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“Excuse me?”

He nodded to a podium I hadn’t seen, with an inscription on it. “It seems we play in pairs.”

I looked at Leif warily before stepping to the podium, holding it tight with both hands in case he decided to throw me to my death.

Wind yanked my hair around my face, but I dared not let go long enough to right it. I stared through the brown waves to read the words aloud.

Fate, or the will of the Stone Gods, has granted you an advantage

This path does not turn, does not wind, does not hinder

It leads directly toward the center

Yet the journey depends on trust's fragile thread

For only united can this trial be led

May fortune guide you, steady and true

And swift be your steps as the gods watch you.

I’d only just finished speaking when the ground shook. Leif and I both dropped to a crouch to steady ourselves as the slide I’d fallen from crumbled to rocks that plummeted toward the labyrinth. They landed with a shattering crack.

To the left, new stones rose, materializing from nothing to create a narrow path we could walk across. It quaked, snaking through the sky, breaking at points where we’d need to jump.

A stepping stone path high above the labyrinth, leading us toward the center.

The rising sun in the east blinded me as I tried to study the path we must walk.

A heavy link wrapped around my ankle, clanging shut. My heart lurched into my throat. A chain crawled from the shackle, weaving toward Leif.

“No,” he said, as if the chain would listen to his command. It was too late. A second shackle and chain had made a home around his ankle, and the two halves clasped together. We had nomore than three feet of chain between us, both tethered to the other by our ankles.

For only united can this trial be led.

I couldn’t decide if this saved me or condemned me. On one hand, Leif couldn’t throw me from the parapet now without him falling to his death too. But from the way he scowled, he might kill me and carry my dead body on his back out of annoyance. He made no effort to look pleased, instead cutting his frown deep into the sharp lines of his face and brushing past me to reach the parapet.

The landing might be wide enough for us both to stand, but the parapet was far less forgiving. It stretched like a fragile thread in the wind, leading toward what I could only hope was a second landing on the other side. We lingered upon the edge. The weight of the chain on my ankle pressed down like an unforgettable reminder that whatever fate befell us, it’d be shared.

Leif glanced at me as if I had already cost him the labyrinth.

“I’ve wasted hours waiting around for a partner to show up. Don’t hold me back further,” he said. His black shirt rippled in the wind, his gaze sizing up the path we must tread before taking the first step.

My hands tightened to fists, my knuckles pale and my palms slick with sweat. But I bit my tongue as I followed behind.

The first step was the hardest. The ancient stones were uneven, worn smooth by centuries of weather, and each one felt like it could crumble beneath our weight. The leather cord tugged at our movements, forcing us to find a rhythm, to trust each other’s balance.

My heartbeat tattoo pounded twice as hard as usual. Fitting, because my heart might pound out of my chest with fear. I was made of the salt and the sea, not the sky. Humans weren’t meant to be like birds. I might not breathe again until I’d reached the ground.

Below, the labyrinth yawned open, its depths lost in shadow. I’d take being attacked over crossing such heights.

Leif wouldn’t see my fear, though. I wouldn’t let him.

Instead, I pretended I were as confident as him, crossing the slip of stones that were the only things separating us from our deaths.

Leif moved quicker than I could, and toed a dangerous line with the expanse of our chain. Many times, he reached the end and I’d feel a tug at my ankle. He’d pause long enough for me to take a step, then continue.

“If you don’t slow down, we are likely to both fall.” I wished he could see the glare I was sending.