The sounds of heavy breathing and rapid footsteps echoed around us as we descended the stairs. None of us dared to stop before reaching the next trial zone.

  The staircase spiraled downward, its smooth stone steps lit by an occasional torch emitting a warm copper glow. More gemstones lined the walls, glittering like scattered stars. All around were hieroglyphs that could have been a major archeological discovery in my world. If we weren't in such a rush, I'm sure Ariel would have loved to stop and admire them. Patches of algae and moss grew along the sides and the ceiling, occasionally hiding bits of ancient looking art here and there. The deeper we went, the colder it got.

  Gradually the stairs grew less steep, and leveled out into a landing illuminated by a pair of bluish torches. The eerie blue light made the immediate area quite visible. A final staircase, etched with glyphs and patterns, led down to a small cavern flooded with water.

  We finally stopped on the landing, panting for breath as we looked around.

  The cavern was quite large for being underground. The water started at the bottom of the final staircase, stretching out across the chamber. It wasn't very deep, maybe four inches at most. The surface of the water looked like shifting glass, reflecting the soft blue glow of the torches. On the far side of the cavern were several cave entrances, all similar in size and shape. Each had similar torches next to them, but only some were lit.

  "Think we... made it to the next zone?" Caelin asked through heavy breaths.

  "I... I think so..." Ariel said, leaning over.

  "I hope so... I don't think I can take another step... without a break!" I said, putting my arms behind my head.

  It was a trick I'd learned from Shelly to help with breathing. The memory slipped in before I could stop it, bringing a brief smile... and then the ache of knowing I'd never see her or Blaize again. It made me tear up a little.

  "Are you alright, Mae?" Ariel asked, moving beside me and resting a hand on my back.

  "I will be..." I mumbled, shoving the memory back down. "I just can't believe we saw so many people die. Tahlis is heartless."

  "I agree. That was... pretty awful," Caelin said with a grim expression.

  Ariel's eyes wavered. "We all wish we could have done more," she said softly. "But, every examinee that entered knew the risks. Entering those first doors basically signed a contract. Terra Grix is prestigious for a reason. They expect to cut people down."

  "You're right..." I said, trying to calm myself.

  "That proctor had remarkable control of her magic," Mallow suddenly chimed in. "It takes a huge amount of manaura to summon a monster like that. To think she was going to summon several of those..."

  I'd almost forgotten she was here after how quiet she'd been. The tremor in her voice gave her away, she cared more than she let on.

  "That's for sure," Caelin agreed. "Even top class mages have been killed by golems like that. That cannonball idea was a great one, Mae."

  His compliment made me blush. "Thank you," I said. We made eye contact for a moment before I quickly looked away.

  "Did you read that in a book?" Mallow asked curiously. "I'd love to read it if you did."

  "I... sort of came up with it on the fly," I said, twirling a strand of hair.

  "You're always full of suprises," Ariel said, smiling.

  I'd finally caught my breath and felt a little better now. It took me a minute to realize something was off. We were the only ones in this cavern, where were the testers that made it down before us?

  "We seem to be the only group here," Mallow said before I could speak. "I wonder where everyone else is..."

  "You're right," Ariel said, frowning. "And why isn't anyone coming down after us?"

  "I assumed they went ahead," Caelin suggested. "Or maybe we're just slow."

  "You're all very perceptive, and correct," a male voice said from behind.

  We all jumped to readiness, completely caught off guard by the voice.

  We spun around to see a young man, maybe in his twenties, standing there with his arms crossed. He had really nice, curly-black hair, and sharp blue eyes. His outfit reminded me of a sailor, with a white cotton blouse and leather pants adorned with laces and various pouches. Around his waist was a black sash with golden letters, much like the one Tahlis had.

  My thoughts betrayed me.

  * Wow, he's handsome. *

  As if he noticed my shock, he looked directly at me and asked, "What's the matter, miss? Surprised?"

  His gaze pierced right through me, making my heart race. I almost forgot to respond.

  "No— yes—? Uhh... how long have you been standing there?" I managed.

  "Not long. Maybe a minute or two," I replied.

  "A whole minute?!" Caelin blurted. "I didn't even—"

  The mystery hottie practically ignored Caelin and turned to look at Ariel next, offering her a smooth, practiced smile. He bowed slightly, with one hand resting on his heart.

  "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Selas Vail, first son of the Duke of Veilmere. I must say, the company of this group is much more...easy on the eyes than the last few that have passed through."

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  "Veilmere is just a fishing town," Mallow said flatly. "I didn't know there was a real lineage there."

  Selas didn't even bat an eye. His attention was still on Ariel.

  Ariel's eyebrows furrowed and she exhaled sharply. "How flattering. Well, Selas, given that you're the only one here, and you're wearing a black sash— you must be the next proctor, correct?"

  "You assume correctly, milady. Your intelligence can only be matched by your beauty," Selas said with another bow.

  Ariel, completely unfazed, looked like she was having thoughts of drowning a certain someone. "You're too kind," she said with a half-hearted smile. "Now, are you going to explain the next trial, or just keep complimenting us?"

  "Yes," Selas replied with a flashy smile, as if his answer solved all our questions.

  Out of the blue, he quickly turned to me, scooped up a hand, and blessed the back of it with a kiss.

  His hands were soft— softer than mine. I didn't even know how to react.

  "I'm impressed you noticed everyone else's absence. Those emerald green eyes of yours are very observant."

  "Th— that wasn't me who said that... Mallow noticed before I did," I said, trying to give her the credit.

  "It's not like it was a huge mystery everyone else was already gone..." Mallow huffed.

  "Yes, well," Selas continued loudly, his eyes still locked on me. "I could tell you were the observant type the moment I saw you."

  At this point the charm was fading fast. This guy was actually kind of annoying. Given how Ariel had reacted, she must have met many others like him. If we didn't change the topic soon, we'd probably be trapped here awhile.

  I decided to pull a move straight out of Shelly's book. She'd pulled it on me more times than I'd ever admit. I straightened up a little, tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, and consciously pitched my voice up a couple notes.

  "I do appreciate your kind words... Selas." I made an attempt to bat my lashes a little, which probably just looked like I had something in my eye. "If you don't mind, I'd love to hear how the next trial works. I'm—"

  * UGHH *

  "—so very curious."

  I felt ridiculous, but my shame was not in vain.

  Selas visibly brightened, and stood a little taller. "But of course! It would be my pleasure to enlighten you, miss...?"

  "Mae..."

  "Miss Mae," he said, kissing my hand again.

  I heard Ariel let out the faintest sigh, the kind that said she couldn't believe this was working. Caelin looked betrayed, and I could have sworn I heard Mallow say something like, "We already asked this a minute ago."

  With a tight smile I gently tugged my hand back. After the second kiss I really didn't want there to be a third. I tried to hide the fact that I was wiping the first two off on my clothes.

  "Very well!" Selas said, clapping his hands together. "I shall explain the second trial."

  Caelin deadpanned, Mallow huffed, and Ariel face-palmed.

  "As you know, Elemyr is the city of wind and is the eastern-most trial city. The neighboring trial cities are Elethar of water in the north, and Elexbrax of stone in the south—"

  He took a moment to run a hand through his curls, earning him another sigh from Ariel.

  "Every entrance exam contains three trials," he continued, "with each trial being based on the three closest elements."

  "We know..." Mallow and Caelin mumbled in unison.

  This was all news to me, but I played along and stroked my hair as if I were clueless.

  "Tahlis was supposed to proctor the earth trial," he furthered, "though knowing her, I'm sure it did not go as planned."

  We all glanced knowingly at each other.

  "I, Selas—" he said, throwing me a wink, "—am the proctor of trial number two, which will be water based."

  "So what do we dooo?" Mallow called out in a monotone voice, acting like she was part of a crowd.

  "I'm so glad you asked," He said, grinning and pointing at me.

  "But I didn't—"

  "This trial will be done in pairs. Luckily for you, there seems to be an even number of people present!"

  "At least you can do math," Caelin muttered under his breath.

  Selas's eye twitched, confirming he'd been aware of Caelin and Mallow the whole time, just choosing to completely ignore them. Maybe they weren't above his 'prettiness threshold'.

  He turned and motioned for us to follow him down the last flight of stairs. As we reached the last step, I peered into the shallow water that stretched fifty yards before reaching the caves.

  Three flickering torches remained, each casting rippling ribbons of blue on the stone ceiling above. The air was chilly, and carried the faint scent of moss. Somewhere in the distance, I could hear the slow pulse of a current.

  "The second trial," Selas began, "is a test of judgement and synergy. The cave system can be... quite chaotic. While the water may appear calm—" he chuckled, "—I assure you it's not. There are hidden currents the deeper you go. You'll want to move carefully if you enjoy breathing air."

  "So... it's a water maze?" Ariel summarized, unimpressed.

  Selas smiled at her like a cat humoring a clever bird. "A maze, yes, but one that moves. Don't stay in one spot too long," he grinned. "You may regret that you did."

  "This trial is just a spelunking test?" I wondered out loud.

  Everyone looked at me and asked, "Spelunking?"

  "Oh— uh, cave exploring..." I trailed off, my face turning red. "Let's just pick our partners already."

  "Well, since it's a water trial, it may be best that Caelin and I split up since we both have an affinity for water magic. Any objections?"

  "That's acceptable," Mallow said with a shrug.

  "Good idea," Caelin said, nodding.

  "Works for me," I added.

  "Great, I'll go with Mallow then," Ariel said.

  Caelin and I looked at each other.

  "Guess it's you and me, huh?" He said with a small grin.

  My heart did a little flutter that I tried to ignore. "Seems like it," I said with a smile.

  Selas clapped again. "Great! With that out of the way, all that's left is to choose a path." He gestured towards the cave entrances. "Each group must choose a path with a lit torch. The darkened ones have already been traveled."

  The four of us looked at each other for a few moments before Ariel took a deep breath and took the first step into the shallow water. Her boots splashed softly as ripples extended outward, casting shimmers of light across the ceiling. The rest of us also took the first step into the water.

  It was cool, and only rose up my ankles, quite refreshing actually.

  "I think we'll take the cave to the left," Ariel said, pointing to one entrance with a lit torch. She looked to Mallow who nodded in approval.

  "Which one do you want to try, Mae?" Caelin asked.

  I stared for a moment, trying to see if there were any tell-tail signs of the better option. I looked at Selas who was watching with eager anticipation of my choice. It almost looked like he did a head-tilt to the right, but it may have just been a shadow bouncing off a wave.

  "I guess let's try the right-most one," I said finally.

  "Alrighty then, let's get this over with!" Caelin said boldly.

  The rest of us nodded and started heading towards our chosen routes.

  "And remember," Selas called out from behind us. "Do try not to drown, my brave examinees! I so look forward to seeing both of you lovely ladies again!"

  "There's four of us!" Mallow called back with a tinge of bitterness.

  "And you're terrible with pep talks!" Caelin called back as well.

  "I think I'd rather drown," Ariel mumbled.

  I glanced back and watched Selas waving us off with a princess's 'ta-ta' wave. His blue eyes danced like the surface of the water. He gave me a little thumbs up to which I gave a half-hearted smile.

  We walked together for a couple minutes until we reached our respective entrances.

  "Alright guys, good luck. And be safe," Ariel said.

  "You too," I replied, giving her a reassuring nod.

  The water deepened slightly as we approached the entrances, with the water lapping gently at our calves. The air grew cooler, heavier, almost as if the caves were holding their breath.

  "Be safe, Mallow. See you on the other side, Ari," Caelin said with a grin.

  "We will," Mallow assured.

  Mallow and Ariel disappeared first as they stepped into the entrance.

  Caelin glanced at me, and then our tunnel. "Ready?"

  "As I'll ever be..."

  We stepped forward, the sound of dripping water echoing around as we went further in. A faint current tugged at my boots, guiding us deeper into the unknown.