Nora blinked.

  At least, she thought she did.

  The nightmare worsened as whoever’s eyes she saw through looked down, and the visage of a dwarf’s stocky frame greeted her. His stout legs and studded boots were rooted to the roughly hewn stone, and she watched as the male lifted his leather gloves to his face, more curses filling the cloudy air of this massive platform.

  Nausea swept across Nora’s body as the foreign vision sharpened on the rock. She could spot details now that her eyes never could’ve spotted before. The paladin might’ve reveled in this unique quirk that dwarves possessed if not for what this new insight provided.

  The rock beneath their feet was riddled with fissures. They were small, barely more than hairline fractures across the extensive surface of the platform. But even as she watched, those cracks widened.

  The dwarf’s vision flitted over to the edge of the massive boulder, and she could see the start of a floating staircase descend out of sight. Worse, the waterfall she heard crashed along a stony length of the only way out of here.

  To escape, they would have to brave not only a series of wide jumps from floating boulder to boulder, but a torrent of water coursing along this treacherous path.

  “I’m really starting to hate Life’s lessons,” Nora grunted. “What’s there to learn from this shitshow besides how to die in a bunch of ways?”

  Her stomach lurched again as her mind fought to grasp what was real. She could still feel the spray of water cling to the tight linens she wore beneath her plated armor, could still hear the chilly wind whistle across her reddening cheeks.

  But her sight.

  She could no longer trust her senses, Nora decided. She tried to shut them all out, but the cacophony around her was deafening—shouts, screams, the clash of metal, all echoing in the open space.

  Nora reached out instinctively to steady herself, her hands grasping at empty air. Someone bumped into her, nearly knocking her off her feet. Panic surged through her. She felt adrift, her senses at war with each other. Her nostrils flared as a gust sent the distinct scents of wet earth and moss, the chill of the waterfall’s spray continuing to bite past her defenses.

  “Evie!” she shouted, but the surrounding chaos swallowed her voice. “Evie!”

  “I’m over here!” Evie’s voice cut through the turmoil.

  The paladin tried to move toward where she thought Evie might be, but her vision, filled with the dwarf’s perspective, made it impossible to navigate. She saw stout legs moving unsteadily over the stone, completely out of sync with her own frantic movements.

  A scream pierced the air, sharp and close by.

  Nora’s heart clenched.

  Evie.

  She shoved her way through the throng, her borrowed vision swinging wildly. Every step was a gamble, her body moving in one direction while her eyes saw another.

  Nora tripped, stumbled, and caught herself on her hands, her breath coming in ragged gasps. Someone stepped on her gloved fingers, and she roared a curse, unable to spot the offending boot even as her knuckles crunched under its weight.

  Slick moisture greeted the leather tips of her fingers as she struggled to regain her composure. The sound of the waterfall grew louder somewhere nearby.

  Nora ducked instinctively as the faint whisper of a blade cutting through the air hissed past her ear. She lashed out blindly, her fist connecting with something solid.

  The attacker yelped and fell back, giving her a moment’s respite. Something else caught her shin, and she stumbled across the large platform. Another leg connected with her chin, and she heard the dwarf curse as her vision must’ve turned red with stars. Nora got to her feet, feeling for anyone or anything nearby, but thankfully finding nothing.

  The scuffle of feet across stone rushed past her, and a scream faded into the distance as its source fell away.

  Oh no, Nora thought as a growing realization crept into the back of her mind.

  She peeked through the vision of the dwarf’s eyes, getting the confirmation of what she feared in that brief glimpse. Wherever that goddess had teleported them, they were far above the line of clouds.

  If they misstepped, they would die.

  “EVIE!” Nora roared into the howling wind.

  “Here!” The reply came, but it sounded even farther off than before.

  She opened her eyes, fighting through the nausea. Her vision swirled. Then a figure caught her attention. Nora caught glimpses of Orro through the dwarf’s vision, his eyes squeezed shut, moving with precise, almost mechanical efficiency.

  He fought off attackers with an ease that belied the chaos around him. Nora clenched her jaw, determined to emulate him despite the vertigo gripping her.

  “Birdie, where are you?!” she called again, more controlled this time. She would not let her fear control her.

  Evie will not die today.

  Nora discarded decorum and ripped into her tunic, uncaring of how it exposed her toned midriff. Wrapping the cloth around her eyes, she tied it until she was certain her mind wouldn’t betray her by opening them by accident.

  Eyes closed, she took a steadying breath and began to move. Her world was darkness. Thoughts of the last time her entire reality had been consumed by shadows leaped into her mind, but she shoved them away.

  Evie will not die today.

  She forced herself to slow down and truly assess what her non-traitorous senses were screaming at her. The roar of the waterfall, the cold spray on her face, the slippery moss underfoot. She moved cautiously, each step tentative, her heart pounding in her chest.

  Cloth scraped over flesh, and she slammed upward with her knee. Metal dug into bone and skin as her counterattack landed. A feminine groan of pain escaped from her attacker, but she followed up with a vicious hook to where her muscle memory told her the woman’s jaw was. Her gauntlet slammed home, and she heard the warrior fly off her feet and land heavily on the stone.

  Nora pressed forward calling out Evie’s name every few seconds, getting the siren’s desperate cry in return.

  Bodies tumbled into her, but she shoved them away. Her feet slid smoothly across the ground. Nora would not allow herself to concede her footing again. A part of her briefly considered activating her core again, using the shadowy tendrils to quicken her blind search, but she discarded it. Without her sight, she would not be able to control who did and did not get affected by the terror her shadows induced.

  And from that all-consuming fear, everyone on this platform might flee off its edge.

  No, her magic would be no help right now.

  Nora felt a blow snap toward her head, and she blocked it on her steely forearms. Someone cursed as their wrist caved under her unyielding defense. She didn’t waste the chance, and swept her legs across in a vicious arc. Her attacker tumbled across the slick platform.

  “I think I’m getting the hang of this,” Nora commented dryly.

  “Nora! Is that you? The stars said you’re here, but I don’t want to open my eyes again,” Evelyn shouted nearby. Nora’s hand whipped out and grabbed at the familiar sleeve.

  “Evie, it’s me,” she panted, relief swimming across her body with such ferocity her knees nearly buckled. “We have to move. Now.”

  “Alright. But Nora, the stars are crying. I—I think a lot of people are dying right now,” Evie’s reply came in short, panicked gasps.

  Nora ripped a strip of cloth from the fallen attacker’s shirt, tying it around Evie’s eyes.

  “Trust me, this will help.” Nora didn’t have the time to address her best friend’s concerns. Right now, the only thing that mattered was getting them off of this gods-damned rock.

  Evie whimpered but clutched Nora’s hand tightly. Together, they stumbled forward. Nora’s mind raced, trying to piece together the fragments of the boulder staircase she had seen through her borrowed vision. She had to focus, to push through the uncertainty and confusion.

  They could do this. They would survive.

  The ground beneath them trembled, and she risked a peek through her shared sight. A part of her felt awful about restricting the dwarf’s ability to see through her vision thanks to the blindfold, but the tangible reminder not to keep staring really was helping.

  Sure enough, the dwarf looked down as well. Cracks spread across their starting platform like spiderwebs. With her dwarven vision, she could see the detailed lacework of the stones, though comprehension of what it all meant evaded her.

  Nora tightened her grip on Evie’s hand, but it was the siren who voiced her decision first.

  Gone was the panic. All that was left was an eerie calm she came to associate with the divine.

  “Nora. We have to jump. Now.” Evelyn’s voice was breathy and light, and yet rang with the finality of the gods.

  She trusted that voice. It was the voice of fate itself.

  “I’m ready,” Nora replied, eyes closed.

  “NOW!” the siren screamed.

  Evie pulled her forward, and they leaped.

  The waterfall splashed across their soaked boots and propelled them forward.

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  Open air whistled across Nora’s blindfold. She could hear dozens of others making the same leap of faith around them.

  Stone cracked.

  Nora’s training kicked in the moment her leather soles touched the new platform. She pulled Evie forward as she twisted and rolled, dispelling the worst of the impact of their tumble away from the edge. She didn’t want to know how close they’d come to missing it.

  Moss and vines coated the ground beneath them, though it provided scant purchase. Nora’s sweat mingled with the salty tang of the waterfall as she grabbed one of the vines and held Evie close. Her wrists barked in protest at the strain, but her steely muscles were more than up for the task.

  Behind them, the starting platform groaned, then collapsed with a thunderous crash. She opened her eyes, the blindfold surely preventing the dwarf from seeing what she could now see through his gaze. Stone shards and debris rained down, some narrowly missing them. For a terrifying moment, the world slowed as she saw over a dozen forms intermixed in that meteor shower.

  So, the dwarf had made it too.

  She felt a strange sense of comradery with the stranger. Though the only real connection they bore was that of mutual survival, she couldn’t help but hope that he got out of this nightmarish situation, too. It would make for one hell of a drinking story if they got out of this.

  Nora’s breaths came in ragged gasps, her body trembling with adrenaline. She felt the cold bite of the waterfall as it relentlessly shoved them toward the next edge, the next drop into open air and another, smaller, platform.

  “Alright, Birdie. Are the stars telling you when and where to jump next, or are they taking a short break for tea?” Nora asked over the roar of water.

  Evie’s laugh was tight and weary. “They—”

  Nora heard the siren’s head whip to the side. She braced for an impact, but none ever came.

  “Cade!” Evie shouted suddenly, her voice barely carrying loud and bright over the throng of bodies. “Go now!”

  Nora was about to risk another peek through her borrowed eyes when a fist collided with her face. She went down right as her blindfold was ripped from her face.

  She opened her eyes.

  She was immediately swallowed by the chaos of other contestants on the starting platform, their faces contorted with panic and desperation. Nora squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to see the inevitable falls of those left behind.

  The paladin cursed under her breath. This wasn’t some lesson about Life.

  This was a massacre.

  “Evie, we need to keep moving. This gods-damned water is making my hands numb. You ready?” she shouted over the din, her voice barely audible.

  “Nor?” Evie’s voice was clear despite the chaos.

  Something about its tone set Nora’s nerves on edge. Sorrow lingered there.

  “What? What is it?” Nora demanded, adjusting her makeshift blindfold.

  A pause.

  For some reason, the silence was worse than the answer.

  “It’s not going to be your fault, okay?” Evie said softly. “There’s no other way. There’s just no other way.”

  Nora felt like she’d been struck. She didn’t have the context for the siren’s omen, but she could feel the dread those words brought. They wrapped around her neck like a noose.

  “Evie, what did you see?” Nora pressed, but the siren rose to her feet and began to shove through the water and bodies with incredible purpose. “What did you see?!”

  The ground beneath them trembled again, a warning that this platform was going to collapse soon too. Nora’s heart pounded in her chest, each beat a hammer blow of fear and adrenaline. She could feel her pulse in her temples, a frantic rhythm that matched the chaos around them.

  The wind howled, screeching in her ears like a banshee’s wail. It whipped at her hair, plastering it against her wet face. Her clenched eyes stung with cold droplets. She refused to look out again, refused to see what needless death the dwarf’s eyes might reveal.

  “Come on, Birdie. One step at a time,” Nora urged, One hand in Evie’s while the other pulled at the length of the ivy she’d caught earlier. The vines cut into her palms, their sharp edges biting through the worn leather and thin skin. Her fingers felt numb and raw, every movement sending jolts of pain up her arms.

  The ground was even slicker, the moss offering little traction. The winds shifted, and her left foot slipped. Her ankle twisted as Evie fell down beside her, the twin grip she’d held for this long now a trap as her body fell awkwardly. Pain throbbed through her foot, and Evie yelped as the waterfall carried her to the edge.

  Nora lost her grip on the vine.

  They rushed forward, and the paladin had no idea how much of the platform was left before they went falling to their deaths.

  “Evie! Hold on!” Nora bellowed. Her numb fingers fought for purchase, but none yielded to her slippery grip.

  A sudden scream cut through the noise, close and shrill. Nora’s blood turned to ice. Their momentum stopped. Whoever they had struck gave her just enough time to regain her feet and yank Evie up with her.

  She didn’t dare open her eyes, relying instead on the fragments of the dwarf’s vision she had glimpsed. Even through closed eyelids, though, she could see flashes of movement, blurred figures clashing in the chaos. Every sense was heightened, the terror of fighting blind amplifying each sound, each sensation.

  “Who’s there!” She screamed.

  No response.

  The scuff of boots against stone grew louder, and she readied herself for an attack. Nora’s breath hitched, and she felt every cord of battle-hardened muscle in her arms tense. She felt the cold steel of a weapon slice through the air, narrowly missing her. She ducked the blow and then lashed out blindly, grateful when her fist connected with solid flesh. The impact jarred her arm, but the attacker stumbled back, giving her a moment to breathe.

  “Stay close, Evie,” she whispered, her voice trembling.

  She felt sweat trickling down her face, mingling with the cold spray. Her clothes and plated armor clung to her, heavy and soaked, the weight pulling her down. She reached down and found another vine. It became her lifeline, but it also felt like a trap, each step a potential slip into the void below.

  Their attacker swung again, and the flat end of a blade slammed against her shoulder. She cried out and lost her grip on Evie. Her instincts forced her body to move, though. She rolled with the momentum of the nearly fatal strike, pivoted on her left heel, then kicked outward and upward.

  Her free leg slammed into the gut of the sword wielder, and a scream followed as they fell off their shared boulder.

  “Evie! Where are you?” Nora demanded, and several seconds passed as she waved her hands frantically around.

  “The stars are so sad, Nor. They won’t stop crying,” Evie said in a soft voice, and Nora rushed toward the sound. She felt Evie’s shoulder and lifted her back onto her feet.

  The platform beneath them gave another shudder, a deep, ominous groan. Nora’s heart raced, the threat of falling almost paralyzing. She tightened her grip on Evie’s hand, pulling her forward. They had to keep moving, had to find some semblance of safety amidst the chaos.

  “Cade!” Evelyn screamed again, desperation clawing out from the siren’s shout.

  Nora’s senses were overwhelmed, every inch of her body screaming in pain and exertion.

  Suddenly, she felt a presence beside her, strong hands gripping her shoulders.

  “Hold on,” Cade shouted, his voice barely audible over the cacophony. Relief flooded through her, a momentary balm to her frayed nerves. “We’re almost there!”

  Nora nodded, though she had no idea if that helped. She focused on the sensations—the rough texture of the boulder beneath her hands, the cold bite of the waterfall’s spray, the pounding of her heart in her chest. She could feel Evie’s grip, an anchor in this storm.

  The ground beneath them shifted again—a final, violent tremor. Nora’s breath caught in her throat as the platform gave way. She leaped with Evie and Cade right as the boulder below them crumbled apart. The sensation of falling was a sickening lurch in her stomach, but their hands found purchase on another slippery boulder.

  “I really am coming to hate falling,” Nora breathed from where they landed. She heard Cade and Evie chuckle softly at her comment, and a tight smile spread across her lips.

  They were alive...

  ... For now.

  Above them, the platform collapsed in a cascade of stone and debris. Nora could hear the distant screams of those still on it, but she shoved those unjustified deaths to the back of her mind. She could deal with that rage later.

  The volume of the waterfall was relentless, the spray turning everything slick and treacherous. She yelled and pulled all three of them onto the rounded surface of this new platform.

  She could feel her muscles burning with the effort, but it was better to feel some fatigue than to suffer an untimely fall. More bodies shuffled around them, and it was all she could do not to give in to the mania they all shared. Screams and bursts of magic shuttered in the air around them.

  Then, like a slap across her cheek, she heard something, and she nearly let go of the vine that kept them alive.

  “I can help you descend. Please, just trust me.”

  Gavin’s voice.

  He’d finally taken the time to show up.

  Nora’s eyes snapped open, but she quickly squeezed them shut again, the disorienting vision of the dwarf’s perspective threatening to overwhelm her. Anger flared in her chest. She reached into her pocket while Evie shrieked in relief next to her.

  “Where were you?” Nora seethed as she put a finger on the focal stone they’d given her.

  “I got... delayed,” Gavin’s voice was steady but urgent in her mind.

  “You coward! Why didn’t you show up? We needed you!” Elena’s voice cut through the shared link like a viper.

  “We don’t have time to argue. Teams are already descending with ease, including some scarred bastard and the group in black cowls. The elves are doing well too. We have to move,” Gavin sent quickly.

  Though Nora barely knew him, even she could hear the tinge of regret and desperation that laced his every word.

  Cade’s voice cut through the telepathic chatter, firm and commanding. “We’ll discuss this later. For now, we follow Gavin’s lead. What do you need from us?”

  “Everyone, open your eyes,” Gavin replied immediately.

  Nora’s heart pounded.

  The thought of using the dwarf’s vision again filled her with uncertainty. Her pulse thundered in her ears, a frantic rhythm that mirrored her rising panic. The ground beneath them started to tremble.

  “Nora! Open your eyes!” Evie yelled over the waterfall. “Please! This one is going to fall soon!”

  As if heralded by the siren’s voice, Nora felt and heard the rock crack beneath her.

  “Nora, please,” Gavin sent. “I can’t track down your paired vision unless there’s a signal to follow. Orro will strike them down, and you’ll regain your vision!”

  “You mean if I open my eyes, someone’s going to die?! NO!” Nora shot back.

  She felt Evie try to drag her along the boulder, but she refused to open her eyes.

  “Nora! Please!” Evie screamed.

  More cracks spread underneath her boots as she got to her feet with the siren’s aid.

  “We need to jump!” her friend pleaded. “Now!”

  But Nora was a paladin.

  A protector.

  Someone who sacrificed everything for the sake of those she was sworn to guard.

  She didn’t move. This was all wrong.

  There had to be another way.

  Behind her, she heard someone approach. She whirled and swung wildly, but the person ducked, and she felt calloused hands on her face. Her eyes opened on impulse, and she once again saw through the unfamiliar sight of the dwarf’s perspective. The rough stone floor and squat, muscular legs were disorienting.

  “There! To your left, Orro!” Gavin practically screamed through the mental link.

  Nora might’ve imagined it, but she thought she heard a sleek blade whistle through the air as it shot through toward her vision.

  A second later, her eyes went dark, and the sound of a heavy form crashing to the ground followed.

  She blinked.

  Her vision was back.

  It was normal. She could see her braided black hair, the watery beads slip down her plated armor, and the leather gloves peeking out from beneath her gauntlets.

  The dwarf was dead.

  And there, standing in front of her with hands lingering on her cheeks, was Cade.

  “You... You killed him,” she breathed.

  Sorrow, fury, and relief all coiled like the heads of a hydra inside her chest. All of the images she’d conjured of meeting the dwarf, of sharing a drink and commiserating about the insanity of this trial burned behind her eyes.

  Cade met her steely gaze with one of his own.

  “Yes,” Cade answered evenly. “I take care of my own, Nora. Now, jump.”

  Cade didn’t leave her much time to argue. With a gentle shove, he pushed her over the edge right as the boulder beneath them crumbled away

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