Page 32 of Burning Heir

The sling snapped against the metal pole. “Too bad. You’re up first.”

I sighed, gripping the crescent-shaped handle with my unbroken hand as I pulled my armpit over the bar. I grunted, jostling forward as my feet raised to the tips, testing the strength of my arm. It would hold me for a bit. I stepped back before running forward, and my feet dangled in the air with a heave.

It was like flying, that moment of freedom as nothing was below your feet. Sweat simmered on my brow as a rush of hot wind swept through my limbs. The ocean snapped against the brittle rocks, sloshing between the ten-foot gap that separated the trails.

I toppled over, the handles slamming into the metal stopper. Damien pulled the line back, and the students followed behind. He landed gracefully a moment later, handing me a dagger.

Gliding my hand over the metal shaft, I asked. “Should I be worried why you are giving me a dagger?”

“Each season, we face trial. I’m expecting one to happen while we are here. Don’t be alarmed if you see students from other realms here,” he said.

“What kind of trials?” I asked.

Strange howls and chirps echoed through the trees, weaving an unsettling melody into the air. The peaks were flecked with moss, curling vines rounding every corner of the path. Dust and sand swirled low to the ground. It was almost impossible to fathom that mere steps away lay a land of perpetual snow.

“It could be mental or physical,” Damien said. “The academy tests us on certain skills. For example, how we handle loss, how well we can navigate, and if we can lead. The first one is usually easy, but the Serpents observe how we react. Mind games can bejust as deadly as combat. And sometimes, the trials are personal. You might not know you’re in one.”

I tightened my grip on the dagger in my hand. A deep, mournful cry echoed from within the forest. My eyes darted to the rustling trees, searching for its source. Suddenly, thrashing wings and talons tore through the shielded trail, the creature’s movements sending droplets of water cascading onto my skin, clinging to my clothes.

“Are there beasts in the forests?” I asked, my voice quieter than intended. “I never saw any in the Winter trails.”

“The worst kinds,” Damien replied grimly. “Trapped and starved. I wouldn’t plan on having a cozy campfire anytime soon.”

“He is alive,”that same voice hissed low. The one I heard back at the initiation.

Scattering sounded from the bushes. Then, a scream. “Did you hear that?” I asked, eyes blaring.

Damien cocked his head. “Hearwhat?”

“I heard someone hiss just a second ago… then a scream.” I went toward the forest, brushing a few branches out of the way. “I think we’re being watched.”

“He is alive. Find him,”that same voice said once again. It was feminine, with an assertive sweetness humming each word. I shook my head. Klaus was the only person I knew to be dead, and Damien’s warning of the beasts ravaged my mind, but not enough to dull my terrified curiosity.

“He calls to you in water,” it sang.“His name, etched beside a thumping heart, cascading between bones. He slumbers, awaiting his savior.”

“It’s the trial, North,” Damien said. “Ignore it.”

I pricked my index finger on a thorn, peeking through the lush. “It sounds… lost.” I stepped over the path, heat vibrating against my skin.

“He is not dead, Severyn. Find him. Now, before it is too late.”

It was enough for me to run toward the voice.

Damien reached for me. “Stay out of the forests. We are only protected on the trails,” he yelled after me, but I didn’t listen. Not if Klaus was somewhere out there. Had he been trapped in the forests for two years? If the wards could separate frost from warmth, perhaps they could also imprison someone.

The thought drove me forward, ignoring Damien’s curses as he chased after me. Hisses echoed from every direction, the sound growing sharper as I ran. Thorns scored my arms, curling around them like starved leeches, their sharp edges biting into my skin.

I clutched the dagger Damien had given me with raw desperation, the rough wooden handle grounding me as my head spun. Every tree looked identical, the swirling patterns in their bark merging into a dizzying blur. Pain flared as a cloud of yellow gnats swarmed me, their tiny jaws nipping at my exposed legs and arms.

Dawn pierced through the swaying branches, its light weak against the dense canopy. I tightened my grip on the dagger, trying to ignore the agony burning through my legs. The thorns had to be laced with poison—red welts pulsed angrily on my arms and legs, each heartbeat sending fresh waves of pain through me.

I kept running—that voice drew closer, screaming in my mind,“FIND HIM.”

I came to a lake hidden behind trees in the middle of the forest, a narrow bridge gaping over the ledge. Rotted wood floated along the brimmed surface. A rush of pins and needles coursed my senses. My palms burned and pulsed as I stared at the swamp.

“At the bottom of the lake, you will find your answer. Die trying, and you will never know.”My boots were nearly halfway off the ledge, hand gaped out—

Damien yanked me back. “What the hell are you doing? You’ll get yourself killed or skinned out here,” he said with such demand I knew he was next in line to become a Summer heir.

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