Page 99 of The Deadliest Candidate

And even that was now becoming difficult.

She had known when taking down the Astronomy Tower ward that she had dug a little too deep, pulled too hard. Her reserves of magic had never been abundant to begin with, and they always regenerated slowly.

Now, trying to draw energy, even for the simplest spell, would be like scraping the edges of an empty jam jar with the tip of a knife.

But if Fern must scrape, then she would. What choice had she?

She would not go to Lautric for help, she could not, and this was for the best. He would be gone soon anyway. Fern had spent her adolescence learning how to lean on nobody else but herself. That’s what she must do.

A little after midnight, Fern re-entered the passageways, crushed by a sense of hopelessness.

The third assignment was tomorrow morning. Her research was ready, but she had next to no reserves left, no way of performing her spells.

She had made so many mistakes she could barely stand to think of them. She’d frittered away her powers to get into the Astronomy Tower, all for nothing. She’d failed to find Emmeline as she told Edmund she would do, and maybe even more candidates would go missing. Baudet had already been hurt at the hands of Edmund, and Srivastav was everyone’s greatest competition in this assignment. How long until something happened to him, too?

The closest thing to a friend Fern had managed to make was long gone, and the closest thing to an ally she’d found was probably the most dangerous of all the candidates, and she’d almost slept with him.

Mistake after mistake made, and now she was alone and powerless.

Fern remembered her conversation with Oscar when she’d returned from her trip to Santico. He’d told herone day she’d march herself blithely into hell and find herself alone in front of the devil.

Fern wasn’t so sure who the devil was in Carthane, but as she emerged out of the long stone tunnel of the Mage Tower passageway and into the undercroft, she certainly felt as though she had indeed marched through the gates of hell.

She’d come here despite the fears still lurking from her childhood, because she needed to be somewhere isolated and as far away from books as possible. She was about to attempt a pyromancy incantation with the help of Wild Magic, and she remembered all too well the story Srivastav had told on his first night, how combining Wild Magic and pyromancy had almost cost him his life.

And he was one of the most talented pyromancers in history.

But what choice did Fern have? She had come too far, and she’d never wanted anything else except this. If there had ever been a point to turn back, she was too far past it now.

Closing her eyes, Ferntried her incantation again. At first, she felt as though she were trying to draw water from an empty faucet. Then, she felt for the source of Wild Magic.

It wasn’t difficult. It was everywhere, ever present, and eager. Wild Magicwishedto be used. Once called, it came easily, and once it flowed, its flow would take on a will of its own.

Fern reached for it with caution, and the power came immediately: it made the incantation rich with strength, it made the fire leap inside Fern with terrifying speed. Fern ended the incantation, and as she did, she started.

Her eyes flew open.

She could have sworn she had just heard a noise. Her heart lurched, her mind flashing the image of the tower, the Gateway, the eye watching her from the hungry darkness. She swallowed back her fear, waiting, her ears straining, but all was still. The cavernous chamber was full of the deathly silence of ancient stone. In the distance, the faint glow of lanterns indicated the doors. Nothing moved. Nothing happened.

She had probably imagined the noise, her senses, sharpened by the fear the illegal Gateway, transpierced her heart with fear. She began her incantation anew, voice loud and firm, echoing around the chamber. The ancient words slid seamlessly from her mouth, and the Wild Magic, now alive and responsive at her fingertips, rose to her will.

She felt the fire gather, the searing pain, so familiar now. Sweat broke over her forehead, and her muscles strained with force, her ribs seemed to splinter in the red chest of her torso. She threw her hands out and the flames poured forth, fed by Wild Magic, burning redder than it ever had before. And when Fern tried to end the incantation, the Wild Magic fought her, and the flames burned more vividly still, searing her fingertips.

Panic flashed through Fern.

If she could not stop the flow of the fire, it would consume her to ashes. She clamped the entire force ofher will down upon the flow of Wild Magic, ripping away from it, and the flow stopped.

The flames wreathed from her hands and faded as though swept into nothing by a black wind. Fern stood in complete darkness, her hands throbbing with the memory of the fire, her entire body trembling.

She would have no choice but to use Wild Magic tomorrow during the assignment. She could only hope, now, that she would be strong enough to exert her will over it.

If not… she could not even begin to think of the consequences.

More hopeless and anxious than before, Fern was making her way back towards the passageway to the Mage Tower when she heard a noise. She froze, turned, scrutinising the darkness.

This time, she was certain. She had not imagined it.

The noise came again. A faraway, keening noise, like an echo of a scream. But it wasn’t coming from the direction of the Astronomy Tower. It was coming from deep within the other side of the chamber.

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