Page 68 of The Amber Sunburst

He goes to rub his face with his hands but they don’t move, tied up behind his back.

What is this?

The last thing he remembers is eating in the dining hall. He woke up that morning to Alexander frantically waltzing through his morning routine. They ate breakfast in silence, stress tightening around them like a vise because of⁠—

The Trials!

But this is meant to be the team Trial. How can it be a ‘team Trial’ if it’s so dark he can’t see his team, for Forms’ sake?

“Auxiliaries,” a robotic female voice booms over some kind of receiver in his ear, “welcome to the first Trial.

“Most of you find yourselves in the dark. You can see nothing except—” click “—your mirror image.”

His vision is overtaken by what must be his own shadow, shining white.

“Your Cohort Leader is outside of this simulation. They have access to the location of every member of their team and a bird’s-eye view of the cavern you find yourselves in. Their mission is to bring you to the light beyond the cave. Your mission is to let them. If your Cohort Leader does not guide half the group out of the cave, they are disqualified. If you do not make it out of the cave, you are disqualified.

“Fifty minutes is allotted to this task. Once the time is up, there will be consequences far steeper than mere disqualification for those still in the caves. May the Forms grant you wisdom in Justice.”

Another click echoes in the headset and the beeping of a new line opening follows.

Then he hears, “Is everyone alright?”

Zeno almost wants to ask whether Lazarus is alright, given his shaking voice, but he instead joins the chorus of ‘Yes’es from everyone else connected via the headsets.

A loud inhale is all the warning they get before Lazarus takes off at a mile a minute.

“Kallias,” he says, “answer a few questions for me. All I have are your locations and a map of the maze you’re in right now, and I need a lay of the land.”

“Go for it,” Kallias responds.

Smart, using Kallias for initial information; he’s the only person who’s observant and calm enough to be fully aware of their situation.

“Okay. Does your shadow change when it’s on the floor versus on a wall?”

“Yes.”

“So you can tell when you’re about to hit a wall, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Can you move freely?”

“Hands are immobile, but otherwise, yes.”

“Turn around and put your back on the wall.”

A brief pause follows, then Kallias says, “Done.”

“Now walk forward and count your steps until you see your shadow on the wall opposite you.”

There’s a light sound of shuffling. Then Kallias responds, “Twenty steps.”

“Stay there,” Lazarus instructs. “Alright, everyone. Twenty steps is going to be the metric from here for walking. So if I say one, you walk twenty steps. Two, you walk approximately forty, and so on. And if your shadow appears to be changing surfaces, you’ve probably reached a wall and you should make your next turn.”

Another round of assent reverberates in Zeno’s ears.

Zeno is pleasantly surprised by Lazarus’ composure. After stumbling upon his panic attack before their second cohort meeting, Zeno expected to be completely left in the dark for this challenge, but Lazarus is stepping up.