Neussul sat down in his chair. "My only disappointment is that neither of you will live to regret your decision."
"Good," Lorit said. "When does the challenge begin?"
"It's already begun." Neussul waved his hand and Lorit felt a sudden jolt. He and Chihon were falling, and it was pitch dark. He could hear the wind whistle past his ears and ruffle his clothes as he fell into the bottomless abyss.
Quineshua
Tass was surprised to see Sulrad saunter into her study. He had been coming to see her more frequently than summoning her to him lately. She thought it was a good sign.
"Yet another trap avoided?" he asked.
"Yes, so it seems. I had not counted on the Queen getting involved. That was unexpected."
"Unexpected - Quite, unexpected." He sat down in the chair beside her desk and threw one leg over the arm.
"From your countenance, I take it the traitor was successful in subverting the council?" That must have been the reason for Sulrad's relaxed attitude. He almost looked carefree.
"The young Wizards have undertaken the challenge." He chuckled. "Lorit actually stood before the council and demanded the chance to attempt it." He swung his leg lazily.
"Is everything ready for them?" She had not taken part in the preparations. He had left that to another. She was not sure if it was a sign of his weakening trust in her, or his meager attempt to shield her from any backlash, should the latest plan fail.
"Those challenges were devised so that no one would be able to pass them unless they were already as strong as the seniors," Sulrad said. "Lorit and Chihon are barely adults. They don't have the years of experience and cooperation that they need to get through the trial."
Sulrad smiled. "Lorit's power reserves must be extremely low since he won't take magic from anyone or anything. With the two of them in the challenge together, they'll be so distracted worrying about each other that one of them is likely to slip up somewhere - and then it's all over for both of them."
"If they do survive the challenge?" Tass asked.
"There is always the second round. The tests of courage, strength, and wisdom. Those can be more dangerous than the first round of tests." He slid his leg back off of the chair and stood to leave.
"Besides," he said over his shoulder. "If they survive that, the traitor will take Lorit on directly. He should be beaten down and exhausted by then. It will almost be a shame to kill him after all that he is about to go through."
Sulrad turned and left her study. Tass hoped he was right. It was starting to look like this Lorit was a little more than he appeared.
Earth
Lorit landed with less of an impact than he expected from the sudden drop. Next to him, he heard Chihon hit with a heavy sigh. It was black as the blackest night Lorit had ever experienced.
"Incendo ignio," Lorit said and the barest of tiny blue flames licked from his palm, flickered, and then went out.
"What was that?" Chihon asked. "Let me try. "Incendo ignio." The flame that licked her hand was even more disappointing than Lorit's.
Lorit was worried about their inability to raise even a simple flame. With magic impeded or suppressed, they could be in a lot more trouble than he'd bargained for.
"Let's try this together." He reached for her hand. "Incendo ignio," they said in unison. This time the small flickering blue flame was almost enough to see by, and lasted quite a while before flickering into nothingness.
"Did you see anything?" Lorit asked.
"It looks like we're in a tunnel under ground. I couldn't see any more than that. Sorry."
"Let's wait for a while. Maybe our eyes will grow accustomed to the darkness."
Their eyes did not grow accustomed to the dark, but their hearing grew more and more sensitive until Lorit could hear not only his heartbeat, but Chihon's as well.
"We can't just sit here. Let's see if we can make our way by feel." Lorit stood up, reached out his hand, and touched the wall of their prison. It was cool damp earth, packed loosely by the feel of it. It crumpled when he touched it, clinging to his hand, almost damp enough to be mud, but not quite.
He felt a slight breeze on his face and headed towards it even though he couldn't see his way. The floor was slippery and he took great care not to slip and fall. The walls were uneven, with roots sticking out at odd intervals that slapped at his face and body, as he blindly shuffled along.
Lorit carefully felt his way down the passage as it twisted and turned, always working its way lower into the earth. He stumbled more than once over some root sticking out near his feet. He tried to warn Chihon, to spare her the pain of an unnecessary fall.
Lorit felt the mud slip beneath his feet and tripped. He swung his arms wildly and grasped for something to hold onto in the dark. He latched onto a root, trying to break his fall, but the root pulled free of the wall, tearing it open and spilling dirt onto his feet. Lorit tried to steady himself, but he went down, landing face first in the dirt that had broken free of the wall.
"Are you all right?" Chihon said. Lorit cold hear her patting the ground, looking for him in the dark.
"I'll live," Lorit said. "The root I grabbed came loose and I fell."
"Let me help you up." Chihon touched him with her foot, found his hand, and grasped it. He felt her pull. Suddenly there was a torrent of dirt pelting Lorit from above. He felt Chihon's hand slip away as the soil piled all around and over him. When it stopped, Lorit was covered in dirt. He had trouble breathing. He reached around for Chihon but he could not find her.
The memory of the landslide came back to him. This time they were deep beneath the earth. He panicked. "Chihon!"
Nothing.
He stilled himself and listened. The silence grew as he calmed his heartbeat but still there was no sound of Chihon.
He probed the soil with his magic, following the thread that connected them until he located her. He was covered in dirt and completely blind in the dark, but he knew he had to reach her.
Lorit tried to sit up, pushing against the heavy moist soil. It gave in places, but it was packed tight in others. He pressed on it, packing the loose dirt until he'd made a small cavern where he could sit up.
He reached out his sense to Chihon. She was close by. He started pushing through the dirt, trying to reach her. He soon has a small opening through which he could touch her hand. He expanded the opening by moving the dirt behind him when he could not pack it tight to the walls.
He made a small domed cavern where they could both sit up. Chihon spat out dirt as Lorit freed her and pulled her into the small space he had made.
They huddled together in the tiny cavern. "This doesn't seem to be getting us anywhere," he said. "Let's try for a little light again."
Lorit took Chihon's hand. "Incendo ignio," he said, and a small blue flame licked up from his palm. It was so weak it was almost invisible. This time instead of sputtering out, it jumped from his hand and moved away, coming to a halt in front of his face.
Lorit could feel a strange power emanating from the flame. It was not his own power, not even that of another Wizard. It was something other, strange, and insubstantial.
"Look at how it sits there," Lorit said. "Do you feel the magic?" He guided her perception until she saw it too.
"What do you think it is?"
"I'm not sure. I don't remember anything about blue flames that are alive."
The flame darted towards him and around his head, returning quickly to its place. There was a whisper in his ear, almost too faint to follow. It sounded like the flame had spoken to him.
"Did you hear that?" Lorit asked.
"I thought I heard something but I couldn't make it out."
They sat there quietly as the flame danced around in the air in front of them. When Lorit could hear nothing but the sound of his own heart, the flame once more sailed around his head. This time he was prepared and he listened carefully.
"Dray'e" it whispered as it sped past.
"What's a Dray'
e?" Lorit asked.
The flame danced again. It rushed past him making several passes this time. "Earth," it swooshed past. "Elemental," it whispered on the second pass. "Free ... me ..." it whispered.
"Free you?" Lorit asked. "Is it trapped here with us?"
"I don't know. How can we free it?"
"What do you think it is? Should we free it? What if it's dangerous or evil?" Lorit asked.
"I think it's trapped in here with us. I don't feel any danger from it."
"Let me try something." Lorit reached for his staff and poked a small hole in the dirt above their heads. He was careful not to disturb the dirt too much, but soon he had a narrow passage. He could feel the air rush in when he broke through the surface.
The blue flame rushed to the hole and vanished into the fresh air above.
"We can dig our way out of here if we're careful." Lorit used the staff to widen the hole and little by little, he worked his way up and out of the dirt. He was careful not to let the small space collapse as he dug, and soon had the two of them free, sitting on the pile of dirt.
Lorit wished he could see where they were. He wondered how they were going to get out of the tunnel and which part of this experience was the trial? The escape? The flame? The dirt? It was so dark he couldn't remember what light looked like.
Off in the distance, more of the faint blue lights appeared. They grew stronger and brighter until Lorit could make out the individual shapes of each flame. They were all like the one he had freed from beneath the dirt. He reached out his magical sense to them and felt something he couldn't identify at first. It felt like acceptance, like he was being welcomed into a group. A group of elementals.
Suddenly they rushed him, swirling around Lorit and Chihon both. He could hear them whisper as they flew by. They were calling out his name. "Lorit," the whisper came. "Chihon," another said, until the whooshing and whispering took on a roaring sound.
"Follow," they whispered, and sped off into the darkness lighting a way.
Lorit and Chihon followed the flickering flames through the tunnel until it gave way to a large cave. The flames darted in and around the rocks in the cave, cavorting and swirling almost happily until they regrouped and all departed almost as one.
Alone in the dark once again, Lorit considered the flames. He didn't feel threatened or abandoned by them. The overwhelming sense of acceptance and belonging remained even thought the flames had departed.
"What's happening?" Chihon asked.
"Wait." Lorit reached out his hand and found hers. "Look. I think I can see them now."
"See what?"
"All around. Look closely. You'll see them."
Lorit could make out the shining speckles of light in a million crystals embedded in the rocks in the cave. Slowly they became more brilliant, until they shone like the stars in the sky.
"Free me," Lorit heard the voice of a multitude of flames, all speaking at once. He sensed that there was a collapse in one of the tunnels. Not the one he had entered by, but another. The roof had fallen, dropping mounds of dirt and rock into the tunnel. The flames reappeared and darted towards the dirt, only to return. "Free me," they whispered.
"Shall we try?" he asked. "I think we can tap into the magic of these crystals and open the passageway."
"Do you think this is the test?"
"I don't know and I don't care. They need our help." Lorit reached out to the crystals around the cavern. He could feel the power in them, just as he had in the mountains in Friega. He drew on them. He drew power from Chihon and showed her how to draw from the crystals on her own. He raised his arms and willed the collapsed tunnel to return to the state from which it had fallen.
He felt the earth tremble, but nothing happened. Some of the earth had risen, but more had fallen to take its place. He tried again, pushing harder at the dirt, willing it to rise, but made little headway. Just when he thought he was going to fail, Lorit felt an inrush of power. It was the flames. The Dray'e were lending him their magic. Each tiny flame contributed almost nothing to the effort, but together they were much more powerful than Lorit and Chihon working together.
The dirt rose from the tunnel, packing back into the ceiling, until the way was clear. There was a rush of fresh air into the cavern. The Dray'e zipped past him and out into the night air. Lorit took Chihon by the hand and helped her stand.
"Come on," Chihon said. "I think this is the way out." The tunnel led up into the open, depositing them in the woods just outside of Amedon.
"I think we just passed the first challenge," Lorit said.
Suddenly, the ground gave way and the falling sensation returned. It ended in an icy cold splash as Lorit and Chihon were dumped into the frigid waters.
Water
As they hit the surface, Chihon clenched her muscles. The icy water brought back fears of drowning. As a child, she had been playing close to the banks of the river. She had slipped on a stone covered with moss and taken a tumble into the water. The feeling of drowning and the fear that went with it threatened to overcome her as she splashed into the freezing water.
She had just enough time to take a deep breath and hold it before being pulled under. She struggled to hold on and push the panic away. She crawled for the surface, clamoring for the air that she so desperately needed, when she felt someone grab her hand and pull her up.
It was Lorit.
"Are you all right?" He gripped her arm, holding her head above the water.
She kicked her legs trying to stay above water. The fear lay just beneath the surface of her mind, lurking there to take her at any moment. She felt Lorit put his arm around her, lifting her higher so that her head was comfortably above water.
"Remind me to teach you how to swim," Lorit gasped. "Here, hold on to this. It helps a little." He handed her his staff. She gripped it with a death grip.
Chihon looked around. They were in the middle of a lake, surrounded by a thick forest. The moon reflected off the surface of the water in a wide silver band that stretched back to shore. It was towards the shore that Lorit pulled her, careful to keep her head above the water.
Chihon felt her feet strike the soft silted bottom. Relieved, she stood up and made her way onto the short beach and threw herself onto the sand, heedless of the grit that accumulated on her wet skin and clothes.
She looked at her savior. He was a sight, wet hair pasted across his face, clothes hanging damply, tangled with weeds and even a small fish. He dripped water onto the gritty beach. He was such a frightful sight that she could not help herself and she laughed. It felt more like a hysterical laugh than true joy.
"What are you laughing about?" Lorit stood there, brushing the sand and water from his clothes.
She reached behind him and pulled the small fish from the tangle of his hair. She held it out for him to see, then pitched it back into the water with a splash.
"Hey, that might have been our next meal." He pulled more weeds from his hair.
"I think I'll pass on the fish. Do you have any idea where we are?"
Chihon looked around at the beach. Dense underbrush started quickly where the sand came to an end. It ran into a tangle of trees that grew tall and thick. She had never seen anything like it before, everything was so lush, the vegetation dense and almost impenetrable. Many of the trees bore fruit in clusters so large they looked as if the trees themselves couldn't hold them up.
Chihon heard something coming from the forest quite near them. She strained, listening carefully. It sounded like singing.
"Do you hear that?" She tilted her head towards the sound.
"I do. I'm going to investigate. Wait here, it might be dangerous."
Before she could protest, Lorit disappeared into the foliage. She heard the singing grow louder, to the point she could almost make out the words. She listened carefully until suddenly the singing stopped. What she heard next worried her even more. It sounded like giggling.
She pushed through the heavy growth, following the pat
h that Lorit had taken. The trees gave way to a small cleaning ringed with rocks and stones. Lorit stood still in the center. Bright lights chased around his head.
The lights were blue-green in color and flickered as they flittered around the clearing. She caught a glimpse of one that passed close to her. It was a tiny creature with gossamer wings, no taller than the palm of her hand. It joined the others as they zipped and looped around Lorit, stopping to blow in his ear or plant a kiss on his cheek.
"Lorit!" she called, but he didn't respond.
She looked down at the circle of rocks and stones. Inside, the ground was covered with grasses and moss overlaid with an intricate pattern of pebbles and stones. Some of the designs looked like the spell diagrams they had studied when they freed Zhimosom. She was afraid Lorit was trapped in a spell and she didn't know what to expect from these creatures.
One of the lights noticed her. It sped over to her and stopped just a span from her face. She could plainly see that it was a small woman with wings. The creature's wings beat quickly as she hovered there. She emitted a faint blue-green light.
Chihon's heart sank at the sight of them. Nymphs. Lorit was trapped inside the magic circle of the nymphs!
"Hello, pretty lady," the nymph said. "Do you want to come and join us?"
Chihon felt magic tug at her, drawing her into the circle where Lorit stood. She stood firm, holding her ground, resisting the magic.
More nymphs broke off from Lorit and came towards her. They circled her, zipping around like fireflies in the hot damp evening air. They started to sing.
Come, now and sing a fairy song,
To keep us here ere night is gone,
Sing sweet and clear, come join along,
With us you'll stay till night is done.
Come, now and sing a fairy song,
With us you'll stay till night is done,
No one can leave who's come along,
No one goes home, not even one.
Come, now and sing and a fairy song,
Wizard's Education (Book 2) Page 33
