Page 461 of Axis of Fire

A sudden flash pulled me back to the present.

The map was glowing.

As though it were trying to tell me something.

The marker labeled B had begun to pulse with soft light.

Were these maps...

alive?

Picking it up, I took a cautious step forward without taking my eyes off the glowing marker.

The pulsing continued.

Then I turned around and walked several steps in the opposite direction.

The light immediately weakened.

So...

I was probably supposed to walk toward whichever direction made the marker shine brighter.

But what if...

it was just another trap?

During our survival lessons, most of the instructors had told us to trust our instincts above all else.

But from everything I'd learned about Virgo, I knew the people of the Realm of Light relied on logic first.

And they were the ones who had created this map.

I studied it again.

The hills.

The paths.

The markers.

Were the letters a clue?

Did they actually mean something?

If the map really was alive...

could I—

"Could you please show me the right way?" I asked aloud, feeling ridiculous for talking to a piece of paper.

The moment the words left my mouth, the marker stopped pulsing.

Then an arrow appeared beside Point A, pointing toward a narrow passage between the bushes.

I lifted my head and looked around again.

Bushes lined both sides of the trail.