"Lorit, this warns that failure could lead to death for the Wizard who unsuccessfully attempts the trials."
"Without the Council's help we will never find Zhimosom. Do we have any other choice? We can't just sit by while Zhimosom and Rotiaqua are in danger. I can feel them both fading. How much longer do you think they can last?"
"Do you think we're ready for this?" Chihon asked.
"I hope we are, because we don't have much choice." Lorit reached out and took her hand, dragging her out of the library. "Let's see what Rotiaqua has to say.
Back in their room, Lorit reached out for Rotiaqua. She was fast asleep in Zhimosom's chair with her head resting on the table. Lorit drew power from the reserves he carried and from the magic of the mountains. He had seen Zhimosom's study often enough to travel there by magic now. He reached his hand to Chihon and together they stepped into the study.
"Rotiaqua," Chihon said gently shaking the Sorceress. "It's me, Chihon."
Rotiaqua grumbled and raised her head slowly. It took her a while to focus in on Chihon. "Chihon? What are you doing here?"
"We've come to talk to you about the Wizard's Challenge. We think that we need to earn a seat on the Council before they'll help us."
Rotiaqua appeared confused. She caught sight of Lorit and reached out to him. "Lorit. It's so good to see you. How are things going with the Council?"
"Not good. They refused to listen to us. Neussul is in charge now and he won't help. We received a note telling us to earn a seat and then they would help."
"That's right," Rotiaqua said weakly. "If you are a member, they must listen to you."
"We have to undertake the trials," Lorit said. "It says that failing the trials can be fatal."
Rotiaqua shook her head at him. "Then don't fail." She reached for Chihon's hand and held it in her own, placing it atop Lorit's. "The two of you are the strongest Wizards I have seen in my long life. You'll do just fine."
She released their hands and laid her head back on the table.
"We'd better get back to the Council," Lorit said. "We have to find Zhimosom. Look how weak she is."
When they reached the Council Chambers, Lorit felt Chihon dragging him back as if she was afraid to face them. "What's the matter?"
"Up until now, everything we've been through was unavoidable. We never volunteered for any of the troubles we endured. Are you sure we should undertake the challenges voluntarily? The book said they could be deadly."
Lorit stopped and turned to her. She looked worried and he could feel her hands tremble.
"I know we had no choice in what happened to us, but I don’t see that we have any choice now, either. Zhimosom needs us and this is the only way to get their help."
Lorit squeezed her hands. "Rotiaqua and Zhimosom both have placed a lot of faith in us. She wouldn't ask us to do this if she didn't think we would succeed."
"I'm just afraid, Lorit. This is important. We are going to become members of the Wizards' Council. This changes everything, we're not kids anymore. We're going to become part of the established order of Wizards."
"I know, but there is no other choice. We have to find Zhimosom. Once we free him, then we can decide what to do about the Council."
Lorit brushed her hair out of her eyes and held her chin in his hand. "Once this is over, we can settle down. We're finally in Amedon; we have a place to live here and plenty of things to learn. This is our last big challenge. We can do this."
"I know, but I'm still afraid of what it might be. The book said it could be fatal."
"I have faith in you," Lorit said. "Rotiaqua has faith in you. We can do this. We have no other choice."
Chihon took Lorit's hand. "I know, but it doesn't make me any less afraid." She led him towards the council table and started the spell to call the members.
As she completed the spell, a cloud of mist appeared above each of the seats and the members slowly materialized. Most of them were dressed in their Wizardly robes, but Koaleing was still in his night shirt and socks.
"What is the meaning of this?" Neussul demanded. "Didn't we already address you? I thought I told you that we are not interested in entertaining any more of your nonsense about the Wizard Zhimosom."
"We have come to demand a seat on the Council." Lorit raised his shield in case Neussul tried anything on him. He didn't want to get caught unawares.
"You have no right to a Council seat. You're wasting our time."
"We have the right to challenge for a seat on the Council. We have come to demand that right."
"You demand..." Neussul sputtered. "You demand?" He stood up and extended his hand to Lorit. A fire sprang up and rolled itself into a tight ball. It leapt from his hand and arched toward Lorit, accelerating as it came.
Lorit raised his staff and easily deflected the fireball. Neussul came at him again, this time harder, but Lorit handled it deftly, almost without effort. The smoking, sputtering fireball splashed over his shields to spread as sparks across the floor.
The third one he launched at Chihon. Before the spitting ball of sparks made it half the way to where she stood, she reached out and squeezed her fingers together. The ball contracted until it was a tiny shower of sparks and then exploded.
"You've had your fun." Lorit folded his arms. "Are you going to accept us for the challenge or not? Or has the Council decided to throw out generations of tradition and laws that were set down by the Wizards of old?"
"We accept you for the challenge," Neussul said. "But, this was just a taste of what's in store for you. Had you even flinched at one of my attacks, you would have already failed."
Neussul sat down in his chair. "My only disappointment is that neither of you will live to regret your decision."
"Good," Lorit said. "When does the challenge begin?"
"It's already begun." Neussul waved his hand and Lorit felt a sudden jolt. He and Chihon were falling, and it was pitch dark. He could hear the wind whistle past his ears and ruffle his clothes as he fell into the bottomless abyss.
Quineshua
Tass was surprised to see Sulrad saunter into her study. He had been coming to see her more frequently than summoning her to him lately. She thought it was a good sign.
"Yet another trap avoided?" he asked.
"Yes, so it seems. I had not counted on the Queen getting involved. That was unexpected."
"Unexpected - Quite, unexpected." He sat down in the chair beside her desk and threw one leg over the arm.
"From your countenance, I take it the traitor was successful in subverting the council?" That must have been the reason for Sulrad's relaxed attitude. He almost looked carefree.
"The young Wizards have undertaken the challenge." He chuckled. "Lorit actually stood before the council and demanded the chance to attempt it." He swung his leg lazily.
"Is everything ready for them?" She had not taken part in the preparations. He had left that to another. She was not sure if it was a sign of his weakening trust in her, or his meager attempt to shield her from any backlash, should the latest plan fail.
"Those challenges were devised so that no one would be able to pass them unless they were already as strong as the seniors," Sulrad said. "Lorit and Chihon are barely adults. They don't have the years of experience and cooperation that they need to get through the trial."
Sulrad smiled. "Lorit's power reserves must be extremely low since he won't take magic from anyone or anything. With the two of them in the challenge together, they'll be so distracted worrying about each other that one of them is likely to slip up somewhere - and then it's all over for both of them."
"If they do survive the challenge?" Tass asked.
"There is always the second round. The tests of courage, strength, and wisdom. Those can be more dangerous than the first round of tests." He slid his leg back off of the chair and stood to leave.
"Besides," he said over his shoulder. "If they survive that, the traitor will take Lorit on directly. He should be beaten down and exhausted by then. It will almost be a shame to kill him after all that he is about to go through."
Sulrad turned and left her study. Tass hoped he was right. It was starting to look like this Lorit was a little more than he appeared.
Earth
Lorit landed with less of an impact than he expected from the sudden drop. Next to him, he heard Chihon hit with a heavy sigh. It was black as the blackest night Lorit had ever experienced.
"Incendo ignio," Lorit said and the barest of tiny blue flames licked from his palm, flickered, and then went out.
"What was that?" Chihon asked. "Let me try. "Incendo ignio." The flame that licked her hand was even more disappointing than Lorit's.
Lorit was worried about their inability to raise even a simple flame. With magic impeded or suppressed, they could be in a lot more trouble than he'd bargained for.
"Let's try this together." He reached for her hand. "Incendo ignio," they said in unison. This time the small flickering blue flame was almost enough to see by, and lasted quite a while before flickering into nothingness.
"Did you see anything?" Lorit asked.
"It looks like we're in a tunnel under ground. I couldn't see any more than that. Sorry."
"Let's wait for a while. Maybe our eyes will grow accustomed to the darkness."
Their eyes did not grow accustomed to the dark, but their hearing grew more and more sensitive until Lorit could hear not only his heartbeat, but Chihon's as well.
"We can't just sit here. Let's see if we can make our way by feel." Lorit stood up, reached out his hand, and touched the wall of their prison. It was cool damp earth, packed loosely by the feel of it. It crumpled when he touched it, clinging to his hand, almost damp enough to be mud, but not quite.
He felt a slight breeze on his face and headed towards it even though he couldn't see his way. The floor was slippery and he took great care not to slip and fall. The walls were uneven, with roots sticking out at odd intervals that slapped at his face and body, as he blindly shuffled along.
Lorit carefully felt his way down the passage as it twisted and turned, always working its way lower into the earth. He stumbled more than once over some root sticking out near his feet. He tried to warn Chihon, to spare her the pain of an unnecessary fall.
Lorit felt the mud slip beneath his feet and tripped. He swung his arms wildly and grasped for something to hold onto in the dark. He latched onto a root, trying to break his fall, but the root pulled free of the wall, tearing it open and spilling dirt onto his feet. Lorit tried to steady himself, but he went down, landing face first in the dirt that had broken free of the wall.
"Are you all right?" Chihon said. Lorit cold hear her patting the ground, looking for him in the dark.
"I'll live," Lorit said. "The root I grabbed came loose and I fell."
"Let me help you up." Chihon touched him with her foot, found his hand, and grasped it. He felt her pull. Suddenly there was a torrent of dirt pelting Lorit from above. He felt Chihon's hand slip away as the soil piled all around and over him. When it stopped, Lorit was covered in dirt. He had trouble breathing. He reached around for Chihon but he could not find her.
The memory of the landslide came back to him. This time they were deep beneath the earth. He panicked. "Chihon!"
Nothing.
He stilled himself and listened. The silence grew as he calmed his heartbeat but still there was no sound of Chihon.
He probed the soil with his magic, following the thread that connected them until he located her. He was covered in dirt and completely blind in the dark, but he knew he had to reach her.
Lorit tried to sit up, pushing against the heavy moist soil. It gave in places, but it was packed tight in others. He pressed on it, packing the loose dirt until he'd made a small cavern where he could sit up.
He reached out his sense to Chihon. She was close by. He started pushing through the dirt, trying to reach her. He soon has a small opening through which he could touch her hand. He expanded the opening by moving the dirt behind him when he could not pack it tight to the walls.
He made a small domed cavern where they could both sit up. Chihon spat out dirt as Lorit freed her and pulled her into the small space he had made.
They huddled together in the tiny cavern. "This doesn't seem to be getting us anywhere," he said. "Let's try for a little light again."
Lorit took Chihon's hand. "Incendo ignio," he said, and a small blue flame licked up from his palm. It was so weak it was almost invisible. This time instead of sputtering out, it jumped from his hand and moved away, coming to a halt in front of his face.
Lorit could feel a strange power emanating from the flame. It was not his own power, not even that of another Wizard. It was something other, strange, and insubstantial.
"Look at how it sits there," Lorit said. "Do you feel the magic?" He guided her perception until she saw it too.
"What do you think it is?"
"I'm not sure. I don't remember anything about blue flames that are alive."
The flame darted towards him and around his head, returning quickly to its place. There was a whisper in his ear, almost too faint to follow. It sounded like the flame had spoken to him.
"Did you hear that?" Lorit asked.
"I thought I heard something but I couldn't make it out."
They sat there quietly as the flame danced around in the air in front of them. When Lorit could hear nothing but the sound of his own heart, the flame once more sailed around his head. This time he was prepared and he listened carefully.
"Dray'e" it whispered as it sped past.
"What's a Dray'e?" Lorit asked.
The flame danced again. It rushed past him making several passes this time. "Earth," it swooshed past. "Elemental," it whispered on the second pass. "Free ... me ..." it whispered.
"Free you?" Lorit asked. "Is it trapped here with us?"
"I don't know. How can we free it?"