Page 115 of Ecliptic

“Very well,” Aedris said with a confident air. He waved his ringed fingers over the armillary sphere. “Your time begins . . . now.”

40

I sprinted toward the celestial globe and ran up the staircase to the center ring.

The giant metal hoops were smooth and slippery, and my sandals had absolutely no grip. I would have to watch my step as I worked my way through the skeletal sphere.

My eyes darted for the first marker, scanning for divots or protrusions of any kind, but there were none to be seen.

I jogged around to the other side, the rings hovering around me like a giant ribcage. Finally, I spotted a diamond-shaped marker engraved into the golden surface. Upon further inspection, I noticed it was a sun rune.

I had no idea what I was supposed to do. Aedris had been sparse with his information, and I’d failed to ask the right questions. If my abilities weren’t suppressed, I would blast it with my Light. But my time to solve this sphere was running out. The sun was setting fast.

My fists balled in frustration, and a sharp pain flared in my hand.

My blood!

I placed my sliced palm on the symbol, praying to the spiritsthat it worked. I had no other ideas, but as soon as my blood touched the rune, Light entered the engraving in a shimmering blaze.

I let out a relieved sigh. Now that I knew what to do, I would have enough time to find and activate the markers before sunset.

Suddenly, the ring beneath me shifted, threatening to throw me off balance. I braced myself as the armillary sphere detached from the staircase and rose from the ground. It kept rising until it completely hovered in the air.

Then, the rings around me began to shift, and my stomach dropped as the hoops groaned and whirred to life.

I had no idea it moved! And Aedris had conveniently withheld that information.

The ring I stood on spun faster as it tilted up to begin its horizontal rotation. If I didn’t move, I would slide right off the sphere as it spun.

I bolted up, searching for the second rune. I scanned the map of the heavens with my heart in my throat. The crowd roared in my ears and clashed against the violent beat of my pulse.

My eyes darted frantically as the ring beneath me tilted more and more. The second marker flashed as it rotated by, but it was spinning vertically around me. I’d have to jump onto the ring as it descended into a horizontal turn, with only a split-second window to land the jump.

It didn’t escape my notice that Aedris hadn’t allowed me time to prepare. Or even change. I was wearing the worst outfit possible.

I quickly kicked off the slippery sandals and held the panels of my dress in my fists.

My muscles tightened in anticipation; one wrong step and I would plummet to the ground. I inhaled a deep breath as the rings aligned, praying muscle memory from my track dayskicked in. I hadn’t known just how much I was running for my life back then. And today would be no different, aside from the fact that I wasn’t running for my sole survival but for everyone else’s. I knew what would happen without Aedris’ army, and it would be a massacre.

I pushed off my dominant leg and launched myself into the air. The moment of weightlessness struck terror into my soul. It seemed to last forever as I hovered high above the desert city.

It wasn’t until both of my feet landed on the precarious platform that I could breathe again. I landed in a crouch and used the position to launch myself into a sprint. There would be enough time to catch the third marker as it spun back around. But suddenly, I was yanked back violently, my wrist taking the brunt of my fall. I felt something snap, and I cried out in pain.

I went to stand, careful not to put pressure on my wrist, but I was yanked back again.

I shot my gaze backward.

When I’d jumped, the convergence of metal on metal caught my dress. The rings slowly pulled me towards the joint that would crush me to death.

I desperately clawed at the ground, scrambling to escape, but my fingertips found no purchase on the smooth metal surface.

The audience gasped in horror as I was sucked back by the train of my dress. Not wasting another second, I viciously tore at the fabric, ripping it past my knees. I was free, and the cloth vanished from sight as it was sucked through the hinge of the rotating gears.

I dashed to the second marker without thinking, only acting on the adrenaline pumping through my veins. It was a rune of the moon, and I quickly lit it as I had done the first. My blood touched the symbol, and it sparked to life as if it recognized me.

The rings picked up speed, and the sound of the spinning wheels whooshed around me like a wind turbine. My hair blewin my face as I shot up, searching for the next marker. It was above me and already circling to disappear out of sight.

I barely had enough time to catch the next ring as its axis changed. I jumped onto it without falling or catching my dress, and I grinned. I was finally getting the hang of it!

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