Lexie and I walked down the hall silently. We were both extremely nervous, that much was apparent. He led us through many halls and stairways until we were underneath the castle in a hall that had dirt for walls. He stopped in front of a solid metal door.
"Lexie this is where your test will be taking place. Your examiner will be out shortly to take you in." Before Lexie could even reply the man took off down the hall. I gave Lexie a quick hug and told her good luck before running to catch up with the man. He took me around the corner and stopped at a door on our left. "Shea, this is where your test will be taking place. Your examiner will be out shortly to take you in." He started to walk away, and then he turned around. "Also, good luck."
I started shaking from nerves as he turned around the corner and left me standing in the tunnel all alone. This test had to be hard if Mr. tall and terrifying was wishing me good luck. The door in front of me opened and I immediately took a step back. MR. tall and terrifying was nothing compared to the person standing in front of me right now.
He was completely bald and was the most intimidating person I had ever seen. His nose was slightly crooked like it had been broken all too many times. He had a faint scar that ran down the left side of his face. His grey eyes were oddly cold as they looked at me. He was dressed in all black, and looked like he was ready to strike at a moment's notice. The knife sheathed in his belt did nothing to help.
I took a deep breath and tried to calm down my nerves. I had to lock away my fear. I had practiced this everyday when I was with my dad, so it should be no problem right now. I slowly pushed my fear away until there was only a little was able to leak through my defenses. I was frustrated with myself that I couldn't block it all, but I couldn't change that now.
This entire time the man with the steel grey eyes just watched me. I met his gaze with a new fierce determination in my gaze.
"Now you're ready. Follow me." Even his voice had a certain amount of menace in it. I hesitated for only a second, and then I followed him through the door.
I had to stop walking forward immediately as I was standing in front of a large pool of water. The water looked like it came from the lake that was around this castle. It was murky and I couldn't see anything beneath the surface.
"Your first task is to swim forward and find the exit from this room." He turned and started walking along the edge towards the other side of the room that I couldn't even see.
"Wait, but I don't have anything to swim in? Am I just supposed to swim in my bra and underwear?"
He just kept walking but his reply drifted back to me. "I would suggest you leave your clothes on. It will be mighty cold outside without them."
"Awesome," I whispered under my breath. Seeing as I had no other choice, I walked straight forward into the water. The water had a funky smell to it, and my shoes felt like dead weights. Eventually it got so deep that I had to start swimming.
I was never the best swimmer, but I was in really good shape so I could swim for a long time. From the looks of this, I would be swimming for a long time. I started swimming half underwater, half above water. I would stay on the surface for as little time as possible since I was faster underwater.
I took one last big breath of air then dived back under the water. Suddenly the water was lit up with an orange glow. I looked up and almost let out all of my air. That couldn't possibly be what I thought it was. I swam up towards the surface and I lifted my hand just above the surface. I immediately pulled it back down and was thankful that this water was on the colder side. My hand was slightly burned from the fire that was now raging on the surface of the water. If I tried sticking my face above water, it would be burned off.
