The floor suddenly cracks, and I tumble downward, even deeper into the ground than I thought possible. I brace myself for a hard impact, but I fall into water instead. As soon as I hit the water, I try to swim back up, but something keeps puling me down. I know where I am the second I submerge into the water. I’ve reached the Zarrci Honzel.

I try to hold my breath, as I struggle to break free of whatever grip is holding me down, but there’s no use. My mouth flies open as I gape for air. I wait for the water to rush into my mouth, for myself to suffocate, but it doesn’t happen. I don’t drown as I float under the water. Something is allowing me to breathe. I notice I can hear something from below me, whispered words. I swim down towards them, trying to hear what is being said to me. Finally, I am close enough to make them out, but I wish I wasn’t.

“Mackenzie, you are willing to fight, and you are brave enough to stand even without your marks, but are you brave enough to die?” the voice asks me.

“You want me to die?”

“I want nothing outside of this water, and in here I seek nothing but your truth.” It answers vaguely.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I groan, my head hurting from all the things I’ve had to process in such a short time.

“I will show you what may await you if you leave here with your marks returned, and then you will give me your answer.” Before I can agree or disagree with that statement, I’m drawn into blackness.

I watch as I strike him, just as he strikes me, and then we both go down. All my powers weren’t enough to save me. I can’t control my movements here, only watch on through my eyes as I fall to the floor.

My father stands back up, and I know my strike missed. I failed.

My mum breaks free of her captors’ hold just as my eyes find her. She rushes at him, and the full force of her powers hits him at once. She slams him back into the far wall with her air mark and uses it to then manipulate the air around us to pull the spear to her. She holds it in her hand, and fury shines in her eyes as she deals the final blow, killing Alaric and ending this all.

She runs to me, but it’s too late. She falls to the floor, sobbing at my side uncontrollably as the last of my life fades away.

“That can’t be real. I refuse to believe you!” I snap at the Hoznel as I come back into the water, and away from the vision.

“You can pretend that you refuse to believe, Mackenzie Crowe, but you know you cannot deny you saw a truth. I showed you my truth, now give me yours. Are you willing to die if it means the marked will be at peace? If it means saving everyone else?” it asks me.

Would I be willing to die for marked peace? I don’t know. But I do know, I would die for my family, for my guys, and for my friends. I would die if they would all be able to find peace from it.

“I would die for them, if that’s what it takes, but…”

“You have a condition?”

“No. I would die for them, but I don’t accept that it’s the only way this can go. I can’t accept that. I will go, and I will fight, whether you give me my marks or not. If I must, I will die for them, but I will not give up and go gently,” I answer defiantly.

“You must never simply give up. You must be willing to fight, but also willing to die. If you’re giving up, you’re not willing to fight,” it responds. The grip pulling me down leaves me, and I suddenly feel the urge to swim for air. I know I can’t open my mouth again to ask it anything more. Does that mean I pass? Or have I failed?

There’s no time to dwell on that, however, as I swim up to escape the water before I drown. I break through the surface, and feel my skin start to burn. My marks flare back into existence all over my body. I float on my back in the water as it happens. I count them as they begin to form. More marks than I ever possessed before pop up. I smile as I feel a mark flare behind my ear. Reading minds could be fun. Once the burning has stopped, I’ve lost count of the marks I now possess. I turn over in the water and swim for the edge of the natural pool, heaving myself out of the water.

I lie on my back as soon as I get onto ground, and take deep, panting breaths. I hear someone cough beside me, as if coughing up water. I quickly turn, ready to face off anyone who could be here to hurt me, but I freeze when I see Enzo lying there, drenched. I rush to him, holding my hands over his chest as I’m ready to heal him, but I freeze, noticing something strange.

His skin is covered in new marks too. I know immediately, the Honzel didn’t just test me, it split us all up for a reason. It wanted to test all of us, separately. I run my fingers over a new mark he has on his neck, and his dark eyes fly open.

“Crowe,” he mutters.

“I’m here. What did it show you?” I ask nervously, wondering if our tests had been the same.

“My father at first. And then it showed my sister dying. We need to get back to the academy before it’s too late. She’s going to die if we don’t,” he says urgently, sitting up.

“We have to wait for the others first. But I promise, we will go to try and save her,” I say, slipping my hands into his and squeezing them tightly.

“What do you mean we have to wait for the others?” he asks, and I point at the water.

“I think they’re all under, being tested to see if they’re worthy of their marks,” I explain, biting my lip nervously as I glance the water. I wonder what’s taking them all so long.

“But I thought this was just for you? We already have our marks, why would we be tested?” Enzo asks. I lift his hand up, having spotted a new mark on his hand too.

“Look,” I say gently, holding his hand at an angle so he can see the lightning-shaped mark on his hand.

“I have new marks.” He looks at them in shock, before pulling his hands away and taking off his shirt. I can’t help but run my eyes all over him heatedly, remembering the last time we were underground in a cave like this one.

“There are so many,” I whisper, running my fingers over each of the marks that grace his skin.

“If you move your hand any lower, Crowe,” he all but growls at me, and I laugh.

“We shouldn’t. We need to be here for the others when they get out. Who knows what any of them had to see,” I say, trying to reason.

“Fine, you’re right,” he says, but he pulls me down to him, and hungrily crashes his lips against mine anyway. His hands clench at my body roughly, pulling me against him. I return the kiss, sense leaving me quickly, but then he pulls away. “I had to do that at the very least,” he explains when he sees my expression. I’m about to reply, when I see East emerge from the water. His eyes seem to find us instantly, but he’s unable to swim to us just yet. We watch on quietly as he’s blessed with new marks.

I’m almost relieved at seeing him, but I already knew East would be worthy. All my guys are. It’s just a waiting game for them to finish their tests and join us, so we can return to Earth and face my father, finishing our biggest test together.