Gold, pulsing faintly, pointing south once more—deeper into the King’s forest, where the sequoia trees grew thick and ancient, and the light barely touched the ground.
My stomach tightened. I glanced at my clock. Too much time had passed. I didn’t have time to dwell on how I had passed the Siren’s test, nor could I afford to think about the sharp pain I remembered enduring to survive it. If I didn’t move now, I wouldn’t reach the final trial before nightfall.
I folded the map and deposited it back in my pocket as I stood up. Overgrown grass scraped at my arms as I cut through the meadow, my breath coming fast but steady, my legs moving far more easily than they had any right to. The forest thickened as I pushed south, shadows closing in around me. I used the sun’s position as an easy orientation through the forest; a Sunheart like me found navigation easier during the day.
I had been walking for about an hour when I heard the screams. They were faint coming from behind me. It wasn’t far. Another scream followed, piercing through my thoughts. The same female voice, screaming in pain. It tore through the trees, sharp and raw, a cry that made my blood run cold.
I slowed and stopped for a moment. Every instinct screamed at me to keep going. The clock was running out, andthis was the risk of the trials, you could die in them. There were no guarantees. With heavy guilt in my chest, I took two steps south, towards my third trial.
But the sound came again, weaker this time. I could hear agony in her voice. The forest was so dense that if I were the only one nearby, then only I could save her. Ancient sequoias would mute any sound.
I debated for a long minute. Against all logic, I veered off the path and ran towards the screams behind me.
I found their source without much effort.
The Sunheart lay near a fallen tree, collapsed against its roots, her white uniform darkened with blood. An Emberkeep student inside the forest during the Dragontail Trials was injured. Why this happened was much less critical than Camelia Aric dying in front of me.
Her breathing was shallow and uneven. Acid burns marked her arms and shoulders, fewer than I would have expected given the downpour. She must have found cover. But it was the wound in her chest that made my stomach drop: a deep, brutal gash just beneath her collarbone, hastily pressed closed with trembling hands.
I dropped to my knees beside her and pressed my hands against her chest, trying to stop the bleeding.
“Camelia, what are you doing here? Stay with me,” I said urgently as blood stained my hands.
Camelia’s eyes fluttered open, unfocused at first, then sharpened when she saw me. I tore fabric from her dress to wrap it around the wound, but there was so much blood, and the cut was so deep.
“They let it in,” she rasped, her voice barely more than a breath. “I followed them.”
I didn’t understand what she meant.
“Don’t talk. We need to get you to a healer,” I said, even though I knew no one would come. No one would hear us. After I was able to wrap her chest, I moved to lift her into my arms, but she spoke again, stopping me.
“Don’t, Thea,” Camelia hissed.
“I need to get you healed. I can’t leave you here,” I said, desperation tightening my chest.
“There is no time,” she said before a rough cough tore from her throat. “The dragon ripped me. The court is infected. I…”
Another violent coughing fit seized her, her body arching as if something was crushing her from the inside. Her breathing turned ragged, strangled.
This wasn’t from her injuries. She was choking as if invisible hands were tightening around her neck.
My face went cold as understanding hit. I remembered my coercion class with Professor Chen. This was the cruel strategy that mind-benders in the Emberkeep guards used to
silence Sunhearts and Moonveils when they possessed sensitive information for the crown.
“Don’t tell me anything,” I said quickly, gripping her hand. “Breathe. Someone is coercing you not to speak the truth.”
The sign of verbal coercion was intense coughing at first. Then, the air was cut off. Then, death, as she kept speaking about the topic she was coerced not to speak about.
She nodded weakly, pain contorting her features. Slowly, air returned to her lungs. Her breathing steadied.
“I overheard them talking, and I followed them into the veil around the Dragontail Trials…” she began, stopping to choose her words carefully before the strangling returned. “I hid from the acid rain under a tree. Then, I used my enhanced smell to track them, and I saw…”
Another violent cough cut her off.
“You don’t have to tell me. It will kill you,” I said urgently.
“I am dying anyway,” Camelia whispered, clutching my arm. Her grip was weak now. Each word came out fractured, her throat closing after every breath.