AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You protected it over yourself. Both of you put the life of another ahead of your own.”
Tempest wasn’t reassured, and the sinking feeling in her gut returned.
“And how exactly is that related to fate?” she asked.
The sprite laughed again. “I’m afraid I am not permitted to reveal that at this time. I suggest you continue through that opening,” she said, pointing to an opening that had appeared when the room shook, “and claim your reward before the others arrive. Several other potential empresses have recently entered the building.”
Sylvia rose, cradling her egg in her skirt again, while Tempest put the bucket and ladle back in the pool.
“Thank you,” Tempest said to the water sprite.
The sprite smiled and melted back into the still water.
The room began to shake again, and Tempest and Sylvia ran through the opening before it closed again. A blast of heat hit them, and Sylvia instantly broke out in a sweat. A large golden bird sat in the middle of the room in a large nest.
Tentatively, the two approach the bird and set the eggs in the nest with its mother. They quickly backed away as the phoenix squawked loudly and nuzzled the eggs.
“It feels good to have reunited a mother with…what?!” Sylvia cried out as the phoenix crushed both eggs under her large talons and flew off to a perch above.
Tempest’s shoulders slumped. This was the Fate she knew—unpredictable, and often unfair. “The mother rejected them because we touched them. They must have been just shy of hatching and at their bonding stage.”
Sylvia released a sob. “They can bond before they hatch?”
Tempest nodded and quietly approached the nest to see if there was any chance the hatchlings had survived. To her surprise, two gold feathers lay in the shells of the crushed eggs. She pulled them from the nest and held them up.
“It appears we have found the golden feathers of fate.”
Sylvia wiped the tears from her face as she approached. She reached out to grab one of the feathers. The moment her fingers grasped it, they were instantly transported into the maze once again.
“What just happened?”
“It appears we have completed the trial of fate.”
Sylvia nodded. “Where are we, though?”
Tempest looked around. To her surprise, the building they had just been in was nowhere to be found. Even its shadow was gone. “I’m guessing in the trial of chaos.”
“I don’t like the sound of that.”
“The sooner we start, the sooner we get out of here.”
They navigated through the narrow alleys of the maze, once again choosing to take mostly left turns. This time there were no sounds of the other women meeting challenges. Only the soft padding of their footsteps and the occasional beast’s snarls in nearby alleys reached their ears.
“I don’t like this,” Sylvia whimpered.
Before Tempest could reply, a lion slunk around the corner and crouched before them. Both women froze, afraid to move. The beast roared and charged at them anyway.
Tempest pushed Sylvia out of its path and gripped its fur as it landed on top of her. It’s teeth snapped near her neck, only held at bay by her immortal strength. She pulled her feet under the beast and, with a mighty push, rolled it off of her and flung it a few feet away, where it landed on its back.
She darted a glance at Sylvia. The woman sprawled out on the ground, blood trickling from her temple. Before she could approach to see if there was breath in her body, the lion was back on its feet and charging again.
Tempest dodged, pushed against the wall with her feet, and swung herself onto the back of the lion. Soulshadow appeared at her fingertips, and she swung it around the neck of the beast. It reared onto its hind legs as its roar was abruptly cut off.
Falling to its side, the beast thrashed, crushing Tempest’s leg under it as she tightened Soulshadow’s chain until it eventually fell limp. She held her grip a moment longer to ensure the beast was, in fact, dead before pulling herself away from it and allowing Soulshadow to disappear.
Tempest pushed the lion off herself and ran to Sylvia’s side. Her heart sank as she realized her chest wasn’t moving. She placed two fingers on her wrist to check for a pulse, but found none. Anger welled up within her, and she released an angry cry as her fist pounded the wall. A large crack spread from where she’d hit it.
She hadn’t realized she’d struck Sylvia so hard. Her only intent was to protect the woman, not harm her. Definitely not to kill her.
