Page 27 of The Stone Secret
“You need to be careful with Bax,” Curi said. “Watch your back.”
“And punch him in the nuts if he fucks with you,” Touron added.
“She’ll be fine,” Shar said from behind us. “She’s a fucking Basque.”
I just hoped I could live up to the name. Not for myself or for anyone here but for Romi.
CHAPTER11
Willowman waited at the main gates, greeting Farnell with a nod before turning his attention on us.
“Each pair grab a pack.” Farnell indicated several backpacks lined up on the side of the gravel path.
Bax moved fast and picked a pack, shooting me a quick glance as he did so.
“Mason and Lambert, you’re up first,” Farnell said.
Willowman clicked his fingers, and a scroll appeared in his hands. He handed it to Curi. “The extraction point is clearly marked, and you have a compass in your pack. You have two hours to get to the exit point or you’ll be stranded.”
I leaned in to speak to Shar. “They’d leave us out there?”
“You sound surprised,” Farnell said. Shit, he had sharp ears. “The cadet exams are in less than three weeks, and I will weed out any weak links before then. Navigation and survival are essential skills for a guardian. This is a cakewalk. You have partners, after all, but next time you’ll be going solo, and the time after that…Well, not all of you will make it back, and I’m okay with that.” His eyes narrowed. “Being a guardian is about more than having the right name or the right bloodline. It’s about fortitude, strength, and skill. Those aren’t always genetic.”
Ouch. Looked like he had zero confidence in my ability to make it to elite. I’d just have to prove him wrong. There was no way I’d be left stranded even if I missed the extraction point. They needed me for elite. But the same couldn’t be said for my partner, and I wouldn’t be the reason he failed.
Farnell turned his attention to Shar. “Aziza, you’re up.” Willowman produced another scroll out of thin air, then another until each pairing had one, then he asked us to line up. “Your scrolls are keys, and today, the gate will act as a port. Each pairing must be touching the scroll as they pass through and be transported to the designated location. Remember, you have two hours from entrance to get to your extraction point.”
“Don’t we need toopenthe gates?” Dayn asked.
“No.”
Curi and Palia went first, holding the scroll between them. There was a flash of blue light as they neared the iron bars, then they were gone. Shar and Waxen went next, followed by Ginia and Saffe, and then it was my turn. Bax held out the scroll, and I grasped one end.
I’d been through a warping and traveled by orb and felt sick both times. What was this going to—
Light seared my vision, and when it ebbed, the gates were gone, and we were on a nature trail bordered by woodland. The sun above was tinged orange, signaling late afternoon, and a sniff of the air told me there was water nearby.
Bax’s expression was tight. He was clearly not a fan of partnering with me, but like hell would I let his personal feelings ruin our chances of passing this test.
“We’re on a clock here, and there’s no time for bullshit.”
He blinked sharply then nodded, relinquishing the map to me.
I unfurled it, studying the carefully drawn lay of the land. Trees, rivers, mountains. A red dot for extraction and a blue one for drop-off. “I need the compass.” Bax rummaged in the pack and found it for me. “We’ve got to head northeast. Looks pretty straightforward. But there’s a river to cross. No way around it without missing our extraction window.”
Bax reached for the map. “Let me see that.” He studied it for several long seconds. “We could head west to this bridge over here.” He pointed at the bridge, which was at least a mile and a half in the wrong direction.
“We have two hours to get to the extraction point. If we head for the bridge, we won’t make it.”
“There has to be some other way.”
He studied the map with stubborn intensity as if he expected the line on the map to shift and reveal an alternate route.
“What is your problem?”
He shoved the map at me. “There’ll be another way.” He stomped off.
He had a problem with rivers? Or maybe water. Wait…Couldn’t he swim? Was that it? Sunset was a couple of hours away, about the time we’d make it to extraction, and no doubt Farnell had timed it as such to stop the goyles shifting and simply flying to their destination, but if Bax couldn’t swim, we had a huge problem.
