Page 126 of Kingdom of Shadows and Wings

We pick our weapons—I choose a bow and arrow, Olive picks throwing stars, Abel goes with a dagger, and Nick a sword—and learn that our dye color is turquoise. Lucky for us. Another team got vomit green.

We’re given five minutes to study the hand-drawn, freshly inked map. Instead of well-known geographic locations or obvious markers, like the mess hall, most of the illustrated points of interest are foreign.

Abel scratches his neck. “They sure don’t want to make this easy on us, do they?”

Olive rotates the map sideways. “Easy? Of course not. What’s the fun in that?”

“Your definition of fun must be different than mine,” Nick mutters.

“It could be worse.”

An incredulous Nick gapes at Olive. ‘How?”

She lifts a shoulder. “We could be completing this trial while flying blindfolded during a huge lightning storm while under attack from actual enemies.”

Abel chuckles. “Fair enough. Although, with Elijah’s crew out there, I think we’ve got the enemy part covered.”

While they confer, I continue to study the map. “I bet they created a lot of those geographical markers specifically for the trial, which means we don’t have a chance of locating them until we’re up in the air. To start, we need to focus on the couple we do recognize and use those to orient ourselves.”

Abel nudges me. “Smart. I knew I liked you for a reason.”

Kinneck whistles again and orders us to reassemble by unit near the starting line. My stress climbs. So far, no one has paid me any undue attention. I hope it stays that way, but I’m scared it won’t. Not after what I heard the king say last night.

King Xenon rises from his throne. “Fledglings, I wish you all the best of luck. The trial begins…now!”

Chapter Forty-Five

Powerful wings flap in unison, creating wind tunnels as alicorns and flyers compete to hit the skies first. Caught off guard, Zephyr’s hooves are still on the ground when the first alicorn to take flight slams into an invisible wall horn-first and bounces back.

Abel gasps. “By the heavens! What’s happening?”

Cruder variations of Abel’s exclamation echo all around as more and more flyers get repelled by the barrier. The translucent wall glimmers in spots, bringing unwelcome memories of Elijah’s attack on the beach.

Worry crawls along my skin. “I don’t get it. They trapped us in an air shield, but what’s the point? It seems silly to force us to break out right off the bat like this.”

A moment later, I get my answer. Three consecutive booms rattle the ground. Thick, purple fog explodes out of nowhere, obscuring our vision and consuming the dome with a sweet, musty odor.

Nick hacks. “What is this shit?”

“No clue.” Coughing, I wave my hand in front of my face in a futile attempt to clear the air.

The shriek of an enraged alicorn gives us our first hint, and a bellow from the opposite direction our second. Soon, the air shrills with the chorus of pissed off animals. I can’t tell what’s happening, though, because the fucking fog makes visibility impossible.

“Shit! Easy, girl. No, no, stop!” Beside me, I can hear Olive’s mount acting up as she tries to calm her. Abel and Nick seem to be struggling too. Something bumps Zephyr from behind, and my usually chill boy starts to lose his cool.

He rears up, but I can barely focus thanks to a sudden avalanche of alicorn fury crashing into me from every direction. The intensity of their rage beats against my skull like a giant boulder intent on smashing my brain to a pulp. Never before has this much emotion assaulted me. Especially not from the alicorns.

“The fog,” I wheeze. “It’s somehow engineered to piss off the alicorns.”

It’s fucking pandemonium. Yelling. Furious shrieking. Agonized cries. The coppery tang of blood perfumes the air. A constant barrage of images featuring alicorns attacking each other with horns and hooves pummels my mind.

If we don’t shut this down fast, our trial might be over before it even begins.

Zephyr squeals and lunges. I yank on the reins, but the alicorn resists. His bloodlust blazes through my veins, stirring my own rage.

No. I can’t lose control. Zephyr needs me to keep calm.

Reaching out, I soothe Zephyr via our connection. The fight gradually drains from his body. I start to do the same for Olive’s alicorn but stop again. If I alleviate the rage from only my flight unit’s mounts, that will look awfully suspicious. I’ll save that option as a last resort.

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