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  “Each of you will wear the cuffs while undergoing Tu’eh Saeron ess Telari,” Tayros said as the rest of them slid the bands onto their wrists. “They will ensure that you remain linked to share the same testing environment.”

  Alex raised her eyebrows at that, seeing similar expressions on her friends’ faces.

  “Is it like a virtual reality?” Bear asked, with a hint of his normal enthusiasm. Alex was pleased to again see evidence that he was compartmentalising his grief, at least for the time being, but she failed to understand his perpetual excitement over anything related to virtual reality. Any time she’d ever experienced it, she’d almost always ended up shocked in one way or another—sometimes a good shock, but mostly bad.

  “What you experience will be real, or at least real to you,” Tayros answered, negating the virtual reality idea. “The dangers you face inside the Gates will also be real, as will the consequences should you fail to… overcome those dangers.”

  Alex didn’t like the sound of that, but she pushed away thoughts of Bear’s theory from last night about their lives being at stake. Now was the time to focus, not fear.

  “Those in the audience each wear similar cuffs,” Tayros continued, waving to the assembled masses and then sliding up his white sleeves to reveal his own gold-enclosed wrists. “We’ll be able to watch everything that happens during your testing.”

  How fabulous, Alex thought, sighing.

  “No one has told us anything about Tu’eh Saeron ess Telari,” she said, twisting one of the cuffs nervously around her forearm. She was again pleased that her golden skin was concealed, otherwise she would be looking overwhelmingly gaudy right now. “Are there any rules we must follow? Any instructions at all?”

  “Six Gates you must overcome,” Tayros said. He pointed to the fiery arches floating above them. “Each day that you continue on, there will be three new options for you. You must step through only one and face what is on the other side.”

  “Three new options?” Kaiden repeated, frowning slightly. “Options regarding what?”

  “I cannot say,” Tayros said. “You will have to wait and see.”

  “And all we have to do is choose which option we want and step through the Gate?” Alex asked. “Seems relatively simple.”

  “You don’t get to choose the option,” Tayros corrected. “Only the Gate.”

  Her brow furrowed. “But—How will we know which option is for which Gate?”

  “You won’t.” Fisting his right hand and pressing it just above his heart in a strange kind of salute, he finished, “May the light shine upon you always, mortals.”

  With a bright flash, Tayros vanished, only to reappear seated on the throne at Saefii’s right side.

  Alex froze. Not because of his limited information regarding the Gates, but from his final statement, since that was the last thing Lady Mystique had ever said to her. The next time Alex had seen the ancient woman, she’d been killed by Aven.

  ‘May the light shine upon you always, Alexandra Jennings.’

  “Hey, Alex, you okay?”

  Alex blinked back the memory—and the tears tickling the back of her nose—and nodded to answer D.C.’s question. Slightly shaken, but otherwise okay, she knew she couldn’t afford to lose her composure. Not now.

  “Looks like the empress is getting ready to speak,” Bear said, pointing up to the three thrones.

  Indeed, Saefii had risen to her feet and had her hands in the air, drawing the attention of the masses who quietened instantly upon seeing their ruler call for silence.

  “Welcome, welcome, one and all,” Saefii said in the lyrical language of her race, her voice somehow amplified to echo around the entire space. “We are here today to witness the humans of Medora who wish to prove their worth by facing the Gates of Testing.”

  A loud cry arose at her words, cheers mixed with jeers, the audience torn about whether to be excited or annoyed.

  “Six tests over six days, that is what shall be required of them,” Saefii told her people. “Whatever their fate, they have already showed courage in being here today. Now allow us to offer them the respect that decision has earned.”

  More cheers this time, and significantly fewer jeers.

  “Any chance you want to fill us in?” Declan said from the corner of his mouth. His comment was to Kaiden, but Alex wasn’t sure if Kaiden had been taught enough by Athora to have followed everything Saefii had said. Either way, neither of them had the chance to fill in their friends, since the empress turned her gaze down to the circle and switched to the common tongue.

  “The Tu’eh Saeron ess Telari should not be undertaken lightly,” Saefii told them. “This is your final chance to change your minds.”

  Alex shared quick glances with her friends, noting their tense but steadfast expressions as they each shook their heads in the negative.

  “We will face your tests as agreed,” Alex said for all of them, her voice somehow amplified just like Saefii’s.

  “Very well,” the empress said.

  Saefii raised her hands again, this time pointing towards the three floating arches. Suddenly, their blazing increased and they started moving, circling slowly at first, but building to an incredible speed. Around and around they circled until they looked like a flaming ring suspended in the air. And then, as if someone had hit pause, they came to an instant stop, each now with a glowing word written in the empty space at its base.

  Zoren—‘hope’.

  Vaedan—‘strength’.

  Ganoris—‘reason’.

  “The Gates have spoken,” Saefii called, her silver eyes trailing over the words just as Alex’s had. “Today our challengers will be tested by either the Gate of Hope, the Gate of Strength or the Gate of Reason.”

  As the audience gave another mighty cry, the Gates started moving again, even faster than before, the words disappearing like smoke in the wind. This time they slowed gradually, and as they did, they gently lowered until they came to a rest at triangulated points in the clouded gap beyond the edge of the raised stage.

  “May the light be your guide, humans,” Saefii said, taking her seat again. “And may you choose wisely.”

  That appeared to be all she was going to say, because with a wave, she indicated for them to begin. The audience too appeared to be waiting with baited breath to see what would happen next. And they weren’t the only ones. Alex wondered if her heart was going to beat out of her chest with anticipation.

  “Hope, reason, strength,” Bear said. “None of those sound too bad.”

  “Better than death, plague and tragedy,” Jordan offered in agreement. “Fingers crossed they’re not on the agenda later this week.”

  Alex crossed her toes as well, just to be safe.

  Pivoting in the centre of the circle as she looked from arch to arch, it was impossible to tell which Gate had been for which test, the words now long gone. Turning back to the others, she asked, “What do you guys think?”

  “I’m happy to leave this one up to you,” D.C. said. When Alex opened her mouth to object, her friend continued, “Saefii told us yesterday that the most demanding Gates will challenge you specifically. It’s only fair that you should get to choose which ones we go through.”

  “But I don’t get to choose,” Alex said, gesturing to the identical-looking Gates. “It’s basically a crapshoot.”

  “Then it’s your crapshoot,” Declan said, clapping a hand encouragingly on her shoulder and giving her a shake that nearly rattled her bones. “Go on, Alex. We’ve got your back, whatever you decide.”

  Resenting them all a little for the position they were putting her in—while also understanding why they were doing so and knowing she’d offer the same if their positions were reversed— Alex sighed deeply and moved towards one of the arches at random. She came to a stop at the border of the circle, which left a cloud-filled gap of about three feet between the stage and the base of the Gate. They would have to jump in order to pass through—but for what pu
rpose other than to forfeit their dignity, Alex didn’t know.

  Stretching forward as far as she could, she reached out to test the flames still flaring off the arches to make sure they wouldn’t burn her on contact. Instead, she found that it was just like the blue fire that appeared whenever she summoned A’enara— beautiful, yet harmless. At least to her. Aware that the star fire was known to severely burn anyone not bound to her magical blade, Alex held her breath as her friends stepped forward to test the flames themselves. She only relaxed again when none of them cried out in agony, satisfied enough to press onwards.

  “Ready or not, here we come,” Alex said quietly. And with the assurance that the others were right behind her, she pushed off from the stage and leapt over the gap and into the Gate.

  Six

  As soon as Alex passed through the Gate, her senses were overwhelmed by the tickling star fire until it disappeared entirely, leaving a single word burning brightly across her mind in the second before the glow disappeared.

  This should be interesting, Alex thought as she landed on the other side, unconsciously translating the word.

  Looking around as her friends arrived behind her, it was clear they were no longer in the golden stadium. Instead of clouds, they were now standing at the base of a rocky mountain rising high into the heavens and surrounded by desert—presumably the same as what Alex had wandered through when she first arrived in Tia Auras, however this one still had the three blazing suns overhead, rather than the blue and red moons.

  With a low whistle, Declan said, “That sure is some peak.” He raised a hand to his eyes and tilted his head back and back and back, but Alex already knew that if she couldn’t see the summit with her Meyarin sight, he had no chance.

  D.C. was looking up as well, her face paling dramatically before she turned her attention to the sparse area around them, searching for clues that might reveal why they were there.

  Alex, however, already knew. And there was only one other person who could have translated the Tia Auran word that she presumed flashed across each of their minds. She looked over at Kaiden, sharing a grim look with him.

  “What?” Bear asked, seeing their expressions. “What aren’t you telling us?”

  Jordan jumped in, the first to ask the question they all wanted answered. “What does vaedan mean? Which Gate did we step through?”

  Sharing another look with Alex, it was Kaiden who answered. “Strength,” he said. “We’re to be tested by the Gate of Strength.”

  As one, the six of them looked upwards again. Up and up and up.

  “No. Way,” D.C. said, taking a stumbling step back. She, Alex knew, wasn’t the best when it came to heights—and this mountain was the definition of high. But her friend’s phobia wasn’t the only thing that concerned Alex. Before she could note her observations, however, Declan got in first.

  “Assuming we’re supposed to climb this beast, we don’t have any gear,” he said, searching the area around them.

  “It’s a test of strength,” Bear said, looking almost as pale as D.C. “I’m guessing the point is that we’ll be tested physically as we are, without any kind of help.”

  Alex knew he was right, but that only increased her concern. She had trained for tasks like this, with Niyx having pushed her to the edges of her human and Meyarin limits. She’d free-climbed up cliff faces before, even if nothing had come close to the scale of the mountain before them. Her friends, however…

  While they were all fit thanks to the taxing classes at Akarnae, she had no idea how they would bear under the strain of what they now had to face. She wasn’t even sure how she would manage, since Niyx’s endurance training would only get her so far, especially when she had woken up feeling unnaturally fatigued—a feeling that was lingering. But she, at least, also had her Meyarin blood to help, even if the immortal advantages it afforded her human body wouldn’t make that much of a difference. She just had to hope it would be enough.

  “Do you think—” Alex hesitated, then tried again. “Do you think we all need to go? Or just one of us will do?” She hated the idea of climbing on her own, but if it was allowed, then she would do whatever it took to save them from the struggle of this test.

  In answer, there was a sudden flash of light, but this one didn’t relocate them. Instead, it changed their clothes. Or it did for Alex and D.C., who now wore similar outfits to the boys— strong, sturdy protection that was much more appropriate for scaling a mountain.

  “At least they gave us pants,” Alex mumbled, running her hands over the leathery material. It was impossibly supple, just like her dress had been. Perfect for the task at hand.

  “Still no rope, though,” D.C. said, now visibly shaking.

  “Hey,” Alex said gently, turning to her friend. But then she stopped, having no idea what to say next.

  “It’s okay,” D.C. said, even if everything about her screamed that it wasn’t. “I know we have to do this. I just—” She swallowed once, twice, and Alex feared for a second that she might throw up. But then she regained control of herself and finished, “I just won’t look down.”

  “This isn’t going to be easy,” Jordan said, pointing out the obvious with clear concern for his girlfriend—and for the rest of them.

  “You know the best way to climb a mountain?” Kaiden asked. When they all looked at him, he gave a small smile of encouragement and said, “One step at a time.”

  “Or in this case, one lethal hand-hold at a time,” Declan muttered, cracking his knuckles and shaking out his shoulders in preparation.

  “We’ll go slow,” Kaiden said. “Take breaks when we need to. We haven’t been given a time limit, which means we can take as long as we need. And we don’t know if we have to get to the top—for all we know, there might not even be a top. So we’ll just keep going until we’ve done what’s needed to pass this test. Agreed?”

  Sounds of acceptance answered him, some much more confident than others.

  “We need to watch out for each other, too,” Bear said, running a hand through his hair. “As we get higher, not only will we be more tired, but the slope will be steeper as well.”

  Alex decided not to share that beyond their human sight was a sheer cliff face that was nearly vertical. That kind of knowledge would only make them more nervous.

  “Everyone, stretch like you’ve never stretched before,” Declan ordered in his best Karter impersonation.

  Since having something to do took their minds off the upcoming task, Alex’s friends followed Declan’s command without complaint. She too sought to loosen up her limbs, strategising madly about the best way to tackle the mountain.

  “I say we go up in pairs of two, buddy-spotting each other, with the strongest people at the bottom to, uh…”

  She trailed off, not wanting to explain, but D.C. finished quietly for her, “To try and catch anyone who slips?”

  Alex winced, even if that had been what she’d been about to say. She sent an apologetic look to her friend, knowing the last thing D.C. wanted to consider was the idea of slipping.

  “Better safe than sorry,” D.C. whispered, her pale face turning an alarming shade of grey. “Excuse me a moment.”

  When she ran off into the nearby desert bushes, Alex felt her own stomach churn with sympathetic nausea. But when D.C. returned, it was with a determined expression on her otherwise waxy features.

  “I’m fine,” she told Jordan who moved immediately to her side. “Let’s just get this over with.”

  Alex thought her friend had already passed her own strength test just by mounting the courage to take on one of her deepest fears, but apparently the Gates didn’t agree, since nothing about their situation changed.

  “You and me, gorgeous,” Jordan said to D.C., taking her hand and guiding her forward. “We’ll lead the troops.”

  The two of them began their slow, careful ascent up the gradually inclining slope, leaving Alex, Bear, Kaiden and Declan to decide who was pairing with whom.

 
“Alex is obviously bringing up the rear,” Bear said, knowing all about her Meyarin blood. “I’m not ashamed to say I shouldn’t be anyone’s last line of defence, so I’ll go in the middle.” His eyes moved between Kaiden and Declan. “It’s up to you two to fight over who’s pairing with us.”

  The two best friends sized each other up, knowing their skills better than anyone else.

  “You should be with Alex,” Kaiden said to Declan.

  Declan shook his head. “We’re about even, mate. I may be bulkier, but I’ve never been able to match you in a fight.”

  “This is a different kind of fight than we’re used to,” Kaiden said, glancing up the mountain again. “We need to play to our strengths, and this one is more in your favour.”

  Declan hesitated, his eyes flicking briefly to Bear, but then he nodded solemnly. His expression then quickly morphed into a cheeky grin as he said, “Don’t worry, Kaid. I’ll watch out for your girl.”

  Alex’s face flushed but her eyes narrowed, causing Declan to chuckle and wrap a meaty arm around her shoulders while Bear and Kaiden both tried to hide their smiles.

  “Careful, Declan,” Alex warned in a low voice. “I’m meant to be spotting you, remember?”

  Her threat wasn’t taken at all seriously—if anything, he just chuckled louder.

  “Noted,” he said, releasing his arm from her neck. “Now let’s get started on this monster.”

  At first, their trek was nothing more than navigating the desert terrain in an uphill slope, making their way across the rocky path. But soon enough the incline increased until Alex was scrambling along on all fours more often than not, using her legs to push her way over boulders and heaving herself up by her arms when there were no footholds. A few times she and Declan switched positions with the others so that they were leading the group, helping their friends conquer some of the larger obstacles. Other times she needed help from those ahead of her, with either Kaiden or Bear reaching down to haul her over whatever was in her path.