Page 64 of A Touch of Stars and Stones (Kirrian #1)

thirty-seven

. . .

Ever

T he full moon arrives, and much like the new moon, there’s a sense of excitement around The Court.

Kyra walks me through the small alleys and streets, letting me soak in the atmosphere, the fun and games, and the music.

It gives me hope that there is a normal, rich life here, and it’s not just a place I’ve been trapped in.

Candles are lit and placed beneath thin paper orbs, representing the moon—Aslendrix.

Micah isn’t with us, but I enjoy the time with Kyra.

She explains how the Maker and her Triune visit the spot of the Transference for their own worship, but no one can confirm, given that only the three are ever-present.

Training is limited owing to our heightened powers, the strongest on this day. If we still have to train without powers, I don’t understand why we won’t today. Now would be the best opportunity to witness and understand potential. But what do I know?

The air is thick with magic, almost tangible, and every move in training feels like it’s cutting the very particles around us.

As the day wears on, Aslendrix grows more visible in the dark sky, and I can feel a hum of gentle power, the well in my chest now a beating reservoir, a collection of drops from every touch and experience I’ve had over the past weeks.

There’s an abundance of… her, all around.

I even spend part of the evening lying on the ground, staring up at the sky like that first time with Ten.

There are so many questions, and, looking up at the night, the most pressing one is: why me?

Why do I have this gift above others, and what does it mean for me?

Aslendrix, if she really is a Goddess—worshipped and thanked—should answer.

But she doesn’t.

Two days after the full moon, just as we’ve been told, we’re all woken before dawn and ushered to the food hall.

It’s tense. No smiles or morning greeting.

Trepidation clings to us as we rush the simple breakfast already laid out.

And then Rowan’s marching us out, over the bridge to the edge of the Natural’s dwellings, which borders the grassy area before the Variscite forest.

All the members of The Chamber, the Maker, and others have gathered, waiting for us, the main attraction, by the looks of things.

I stick close to Ten despite our recent distance, my nerves overriding the doubt still hovering around him. Even he seems distracted this morning.

“Are you okay?” I ask silently, glad that this seems to still work.

“Fine. Just… worried.” His brows pull together into the familiar brooding mask.

“We’ll be fine.”

We’re steered to the front, where a makeshift platform has been constructed for Orion, Kamari, Darien, and Portia to stand.

As we wait, a quick hush washes over us all, but in the air, there’s something else—a latent energy. It sends ripples through the calm I’ve mastered in the body of water at the centre of my chest. Like the magic is calling to mine, and it is answering. I’ve never sensed that before.

I shake my head and look up at Orion. He claps his hands, signalling to everyone as the sun crests and carves golden streams of light around us.

“This trial, as all assigned this year, will be a measure of your accomplishments and a step on your journey as a Kirrian. Understanding your abilities, individually and jointly, will help to ensure the rich and peaceful life we enjoy here.”

Okay. All sounds very formal. No surprises so far.

“You will be split into two teams. The goal, simple. Survive and make it across to the other side of the Variscite Forest. You may not venture into the Ember or the Larimar Lake. One team will succeed by reaching the cliff edge. The other, the staging area we’ve erected just outside the forest bounds at the river’s edge. ”

Feet shift in the dirt, and I can see the other trainees looking around, maybe to family members who’ve also gathered for the announcement.

“And what Order of Trial is this?” Ten questions his father over the rumbling voices.

“Warrior. Your choice of weapon is permitted, but we hope that you will have other skills to rely on.” He sneers as he outlines this.

“Err, yes, well, while designed as a Warrior trial, all the trials will be a test of your training. And, Perrin, along with other healers, will be stationed at strategic points throughout the forest,” Darien adds as if this will form some kind of reassurance.

Kamari steps forward, her face smiling and open. She reminds me of how I viewed her when I first arrived. Have I been deceived by everyone? Am I just too naive, too trusting? “And now. The teams.”

I instinctively shift closer to Ten. Factoring in the trainees around me, we’re in the same half of the group, so half and half would mean we’d stay together.

But Orion stares straight at me, a cruel curl to his lip emerging, and I know it’s not going to be that simple.

“Calix, Crimson, Aten, Ascella, and Azur, you will be one team,” Orion announces.

“That’s bull. You can’t group all the Warriors onto one team,” Ten yells, but it’s not just him who’s riled by this. Even some of the other Heads look worried.

“And the other team has a Fifth. A fair split. And one to test the Triune options, I believe.” Orion nods to someone off to his side—an intimidating Warrior, with blond hair that I’ve not seen since the dinner in the hall for the trainees.

I turn to Ten and then Calix, my heart now racing at the thought of having to beat them. Together.

My chest is tight, growing tighter by the second, and that calm I thought I’d worked on is now rising like a tide wanting to overtake me. Spilling and slipping the banks of the well, now unable to contain it, my fear besting all I’ve learned.

“How long is the trial?” I ask under my breath to Ten.

“Do we get to pack? What do we need? I don’t have a weapon.

” My mind whirrs, and that’s before it settles on the fact that it is going to take place in the forest. The one that Ten warned me not to stay in after dusk.

The same one that he and Calix, and probably Crimson, would play in as kids to test their nerve—a Warrior’s nerve, as that’s what they all trained for, right?

Ten’s eyes are dark, and his face is marred with harsh lines that make him look fierce and every bit the warrior I know he can be. Tension runs from his shoulders, and I see the answers he’s holding back. There would be no preparation. This was it.

“Now, the winners will be awarded based on several factors. If one team successfully reaches their opposite side, all members intact, that will be an automatic win. Following that, it will be the team with the most members to reach their winning side. If, after three days, there is still no obvious winner, we will end the trial and assess,” Kamari says like it’s nothing.

“There are no other rules in the Warrior trial. One weapon only, if you have it on your person now. And no provisions, as an added incentive.” She finishes outlining the rules.

“Ever, your team need to make it to the cliffs.” I hate that she identified our team as mine.

“Ten, yours must reach the staging area.”

“This will serve as the first trial of your skills, but also a useful lesson in survival as I imagine only a few of you,” Orion takes over and his eyes pause on his son and his friends, “would be stupid enough to play in the forest. You have five minutes.”

Five minutes, there’s no time to go back for anything.

I round on Ten. “You said that we can’t get hurt in the trials. That these won’t kill us. Kamari used the word intact, which doesn’t sound harmless.”

“They won’t let any of us die. And I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

“How?” I plead. “We’ll be on different teams in there. And if anyone takes you out, then what?” Panic rips at my stomach, rising through me like a caged animal trying to escape, and the torrent raging around my chest makes it worse.

“None of your team is strong enough to take me out,” he dismisses my concern with the authority that comes naturally to him.

“What, you’re going to fight your team to protect me because I’m sure that Ascella and Crimson, even Azur, are coming straight for me. You’ll just be in their way.”

His jaw flexes.

“Come on, Ever. We need to go.” Micah steps towards me, his face grave. I glance behind his shoulder, where Capella, Raiden, and Ravi have already gathered, all looking equally concerned and a little pissed off.

My eyes close for a second, gathering myself. I’ve done scary and intimidating things already, so this is just another in the seemingly never-ending list right now.

I can do this.

I nod at Micah and turn to leave with him. The urge to cling to him for moral support springs up in my mind, but I have to push it back.

“Ever.” As Ten grabs my wrist, a jolt of heat races to the surface where we touch, and my breath catches as he spins me to him.

“It will be okay. Trust me.” His thumb skims over my skin, just above my racing pulse.

The sensation makes me dizzy like his touch is filtering straight into my blood, carrying sparks directly through me.

His eyes watch mine. A second. One more.

A skittering of images starts to flash before me, one full of green and one of the sky, a dark night sky filled with stars. But he pulls away before it has a chance to fully take shape.

He doesn’t say anything else but stalks off towards his new team and doesn’t look back.

“Come on,” Micah encourages.

We join the others off to the side, all a little tentative and shy in the face of what we’re up against.

“Tell me, you guys used to play in the forest as children?” I try to make my voice light, like Kyra’s. She told me about her first trial, and I know that not everyone will come back to training after this.