The boy turned to me, sitting up.
“You saved me.” He placed a hand over his heart, bowing his head. “I give you my thanks, lady”
I reached out, but before my fingers could touch his face, the ground shook again. A white light appeared, but this time, it did not vanish. My heart thrummed in my chest, and a deep, masculine voice reached my ears.
“Well done, Ryllae of the House of Irriel.” The booming words reverberated in my bones. “You have passed the first trial and been deemed worthy of entering through the Gate.”
Before I could process the words, a roaring sound filled my ears. The white light brightened, and my skin tingled. My breath caught in my throat, the magic in my veins bubbling excitedly.
When the light cleared, I gasped. I stood on the bridge once more, but this time, a glimmering, golden gate was in front of me. And on the other side…
I ran through it, launching myself into Daegal’s waiting arms. They wrapped around me, and he held me tight against him. It didn’t matter that his tunic was ripped or that he was covered in scratches. He was alive, and we were together once more.
“Thank all the gods,” he said, hugging me tightly.
Moments later, the rest of our group arrived. One at a time, they stumbled through the gate. Each looked weary, as though we had all been through horrendous tasks.
We all exchanged looks, our faces drawn. Though no one spoke, I knew what we were all thinking.
If this was the first trial, what were we going to encounter next?
I’ll Always Pick You
XANDER
Reaching out with trembling hands, I gathered Aileana in my arms and pressed my lips against her hair. She smelled of smoke and blood and something else that I could not quite place. However, she also smelled like home. I needed that now more than ever. Speaking was impossible. At that moment, all I could do was hold her.
The last few hours had been some of the longest of my entire life. Time and again, the sins of my past had confronted me. Pain. Bloodshed. Death. The weight of my time as the White Death had never felt as heavy as it did at that moment. The lives I’d taken, the people I’d hurt, they all pushed down on me.
That wasn’t the worst, though. I could have handled those. I had long since accepted the burden of my sins. Aileana knew about them all, and she loved me despite them.
No, what had shaken me to my very core were the visions of what was to come. The sins I would commit to keep my mate safe. I didn’t know how Daegal and Maiela lived with this kind of burden every day. I didn’t even know if what the trial had shown me was real.
But if it was…
A shudder ran through me.
The horrors I’d witnessed had been so awful, the dragon was also lost for words. We’d seen so much bloodshed, so much rampant death that the scent of dying felt like it would never leave me.
But it was over. The voice said I passed, and the keepers of this place allowed me through the Gate. I had undergone the trial and survived. Now I held my bonded mate in my arms once more.
“I love you,” Aileana whispered, squeezing me tightly.
I pressed my lips against her hair in response, taking in the space where we had gathered. It was a murky, dim cave with black walls, but at least we were out of the elements. It was not large, perhaps the size of Nonna’s living room. There was no exit that I could see, which was concerning.
Everyone was visibly shaken, standing with their significant others. Ryllae was soaked, water dripping steadily on the floor, and scratches covered Daegal, as though he had been in a fight. Maiela and Kysha both looked haunted, but neither of them appeared physically injured. And Aileana—her tunic was torn and one of her daggers was missing.
But we were alive. After what I had seen, I was extremely grateful for that. The sooner we got out of this mountain, the better.
A golden light flickered and I shoved Aileana behind me. The black rocks shimmered, then Inferna appeared out of thin air. This Spirit of the Flames held her burning hands in front of her, dipping her head in the semblance of a bow.
“Welcome to Shadowfell Mountain,” she said in a lilting, ethereal voice. “You have passed the first trial, and the Gate has opened for you.”
Squeezing Aileana’s hand, I moved toward the Spirit. “How many trials are there?”
Inferna’s fiery hair blazed as her molten eyes turned to me.
“The path to the Gilded Amulet is not an easy one,” she said. “There are three trials, each more difficult than the last” The Spirit of the Flames quoted the prophecy, before adding, “Your map is of no use anymore. It has brought you to Shadowfell Mountain. Now, you must rely on each other.”