Page 173 of Wings of Ash & Flame
Alaire shot him a glare. How she wished Archer were here instead.
Kaia brushed her fingers over the glowing inscription. “It’s instructions—or at least clues on how to finish this trial. The magic forces us to work together.”
Alaire’s gaze caught on the first line:Four shall enter, bound by fate.Clearly, that referred to their unit of four.
The following line about being tethered together to navigate needed no explanation—the magic had already made that obvious.
She drummed her fingers against her leathers, rereading the next line:In fire’s blaze, through trial and test.Whether the flames were metaphorical or literal, they were about to find out.
She scanned the cavern. The ceiling disappeared into shadow above, while rivers of magma below formed a winding maze. Ahead, the cavern stretched endlessly.
“We have to fly through it,” she murmured.
The flames licked higher in answer, the heat pressing in as if alive.
Dawson noticed too and frowned. He reached for his weapon—only to find nothing.
“My broadsword—it’s gone.”
She checked her own belt. Empty. Everyone’s weapons were gone.
“This trial wasn’t designed to be solved with steel,” Kaia said quietly.
“This just keeps getting better,” Caius muttered.
Alaire looked between Dawson and Kaia. “What about the last line?Only united can they progress.” Worrying about weapons was pointless—it was part of the trial’s design.
Caius crossed his arms, still fuming.
“It means we put our differences aside,” Dawson answered, glancing pointedly between Alaire and Caius. “We have to complete this together.”
“It won’t be that bad.” Kaia’s faint smile carried conviction. “We are stronger together.”
“What if we’re forced to split up?” Caius challenged. “Flying as a unit means covering multiple obstacles if needed. I don’t see how that’s possible now.”
“We don’t have a choice,” Alaire retorted. “We adapt and figure it out as a team.”
Caius shook his head, skepticism plain.
The cavern walls began to tremble. Dust rained from above. Small stones jumped along the ledge beneath their feet.
Slots screeched open in the stone walls.
“Mount up!” Alaire shouted. “Now!”
They scrambled onto their celestials as flaming arrows erupted from every direction, dozens of fire-tipped bolts soaring through the air.
“Get in formation!” Dawson called. “Diamond pattern. Alaire, you lead. I’ll take the right flank, Kaia, the left, Caius, rear guard.”
Solflara launched from the ledge. The tether snapped brutally tight, nearly ripping Alaire from her seat as she was yanked backward by the others’ weight. Her spine cracked under the whiplash.
“We need to adjust,” she gasped through the pain lancing her back.
Alaire chanced a look behind her. Hadrian had veered too wide, his wingtip scraping the cavern wall in a shower of sparks. Onyx hissed from the rear, fighting the invisible restraint.
They were moving like newborn colts—unsteady, confused, dangerous to themselves and everyone else. The constant tugging made her shoulders burn, muscles straining against the bonds that jerked her left and right with every movement her teammates made.
The walls shuddered again. More slots ground open, glowing with inner fire.
