Page 62 of Horns of Wicked Ebony (Deathcaller Duet #2)

T he moon cast a haunting glow over the hills, and we were forced to slow as the terrain grew uneven. Ahead of us, one threesome stumbled, grasping each other’s arms to steady themselves. When a second did the same, it dawned on me that we likely approached our next obstacle.

“Can you see anything?” I asked Uzadaan, the tallest of our team.

“I think there’s a crack in the earth,” he said, peering into the distance. We slowed to a walk as we approached the crest of the closest hill. Sure enough, below, all seven groups ahead of us had halted and were gesticulating wildly as they discussed how to cross.

A moment later, a fuzziness entered my head, and I forgot what we were supposed to be doing. I glanced around, finding Olet standing off to one side, obsidian wisps disappearing from his form and into the abyss.

“Why is everyone standing around?” Darrx asked blearily.

My brows pinched as I tried to focus on the thread of thought that kept slipping through my fingers. Olet…

I stumbled toward the male. He was part of it. He had to be.

“Woah!” Uzadaan shouted like I was a horse, grabbing me by the arm.

“Olet,” I said out loud, pointing with my free hand toward the Parancsok.

“Fuck, he’s using his magic,” Uzadaan cursed, and I blinked, processing his words.

“Yes! He’s a Chaos.” That was what my mind had been trying to tell me.

“What if the canyon isn’t really there? What if it’s his magic?

” I called on my power, hoping that by bringing my shadows to the surface I’d be able to free myself from the grip of his.

This time, they answered my call, but dissipated as quickly as they’d risen.

Ugh.

“If we crawl toward it, we can test it without falling over the edge,” Darrx suggested.

“Let’s do it,” I replied. We eased our way down the steep incline, lining up with the rest of the groups trying to puzzle their way across. Some of their conversation drifted into my ear, but most of their words were jumbled and disoriented.

As a group, we sank to our knees, then slid our hands through the damp grass until we were flat on our stomachs. In this position, we were close enough to not have to worry about snapping the rope tying us together.

“Shall we?” They nodded. Digging our elbows into the earth, we dragged ourselves forward, toward the dark crack in the ground.

Uzadaan stretched a hand over the expanse, and my heart leaped into my throat.

The moment of truth. The void swallowed the limb whole, making it appear as if he never had one at all.

“Can you feel anything?” Darrx prodded, sweat beading his brow.

“There’s ground here, but I can’t see it. We should keep crawling,” Uzadaan replied .

“What if we can’t see each other once we’re in it?” I questioned, teeth digging into my bottom lip.

“That’s where our trust comes in. I’ll keep reaching and yell if we need to stop. Assyria, stay close to me. Darrx, stay close to Assyria,” Uzadaan instructed.

He wasn’t wrong. This was what the test was about—working together, supporting one another and believing the others would do the same in return. Rokath and Rapp were clever in their design.

I scooted closer, to the point where each dig forward would hook into Darrx’s side, letting him know I was still there.

When Uzadaan moved again, I followed, stomach twisting into knots.

The darkness enveloped us, banishing the light of the moon and stars above.

Not only that, but all sound was muffled, like a damp blanket had been thrown over us.

Through the fog, we continued on, blindly trusting one another to lead the way or keep up. Darrx’s elbow continually brushed against my shoulder, and my elbow against his ribs. “Still good, Uzadaan?”

“Aye,” he confirmed, though he sounded like he was all the way across Keleti.

We moved slowly—so fucking slowly—but I wasn’t in a hurry to fall to our deaths. I hadn’t ventured this far beyond the academy grounds to know what lay out here. It was entirely possible there really was a cliff hidden in the murky abyss.

“Halt!” Uzadaan shouted, and we did, my breath catching in my throat.

“What is it?” I hissed, unable to see anything, including my hands mere inches from my face.

“There’s something here,” he announced.

“A real crack?” Darrx questioned.

“No, like a wall. We need to stand,” Uzadaan said. “On my mark. ”

I shuffled so my hands were beneath my shoulders, toes poised and ready to tuck under me. “I’m ready.”

“One, two, three,” he counted out. Muscles protesting, I pushed off the ground. But the moment I was steady on my feet, the rope tightened around my waist.

“Shit!” Darrx cursed. Without thinking, I leaped toward the sound of his voice, grasping for something, anything, of his. A hand smacked me in the face, and the metallic tang of blood flooded my mouth from a cut in my lip. But I grabbed onto the limb and hauled him into me.

“Did our rope snap?” Uzadaan asked as we steadied ourselves.

Fumbling over our bodies, I found each of our threads still intact and secured together. “No, thank the Reaper. You okay, Darrx?”

“Fine,” he gritted out. He didn’t sound fine, but I let it go.

“Shuffle forward, then to the right. There has to be a way around the wall,” Uzadaan explained. Once again taking him for his word, I released Darrx, stretching a hand in front of me and feeling for the stone.

In two steps, the sharp pieces bit into my fingers. My poor hands deserved a break after the abuse they’d taken on this course. “Found it.”

“Me too,” Darrx confirmed.

“Alright, move sideways now,” Uzadaan instructed, and we did, boots knocking together as we tried to maintain our close proximity.

I flicked my tongue over the split in my lip.

The sharp taste remained, but the cut was already healing.

Darrx hadn’t meant to strike me, and thankfully Rokath wouldn’t be able to see it by the time we returned.

I rolled my eyes at the thought of my brutish mate taking revenge for an accident. He would do it too. Especially after the assassination attempt. He hadn’t quite gotten over it yet. Not that I believed he ever really would.

The memory of the assassin on top of me twisted my stomach.

What if someone else waited for me in the dark?

My power was locked down, and I was utterly at the magic-wielders’ mercy.

Someone simply had to sneak up behind me and slice their dagger across my throat to kill me.

No one would see what happened. Fuck, no one would hear him approach either with the dampened sound.

“Do you feel anything?” I asked Uzadaan, trying to keep the tremble from my voice. We needed to get out of here, and fast. My entire body tingled, and my breath grew shallow.

“A corner, maybe. Turn sharply,” he replied.

A small tug around my middle had me quickening my pace, and then the rough rock gave way to smooth stone. I pivoted immediately.

“Thank fuck,” I heard Uzadaan say. In a blink, the moon blinded me again. I pressed the heels of my palms into my eyes, then opened them again. They adjusted to the glimmer of the night sky, allowing me to see the remainder of the course.

No one stood before us. I turned to examine the obstacle we’d overcome. Two matching walls pinned the maw of darkness, like a ramp had been dug into the hillside. Olet’s magic retreated, and clarity crashed into me.

Yet I couldn’t shake the fear of another assassin lingering in the dark.

“Forward?” I asked them, anticipation thrumming in my veins. Traversing the Chaos had been the third obstacle, and since everything had been in threes, it had to have been the final hurdle to overcome.

“Aye,” they replied. Relief washed through me as we set out at a jog again, putting distance between us and the void. When we crested the slope, torches lined the path, almost like barriers herding us toward a fiery beacon at the end.

“There!” I shouted, pointing at the burning logs. A shadowed figure sliced the red light, and the bond in my chest flared to life. I glanced behind us, noticing that another group had finally clawed their way through the darkness. “Hurry!”

Grass flew beneath our feet as we sprinted straight toward my mate.

Each step made his stoic expression clearer, ever the cold, calculated Halálhívó.

Yet pride burned along our connection, the emotion reserved only for me.

Rapp stood beside Rokath, the studs in his face glinting as he turned around.

He released a whooping cheer when he saw who was in the first group.

A smile rose amid my desperate panting, filling me with the energy I needed to finish this race.

Ahead, a line of blood marked the end of our path. My entire focus went to it, disregarding the burning in my limbs. We were so, so close.

Ruby sprayed as we crossed it. Darrx and Uzadaan punched their fists into the air, cries of victory tearing from their throats. I joined them in celebrating, slapping palms and knocking shoulders. A breathy laugh escaped me as I wiped the sweat from my brow.

“Congratulations on being the first across. Your time was thirty-nine minutes,” Rokath announced, glancing at the clock on a nearby stool.

Moments later, the second group crossed, and Rokath gave them their time too.

I grinned up at him as I untied the rope from my waist. Once we were all free of it, Darrx placed it in an empty cart off to one side.

Ascending the stairs, I took my place at my mate’s side, where I should always be.

“You really are proving yourself to them, little imposter.”

“I know,” I shot back. His hand went to my lower back, tugging me almost imperceptibly closer to him.

The warmth of his palm soothed the ache there.

Now that my exertion was over, every muscle felt as if it weighed more than a ball of steel, and the crisp winter air ghosting across my skin elicited a shiver.