Lee had done the homework, but his attention immediately began to wane as Mattis began reviewing the particulars of why Shay Morrigan had implanted a few specific academic standards and her struggles in keeping the college as a neutral entity. He tried, he really did, but his eyelids felt like they were being pulled downward by leaden weights.
***
“Initiate Amaranth, thank you so much for volunteering.”
Lee jerked awake to find that his arm was suspended directly upright, almost as though he’d just raised his hand. He tugged it downward, feeling it overcome the slight, distinctive pull of a telekinesis spell. Kristoff let out an amused snort from across the room, running fingers through his dirty-blond hair as he leaned in to snicker with his friends over the successful prank.
“Uh, of course, Instructor Mattis,” mumbled Lee. “I would love to volunteer for… whatever it is I just volunteered for.”
“If you would, please,” said Mattis. “Come right on up.”
The whiteboard behind her was filled with text that hadn’t been there when he’d fallen asleep, and none of the other students had their homework out anymore. Mattis’s attention was on the tank she’d brought in with her at the start of class, though if she’d explained what it was or what it did, he’d missed that, too.
He made his way down the aisle and to the front of the room. The class was silent, and Mattis wheeled the tank around so it stood in front of her teaching table. Lee looked to Toma and Eliza for help, but Toma was staring out the window, caught up in a daydream, while Eliza merely shot him a concerned frown.
“As I explained earlier, the spatial vortex operates under enchantments similar to those found in Primhaven’s dueling chambers,” said Mattis. “Despite some of the offensive magic involved in the Midterm Trial, you will at no time be at risk of death or debilitating injury. This is just a practice run to help you demonstrate to the class how the testing will proceed.”
“Spatial vortex,” repeated Lee. “Right, okay. So that’s what this tank is?”
Mattis raised a disapproving eyebrow. “We spent the last half hour discussing the mechanism behind this. Shay Morrigan had a philosophy about applied academics that she felt very strongly about. The Initiate Midterm Trial took her the better part of a year to design, which says quite a bit, given Morrigan’s reputation.”
Lee let his attention settle on the tank, and he realized for the first time that he wasn’t looking at a simple glass box. It was as though a section of ocean had been cordoned off and miniaturized to be placed inside of it, including several sandbars and a variety of interesting, in some cases supernatural, obstacles.
“Do not attempt to swim beyond the boundaries of what you can see within the spatial vortex,” said Mattis. “The barriers around it should, in theory, transport you back here if you do, but they aren’t flawless. There are a few spurious accounts of students being swept off by the current, though most consider them to be unreliable, due to their age.”
“What, or where exactly am I looking at right now?”
“I can’t tell you the exact location of the testing grounds, as I don’t know myself,” said Mattis. “Somewhere remote enough in the Pacific Ocean to go without notice. It lends a soothing atmosphere to the examination. It’s quite pleasant to sit on the warm sand and stare out into the waves.”
Her expression took on a wistful quality for a moment before she shook her head and nodded to Lee. He let his uncertainty show on his face as he looked around for Tess, hoping that she might have a glimmer of insight into what he was about to face.
She wasn’t nearby, which wasn’t unusual. She often did her own thing while Lee was in lectures. As long as she was on campus, he could still draw from her essence to cast spells reasonably effectively, but from the description Mattis had given him, he wasn’t sure if the spatial vortex or whatever it was technically fell within that boundary.
“Go ahead, Initiate,” said Mattis. “We don’t have all day.”
Lee shrugged and reached a tentative hand toward the Midterm Trial’s outer edge. The barrier surrounding it wavered with color as his fingers came close, like the surface of a puddle of water and motor oil. He let his finger make contact and almost immediately wished that he hadn’t.
CHAPTER 6
The sensation of entering the spatial vortex was abrupt and unpleasant. For a few tumultuous seconds, Lee felt as though he’d drank too much liquor as the room swirled into an indistinguishable mixture of blurred shapes and colors around him. He stumbled forward and fell to his knees, gasping for breath while simultaneously feeling sick to his stomach.
His hands sank into warm sand up to the knuckles. The sound of waves crashing against the surf behind him filled his ears, a soothing, rhythmic chorus. Seagulls chirped on all sides, dozens walking and pecking through the surrounding beach. They’d made room, pulling back to create a semi-circle of space, but otherwise seeming very unfazed by his sudden appearance.
It was a different time of day, and the sun was setting across the horizon to the west. Lee slowly stood up, bristling from the heat and wishing he had a drink, maybe a mojito or a coconut daiquiri with a tiny umbrella.
“Can you hear me, Initiate Amaranth?”
The Lead Instructor’s voice boomed from overhead like the voice of an ancient god. Lee looked up and all around for its source. He could hear Mattis clearly, but there was no sign of her, or the classroom, or anything other than what he’d already seen of the testing islands and the endless blue ocean.
“I can hear you,” called Lee, feeling a bit ridiculous. “I assume you can also hear me?”
“She can,” said Tess. “So can I.”
Lee spun around and raised an eyebrow. Tess was wading through the shore with her sweatpants pulled up, kicking her ethereal blue legs through the water. He wasn’t sure if he could openly acknowledge her, not with Mattis and the rest of his class staring into the tank, potentially listening to his every word, but he was still grateful for her presence.
“I got bored while you were asleep,” said Tess. “The spatial, er, whatever it’s called, means that I can be here without having to worry about the usual considerations of staying close to either you or Primhaven.”
“Initiate Amaranth,” boomed Mattis’s voice. “In front of you lies a range of trials spread out across the four core magical disciplines. At the end of each trial lies a bell. Once you’ve rung all four bells, you’ll be transported back, and the trial will be over.”
“Sounds easy enough.” Lee took a few steps forward, brushing sand off his knees. “It’s like an obstacle course, but supernatural.”
“More or less,” said Mattis. “As part of the demonstration, feel free to pick any of the trials to attempt. Passing or failing at the current time will have no weight on your final grade. During the actual test, each of you will be alone, and a number of the challenges you see in front of you will be reconfigured to maintain their challenge for when that time comes.”
Tess let out a laugh from Lee’s left. She’d sneaked up on one of the seagulls and was confusing it by playfully flicking sand onto its feathers.
“Be warned,” boomed Mattis’s voice. “The Midterm Trial is not what it seems.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” said Lee.
He was already feeling his hopes fracture slightly as his eyes took in each of the trials. The trial grounds were set up in the shape of an X, with the circular starting island at the center and the obstacles organized by discipline along the sand bars extending outward on diagonals.
The conjuration trial looked like a series of rooms out of a video game. The first was a massive puzzle, ten feet wide and at least as tall, with pieces that Lee guessed could only be set into place with telekinesis. A high wall with a heavy gate prevented him from seeing further beyond it.
The alteration trial began with a maze and an illustrated diagram. The diagram showed a mage using alteration magic to form platforms of green barrier energy across the
ground and then proceeding to hop from one to the next. It reminded Lee of some kind of “the floor is lava”-themed lab experiment, which didn’t seem overly far off, with Mattis and his classmates watching from outside the spatial vortex.
The illusion trial was more subtle than the others, and the first obstacle was just a hidden door, one that Lee’s ability to see through illusions let him spot at a glance. He smiled, feeling gratified that there was at least one type of magic he could put off studying for the next few days.
By far, the elemental trial looked the most intimidating and dangerous. The first obstacle was a churning stretch of superheated magma, contained within a pool of invisible magical energy and stretching a good twenty feet before stopping at a platform with a door. Mattis had said that the test wouldn’t place them at risk of death or debilitating injury, but he would still need to find a way to deal with that particular obstacle that didn’t involve trying to jump it with a running start.
“This place is awesome!” shouted Tess. “I wish I’d known about it earlier. If I can figure out where they store it while it’s not in use, I’ll have my own private beach resort to hang out at.”
Lee folded his arms and tried to give her a stern look. She blew him a kiss.
“Instructor, can you tell him to hurry up?” shouted Kristoff in his familiar and annoying voice. “I’m getting bored watching him. I think he might be paralyzed with hesitation.”
“I’m thinking,” shouted Lee. He ran a hand over his chin and decided to start with the most straightforward of the trials.
The sand bar narrowed as he took the first few steps toward the conjuration trial’s initial puzzle. Each of the pieces had been cut out into a familiar jigsaw shape, and each one was made of lightly lacquered foam, making them lighter than they appeared but still heavy enough to challenge the average student’s telekinesis ability.
Lee shot an expectant glance at Tess. She pretended to not know what he wanted, looking over her shoulder before pointing a finger at her chest and finally flashing a small smile.
“This is cheating, you know,” she said. “On your Midterm Trial, too. Gosh, this is borderline scandalous, Lee.”
“My practice Midterm Trial,” he muttered, covering his mouth. “I’ll point toward where I think each piece should go.”
The corners were easy enough to identify and set into place. Lee began organizing the pieces by color, letting Tess run forward and jump to set each one in place as he confirmed positions. To the eyes of his classmates, it must have looked as though he was extremely good at multitasking with his telekinesis.
He couldn’t tell what the puzzle’s picture was, but he found a piece with a pale, flesh tone to it, along with one that had part of a detailed, hazel eye. All was going well until he came across two nearly identical pieces and had Tess try the more likely candidate.
“It doesn’t fit,” she said. “I think it—”
The puzzle burst apart, pieces flying in all directions, including through Tess and into Lee’s face. Laughter came from the other side of the spatial vortex. Despite how accustomed he’d become to playing off his frequent magical mishaps, Lee felt annoyed at his own performance. It was just a stupid puzzle.
“Perhaps consider attempting one of the other trials?” boomed Mattis’s voice. “I would like for the class to get a general idea of the test, rather than just watching you on a single obstacle.”
“Sounds good to me,” said Lee.
He headed for the illusion trial, seeking redemption in the discipline of magic to which he had a near immunity. The hidden door was simple for him, though he doubted it would have given his classmates much trouble, either.
A stone bridge lay on the other side, arching over a gap in the sandbars. This illusion was more insidious, and Lee grinned as he spotted dozens of person-sized holes in the bridge that would drop the unwary into the seawater below. They didn’t stay in one place, either, with a few of the holes shifting back and forth or alternating between expanding and closing.
Lee played it for all the drama it was worth, making each of his steps across seem careful and precise. He let himself almost fall at one point, knowing that Mattis wanted the class to know that they’d need to train the ability to counter illusion veils.
A small round of applause came as Lee stepped off the bridge and onto the other side. Another wall and door blocked the way and, of all things, a black leather couch and a bulky, decades-old television with a gangly antenna composed the next obstacle.
“Am I supposed to sit down and watch TV?” called Lee.
“Yes,” said Mattis. “It was originally a magic mirror when Shay Morrigan first devised the trials, but that was shattered by a student in an unfortunate incident.”
A remote had been left on one of the couch cushions. Lee picked it up and collapsed down, letting himself enjoy the soft embrace of the expensive piece of furniture for a few seconds before hitting the power button.
The TV transfixed his attention in a manner that went beyond the natural. Lee didn’t just watch the scene that played out, he felt himself falling into it, becoming the star.
He stood in a field of blood, in the middle of the night. Hideous monsters surrounded him, bat-like creatures with leathery wings, lumbering corpses, trolls with red eyes and blackened teeth. Lee brought his hands up, preparing his force spell.
“Eldon…” whispered a familiar voice.
He spun around and found himself face to face with his wayward sister, Zoe. She cackled when she saw his expression and waved a hand, urging the monsters onward. Lee’s stomach turned over as he realized that he’d have to fight her, too.
“It’s finally time, Lee,” came another whisper from someone else. “I’ve waited so long.”
He spun again and saw Tess, or at least, a version of her. The Tess he saw was a shadow of the one he remembered, a sneering, corrupted specter. She thrust her hand out, letting her fingers slide into the side of his temple and sending a pulse of horrible pain reverberating through him.
“You made your choice, Eldon,” said Harper. “You’ll die a traitor’s death.”
Harper was, well, still Harper. She had a fireball hovering over her palm, the cleansing force of her arcane retribution. She hurled it forward at the same instant that Zoe’s monsters attacked and Tess finished taking full control of his body.
It was too much, too fast. Lee couldn’t think, couldn’t pull back from the irresistible tug of inevitable horror. He’d seen all of this before. He’d dreamt versions of it before. All of his worst fears threaded together, an avalanche of potential outcomes that his waking self dreaded. The scream was drawn out from him as though it had been building for an eternity. Lee shut his eyes tightly and fell to his knees.
CHAPTER 7
“It’s okay, Initiate Amaranth,” said Mattis. “It was just a fear simulacrum. Nothing you just experienced really happened, and none of it could have actually hurt you.”
Lee was gasping for breath. He was back outside the spatial vortex, doubled over in front of the class. The entire room was silent, and a single glance at his classmates told him that whatever they’d just seen him go through had been enough to unnerve them.
“0 for 2,” muttered Kristoff. “Why did you even volunteer in the first place, Amaranth?”
He shot Lee a disgustingly pleased grin that made anger and shame burn from a deep place within his chest.
“Take some time to compose yourself, Lee,” said Mattis.
“I will.”
He stood up and left the lecture hall before his instructor or anyone else could object. He heard Tess calling after him as he hurried down the hallway and into the bathroom.
He’d been ready for the other illusions. Why not this one? Lee stared at his face in the bathroom mirror. He looked pale and haggard, with the roots of his hair damp with sweat. Why had he let the simulacrum get under his skin so quickly, and so completely?
The answer came to him as though he’d known it al
l along. What he’d seen and experienced upon looking into the cursed screen of the TV had only been a slight distortion of the truth. Zoe had joined up with a faction that allied themselves with monsters. Tess was a ghost who’d talked him into making a pact with her, a ghost who could theoretically decide to do him harm without any recourse on his part.
And Harper… how would she react if she knew the truth, the full extent of his lies?
He turned on the faucet and splashed water onto his face. Tess was standing behind him and he pulled her into his mystic stream, forcing the memory of the simulacrum-Tess out of his thoughts.
“I’ve never seen you like that before,” she whispered. “I was so scared, just watching the way your face looked while you were sitting on the couch.”
“You couldn’t see anything on the TV?”
“It just looked like fuzz to me.”
Lee breathed out. Tess gently wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a hug from behind. Thinking about Tess, Zoe, and Harper made him feel like he was the center point of a triangle with impossible dimensions, unable to sort through the geometric tangle of his love and loyalties.
“I’m worried about you,” said Tess.
“I know. I’m fine, really. I just need to figure out a way to prepare myself for that obstacle next time.”
“I wish I could help you with it,” muttered Tess.
“You already helped enough.” Lee turned around and kissed her on the lips. “Maybe work on learning the meta-strategy behind jigsaw puzzles for now? That should help.”
Tess smiled and rolled her eyes. “You want me to help you with a jigsaw puzzle? Not emotional support, not with building up our supply of essence for spell casting, but with… a jigsaw puzzle.”
“If it’s too hard, I can always ask Toma.”
Tess gave him an exaggerated scowl and interlaced her fingers through his. Her face grew serious, and she leaned her head forward, not looking directly into his eyes.
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