Clouds of Merihim's white aura whirled within the darkness on the other side of the threshold. Ignoring the shiver down her spine, Keshiema entered the pitch-black room. "Lesson one." The door slammed shut behind her as Merihim's soft voice echoed through the room. "Never ignore that feeling!"

  Intuitively, and with not a moment to spare, Keshiema drew her swords to shield herself from a strike from above. Merihim's sword against hers sent a ringing through their ears. Pulling back as swiftly as he struck, Merihim sheathed his weapon. Keshiema followed suit but kept up her guard.

  "That was a good block, Keshiema." He bowed to her. "But you should have reacted sooner than that." Amusement flashed in Merihim's eyes. "I was going to test your reaction time in a melee duel. However, since you feel like it's ok to ignore your basic demon instincts, I have the perfect trial for you instead."

  The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She lifted her kodachi just in time to block another strike from the Prince of Pestilence.

  "Better, but you're not getting out of the trial so easily." Merihim smiled widely. His aura condensed inward, creating a glowing white puddle underneath him. Slowly sinking into the luminous energy as if it were quicksand, Merihim laughed wickedly.

  With the absence of the prince's aura, Keshiema's eyes finally adjusted to the darkness. She slid her right hand along the walls, keeping her left hand ready to draw. Hidden within the shadows, she found an opening that extended into a hallway. "Oh no," Keshiema spoke with realization. "A labyrinth." Cautiously entering the maze, Keshiema wondered what kinds of tricks and traps awaited her.

  After several dead ends, she growled in frustration. "Damn it!" she hissed, punching the back wall of her most recent navigational failure. The wall rippled from the impact, like water disturbed by a pebble. "What?" Keshiema looked at her reddened knuckles, confused. Her purple aura swirled within her breath as she blew on her stinging hand, and the small scrapes disappeared. Testing the solidity of the wall, she pressed her palm against it. Nothing happened. The wall remained solid.

  Keshiema drew one of her blades and gave the wall a heavy strike. The sound of metal against stone rang loudly in her ears as the bricks rippled once more, greater than before. As the wall continued to ripple, Keshiema pressed her hand against it again. This time, her hand slid through it with ease. The wall felt thicker as the waves slowed. She pulled her hand out before it settled and solidified once more.

  Keshiema backed up to the other end of the hallway. She charged the wall at full speed, just a black and blue blur flying from one end to the other. Sword hit stone with a deafening strike. She fell through the other side of the wall, using a single handspring into a front flip to save herself from falling on her face.

  Something felt off. A sudden onslaught of disorientation and anxiety had her feeling dizzy. Keshiema brushed herself off and tried to shake the ominous foreboding. Looking down the labyrinth, she noticed the bricks had changed from a dirty gray to a terracotta red. "So, I guess that worked." She mumbled while sheathing her sword.

  A fog moved in that quickly became too thick for her to see through. "Great... now it's a spooky maze." She rolled her eyes and noticed her hair color had changed. "Red? But, I'm not angry." She twisted a crimson lock.

  Suddenly feeling like something was watching her, she drew her swords. Following her instincts, she shifted to block an attack from the front. Nothing came. 'Behind me, now?' she thought, as she spun around. Still nothing.

  She relaxed as her anxiety faded. 'Merihim's test just has you on edge,' she told herself as she sheathed her swords. Not a moment later, something swiftly flew by her, cutting her cheek. A line of fresh blood seeped from the shallow cut.

  Without enough time for Keshiema to fully process what happened, it returned. In a cloud of shimmering mahogany aura, a white two-tailed fox sprinted towards her. She drew her swords, ready to fight. A green aura radiated from her as she prepared to defend herself.

  The fox ran toward her, baring its sharp teeth. She swung at the animal as it tried to bite her. Her swords sliced through the air as the fox narrowly avoided her blade. Falling forward from the force of her own swing, Keshiema grunted in annoyance. A strong pain ripped through her left shoulder. She tried to grab the beast, but it released its bite, snapping at her hand before running off.

  The bite punctured through her ATG and deep into the muscle of her shoulder. 'No animal is going to have what it takes to puncture Kevara armor. This has to be a demon.'

  Keshiema's heart raced as her instincts screamed at her, telling her something was wrong. She moved to defend herself but stopped mid-block. Instead, she sheathed her swords. Gripping her injured shoulder, Keshiema focused her aura. "Astano yi mar; relieve my pain," Keshiema whispered the self-healing spell. With a searing pain, the bite mark healed, leaving her chewed uniform as the only evidence of her injury.

  When her anxiety calmed again, she knew the creature had returned. She moved quickly to block her lower left side. At the last possible moment, a realization hit. She moved to block the upper right side of her body.

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  She landed a direct hit, knocking the animal back. The fox whimpered in pain as it fell to the ground. Its aura enveloped it, shrouding the creature as it took a new form.

  Judging by his garb, he was one of the throne room guards. "Keshiema." The guard fought off a cough. "I expected you to pick up on it sooner." He stood, leaning against the wall for support.

  "Who are you!" she screamed at the guard who had walked her to Merihim's labyrinth. She already knew, but she wanted to be wrong. Instead of answering, he coughed up an alarming amount of blood.

  Her hair returned to metallic blue as Keshiema raised her swords. She had to keep her guard up in case this was an elaborate trick by a sly fox. The guard let down his mask, revealing his face. Dropping her swords, she rushed to him. "Hiro!" she cried, looking over the gash on his side. "What have I done?"

  "There's so much blood." She caught Hiro as he collapsed. "You're heavy," she grunted, carefully leaning him against the gray stone wall. She cut open his uniform to better see the injury. Blood covered him, and his skin turned pale. "I can't lose you, Hiro!" Putting her hands together and closing her eyes to center her energy, she placed her left hand over Hiro's heart and her right on his forehead. Sending her energy through his body, she attempted the healing spell. The blood receded from his clothes and the stone floor back into his body before the wound sealed up. When she felt the energy return to her, she moved her left hand over her right. She sent the slightest amount of aura into him and opened her eyes.

  Though the blood was gone, Hiro's body still lacked color. His injury had only partly healed, and when she moved her hands, she saw no star on his forehead. Hiro was dead. Anger and sadness consumed her. Her palette turned black and red as her emotions climbed. The purple aura around her grew immensely. "Why?!" Agony filled the scream. Rising to her feet, she looked down at him. "Why?" she whispered. Tears streamed down her pale cheeks as she mourned.

  She forced herself to move, knowing she could do nothing for him now. Keshiema picked up her swords and left Hiro's body. Her training as an assassin demanded she continue on her mission. Grieving now would do nothing for her lost comrade. Within a few short steps, she once again felt something watching her. She whirled around, drawing one of her swords.

  The fog had thickened, further obscuring her vision, but she managed to hit something. A demon caught her sword, mid-strike. The sharp blade left little more than a scratch on his palm. His deep laugh rang in her ears. In her over-emotional state, she forgot about her second sword and her dagger still in their sheaths. She tried to steal her kodachi back and was met with failure.

  The man grabbed her free arm and lifted her close enough to see his face. Her anger turned to confusion. "Ayperos?"

  Anger flashed through his eyes as the winged demon tore the hilt of Keshiema's sword from her hand. "Ipos." he corrected her viciously.

  Finally remembering her other weapons, she drew her other sword, aiming to slice the hand still holding her up. Knocking her blade away with ease, Ipos laughed and pinned her against the wall. Keshiema hissed, baring her fangs.

  "Oh, come on now," Ipos smiled wickedly. She clenched her teeth to keep from screaming as he dug his long claws into the back of her shoulder. "What? Does that not hurt enough?"

  "I trusted you!" she screamed, kicking and struggling to break free. She was unsure where the statement had come from.

  "Did you, now? But how is that? You've never even talked to me before now." he smiled.

  "I can see the lie in your eyes, you bastard!"

  "Then pray-tell, Kesh, how is it you didn't see the lies in your dreams?" his vicious grin widened.

  Pulling out her dagger, she shoved it between two of his ribs.

  "You bitch!" he yelled as he dropped her, grasping at his side. As she sprang towards her swords, he tried to grab her. She hit the ground and, with all of her speed, grabbed one of her swords, turned, and sliced off his head.

  "Yeah, I guess I am." She gave his head a hard kick and watched it disappear into the darkness of the labyrinth. After collecting her weapons, she continued in the opposite direction.

  Finally, after a few more turns in the maze, she reached a door. Behind it, she found Merihim sitting in a throne-like chair made of gold and fine white cashmere. Her eyes stung for a moment as they adjusted to the harsh lighting.

  "Wow, I'm impressed, Hell-Child." Merihim smiled. You did well. What do you think?"

  Keshiema drew her dagger and was at Merihim's throne in an instant. Holding the blade against his throat, Keshiema whispered viciously, "What the hell was that? You had better explain to me what I just went through! Talk, or without a second thought, I'll kill you!" Sweat dripped off her face from sheer stress.

  Merihim, unfazed by Keshiema's threat, took in a slow, deep breath. "I don't know what you saw in there."

  "What do you mean you don't know? You organized this!"

  "I mean, Keshiema, it was like a dream, your mind made it up. Well, sort of."

  Keshiema moved her dagger away from Merihim's throat and straightened. "care to explain?"

  "The mist in the labyrinth contained my aura. In this case, it caused memory-based hallucinations. I gave a general intent to the hallucinations and let your mind create the scenario. This tested your ability to use your instincts and better judgment while using your own insecurities and fears. While I don't know what you saw, I could feel your emotions."

  "I'm not insecure or afraid of anything!" she hissed.

  "So, you're not insecure about your ability to protect the ones you love? And you're not afraid of these said loved ones dying or betraying you?"

  Turning around and crossing her arms, she refused to look at the prince. Embarrassment flushed her face.

  "If you say so," Merihim smiled, shaking his head in amusement. "Dawn approaches. You may leave. A guard is waiting outside to take you to your new chamber. Everything from your dorm room has been brought there and unpacked. you should probably rest before your afternoon training with Beelzebub."

  "But, I'm not tired," Keshiema said as she walked out, but the adrenaline from her test was already starting to wear off. As she closed the door behind her, she had to fight back a yawn.

  "How did the test go?" The guard asked as she came into the hallway.

  Without a word, Keshiema reached to pull off the guard's mask. He grabbed her wrist the same as he had the last time. "Please," she said quietly, "I need to know."

  Unable to stand her silent tears, he sighed heavily and let go of her. "Let me." he removed his hood and mask, revealing his face to her.

  "It really is you," Keshiema said with tears still in her eyes.

  "Yes, it is." Hiro's black fox ears twitched as he smiled nervously. "I've missed you, Keshiema." Hiro hugged Keshiema tightly, as she cried in his arms.