The weapon was surprisingly light. Diya grinned, finding something oddly satisfying about the way the spear whistled as it carved a figure eight through the morning fog. It was a marvelous gift. Yet it wasn’t just the material value of the thing. Surely part of what made it so special was the intention behind it. The desire to keep her safe.

  Tamsin watched with the giddy energy of someone who knows they’ve done well. “How does it feel?”

  “It’s unbelievable. So perfectly balanced it almost maneuvers itself! If this was an option back at military academy, I think it’s likely I’d have been a lancer instead of a demolitionist.”

  “Never too late, why not be both?” Tamsin asked, one eyebrow raised.

  Humming pensively, Diya nodded as she strolled from the courtyard into her newly procured workshop and set the spear down. The workshop was on the far edge of the new coven settlement right next to the shipyard where the small fleet of airships rested. The smell of grease and burnt coal sure wasn’t freshly blossoming wildflowers, but it did remind her of home.

  Her partner followed her into the dimly lit shop, taking a moment to examine it. “Looks like they managed to cobble together something fairly decent. I had them bring over what was left from Old Quinn’s workshop. Will it be suitable for your work?”

  “I believe it will,” Diya said, wiping the sweat from her face with a rag, then picking up a pouch full of black powder and pouring it into a measuring device. “Though we will need stonemoss. Lots of it if we are to replenish our stock of violet smoke bombs.”

  “We’re working on it, but our reagent hunters have reported a serious shortage of the stuff. Apparently, the wildfires last season burnt through most of what was available locally.”

  Diya blinked and for a moment there was a pregnant pause. She closed her eyes as if trying to focus on the dilemma before shaking her head and retorting in a worried tone. “Well, what exactly are we planning to do if the Skarlith return to the surface?”

  Tamsin straightened, removing her white lace mask and setting it down. “The reagent hunters are pressing out further into the ruins in search of a better supply. We will worry about that later. For now, we have fourteen days left until the winter eclipse. We’re cutting it closer than I’d have liked. Our top priority is getting you through the final trial.”

  That plan clearly bothered Diya, but she sighed and nodded. “Okay, you’ve been fairly quiet about this third trial. What am I in for?”

  “I didn’t want to scare you,” Tamsin said. “It’s the most dangerous of the three by far, and it works a little differently than the first two.”

  “Somehow that seems only fitting. How is it different to the first two?”

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  Tamsin lifted herself up and sat on top of the workbench. “The first two trials involve a challenge, right? If completed, the initiate is permitted to attune. Therefore, allowing them to practice that blood magic art. The third trial, however, is not like that. Instead, the third trial involves the initiate drinking a special brew that allows them to temporarily attune.”

  “You’re telling me there’s a special brew that allows anyone to make themselves lightning fast and strong like you?” Diya leaned in and her head tiled ever so slightly. “Why doesn’t everyone use that?”

  “Right,” Tamsin muttered, with a look like she had just bit into a lemon. “That’s because the special brew will kill that person within one week.”

  Diya’s eyes looked like they might pop out of her face. “What am I missing?”

  “What you’re missing, is the third trial.” Tamsin said, picking up the spear and twirling it gracefully. “Which is why you’re going to need this.”

  “Why do I get the feeling I’m not going to like this next part?”

  Tamsin shifted her glance, avoiding eye contact. “Because you’re not. Once the initiate ingests the special brew, they set off alone into the jungle to the East of New Avignon. Then, in that trackless place they must hunt down a monster known as a hydra within ten days, slay it, and drink its blood. By drinking the hydra’s blood, the fatal element within the brew is neutralized, and the initiate comes out forever changed.”

  “A hydra? Like the monster from the children’s books?” Diya took a deep breath, then let out a long exhale. “Right. Just so I make sure I’m understanding this correctly, if for some reason the many headed serpent doesn’t kill me, then the coven sponsored super poison will?”

  Tamsin gently set the spear back down and lifted a single finger, wagging it side to side. “But here’s the thing, neither of those will be killing you because you are the chosen one. The only person in our coven’s history who has ever been able to attune more than one art. Therefore, you are going to go into that jungle, put your fancy new spear through that monster’s chest, and come back here equipped to go save your township!”

  “I’ll be honest,” Diya said with narrowed eyes. “We’ve already established you have a million talents, and I guess I will just forever be discovering them—lucky me. But, girl you have a serious knack for hyping people up. I’m sure that I will come to regret this, how could I not, but I feel like I could take on two hydras!”

  Tamsin played with her hair and nodded along. “Loving the energy, but let’s slow your roll a bit, tiger. Much better, I think, if we just focus on fighting the one hydra.”

  An airship lifting off outside the workshop shook the floor and a glass vial of something hopefully non-toxic vibrated off a shelf and shattered against the uneven wooden boards.

  “Looks like the reagent hunters are heading out to find your stonemoss. Also, I’m realizing a bit too late that perhaps this wasn’t the perfect location for a workshop full of fragile components.” Tamsin said.

  Diya looked out the window and shrugged. “Eh, the way I see it, it’s good job security for the reagent hunters.”

  The two women shared a look and began laughing hysterically. For in times of crisis and unbearable stress, sometimes humor is the only thing that keeps us from shattering into a million irreparable pieces.

  ”I’m assuming there’s no rule stating I can only fight the hydra with the spear?” Diya asked, hands flipping through her journal of formulae. “No rule against bringing a bag full of explosives?”

  Tamsin looked over her shoulder to the door and brushed her hair from her face, grinning. “No rule I can think of. As long as you fight the hydra alone, you will fulfill the requirements. After all, we’ve never had an initiate with your specific blend of skills.”

  ”Perfect,” Diya beamed. “In that case, I’ve got some work to do.”