Page 75 of Fading Sun

Ten minutes.

Given the penalty minute, it took us four minutes to get through five questions.

And we have… eleven questions to go.

Dread washes over me. This is going to be tight.

“Second question,” the Buddha says to Blaze. “What realm does Sunna travel across daily with her chariot?”

“Easy,” Blaze says with relief. “Midgard.”

“Correct.” The Buddha turns his attention to Morgan, and I release a relieved breath that Blaze got his second question right.

I barely have time to center myself before the gong strikes again. It’s softer this time, but maybe that’s because my ears are ringing and drowning it out.

Morgan flinches, but gathers herself together.

“Morgan,” the Buddha says. “What did the Aztecs believe they needed to offer to keep Tonatiuh strong and moving across the sky?”

“Human hearts and blood,” she says quickly.

“Correct,” he says. “Second question: What were the four previous suns before the Fifth Sun, in order, that Tonatiuh presides over?”

Morgan’s eyes widen, and she glances at me, panic flickering in her gaze. I can see her mind racing, trying to recall the details she memorized.

Unfortunately, not only is it against the rules to help her, but I know nothing about Aztec gods.

“The four previous suns were…” Another deafening gong crashes through the chamber, and she clutches her head, her face contorting as she speaks through the pain. “Jaguar Sun, Rain Sun, Water Sun, and…” She pauses, her eyes squeezing shut. “And…”

I glance at Damien.

From the frustrated look on his face, he already knows that Morgan’s answer is wrong.

Another clang of the gong.

“Air Sun!” she yells over the sound of it.

It silences after she speaks.

“Incorrect,” the Buddha says, and my heart drops. “The correct answer—in order—is Jaguar Sun, Wind Sun, Rain Sun, and Water Sun.”

His eyes glow, and blinding beams of light burst through the windows, streaming into the chamber and making it almost impossible to see. The light’s so intense that it feels like it’s searing my skin, and my eyes burn with the effort to keep them open.

Focus, I think. I am sunlight. I will not be blinded by it.

I reach for my sun magic, calling for it, becoming part of it. It surrounds me and becomes one with the light streaming through the windows—and one with me.

As it does, the onslaught stops hurting my eyes. Everything’s still bright, but I can see without being in pain.

The others are in various stages of distress, covering their eyes with their palms to shield them.

Blinded by light and deaf from the gong.

I don’t want to know what’s next if we get another question wrong.

“Next.” The Buddha looks to me, and I take a deep breath, trying to focus through the disorienting haze. “What is Helios’s daily task?”

“To drive the chariot of the sun across the sky,” I say quickly, the answer clear in my mind.

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