ARIA POV
We're falling through absolute darkness, and I can feel everyone's terror through the bond like it's my own.
Four other minds press against mine—Caspian's determination mixed with fear, Luna's visions flashing too fast to understand, Ezra's protective rage, Felix's panicked calculations. It's overwhelming and intimate and I hate it.
Then we hit water.
Cold, dark water that swallows us whole. I kick upward desperately, my lungs burning. When I break the surface, I'm gasping and flailing in what feels like an underground lake.
"Everyone alive?" Ezra calls out, his voice echoing.
"Barely!" Felix sputters nearby.
"Here," Luna coughs.
"I'm okay," Caspian says, and through the bond I feel him reach for me before he can stop himself. The concern is automatic and unwanted. He quickly pulls back mentally, embarrassed.
I ignore the weird flutter in my chest. Must be the bond. Has to be the bond.
We swim toward a rocky shore, dragging ourselves onto stone that feels ancient and wrong. Caspian creates a small orb of Celestial light, illuminating a massive cavern that definitely wasn't on any Academy map.
The System interface appears in my vision:
QUEST UPDATE: ESCAPE THE CATACOMBSCURRENT LOCATION: THE DROWNED SANCTUMOBJECTIVE: FIND THE EXIT BEFORE SILAS'S FORCES ARRIVETIME LIMIT: 30 MINUTESENEMIES DETECTED: 12 APPROACHING
"Thirty minutes?" Felix reads his own screen. "Twelve enemies? Are you kidding me?"
"The grimoire said it was a test," Ezra says grimly, shadows already gathering around his hands. "Guess we're about to find out if we're worth the power it gave us."
"What power?" I demand. "All it did was bind us together and give us fancy screens!"
NEW NOTIFICATION: SKILL UNLOCKED - SHARED SIGHTSKILL UNLOCKED - PARTY COMMUNICATIONSKILL UNLOCKED - COMBINED MAGIC (LEVEL 1)
Words appear in my mind that I somehow know came from Caspian: Can you hear this?
I jump. "Did you just—in my head—"
Party communication, Luna's voice echoes mentally. We can speak to each other through the bond now. Useful for stealth.
Or incredibly invasive, Felix adds sourly. Great. Now I can't even have private thoughts.
Your private thoughts are safe unless you actively project them, the grimoire's voice suddenly intrudes, making us all flinch. I would hate to be trapped in Felix Zhao's anxiety spirals. So tedious.
"The book can talk to us too?" Felix's voice rises. "That's it. I want out of this contract!"
Too late, child. You bound yourself willingly. Now survive the test or die. Simple rules.
Heavy footsteps echo through the cavern—multiple sets, getting closer.
"We need to move," I say. "The System said twelve enemies. We're five teenagers who've never fought together. The math isn't good."
"Then we level the playing field." Caspian looks at each of us. "The System mentioned Combined Magic. Maybe we can pool our abilities?"
"How?" Luna asks.
Like this, Ezra projects, and suddenly I feel his shadow magic mixing with Caspian's light in a way that shouldn't be possible. The two opposing forces merge, creating something new—grey magic that can both illuminate and conceal.
"Whoa," Felix breathes. "That's... that's not supposed to work. Light and shadow should cancel each other out."
The bond makes us one unit, Luna explains. Our magic recognizes each other now. We can combine abilities in ways normal mages never could.
An idea hits me. "What if I Siphon from all of you at once? Just a little bit, enough to use all your abilities together?"
"That could kill you," Caspian says immediately. "Five different magical types in one body? Even for a Siphon, that's—"
"Our only chance," I interrupt. "I can handle it."
You hope you can handle it, Felix projects nervously.
"Do we have a better plan?"
Silence.
"Then we try it." I hold out my hands. "Everyone touch me. Small amounts only. Don't give me everything."
They hesitate, then form a circle around me. Luna takes my left hand. Ezra my right. Felix touches my shoulder. Caspian places his hand on my back, and even through clothing I feel the connection snap into place.
Magic floods into me from all four directions.
Luna's oracle visions—flashes of possible futures. Ezra's shadow manipulation—darkness that lives and breathes. Felix's transmutation—the ability to reshape reality. Caspian's Celestial power—pure light and star-born strength.
It's too much. Way too much. My body wasn't meant to hold this many types of magic at once. I scream as power tears through me, my eyes shifting colors rapidly—violet, gold, silver, black, white—cycling through each person's signature.
Let it go! Caspian projects frantically. Aria, it's killing you!
But then something clicks. The System activates, and suddenly the wild magic flowing through me snaps into order. A new interface appears:
COMBINED MAGIC ACTIVATEDCURRENT FUSION: 5-ELEMENT HARMONYDURATION: 5 MINUTESPOWER LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE
The pain stops. The magic settles. And I open my eyes to see my hands glowing with swirling colors—all five types of magic perfectly balanced.
"Impossible," Felix whispers.
"Apparently not," I say, and my voice echoes with power.
The cavern entrance explodes inward. Council guards pour through—twelve of them, just like the System predicted. And leading them is Professor Marcus Thorne, the man who tried to arrest me earlier.
"There!" he shouts. "Take them alive if possible, dead if necessary!"
The guards launch attack spells.
And I raise my hands, channeling five different types of magic at once.
Luna's foresight shows me where each spell will land. Ezra's shadows let me disappear and reappear. Felix's transmutation turns their attacks into harmless butterflies. Caspian's light blinds them. And my own Siphon ability drains their magic mid-flight, feeding it back to my team.
We fight like we've trained together for years instead of minutes. The bond links our thoughts, our movements, our magic. When Ezra needs power, I channel it to him. When Luna's visions overwhelm her, Caspian's light steadies her mind. When Felix's transmutation falters, my Siphon ability reinforces it.
We're not five separate fighters anymore.
We're one weapon with five parts.
Within three minutes, all twelve guards are unconscious on the ground. Professor Thorne stares at us in shock.
"What... what are you?"
"We're the people who are going to stop this," I say, still glowing with combined power.
QUEST COMPLETE: ESCAPE THE DROWNED SANCTUMREWARD: +500 EXPLEVEL UP! YOU ARE NOW LEVEL 2NEW SKILL UNLOCKED: ADVANCED SENSING
The power fades from my hands as the five-minute duration ends. I sway, exhausted, and Caspian catches me.
"That was incredible," he breathes. "And terrifying. Mostly terrifying."
"We need to go," Ezra says, eyeing the unconscious guards. "More will come."
Luna points at a tunnel the System is highlighting. "This way. The exit leads to the forest outside Academy grounds."
We run, leaving Professor Thorne and his guards behind.
But as we escape into the night, my System interface flashes a new notification that makes my blood freeze:
WARNING: BOND MEMBER IN CRITICAL DANGERCASPIAN EVERHART - CURSE DETECTEDSOURCE: BLOOD MAGIC FROM LORD SILASEFFECT: TRACKING SPELL + SLOW DEATHTIME UNTIL FATAL: 48 HOURS
I grab Caspian's arm, stopping him. "You're cursed."
"What?"
"Your father. He cursed you during the fight. The System just detected it." I pull up the notification and show him. "He's tracking you through blood magic. And if we don't break the curse in two days, you'll die."
Caspian's face goes white. Through the bond, I feel his world collapsing.
His father didn't just try to stop us.
He marked his own son for death.