Either way, we were about to be separated, and half a team was no team.
“Judy! Talia!” I shouted, sprinting forward.
The slabs were moving too fast for them to pass through without the risk of being crushed. Judy braced her shoulder against the stone, muscles straining, face twisted in effort. “It’s no use! I can’t-“
A scream tore through the corridor, and shock displaced my fear when I saw that it was coming from Talia.
Her entire body trembled, and in her eyes, fear and strange fury twisted together until something inside her seemed to snap free.
With a sound that was half sob, half snarl, she hurled herself against the moving slab.
My eyes widened. There was no way she could bear the weight of the moving wall.
“Talia, no-“
But in that moment, I could almost see the raw, desperate power surging through her. Her hands dug into the stone, her feet bracing on the floor-and the wall shuddered, like it was hesitating.
Just long enough.
I was frozen in shock, but Judy seized the precious extra time they’d been given and shoved Talia forward, rolling both of them into safety as the slabs slammed shut with bone-rattling finality.
Stunned silence followed. My heart thundered in my ears.
Roxy was the first to break it, awe dripping from every syllable. “Holy…shit.”
Talia lay gasping, face pale, but her body was unbroken. Her eyes were wide, disbelieving of her own strength.
I crouched beside her, touching her shoulder gently. “Talia, that was…amazing.”
She shook her head, wincing as she sat up. “I-I don’t know how-“
“It doesn’t matter how,” Judy said softly, brushing hair from Talia’s damp forehead. Her own eyes glistened. “You just did it.”
Talia let out an incredulous breath. “Yeah…I guess I did.”
I took her hand and pulled her to her feet. She swayed slightly, and I gripped her elbow to support her.
“Well done,” I said proudly.
Her cheeks tinged pink, and because I knew how heavy and uncomfortable the weight of praise could be, I changed the topic.
“Come on, guys,” I said to the rest of the team. “What do you say we make it through the rest of the maze without incident?”
Judy rolled her neck, glaring at the wall that had almost crushed her. “Amen to that.”
The rest of the journey passed with renewed vigor.
The maze wasn’t only a test of knowledge. Just like the Misty Woods, it was testing our limits, our bonds, the very boundaries of what we thought we were capable of.
And somehow, against every odd stacked against us, we reached the heart of it.
The Echo Altar loomed before us-an ancient-looking dais of black stone, carved with spirals and crescents, its surface inlaid with silver that gleamed faintly like moonlight.
Symbols radiated outward from it in concentric rings, humming softly as though it eagerly awaited the right rhythm.
“Fucking finally,” Roxy muttered as the tension uncoiled from her shoulders.
Finn and I locked eyes, and he gave me a gentle, reassuring nod.
I approached the Altar, hands trembling slightly as I traced the first notes. My mind assembled the sequence we had pieced together, and as I raised my hand to strike the first beat-
The chamber doors on the far side exploded inward.
Dust clouded the air, heavy footsteps echoing through the visual haze.
When the dust cleared, my stomach sank right down to the stone floor as the newcomers came into view: Brynjar and the rest of the
Shadow Claw team.
Ah, fuck.
SERAPHINA’S POV
Facing off against Brynjar and his Shadow Claw thugs in a hotel lobby surrounded by spectators-aka: witnesses-was one thing. Facing them in the lawless, cold walls of the Trials was fucking terrifying.
As they stormed into the chamber, the atmosphere thickened like smoke choking a fire. Dust billowed in from the shattered entryway. carrying the acrid stench of scorched stone and the metallic tang of blood.
And, oh gods, they looked like hell.
Cuts striped their arms and faces and torsos, visible through their torn shirts. One guy’s sleeve was slick with crimson from a wound that hadn’t even clotted yet.
I could practically smell the charred singe of burned fabric where one of them must’ve triggered a fire trap.
It was obvious that this band of meat-for-brains wolves had strong-armed their way through the maze, triggering gods knew how many traps to get here.
Yet despite the evidence of their struggle, Brynjar’s grin spread wide.
His dark eyes landed immediately on the Altar behind me, and for a flicker of a second, I saw his triumph falter into rage.
Because we were already there. We’d made it before his team.
“Well, well,” he drawled, his voice dripping with both exhaustion and arrogance. Mainly arrogance. “Looks like the pups beat us to the feast.”
His teammates spread out, boxing us in like hungry hyenas circling a meal. Shoulders squared, fists flexing, their battered state doing nothing to soften the menace radiating from them.
“Back up,” Roxy growled, her voice vibrating with the promise of violence. She planted herself at my right shoulder, chin lifted, hands curling into fists. “You’re not touching this Altar.”
I could feel the heat of her anger, ready to ignite at the slightest spark, and it was reassuring. But only slightly.
As strong as I knew she was in combat, as good as I was, the five of us didn’t stand a chance against the five of them.
A fight would only end with several broken bones and my team’s blood coating the Echo Altar.
“Easy,” Judy murmured, stepping close enough to Roxy to lay a grounding hand on her arm. “Don’t let him rile you.”
Brynjar’s lips twisted, amusement flickering, “Cute. You really think you can keep us from it?”
His gaze flicked over us, settling on Finn and Talia where they lingered just behind me-instantly sniffing out the weakest of us.
He smirked. “You nerds already worked out the sequence, huh? Hand it over, and maybe I’ll let you walk away.”
I moved before he could take another step, instinct shoving myself between Brynjar and the two other people who knew the sequence.
“Not happening,” I said flatly.
Finn’s hand brushed my back, steadying, but I didn’t let him step out from behind me. Not a chance.
Brynjar tilted his head, eyes narrowing. “I have no problem taking what I want. In fact,”-he cracked his knuckles, his lips curling menacingly-“I look forward to it.”
For a terrifying heartbeat, I thought he’d lunge.
His shoulders rolled with barely contained impatience. His men tightened their circle.
But then Judy stepped forward.
“Or,” she said coolly, “you could do things by the rules for once in your life.”
Brynjar snorted. “Rules?”
“Yes,” Judy said, her tone sharp, deliberate.
She squared her shoulders, looking every inch the warrior she was training to be. “The Trials allow challenges between competitors. If you’re so desperate to prove you’re better, then call off your pack of dogs and face me one-on-one.”
My stomach swooped. “Judy-“
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