‘Etta!’ I cry at the top of my lungs, pain searing through my chest, only for my eyes to land on the sand timer … and the last grain that falls through it.

Relief swamps me, and a blast of magic rips through the air.

The jötunn freezes with his feet at the edge of the waves. I hold my breath as I survey the scene. The other remaining giants are all in the same state, motionless and silent.

I take a shuddering breath. It’s over. The first trial is officially over, and I’m still alive.

But where the fuck is Benny?

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Chapter 29

My ears ring in the silence that now smothers us. I press my hand to one side of my head, then the other. There’s no pain. Or rather, my ears are in no greater pain than the rest of my body. My knees and elbows are grazed, and the taste of blood fills my mouth, but I’m on my feet, and that’s more than others.

Though those feet are unsteady. The reality of what I just faced – and survived – has left me listless and light-headed. Or maybe that’s the injuries.

Jonas is still on the ground, struggling to stand, while Llinos comforts Loch only feet away from Estel’s glassy-eyed body.

‘Benny!’ I call out, looking desperately around for any sign of our friend.

A voice booms out from the platform, halting my search.

‘Rettlings, you have survived your first trial.’

I lift my head, but only by reflex. I don’t want to listen to her. I want to find my friend.

But when I glance towards the platform, I see them standing beside her. Kyor, Grenda, and one of the Galreck Rettlings, Moryal. And there, at the very end … Benny. He’s propping himself up on the shoulder of one of the priestesses, but he’s there and very much alive.

Relief swamps me with such force that I drop to my knees.

‘Thank fuck,’ I mutter. My head falls forward as my chest shudders. They must have been removed from the trial the moment they dealt their fatal blow.

‘Now rest,’ Mila continues. ‘Rest and heal, for who knows when the Goddess will next call on you.’ With that, she, the other priestesses, and the sand timer all disappear.

When I finally drag myself back onto my feet, I head over to Jonas. Llinos is already there, helping him up. I move over to his other side and take his arm over my shoulder to balance his weight.

‘I’ve got you.’

‘What the hell did you think you were doing?’ he snaps. ‘Putting yourself at risk like that … I told you to run!’

My jaw drops. ‘You’re joking, right? I saved you.’

‘If I hadn’t pushed you out of the way, you’d⁠—’

‘You’re angry because you’re in pain,’ I say, keeping my voice measured despite my annoyance at his lack of gratitude. ‘Come on. The sooner we get you in the carriage, the sooner we get you to the healers.’ I look at Llinos. ‘What’s Loch doing?’

He’s standing knee-deep in the water. It’s an act I could understand if Sanrott were his fealty God, but his sigils say otherwise.

‘I don’t know. Come on, let’s get Jonas to the carriage. Then I’ll go back for Loch.’

Conquering the sand dunes in our weakened state and with Jonas less than happy about all the help he needs isn’t exactly easy, and by the time we’ve got him in the carriage and Llinos returns to the beach, there’s no sign of Loch.

‘He must have got into another carriage,’ Llinos says after giving up her search and climbing in with Jonas and me.

The carriage is painfully empty. We should be happy that we made it through to the next stage, but it’s hard to celebrate when so many didn’t. The image of Estel’s body flying through the air fills my mind. Another image to add to the carousel of nightmares already stored in my head.

‘You were phenomenal, Rose.’ Llinos breaks the silence as the horses pull away. ‘The way you climbed that thing! Unbelievable.’

‘I’m glad I was able to use my abilities to climb and throw daggers, but I doubt I’m going to be so lucky in the trials that follow,’ I say truthfully.

She shrugs. ‘You never know, and you’ll also have the non-magical one at some point. And anyway, think about all the people with magic who didn’t survive.’

She’s right and I appreciate her optimism, but while I haven’t seen exactly who survived and who didn’t, it’s likely a few of the weaker Rettlings were lost. As such, I can almost guarantee that I’m now officially the runt of the group.

As I contemplate who else may or may not have made it, my mind flickers to Zara. What are the chances that she didn’t survive? I already know that Kyor did, but at least he’s now out of the second trial.

I fall asleep at some point and wake to the clatter of carriage doors opening. We are back in the eastern arc, where the healers are already waiting. And they’re not the only ones.

‘Thank the Gods.’ Caroline rushes to Llinos’s side and buries her head in her shoulder.

‘All Rettlings to the healers. All of you.’ It’s Zelle’s voice and hearing it causes a warmth I didn’t expect. His eyes catch mine and he offers a slight dip of his chin. It might be my imagination, but I’m pretty sure he looks pleased to see me among the living.

Unlike the majority of the people who stumble out of the carriages, I’m not entirely sure a trip to the healer is necessary. Then again, I might be able to walk, but I’ve also got my fair share of cuts and bruises. And maybe a couple of cracked ribs. There’s also the fact that I can’t hear anything out of my right ear. Yeah, on second thought, a trip to the healers definitely wouldn’t hurt.

‘Sorry, you two.’ I place my hands on Caroline’s and Llinos’s shoulders. ‘Gonna have to break it up. I need help with Jonas.’

‘See you later,’ Caroline whispers as she tucks a strand of bloodied hair behind Llinos’s ear.

The healing hall is to the left of the dining room, and it’s been separated into two areas: those who need the most help, and those who need a quick once-over. Llinos and I get grouped together and are quickly whisked behind separate curtain dividers while Jonas is taken away.

‘I think it’s just bruised ribs,’ I tell the healer as he scans his hands over my body. ‘Oh, and my ear. I think it burst my eardrum when it yelled.’

The healer’s cheeks pinch inwards as he mutters something to himself. Even with both working ears, I’m not sure I’d have worked out what he said, only that it isn’t positive.

No more words are exchanged between us as the tingling of his magic ripples over my skin. I close my eyes and bask in the sensation. It’s like pressing my palm to the temple door to see Dinah or feeling the spell Jonas placed on my door. I just wish it were my own magic causing it, not someone else’s.

‘You’re good,’ the healer says as he withdraws his hands from me.

‘Great. Thank you.’

He looks at my blood-soaked clothes. ‘You should bathe and then fetch yourself something to eat. And then rest,’ he suggests. ‘Who knows when they’ll call the next trial.’

As I clamber to my feet, my stomach churns. There are a lot more healers than usual. Are they here merely because they knew the injuries from the jötnar would be significant or for some other reason? Like we need to recover quickly because we’re going to be expected to fight again soon. Very soon.

The healer’s right. Now that they’ve started, they could call the next one at any moment. Maybe they’ll cram the other four trials in right at the end of the four moons, or maybe they’ll be kind and spread them out evenly so we have time to recover. Something tells me it won’t be the latter.

‘Thank you,’ I say before turning and heading through the curtain, only to collide with a wall.

Or at least what I think is a wall, until I step back and find myself staring at a chest. Kyor’s chest.

As I glance up towards his face, he looks down at me with a repulsed expression.