Circle of Six Mages Book One: Yin and Yang

Chapter Three: The Test- Part Two

Plunk.

Lyla flopped down on her ratty blanket-bed. It was the morning of the Test, and although she'd never admit it, she was literally worried sick.

Her measly pile of clothes (two holey shirts and one pair of trousers with a rip from ankle to knee on the right side) sat by the door. She couldn't carry them in her arms, plus she wanted to take her prized possessions that lay underneath the floorboards.

However, she didn't have a bag. She could do a classic hobo stick with one of her blankets, but she was sure something would fall between the holes.

Lyla lay there, considering what to do. She tried to keep her eyes open, but the last few nights of worried, restless sleep made her eyelids heavy. She finally succumbed to rest.

A shadow loomed over her. She was terrified. Where was she? What was going on?

However, her mouth seemed to know the answers to these questions, for it shouted at the figure without her permission.

"Why are you doing this?! Why would you betray us?!" It screamed. Her throat grew hoarse as she screamed insults and obscenities at the shadow.

The only reaction from it was a sort of hmph like a chuckle. It continued rustling around. She then realized that the shadow was standing before a counter, messing with vials full of liquids so bright they were practically Day Glo.

For almost ten minutes she shrieked. Her mind told her to get out, to run, to hide, to never look back. It worked frantically to tell her muscles to move, move, move, but they wouldn't. It was like she was a guest in someone's body, allowed to watch but not to interfere.

When finally her muscles did listen, it wasn't to escape, but to try lunging for the shadow.

At first, she moved forward. But then, something held fast around her wrists and ankles. It yanked her back like elastic, with a loud SNAP!

"Now, now, don't be like that." The shadow taunted, turning to face her. Only then did she finally see the shadow's face.

"My dear Lyla, do be a dear and drink an old woman's tea. It will kill you quickly, I promise." She held out a cup of what appeared to be wet tar, but Lyla wasn't looking at it; she was looking at the woman's face.

The shadow, the one trying to poison her, was Kiela.

Lyla woke with a start, sitting bolt upright. Her breathing was panicky, and she was covered in cold sweat.

Memories of her dream flooded her mind, and Lyla tried to call herself by telling her it was just that: a dream.

However, her mind told her it was something more, perhaps even a warning. Lyla chewed her lip, trying not to let herself think what she really wanted to- what if the dream was a warning.

The special bells designated for the Test sounded, snapping her out if her reverie. Lyla knew it was the special ones because they weren't rattley and didn't sound like they were going to disintegrate the next time it chimed.

Lyla jumped up, panic swelling in her throat. She was late!

Quicker than she had ever moved in her life, Lyla double layered two blankets so no holes were exposed. She retrieved her possessions from under the floorboard and tied one of her shirts around then, minimizing the risk of any of them falling.

She then put her clothes on one of the blankets, tying both of them around her luggage.

She grabbed the stick from the corner, which she'd brought up in case she had to resort to the hobo stick. It was a good thing, too; the bells that had rung less than a minute before signified Lyla had to be at the Testing facility in fifteen minutes.