Code of Shadows

Test 4 (Part 38)

The bell sounded and the crystal cleared up. The girl stepped back

"Score recorded. 652." the voice of the orb broke the bickering in the corner up. They turned and stared at the girl in surprise.

One of the girls finally stepped forward, and placed her hand on the crystal.

"Score recorded. 701."

The last two girls stared at each other.

Finally, one of them snapped and stomped over to the crystal.

She thrust their hand onto the crystal.

It glowed dark red, wavered, and stayed there.

The girl looked at the crystal in surprise. Her eyes widened, and tears formed. She hastily tried to wipe them away. The crystal gave a dull thud, then went clear.

"Score inadequate. Please step out of the room," the orb droned.

The girl stood up and sprinted out of the room. She was wailing now, and I looked after her helplessly, but there was nothing I could do.

The last girl approached the crystal. She stared at it. She had seen everything that the crystal had done now, and I could see the fear in her eyes.

I reached out and gently urged her forward. She didn't look back. Instead she reached forward and touched the crystal.

It glowed and changed from dark red and landed on orange.

She stepped away and the drone flashed above us.

"Last score recorded. 613," the orb said. It then flickered and went out, leaving the last four of us in complete darkness.

I stumbled forward and started to search for the door. I debated using magic to create a little light, but then decided against it. The people in this room would then know I was a fantasy.

My hand hit a wall and created a loud echoing thud.

I heard ragged breath of the other girls.

"Are you okay?" one of them called.

"Yeah, just my hand," I responded. "I am going to find the door."

The other girls mumbled in agreement.

I slid my hand around the wall, searching for the door.

My hand dropped away from the wall, and I took a step forward. I felt around for the handle, then whooped as my hand closed around the handle.

"Head towards my voice! I am at the door," I said.

I turned the handle, and struggled to open it in the darkness.

It squeaked, then finally gave way.

Light flooded into the room, and I tumbled out onto the landing.

The mentor stared jumped back in surprise.

Then took off down the stairs at a pace that would have made Kara proud.

.............................

When we arrived in the dining hall everyone had settle back down into their groups. It was late, and I stared at the setting sun.

Haggard students stumbled into chairs around us as they came back from a hard day of training. The trainee group had significantly decreased, and I could already see that some of the tables had been removed to create a better flow.

I spotted Dylan immediately and sighed in relief. He had not been cut. I looked at the overall group of trainees and noticed that none of the royals had been discharged. Sadly that included Caleb, Isabella and Mary. They sat together in a corner glaring at everyone and anything that passed.

I sat down next to Dylan and poked him in the side to tell him I was present, then left the physical world to think.

I felt the Belle's conscience tugging at mine, but I kept it out, I did not need an ear splitting headache, I just needed to talk to her.

I reached out and tapped on Belle's barriers.

They opened to admit me, but I made sure that Belle couldn't slip back into my mind.

A scene materialized in front of me. Belle stood in front of me at the edge of a cliff. She had her back turned to me, and she stared out into the forest. I stared at her. She looked exactly like the Belle that was written in the fairy tales. She had the yellow gown, and the hair pulled up into a half bun.

"It has been a long time since I have been here," she said. "I used to bring books from the library and read them right here. He would always be mad at me because I was too close to the edge, but I would always laugh and dance away. It has been so long since I have been able to see him, and when I did, I couldn't believe he choose a host like that. I thought he knew better. Rarely do you ever choose royalty, they become ignorant fools if they discover our presence too soon.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"When I became a fantasy, he did too. We promised each other to always find the other, and we did for centuries. But when I was forced into service, I lost him. When I finally found a trace of him on someone, I investigated and found him, but his host pushed me away."

I looked at her steely expression. Her eyes were clouded and she looked defeated.

"Maybe it was just because he didn't recognize you..." I suggested.

Belle scoffed. "No. He addressed me, then told me that he hated me and that I should never come back because I would ruin everything that he and his fantasy had built together. He said it would ruin both of our happiness's," Belle swallowed. "He showed me a memory of him dancing with another girl and how Adam had actually shown love for that girl. He showed me a memory of Adam saying that he would never love me again. He discarded me for another." Belle broke down.

She sank to her knees and sobbed.

I pulled up beside her, then dug into the library she had created. I found the one door that she had said I should not go into, then broke the lock. I gaped at the size of the library that she had prevented me from entering.

I grabbed onto Belle consciousness, then dragged her back into my mind. I handed her a well worn blue book, then crumped to the floor with the headache that splashed over me a second later.

I layed there for a minute, then forced through the pain and hugged Belle goodbye before I pulled myself into the physical world.

The headache pounded, but I didn't want to let anyone see that.

I focused on the conversation that Dylan was having, and hastily started to shove food in my mouth. All I had to do was focus on something else. That would keep the pain at bay.