Starting location: 142. North Eastern Morington along the left bank of the Aeries.

  “This appears to be our starting spot,” Vae said, lowering to one knee to ruffle the grass where the mana mark was placed. “Not a terrible spot.”

  “Except there’s the freaking Aeries between us and the examination area,” Ellie exclaimed, pointing out the fast-moving river that separated them from the forested area that contained almost the entity of the examination zone.

  The Aeries was the principal river of Lyssia, snaking its way through the country. Most large towns and cities within the kingdom were along the river or one of its major tributaries, including Lorran and Morington. Even the Eben, which Ebenshire sat on, fed into the Aeries—passing down through The Little Kays or Karakay Knolls—the name given to a series of foothills that separated Lorran from the farmland plains of the Sprawlings. Passing through Ebenshire, the Eben joined the river some fifty miles downstream.

  The width of the Aeries varied throughout Lyssia; unfortunately, where they stood, it was a good hundred feet across. And they were all aware that despite how calm it looked on the surface, the currents below were anything but.

  “Yes, that is a bit of a predicament,” Vae nodded as he stood up.

  “Bit of a predicament? Understatement of the year much?” Ellie snapped.

  “I doubt even my Swift Step will get me across this,” Kal murmured. Swift Step provided a decent little dodgy distance at a breakneck speed, but it would require several quick succession uses to clear the entire river, and Kal just wasn’t confident enough in it. Besides, the rest of the group would still be on the other side. Using basic ice magic wouldn’t work, either. Not for a body of water this size with a strong current.

  “I could–”

  “You could, what, Arix?” Ellie said.

  “I could fire an arrow across, and we could tie a rope to it.”

  “That’s actually a pretty good idea,” Kal said.

  “That’s an excellent idea, Arix,” Vae agreed.

  “Alright, fine. Let’s give it a go. I suppose,” Ellie said.

  Tying one of the ropes they bought as part of their camping supplies from the merchant to the end of the arrow, Arix aimed up into the sky and cast his Empower spell as he loosed.

  The spell took hold of the arrow the moment it left his bow, shooting it into the air with a burst of extra energy that helped send it straight across the river and into the grass.

  “Okay, so we got a rope. Now what?” Ellie probed.

  “We need to secure it properly before we try to get across,” Kal replied.

  “Let me handle this,” Vae said, grasping the rope. This is my Puppet Hand spell,” he added, and mana flowed from his hand as he cast the spell along the rope. Once it reached the arrow, the mana took hold of it and began digging the arrow into the ground until it was completely submerged in the soil. The spell had driven the arrow so deep that it had actually pulled the rope in after it a good couple of feet below the surface.

  Gasping, Vae let go, only barely managing to keep himself upright. “That took more mana than I had expected.”

  “What was that?” Kal said.

  “It was the spell Puppet Hand, as I said. It’s Arcane Magic. I would love to say more, but the Puppet Master spell tree is a set of family secrets.”

  “Puppet Master?” Kal crooked his head.

  “Yes,” Vae nodded. “This is the weakest spell within the tree. It allows me to take control of inanimate objects and simple plant life and control them to some degree. My mastery of the spell is lacking, though. I almost completely exhausted my mana just burying that arrow.”

  “It’s an amazing spell,” Kal said.

  “Yes, it is. That is precisely why House Draken protects it so selfishly. Not even I would escape their blade if I were to teach you our family secrets.”

  Would they seriously kill their own family for sharing their spells? Damn, that’s harsh. I wonder if other families are equally as precious over the secretary of their spells?

  Kal had read about secret spells and techniques guarded by powerful mage families, but the details were fleeting, probably because they didn’t like nosy writers scribbling it all down in their books.

  Making his own spell might have impressed the crowd during the exam, but Kal had only been able to do it because of his intimate knowledge of wind magic, which allowed him to craft it into something more complex. That likely wouldn’t be so easy with a spell-like Puppet Hand. He didn’t even know where he would start for a spell like that if trying to imitate it.

  What I wouldn’t give to get my hands on some secret spell books. The Jakari might be a long line of mages, but something about us being poor bureaucrats leads me to believe we don’t hoard valuable magical secrets like these Draken do.

  Of course, it wasn’t just his family’s reputation as government bureaucrats that led him to doubt they possessed such secrets. Daedrik hadn’t mentioned a word, and while they had tension between them, Kal didn’t believe he would hide something like that—at least not entirely, especially not when he could have used it as a carrot to get Kal to do what he wanted.

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  “Alright, who's going first?” Vae said, releasing his grip on the rope.

  “Not me,” Ellie crossed her arms. “You’re going to get dragged away by the Aeries.”

  “I’m sure it’ll be okay,” Arix said. “Or at least I’m willing to test it first.”

  “No, let me,” Kal said. He had by far the highest stats, and if the rope started to dislodge, Kal was fairly certain he would have the best chance of saving himself.

  “Cold, so freaking cold,” Kal’s teeth chatted as he pulled himself along the rope. There was a second reason he had wanted to go first. He was excited. With the exception of the giant toad, Kal had spent years training magic without a chance to show off his skills, and now, he was going to get the chance.

  Pulling himself along the rope, Kal paddled with his feet until he felt mud between his toes.

  He had placed all of his clothing—save his underwear—in the Astral Pouch, which was in Ellie’s possession. The group had turned away as he entered the water. And now, he was too deeply submerged for anybody to see a thing. However, that would change once he reached the other side.

  With the Astral Pouch in Ellie’s hands, he wouldn’t have any clothing when he exited the water. The problem was that they only had one pouch, and no one wanted to stand around naked. Ultimately, it was agreed to leave it with the waiting group and have the last person carry it across with them.

  Unfortunately, that meant he had nothing to change into, which wouldn't have been so bad if the water wasn't freezing.

  Racing across the river, Kal warmed up a little, but the cold shot straight back into his veins as he slowed to find a perch to climb the muddy river bank.

  Kal considered staying in the water and kicking about to stay warm, but he would still need to dry off. Since they were short on luxuries like towels, drip drying would be necessary, and the longer he stayed in the water, the longer he prolonged the inevitable.

  Biting down, he faced his fear of the cold and climbed out of the water. The moment he was back on dry land, Kal ran for the shelter of a nearby tree, hiding behind it as he shivered. Modesty wasn’t his greatest concern, but it wasn’t as if he wanted to flash the world either.

  Once Kal was across, things moved quicker. He had proven that the rope was sturdy enough. Kal was also on the other side and could catch the rope if needed.

  Within minutes, both Arix and Vae crossed and found refuge hiding among the trees, as Kal had.

  “None of you better so much as even take a peek,” Ellie shouted as she undressed.

  Right, they're teenagers now. Kal had gotten so used to hanging around them that it hadn't properly dawned on him that their ways of thinking about things like the human body had changed. Besides, he didn't just see them as children but as akin to younger siblings.

  “No one's looking, Ellie,” Kal shouted back as she climbed into the water.

  The three boys faced away, crouching behind trees as Ellie struggled to pull herself ashore.

  “No peeping, remember!”

  “Trust me, no one wants to look at your body, Ellie,” Kal said.

  “Fine, good!” Ellie shouted back.

  Kal brow curled. Did I say something wrong?

  “Done,” Ellie snapped, throwing the Astral Pouch hard at where Kal hid behind the tree.

  Dressed in her usual hemp shirt and trousers, Ellie stopped further into the forest until she was out of sight.

  Wait, what'd I do?

  Sighing, Kal let it pass and dressed himself.

  “Better, but wet undies suck,” Arix squirmed in his clothing.

  “Why didn't you change your undies?” Kal asked. “There’s a nasty draft.”

  “Wait, you guys did?”

  Kal and Vae nodded.

  “Oh man,” Arix slumped.

  “Okay, well, we better get moving,” Kal said, raising his arm and commanding the map and objective list to appear before him. “Ellie, where’d you go?” He shouted as he scanned the map.

  “I’m just here,” Ellie said, crunching out of the underbrush. “Just wanted to take a look around. You okay with that?”

  Damn, what crawled up Ellie?

  “Of course I am?” Kal said as if asking a question.

  “What do you believe our first target should be, Kal Jakari?” Vae interrupted the tension.

  “Please, you don't have to say my entire name every time you address me, Vae.”

  “If that is your wish, Kal,” Vae nodded affirmatively.

  “Would you two just hurry up and decide?” Ellie snapped.

  Did I offend her somehow?

  “Wow, where do we even start,” Arix groaned.

  The map labeled many points of interest but didn’t say where the objectives were. The only way to find them was by following the list of riddles provided with the list of objective items.

  “Maybe this,” Kal said, ignoring Ellie's tone. “Once from the Plane of Rot, they came demonic flies without a name. In towering trees, so grand and red, they swarm and hum where giants tread.”

  Below the riddle, the list noted the objective: Demonic botflies. These nasty flies are classified as demonic insectoids from the Plane of Rot. A number of these demonic parasitic flies were placed within the examination zone. Beware, while they have been magically tagged and clipped to prevent their escape, they can still pose a significant danger to any mages lacking offensive or defensive spells.

  Point value: 20

  0 of 10 Demonic Botflies collected.

  Kal had noticed that an area named Redwood Grove was nearby, and the riddle sounded a whole lot like redwoods, what with their red bark, grand size, and mention of giants. But that wasn’t the only reason he was interested in going for the botflies first. He was willing to bet he could sense the demonic mana on the flies as he could the fiendlings once they got closer. And since demonic creatures were magical beasts, they were likely to have mana by default, even if they were simple botflies.

  “You sure are a daring one, Kal,” Vae said. “I’d hazard that few participants would be courageous enough to head straight for the botflies.”

  “Well, you have to take risks sometimes,” Kal said.

  “I agree with Kal,” Arix said. “They sound like a good target,” he added, turning to wink at Kal.

  “Sounds like it's decided,” Vae threw his hands up in defeat. “Let's just hope we don't get zombified.”

  “Z-zombified?” Arix chattered.

  “Well, as long as they don't enter through your mouth, a demonic botfly should take a few days to wiggle its way to your brain. And if their wings have been clipped, we won't have to worry about them flying.”

  “Can they bite through boots?” Arix shuddered.

  “Probably. They can chew through flesh rather quickly, I'm told,” Vae shrugged. “But as long as we call the clerks in time, I’m sure they’ll be capable of saving you. Or at least ending you before you turn into a botfly harlequin.”