First Test

  Skye peeked through the shrub, looking around like a twitchy chipmunk. After confirming he was alone, he crept out of the foliage, brushing leaves from his hair. Staying low, he moved between the trees until he reached the edge of the cliff—a sheer sixty-feet drop ending with a wide, rushing river. The current surged, swift and foaming, weaving around protruding rocks. Luckily, there were no strange whirlpools or abnormally large waves.

  Taking a deep breath, he ran, and jumped.

  His scream mixed with the ringing bell and the iris’s jocund song. The gap between the two shores was wide enough for a thirty-foot bridge, though no construct could survive anywhere near the water. Falling fast, he swung his arms and legs—repeating the maneuver he’d used to escape the thyelloxos—and blasted powerful streams of air from each limb, launching himself diagonally upward.

  His acceleration surpassed his expectations. The rocky precipice approached too quickly, and he had to angle his arms downward, blasting air to shift his trajectory upward. He barely reached the opposite bank, cushioning his landing with another gust of wind, then rolled across the ground, gasping for air.

  Ding.

  “That could’ve gone much worse,” Redeyes said. “Don’t worry. You’ve still got miles to screw things up.” His fiery form flickered as he trailed after Skye, his flames dancing harmlessly among the trees. “Mind telling me why we’re headed back to the city? Want to show off your shiny new powers to your friends? Need I remind you they don’t know you?”

  “Troqua is already on the way north, and I need food, medicine, a change of clothes, some crystals, and maybe another map,” Skye replied, ringing his bell once more. He flexed his fingers, testing their stiffness. Pairi’s fairy powder had soothed his knuckles, but he needed Iggy’s to fully recover.

  “Stenser’s Iggy’s?” Redeyes’s fires receded from his mouth, revealing a grin of charred teeth. “Let me guess, you’d rather swipe from Stenser than the master, eh?”

  “I’d rather steal from neither. It’s just… easier.” The master had raised an armament of magical flora when Skye had summoned the bell in the treehouse. Stenser could be dangerous when threatened, but Skye had never seen him crush a thyelloxos with its own lightning bolt. “Besides, the ointment will return once I cast my curse.”

  “And then?”

  Skye exhaled heavily. After the incident with the thyelloxos and his hasty departure, Skye had drained and recharged his fantasia for the third time this day. Contamination crept through him like ants tunneling into dirt. He was exhausted. And his lack of sleep during the past few days weighed on him, slowing him down.

  “I’ll spend the night in Troqua, then leave at dawn,” he replied. “Beats sleeping in the forest.”

  They continued through the forest at a careful trot, allowing him to siphon some contamination from his limbs and chest. When he felt as recovered as he’d be, he broke into a sprint.

  The iris sang, and the wind whipped his face as he gained speed. Channeling, he propelled himself between the trees, running faster than humanly possible, leaping great distances as if he had springs in his legs. He soared through the forest like a falcon riding the wind, scanning the ground for lurking monsters, elemental or otherwise. Occasionally, he vaulted above the canopies to check his trajectory, though he dared not linger.

  The aeroxii patrolled these skies with religious zeal. One of them—a whirlwind whose skull had an elongated, pointy beak—let out a blood-curdling screech as it dove toward him. With a ring of his bell, he sank through the foliage, ending the pursuit. For a heartbeat, the winds around him vanished, but he was quick to summon them again.

  Branches snapped as he descended, and leaves fluttered past, but none touched him. Early in his journey, a sturdy branch had ended one of his dashes with a brutal slam to his shoulder. Since then, he reinforced a constant windshield to snap errant twigs and vines before they could reach him. The thicker ones still posed a threat, but he had learned to spot and avoid them. The technique was easier than a full calm bubble, being directed forward only, and it allowed him to go at full speed.

  Time flew as he did. Before long, the outline of Solarite District emerged from the forest a few miles away. Breathless, he landed on his knees, wiping sweat from his brow. His heart raced with as much exhaustion as excitement.

  The speed at which he crossed all that distance amazed him. And although his head hurt terribly, his bell had kept him safe and hidden.

  It was a curse. Yet, in this moment, he was grateful for it.

  Master Ku had taught him well, but Skye was no great windrider. Without its chimes, any of the dozen elexii he’d seen could have ended his journey. Fighting them wasn’t necessary, he simply had to evade them.

  This test flight proved a critical fact: he could reach the Avyhandouse alone, and in two days max. Void, he could make a detour to Shiema and swim in the sea if he wanted. He could already imagine the wonderful smell of the salt in the air, feel the soft sand between his toes.

  “You’re grinning as if you’ve already defeated the wardens,” Redeyes noted from his side.

  “It’s because I’m not powerless now,” Skye said, exhaling a mist of fragmented fantasia.

  “And what about Rico? How can you smile after what you did to him?”

  Skye’s smile faltered. Many times, he’d considered returning to apologize to Rico and the master. But each time, he reminded himself that there was nothing he could do for Rico now, and of the consequences of his failure.

  “Rico is in the master’s care,” he said, voice tight. “Pairi said he’ll be fine.”

  They walked in the shade, listening as the lively sounds of the city arrived with the wind.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Cheers and drumbeats rang, vibrant and rhythmic, like a festival, or some sports event. Most likely, it was some baron celebrating Duchess Cleora and Chief Akunai’s engagement. Was it wise to host such a boisterous gathering with so many elexii lurking nearby?

  “They’re not very clever, my kin,” Redeyes said bitterly. “They see your walls, think it’s another natural phenomenon, and walk away. Hear your noise, assume it’s a jubilant band of frogs, and ignore you. Bah, what an embarrassment! If it were up to me, I’d have raided your city a long time ago.”

  Skye ignored the teases, focusing on his footing. His thoughts wandered to his friends. It would be nice to see how they’ve been doing since his departure. A part of him grew giddy at the thought of facing Nakais in a duel where he dissipated the larger boy’s fiery strikes with gales of wind before sending him tumbling into a pool of mud.

  “Look at this absurdity!” Redeyes snapped, gesturing toward a gap in the trees. “Your people are sending smoke signals, practically shouting: ‘Here we are! Come and kill us!’ And my brethren brush it off as if it’s normal! We pyroxii start fires constantly, but not as big as this one! What do you think they’re celebrating?”

  Skye paused, leaning against a tree, watching the smoke rise in the distance. It was a thick stream, black and foreboding. He remembered the Alektom’s restaurant, where chefs used pyrpphires to avoid sending unintended signals like this. Why the change now?

  He resumed his stride, listening to the world around him. Dry leaves and detritus crunched underfoot. Critters’ cries filled the air. And his heart beat madly in his chest. Through it all, the remote drumbeats sounded off, too loud and irregular to be music, and there were no other instruments. Most importantly, the yells were no upbeat cheers.

  They were screams.

  Horror clutched at his heart as he took to the skies. There, he saw the source of the smoke: fire had taken hold of some mansions at the edge of the district, and was spreading unchallenged. Further behind, explosions erupted, painting the skies red and orange. He gasped as a column of ice rose to block another explosion, followed by lightning flashing through the district like a grounded storm. Despite the distance, he made out several holes in the walls where hordes of elexii of various kinds poured through, wreaking havoc.

  The attack had begun.

  No, no, no! It can’t be! It’s too early! Green Eve is still days away! I should have more time!

  ‘We’ll have to test them before we send them into the city,’ the warden’s words reverberated in his mind.

  Was this slaughter those maniacs definition of a test?

  Coalsons!

  Heart hammering, bell ringing madly, he shot forward, wind screaming in his ears. Aeroxii swarmed the skies around, headed in the same direction as him. All around the city, he spied trees toppling as geoxii of all shapes and sizes charged through the breaches. Plenty were inside the district already, trampling and wrecking everything in their path. The roars of several pyroxii shocked him to the core, forcing him to slow in fear. Their silhouettes rampaged within the inferno, reveling in the destruction.

  Faster, faster!

  The closer he got to the city, the more real this nightmare became. Villas lay in ruins, their shapes deformed like sandcastles crushed under uncaring feet. Gardens he once admired were trampled, ablaze, or both as if a herd of flaming boars had charged through them.

  Near the walls, he saw the bodies. Wardens in black cloaks littered the pavement, crushed, pierced, charred, and mangled beyond recognition, their astra lying useless beside them. Among them were others: servants in simple garments and nobles in dazzling suits and colorful dresses. They all bled into a red river that flowed down the road.

  Skye froze midair, clutching a tree for balance as he stared blankly at the carnage. Everything he’d endured for the past seven weeks had been to stop this. The cold isolation, the brutal beatings, and the inhumane imprisonment he’d suffered had all been for naught.

  “And whose fault is that?” Redeyes asked sharply, floating beside him.

  So much time he’d wasted. Convincing people who wouldn’t listen. Reading books that taught nothing. Or training and experimenting with his curse to no avail. Worst of all, the deaths of his team had been in vain. Had they known what a huge disappointment he’d be, they wouldn’t have saved him.

  Tears blurred his vision as he buried his face against the tree’s bark, teeth grinding. A broken wail escaped his throat.

  “You pathetic fool! Look at them! They’re dying because you failed!” Redeyes bellowed, voice full of rage. “How many lives have been lost already? How many more will die when the elexii reach the city and turn it into smoking piles of ash? Don’t turn away, look! Look and listen to the results of your failure!”

  Skye raised his head, heart pounding as the horror of the scene pressed down on him. Elexii scaled the wall or hurled their smaller kin over it. Others ran at it like unstoppable juggernauts, reducing it to rubble. From everywhere, shrills of pain or cries for help tugged at his ears, pulling his soul into their anguish.

  “Soon they’ll be silent, and everyone you knew will be dead,” Redeyes said with an air of finality. “Will you find peace then?”

  Peace? With everyone gone?

  There was no peace in loneliness, only torment. If he lost Lyonel or any of the Medhars, he’d be devastated. If he lost Rierana…

  “Rierana!” he shouted, voice cracking as he flew ahead.

  She worked at Solarite. Had she escaped below, or was she stuck up here?

  He landed midst the carnage, feet splashing in the crimson. The air reeked of blood, burned flesh, and waste, an oppressive stench that burned his throat and twisted his stomach. He moved from body to body, checking dirt-covered faces, staring into unblinking eyes. Nausea surged inside him, and he vomited, the acidic bile splattering over the dead.

  Then he saw her laid between the corpses, servant dress matted with dirt and blood, an earthy spike embedded in her side. He kneeled before her, mumbling apologies, clearing the hair from her pale face with trembling fingers.

  She stared at him with a surprised expression, but her nose was too large, and more wrinkles covered her face. Closing the woman’s eyes, he stood, resuming his search.

  “She’s not here,” he whispered once he’d checked all the bodies, releasing a long-held breath.

  “Oh, what a relief! These are just a bunch of dead strangers!” Redeyes said as Skye resumed running. “You’re a conceited coalbag, Skye! You disgust me!”

  The shattered remains of tall, ornamented walls marked his proximity to the Rikal estate. The elexii had advanced like a flood, tearing through the district block by block. An explosion nearby shook the ground, throwing him off balance, and bringing the ruins down in a crushing heap. More noises followed from a few blocks away, crackling fire and crumbling stones, roars, cries and screams.

  Lots and lots of screams.

  He rounded the shattered remains of a once-magnificent palace and stumbled upon a battlefield raging in Solarite’s central plaza. Every warden in Troqua was gathered here, hundreds of them locked in a desperate struggle against the bloodthirsty elexii.

  Stonemasons carved trenches to trap pyroxii and geoxii, then rolled waves of earth to bury them. Windriders and firedancers combined forces, summoning burning whirlwinds to ensnare the shrieking aeroxii in blazing cages. Tidebreakers and icesculptors unleashed torrents of water and frost to extinguish the spreading flames. Other channelers struck with bolts of light, shadow, or erected barriers to slow the monsters’ advance.

  All their efforts were in vain.

  The pyroxii trampled through the barriers as if they were paper while the Geoxii dug themselves free or lay their bodies as bridges over trenches. Above, the aeroxii spun together in the opposite direction of the sweltering twisters, breaking free then swooping down to take vengeance.

  This was no heroic charge to reclaim the surface; it was a hopeless last stand.

  The wardens retreated, abandoning their dead and anyone unlucky enough to fall behind. Many wounded remained, crawling away or begging for help. Victory was impossible; the wardens fought only to delay the inevitable as elexii couldn’t be killed, only temporarily incapacitated.

  Behind the wardens, hundreds of civilians surged toward the steel gates, pushing and shouting as they tried to escape before they closed.

  Skye had half a mind to leap into the fray, to help hold back the advancing wave. But his contribution would more likely inconvenience the wardens, not the elexii, as he couldn’t match the power or rhythm of the experienced channelers. Besides, he had to find Rierana.

  Crouching in the shadows, he rang his bell and ran. Of everyone here, only he could traverse Solarite with relative safety thanks to his curse.