(Dylan)

  “I failed…” Dylan said, stepping out of the Guildmaster’s office and coming to terms with the reality of what happened. The numbness of shock wore off as he finally noticed Nathan.

  The poor guy’s eyes were gray, laden with guilt. Dylan wondered how long they’d been that way and he just hadn’t noticed. The prismatic elf had a passive ability that turned his eyes into a mood ring of sorts. He’d explained to Dylan that his eyes changed as he experienced strong emotions.

  Before he’d left for the trial, Dylan had seen yellow, gray, black, and Nathan’s usual blue. He knew gray had to do with sadness or depression and had guessed yellow meant fear. Black was still an unknown as Dylan had thought it was depression, but Nathan had seemed more upset than sad at the time. He was sure there were other colors too, but hadn’t noticed them yet.

  Nathan let out a heavy sigh. “I’m sorry—”

  He grew quiet when Dylan threw an arm across his shoulder. It was a bit awkward with Nathan being taller than him, but Dylan managed.

  “It’s okay. You were just doing your job. I get it. No hard feelings.”

  “Really?” Nathan looked at him, his gray eyes shifting back to blue.

  Dylan gave him a nod. “Yeah, and now we can do it your way. We’ve got what, three and a half months to get me ready for the next trial?”

  “About that…” Nathan said with a frown.

  “Hey handsome!” Ni’ot’s voice called out as she jogged up to them, her tail swishing with every hurried step. She appeared in a rush, quickly dispersing with the pleasantries. “Nathan,” she said, as if greeting a rival.

  Dylan didn’t understand what had happened between the two of them since their first meal, where they seemed friendly.

  “Twins are about to head out,” she said, hooking a thumb back down the hallway. Then she spun on her heels to go back the way she came, assuming the pair were in tow behind her. Her boots clacked against the stone floor as she took half a dozen steps before realizing they weren’t.

  “Sorry, getting ahead of myself. How did it go?” she asked, but didn’t wait for a response.

  “Congratulations and all that,” she said, waving them to follow. “But we can celebrate later.”

  She flashed Dylan a wink. “Let’s go. They’re waiting on you to say goodbye.” Ni’ot resumed power walking down the hall before yelling, “Come on!” Then she disappeared around the corner.

  Dylan and Nathan shared a glance before they took off jogging to catch up. A couple of minutes later, they made it outside the guildhall. Meekan, Eury, Ni’ot, and the twins waited for them in the field in front of the building where the Everafter had recently been docked above.

  Dylan was about to ask why W’itney was in tears when it all clicked. One, or both of them had failed their trial.

  Dylan started to see the game K’hab—sorry, Guildmaster K’hab was playing. He had paired Eury up with another princess, Nathan with him due to the refugee contract, and he assumed Ni’ot was the one to test the twins, all three of them being draconi locals from Dartmouth. Each trial had come from someone they could relate to, someone they might trust, and let their guard down around.

  But it was still a dick move, and Guildmaster K’hab had revealed how manipulative and cunning he could be. Dylan didn’t like it when people were treated as pieces on a board. He changed his mind about K’hab being such a cool boss, after all. It was especially uncool to see W’itney like this. Their younger twin, Hay’len, was doing their best to comfort them.

  “Hey. Are you two okay?” Dylan knew it was a dumb question, but sometimes you don’t ask a question for the answer, you ask to show you care.

  Hay’len looked up from hugging W’itney, shaking their head. “No. W’itney failed.”

  Dylan frowned, rubbing the back of his neck. He knew this wasn’t his fault. But it wasn’t about blame, it was about letting them know they weren’t alone.

  “Sorry W’itney,” he said. “I know it doesn’t make it better, but I failed too.” He gave them a sympathetic smile.

  Eury looked as if he’d slapped her. “What?!” she demanded, looking at him sharply. Her gaze shifted to the guildhall behind them. She had a familiar fire in her eyes.

  W’itney pulled away from Hay’len, sniffling as they dried their nose on their sleeve. Their usual confidence seemed to have vanished, revealing the vulnerability hidden below. Dylan’s heart went out to them. He saw just how young and susceptible they truly were.

  “What do you mean, you failed?” W’itney asked.

  Hay’len stood there, looking just as shocked as Dylan had felt, barely ten minutes ago. “How? What did you say?”

  Dylan, used to hiding behind humor, shot finger guns at Hay’len and said, “Not falling for that again…” But his joke fell flat.

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  ‘Too soon,’ he thought, remembering the lesson he’d just learned about telling anyone about the… about the… thing he’d found for the quest.

  “Sorry,” he said. “That was supposed to be a joke…”

  Eury’s golden-flecked amethyst eyes remained locked onto the building behind Dylan, her gaze radiating a determination that seemed ready to erupt. He couldn’t tell if she was trying to talk herself into, or out of, storming the guildhall.

  She glanced at him with a set jaw and said, “You didn’t fail.” Her confidence almost had him believing it for a second. Then she marched past them all, on a warpath, toward the building.

  “Where are you going?” Hay’len asked, voicing out loud what they were all thinking.

  “To fix this.”

  Meekan was quick to act. “Hey, hold up,” she said, chasing after Eury. The insightful kitsune caught her in a blink with either an ability or supernatural speed. But she’d made the mistake of taking the determined elf by the wrist.

  Eury spun back on her, having powered all the way up to Princess Eury and gave her the business end of a double-barreled glare. But Meekan was unaffected, simply replying with raised eyebrows that snapped Eury out of Princess Mode. Dylan wondered if princesses canceled out each other’s powers or something. Either way, he was sure he never wanted to meet Princess Meekan.

  “It’s not fair,” Eury said, her lips quivering with stifled frustration. Her eyes darted to Dylan for a moment before she turned away from him. He was too far to tell for sure, but they looked watery.

  Meekan didn’t let go of her. Instead, she pulled Eury into a firm hug, her arms offering comfort and understanding. She whispered, “I know…”

  “He can’t leave too,” Eury’s muffled voice said as Meekan held her tightly to her chest, finally quenching her anger.

  “He won’t,” Meekan said and then bit her lip, realizing they’d all heard her.

  Eury pulled back, blinking until her eyes were clear. “What do you mean?”

  Meekan opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Nathan quickly came to her rescue, sharing the controversial news.

  “Guildmaster K’hab is letting Dylan retake the trial.”

  “What… How? That doesn’t even make sense,” Ni’ot said, her thoughts processing out loud. Catching herself, she flashed Dylan a sympathetic look. “Sorry, handsome. I don’t want you to go either, but no one has ever gotten a second trial.”

  Eury ran her sleeve under her nose as she returned to the group. “No one’s ever killed an uncommon-ranked kaiju as an unranked adventurer before either,” she said, crossing her arms. “He saved all our lives—mine twice—and completed the stupid quest. He shouldn’t have to take another trial.”

  Meekan appeared beside Eury and gently placed a hand on her back. “We know.” Eury glanced back, giving her an appreciative nod.

  Dylan really wished they’d all stop bringing that up. It’s not like he could repeat any of those feats again, even with his remaining resets.

  W’itney wiped away their tears, and now Dylan understood what Guildmaster K’hab had actually meant during their meeting. The guildmaster had made an exception for him, and only him. Every word out of that guy’s mouth had a double or triple meaning, and he’d have to be more careful around the guildmaster from now on.

  “Sorry, W’itney,” he said again, now feeling the pangs of guilt for getting a second chance.

  “It’s okay,” they said, giving Dylan an honest smile. “Hay’len and I have decided it’s for the best.”

  Dylan turned to Hay’len. “I thought you passed?” He was confused about why they both had to leave.

  “I did, but…” Hay’len looked to W’itney. “I never wanted to be an adventurer. That was W’itney’s dream.” They took W’itney’s hand and squeezed.

  “Then why did you take the trial?” Nathan asked.

  Hay’len shrugged, still looking at W’itney. “We’re better together.”

  Dylan felt a warm sensation on his shoulder as Ni’ot placed her hand on him. “Listen, handsome, I don’t care what the guildmaster told you. You were amazing out there.”

  Dylan looked up at the hot draconi and her kind words with a grateful smile. The rest of them nodded in agreement, sharing her sentiment.

  “The same goes for all of you,” Ni’ot said, looking to Eury and then the twins. “Your quest went sideways, tossing you right into the forge. But you’ve all come out stronger for it, and no one can take that away from you.”

  “She’s right,” Nathan said.

  “Bet your scrawny elven ass I am,” Ni’ot said, earning a round of laughter and even a few smiles.

  Nathan ran a hand through his short, spiky hair. “I know you haven’t passed yet, but I still think you deserve this.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a hand sized sphere. Inside, it had a shrouded blue core, engulfed by a purple mist that swirled around it. Dylan knew it wasn’t just another fancy snow globe and wondered what kind of magic orb it was.

  Ni’ot crossed her arms and let out a small sigh as she shook her head at Nathan. Both twins’ eyes went wide as Hay’len covered their gaping mouth with a hand at the sight of the orb. Eury’s face was a mixture of impressed and surprised. Only Meekan had a reserved reaction to the gift.

  Nathan handed him the orb, its surface just as smooth as the others he’d held, and a message appeared.

  [Arcane orb]: Initializing, wait.

  [Arcane orb]: Two framework slots available, Arcane framework not found. Requesting permission to activate. Choose one.

  Dylan still felt the framework count was off somehow. He’d only used a Time orb, Destiny orb, and now, an Arcane orb. He was going to be pissed if he got screwed out of his fifth orb…

  [Consent] [Deny] [Cancel]

  Dylan thought about choosing Cancel, but Hay’len pleaded with him.

  “Will you use it before we go?” They asked, their voice full of hope.

  It wasn’t long before the rest of them joined in on the peer pressure. “What are you waiting for?” “Well, go on.” “It’s not going to absorb itself…” they chimed in with eager grins and expectant glances.

  Dylan mentally clicked on Consent.

  [Arcane orb]: Consent acknowledged.

  Just like with the orbs before, the sphere shattered in his hand and dissolved itself into him.

  [Arcane orb]: Activating Arcane framework, wait.

  [Arcane orb]: Framework four of five installed.

  Dylan frowned, wanting to ask Hay’len about it. Out of all his friends that probably wouldn’t murder him, they might know why his counter was off.

  [Arcane orb]: New passive [Detect Magic] unlocked.

  Detects and records information of abilities used nearby.

  ‘That sounds useful,’ he thought. His biggest handicap, by far, was not knowing how things worked, and it sounded like this passive might help close that gap.

  [Arcane orb]: Conjuring first magic influence, wait.

  [Arcane orb]: Manifesting new ability with Scribe influence.

  ‘Scribe? That’s like a writing thing, right?’ he wondered.

  [Arcane orb]: New ability [Tome of Knowledge] unlocked.

  Summon a book only you can read. Contains accumulated knowledge.

  Dylan couldn’t help but get excited at the thought of being able to just look stuff up without the risk of getting reset. Unlocking new abilities was exciting. He grinned, his heart racing as he wondered how it worked.

  [Arcane orb]: Three open ability slots remaining.