Page 59 of Empire of Flame and Thorns

I know how to win this trial.

The glass egg in the box I received might be broken, but no one ever said that I needed to present the same box as the one I received.

So it doesn’t matter that my box is useless.

I’ll just steal someone else’s.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Panic whirls inside my chest as I dash towards the end of the maze. Stealing someone else’s box wasn’t nearly as easy as I had expected it to be. I didn’t want to steal Isera’s since I actually like her, and because we’re sort of allies now, so after we got out of the tunnel, I just let her run ahead. And I haven’t been able to get close enough to anyone else to swap their box for mine.

My pulse thrums in my ears as I sprint after the small group of contestants ahead of me. Desperation slashes through my soul. This can’t be it. I can’t get this close to making it through, and then lose just because Draven rigged the game from the beginning! There must be something I can do. It can’t end like this.

The group ahead of me reaches the end of the maze.

And then stops short.

Hope explodes inside my chest.

Pushing myself, I sprint the final distance to the end of the hedge corridor. Three people, two women and one man, are standing there, staring at the scene before them. I don’t remember the name of the two women, but the guy is Alistair’s friend Jeb. The slimy guy with light magic.

“Mabona’s fucking tits,” the woman with curly black hair curses.

I drag in a deep breath and then raise my gaze to look at what caused her reaction.

In front of us, the palace grounds open up once more, finally allowing us to move unhindered. However, the trial doesn’t end once we reach the flat stretch of grass as we had thought. Instead, someone, probably the leader of the Brown Dragon Clan, has raised a narrow bridge made of stone. It starts right before our feet and then curves upwards before finally ending at a window on the third floor of the castle.

“Well, best get this over with,” she continues, and takes off up the path.

The other woman starts after her.

A deafening roar splits the air.

The moment that the dark-haired woman steps onto the bridge, a massive black dragon appears in a cloud of smoke from up by the window.

My heart jerks. Draven must have been standing inside the room that the window leads to, just waiting for another contestant to step onto the final obstacle.

Wings boom through the air as Draven in his dragon form climbs higher into the sky. Bursts of air slam down towards the ground, making the grass shudder beneath the strokes of his powerful wings. Then dark storm clouds start to gather.

I stare, transfixed, as Draven channels his clan’s signature magic and summons a storm around the narrow bridge. Winds rip through the palace grounds, making the two women on the bridge hunker down. Black clouds spread through the air, casting the whole area in darkness. And then the rain starts.

Jeb sucks in a sharp breath. Reaching to the side of his belt, he unfastens the small wooden box that he had secured there. Very carefully, he opens the lid and checks inside.

My heart pounds and my mind churns as I catch a glimpse of a completely undamaged glass egg inside.

With a start, Jeb suddenly realizes that he’s not alone. Snapping the box shut again, he secures it at his waist once more while shooting me a threatening stare.

“Stay at least ten steps behind me,” he warns. “Unless you want me to push you off.”

A bolt of lightning cleaves the air and cracks into the ground a short distance in front of Jeb. He jumps in surprise. Whipping around, he stares at the huge black dragon, whose attention is now suddenly focused on us.

Before I can reply to Jeb’s threat, he hurries forward and steps up onto the narrow bridge. I watch him, my eyes lingering on the small box at his waist while a plan forms in my mind.

It’s going to be tricky, and delicate, and very last second. But if I can pull it off, I will make it through this trial.

After shifting my own box into a position that is easier to reach, I draw in a bracing breath and then step up onto the narrow stone bridge as well. It’s barely wide enough for one person to stand with both feet side by side. My stomach flips, even though I have barely left the ground yet. I take a step forward.

I half expect the storm to get worse when I step onto the bridge, but to my surprise, it doesn’t. Though that’s probably just because Draven knows that he doesn’t need to make me fall, since he has already broken my glass egg.

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