Page 115 of Court of Lies and Deceit

My mouth drops open. A farseer can project what he sees for other people? The farseer we have in the Seelie Court, who watches for dragons atop the tower, can only, well… See far.

I let out in impressed breath. It’s incredible what a difference it makes to have a teacher who can help you understand everything that your powers can do. Something that most people have been sorely missing in the Seelie Court since there are much fewer people with magic in our city.

Yster apparently misinterprets my impressed noise, thinking it was for the no doubt brilliant combination of their three powers, and stands up a little straighter while another beaming smile spreads across his lips.

“So what’s the objective?” Draven asks, his commanding stare still locked on the proud farseer.

“Oh, uhm, it’s to find the portal that leads out,” he replies.

“That’s it?”

“Well, you need to find it before the Red Faction or the White Faction can find it. You see, as soon as one person steps through the portal that leads out, all members of that team will be instantly transported back here to the center of the arena. And the pocket reality will collapse.”

Shock pulses through me, and my jaw drops. “Say that again?”

“Only one team will make it back. The other two will be left behind in the land that the pocket reality originally belongs to.” Yster shrugs. “Or at least until His Majesty gives us orders to open it again and retrieve someone.”

Which he will never do for us if we are one of the losing teams. Well, maybe he will open it to get Isera. But the rest of us? He will definitely leave us in there.

“Wow,” Lyra says, and lets out a low whistle. “That’s… intense.”

Yster flashes us another beaming smile. “A very exciting game, don’t you think?”

“Uhm,” Galen says, giving him a sideways glance. “Sure.”

“Well, get ready,” Yster says, and claps his hands once. “All teams are starting from different locations that are roughly the same distance from the portal that leads out. And the other two teams have already gone through.”

A jolt shoots through me, and I snap my gaze back to him. “What?”

“Yes, well, Grey can’t open more than one portal at a time, so we had to send each team through one at a time. And since you are the crowd favorite, His Majesty suggested that it would make it even more exciting if you were the last ones in.”

Of course he did. Fucking Orion.

We all exchange a glance, wondering how much of a head start the other teams have on us.

A shimmering blue rectangle begins to rise from the sand as Grey summons the portal into the pocket reality that Hana has created. I swallow down a sudden overwhelming flash of nervousness. This game has a lot higher stakes than I expected.

Above us, the excitement of the crowd rumbles like thunder. Much more understandable now that we know that the Red Faction and the White Faction have already started playing.

The rectangle at last stops moving, forming a doorway. Through it, a forest is visible.

“What world does the pocket reality belong to?” I ask, licking my lips nervously.

Hana starts in surprise, once again pulling her attention away from the room and back to us. “Oh, uhm, I’m not sure. I opened it by accident just last week.”

I give her an incredulous stare.

Fantastic.

We step through the portal.

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

What meets us on the other side is like nothing I have ever seen before. In terms of sheer strangeness, the forest before us is on par with that magical underground forest where the dryads live. I blink, turning my head from side to side.

There is not a single straight tree trunk as far as the eye can see. It looks as if someone has taken every branch and every tree trunk and then twisted them around, making them look like spirals that stick out in all different directions. Green leaves rustle in the canopy above, but most of the twisting branches are also covered in dark purple moss that hangs down like curtains that ripple in the gentle wind. The hanging moss paints the woods with splashes of color. In fact, everywhere I look, bright colors light up the forest.

Pink flowers dot the fresh green grass that covers the forest floor, and bright yellow lichen covers every stone and boulder. There are even a few pale blue mushrooms growing on the gnarled tree trunks.

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