Three Trials

by Kristy Cunning

  Our hands are violently yanked apart when I keep falling and he comes to an abrupt halt.

  Gage dangles above me, holding on to Ezekiel, and Ezekiel holds onto the vine with his other hand as they swing over the lake.

  “Fucking go phantom!” Gage shouts at me as that light continues to beam from overhead.

  I immediately lose my flesh, and I zap myself back to the very top of the cliff’s ledge where the other two are peering over.

  Then I collapse as that weird light vanishes from the sky.

  Even though I can’t feel my legs in this form, they still give out. I can’t possibly stand. I feel like every emotion I have was just put through the wringer then boiled in a sadistic witch’s brew. I’d wager said sadistic witch made a deal with the Devil for her power, because I’m blaming him for everything right now.

  I look down the length of my body as Kai turns around and relaxes at the sight of me. Jude has a flicker of relief in his eyes before he turns away and stares over the edge again.

  “Nobody gets to die. I’ve decided I can’t possibly survive it,” I say almost breathlessly, though I have no actual breaths in this form.

  Ezekiel hauls himself over the edge, smiling at me like he’s amused.

  “You solved the riddle,” he tells me. “And just in time.”

  “What? How?” I ask, sitting up slowly as Gage heaves himself over and collapses to his back, breathing heavily as he scrubs his face with both hands.

  “Screaming vines,” Jude states flatly, gesturing around us.

  For the first time, I take notice of the fact there are a lot of black, wide vines all around us, dangling from those ashy trees we saw at the beginning. Most of the vines vary in thickness from one to ten inches. The overachieving thick vines are definitely the creepiest.

  “What’s a screaming vine?” I ask, wondering how the hell I didn’t see a forest full of vines that drape over that edge and hang down the length of the firefall.

  You think I’d have noticed an entire freaking black-treed forest.

  “The vines grow the largest the closest to a fire source,” Kai says as he lifts one of the medium-girthed vines and gives it a shake. “And if you scream loud enough, it forces them to react. You answered the riddle when you screamed like a banshee, and the forest appeared.”

  “The answer is to scream for the only vines long enough to span the depth of the Devil’s bowels,” Ezekiel finishes.

  “The bowels? We’re out of the belly?” I ask hopefully.

  “Just being cycled back up,” Kai tells me. “We’re going in a loop it seems. We’re at the top again, just on the opposite side of the forest we originally decided to skip.”

  Of course we are. Why would we get to skip at least one death option?

  “That’s a terribly sneaky riddle, because if we can’t see the forest before we answer the riddle, then how do we know the forest is part of the answer without prior knowledge of the course?” I ask incredulously. “What we saw through that wall after it opened was a flat, fiery tundra. That turned out to be the small gulley we started in, and not even a big part of the course. It was all an illusion to think we knew the course.”

  “We saw the forest in the beginning. That was the clue to our answer, because to finish the course, you have to complete every obstacle,” Kai says with a shrug.

  Ezekiel randomly lets out a loud yell, startling my already traumatized heart, and the vine in his hand slaps forth like an exposed wire full of untethered electricity. He dodges a few slashes it makes.

  “The vine closest to you always reacts the wildest,” Jude says quietly.

  “You sent the entire horde of vines near edge of the forest over the cliff because your screams were so loud and echoed around. It was almost like you knew the answer without realizing it,” Kai adds.

  “No,” I confess, holding up a finger for a correction. “That terrified the living shit out of me. That’s why I was screaming. Apparently I’m a panicky screamer when plummeting to a fiery death.”

  Gage laughs under his breath, still staring up at the sky and lying flat on his back.

  “For the record, that was a horrible plan. You’re certainly no closer to being my favorite now,” I prattle on nervously to Gage.

  A little bit of reluctant laughter follows that as we all turn to face the forest. The high we’re on from the survival of something that seemed impossible is now eclipsed by the dark forest that grows so pitch black we can’t see any deeper than ten feet.

  My eyes glance over to the forgotten archers who are now covered in vines and being treated like they’re officially part of the forest.

  “At least now I know why they were trying to kill us instead of just running along. They needed a beetle to cross a fiery stream. They could have shot an arrow with rope. But how they planned to paddle the thing upstream is a mystery,” I say as I look back to the guys.

  I think Ezekiel gives me a pity laugh, but the others just start walking into the forest.

  “I’m almost positive this was their starting point,” Gage says, gesturing over to the two fallen archers. “The forest ran over them like it considered them collateral instead of passengers.”

  “I guess they’re not too good at riddles then,” I state absently.

  I’m the only one who can see, apparently, once we get into the thick of it.

  My night vision isn’t grand topside, but I can see in shades of gray down here, while they stumble their way around. The one person who can’t trip is the only one who can see.

  Ironic twist, huh?

  Jude follows close behind me, as though he can see my outline and is using me for guidance. I pass through a tree, and I hear a loud grunt when he runs right into it.

  I grin as he curses me.

  He’s apparently glutton for punishment because he gets behind me again.

  “You can turn whole for a while in here. He can’t see you,” Gage says as he comes up on my side, stumbling a little.

  Instantly turning whole, my hand darts out and grabs his like I’m stopping him from falling, though he doesn’t need my help. The physical contact feels so good after watching him almost die the last time I was touching him.

  He clutches my hand for a second a little too roughly, almost a desperate sort of cling, then drops it and walks ahead, feeling his way around as he manages to pull away from me.

  At least I can see with my own eyes that he’s okay. And even in flesh, I still have gray vision. I can’t see too far ahead, but it appears to be more visibility than they have.

  “We need some light,” Ezekiel gripes.

  Feeling out the energy stirring in me, I test out my powers in whole form. I haven’t been able to do that yet, since I only just started being able to reach for it. Maybe it’s all the adrenaline these damn trials are pumping through me after my level-up.

  With one hard push, the acidic power bursts into the vine I grab. It sizzles and sparks, then lights up, slowly climbing up the rest of the vine. If these things like fire, then I’ll consider this their “watering.”

  Yes, I contain my laughter for my own joke since they likely won’t find it as funny.

  The small flames don’t put off much light, but I do it every ten feet or so, offering them some visibility.

  “That’s called a burn,” I say jokingly.

  I get groans instead of laughter. See? It’s like someone cut out their ability to find humor.

  “That’s not even close to what that nineties line is referring to,” Jude, the all-knowing prick, says.

  “If I’m using nineties lines, does that mean I’m from the nineties?” I ask.

  “If you’re using nineties terms wrong and causing those around you to cringe, it’s likely you’re from a few generations earlier than that. It was always the parents that screwed up the best phrases when they got in on the fun,” Jude goes on.

  “Says the guy who is centuries old. You could be my great grandparents’ great grandparent.” I grin as
I add, “Burn.”

  More groans. Damn it, I thought that one was awesome.

  “It’s a good thing we don’t need your help insulting people,” Ezekiel says, patting my shoulder a little patronizingly.

  “Careful not to hit the base of the trees. If they catch fire, it’s like tossing a match on gasoline. The entire forest will go up in flames and burn until the screaming vines drink all of it in,” Gage cautions.

  “Well, I’m glad you decide to share that after I’ve been lighting these thirsty bitches up for a while,” I point out.

  “You just used thirsty bitches wrong as well,” Kai states from in front of me.

  “I don’t think I want to know your definition of that phrase,” I grumble, causing all of the chauvinist dicks to chuckle.

  The deeper we go, the more suspicious I get. It’s been terribly quiet. Nothing has tried to eat us, roast us, or drop us into a fiery pit in quite a few hours. Granted, the beetle ride took a while, and aside from a few bird-snakes flying overhead rather ominously, it was rather uneventful.

  I’m sure this is just like that. Something long and dull to break down your guard so you aren’t on as high alert when a three headed hellhound comes after you.

  “Are there such things as three-headed hellhounds?” I decide to ask aloud.

  Gage and Kai shake their heads, and Ezekiel smiles to himself, walking easier under the small bit of illumination.

  “Sometimes I wonder how your thought process works, and what all happens from the last time you speak until the next time,” Gage grumbles. “That’s what I find most surprising.”

  “Glad my entertainment stock is going up, but I’m actually expecting an answer to that.”

  “The Devil invited us to a party last minute, ambushed us with an early final round of the trials, set everyone up for failure on a three-day, impossible quest, and then sent us in here unarmed, while allowing all our competitors to carry their weapons of choice. During all that calculated and obvious plotting, he decided to kindly hand over a list of all the possible creatures we may or may not encounter,” Jude states, each word dripping with sarcasm as though he’s really trying to drive home his point.

  Just because I’m feeling petty, I scream loudly, startling all the rest of them.

  Three vines whip through me as I go back to phantom mode, and they crash into Jude hard enough to send him flying backwards into a tree. I smile over my shoulder at him as he pushes to his feet, glaring at me the entire time.

  “Burn,” I say with a saccharine sweet smile.

  Third time’s a charm, apparently.

  Kai bursts out laughing, and the vines stay dormant. They truly do only like a good scream. Not just any noise will do. Makes sense, since it’s hell. Screams are probably a part of its diet.

  “We’re going to have to stop for the night, or we’re going to—”

  Gage’s words are cut off when the light disappears and a cool chill creeps in. I hear thunder, and I worry what it’s warning us is to come. Somehow I don’t think rain and a little lightning are what’s in store for us.

  “Black ice,” I hear Kai say on a short breath. “Run!”

  “Find shelter!” Gage shouts, dashing through the forest as it lights up in neon blue pulses.

  Thousands of flying spiders go crazy when the light starts glowing brighter, slithering like an oozing, neon, live entity over the black trees.

  I can hear the sound of rain gaining on us, and I’m too scared to ask why it’s called black ice. I’m also scared why the forest is turning a creepy, glowing blue, but I’m positive the two are related.

  Kai shouts, tumbling sideways with Gage as they roll with the shifting ground of the forest that seems to be breaking apart to drink in the rain.

  Jude curses as he gets stuck out in a newly made opening, and he dives for the coverage provided by the thickly vined trees.

  But the rain catches up too quick, passing through me as I shout a warning to them.

  Ezekiel dives to the same broken hole Kai and Gage fell to, but Jude is swallowed up by the earth much farther away. I zap myself to him, landing beside him as he roars in pain, his back arching as agony steals every feature and twists him in knots while the merciless rain pelts him.

  I turn whole, not feeling whatever excruciatingly painful thing he is feeling. The rain slaps against me, pounding relentlessly, and I grab his arms, dragging him over to a small cave. The forest has been full of them, but I don’t actually think we’re in the forest right now. It’s more like we’re under it with massive openings over us, exposing us to the surface.

  Roots are sticking down all over in this underground world with thousands of large cave holes that I hope aren’t occupied with monsters the same size.

  The rain pours through the openings that lead back up the large drop to where the forest is, but at least I have Jude sheltered from it now.

  Jude is shivering violently, and I hate to leave him, but I have to make sure the others are alive and okay before I focus on what’s going on.

  “Are you okay? Can I go check on them?” I ask in a panic, even though I can sense all three nearby when I go phantom.

  “Go,” he bites out. “Check on them.”

  I vanish, feeling sick about it as I zap myself to the others.

  Ezekiel is staring down at his arm, cursing as he makes a frustrated and pained sound. I dive to him, looking around for the other two, wondering why Ezekiel is just in his boxers.

  “What happened?” I ask on a gasp when I see his arm.

  It looks and smells like decay, and it’s visibly spreading through the veins.

  Kai and Gage jog over, both of them also down to their boxers, and Kai answers.

  “Black ice. If it penetrates the skin, it starts freezing you with certain death from the inside out. It spreads fucking fast too,” Kai growls.

  Gage starts looking around him. “We need something to cut away the arm.”

  My hands reach for Ezekiel’s arm on instinct, and I turn whole when phantom hands don’t seem to be doing much.

  “Don’t!” they all shout at once.

  Immediately, I flinch at the burning cold on his skin, but the pain is brief, and his relief is instant as his eyes flake gold again, his arm warming under my touch.

  Then my stomach roils when I think of how violently Jude was shaking.

  “I have to go,” I gasp, zapping back to Jude.

  My stomach completely drops when I get back to see him practically convulsing as he wheezes in pain. His neck has an icy, veiny black coloring, as he continues to shake violently on the ground.

  I turn whole and dive to him, ripping open his shirt to reveal his entire torso. The decay is spreading quickly, and it’s so much worse than Ezekiel’s was.

  With panicked, shaky hands, I fumble with his belt before getting it off, then grab his pants and boxers, jerking them both down to his ankles.

  The decaying process goes all the way down to his knees, and it’s spreading lower.

  He starts choking when it reaches the top of his throat, and I strip out of my Devil dress, whipping it over my head before I drop to him. Putting as much of my skin against his as I can, I press my cheek to his, hoping this works as fast on an area five times the size of what Ezekiel had.

  The burning cold is so much harsher than it was with E, but I grit through it, telling myself in mantra that it’s working. That it has to be working. I’m too terrified to look and see, though.

  I don’t speak, unable to find any words that sound soothing enough for this situation. It isn’t until I feel his shaking start to slow down, that I finally look up, finding his eyes already on me.

  His teeth chatter, even as his jaw tics.

  “If it’s not infecting you, don’t move. It’s working,” he manages to say through a great deal of strain.

  I tuck my head back under his chin, sliding my hands over his shoulders that still feel cool, even though the darker color seems to have faded.


  After a few more minutes, the shaking stops completely, and he releases a breath that sounds as though it’s been held for ages.

  His arms slide around me, almost hugging me, while the rain ceases as abruptly as it began. The neon blue light flickers, losing some of its energy, but still lingering enough to offer us light from the roots above.

  Lazily, his fingers toy with the garter straps holding up my red fishnet stockings. At this particular moment, they seem very inappropriate.

  I lift up, my eyes meeting his as I cup his face in my hands, studying him to make sure he’s not still in pain. His hands tighten on my ass when my gaze flicks to his lips.

  “Ghost Girl! Jude!” We hear Ezekiel shouting.

  “Over here,” I say, going phantom and zapping myself up to the forest entry nearest to us.

  I see Ezekiel running toward me, still illuminated by the lingering neon blue ooze.

  Kai is right behind him.

  Both of them stumble to a halt and rake their eyes over my barely dressed appearance. I’m only wearing the lacy panties, the fishnets hooked to the garter belt, and the matching red heels.

  It’s definitely inappropriate now.

  “Jude is down below, but I think he’s healed. Just a little tired from almost dying and all. Again. Seems to happen a lot with you four,” I say, reminding them this is a time for action as I fashion a more appropriate outfit.

  They blink once my bare breasts are covered.

  “Only since you came around,” Ezekiel tells me before he winks. “Care to go heal Gage’s leg? A leak sprung above us just before the black ice stopped, and it landed on him before he could get away. We can’t touch it, or it’ll infect us.”

  “I’ll go.”

  “We’re going to cover as much ground as possible while the black ice residue is glowing. It won’t last long.”

  “Go on without us. We’ll catch up. I can find you,” I say before zapping to where I sense Gage.

  The second I see the man of the hour, he gives me a tight, pained smile infused with frustration.

  “Struggling to catch a break, it seems. Day two is not your day,” I tell him as I kneel down and try not to pay attention to the fact his boxers are now gone.