Hailey's POV
The forest faded slowly like someone pulling down a curtain. The wind stopped, the trees melted into dust, and then everything was gone. In the blink of an eye, Ava and I were back inside the chamber. The Gatekeeper stood ahead, still as a statue, her glowing eyes watching us closely like she'd seen everything. But of course, she had seen everything, she had written the entire trials and she was a witness to every one of them.
Every being we encountered during this trial was not true there we were merely conjure-ups, a pure manifestation of sorcery which was forbidden.
After a few minutes of silence, I let out a shaky breath. My chest hurt. My throat burned. That last trial had taken something out of me — something deep.
