“The Assessment this year is simple. You need to collect 4 flags positioned across the training yard. It will be different for each group, so don’t think you can copy whoever goes first.
The time it takes you to complete this task, as well as your teamwork will be graded.
That, in addition to last year’s assessments, your commission performances, and your training records will be used to determine your party’s group rank for the coming year.”
Lineah’s voice carried across the training yard. Behind her, the three mages had begun chanting quietly.
“Push yourselves, but don’t be reckless. This isn’t a life or death scenario,” she added then looked to Evalyn.
The secretary stepped forward with a clipboard in hand. The mages on the platform raised their arms and a shimmery sheen covered the sky around them, creating a magical net of sorts.
As the barrier was erected, fire in the braziers from the previous night sprang to life all over the training grounds.
The guild members could also hear movement within the brush on the mountain.
“They brought monsters,” Dahlia whispered.
“Nothing big though,” Orbahn replied. “Even with the barrier to keep the monsters within the grounds, anything too big or sapient would be a risk.”
“Guild members who use magic, you will find resource stations around the course. You may also engage in combat with the monsters on the course, but you may not directly fight the mages from the Consortium,” Evalyn said.
“Guild Members with Gifts are allowed to use them freely. Treat this as you would a commission. Find your flags and return as quickly as possible.
Hazm, your party is up first.”
A trio of veteran Adventurers took up their starting positions with Daryl in tow.
From her spot on the platform as a spectator, a bandaged Patty cheered her friend’s name and he grinned and gave her a thumbs up.
The bell rang, the timer began, and the group ran toward the mountain.
From down on the ground with the others, Alice saw the four adventurers intermittently.
When they located a flag, a loud bang sounded and a puff of smoke exploded in the air above. From the platform, Evalyn checked the time of each puff of smoke and made notes. Occasionally a mage on the platform spoke to her and she nodded along and made more notes.
Hazm’s party returned a little after two hours later. They looked exhausted but Daryl practically skipped beside them, waving a fist of four flags in the air. The members on the grounds applauded.
Evalyn called for the next party to warm up as the mages reset the course.
“I’m starting to get nervous,” Dahlia muttered.
Felix chuckled.
Once it was ready, the bell sounded and the second party rushed toward the mountain course. Once again they could occasionally be seen. This time, a sudden flash of fire surprised everyone watching on the ground.
“Dahlia,” Orbahn’s voice spoke quietly, as they watched. “How many mages are on the mountain?”
“Give me a second,” she closed her eyes and pursed her lips.
Alice felt a feeling similar to when Felix used his Gift on her hair.
Her eyes suddenly sprang open. “A lot! Twenty.”
“Plus the three on the platform…” He scratched his chin. “That’s almost the whole Consortium here in Root Hollow.”
“Let’s make a plan,” their leader said.
“Most likely, some of the mages up there are just relaying information back to the platform. But, that many mages means the majority of the obstacles will come from them. And they might switch out members depending on what parties are being assessed.”
The second party returned an hour and a half later. They looked equally haggard as they clutched their flags. One of their members walked with a noticeable limp and Alice saw marble white flesh through the tear in her trousers.
“Looks like there’s a gods-damn Cockatrice up there,” Felix said as Orbahn groaned.
One more adventuring party went after that, then at last Evalyn called for Orbahn’s party to get ready.
“Everyone remember the plan,” Orbahn said as he freed a large shield from his pack and fastened it to his arm. “Dahlia will take point, using her Gift to take us straight to the flags. Felix, keep your eyes peeled for monsters. Alice will stay in the center of the party since she can’t track. I’ll handle any magic obstacles.”
“You got it,” Dahlia smiled.
Felix nodded.
Alice swallowed hard and clenched her fists against her nerves.
“The course has been reset,” a mage on the platform said to Evalyn. She nodded and turned to the party below the platform.
“Good luck, you guys,” she said quietly. “You may begin.”
The bell rang, Dahlia activated her Gift, and the party ran towards the mountain.
_______
The first obstacle appeared right away for them.
The magically created river that surrounded the mountain had its bridge removed for their party’s turn. Their sprint abruptly came to a halt as the four of them stared where the bridge had been just one group before. Down below the magical river churned with violent rapids too dangerous to wade across.
“The first flag is close,” Dahlia said. “I guess that’s why they took the bridge.”
Felix tapped his chin and looked around.
“Guys.”
They turned their attention to where Felix pointed. A tall tree that did not exist the previous day grew on their side of the river.
“Alice come on,” Orbahn patted Alice’s shoulder and the two of them sprinted to the tree.
“I hope you’re strong enough for this,” he said as he planted the point of his shield into the dirt behind him and braced himself with it. Fae language crumbled from his tongue like rocks falling loose. The smell of petrichor rose around them and the ground shook.
The tree groaned as the roots lifted and splintered from the dirt. Leaves and loose branches fell as the tree came free of the earth and hurtled down. Alice stood in the path of its fall, fighting her panic with her arms raised to catch it.
It’s gonna crush me. It’s gonna crush me. I’m gonna die again.
The tree trunk collided with her arms and the shock of the impact rippled through her entire body. But it did not crush her. She did not die.
Though it was awkward to hold because of the size, the entire tree felt to be about twenty pounds in her supernaturally powered arms.
When she focused, it became practically weightless.
Felix and Dahlia cheered as she moved the felled tree to the river and laid it across the gap. They hurried across their makeshift bridge and into the mountain course proper.
Crossing the bridge completely changed the atmosphere.
The air hummed with energy, and the mountain appeared taller and more imposing. Dahlia jumped to the front of the party and waved them on. They followed her over uneven, damp ground. Low vegetation tickled their legs, and the rustling of brush made them uneasy. This story is hosted at novelping.com.
Alice’s foot slipped on a patch of damp rock and she took a heavy tumble. In the corner of her vision a snake slithered under the brush. She gasped.
“Look to the tree on your left,” Felix whispered as he helped Alice to her feet when she slipped. Alice looked as instructed and caught a glimpse of a black robe standing in the trees.
She hadn’t noticed at all.
“The flag is close,” Dahlia said, also oblivious. “Behind a waterfall up ahead.”
“Dee, wait-“ Felix called.
Dahlia turned back to the party lagging behind as a vine, not a snake, twisted around her ankle and knocked her over.
Dahlia let out a surprised yelped as she fell. The vine then lifted her by the ankle into the air.
It was sudden, and so bizarre that Alice froze in place as Felix and Orbahn rushed forward to help their dangling partner. Her brain tried to quickly make sense of the situation by comparing it to the times she saw similar things in movies but…
This is real.
Felix’s dagger flashed in a quick arc and Dahlia fell into Orbahn’s arms.
Another robed figure appeared in the trees, and vines twisted around Alice’s arms and legs.
The sudden sensation of being restrained turned Alice’s freeze response into one of fight and she jerked and kicked against the vines threatening to pull her limbs apart. But each time she strained the vines went slack only to pull tight again.
She shouted from the strain but her party was already on their way to her aid.
More vines emerged from the brush and captured Orbahn, tightening around his throat to prevent his use of magic. They gripped one of Felix’s arms but the half-fae boy quickly whipped around and grabbed the vine with his other hand. His Gift pulsed and the vine turned to ash.
With her Gift no longer focused on the flag ahead, but the vines before them, the two mages in the brush could not pin Dahlia down. Each time they tried to restrain her, Dahlia slipped out of their grasp. She skipped past the vines like a kid playing jump rope and drew her bow.
The loosed arrow flew between the gap in the writhing vines and cut one of Alice’s arms free. A second arrow freed her leg.
With one side of her body free, Alice reached across her body to the vines on the other side and snapped them. She hit the ground hard, and struggled to her feet as the group reformed around her.
They braced themselves for a second onslaught, but the mages had already slipped away.
“Dahlia.”
Dahlia closed her eyes at Orbahn’s command and shook her head.
“They backed off,” she said.
“I see how it works now,” he replied. “We survived their little ordeal so we get to move forward. Let’s go get our flag.”
As she’d said, the flag hung behind a waterfall.
Orbahn parted the falling water with magic and Alice scaled the wall and pulled the flag free of the chain from which it hung. A nearby cannon shot a smoke bomb in the air, signaling to the observers at the base of the mountain that they reached their first objective.
The second flag, according to Dahlia was halfway up the mountain. And a third near the top. But…
“The fourth one seems to be moving,” Dahlia said.
“We’ll save it for last then,” Orbahn replied. “Unless we run into it before then. Lead the way to the next one.”