Page 17

As soon as Alex passed through theGate, 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 andback, 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 doesvaedanmean? 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 andup.

“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 howshewould 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 immortaladvantages 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 cantake 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.