Page 235 of Revels on an Angel’s Grave

You need to fight.

He could be strong enough. For that future with Emmeline, and for his siblings, he could.

“Okay,” Roremar said, trying to focus. He adjusted his sling where it was digging into the back of his neck, his bare chest cold in the damp air. “You need to think about the bigger picture of what we’re facing then. And I need to think at all.”

It was easier said than done, though. Trauma wasn’t something to will away. They may as well be trapped in their own minds, not beneath the city.

“And if we can’t?” Rian asked.

Roremar crossed to one of the tunnels, picking up a shard of bone, ivory streaked with dirt. He held it up for Rian to see. “Then I don’t think we get out of here.”

Rian swallowed, mouth opening to answer, but a deep scream wrenched the air.

“What was that?” Rian asked, nerves cracking his voice.

“Come on.” Roremar forced him into motion before Rian could reconsider, the two of them racing sloppily down the tunnel the screams were echoing from.

As they got closer, Roremar recognized the voice. “Perry?”

Rian nodded, curls bobbing, and they picked up their pace.

Perry wasn’t screaming aimlessly. It was the same words on a loop.

“HELP! WE’RE TRAPPED!”

“We are not trapped!” another voice said, frustration burning through it as if he’d been at this for a while.

Roremar and Rian took another turn at breakneck speed, each stride aggravating his injured shoulder, and they screeched to a halt. Khasson had Perry slammed against the wall, his jaw caught in his grasp.

“We are not trapped!” Khasson was imploring him, but Perry’s eyes were frantic.

“HELP!”

“Shut up!”

“It’s his greatest fear!” Roremar blurted, and both Perry’s and Khasson’s attention swiveled to him and Rian. He had to fight through the fog trying to eclipse his mind again, trying to see how it was targeting Perry.

He didn’t know him that well, but Perry dreamed of traveling the realm. He was fascinated by the Constellation Isles because his grandfather—a man he loved and revered—had been mocked for his fascination and died without the respect he deserved.

Perry’s fear was being trapped on the continent, maybe, never honoring his grandfather’s legacy. Or it was being contained in a very small, very defined box.

Roremar scanned the low ceiling, the stone walls. Maybe this time, the challenge was more literal, convincing Perry he was stuck here.

Or maybe Roremar was missing the point entirely with his scattered mind.

“What are you talking about?” Khasson barked, long hair wild around his sharp features.

“The trial is targeting our greatest fears, preying on them…”

Roremar wracked his brain for the rest, but Rian jumped in. “It’s manipulating the trauma we’ve faced, each in a very personal way. Mine’s making me paranoid of the consequences of my decisions. Roremar’s is attacking his memory. And Perry…” He deferred to Roremar.

Whether he’d deduced the correct root cause of the fear or not, Roremar had to try something.

“Perry,” Roremar said softly, approaching as if he was a wounded animal. “Perry, it’s okay. You aren’t trapped down here.” He flicked a glance to Rian, asking him to go along with it. “We know a way out. We’re going to help you.”

“You know the way out?” Perry panted, eyes red and bloodshot from his screaming. One of the silver hoops in his ear was gone, his tunic ripped and askew.

“I do,” Roremar lied, but Perry’s entire frame relaxed. “I need you to be quiet though as we get there. Take deep breaths.”