task? Get out of the Pit. Sounds simple”—his eyes scan across the group of second-stones—“but I assure you, it’s not. You are not allowed to help one another. While you all start at the bottom, getting out of the hole is your task alone.”
Selene turns to Ramona and me, eyes wide.
Without warning, a band of air wraps around my torso, lifting me over the ledge with my classmates and down into the Pit. Commander Hogsmith lets us drop the remaining ten feet before we land with a thud.
Gryphon is picking his teeth, leaning against the wall of rocky earth. “So, what’s the plan?”
Selene struts over to him and smacks his hand away from his mouth. “We need to get to the top.”
“Oh, that’ll be easy. Ramona, use your sunfyre to heat up a spot on the wall so Selene can stab one of her icicle pointy things.”
Selene smacks Gryphon in the head.
“Ow!”
“We have to make it out of here alone. No helping one another.”
“Oh,” Gryphon says, rubbing the back of his head.
“We better get started,” Ramona suggests looking around us where the other cadets are already moving. Sabra is already successfully thirty feet into scaling the wall.
My stomach flips like the pancakes Rosie always used to make before long weekend shifts. This would be challenging for a regular Watcher that has full access to sun or moon channeling, let alone a Starwatcher with less than desirable sun’cher abilities. How am I going to get out of here? Starwatcher magic doesn’t really help from a physical standpoint.
