Awakening Earth and Fire: Earth and Fire Trilogy Book 1

by Jacqueline Edie

  Up above the walls now, I could see the entirety of the maze. The paths to follow meandered in numerous directions, enough to get one completely confused and turned around. But with the walls so tall, even from this height it was impossible for to actually see any of the obstacles inside. It would be a complete surprise.

  I took in a breath, my feet tapping nervously against the floor. This was going to be even harder than I’d originally thought.

  One after another, River called pairs of names. Aurora against Raine. Finn against Lark. Rowan against Coral. Most ended with neither individual making it all the way to the center. But there were a few times when a bright ray of light would suddenly shoot up from the very center of the maze. Of the small amount of trainees to actually make it all the way through and illuminate the light, Finn was one of the fastest.

  Flint reached into the box of names and picked out the next pair, handing the slips of paper to River.

  “Ivy and…Coal,” he called out. Quickly, they both moved down the stairs to the maze, positioning themselves at their individual entrances. Coal was completely focused, staring straight ahead. Ivy, on the other hand, looked around nervously, her black bangs mussed from nervously running her fingers through them. There were a few moments of silence. Then…

  A shrill whistle cut through the air.

  Both darted forward, running inside and disappearing behind the black walls.

  But hardly a minute had passed before the trainer with the frizzy orange hair was helping Ivy out through a side panel. She gasped, hands clutching her knees as she bent over unsteadily. What had happened? She was shuffled off to the side, her face colored with both embarrassment and relief.

  The time ticked by. There was no sign of Coal. Ten, then fifteen minutes passed. I craned my neck, searching for any sign of him, though I knew it was fruitless. I couldn’t see anything but a tangle of black lines.

  Another five minutes passed. Still nothing. What was taking him so long? Had something happened?

  Finally, after another ten minutes, a bright light suddenly shot into the air.

  “Winner Coal!” shouted River. “Ten-point deduction for laser detection. Ten-point deduction for exceeding the time limit.”

  Coal suddenly appeared from the side of the maze, flushed; a small, barely visible grin marked the lower half of his face. I knew his height made avoiding detection that much more difficult, but he really had done well.

  Flint began to search through the box again, choosing the next competitors and handing them off to River.

  “Sage and...,” he paused, waiting as Flint rifled through the papers, finally drawing out another name. The name of my opponent.

  “Cayenne!”

  Cayenne. The girl from Fire Society. The one from our initial group in Eden’s class who had been so reluctant to discuss the things taught in her home society. Immediately I tried to search my mind for one moment when I saw her in the stealth training, struggling to think back at how she did. Just one single moment. But I couldn’t recall any.

  Rising from my seat, I began to descend the stairs. In my peripheral view, I could see Cayenne standing up. A boy with a shock of platinum blonde hair gave her a pat of encouragement on the shoulder as she moved past him. Cinder. I frowned, thinking back. They always seemed to be together. Paired up during our classroom group sessions. Sparring with one another during our first training session. At meals. Even when I happened to pass them in the halls. I wondered if there was some sort of relationship between them. Nodding towards her, I smiled briefly. But instead of receiving one in return, a cold stare met my eyes as she strode past, making her way to the second entry point. Taken aback, I shook my head, trying to get the image of it out of my mind. Forget about her. Just concentrate. Concentrate on the task in front of you. You know this. You can do this.

  “Both ready?” asked River from his seat in the arena. I nodded towards him, pulling the dark hood of my stealth outfit up over the top of my head and slipping on my thin, leather gloves, then stared at the entrance ahead of me. It was dark inside. The tall walls and narrow pathways didn’t let much of the fluorescent ceiling light filter through. But up ahead I could tell the path curved immediately to the left. No obstacles visible.

  No advantages.

  “Okay, get set.” Flexing my fingers, I leaned into a crouch.

  The familiar whistle pierced through the air.

  Immediately I darted in and hugged the wall, moving around the curve quickly. Only to come to a branch in the path. I slid to as stop, pausing a I gazed down both. Which way?

  A narrow passage led off to the right, its walls lined with detectors. Orbs of light beaming from them continuously circled, shifting from one side to the next.

  Twisting back, I looked down the long path that lay straight ahead. Though it was dark, I could make out a couple of boulders littering it. Nothing appeared too difficult. But it led in a direction parallel to the maze center, not towards it.

  I moved towards the boulder path, but River’s words echoed in my head. You need to be fast to go undetected. So instead I turned to my right and headed straight for those beaming orbs of light.

  I studied their movements for several seconds, quickly picking up the pattern. Within moments I’d darted forward, successfully passing one, then another, then a third.

  Only one left to get through. But this one was clearly harder. Its movements were quick, erratic, the circle of light racing back and forth at twice the speed of the previous ones. I stopped, my eyes narrowing as I followed the rapid movements. Until…

  I saw my opening. And took it.

  Leaping forward, I pressed myself tightly to the wall as the glowing light passed by, mere inches from my body.

  Sighing with relief, I refocused and darted forward, rounding the next corner and leaving the detectors behind

  And ran directly into a dead end.

  Chapter 23

  A fifteen-foot wall rose up in front of me, its smooth surface marred with small rocks jutting out. ‘No!’ I thought, panic filling me at the sight. Did I choose the wrong path? Instantly, my heart sank. I would have to go back the same way I’d just come. All that time wasted.

  But as I turned, something brushed against my shoulder. I jumped back, startled, then searched in the dimness for what it was. Something was hanging there. Squinting, I could barely make out a slender black rope.

  A rope!

  It wasn’t a dead end at all. It was my next obstacle.

  Wrapping the rope tightly around my waist, I reached my arms up, clutching the knotted surface in my leather-clad hands. I quickly adjusted my weight and placed both feet onto the wall, then pulled myself up, inch by miserable inch, my toes precariously balancing on those small, jutting rocks. It seemed to take an eternity, but finally I was up and over, lowering myself down on the other side. Taking a deep breath, I turned, prepared to see my next task.

  A grid of lasers. Red beams of light shot out from the walls in front of me. Twelve rows of them, only a little over a foot between each, all set at different heights. This was an area where rushing would be a disastrous mistake.

  Approaching them, I bent my body at the waist and lifted my legs, gingerly moving through the pulses of light, twisting and contorting my body until I finally got past. Success!

  I approached the next set that lay ahead. Very quickly I realized that these were different. There were twice the number of beams, set half the distance apart from one another. It would be impossible to get through the same way. How could I pass?

  I took a deep breath. Think. Think. I scanned my surroundings.

  I couldn’t go through them. They were too low to pass under. The only option was that I had to go over them. I moved to the wall on my left, searching its surface. No rope, no handholds. Nothing. My throat growing tight, I moved to the other side. Frantically, I ran my fingers across the hard surface, feeling for something, anything to help me. And then…

  A notch. And another, a foot ab
ove it. That was it. There were a series of notched carved into the wall. Small, but still big enough to place the toe of my boot in. Looking past the lasers, I could barely make out the notches on the other side as well. But they were there. They had to be.

  Grasping onto the first notch, I lifted myself up, and began to climb. I could only fit three of my fingers into a notch at a time, but it was enough. I continued up until I finally came to a narrow bar attached to the wall, several feet in length. Long enough to carry me over the lasers and to the other side. As long as I didn’t lose my grip.

  Taking a deep breath, I catapulted myself forward, reaching an arm out for the bar and clutching my already weary fingers around its smooth surface.

  Dangling there, I swung my way across, moving mere inches at a time. It seemed to take an eternity, but I kept going. And going.

  My arm muscles were screaming. But there was only a few inches left. I couldn’t let go yet. Gritting my teeth, I swung forward again, moving the rest of the way.

  But now I had a problem. I needed to reach over to the other set of notches to lower myself back to the ground. But how would I be able to support myself with one arm? I could barely hold on with two at the moment.

  There was no choice though. I had to try.

  Swinging my left arm free, the full weight of my body fell onto the right one.

  The shock and pain of the extra weight was immediate. Desperately searching the wall, I finally found the notch. But as soon as I did, my right hand slipped. Clawing at the wall, I tried to grab on to something, anything.

  There was nothing.

  Arms flailing, I fell hard, crashing against the solid stone ground. Pain shot through my ankle at the impact. Squeezing my eyes shut, I pressed my lips together forcefully to stop myself from crying out.

  Gritting my teeth, I staggered to my feet, then slowly placed some weight onto my right leg, checking the ankle for damage. I let out a slow breath, realizing I was able to bear it, then moved several steps forward. Pain surged through me, but not enough to cause me to stop. I was going to finish this, even if I had to limp the whole way to the end.

  Suddenly, a high-pitched scream rang out in the distance, only to be muffled a second later. Cayenne. What had happened? A new rush of fear coursed through me as I continued forward.

  Coming around the next corner, I froze in my tracks. Something was wrong. No obvious obstacles stood in front of me. The entire path was clear.

  I started to step forward, but stopped, hesitating again. This couldn’t be right.

  Glancing to the side, I noticed a small pile of round stones, only a couple feet away Perfectly stacked. Almost if placed there purposely…

  Going on a hunch, I grabbed one and tossed it forward, to see if anything would happen. The second it hit, the ground began to shudder.

  Only a couple feet ahead of me, a large opening formed in the center of the floor as hidden doors swung open. Apparently I stopped none too soon. The way her voice muffled as she screamed, Cayenne must have fallen right through.

  I edged along the narrow foot wide path, crushing myself to the wall as I made my way past the gaping hole.

  Picking up another rock, I rolled it again. Immediately, another trap door opened and it fell through. Repeating this process over and over, a total of five trap doors were revealed. And I had to navigate around each.

  Finally coming to the end of them, I turned again, and found myself in an open space. Directly ahead was the maze light, just waiting to be illuminated.

  And surrounding it was a grid of red laser beams, blocking my path.

  Not again, I sighed.

  I quickly studied the design of the beams. The arrangement was complex, but exactly like the one I had been practicing with during the scheduled training sessions. Moving towards them, I was just about to duck underneath the first one when it happened.

  The beams shifted.

  Of course. Because a grid of stationary beams was just too easy.

  Now they were in a completely different pattern. This certainly complicated things. I had no choice but to wait there, watching the beams move, losing more time. But after several precious minutes, I finally saw the pattern.

  Every thirty seconds the beams would shift. But after the third switch, they would repeat the pattern over from the beginning. It was impossible to make it through in thirty seconds. But I could make it in a minute.

  Taking a deep breath, I waited until the beams changed. As soon as they did, I darted forward, twisting and turning my body, making my way towards the center. But as soon as I reached the halfway point, I froze. This was the spot I had to remain in until the beams changed again. It was safe as no beams ran through it in any of these configurations. Keeping my legs firmly together and my arms pressed at my sides, I waited. Right on cue, they shifted, with a beam now appearing only inches away from my right elbow.

  Swinging my body around again, I ducked, twisted, shifted, and crawled, making my way to the center. Finally, I pulled my right leg over the last beam, then raced towards the light.

  Smiling, I placed my hand over it and pressed down. Instantly, a ray of warm white illumination shot up from the bulb.

  As soon as I’d pressed it, the beams of lasers surrounding me disappeared. Groaning noises began to emanate, and I knew it was the trapdoors closing. As I stood there waiting, now wondering how I would be able to get out, a portion of the wall to my left suddenly slid open, letting in bright fluorescent light with it. I stepped through and found myself back in the arena.

  River was staring down at me, along with Flint and Eden. Eden smiled widely while Flint just sat there, stone-faced now. But what amazed me was River’s reaction. Nodding, a small smile formed at the corners of his mouth for just a brief moment.

  “The winner is Sage!” he shouted. “No deductions!”

  A beaming smile spread across my face and I wouldn’t have been able to get rid of it if I tried.

  But then I remembered Cayenne. Searching around, I finally found her. She sat against the side of the arena, another trainer by her side. Her clothes were dusty, her elbow bleeding. She locked eyes on me, her face contorting into an angry glare that cut right through me.

  I took a step back, shocked. I figured she would be upset about neither winning, nor finishing. But something was wrong. The anger radiating off her towards me was palpable. Too much to only be due to the outcome of the challenge. I thought back to how she looked at me before we even entered the maze. It was the same expression. The same anger and coldness.

  Why?

  Chapter 24

  The next day I met Coal in the front entrance again for our second training session. But as soon as he saw me, his eyes immediately went to the wrap on my ankle. Waving off his concern, I explained I’d injured it during the practice challenge and that I was fine. Or at least would be soon. But as we walked together towards the field, I began thinking back to the prior day and what had happened following the challenge.

  Initially, I’d forgotten about injuring my ankle when I’d fallen during the practice challenge, the pride of winning overshadowing any pain. But a few hours later, I couldn’t ignore the swelling and pulsating throb any longer. Aurora urged me to go to the medical ward and eventually I agreed.

  I was halfway there when it became apparent that my ankle far was worse off than I’d originally realized. Stopping, I leaned against the wall, elevating my foot slightly and closed my eyes. Taking the pressure off helped ease the pain, but it still brewed underneath the surface.

  Panicked thoughts started to run through me. What if it was broken? How would I be able to compete in the final challenges? They would be starting so soon. What if my ankle wasn’t better by then?

  “What’s the matter?” a low voice broke into my thoughts, snapping through them like a rubber band. Opening my eyes, I blinked a couple of times, staring at the person before me.

  River.

  I flinched as my eyes met his dark brown ones. I’d nev
er been in this close proximity to him before, apart from the challenges. The stubble on his face was more overgrown than usual, the circles under his eyes darker than ever.

  “N…Nothing,” I stammered out. He gazed down, his eyes immediately falling on my foot, still held several inches off the ground.

  “It’s clearly not nothing,” he nearly growled, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at me, then shook his head. “I saw the fall you took earlier today, during the challenge. Is that what caused this?” He motioned his hand towards my foot.

  “Yes, I…wait, how did you see me fall? We couldn’t see what was happening with the other trainees.”

  A hard look came over his face as he crossed his arms over his chest and I had to mentally remind myself that I shouldn’t ask questions here. How ridiculous that I had to actively work at not being defiant. The opposite compared to most people.

  But he let it slide and simply answered, “The trainers have recording devices placed throughout the maze so we can watch and monitor your every movement on the screens in front of our seats. Lift the leg of your pants.”

  Slightly disconcerted, I silently reached down and pulled up my right pant leg, relieved it wasn’t the side I wore my ring on. The swelling and bruising seemed to have worsened even more in the short while since I’d left my room. He was silent, expressionless. After several moments, he uncrossed his arms and walked towards me.

  “Come on.”

  “Wha…. What?”

  Instead of answering, he just crouched down, taking my right arm in his hand and placing it over his shoulders. Then wrapping a muscled arm around my waist, he nodded. “Let’s go,” he said, and slowly moved forward with me in tow.

  “Where are we going?” I finally asked as I limped along, forgetting again about the unspoken don’t-ask-any-questions rule. But this time it didn’t seem to matter.

  “To the medical clinic,” he replied simply.