The shaking started after I left the cave. All the adrenaline that had flooded my system had nowhere to go. I’d walked blithely into a cave filled with stifling amounts of power, felt much of it drop away in a moment along with the crystal, and then fought a frog. My reactions had been so messed up by that processes that the frog could have actually killed me. I stumbled out of the Nightetch Woods, swerving out of the way of any nearby life my spear sensed.

I’d fought for my life many times before on this planet, but there had never been a time when I’d been so helpless. Walls had sealed over and opened up while I watched, and all those ants had just vanished. Visiting a Domain was a big risk, I’d gathered that much from everyone I’d quizzed, but I hadn’t really internalized how total its power over me was.

If only it had talked. The soulstones that operated Domains had been people once. Maybe the one I’d visited was old or from another country and spoke a different language. The latter option seemed likely since I hadn’t been able to read the odd piece of paper it had made in front of me. Then again, I couldn’t read the language I spoke either, for some reason. I still could only read and write English. Still, the silence was creepy, even if the soulstone’s actions had been ultimately friendly. The mutated frog must have been one of the trials given to Awaken people. I’d already decided that if I had a choice I’d Awaken instead of becoming an Aelon, mostly because the only Aelon I’d met in my time on this planet had straight-up tortured me. The soulstone had let me leave.

What now?

I would return tomorrow, of course. I’d take a huge risk if it let me learn magic. I’d need to prepare for the next trials though. Those apparently involved a huge amount of stress and a high chance of death, which I’d just confirmed. I needed more information and better gear. My spear was already amazing for predicting ambushes, but it was no sharper than any normal spear. I’d also need some armor. My robes already covered every inch of skin. There were people who fainted with heatstroke at their first days here, and combining them with armor was going to suck.

Well, being covered with sweat was better than being dead.

It turned out that even in my haste I hadn’t been able to get back to my new bunk before sundown. My bunkmates thought I’d been chased by some giant beast and I just went with it, describing a huge thing vaguely shaped like a rhinoceros I’d once seen prowling about. I used my made-up experience as an excuse to go into ludicrous amounts of debt to the jailors. Far from being suspicious, the quartermaster was quite happy to mark down the debt I accrued in buying a thick leather vest, a hunting knife to go along with my spear, rope, pitch, and a few explosives. I couldn’t see anything before I bought it—everything was read to me from a list the man held—but once the quartermaster marked down what I’d purchased he unlocked a heavy door and stomped through to gather everything. If I could just steal the key…

He came back and dumped the stuff on the wooden counter. A few splinters caught on my robes as I gathered it up an eyed everything to make sure it was there. The pitch arrived in a small glass container, the knife was plain iron with a leather-wrapped hilt, and the leather armor could be cut down to fit me. The most intriguing and expensive items were the explosives. There were three, each a small glass marble with a blue bead in the middle. They were chips of mana crystals, like the one in my spear, and all I had to do was throw them hard enough to break the glass and they’d blow up.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

That was about the extent of my preparations before I slunk back into my bunk and collapsed on the thin, coarse fabric we’d bought to cover the floor. I ignored questions about the new bulges in my pack and the bundle in my arms and fell asleep. I’d been a lot more active since I’d arrived here, but I still ended every day dog-tired and ill-tempered.

The next morning, I awoke to screams. My bunkmates looked as confused as I was. Whatever was happening couldn’t be good.

I tossed on my new vest and ignored the extra flaps of material I hadn’t yet cut out to fit me, then rifled in my pack for the knife, which I shoved in my belt, and the three explosive marbles. Those went into a pouch on my waist, where I really hoped they wouldn’t blow up. Glass was deceptively hard to break, but if I got tossed into a tree or something I’d probably blow up.

Best not to allow that to happen. I picked up my spear and heaved my pack onto my shoulders, then stepped outside.

Everything was on fire. Not just the bunks, which might have made sense—they were actually made out of wood. But the storehouse, the dirt, and even exposed rock was burning with strange green flame. Captives and guards alike lurched around in confusion. Guards fired off arrows or brandished swords while the captives cowered, ran, or threw rocks. I looked in the direction of the projectiles and saw it.

It was a demon, no question. Eight eyes and legs burned with the same green flame. Anything that neared the demonic spider vanished, only to reappear seconds later in the same place and momentum.

But by then, the spider had moved. Mandibles clamped around a guard’s head. She screamed for help in a loud shrill voice, then—it bit. I had no idea the head had so much blood.

That instant of distraction was enough for someone to move in close and thrust her sword into the thing’s side. The green fire flared up around the spider, and I got to see what it did when it touched a human.

It wasn’t pretty. The guard began dissolving where the fire touched her like the arrows had, only slower. And, based on the screams, more painfully. Fire crawled up her legs and arms until she vanished. Then, seconds later, she reappeared—still screaming, still on fire, until the fire once more consumed her.

After she vanished and reappeared for the fifth time, the sword sticking out of the spider started sliding out. Green blood that looked more like lava oozed out of the wound, which then flared up into more fire. The injury sealed behind it, and the sword landed on the dirt with a thump.

The guard reappeared, screamed, and burned away again.

I looked away, and once more saw everything on fire. There were a few people who before I’d assumed had been fighting the fire, or were caught up in the blaze.

But now I knew what to look for.

All around me, people burned into nothing, only to reappear and do it again. And if I didn’t move, the same would happen to me. With that thought, something inside me woke up. I’d been content to observe before, been more confused than scared. Now, I was terrified.

I sprinted away, letting my feet lead me as my mind fled in terror.