“How?” Dex asked. “We used their beads.”
“True.” But Sophie had yet to see another person, or even a sign that anyone had ever been there. No footprints marred the path, no voices buzzed in the distance. “If we’re lost . . .”
“Then we all jump off these cliffs,” Fitz said, “and teleport as close as we can get to Alluveterre.”
“Or she could take us to Foxfire,” Keefe jumped in, “and we could run through the halls screaming, ‘YOU CAN’T GET RID OF US THAT EASILY!’?”
“I like that plan,” Dex said.
“Me too,” Biana agreed.
“Of course you do. It’s brilliant.”
Their path curved, leading to a rocky clearing so thick with mist, they couldn’t see the ground. An enormous arch made of jagged black metal loomed over the entrance, woven from iron thistles.
“This place is freaky,” Dex whispered. “Do you think this is it?”
Sophie pointed to the center of the arch, where the same X symbol they’d seen before seemed to taunt them.
“Okay,” she whispered. “From this point on we keep a low profile, and if we find something we—”
The rest of her instruction disappeared in a scream.
A thick rope had tightened around her ankle, yanking her off the ground and leaving her dangling upside down from the arch. Her friends hung beside her, flailing and thrashing, the ground very far below.
“Welcome to your Dividing!” a raspy female voice shouted from somewhere in the fog.
The mist parted and a figure in a red hooded cloak stepped forward, followed by a figure in a blue cloak and another in royal purple.
“You must find your way to freedom,” the purple figure told them. Her voice sounded stiffer than the other figure. More reserved.
“There’s no right answer to the problem,” the blue figure added, his voice high and nasal. “But light leaping doesn’t count. You must untie or sever the cord. And choose wisely. This will determine which one of us will be coaching you.”
Sophie’s brain throbbed from the head rush, and her snared foot went numb as she tried to curl her body up to reach the knot. She couldn’t even make it halfway before her abs gave up.
Why had that always looked so much easier in movies?
“Anyone having any luck?” Fitz asked, clearly not experiencing the same ab challenges as Sophie. He pried at the rope with shaking hands. “This knot is impossible.”
“Almost out,” Keefe said.
Sophie tried to catch sight of him, but Dex was in the way.
Keefe mumbled “ow” several times before shouting, “YOU THINK YOU CAN HOLD M—”
A loud RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP cut him off, and he shouted a bunch of words that would earn him a month of detention before a CRUNCH! left him silent.
“Are you okay?” Sophie called.
“I’ve been better,” Keefe groaned. “Guess I forgot to brace for the fall.”
“He also forgot his pants,” the blue-cloaked figure noted.
A wave of snickers followed, and Sophie realized the whole school was hiding in the mist, watching them dangle like sides of beef at the butcher shop. Keefe’s boot dangled with them, along with a shredded pair of black pants.
“Oy, his boxers are covered in little banshees!” a kid shouted.
“Bet he peed himself too,” another said.
“SILENCE!” the blue Coach snapped. “Those of you still trapped should not concern yourselves with those who are free. He’s passed the test. Can you say the same?”
“I can in a second!” Dex shouted back.
Sophie spun around and found Dex curled up like a monkey, sawing at his rope with something silver. The cord snapped a second later, leaving him hovering there.
Levitating.
“Should’ve thought of that,” Keefe grumbled as Dex floated to the ground and tossed his silver blade—fashioned out of his vest’s buckles—at the purple figure’s feet.
“Impressive,” the purple Coach said. “Too bad you won’t be in my hemisphere.”
“And then there were three,” the red Coach called to Sophie, Fitz, and Biana.
“Try two!” Biana shouted, pumping her arms to swing back and forth. Her rope frayed against the metal thistles of the arch, and she stopped her fall with shaky levitating. She got most of the way down before her concentration gave out, but she was able to tuck and roll when she hit the ground.
Sophie tried Biana’s method, but her rope refused to fray. And there was no way she was dropping down pantless, like Keefe—not that she really understood how he’d managed that. She also had no idea how to turn her vest into a blade. But there had to be something else she could use. She checked all of her pockets.
“GOT IT!” Fitz shouted, doing a gold medal–worthy flip to stand on top of the arch. He unknotted his rope easily, then climbed over to Sophie.
“NO ASSISTANCE ALLOWED!” all three Coaches hollered at him.
“I’m not going to leave her up here!” Fitz shouted back.