“The four of us gotta keep the truth about Clove’s death a secret. Where there’s one rat there’s always more, and we can’t have them scurrying around our feet making all this difficult for us. The boss is one thing, but everyone else could be out to get us.” He said flippantly, as if he wasn’t declaring that everyone save for the… four? Four people?

Sechen frowned and looked around. There was no way the man, Helio, was taking the corpse he’d just created in consideration for the head count. She only counted three people, but then the perfectly ordinary man threw his arm up into empty air and left it there. As if he’d thrown it over an invisible person’s shoulders.

“He’s right, Helio.” The plain man said with a grim nod. “We’re getting powerful. We might not be able to trust the boss any more.”

Helio defensively held up his hands. “I didn’t want to say it, just in case she had watchers here; but since Chera hasn’t piped up at all, I think we’re safe. Nod if we are, Chera.”

The masked woman bobbed her head once, then turned to the empty space next to the plain man. Helio’s gaze was focused there as well, and the plain man had his head slightly turned towards the empty spot. So they had a completely invisible fourth member. Incredible.

The plain man burst into laughter and slapped his hand against empty air, an impact ringing out from where it shouldn’t have. “That’s right. If the boss fools Chera, we’re doomed. Hells, we’ve been doomed for years if that’s the case. So, what’s the call, Helio? What do we do with Clove’s body, and what do we tell the boss?”

“Feed her to a sootmarch.” Helio said with a flick of his hand. “And then everyone come together. We’re gonna swear an oath to each other not to speak a word of this to anyone except the four people in this room. Chera, Sibbo, Runfree, and Helioscorn.”

Reality shuddered as Helio, apparently short for Helioscorn, finished his sentence. The cave melted away into a long stretch of nothing, clouds of multicoloured Issi floating through the air on invisible currents until they solidified into a simplistic version of a riverside mill. It was like everything around Sechen had been painted in watercolour, thin black outlines denoting where one thing ended and the other began.

“Runfree was there.” Paui stated in shock. “They work with Rainshear. We couldn’t see them because it was their memory.”

“It doesn’t mean they’re a bad person.” Sechen quickly added, wondering why she was trying to defend Runfree as she spoke. “Rainshear worked with people that protected wisp manifestations, so Runfree could be part of that group. Not the manifestation kidnapping group, or the war between the glacier and Gilded Night group.”

Paui shook her head and pushed forwards, leaving Sechen watching with her lips pulled tight in thought. She didn’t believe her own words, so how was she supposed to convince Paui that the manifestation who was probably like a grandfather to her wasn’t a monster?

The mill ended up much like the cave, except there were now four visible figures instead of three. Sechen got a better look at the terrifying mounts, a monstrous mix of horse, goat, and massive iron stoves. Their tails, horns, and manes seemed to be made of dirty flame, but none of their riders got so much as soot on their clothes. The group bickered for a long while about nothing, mostly started by the previously charred woman named Clove, until they reached a hatch that was marked with the same web-dagger symbol as before. Clove bit her lip and looked around before joining the others, which caused the projection to once more bleed away into something new.

Before eventually settling on something that resembled where Paui was supposed to go with her trial, the clearing switched through five more distinct landscapes. An underground tunnel lit with trails of glowing moss. A clifftop high in the clouds that looked like it would crumble away at any moment, a trail of floating islands leading away until they were eaten by the cloud cover. A small lake with waters so clear Sechen could see a temple far below. A forest of rusted metal trees, deep blue lightning crashing down and sparking between the trees in a deadly but beautiful show. And finally, a graveyard with rib-like trees stretching to the sky above, small dots of ghostly light meandering about like wisps. Sechen felt a strong connection to the final visit, but it blinked away before she could find anything meaningful.

With a shudder in the system, Sechen found herself standing in the middle of a field that she recognized. Or, more accurately, a prairie she recognized. The absence of three monoliths was a little disconcerting, and so was the slight wind that ground against her skin like grains of sand. Paui looked around in confusion, just as she had for every other place the trial had brought her to, as if she didn’t recognize this place. But how was that possible? Didn’t she need to go into that room to get her bond?

“Where are we now?” Paui asked, confirming her lack of knowledge. “It feels like Runfree.”

Sechen started to speak, but held her tongue. How would it look if she knew about this place when Paui didn’t? And that Wix, Paui’s father, had shown her instead of his own daughter? “I don’t know. But Runfree’s a land manifestation, right? So maybe this is where they manifested from?” She suggested. It was a little too on the nose, and Paui shot her a questioning look, but decided not to push how Sechen knew that.

“The system has finally allowed me back in to speak with you two.” Thana’s voice echoed through the Runfree prairie. “The trial continues, albeit dangerously, but I can delay it for a few hours to see if I can find anything wrong with the Issi construct I designed. Will you accept that, Paui?”

Paui looked at Sechen, her face hardening with resolve. “This is the last part of the trial, so we might as well get it over with. Unless you added a third part to make it harder for me?”

“I did not add another section, but this section has been made incredibly difficult. Sechen cannot leave unless I pause and restart the trial, which would lead to an hour delay, so you will have to stay out of all of Paui’s encounters.” Thana said, and Sechen nodded to nobody. Naught slid recognition that they wanted to speak into the bottom of her mind, but didn’t interrupt just yet. “This is just for you, Sechen. Paui can’t hear me right now, and you can’t relay any of this to her. Cross the middle and ring finger on your right hand if you understand.”

Sechen fumbled with her hand, realizing that she couldn’t easily cross those two fingers. She eventually succeeded, and Thana continued immediately. “She will be accosted by two challenges. A simple sprint after a beast that holds the key to speed Issi, but thanks to the way the trial works, you will have to follow after her. I am doing the best I can to accommodate you, but you will still have to run. While she sprints after the first beast she will be constantly accosted by Issi beasts that hold the key to fluidity Issi, which she will have to dodge or defeat until the trial determines that she is worthy. Do not help her. Do not distract her. Steel yourself for the worst. Step at least twenty feet off to the side, and I will begin the trial.”

Sechen got five steps to the right before the Issi projection shuddered, the colours became incredibly saturated, and the wind picked up to storm speeds. A blurred figure that could have been an Issi beast appeared fifty feet in front of Paui, a cloud of pollen-like Issi enshrouding it and leaving a trail as it took off into the distance. Paui sprinted after it with a grand snap, tackling it to the ground before Sechen could even react. Sechen felt like she could feel Thana’s disbelieving stare from the control room as the Issi beast dissolved, a crown of yellow Issi being placed on Paui’s head as a message played through the prairie.

At least Sechen thought it was a message. She couldn’t make out the speaker, any of the words, or a cadence that would belong to anyone who knew how to speak. As she looked up in confusion another beast attacked Paui, this time wrapped in electric blue ribbons, and she killed it with an Issi coiled punch that blew it into dust. Apparently that wasn’t supposed to happen, as the blue Issi swirled in to mingle with her already yellow crown.

“Congratulations, hopeful Paui.” A brand new voice purred, dangerous and sharp. “You have completed the trial of grace. Now, though, you have one final complication to work through. And they are not happy about being… overruled.”

The voice laughed, low and sultry, as the Issi around Paui shuddered and split into something horrible. Runfree’s posture was tight, their fists clenched at their sides and their mouth pulled into an angry grimace. They flashed and paused for a moment before blinking ahead, directly before Paui’s face, and reached out a hand to grab her. Paui kicked backwards, her crown of Issi dissolving into nothing as Runfree’s hand clasped around it and crushed it.

“Please tell me that isn’t the real Runfree.” Sechen muttered, calling on her three personal halos. “Oh, maybe this is still part of the trial. Thana? What should I…”

“HELP HER!” Thana screamed into Sechen’s ear, filling her with panic-fueled adrenaline as Runfree bore down on a confused Paui. Sechen cracked her knuckles and two halos appeared behind Paui’s shoulders, now adorned with golden accents, stealing away a good portion of Sechen’s Issi reserves to give Paui a fighting chance.

Paui raised her arms a little too late, taking a force Issi attack that sent her skidding backwards with her limbs splayed out like a bearskin rug. She cursed and tried to reorient herself in midair, but her face fell when no Issi responded to her commands. Whatever Runfree had done, it had robbed Paui of her borrowed Issi. Sechen sprinted as fast as she could to Paui’s side, but her empowerment was no match for Runfree’s speed. They appeared next to Paui and stomped down on her arm, spitting on her face as they looked down on her with disdain.

“You…” Runfree started, but no more words came out. A jumble of guttural noises and high-pitched shrieks that confirmed to Sechen that the trial was breaking down. Paui tried to wriggle away from Runfree’s hold, but even with Sechen’s halos empowering her she was no match for this duplicate. Maybe she just needed more.

As she called on her Issi, she paused. Paui looked to be ninety-percent empowered by her Issi. She didn’t know how she knew that, or how she could see it, but she could. If two halos empowered her to ninety percent, then how much more would one add? She surged forward and threw a fist at Runfree’s elbow, who looked at her out of the side of their eye and shoved an arm into her path.