Chương 44: Mindfield

"Now take three steps to the right. Good. Reach forward and grab onto the loop on my back. No, too low, higher. Yes. Now hold on tight and follow my instructions. You are going to hear things that might try to convince you to do something that would be unwise. You are not to take off your blindfold, and the only voice you should listen to is mine. The consequences of not obeying are death. Is that understood?" Grim nodded, blind to the world again. It was only a short while ago that she actually was.

Although by now her vision was about as good as it had been before. The healing gloom had taken longer to fully heal it than it had her other injuries, but it had still been effective. The lack of sight didn't bother her, it'd been scary before, but altogether it hadn't lasted very long. Hearing voices? She had to admit that was a little frightening.

"Okay, I am going to walk forward now. Please follow behind me." They began walking with only the occasional comment from the soldier breaking the silence. It felt like she'd gone from the normal buzz of a city to a desolate wasteland in only a few steps.

"Small incline here." The crunch of gravel and dirt beneath her feet was the only reprieve from the nothingness. It was as if there was a static in the air slowly building up to something, but every time she took a step, the sheer noise of it made it take a step back.

"We'll be crossing water now, don't fall." She felt the transition to water and swishing through it was a welcome reprieve. The constant sound of it reminded her of splashing through puddles after rain.

"Okay, we're here. You can take off your blindfold now." Grim reached up to take it off, but it was hard with only one hand.

"You're going to have to help me here?" She felt him twist a little.

"Help you with what? Is the water causing you trouble?" Wait what?

"With the blindfol- Fuck. I think I'm hearing things," Grim said. The voices had been different now that she'd thought about it. They were similar, but one of them was wrong in some way, lifeless.

"Stay focused, we're almost through. We're going to take a right here."

"A step forward, then directly left." Grim froze as she received two conflicting directions, both too similar to tell apart. She chose to wait instead and felt herself jerked forward. She stumbled into the hardshell of his suit and then was led to the left. She'd made the right choice by pausing, even if it wasn't quite intentional. Something was trying to trick her, and with them out of the water now, they were back in the game of trying to hold off the silence.

She thought of humming or something, but decided against it.

"Don't follow him. They killed us, and they're going to kill you too."

"This is part of the Witching, you need to escape if you want to pass. They want wolves, not sheep." They stopped moving.

"Oh god, he's reaching for his gun. You need to move, now!"

"Let go of me, I need to check something out."

"I'm going to remove your hand from my suit, don't move while I'm gone."

"You're not walking through a minefield," a woman's voice said.

"They don't want you to see the bodies." A hand grabbed hers and removed it from the loop around the soldier's suit. She heard his footsteps walk a couple of feet away, then stop.

"You need to run if you want to live. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

"Hey! What are you doing? I'm gonna be honest, I'm hearing quite a lot of different things now," Grim said. The buzzing got louder in the silence, reaching that tipping point they'd been avoiding earlier. She didn't hear any reply except a deafening roar in her head. She was trapped. Trapped in her own mind with the walls closing in. Something was nipping at her, taking bites in the dark. She flared out her aura, no longer keeping it trapped inside her. It didn't seem to help as something circled her.

The hair on her neck stood on end as the smell of copper and death entered her nose. It was behind her, getting closer, but she couldn't turn around to face it. No matter where she spun it was always in her blind spot. She could feel its breath on her neck, an acrid stench billowing into her nose. All her senses were assailed and there was no escape. She tried to reach for the soldier, but he wasn't there.

"You're not real," she croaked out, trying to convince herself. A hand around her throat lifted her up, cutting off the oxygen to her brain. Her feet dangled as she tried to free herself from the grip. She dug into it, but it was ironlike as her throat constricted, being crushed in on itself. Her chest heaved as she tried to suck in any oxygen, but none was coming. Her eyes bulged as she felt her mind going dark-"-Off your blindfold now," the soldier said.

She could see again, and she caught a glimpse of Specialist Campbell in front of her before she crashed down to her knees.

"What the fuck was that?"

"I apologize, but I am unable to tell you. If it's any consolation, you did remarkably well compared to some of the other applicants. Unleashing your aura was a good move and likely shielded you from some of the worst," he explained as he helped her to her feet. She tilted her head, "There was something worse? That was awful, dude."

"It's best if you don't dwell on it. Try to forget, if possible. Come now, the rest of the applicants are just up ahead."

"Wait, hold on. Why'd you make me let go? What was real there?" Grim asked.

"I didn't," he said.

"Come." But how? Grim shook her head, not in the mood to try to decipher what the hell had just happened. She did get an idea, though, and turned around to face the minefield. From this side of it, it looked just as it felt. Signs were planted all around, marking the boundary. She unfocused her eyes, trying to catch the glimmer between realities, the threads that connected Boons. She thought she saw something, just a wisp in the world. The smallest thread found at a specific angle flashed itself to her.

She half-focused on it to bring it more into her sight, and it unveiled more. Hundreds, no, thousands of threads hanging in the air, all leading to the minefield. There was something more, but she needed to see deeper, she wanted to know what was happening. She followed the threads to the source, coming closer to an answer. An answer was just on the cusp of her mind, the presence of something greater was behind all the threads. She just needed to pull on it.

Someone grabbed her shoulder and spun her around like a child. Specialist Campbell was there, his fingers digging painfully into her shoulders through the armour, "Are you trying to get us killed?" Grim tried to backpedal, but his grip was iron tight.

"No, what? Let go of me, I was just trying to figure out what was going on."

"You do not do that, you do not get to know, you have not earned the right to kno-""Specialist Campbell! Can you unhand our latest applicant, please?" A large voice asked from behind both of them. The soldier let her go with one hand to turn to face what had to be his superior officer. He was large and broad-shouldered, towering over both of them. He wore a similar uniform to the soldier's, but without the armour to go along with it.

"General Locke! She was trying to see it, I'm not sure how she was, but I could feel it shiftings its attention."

"I could, too. That's why I'm here."

"I didn't know. Why are you all dancing around it? Why can't you just tell me what's going on?" The General gave Specialist Campbell a look, and she felt him push her forward. She glared at him as she stumbled forward.

"Thank you, Specialist, I'll take it from here. Walk with me, please, Miss...?"

"You want my real name?"

"No. That name will have no meaning to me, I only wish to hear what you can be."

"I haven't thought of one yet." The General nodded as they walked, "Do me a favour? When you figure it out, come find me. The city could use people like you. I won't be so rude as to ask what Boons you have, but I look forward to seeing your performance during the trials. You haven't even made it into the Gate yet, and you're already causing problems."

"It was an accident. I didn't know what I was doing was wrong," Grim said.

"Oh, it's quite alright," he chuckled.

"The Specialist, while perhaps a tad jumpy, was more concerned for you than angry. Truthfully, if you'd gone much farther, the several snipers watching your position would have killed you."

"What?" Grim asked as she looked up and, sure enough, she saw that several of the snipers lining the walls were watching her.

"Oh." They turned the corner and Grim saw what had to be the meeting ground. It was a very large concrete pad, roughly the size of a small park. Around ten Witches were standing above and addressing a crowd of around a hundred people. Beyond all of them hovered a massive, red gate.