Page 117 of The Wishing Game

"No need to panic. Yet." Milado chuckles. "The air is toxic for mortals in P'davi, as it is in a lot of the worlds P'davi connects to. Some are more toxic, some are less. Here, you have a fortnight until your body will fail you. Until then, you will get increasingly weaker and slower, until you won't be able to move at all. Of course, if you happen to stumble upon a worse world, that process will be accelerated."

What?

I blink slowly as I take in the new information. Sneaking a glance at Thea, I note she's avidly listening to Milado. But is she surprised? Did she know about this? I find it difficult to believe she wouldn't when she knows so much...

"In response to that comes the second trial. Those who survive at the end of the fortnight will automatically pass to the next trial."

"What is he talking about?" I ask as I turn to Ze.

"Listen." He nods, pointing to the stage.

"Since we want to be as fair as possible, I have a few clues for you. P'davi is the only realm that hosts a wide range of healing plants, among which there are three of them that can give you immunity not only within P'davi, but in every world in existence."

My eyes widen.

"For the next two weeks, your task will be to search the wilderness of P'davi for these three plants. But the ticking clock isn't your only enemy. You must be careful not to stray into another world—it might prove fatal. And you must be wary of your competitors. Starting with this trial, inter-contestant fighting is officially encouraged. You can take out competition as you like, or only when you feel they are a threat to you."

"How is all that even possible?" I ask, appalled. It seems like a straight-up death sentence. Not only will we weaken progressively over the course of the two weeks, but now we also have to contend with traps that lead into other worlds and belligerent competitors who will have all the incentive to attack us.

"Now for the clues. The plants you will need to gather are as follows:ridea,doyen, andsaelica. Every team will receive illustrations of the plants. But you will have to beverycareful, as there are plenty of other similar-looking plants that have completely different effects."

Great! Add poisoning by the wrong plant to the list of obstacles of this trial. Everything is a double-edged sword here. I wouldn't have expected it to be simple, but notthisdifficult.

"There is a library in the complex, and you may avail yourself of its resources to track down the plants. But remember, the clock is ticking. If you survive your death day—exactly fourteen days from the moment you arrived in P'davi—you will be visited by the messenger wraith to secure your spot in the third trial. If you die..." he trails off.

"That will be all for today. The illustrations will be waiting for you at your accommodation. The second trial has officially commenced!"

The crowd erupts in claps and shouts and soon, everything turns to mayhem.

Ze grabs my hand, steering me away from the crowd. Cer and Thea fall into step with us, their expressions grave.

"We need to come up with a plan," I say. "And fast. We only have thirteen days left."

Ze's lips flatten into a thin line as he nods.

"You three will go to our accommodation to get the illustrations. I will meet you there."

"Where are you going?" I frown.

"Library. We will need maps of P'davi, perhaps a book on flora and fauna if there is one. Everyone will be crowding the libraries soon, so having a head start will be useful."

He doesn't wait for our acknowledgment before he disappears.

"Did you know about this?" I ask as we reach our suite.

Thea purses her lips.

"I was aware of the incompatibility issue, but I didn't think they would make a trial out of it. In past editions, the brew was provided to participants on arrival."

I take a deep breath, slumping into a chair. Just as Milado said, three illustrations await us on the table, each depicting a plant. One of them has blue, elongated flowers, another yellow ones, while the other is comprised solely of leaves—verycommon-looking leaves.

"Cananyonepass this trial?" I whisper, hopelessness lacing my voice.

There are just so many variables involved, which makes the entire ordeal even more dangerous.

"Of course," she promptly replies.

"There are some species that have an affinity for plants," Cer adds grimly.

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