The Giantess takes out a massive clipboard and crosses her legs. She seems excited about the tests I’m about to undertake. If only I knew what they were - but I’m about to find out.

“The physical test... well, first, the rules. You may not use magic in any shape or form. You may not leave the room. You may not ask me for help. You may not forfeit. You may kill. You may maim. Understood?”

I nod. “Let’s get this over with.”

I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t a ghost to appear in front of me. It’s a man, mostly translucent and the rest of him is misty. His features are barely recognisable, so it could pretty much be anyone. But from his general stature, I assume it’s a man.

He walks, no, he floats towards me, his arms hanging loosely by his side. He doesn’t look very threatening.

“Am I supposed to fight him?” I whisper to the Giantess, but she doesn’t reply. Looks like I’m on my own.

She said something about killing and maiming. How am I supposed to do that without a weapon? I don’t have magic either, so all I have is my own pitifully untrained body. You know how they say, ‘I couldn’t hurt a fly’? Well, I probably wouldn’t be strong enough to. That’s how non-sporty I am.

The ghost comes closer and I take a step back when he stretches out his hands. If he touches me, will it hurt? Will I fail the test? I wish Eithne would tell me what to do. I can’t just attack a ghost without being provoked. Maybe he just wants to play...

Or not. His misty form suddenly turns bright red and his eyes begin to glow eerily. Now he doesn’t look as harmless anymore. His mouth opens and he lets out a wail that makes a cold shiver run over my back. What is he?

I stumble backwards as he becomes faster. He’s chasing me now. How am I supposed to fight him? I’m not sure I could even touch him, he looks far too insubstantial for that. My hands would probably go right through his body.

“What do I do?” I shout at the Giantess, but all she does is smile. Arrrggh. Time to change tactics.

“I don’t want to hurt you!” I tell the ghost while starting to run. “What do you want from me?”

His wail turns into a long, drawn-out word. “Liiiiifffeeeeeee.”

Oh. That’s not a good sign. He wants my life? My life force?

“Not possible. I’m dead, or so they tell me.”

He stops. Is his colour becoming slightly less red? Hard to tell.

“Nooooo liiiifffeeeeee?”

“No life. I was poisoned, so I’m no longer alive.”

His shoulders sag and the red colour leaves his misty body until he’s almost pure white again. If he had an actual face, I imagine he’d look sad.

“What do we do now?” I ask him, not expecting much of a reply. Wailing is all he seems to be able to do. Poor guy.

“Fiiiiiiiiiiight?”

I shake my head determinedly. “No, I don’t want to fight you. How about you go back to where you came from?”

“Piiitttyyyyyyyyyyy?”

“You want me to pity you?”

“Yeeessssssss.”

“Ehm, okay. I pity you. I wish you weren’t a ghost who had to get life from others.”

I hope that’s what he wants to hear. When he stays quiet, I add, “I pity you a lot.”

Eithne is trying to hide a chuckle, but with her loud voice, that’s nearly impossible.

“Thaaaaaaaank youuuuuuuuuuuu,” he wails and pops out of existence.

How very strange.

“What happens now? That was my physical?” I ask my examiner who’s still hiding her smile with a hand.

“He’s never behaved like that before,” she finally says. “He was supposed to touch you, then turn into an opponent that would be a challenge but not unbeatable. To be honest, I’m not quite sure what to do now.”

“Skip to the next task?” I ask hopefully and to my great relief, she shrugs.

“It says nowhere in the rules that you’d have to repeat it if the ghost leaves. You’ve not died, so you’ve passed the first test.”

I smile widely, then remember I have two more to go.

“Would you like to do the magical or mental test next?”

“Mental?”

“Alright, for that one you better sit down. I’d also recommend you keep your barriers up for as long as possible.”

I do as she says, wondering about that ominous warning. My mental barriers have become a lot stronger, but Arc is still able to break through occasionally. I don’t know how he compares to others though. He’s stronger than my other three Guardians, but maybe they’re just mentally weak? An image of Storm lifting an eyebrow slips into my mind and I have to smile. No, he’s definitely not weak.

I close my eyes and focus on my magic. She didn’t say anything about me being not allowed to use it. I nudge my magic to strengthen my mental barriers. The translucent globe around my mind turns a slight rainbow sheen, the sign that it’s working as intended. I do a quick check like Arc told me. No holes anywhere, no weak spots. The glass is smooth and strong, and hopefully impenetrable.

I smile as I remember the first time I learned how to do this. Arc tried to make me lower my barriers by pretending to be in danger – and it worked. He managed to get in easily, and then took away my clothes. Yes, that was fun. But I’ve learned my lesson. Whatever I will see isn’t real, and I won’t let anyone in, no matter who. I’m not going to be that stupid again.

My parents appear on the other side of my barrier, screaming.

Oh no.

My mother’s usually perfect hair is tousled and standing in all directions. There’s soot on both of their faces and their clothes are smouldering in several places. My father’s glasses are cracked and there’s a deep, bleeding gash on his forehead. Blood is running down his face and neck, staining his white shirt. What happened to them?

“Mum! Dad!” I shout, fighting to keep a hold on the barrier that every instinct in me is telling me to drop. My parents are in danger and I can help them. I need to.

My heart is fighting my mind. It’s not real. It has to be. But what if it is? What if they need help? What if they will die if I don’t lower my barriers? What if…

They’re starting to beat their hands against the glass dome, my dad’s leaving bloody handprints. They want to come in. Their mouths are forming words that I can’t understand, but it’s clear that they’re desperate.

What am I going to do?

My rational mind takes over for a moment and my thoughts become less frantic. What if… yes, that could work. I won’t need to lower my barriers if I extend them, enclosing my parents.

But I’ve never done it before, is it even possible? And is moving it or making it bigger easier? I’ll try moving first.

I take a deep breath and coax my magic out of her cave. I need all the power I can access if this is to succeed.

Another deep breath. Then I stretch out my hands and imagine pushing the barrier forwards, away from me. I’m standing in the middle of my dome, so even if I move it a little, I will still be inside. It’s big enough for me to do several steps in all directions; right now I’m glad I made it this large when I first created it.

The barrier is resisting, it doesn’t want to move. But it has to. I push as hard as I can. Pain is making its way into my temples but I ignore it. Push. PUSH.

Finally, it begins to move. Slowly, only the width of a hair, but it’s moving. It proves that it’s possible.

I draw more magic into my movement and will the barrier to shift.

It gets faster, but not any easier. Sweat is running down my face and my head is getting more and more painful. I won’t be able to keep this up for much longer.

My parents’ hands press against the barrier, but now that it’s moving, they are slowly being sucked in. It’s not breaking the barrier, it’s as if it suddenly becomes elastic in those places, taking in my parents without letting anything else in. Like a membrane that is programmed to only accept certain things.

I smile when I see that their hands are fully in. Keeping my grasp firmly on the barrier, I run forward, grasping my mothers’ wrists, pulling her to me. With a squelching sound, the dome lets her in and she falls into my arms, making me stumble backwards in surprise. We crash to the floor, her on top of me, and we’re laughing and crying at the same time. My mother is here with me. My mum.

I jump up and pull my father in as well. He gives me a shaky hug.

“Well done, Wyn,” he whispers into my ear, then he’s gone.

They’re both gone, as if they were never here. But the smell of smoke and singed fabric still hangs in the air, telling me that it was at least partly real.

I take a deep breath, relief flooding me. I saved them without lowering my barriers. The pain in my head slowly dissipates until it’s only a small ache behind my temples.

I did it.

“Well done,” Eithne’s voice breaks through my concentration. I open my eyes and look at the smiling giantess. “I wasn’t sure at first if you’d be able to resist temptation, and I guess in the end, you didn’t, but you found a solution.” She clears her throat. “Not sure I’ve ever seen anyone do that before. It was a good solution, though, so you’ve passed the test.”

I sigh in relief. Two down, one more to go. The final task will be magical. I’ve left the easiest till last. Everybody’s constantly telling me how strong my magic is, so this shouldn’t be a problem for me.

My magic meows loudly in protest. Okay then. I admit, she’s been a little troublemaker recently. I’ve lost control of her not just once. But surely she’s interested in helping me now? If I die, she dies. I think. Nobody knows really, at least I haven’t found anything about it in the books in the Palace library. I read quite a few of them to find out why my magic is so much more autonomous than other people’s. Mine has a personality, hell, she’s even got her own rainbow cave inside of me. She looks like a cat and meows – maybe it’s just a sign of my craziness? Or is she different, unique? My mother couldn’t help me either; as the Mother of Gods and one of the first beings in existence, magic has always been instinctive for her. She wills things to happen and they do as they’re told. She doesn’t have to find a connection to the elements to use their intrinsic magic, she just thinks of setting something on fire and it happens. It was depressing to hear how easy it all is for her. Pity that kind of control of magic wasn’t passed on to me.

She said my father wasn’t very magically gifted, so I suppose I should be grateful that I’m as strong as I am. I’ve not pieced together the entire story, but from what my mother and Tamara told me, Beira created my father because she was lonely. I was never planned.

I shake off those thoughts and concentrate on the task at hand.

The giantess is watching me closely. “Everything okay?”

I nod. “I’m ready.”

She smiles and points towards the centre of the circular room. “You may want to get up and ready yourself. This may be more of a challenge than you think.”

Her knowing smile tells me that she knows more about me than I’d like her to. Am I becoming arrogant? I certainly hope not.

I walk a few steps until I’m more or less in the centre. Somehow, I feel vulnerable. If I had a wall at my back, I wouldn’t have to be aware of who might attack me from behind. But it’s clear Eithne wants me to be in this position, so I stay, readying myself.

I firmly grip my hold on my magic, ready to throw up a barrier should someone throw something at me. The strongest element in the room is earth, with air being a close second. No water or fire, sadly, those are the ones I feel most confident in. Although my control over air has improved a lot and I’m now able to pick up smaller objects without destroying everything around them. Most of the time. If my magic isn’t throwing a tantrum.

Nothing is happening and with every second that passes, I’m getting more and more nervous. To distract myself, I let two little whirlwinds form above my hands, turning quickly around their own axis. Creating them doesn’t take much thought or energy anymore, especially not here where the room is saturated with air magic. Wind isn’t always the best defence, but it can be great offence and a way to restrain your opponent.

“Nervous?” Eithne chuckles and I’m tempted to throw one of the baby tornados into her direction. She’s friendly, but I’m not quite sure yet if I like her. She’s enjoying this a little too much, not caring that her tests might end in my death. Or loss of Immortality. Whatever.

Still, everything stays quiet. My feeling of unease is increasing. Is this part of the test? Seeing how I cope under pressure? Well, I’ve got my Princess mask on and I don’t think anyone would see my nervousness. Except for the giantess, apparently. I’m pretty sure by now that she’s telepathic. She picks up too many things for it to be coincidence.

Finally, there’s a noise behind me and I swirl around, ready to throw the air magic at them. Except that it’s my mother.

Beira is here.

My heart drops. I’ll never win against a Goddess, let alone her. She’s the most powerful of them all. And I wouldn’t want to hurt her anyway, not after experiencing her almost being murdered a few weeks ago.

“Hello, my daughter,” she says in a cold voice, so unlike the Beira I’ve got to know. It’s like she’s talking to someone far beneath her who’s angered her. Someone she’s going to punish for their crimes. I’ve only been to one court session so far but that was exactly the way she sounded there. Cold, detached, regal.

“Mother,” I respond warily. “Why are you here?”

“You died. I’m making sure you stay dead.” Her face is a mask of ice, her eyes dark spheres without any spark of sympathy or love.

“You can’t mean that,” I splutter, backing away from her approaching form. “You’re not yourself.”

She smiles mirthlessly. “Oh, I’m certainly myself. I’ve been waiting for this moment ever since you were born. I can finally get rid of you and erase the mistake I made. Without you, the memory of your father will fade and I can once again be the Queen I was before I created him. Don’t worry, I’ll make it quick.”

She raises her hands and icicles sprout from her fingers. It looks like she’s growing claws.

I stumble backwards, tears running down my face. What she said… is it true? Was it all a farce? But…

She throws an icicle at me and I just about manage to expand one of my mini tornados in front of me to build a barrier. The icicle falls to the ground and breaks into a million pieces.

My mother laughs cruelly. “Don’t prolong it, Wynter. You can’t escape your destiny.”

In response, I draw on my earth magic and rip open the floor, turning the tiles into a mound in front of me. It’s not much of a barrier, but at least it may act as a distraction.

“Why are you doing this?” I shout again, deflecting one of her icicles with another bout of wind. She’s throwing them at me quicker and quicker, and I’m noticing how my energy is waning already. I don’t even have the time to mount a counterattack, all I do is defend myself. But I’m aware she is holding back. She could crush me with a single thought. Right now, she is toying with me.

Almost lazily, she flicks another icicle into my direction. This time, I throw some earth up into the air, blocking it. The icicle and the ball of sand it’s stuck in fall to the ground. There’s no time to rest. I crouch down on the floor, hiding behind my barrier so that I only have to protect my upper body from her assault.

It’s not until pain races through my back that I notice my mistake. I thought in human terms, not in magical. In this world, icicles don’t have to fly in a straight line. They can circle and approach from behind... like this one just did.

I fall onto my belly, my back muscles spasming. I feebly try and get up, but my legs aren’t working. She’s got me incapacitated after mere minutes of fighting. Demons were child’s play compared to this. I have no chance against my mother. It was stupid to even try.

Suddenly, she’s by my side, drawing a cold finger over my cheek. It stings and I move to get out of her reach, but I’m too weak. The tremors in my back are making their way into my shoulders until my arms start to shake. I still have access to my magic though. I ask her to connect to the air around me and she does it without any further nudging. For once, she does what I’m asking her to.

With air magic surrounding me from all sides, I manage to sit up, propped up against the air that is now feeling almost solid. At least this way, I can look my death into the eyes.

My mother.

Her expression is cold, unfeeling. Was it all an act? All the chats we had, all the laughter? Did she just pretend to be the person I thought she was?

A tear runs down my cheek, in the same place where she touched me just a moment ago. She’s breaking my heart but doesn’t seem to care. If only my Guardians were here. But then I remember how strong she is and am glad they aren’t. She’d likely kill them without a second thought.

I want to say something, but I know it will only look I’m begging her for my life. I don’t want to give her that satisfaction. So I stay silent, looking into her dark eyes... wait, doesn’t she have blue eyes? As bright as snowflakes on a crisp day? Then why do they look like coals, smouldering with hate?

“You aren’t Beira,” I whisper, hoping that I’m right. “You’re not my mother.”

She smiles. “No, I’m not. But I’m glad you thought I was. What does that tell you about your relationship with your mother?”

She steps back and a massive icicle grows from her fingers. It’s clearly intended to stab me through my heart.

But now that I know she isn’t Beira, I also know she’s not as strong as I thought. Maybe she hasn’t been playing with me after all. Maybe that was the extent of her power. Which is strong, definitely, but perhaps I can still fight her. She’s not my mother, so if I hurt her, I don’t care. Whoever she is, she’s my enemy.

My mind clears and I let my emotions drift away. All that counts now is surviving.

Ignoring the pain in my back, I grab a hold on the air around me and propel myself away from the Beira impostor until I’m at the other end of the room with the wall at my back. No more sneak attacks from behind. I’m finding it hard to keep my grip on the air holding me in place while gathering fire magic. She’s only used icicles so far, which gives me some hope. Maybe that’s all she can do.

Trying to hide my intentions, I use more air magic to deflect the icicles she’s started throwing my way again. I’m now doing three things at once and my energy is waning fast. I will have to be quick and defeat her while I still can.

Finally, I’ve got enough fire gathered. I release it not in front of me like I usually would before sending it in someone’s direction in the shape of a fireball.

No, this time, I conjure the fire around fake-Beira, trapping her in a column of fire. She screams as flames touch her skin. She seems unable to escape her fiery prison, no matter how much ice she throws at it. I increase the temperature of the fire and draw it closer, until there’s no space between her and the flames.

Her screams become louder as the fire burns her. I have to look away as smoke begins to fill the air above and her shrieks start to fade.

I just burned someone alive.

When I’m sure she’s gone, I let the flames fizzle out and drop to the ground. Pain floods my mind. Now that I’m no longer having to fight, the pain is overwhelming me.

“Well done,” Eithne says softly, kneeling down by my side. She puts her large hands on my back and I flinch, expecting more pain, but strangely enough, the agony lessens at her touch. She rubs her hands back and forth and with every move, I’m feeling better. The tingles in my legs stop and I’m able to move my toes again.

When she gets up again, I’m feeling well again. No pain. Even my energy is back to where it was before the fight started. It’s as if nothing happened, but the pile of ash in the centre of the room tells a different story.

I scramble to my feet.

“Well done,” Eithne repeats. “You’ve passed the tests. You can go back to the clerk now and he’ll give you your Immortality certificate.”

“Just like that?”

It’s a bit of an anti-climax. I kill someone and she tells me to go back to the old man with his folders and stacks of paper?

“Do you want to repeat one of the tests?” she asks drily and I immediately shake my head. No, thanks. That was enough. I’m mentally exhausted and am sure this whole experience is going to give me nightmares for weeks to come. Especially the things my mother said... No, let’s not dwell on that. The priority is to get out of here, preferably alive.

“I can’t come with you for obvious reasons, but I’m sure you’ll find your way back, right?”

She points at her large form and I remember how narrow some of the corridors were. Does that mean she lives in this room? It’s the only one with a door big enough to let her in and out.

What a strange place. One I’ll be glad to leave.

* * *

The clerk is bent over some files, mumbling to himself. I clear my throat several times until he finally looks up.

“Oh, you again. Yes?”

I sigh. “I passed the tests, can I go home now?”

He hands me another form. What a surprise.

“I just need a signature here... and here... and on this one...”

After I’ve signed at least ten documents, he pushes up his glasses and gathers some of the files into a pile.

“All seems to be in order. You’ve achieved Immortality, congratulations. You will now be transported back to the place of your death.”

“Ehm, thank you,” I mutter, not really sure about what to say.

Then I see the book on his desk and remember that I filled in a form earlier to borrow it.

“But what about my book?”

“It will be delivered to you when it’s time.”

“What?”

The library blinks out of existence.