The Elemental Trial

by J. A. Armitage

  The silver rod fit perfectly next to the gold one—we had to be in the right place. I could see the outline of a door here, and the cryptex had to be the key. So why wasn’t it working? I examined it. The rows of symbols were messy, all out of order after our epic goblin battle. I frowned at them. “These two rows of symbols spin around. Maybe we have to align them somehow.”

  “How?” Molly asked, gazing down at the cryptex.

  How the eff should I know? I’m not the one who said she studied runes in college but so far has been next to useless. “I’m guessing there is a pattern here, but I don’t know what it is.” I smiled at her as sweetly as I could muster. “Anyone else know?”

  I looked over at Ario. He had figured out the trick with the metals and planets, but he just shrugged, not even bothering to look my way. He seemed to be brooding from Orin’s sucker punch. Great! Our only chance of figuring this out and Orin had punched it.

  “Orin?”

  Orin took the cryptex from me and began to fiddle with the symbols, moving them around. At least he had bothered to try, not that I was expecting him to do any better than any of the rest of us had.

  While he was playing with the cryptex, I took the chance to check the room out. Its only redeeming quality seemed to be that it had a door that was hopefully the way out. Dust from Molly’s rockslide hung in the air, coating my tongue and leaving me feeling filthy. What I wouldn’t give for a long hot shower. And this was only day two.

  I unzipped my jacket and pulled it over my shoulder, trying to get a better view of the goblin claw marks.

  “Woah,” Molly said, catching sight of my mangled shoulder. “That looks bad.”

  “Is that your professional opinion?” I snipped.

  Orin looked up sharply at Molly’s comment, starting to gravitate towards me to look at my wound.

  “Keep at the cryptex, Rocky,” Molly said to Orin, holding up a hand. “I’ll fix her up.”

  I pulled out my water bottle and took a swig, hissing as Molly’s fingers touched my wound. Though they were surprisingly gentle, it hurt like hell, throbbing with angry force. There were just a few drops left in my water bottle, which turned the dust in my mouth into a gritty paste that coated my teeth and made me feel sick. Spitting out a black glob of dirt, I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand. It was hot, and I was sweating.

  Ario sat in the corner sulking, his wings wrapped around him. It was amazing how little I found him attractive now that he wasn’t focusing his charms on me. It was strange to think that Faerwild held magic of every kind. Even sexy magic. Now that was something I wish I could bottle.

  Molly had some water left, and she dribbled it over my shoulder, cleaning off the blood. “Think goblins have rabies?” I joked.

  “Not that I’m aware of,” she said, too focused to sense that I was joking.

  “You’ll need to get this cleaned as soon as we’re to the next checkpoint. But, I think I can pull some of the dirt from it, and soothe the pain. It might hurt a little before it feels better.”

  She started moving her hands in wide patterns, and I groaned as the pain intensified.

  “Why didn’t you kiss Ario?” Molly asked her voice low.

  I raised an eyebrow. Oh, so we were going to have a girly heart to heart? Just what I needed. “You trying to distract me?” I said through gritted teeth.

  “Is it working?” she asked.

  “I didn’t want to,” I hissed back.

  “Not many people can resist the charms of an incubus.”

  “Didn’t seem so hard.” I turned my face away from her, not wanting to engage. I hate that the producers had put us with other teams for these legs. Orin and I may not be perfect, but at least we’d figured out our partnership. Or, we had during the last trial, anyway. Who cared what I felt for Ario. I didn’t even care what I felt for Ario. The truth was, I felt nothing for him. Now that he sat in the corner, refusing to help like a petulant three-year-old, he seemed pathetic. Okay, there had been a moment…literally, a couple of seconds where I’d wanted him to rip my clothes off and ravage me on the spot, but it was the magic. It wasn’t real, and I was hardly going to tell Molly that. Even though she was being surprisingly nice to me.

  Whatever spell she was performing seemed to take effect, because a cooling wave washed over my shoulder. I sighed in relief. “Thank you,” I said, surprised. Maybe I had misjudged Molly.

  “Can’t very well have you dying on us before we get to the next checkpoint,” she said, coming around to face me as I gingerly pulled my jacket back on. “It wasn’t real anyway.”

  “What?” I asked. I was so overcome by how much better my shoulder felt that I couldn’t quite remember what she had last said.

  “You and Ario,” Molly continued matter-of-factly. “It wasn’t real. Ario and I are together. We just had a bet to see how easily he could break you and Orin up.”

  Red clouded my vision. No, apparently my original assessment of Molly was 100% accurate. “Are you kidding me?” I hissed. “First, I would never fall for a pretentious asshole like Ario, human or fae. Second, there’s nothing between Orin and me to split up in the first place.” As soon as I shut my mouth, I became aware of how loud my voice had become and how quiet everyone was now.

  Molly stared at me, her mouth hanging open. Ario grinned at me, one eyebrow raised, but I didn’t give a damn about them.

  It was the stricken look on Orin’s face that sent my stomach to the floor.

  My words replayed in my mind, over and over, and I heard them from his point of view. He must know what I meant, right? Orin had become my friend, my defender, and my confidant, but it wasn’t like he’d ever been my boyfriend.

  I turned back to Molly, rage boiling inside me that I’d fallen into her trap. “Is this all just some sort of game to you?” Was it the promise of money that did this to people? Turned them into vile creatures that would play with people’s emotions?

  Molly scoffed. “That’s exactly what this is. A race. A game.”

  “People died, Molly. Any of us could have died in here, sliced apart by a goblin.”

  She shrugged. “Anyone who couldn’t handle themselves in Faerwild shouldn’t have auditioned.”

  My mouth dropped open in shock. How could she say that? What about Genevieve and Zee and their sabotaged rings? I took in a breath to lay into Molly something fierce, when Orin stalked past me and fit the silver peg into the cryptex, and turned. It clicked as a latch freed. He opened the door, and a blast of delicious clean air hit me.

  His expression was dark as a thundercloud as he stepped through the door into the light without a glance back at me.

  Molly smirked at me as she followed him through. I guess she and Ario had gotten their wish after all. Ario went next, not bothering to be polite and offer me the door first. I was now all alone in the oppressive room except for Ben and his blinking light. I wanted to seize the camera off his shoulder and smash it against the wall, but I was frozen to the spot.

  There was no way to go back and yet something was stopping me from going forward. All I had to do was step out the door, but Orin was on the other side, and I’d hurt him. He’d saved my life on this crazy journey and kept me sane in this mad game, and I’d acted as though he was nothing at all.

  Still, I had to move. Unless I wanted to spend the rest of my life trapped in this goblin-infested hellhole. I took one last look at the darkness behind me and stepped into the light.

  13

  I wasn’t ready for the barrage of cameras that met us when I stepped onto the lush green grass. The doorway had led to a steeply sloping tunnel that led us up back to the surface. To the first checkpoint in the second trial of the Fucked-up Faerie Race, as I’d decided to call it.

  We stood in an idyllic meadow surrounded by stands of tall birches and maples. Brightly colored tents were arranged in a semi-circle around the clearing, reminding me of a renaissance festival.

  Orin was already striding across the meadow, toward
where, I don’t think he even knew. Anywhere away from me, I guessed. I turned on my heel and started off towards the opposite side of the clearing. Anywhere away from Ario and Molly, those backstabbing scheming—

  “Contestants!” Patricia’s voice trilled, and I turned to see her hurrying across the grass in a flowy marigold dress cinched with a wide leather belt. She wore a pair of oversized tortoiseshell sunglasses and held a velvet bag in one hand. I knew the race well enough to know that bag probably brought certain doom. She had her camera entourage in tow.

  “Contestants.” She clapped her hands, motioning for us to gather to her as if we were a bunch of kindergarteners who had wandered off from a circle.

  She adjusted her dress and flipped her perfectly shiny curls over one shoulder. “Congratulations on being the first to emerge from the goblin mine.” She said it in a spooky voice that made me feel like we’d just emerged from a corny haunted house, rather than an oppressive set of tunnels with vicious faerie inhabitants.

  “How will the rankings be decided?” Ario asked, getting right to the point. “Since we came out together?”

  “Excellent question. We will be timing how long it takes you to reach each of the three checkpoints, and the team with the shortest time for the three combined legs will be in first place going into the final trial.”

  Made sense. I wondered how the other teams were going to get out of those tunnels now that Molly had collapsed them. Oh, well. Not my problem.

  “I have, in this bag, a gift for each of you that will be integral to getting to the next checkpoint. Who wants to do the honors?” Patricia beamed at us.

  It was all I could do to keep from rolling my eyes. Did she think we were excited to head into the next death trap they had dreamed up for us?

  “I will,” Molly said a bit too enthusiastically for my taste. Whatever. Let her suck up to Patricia all she wanted. I was done with her and Ario too. Molly reached her hand into the bag and pulled out a glittering piece of jewelry. She held it up to the light, and I saw that it was a silver pin in the shape of a set of wings. “Are they all the same?” she asked.

  Patricia nodded, shaking the bag again.

  Molly handed the pin to Orin, and as it passed from her hand to his, it shimmered slightly. So it was magic. But what was it for?

  Molly pulled the next pin out of the bag and handed it to me. It made that same magenta shimmer as it passed to me. I inspected it more closely. Lovely craftsmanship with little amethyst stones in the wings.

  “What does it do?” Ario asked.

  “Ah-ah-ahh,” Patricia cooed. “That’s up to you to discover. But you’ll start the next leg tomorrow, assuming the other teams arrive at the checkpoint today.”

  “So until then, we have…free time?” Molly asked.

  “Each team has a tent. There’s food, drink, a change of clothes, and even an enchanted bathtub!” Patricia sounded delighted. “I’d rest up and get situated for tomorrow.”

  With that, our briefing seemed to be over. Molly and Ario headed towards their tent, Molly practically skipping, while Orin stalked towards ours.

  “Is there a medical team on site?” I asked Patricia.

  “Red tent,” she trilled, pointing to a far tent.

  Good. But my wound could wait. There was something I needed to do first. “Orin!” I called after him, jogging to catch up. As I ducked inside after him, my eyes widened. The inside of the tent was huge, the grass covered with a vibrant Persian rug. Two cots with soft white down comforters and heavenly-looking pillows flanked a huge copper tub against one wall. A polished table and chairs covered in a smorgasbord of food sat in the other corner. Thank god.

  “Orin!” I grabbed his arm and pulled him around to face me. His face was dark with soot from the cave-in, but beneath it, his expression was stony. “Are you …mad at me?” I asked lamely, suddenly tongue-tied.

  “Why would I be mad?” Orin spat at me. “There’s nothing between us. We were stuck with each other from the start, no need to pretend this is anything but an obligation.”

  “Orin,” I tried to squeeze his arm, but he pulled his strong bicep from my grasp as if he couldn’t stand my touch. “You know that’s not what I meant. I meant…there’s nothing romantic between us.”

  “Of course not,” Orin said. “You throw yourself at every faerie male that comes within ten feet of you. I’m not an idiot. I’m not interested in being a notch on your magical belt.”

  My mouth dropped open as my thoughts ground to a halt. Throw myself…every faerie male…magical belt?

  “That is so not fair—” I began, but Orin cut me off.

  “Why don’t you get cleaned up and get your shoulder fixed. You look like a chimney sweep. You want to look your best for the next contestant you need to seduce. I hope we’re paired with Phillip and Dulcina next. I mean, he’s human, so it’s not much of a challenge--”

  I slapped him across the face. “Get out,” I shouted, feeling tears burning in my eyes. Do not cry, do not cry…

  “With pleasure,” he shot back, stalking through the flap in the tent.

  I stood there in shock for a few moments, my fists shaking at my side. It was so not fair. I had not thrown myself at Tristam. And Ario had used magic on me! And what if I did kiss both Tristam and Ario? This was the twenty-first century. I wasn’t going to let some backward faerie male slut shame me for being a red-blooded American woman…

  I let out a scream of frustration. I wanted to throw myself on the bed and pound my fists into the pillow, but it was so downy white, and I was so dirty. So I decided to settle for a bath first. It would make it easier for the medical team to fix my shoulder if I got some of the dried blood off it, anyway.

  I figured out the magical enchantments fairly easily (I mean, you just had to turn the knob, and the water appeared) and stood with my arms crossed watching the tub fill. How could I possibly have thought that there could ever be something between Orin and me? We were so different. For instance, he was a moody over-reacting asshole. I was a normal person. As exhausted as I was, I couldn’t shake the nervous energy pinging around inside me. I wished I was back home, able to take my frustration out at an ass-kicking MMA class.

  Half an hour later, I was reluctant to get out of the bath, as it seemed enchanted to stay warm. But the water had turned grimy and gray, and I knew I needed to get my shoulder looked at. I dragged myself out, toweled myself off, and dressed in a fresh FFR uniform. I was zipping up a clean jacket when Ben ducked his head inside the tent. “Knock-knock!” he said with a crooked smile.

  “Come in!”

  “Well, that sucked,” he said, gesturing a thumb over his shoulder.

  I let out a strangled laugh, my remaining tension melting from me. I leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, “I think they’re trying to kill us.”

  “You’re doing so awesome, Jacq,” Ben said. “Don’t be hard on yourself, okay?”

  I smiled at him, struggling to hold back tears. The few days’ rest at Harrington House hadn’t been enough to smooth the rough edges of my nerves. I struggled for a change of subject, anything that felt safe. I picked up the little wing brooch. “Any idea where we’re headed?”

  “Actually, I have an idea,” Ben said, lowering his voice. “They’ve been loading all the equipment onto these big sleds. I saw one float up into the air. I think we’re going to something high. Maybe a mountaintop?”

  My memory of Emerald Mountain flashed before me, and I grimaced.

  “Jacq—” Ben hesitated.

  “What?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know. One of the sleds had some crates that I didn’t recognize. I peeked inside when no one was looking…”

  I leaned forward. “What was in them?”

  “I mean, maybe I’ve seen too many Bond movies, but…” Ben scratched his head. “It looked like a detonator. Like with numbers or something.”

  My heart slowed. “Did the crate have a rose and thistle on the side?”


  Ben’s eyes widened. “How did you know that? What’s going on?”

  I set my mouth in a line. They searched us all for explosives coming into Faerwild, yet the race organizers stashed some of their own with the show equipment? It didn’t make sense. “I’m not sure,” I admitted. “But just be careful. Don’t let anyone see you snooping around. I need you safe.” And I did. Because as of an hour ago, Ben had been promoted to the lead role of the only person I trusted on this whole damn show.

  14

  I was already in bed when Orin returned from wherever the hell he’d been. I’d visited the medical tent, been healed, eaten my fill of the food they’d set out for us, and finally drifted to the inviting bed.

  I closed my eyes when Orin entered, pretending to be asleep as he shuffled around the tent. I could tell that he was trying to keep quiet, but every muffled sound he made set my nerves on edge again. The tinkling of water filling the big bath set my heart racing—part from panic and part from excitement. He was going to take a bath with me right here? He was going to be naked… Well, he’d have to be—I lectured myself. No point bathing fully clothed. And how could I blame him—he thought I was asleep. I was putting on a convincing performance.

  I gave what was supposed to be a little snore to show how I asleep I really was, but somehow between my brain and my throat, it came out sounding like a demented warthog. Clamping my eyes even more tightly shut, I sank lower under the duvet and wished for death. Not only was Orin mad at me; he probably also thought I was now going to spy on him in all his naked glory. Which I was not!

  The flow of bathwater stopped, but there was no sound of him getting in. I waited one minute…two minutes. Had he given up on the bath idea? I was so desperate to sneak a peek to see what he was up to, but to do that, I’d have to actually open my eyes. If he caught me, he’d think I was some kind of perverted voyeur who was pretending to be asleep just to catch a peek of her faerie partner. And there was no way that I was going to confirm that he was just another notch in my faerie belt. I didn’t even wear a belt with these leggings.