“Thank you for joining us,” Silver Eyes said, his voice filling the room. He was clearly in charge here. If the position in which he stood a few steps ahead of the others, who had shifted into formation behind him – Blondie at his right, Scar Face at his left and two others behind them – did not indicate his dominance, then the power radiating from him did.
Just like the night they had taken me, I sensed his energy like a tangible beast, prowling the radius of our group. It felt like midnight rain and forest fires, ocean salt and unyielding granite. It was a different kind of deadly brutality. One that rippled and undulated with lethal calm. And lurking at the edges of that power was something unspeakably wild.
“We barely did,” Rayna snapped.
Moric elbowed her in the ribs, earning him a cold glare.
“What? It’s the truth.” Rayna’s voice rang loud and clear across the room. “If this was the first Trial, I can’t imagine what fresh horror you’re going to throw at us next.”
My gaze flickered to Silver Eyes, waiting for a display of brutality. For Scar Face to step forward and silence Rayna, just because he could. Anger bubbled beneath my skin, hot and vicious.
But Scar Face didn’t so much as glance at our group. His focus was on his nails, which he was cleaning with the tip of his dagger, looking infinitely more entertained by the blade than us.
Silver Eyes didn’t so much as bat his eyelashes at Rayna’s outburst. Instead, his brows knitted together in an expression I could only call pitying.
Blondie beside him grimaced.
“I’m afraid to tell you,” he said, “but that was not the first Trial.”
Moric shuffled uncomfortably beside me as Lana’s lips parted silently. Rayna’s eyes widened, but even she seemed to have been rendered speechless.
It was the eldest woman of the group that spoke. “What do you mean that wasn’t the first task? A mandiedtrying to make it out of that room!” Her voice broke, tears threatening to spill again from her brown eyes.
“That was most unfortunate,” the elven said, as if reporting on bad weather. “But a necessary consequence of the Mortal Trials. As you will find out, the Trials are not as linear as you may think and will also consist of severalunofficialTrials within the actual challenges themselves.”
This caused a spattering of murmured grumbling and outrage within our group. Granted, no one had ever made it out of the Mortal Trials alive – with the exception of Augustine – so there wasn’t really a lot of knowledge on the challenges themselves within the mortal isles. But the general consensus was that there were three Trials and then the Rite. I was relieved that the news of the unofficial Trials seemed to be a surprise to everyone. Additional challenges seemed brutal on top of what we were already forced into. I shouldn’t have expected anything less.
“Let me explain,” Silver Eyes said, his voice like liquid night, silencing the murmurs. “I am Kilian Valhan.”
Kilian Valhan. Even sequestered in the governor’s kitchen my entire life, I knew who he was. Elven, like mortals, had a hierarchy system. Kilian was upper elven, and he ruled over other elven who resided on the isle of Lortan.
That had to mean…
“You’ve all been brought to Lortan. More specifically, Lomask, where the Mortal Trials will take place.”
That explained the sea legs I had felt upon waking earlier, and the several days of unconsciousness. It had definitely taken over a week to sail from Serila to Lortan. The bridgesand pathways used to enter Lortan were forbidden to mortal eyes. The elven were allowed to cross over to the mortal isles, but humans could not set foot on Lortan or Greyhaven, the isle of the lower elven – those who did not possess the power of the upper elven, but had lower magic.
“You have all been chosen to compete in three Trials, along with any unofficial challenges we may determine at our discretion. Those who survive will have the privilege of participating in the Rite for the chance to join us here in Lortan, in everlasting glory and life as upper elven,” Kilian said.
As if sensing Rayna’s next question, Kilian continued, his tone sharp as knives, “It is important to note that there is a very specific reason why mortals are not allowed to cross into Lortan, or even Greyhaven. Once a mortal sets foot on elven soil, they are bound to remain there for all eternity.”
A silence rang through the room. My sluggish brain tripped and lurched over its thoughts, turning the sentence over and over in my head, until finally it sank in. I could never leave.
Not as a mortal, that is.
I promised Umma I would return. I promised to go back for her. Fear clenched at my heart unlike anything I had ever known, its grip a steel vise. My eyes met Lana’s, the determination I had seen burning in them earlier now guttering into cinders.
She had been right all along. We would either die competing in the challenges or die living as mortals on an elven isle, where everything from the food to drink could be poisonous to our fragile human bodies.
And even though I knew hope was nothing but kindling to my pyre, the only chance I stood of ever making it back home was to try to get to the Rite. And, if by some miracle, I passed the challenges but my body failed at that final hurdle, at least I would have tried my hardest to return to the only person who had ever truly loved me.
Perhaps then, when Azrael collected my soul, it would have found peace.
“The first challenge will take place in one week,” Kilian said. “You’ll need to use the time to prepare. The sparring room we’re in is available for all. Make use of the facilities provided inValhan House and Lomask. You are free to wander the city and visit the libraries, but do bear in mind that Lomask’s citizens do not take kindly to deserters. They have been warned not to offer you any elven food or drink or harm any of you for the duration of the Mortal Trials, but should you choose not to participate, you will no longer be afforded the protection of the Trials.”
Kilian glanced to Blondie at his right and took a small step back. “Septimus will explain the rules.”
Septimus cleared his throat. “The first challenge will test your survival skills. For this one, you will be split into three groups of four. Split at your own discretion. It does not matter to us.” He gave us an expectant look, accompanied by a shooing motion, the rings on his fingers glinting as they caught the light. “Well, go on.”