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“You know how stupid that sounds?” Hades offers with a side glance that screams, ‘I’m standing next to stupid.’
“I like Azrael?” I question and look at Blair, who shrugs.
“I mean, he’s not bad. Better than his brother.”
“Do you guys hear yourselves?” Kali looks disgusted.
“Hearing just fine,” Asher argues and looks at both professors. “Carry on.”
Professor Blackbird laughs before he stretches his arms and puts his hands behind his head.
“Students who are chosen to have special mentors get special privileges, especially during trials like these. Normally, neither of us would be hosting a trial, but the curriculum has changed this year to be more accommodating to students’ adaptability. Having so many professors, especially in your first arc, has proven to be detrimental. Therefore, we’re trying to have fewer professor switches,” he explains.
“Miss Guinevere has been assigned two mentors, proving to be a rarity, seeing as not many are assigned multiple mentors. Due to this unique opportunity, thanks to her performance during the entry trials, situations like these benefit her and the team she’s assigned to,” Professor North reveals. “We are still judging and grading all of you, but more precision is placed on Miss Guinevere by default because it’s our duty to ensure she excels at an approving pace.”
An approving pace… maybe that’s why he told me to stop showing off?
The reminder makes my lips tingle, encouraging me to lick my bottom lip.
I pretend not to notice Professor North’s gaze while Professor Blackbird checks his time.
“Let’s get you all back in the field,” Professor Blackbird declares and claps his hands once.
Before any of us can grasp it, our surroundings have already shifted, the scent of roses now replaced with a metallic stench of death and irony.
“Fuck,” Azrael curses and tries to cover his nose with his cloak. “That smell.”
“Rotten bodies?” Kali questions as he looks around, only for his face to pale.
I can see why just by lowering my gaze to my feet.
Dead bodies don’t just surround us.
No. We’re standing on top of a tower of human remains.
I have to shut down my emotions, or else I’ll vomit everything I ate for breakfast this morning. Kali is already vomiting whatever he had this morning.
Blair is hiding her devastation, just like Azrael, but Hades and Asher are blank canvases.
As if they’ve witnessed this far too many times.
We’re not the only ones who’ve arrived at this destination. Whichever teams that survived from our class are present, but we’re beginning to realize there are even more students here we don’t recognize.
“Congratulations on surviving the first part of today’s class. You have gained your uniform and cloaks, and now it’s time to claim your emblems.” We’re forced to look above to see Professor D’Angelo, who’s floating on a hawk creature.
A pillar of red surges into the sky farther ahead. Estimating the distance from where we are to the glowing pillar of red, it’s as far as a 5K marathon. That’s not too bad if you’re a runner, but I doubt this next trial is going to be one of leisure where we can take two hours to get there.
“Your professor will be at the next site, awaiting the survivors. Your task is to get to the red pillar in a timely manner. How long is timely? You’ll find out soon enough.”
I didn’t carry an ounce of hope he’d share such vital information. Unlike Professor North and Professor Blackbird, Professor D’Angelo looks as though he enjoys seeing his students suffer in dismay.
As if sensing my thoughts, his eyes briefly lowered to me and my team.
“Remember what the prime lesson is for this stage. Don’t trust the wicked.”
His words ignite the sound of a siren horn, making us all flinch at the sound that could easily make our ears bleed.
“Let’s move,” Kali emphasizes, but I end up grabbing his arm before he tries to jump off the tower of bodies.
