Brent's POV
"Now let the real trials begin." That's what this fucking podium said. You've gotta be shitting me.
"Call the others," Joel said but as he finished his sentence the hole began to close up from above us. I dashed forward to try to clear it but no luck.
"No reception." Garrett said, waving his phone around.
"Welcome!" A voice boomed from all around us. I turned left and right but couldn't see anything new.
"I'm your host, Gabriel! If you can complete these trials, I will grant one wish. You can wish for anything! I just ask that you don't destroy the Earth, that may be annoying to deal with. Now then!" The voice cut off and a glowing man in a white robe walked forward out of thin air. He was at least 8 feet tall with long blonde hair, huge muscles and sharp features.
"Who's ready?" He said with a huge smile on his face.
"What's with those fake trials?" Joel growled.
"Oh that? That was just because it's funny. Who doesn't want to visit their ex? The flower thing though was just because I got bored of trying to think of more ideas so I gave an impossible task. Sorry about your friend though. No idea who did that one." He winked exaggeratedly.
"Time for the real trials. Now that the moon is full, Earth is full of magic. In fact, I have a buddy, he's a bewitched demon gone wrong. I'd like to see you slay him." Gabriel said, smiling still. I could see Garrett roll his eyes.
"Say hello to Jimmy! Yes I gave him a name, don't you name your pets?" He cackled like a little kid eating a cookie.
This man is absolutely nuts.
A half man - half demon creature was conjured out of thin air. It's human leg was causing it to walk with a limp and it strode forward slowly. This will be a piece of cake. I willed myself to shift into my wolf but nothing was happening. What the fuck?
"Oh yes, no cheating, so that means no wolfing out!" Gabriel called out.
The demon thing stood in front of me with it's repulsive breath that was like hot garbage. I wanted to puke just being in it's vicinity. I dodged it's first attack by jumped out of the way. It's legs were slow but it's arms were faster than average. All I could do the first few minutes was hop around and avoid attacks. Why is it only following me? I looked over at the others and saw them just watching me.
"Fucking do something!" I yelled at them. Garrett stepped in and ran towards us with his vamp speed, reaching Jimmy in seconds and ripping his throat.
"Oh darn, I should've said no vampires either. Oh well, bye Jimmy!" Gabriel fake pouted.
"Why didn't you jump in sooner?" I hissed at Garrett and he had the audacity to just shrug at me.
"Now then, time for the second trial! We're going to make a trip to an active volcano!" Gabriel then shot a beam of light out and we were transported to the top of a volcano. It was hot and surreal even being here. I peeked in the mouth of the volcano and paled. That's a long drop.
Gabriel shot out another beam of light into the volcano and created what looked like a long piece of wood.
"Now children, only 3 of you will move on from this trial. I don't like there being so many of you so I'm going to eliminate one of you. Cross this makeshift bridge and try not to fall in. Now chop chop!" He cackled, again. This guy is getting on my last nerve.
Feeling like I need to be a bad ass, I decided to go first. I took a deep breath and tested the wood with my weight. It bowed slightly but seemed like it would hold. Must be angel power. I slowly and shakily worked my way from one end of the volcano to the other on this suspicious piece of wood. When I reached the other side I bent down and kissed the solid surface.
Garrett was next followed by Joel and finally Damien was last. I had a bad feeling about this, so far none of us had been eliminated. Damien worked his way across slowly until he was about to reach us, then the board disappeared. He managed to grab onto the edge of the rocky surface, clinging for dear life.
I grabbed his hand and started pulling up. We all grabbed a part of his body, hauling him up when a gust of wind hit us and knocked us back. I couldn't hold my grip on him and I heard his scream as he plummeted. I closed my eyes. Unable to comprehend what the fuck just happened.
"What the fuck was that?" Joel roared at Gabriel.
"Now, now, settle down. There were simply too many of you. Be prepared. At the end, there can only be one." He said with a large, creepy smile.
Rose's POV
"Aaaahhh!!!!!" I woke up with a scream. I felt like my insides were being torn apart.
"Ahhhh! A, wake up! Help!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. Everything made of glass around me shattered while the lights flickered.
"Rose?! What's wrong?!" I could hear his voice but he seemed so far away. I felt like a part of my soul was dying. Tears streamed down my eyes as I held my stomach, trying to breathe through the pain. Asmodeus held me as I screamed and cried almost all night until finally my cries turned into small sniffles.
"Don't say it." I whispered hoarsely to me.
"Rose-" he started.
"No! Don't fucking say it! If you say it, it will make it real! So don't you dare fucking say it!" I screamed in his face. He looked at me with pity before grabbing me and embracing me.
My screams picked back up until I felt myself faint from the stress.
Asmodeus's POV
I watched a passed out Rose finally get some sleep. She needed it, especially since one of her mates died. I hope that's the only one that dies, otherwise she'll likely go mad. I don't know what happened and I'm not sure I want to know.
My phone dinged and I looked down to see that Belphegor finally replied to my earlier text.
Me: you available to help me out with something
Belphy: no
Me: you sure about that? Or is it that you don't want to get off your ass
Belphy: I'm busy
Me: you're never busy
Belphy: well I am now
Okay Belphegor, my interest is now peaked. I was thinking about making an impromptu trip to his home when I heard Rose groaning again. I looked over from my phone and saw her face scrunched up in discomfort. I laid down fully and grabbed her to where I was spooning her. After a minute she seemed to relax in my arms. I sighed and closed my eyes. Hopefully she'll be better tomorrow. I prefer her when she's fiery, not like this.
I soon forgot about Belphegor and went to sleep.
Colten's POV
I woke up in the middle of the night and ran to check on the flower but the stupid plant hadn't sprouted yet. The soil seemed undisturbed.
"Hey have you heard from the others?" Max asked me. I guess he couldn't sleep well either. I shook my head, "no nothing. But is that so unusual?" I asked him.
"I guess not, it's only been a few hours. I just wish Rose were here." He said.
"Me, too." I replied.
I looked at the spot in the ground where the plant was supposed to grow and couldn't help but feel a growing anxiety.
"If we haven't heard from them by morning, let's go check on them, alright?" I told Max. He quickly agreed and I headed back to bed.
I lay awake thinking about how meeting Rose seems so far away. I can't believe she went from being a student to being my mate and I went from a being a teacher to being a father. I couldn't wait to hold my babies again.
Joel's POV
I looked at the mouth of the volcano in disbelief. There's no way that just happened right? It has to be a mind trick played by Gabriel.
"He's not dead, is he?" I asked him.
"Who knows?" He shrugged before ignoring me.
"So now it's time for the next trial! Each trial will be an elimination round until only one of you are left to complete the final trial. I think that sounds fair." He mused.
"Fair for who?" Garrett hissed out.
"Why fair for me of course. It shouldn't work out to where you pass so easily." He replied.
"What's the next trial?" I asked him. I needed to get my mind off of my beta and friend. Brent looked absolutely miserable and I could see tears streaming down his face.
"We're now going to go play with dragons." He said with a gleam in his eye. You've gotta be fucking kidding me.
He blasted us with his angelic light and we arrived at the mouth of a huge cavern. "Now hurry along! The last one left will be closed in with the dragons!"
I peeked into the cavern and it seemed pretty normal. Dirt walls, dirt ground, water dripping and there is probably a few bats in there. I find it hard to believe there would be dragons though. The three of us started walking in, looking around warily.
"Wait, do you hear that?" Garrett asked suddenly. We all stilled and towards the end of our trail I could hear breathing.
"We're not alone in here." I whispered. Brent nodded at me and we slowly crept forward, trying to quiet our steps. The further we walked, the louder the breaths until finally I almost ran into a scaly wall. It turns out the wall wasn't a wall, it was the ass of a dragon. I stopped just in time to prevent running into it. I started to walk around it when I hear "oomph" from behind me. I looked over to see Garrett running into the dragon. I started to pick up the pace to pass the dragon before it realized what was happening. I didn't get very far before I heard the sound of wings flapping.
"Run!" I shouted to the others. We started to run until I could see a sliver of light ahead.
"Ahhh! It's got my foot!" I hear Brent yell. I turn behind me to see the dragon with Brent's leg gripped by his teeth. I watched Garrett turn back to try to help him out. Garrett started swiping at the dragon's eye and I tried to shift into a wolf but I still don't have the ability. Fuck you, Gabriel. I pick up a rock and beat the dragon on the snout until it finally releases Brent's leg.
"Go! I'll distract him!" Garrett yells.
"No! We can figure something out, we can all exit at the exact same time." I told him.
"You think Gabriel will allow that? Go without me, I can hold my own here." He shouted at us.
Listening to his pleas, I help support Brent and we shuffle out of the cave. As soon as we exited, the rocks shifted, closing the exit behind us.
"Damn it!" Brent growled.
"Oh goody! Two of you actually made it through! Only 2 trials left!" Gabriel said.
"You bastard!" Brent shouted at him.
"Calm down, Brent. Don't you want the wish at the end? Then I suggest you don't insult me or you'll get nothing."
After that threat, Brent quieted down and I looked up at Gabriel and asked, "what's next?"