Page 74 of Ashes of Aether
Gleaming spires hurdle toward me, threatening to impale me like enormous spears. I’m falling faster than my mind can process it. A moment ago, they seemed so far away. Now they are so close.
One spire draws sickeningly near. I squeeze my eyes shut, unable to watch as it surges up to meet me. I wonder whether I will feel any pain before the spire rips me open.
Panic shoots through me like bursts of lightning. My magic screams at me to save myself. To teleport to safety.
But I ignore every instinct. I can only place my faith in Archmage Gidston. Using my magic means failing.
And I can’t fail.
The spire skims past. I open my eyes a heartbeat later. By then, it’s already high above. And the street is almost upon me.
People below are going about their daily business, unaware that I’m plummeting toward them. Toward my death.
The ground is only a few feet away.
I’m going to die.
I scream. But no one seems to hear me. I’m too panicked to check if the quail feather is still clutched in my fist, or if I lost it on the way down.
Magic boils in my veins. With death so near, it’s almost impossible to ignore its desperate plea. Aether snaps to my fingers. The image of my manor’s gates and the lion crest on them flashes through my mind.
But before I can utterlaxusand teleport away, aether explodes around me. The blinding light swallows me. I no longer feel the wind whipping me. Magic thunders in my ears and makes them ache.
When I next blink, I’m standing at the very top of the Aether Tower, in the exact spot I stood prior to jumping.
My legs buckle beneath me. I don’t know how I manage to stay on my feet. I grasp my wobbly knees, willing them to steady, and rapidly breathe in and out. My eyes trail across to the city below. Knowing how close I’d been to death almost makes me vomit. Thankfully, I don’t.
“Congratulations, Adept Ashbourne,” Archmage Gidston says. With the ringing in my ears, her voice sounds distant, though she stands less than a few feet away. “You have successfully passed the first Mage Trial, the Trial of Heart. Today, you have demonstrated the faith and courage required of a mage.”
Right now, I feel anything but courageous. All I want is to teleport home and curl up in my bed. I take a moment to process the rest of her words. That I passed, even though I was so close to using my magic and forfeiting my trial.
With my body in shock from the closeness of death, I’m incapable of feeling triumph. I stay there at the edge for a while, doubled over and gasping for breath. I’m surprised she doesn’t usher me away.
At least I’ll never again need to jump from the Aether Tower. This is certainly an experience I don’t intend to repeat.
When I straighten and force my trembling legs to walk away, Archmage Gidston turns to the rest of the adepts. “Who would like to go next?”
Eliya’s hand shoots up. “I’ll go!” she exclaims, darting forth and swiping the quail feather from my fingers.
Before Archmage Gidston can say anything, Eliya leaps from the tower. Her crimson hair spills around her.
With widened eyes, I stare down at her descending form. There isn’t even a trace of fear inside her eyes.
And that either makes her the most courageous person I know, or the most foolish.
Twenty-Two
IstumbleoutofTheVioletTree,almosttrippingoverthelowstepandflyingintoEliya.Shelaughsandgripsbothmyarms,steadyingmeinplace.
The icy evening breeze slams into my cheeks, somewhat sobering me. I tilt back my head and peer up at the darkness veiling the sky. The clouds are as dense as smoke, and specks of snow whir through the wind. Some gather on my lashes, and I blink them away. The crescent moon peeks from the cover of clouds and illuminates the heavens with its silvery rays.
My vision blurs. Then there are two moons staring down at me.
I rub my eyes until my sight returns to normal. Tonight, I drank much more wine than I intended. I was hoping to get up early tomorrow morning and take some more notes onConcerning Conflagration and Combustion, but I doubt I’ll wake before noon.Coming to The Violet Tree wasn’t my idea, though. It was Eliya’s.
When we were descending the Aether Tower after the Trial of Heart, Eliya suggested celebrating our success with a few glasses of wine. I declined when she first asked and reminded her that we still have two more trials to complete this week. But she only insisted our next trial isn’t until Wednesday and we have all of tomorrow to recover. Having no argument to that, and still feeling awful for leaving her at the bakery on Friday, I ended up agreeing.
The thought of the next trial fills me with dread. Archmage Gidston said the Trial of Heart is arguably the easiest of the three, and that involved a near death experience. Two adepts failed this morning. Each teleported away before Archmage Gidston could summon them back to the top of the tower. Now our class of twenty adepts is down to eighteen.