As Syno backed down and returned home, the Tikuur stood down. Amaro looked back to watch as it disappeared, treading silent as a ghost this time.

“Absuos really only allows people to know when he’s there huh?” Tulos said, “For such a big kitty he could sneak up on anyone he wanted and tear them open before they even knew what happened.”

“Don’t remind me…” Amaro muttered. Absuos was their estate’s security system. Any assassins or spies who scaled the walls of their estates inevitably ended up as his meal.

They came upon their next trial. A shimmering wall of magical force. Their father touched it, sending a pulse through it like a stone being dropped in a pond. He walked right through in record time.

They each touched the wall, and when Amaro’s hand pressed against it, images of runes filled his mind. They shifted and rotated about in disorienting fashion.

Before Amaro had even started to solve it, Sancta was already through. She was always good at this trial.

Amaro knew the trick to it. He had to puzzle the runes together into their family crest. But even if he knew that, each of the runes were randomized so he needed to take some time to figure out the pattern and fit them properly. Moving one rune into place would move another out of place. So he had to think of how moving one rune would affect the rest or the puzzle would get more tangled. It was such an annoying puzzle.

The solution finally clicked and Amaro stepped through. Only a few seconds behind was Anitus, followed by Tulos.

It was Raktus’s turn to be last. It was the first time he’d made it past Absuos, so it was no wonder he struggled here. He wasn’t exactly the brightest in their family, but if he made it through here, Amaro knew for certain he’d have no issues making it through the final trial.

He cheered him on mentally. He wanted to spend his birthday with as many family members as he could today.

“Time’s up. You fail, Raktus.” Kadmus said, already walking away.

Amaro made a mental note to teach Raktus the trick of that puzzle when they came back.

Raktus cursed, punching the wall of force as hard as he could before heading back to the estate.

Now came the third and final trial. Before them stood a monolithic wall complete with tiered gates. There was only one way out, and it was through those gates. The problem was, they were extraordinarily heavy, and built to swing back into place.

“I will give you all a total of ten minutes. If you cannot open the gates by then, you will turn back. Is this understood?” Kadmus said.

The four of them nodded.

Kadmus walked forward, outstretching his hand and pushing through each tier of the gate as if it were any ordinary door. He made it look so easy. He hadn’t even slowed down when he pushed through.

The gates crashed back into place, letting out a deep resonant gong that rang down the steep cliffs of their mountain home. It was the sound of the fifth and final bell.

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Depending on how much strength someone used to open the gate, a different bell would resonate each time and let everyone in the city streets below know who was descending the Xirxus mountain.

Amaro’s father passed through this door twice a day every day without issue. But Amaro knew it would take almost everything he had to ring the first bell.

He looked to Tulos and Sancta. This was not the first time either of them had gotten to this trial. Sancta had made it with Amaro’s help before, but Tulos had never been beyond the walls.

“See you all on the other side. And that means you as well, Tulos. Don’t embarrass Evra’s bloodline like Syno did.” Anitus said.

The air got dry and hot, the grass around them almost instantly drying out. Anitus channeled his fire magic into every muscle in his body, so much that wings of fire burst from his shoulder. He launched at the door, stopping dead in his tracks for a moment before the door slowly creeked open. One step at a time, his feet divoting into the soil until he picked up enough speed to carry himself all the way through.

The first bell chimed, but that much in it of itself was a feat.

Amaro was going to stay behind. He knew he could get through the doors, but he didn’t want to leave more of his family behind and be stuck with only his father and Anitus for the rest of the day.

Sancta pushed his shoulder, “Go on ahead. We’ll meet you there.”

“But-”

“But nothing, brother! We only have so much time, and you should be free on your birthday. I won’t be motivated to open the door if you’re not on the other side of it, so go.”

Amaro understood, “Then I’ll leave you to it.”

Sancta really had gotten stronger in the last two years.

Tulos was sitting in the grass, legs crossed and palms clasped in meditation.

“What are you doing Tulos?”

“Lorshiir taught me breathing exercises for this. Go on ahead Amaro. And don’t worry about me. I’m going to get through even if it takes me the full ten minutes.”

Amaro had never seen the otherwise sly and impish Tulos look so serious before, “Come to think of it, you have been challenging Raktus to bouts of strength lately haven’t you?”

Tulos nodded, “Yeah, Yeah, don’t get me wrong. Being in a big palace is nice and all, but it’s too cramped for me. Today might be your birthday, but today is also the first day I get to see Yvian with my own eyes!”

Amaro nodded, “Don’t take too long. I’ll see you both on the other side.”

He exhaled, the world seeming to vanish around him.

Amaro imagined his magic flowing through his muscles in a ravenous current. Absuos was his inspiration for this spell. The guardian of Xirxus Manor embodied the merciless element of lightning. He was ferocity. He was lightning. He was power felt before it was seen and seen before it was heard.

Electricity charged the air and snapped about, the smell of ozone diffusing around him.

Vicious lightning of deep violet arched around his body. He pressed his hand to the door and pushed.

The second bell chimed out, and Amaro was on the other side.

“I expect no less from my eldest.” Kadmus said.

“I was extra motivated to get out of there today.”

Anitus huffed, crossing his arms and looking away.

Amaro took a seat and faced the door.

“Expecting them to get through?” Kadmus asked.

“Are you not?” Amaro shot back.

“You and Anitus are special even among our family. Most do not leave the estate on their own until they are fifteen, but the two of you have been able to since you were nine.”

“Tulos and Sancta are both ten right now, and I have faith they can do it.” Amaro said.

Kadmus smiled to himself, “One can only hope I’d be blessed with such a strong generation of children, but you may learn today that sometimes that hope can be foolish.”

Amaro waited in silence, counting the minutes in his head. Then around the sixth minute,

Groooaaaannn!