Page 13 of The Faebound Trials (Mates and Madness: The Phantom Prince and The Bloodweaver #1)

They didn’t even let us rest. I was officially awake for maybe about a week. 5 Days, no sleep? Easy peasy, I’d be dead by noon and my sister would be all by herself.

Fuck. I hate this.

They didn’t even let the rest of the boys heal their bruises and wounds before we started whatever they wanted.

They wanted us to run through the forests breathing in all the toxic fae air.

I grumbled. I cursed along with the rest of the others. But after hearing we could get a ticket to go home, we couldn’t say no. We couldn’t do anything but do what they wanted us to do.

Run.

So even if I was feeling the exhaustion taking over my body, I half-ran, half-walked. It wasn’t like we were in a race, we just had to be here to test the air if it would kill us or not.

No big deal.

I was sure, I was in the past where they had to use humans to see if Enoranthas was habitable for humans.

I was in the time where they needed test subjects for the future. The experimental version of the very first faebound trials.

We were brought here to be the first sacrifice. They weren’t sure if this place would kill us or not but the fae were willing to know.

This was the first test. I call it The Endurance Test.

The air would kill us so we had to endure, the running up the hill would literally kill me so I had to endure.

Giving up was not an option, I needed to see my sister again.

I needed to escape this place. Find a higher ground.

I remembered Kell’s words, we need the right momentum, I need to run so fast I could turn into a ball of fire, weave my way back in time.

The air was thick, I somehow felt the clogging in my throat. I choked and stopped for a second to cough.

Then I jogged again after seeing the fading images of the boys.

I was only running for a minute or so but guess what? I could feel it now.

I could feel my lids growing heavier each slam of the air to my face as I moved. Eyes fluttering close, shoulders losing the tension, body growing heavier as if it wanted to fall.

I was beginning to doze off. Stay awake, stay awake . I murmured at the back of my head. I wanted to keep it repeated in my mind to fight off the feeling that was lodging in my throat.

The staggering fear of wanting to descend deep into the soil of the forests kept pulling the hedges of my weakened soul.

To bury myself alive, to dig through the earth as the dirt of the soil bury in my nails, and plunge into my death, become one with the earth.

And I knew it wasn’t me. Those were not my thoughts. I still had power over the lulling urge of the forests. That wasn’t what I wanted. I knew myself. I wanted to live.

The forests couldn’t make me do what it wanted me to do.

So then it attacked my mind again but this time images started to form in my head. Images that were real or physically in front of me.

Moths flying above me, wings so beautiful they were starting to move in a way a saber tooth tiger would. Then I heard a staccato breathing of an animal hiding in the leaves, stalking me like a prey, waiting for the perfect moment to jump and bite me whole.

Roots began to extend and glow bright as if it was blinking. Then the branches swayed, and clawed their way out of the gigantic trees that covered the whole forest like an eternal dome.

Delusions and whispers were poisoning my mind. Even the feeling of fear wouldn’t register in my brain. As if the forests had struck me with a venom lulling me to my insanity.

I was fucking lucid.

We had to run miles through a damp forest where magic muses nonsense, where light dances with the leaves and glows like a hue of molten gold in the air, it scrambles up my head, messes with my thoughts.

And then when we reached the top, I felt red hot liquid drip from my ears.

My eyes blurred. I tripped on my feet. And then I found myself falling on my back, the world was spinning like stars fell right into my eyes.

I sat there for a while. I let them pass me, I watched them as they heaved and limp to reach the top.

I tried to piece it together. The delusions were gone all because I bled. It seemed that the forests couldn’t get into your mind when you’re wounded, bleeding, but why?

Why does everything about this have to do with blood?

Why do I have to bleed to win against its magic?

It would really be hard to bloodweave right now. I was bleeding. And for the past few days, my world hadn’t stopped from twisting and turning at different angles, spinning like a wheel.

I was contemplating whether I should lie down to ease my nausea. I did and stared at the moving clouds and the clear skies.

I could see the vivid stars even in the daylight. And they were mesmerizing, I bet they were much more beautiful when the moon rose in the sky.

Until a body fell beside me. I jerked up in surprise, feeling the sudden blood flow in my head.

I hate this place.

When I saw the boy, I recognized the blushing cheeks on his face.

“Hey, are you okay?” I asked.

He groaned and coughed up blood. I help him steady himself.

“This place is a fucking hell.”

I snorted. And then I burst out laughing.

His eyes were not that black in the morning sky, there was gentleness in it in the daylight. And his red bruised lips reminded me of cranberries and chilis.

And the way he stared at me resembles a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I shrugged it off, maybe it was exhaustion and hunger.

“With all the crap the Etaran said earlier? I wouldn’t be shocked if this was hell.”

“He got crazy with all the sin and evil stuff.” He shivered as if he cringed and then the corners of his eyes crinkled when he laughed. “Were you feeling faint again? Are you alright? You were lying down and staring at the skies. Thought you were dead for a second. Gave me a heart attack.”

“Thought your future wife got a whiff of Etaran’s air and died?” I cackled.

“Yeah. That would make me cry. I’d sob like a baby.”

My shoulders relaxed. I took in a deep breath, releasing the sore tension in my body. His company was pleasant. He made me forget my worries for a second, which was odd, he was a stranger who had a nice smile.

“What are you doing?”

I turned to see an Etaran Steward. There were a few who monitored the progression of humans. I guess the Etaran wearing gray was the head. The rest were the stewards who came down to monitor us.

I got up to my feet and offered my hand out to help him. He smiled and grabbed it and I pulled him up.

“Let’s go?”

I nodded.

I brushed the dirt and the leaves sticking to my sweat-dampened hands and gave him a small smile.

I was too preoccupied until something hit me, it came from the hill.

When I realized I was weightless, the world seemed to roll in seamless waves.

I didn’t see it was another human boy. He was stumbling down from the top and he collided with me and it was too late to move away. His body hit me like a boulder.

I covered my head using my hands as I felt the ground hit me when I rolled down the hill, my breath was stuck in my throat as I tried to grasp everything I could, and everything slipped from my fingers.

And all it left me was broken and chipped nails from digging the earth.

When I somehow slowed down, one forceful determined reach was how I grabbed the damp roots of the tree and I was able to pull myself to a stop.

My heart hammered wildly against me as I processed what just happened to me.

Damp leaves, sharp rocks, and dirt settled around me. My ears rang and buzzed, and I blinked at the blurry vision to search for the boy.

And when I got up, I saw the body of the boy rolling down without stopping until he fell down the cliff. My breath hitched.

His body was weightless like an animal as he fell in endless heights. He didn’t scream, he didn’t shout for help, he was already unconscious when he reached the end.

I was stuck to the ground, unable to move. My head felt lighter. My hands trembled as I watched someone fall to their death.

Everything slowed down and all I could feel was the cold numbness stretching in my skin.

I heard shouts, I felt someone shake me back to reality but I was locked in a hazy dream.

I tilted my head up, my gaze settled at the trees towering above us, all gloriously spread across the skies, all in excessive height that somehow felt suffocating as it wasn’t designed after a human’s height.

The boy didn’t die because of his bruises or because he fell off a cliff.

He died because there was something in the air of Enoranthas.

He died because he couldn’t stay any much longer under the trees of the forests.

And soon the rest of the boys fell ill.