“Are. They. Serious?”
Orbahn, Felix, Dahlia and Alice finally crested the ridge to the summit of the mountain.
Their third flag waved at them from the center of a large nest.
Two drakes, green and brown dragon-like monsters the size of wolf hounds, guarded the nest.
The group hid out of sight a short distance away.
“Is this better or worse than the Cockatrice?” Alice asked in a whisper.
“Weeelll, they don’t have venom that will turn you to stone,” Dahlia whispered back.
“They just breathe fire instead,” Felix said.
“Unlike Dragons though, they have very limited fire power,” Orbahn replied. “I’ve fought drakes before. You can bait them into using up their fire.”
He nodded to Alice.
“You and I will do that. Felix will slip into the nest and get the flag.”
Dahlia, who hadn’t been able to recover many arrows, crossed her arms.
“I’ll remain on the lookout for any mages so they can’t take us by surprise.”
With their roles set, Alice and Orbahn emerged from their hiding spot and made as much noise as possible.
Two dragon heads whipped in their direction and hundreds of sharp teeth flashed as their lips pulled back into snarls. Fear rose in Alice again, but this time she was able to keep moving. She tightened her grip on her club as she dragged it along the ground to create noise.
As they drew closer to the nest the drakes approached.
Orbahn spotted a water basin. Fae language bubbled and the humidity in the air thickened as he began to cast magic. The nearest drake to Alice lunged, and she jumped back just enough to escape gnashing teeth. The head whipped at her as she changed direction, and the drake bit down on her club. She swung it, and sent the drake flying backwards. It hissed as it hit the ground and rolled to its feet. The hairs on Alice’s neck stood on end, as if she could sense the danger coming.
Her Gift flared to life and shield sprang up around her as the drake unleash a stream of fire.
Though the fire couldn’t break through the shield, she could still feel the heat. As if she’d stepped inside an oven and closed the door, she feared how long she could hold out before it cooked her. She stepped backwards on instinct as the desire to run to cooler temperature threatened to override her reason. An arc of water shot past her from her right, and doused the drake. The fire went out and Alice sighed with relief.
The second drake slammed headfirst into Alice’s shield and stumbled backwards with a shake of its head. Orbahn lunged with the blade end of his shield and caught the drake in the side. It hissed and knocked their leader off his feet with a massive tail. As he tried to regain his footing the drake reared up to strike with its claws.
An arrow buried itself into the drake’s chest.
Fire shot out again, and Alice threw herself between it and her party members. Her shield deflected the fire and Orbahn got to his feet.
“Don’t just stand in the way, or you’ll be cooked,” he said. “Come on! Don’t let them focus on Dee.”
They ran, and the drake stopped its fire to give chase.
Felix skirted the drake’s territory in the opposite direction of Alice and Orbahn. He kept low and quiet, in an effort to not be seen.
He came up to the nest with little trouble and snagged the flag. However, as he yanked it free the nearby cannon fired the smoke flare, and the wounded drake Dahlia had shot turned.
“Oh shit.”
He turned to run, but even wounded the drake covered the distance in two leaps. He ducked as razor sharp claws raked the air where his head been. They missed his head, but sliced into his arm. Blazing hot pain flared to life in his arm as it claws ripped clean through his armor.
The sudden duck caused Felix to lose his footing and slide down the mountain. When he looked up, he saw the drake sliding after him. Smoke curled from the monster’s lips, and his heart jumped into his throat.
“Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit.”
He slid to a stop and braced himself.
The drake’s mouth opened.
Water rained down on the drake, extinguishing its fire as two arrows buried one after the other into the beast’s side. The monster tumbled past Felix and vanished into the brush below.
Dahlia’s head appeared over the edge of the cliff and Felix smiled as she threw him a rope.
Alice and Orbahn hurried over and the three of them pulled him up.
Once he was safe he held up the flag now covered in his blood.
“Only one flag left…” Orbahn said.
Dahlia stretched. “How long have we even been up here? It feels like ages, but that can’t be.”
Alice’s lips fell to a deep frown.
“Let’s not worry about that,” Orbahn replied. “All that matters is that we finish.
How far is the flag, Dahlia?”
Dahlia pursed her lips. “About halfway down I think.”
“Then lets patch ourselves up quick and go.”
___________
Climbing down proved easier than climbing up.
The height illusion had dissipated, but the memory of the experience still lingered in Alice’s mind. She stuck close to the wall of the mountain as they descended and struggled against the shaking in her legs.
They rounded the bend to the sparse area of vegetation where Alice had panicked.
Dahlia’s head whipped around behind them.
“There!”
They turned as the ground rumbled beneath their feet and a massive golem, the size of a building, rose over the ridge where they stood. A robed figure stood on each shoulder.
As the Golem rose to its full height it cast the party of adventurers in its shadow.
Felix craned his head back to see the golem’s head. He swore under his breath.
The mages raised their arms and the Golem trembled with movement. The earthen puppet raised a truck sized arm and drove it straight for the party. Orbahn yelled for them to scatter and the group split in two. The golem’s arm slammed into the trail where they had been standing just moments before, then swept towards Alice and Felix.
Alice threw up her shield and prayed they wouldn’t be crushed.
The collision of the arm into her shield shook her to core. Even her teeth rattled in her head. The sound of crashing earth deafened them, and sent their ears ringing.
But they didn’t get crushed.
Roots burst through the wall of the mountain at Orbahn’s command and wrapped around the golem’s arm.
“It’s in the chest cavity!” Dahlia shouted over the falling rubble, but her voice struggled over the ringing in Alice’s ears.
Felix darted past Alice, and leapt onto the arm of the golem. As he ran up the arm, the mages commanded the golem to pull its arm free of Orbahn’s restraints.
Dirt and debris flew everywhere. Felix nimbly scaled the giant and the mage closest to him fled to the other shoulder. Felix touched the golem’s head with both hands.
“Please turn to dust!” He prayed and activated his Gift.
The Golem’s head shuddered, but the fae boy’s luck had run out. Rather than dust, the head burst into spikes. Felix cried out as the spikes skewered his hands. On the golem’s other shoulder, the sudden appearance of spikes from the head knocked one of the mages off balance and they fell.
Someone screamed.
The falling mage, their partner, Alice… someone watching? Hard to say.
Orbahn looked over the edge, casting magic to try and catch the mage before they hit the ground an died.
But the mage had already been caught.
They hovered in the air above the crowd, startled but alive. A creeping cold settled in Orbahn’s stomach as his mind told his eyes to seek out Eve.
He found her on the platform with her face half covered by her cloak. Her attention focused on the hovering mage, and Orbahn caught a glimpse of shining silver eyes just under the brim of her cloak.
“Orbahn!”
Felix’s cry as he struggled to free his hands brought the leader back to the moment. He commanded more vines as the golem swayed and threatened to fall backwards. The sheer size of the thing he attempted to restrain caused the muscles in his body to burn as his over-use of magic began to take its toll.
The mage who managed to keep his balance hurried to Felix’s side and helped the boy free his hands. The mage threw back his hood and called for Orbahn to break his hold on the vines before he passed out. Orbahn let go and the mage leapt to the mountain with Felix in his arms.
“But the flag-“ Felix croaked desperately and tried to wiggle free of the mage’s grasp.
The golem teetered then lurched forward, lifeless body threatening to crush them all. The mage gasped and spun to pump SOME magic into the golem, as a streak of golden light shot past the party.
Alice, shining like a human shaped sun, leapt into the air and swung her club with all her might. The club distorted beyond recognition as it slammed into the chest of the golem and shattered the puppet’s casing. The giant golem’s momentum changed and it careened backwards instead, taking the blazing giant of a woman with it.
The commotion on the ground swelled as guild members rushed to get to safety. The golem fell apart into large pieces, throwing up a huge cloud of dust that covered the whole training grounds. This chapter was taken from NovelPing without permission.
A heavy quiet followed in the moments after as the dust settled. The golem had been reduced to rubble.
A figure stood hunched over the pile.
Eve gripped her clipboard with white knuckles. A murmur circulated in the crowd.
Alice stood atop the rubble and lifted their fourth and final flag high over her head.
The roar of the guild members’ cheers deafened her all over again.
Sweaty, exhausted, covered in bruises and lacerations, and coated in a thick layer of dust…
None of it could erase the radiance of her smile when her eyes found Eve’s.
The secretary dropped her clipboard.
Alice’s teammates joined her ten minutes after the Assessment officially ended, as they still had to walk back down the mountain. When they saw her, Dahlia broke from the pack and jumped into Alice’s arms. The girls spun around and laughed as dust flew everywhere.
Branch Captain Lineah dismissed the guild members for the day with an announcement that the tests would resume the next day.
As the crowd began to disperse, Orbahn watched as the mages from the Consortium congregated around Eve. The secretary flipped through the pages on her clipboard as she discussed the plans for the following day. Her hood had been pulled back down before they met up with Alice and her eyes were violet once more.
“I’m sure I didn’t imagine it,” He muttered.
“Imagine what?” Alice asked. She removed her helmet, revealing a mess of sweaty white hair with black roots.
Orbahn shook his head and the four of them headed to the bathhouse to clean up.
___
Alice laid wide awake on Eve’s bed, staring at the warm wooden ceiling of her bedroom. Outside night had cast everything in darkness.
She could still feel the hum of metal in her hands from the impact of her club against the golem.
It turned to dust… She held her palms up and flexed her fingers. Uninjured palms waved back at her face. I legit destroyed that thing.
She dropped her hands back to her chest and let out a long breath. So that’s what that power felt like. She certainly felt something similar in the alley when she met Eve, but after the trials she’d become very aware of it. Energy zipped around under her skin, like a morning where she drank too much caffeine after an all night cram session in college.
The door to the room opened and Eve stepped inside.
“You have your own room now,” she said. “People will start to talk if you sleep here instead.”
“I’m not dreaming, am I?” Alice muttered to the ceiling. “I mean… No one knows what happens when you die so maybe-”
There was silence in Eve’s direction.
Alice sat up to check if she was still in the room and a soft night gown obscured her vision as it collided with her face. She yanked it off her face with a scowl but Eve’s awkward attempt at a smile distracted her.
“So what if you’re dreaming?” Eve replied. “Feels real enough, right? Besides…” She stepped up to the side of the bed with her arms crossed.
“It’s a bit insulting to insinuate that I’m not real.”
Alice grinned and leaned forward. “Or maybe I’m insinuating that you’re my dream girl.”
Eve’s hand shot out and pushed Alice away by her face as she rolled her eyes. Alice laughed.
That’s right. Who cares if it’s heaven or hell or a dream or whatever. It feels real. That’s all that matters…
Alice looked down at their hands and quietly slid hers up until they covered Eve’s. Eve jumped and started to step away but stopped herself. Her face remained blank, but the tips of her ears turned red.
“I- I should change for bed,” Eve looked away and quickly withdrew her hands. “I’ve also got more work to do before I can sleep so... You should go.”
She lowered her head to hide her face.
“Yeah,” Alice smiled at the top of Eve’s shaggy head. She slid from Eve’s bed and crossed the room in two strides.
“Night. See you tomorrow, dream girl.”
Eve’s head whipped around in her direction but Alice quickly slipped out of the room and shut the door.