AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Rumbling echoes through the small room. The door rolls upward, revealing my path.
I sprint straight through.
Twenty-Eight
Beyondthedoor,moredarkwallsgreetme.Iturncorneraftercorner,myfrozenfootstepsindicatingwhetherI’mheadingincircles.Idon’tknowhowlonghaspassedsincethetrialbegan.I’mcertainitcan’tbemorethanhalfanhour,butImightbewrong.
My pace is frantic as I navigate through the winding tunnels. My breaths burn my nostrils, and my lungs greedily gasp for air. But I can’t slow. If I do, I will fail.
A force crashes into me. It sends me flying into the stone wall behind. I steady myself and spin around, aether humming in my fingers. Whether they’re a friend or a foe, I don’t know, but I will be ready for either case.
“Ow,” whines a female voice. She clutches her shoulder where we collided. Curly red hair sweeps out as she turns to me.
“Eliya!” I exclaim, grabbing her hand. While the backs of my arms hurt from where they slammed into the wall, it appears Eliya took more of the force from our crash. “Thank the gods it’s you!” For a moment, I feared it was Kaely.
“Of course it’s me.” She rubs her shoulder. “Why do you have to hurt so much?”
“Don’t run into me, then.”
She wrinkles her nose at me. “You’re the one who ran into me. Besides, don’t you have a streak going for running into people?”
“Technically, I ran into the cart and not Nolan,” I correct. “Anyway, we don’t have time for idle chit-chat. Not when the clock is ticking away.”
“Don’t you mean the hourglass?”
I roll my eyes at her.
We hurry through the tunnels. After a few strides, Eliya glances back and gestures to the icy footprints behind us. “What a genius idea,” she says in between panting. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
“Thanks,” I reply.
Eliya’s illumination orb hovers over us, as does mine. Both our silhouettes run alongside us. Our furious footsteps and ragged breaths fill the darkness beyond.
Several turns later, we reach our next obstacle.
The path opens to a sitting room, with crimson sofas, oaken shelves filled with books, paintings of wondrous landscapes, and a crackling fireplace. The other half of the room is a perfect reflection of it.
I step toward the mirror and press my hand against it. From its cool touch, it seems to be ice rather than glass. If it is, then maybe fire will work against it.
Hopefully my magic won’t retaliate against me, like it did with the braziers. At least I have Eliya here.
“Be ready to conjure a water shield,” I tell her.
“What—”
Before she can finish, I weave aether into fire magic and unleash it upon the mirror. “Ignira!”
Flames swarm from my hands and slam into the frosty reflection. Fire licks at the ice and drops spill across the wooden floor. A hole emerges, revealing a tunnel that continues through the maze.
Just as I go to step through, the mirror freezes again. The path vanishes.
At least my magic doesn’t return with a vengeance.
“Maybe it’ll work if we both try?” I suggest, turning to Eliya.
She casts me a dubious look. “Somehow, I doubt it will.”
“What’s the harm in trying? If it works, we’ll have broken through quickly. And if not, we’ll just have to put our heads together and figure out how to solve it.”
