Walls shot left. Shot right. Spinning. Flying along their rails on cogged wheels made of stone. So tightly packed they formed narrow corridors that shifted, moving in and out. Rigid, precise.

  Hugo sprinted through the maze with heavy breaths, his lungs screaming as he pushed forward. The humidity of Orthos left his tunic drenched in sweat and the air heavy with the scent of fear. The daystars glared with heat above, making every step a step through hell.

  “This way.” His brother said, leading them down a corridor.

  He followed, forcing himself between the two walls, so tightly packed he couldn’t even run. He slid himself down the alleyway, pressing his face against the wall in front of him.

  He noticed an absence of bricks, no sign of mortar or chisel. The wall was not an assortment of stones built by the hand of man, but a perfect block of solid rock. A slab of the earth itself, pulled from beneath the ground. Its face was perfectly smooth, its angles perfectly aligned. It could only be the work of magic.

  As he emerged from the alley, he watched as a hundred walls moved in a constant dance. He blinked, and when he opened his eyes again the maze had completely changed.

  “Which way?” He asked.

  “Uh…” His brother scanned the labyrinth of corridors and alleyways, forming and closing and forming and closing again in the ever-shifting breaths of the maze. “This way.” Arin said.

  Without Eli guiding them they were clumsy. If they didn’t bump into each other first, they bumped into the maze, slamming into another shifting block of stone every time they turned a corner. One wall flew at him so fast it would've crushed him had Arin not yanked him out the way first. He nodded in thanks when a thought struck him. Why hadn’t Arin just stopped the wall with magic? Now that he thought about it, his brother hadn’t cast a spell once the whole trial. He shook the thought from his head and continued onward.

  Eli twirled his wand between his fingers, pacing sideways, watching the princess intently. She mirrored him, the two of them circling each other slowly, each waiting to see who would make the first move. His posture was rigid; his left arm tucked behind his straight back. He held his wand so lightly it looked to slip from his fingers, though never would. The princess took a wilder stance, low to the ground, almost crouching, her wand held in front of her as if it were a sword.

  Noble duels were not fought to the death but were rather contests of willpower. Whoever yielded first lost. But a lack of lethality meant duels could last for long stretches of time. Time he didn’t have. He eyed the clocktower. Six minutes remaining.

  His next few spells had to be big, flashy, so as to catch the attention of the noble houses in the audience. But flashy spells were expensive, and if he got too carried away, he wouldn’t have enough mana leftover for the rest of the maze.

  He flicked his wand, imagining in his mind's eye a spear made of glass. At the tip of his wand was a whistle that squealed as it caught the air. Tiny crystals formed in the air, growing from his mana like snowflakes from water. As they drank at his mana, they grew, connecting and binding, forming a long spear made of glass that appeared to materialise from thin air. The spear floated over his shoulder, and with a flick of his wand, it shot forward like an arrow from a bow.

  The princess rolled aside as the spear whizzed past her head. As it smashed into the stone wall behind her, it shattered into a million fragments before evaporating back into the air.

  With his distraction secured, Eli held out his wand and closed his eyes. He looked for his mother and found her in a memory. She was glass blowing, rolling a globule of molten glass along a rod, shaping it with the movement of her hands, with magic. She pinched, forming five sharp points in the glass as if it were clay. He saw the light on her face, her giggle as she caught him watching. Once the glass cooled, she handed him the finished product. A little five-pointed star. He saw it as if it were real, as if it weren't just a memory, but right in front of him.

  The sand beneath him shifted to the beat of his soul. It pulsed in waves, scattering into complex patterns that breathed in and out. As the memory faded, the sand rose, forming five separate streams. The sand coiled like serpents rising to a flute, melting, turning red with heat. The red ribbons of molten sand twirled around him, melting into glass.

  As he opened his eyes, he formed the glass into five giant lances, each the size of a man, floating in an arched formation above him.

  He thrust out his wand, sending each lance shooting out one after the other in rapid succession. Madeline narrowly dodged one lance, slamming into the wall behind her. Instead of shattering, the lance pierced the stone, getting stuck buried halfway inside the wall.

  Eli commanded the remaining lances independently, waving his wand, a conductor directing an orchestra. He couldn’t kill Madeline, so instead he aimed a lance beside her feet. She hopped aside, when with another flick of his wand the lance exploded in size, unfurling into the shape of a flower. The glass crystallized around her ankle, freezing her in place as the remaining lances swam around her. She was trapped.

  “Who is that boy?” Malira asked, peering through a pair of theatre binoculars as she watched from the Skull. “He mentioned house Valliere, though I’ve never heard of them. Unusual for a house with such promising offspring.”

  “It’s a small house.” Remus replied. “Yet he indeed appears quite gifted.”

  “Why would you allow a noble to attend the exam?” Amar questioned, his brow furrowed as he watched the fight below.

  “Skipping the exam has never been mandatory, just convenient.” Remus clarified. “He is not the first noble to take it.”

  “How many people know he’s a noble?” Amar asked.

  “Well, the boy did announce his name and title when challenging my daughter.” Sebastien replied.

  “Only through his wand.” Vikramendra added through a mouthful of grapes. “There’s no way the commonfolk heard him from where they're sitting.”

  “So as far as the rest of the audience is concerned, that boy is commonborn?” Amar asked.

  “Correct.” Remus replied.

  “Remus.” Amar said, his voice warning. “What happens to your little story if a commonborn boy defeats the princess, the same princess we just announced is a dragon?”

  Remus smiled gently. “I wonder.”

  Hugo followed his brother, continuing through the maze to the cheering of the crowds. He looked up at the Skull, where the dragons would be watching. King Sebastien, even Amar. Could he see him from here? Even just a glimpse? The god he had prayed to all his life, the god he had prayed would watch over him. Was Amar watching over him now?

  “Right Hugo, go right!” Arin cried, grabbing him by the collar and dragging him forward. “Concentrate man.”

  “Right, sorry, sorry.” Hugo replied, blinking when he noticed something. Something was off. Something about the walls, the way they moved, how hadn’t he noticed it before?

  He stopped running.

  “Hugo!” Arin barked, nearly tripping over himself to stop. “Concentrate!”

  “I am.” Hugo replied. “Just… give me a second.”

  "We have to move." Arin dragged him again.

  "Wait. Wait." he pleaded, pulling back against his brother. “Just…”

  He watched as the walls moved, dancing in and out, rolling along their rails in a cacophony of motion. One wall moved right, while another shot to the left. Another wall spun in place, while another shot up towards the clocktower. Right, left, spin. Up, down, spin.

  “It’s not random…” He muttered, turning as he watched the maze shift.

  "There’s only five minutes left!" Arin yelled.

  "That wall." Hugo pointed. "Its about to slide to the right.

  They watched as just as he said, the wall shot to the right.

  “Hugo…”

  "And that wall is about to move left."

  It moved left.

  "And that wall’s about to spin and move up."

  It did.

  Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

  “Wha… how…” Arin stammered, his grip slacking.

  "It's a pattern." Hugo murmured, before shouting in excitement. "Arin! The maze has a pattern!"

  Madeline cursed under her breath. Elias de Valliere. A stupid halfblood from a lower branch, nothing family, exiled to a slum in the middle of nowhere. He was more commonborn than noble, from a house no one had ever heard of. So why? How? How was she losing?

  She clenched her fist. Stupid Remus. Stupid father. This was all their fault. She was far more than this, far stronger. She could’ve blocked those glass lances with a few pillars of stone, but dragons can’t use earth magic. She could’ve hidden herself behind a tornado of sand, but dragons can’t use wind magic. She could’ve soaked the battlefield, transforming it into a pit of sinking sand, but dragons can’t use water magic.

  So what did that make her?

  Her father had always said it was temporary, that she would become a true dragon once she came of age. Her eyes would turn red, her wounds would heal rapidly, and she would finally be able to change into her dragon form. Her true form. She would finally grow wings. She would finally fly.

  But did that mean she would lose her magic? That she would only ever be able to use fire? Once she became a dragon, would she be stuck like this forever? Stuck losing to no name nobles without an ounce of higher blood?

  She had to calm down, maintain her composure. For now, fire magic was all they allowed her to use. They made her promise. A promise she would keep. For now. For now, she would follow their rules, keep up appearances. For now, she would play the dragon.

  Even if it was a lie.

  Hugo sprinted, Arin behind him. “Left!” He called, and they ran through the gap created by a moving wall. Now that he understood the pattern, the maze was easy. Every shift, every push and slide wasn’t random, but just one part of a greater whole. “Right, over here.” he called. The clocktower was growing closer, they were making good progress now, moving faster through the maze than ever. “Left in three seconds!” He called. “Three, two, one, left!” The wall moved as he predicted, and the two of them took the gap it created. “Turn right here!” He called, but just as they were about to move, a wall shot in front of them instead, blocking the path.

  “Hugo–”

  “This isn’t part of the pattern.” He replied. Was it a mistake? Was he wrong? Or… No. “Arin, it's someone else,” he said. “Someone else moved the wall!”

  They looked around in a panic, searching for any sign of movement. But there was movement all around them, each wall two stories tall, moving faster than any man could run. It was the perfect place for someone to hide.

  Another wall moved out of pattern, sealing off a row of exits behind them. Then another, and another. His stomach dropped as he realised they had just been sealed in on all four sides. Someone had just enclosed them in a box of stone. The walls were too high to jump, too smooth to climb. The only way out was with magic.

  “We’re trapped.” Arin said, turning in place as if he could find some hidden exit. “Hey Hugo, if you were going to spark, now would be a great time.”

  Hugo pushed against one of the walls. “Can you try moving it?” He asked.

  “They’re too big.” Arin replied.

  “Eli said the walls move on stone cogs. If you can turn one of those then...”

  Arin looked away.

  “Arin?”

  “I… I can’t.”

  Was he out of mana? No, he hadn’t seen him use a single spell. “What do you mean?”

  “Stand back.”

  “Arin–”

  Arin ignored him, slamming his fists into each other. The crack of his knuckles birthed a ball of superheated flame that floated between his hands. He pulled back his right fist, and the fireball followed, floating above his knuckles. In silence, he punched the wall, crushing the fireball between the stone and his fist, splitting it in an explosion of flame that tore a hole into the wall.

  But as the dust cleared, Hugo saw that the explosion had left little more than a dent. Stone rubble crumbled from the impact, but the wall itself was too thick to break through. His brother shook his fist in half pain, half frustration.

  “Did Eli not teach you earth magic?” He asked.

  “He tried, but nothing worked.”

  Eli knew about this? And he thought it was a good idea to let them take the exams anyways? And how was this possible? As far as he understood it, once you sparked that was it. Once you sparked, you had access to every element, the world itself was yours to bend. Complex elements like nature were harder to master, but even without any practice Arin should've been able to move a stone cog. “What elements can you use?” He asked.

  “Fire, and… yeah. Just fire.” His brother replied with a sigh.

  Knowing Eli, he would’ve done anything and everything to teach Arin more than just fire magic. Which meant this was the work of something else.

  “Arin.” He said carefully, quietly. “Our father isn’t here.”

  Arin frowned. “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “I know how he treated you. How he beat you. I know he hated it when you used magic.”

  “Stop it.” Arin warned.

  “If father were here…”

  “Stop.”

  “If he was watching–”

  “I said stop!” Arin yelled, punching the wall in anger. The stone exploded with fire, sending Hugo flying backwards into the sand.

  Arin paled, hoisting him up and patting him down. “I’m sorry, I’m… I just.”

  “Arin…” Hugo said with a gasp, “Look.”. He pointed in disbelief. The entire wall had cracked in half, a gap wide enough for them to step through. A giant crater remained where Arin's punch collided, leaving the wall to cave in on itself. Shattered stone rolled down the tear, forming a pile of rubble at its base.

  They could continue forward now, but it had cost them a lot of time. He looked at the clock.

  Only two minutes remained.

  “Arin,” he said. “Call Eli.”

  Eli and Madeline traded blows, firing spell after spell. Madeline flicked her wand, sending forth a swarm of firebolts that whizzed toward him like a volley of arrows. He lifted his wand, summoning a block of earth from beneath the ground that blocked the firebolts like a shield.

  He pointed his wand at the wall to his left. With a flick, he sliced a square chunk from its stone face, as if an invisible claw had slashed it down the middle. He wriggled the chunk free, and with the sweeping fling of his arm, sent the rock flying.

  It smashed into Madeline’s side, sending her stumbling.

  He closed his eyes, remembering his mother again. Her face fuelled the sand beneath him as it melted it into another set of glass lances. But a new memory interrupted, breaking his concentration. A memory he had long since tried to forget.

  He saw his mother as she lay in bed, back at home. Her skin was pale, clammy from fever. The herbs she took for the pain made her delirious, only ever half awake. She looked right through him with those glazed over eyes. The moonrot had moved up to her neck. The massive blisters were filled with puss that once popped, leaked a viscous, white fluid all over the skin. They pulsated slightly, scarring her body with tiny sacs of pain. She would die in this bed. An excruciating, horrifying death, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

  He opened his eyes. At once, the glass lances he summoned shattered into a million pieces, raining down tiny crystals that evaporated into the air.

  Madeline took full advantage of his blunder, breathing into the tip of her wand. The whistle at its head caught her breath, unleashing a wave of flame that washed over him. He shielded himself with a wall of stone, before rolling out the way. She followed with an onslaught of fireballs, but when he moved to counter, something caught his eye. A flash in the distance. There was a loud crack as a firework exploded somewhere above the maze.

  Arin.

  “I formally surrender our duel.” Eli said with a bow, speaking into his wand to amplify his voice to the crowd. The princess stumbled, seemingly baffled by the announcement. Truly he had no intention of actually defeating her. Not here at least. That would've had dangerous consequences. He only needed to make a good impression, and to that extent he had succeeded. With another bow he left the princess to her confusion, running back into the maze.

  He slashed his wand on an angle. A set of small stone blocks shot out from the side of the maze wall in rapid succession, and he used them like a staircase to climb up on top of the wall. He sprinted along the wall tops, scanning the ground below for the boys.

  Hugo and his brother stepped through the cracked wall, only to see that the maze had stopped moving. Where before every other wall was sliding, or spinning, or shifting, now every wall was frozen in place. The sounds of metal on metal, of grinding gears and engines now gave way to silence. The lack of movement would’ve made it easier to traverse the maze, were it not for the way they had been left behind. Every wall had been positioned in such a way that progressing forward was impossible. There were no visible gaps, no entrances or exits, the walls now formed a giant barrier.

  “What now?” Arin asked. “There’s no way I can break through all of these.”

  The wall in front of them suddenly slid away, revealing Eli standing on the other side, waiting for them with his hands on his hips.

  “Told you I’d be back.” He said, looking all too satisfied with himself.

  “There’s only a minute left!” Hugo snapped.

  “Plenty of time.” Eli replied. “Follow me.” He waved aside another wall, and they followed as he cleared a path. “What happened to all these walls anyways?”

  “Someone must’ve frozen them in place.” Arin guessed.

  “Probably hoping to slow down the competition.” Eli mused.

  Past the barrier, the rest of the maze was moving, but with Eli’s magic it made little difference. They ran in a straight line as he brute-forced a pathway forward.

  “Wait.” Arin said over heavy breaths. “Hugo figured out the maze. There’s a pattern to it.”

  “A pattern?” Eli frowned. “I would’ve known about it if there was a pattern. I’ve watched this trial a dozen times–”

  “I’m serious.” Arin insisted. “He was predicting the walls and everything. You should’ve seen it.”

  “That’s nice.” Eli replied, “But for now just follow me.”

  There was a sudden chime as the bell rang. “TEN!” The audience cried in unison.

  “Ten seconds left!?” Hugo stammered.

  “NINE!”

  They exited the maze onto a stretch of sand. Hugo could see the white of the finish line just ahead. Hundreds of children were already waiting behind it.

  “EIGHT!”

  A dozen other children exited from different openings beside them. Some were running ahead, others behind, all clustering into a group as they approached. All sprinting as fast they could, some using the last of their mana to boost them forward.

  “SEVEN!”

  As they sprinted, Hugo came to a horrible realization.

  They weren't going to make it.

  “SIX!”

  Even running at full speed there was no way they could reach the finish line in time.

  “We’re not going to make it!” Arin cried, reaching the same conclusion.

  “Yes, we are.” Eli replied.

  “FIVE!”

  Hugo watched as Eli twirled his wand. The sand beneath Arin's feet shifted as a pillar of stone shot from beneath him, sending Arin flying into the air like a boulder from a catapult.

  “AHHHH.” Arin screamed.

  “FOUR!”

  Hugo gasped as something hard struck his feet. He screamed as something beneath him launched him into the air.

  “THREE!”

  He flew face first, falling in an arc before crashing face first into the sand.

  “TWO!”

  He got up, looking for the finish line, only to see he had landed over it.

  “ONE!”

  Eli flew through the air, crashing right beside them as the clock struck twelve. The bell rang, reverberating across the entire arena. Kepri, the head adjudicator, waved his wand and a huge stone wall arose along the finish line, blocking off anyone else from crossing.

  The walls of the maze fell back into the sand, leaving hundreds of frustrated children looking lost across the vast, and now empty desert of sand.

  The head adjudicator turned to face them.

  “Congratulations children.” He said flatly. “Of the one thousand one hundred and twelve students who entered, only the six hundred and fourteen of you behind this wall have passed.”

  “We did it!” Arin cried, pulling them into a bear hug. They jumped together in celebration.

  Hugo chuckled with a mix of disbelief and exhaustion until he saw the princess approach them. She looked exhausted, barely having caught her breath. She glared at them incredulously, fury in her eyes.

  “Friends of yours Eli?” She asked, and as Eli’s face paled, her fury melted into an evil smile.