My breath grew heavy as the fourth puppet stepped into view, ready to begin its performance.
The music intensified, its rhythm sharper and more aggressive than before. The dancers moved with frantic energy, their motions almost violent. It should have been expected. This was the final stage, the part that would determine whether we survived or died.
The fourth puppet took center stage.
In its hands was a plate of rice.
It began to eat.
Within moments, the plate was empty. Another appeared.
Then another.
And another.
The puppet kept eating.
"When is he going to stop?" Natasha asked, rubbing her eyes.
"I don't know." I sighed. "I'm tired of watching it eat."
A yawn escaped me.
"I just want to go home."
Natasha chuckled weakly.
"Well, at least I'm not the only one feeling homesick."
She stretched before glancing at the puppet again. "Now I'm starting to feel hungry too."
I frowned.
"He's still eating."
"That's because he's still hungry," Zoah replied calmly.
"He is always hungry," Natasha muttered.
Zoah narrowed his eyes.
"Look closely. His hands have stained the plates."
At once, we leaned forward.
My stomach twisted.
Zoah was right.
The plates were smeared with red.
Not a little.
Every new plate carried the same crimson stain.
A chill crawled down my spine.
The puppet's hands were spotless.
So where was the red coming from?
"This is..." Natasha breathed.
"Weird," I finished before she could speak.
She shot me an annoyed look.
"I was going to say unbelievable."
"Same thing."
Before she could argue, something else caught my attention.
The countdown.
My blood ran cold.
Ten seconds.
The timer had begun.
Ten seconds to answer the riddle.
Ten seconds to survive.
Or die.
I couldn't bring myself to look at the war puppets waiting in the shadows. The sight of them alone was enough to make my heart pound against my ribs.
My mind raced desperately for an answer.
Nothing.
Not a single clue.
Judging by the panic on Natasha's face, she was just as lost.
No wonder the music had changed.
No wonder the atmosphere felt suffocating.
This final stage wasn't designed to test intelligence.
It was designed to break people.
How many had made it this far only to fail at the very end?
How many had stood exactly where we were now, believing they had survived, only to watch death claim them seconds later?
This was where hope died.
This was where most people lost their lives.
I glanced at the timer again.
Three seconds remained.
My chest tightened.
So this was it.
This was how I died.
A bitter laugh echoed inside my head.
Why did I ever meet Zoah?
Better yet, how had he convinced me to join this insane quest?
Because you loved him.
The cruel voice in my mind didn't hesitate.
I clenched my fists.
I had been a fool.
A complete fool.
Why had I fallen for a man whose heart already belonged to someone else?
Everything he had done, every risk, every sacrifice, every step of this journey, had been for her.
His woman.
The one he swore to save.
The one he planned to marry.
Natasha and I had never truly mattered.
We were nothing more than tools.
Useful pieces to move across a board.
And now those pieces were about to be discarded.
Natasha.
Zoah.
Violet.
Me.
All of us trapped inside a circle of death.
And with only three seconds remaining, death was already reaching for us.
Maybe Zoah could save us again, just as he had the first time we nearly died in this cursed riddle room.
But what if he was too weak this time?
What if even he couldn't save us?
The thought sent a wave of terror through me.
I squeezed my eyes shut as the final three seconds ticked away.
Three.
Two.
One.
"Silver."
Someone called my name, pulling me from the darkness of my thoughts.
Slowly, I opened my eyes.
The first thing I noticed was that I was still breathing.
The second was that nobody had died.
"Why are we still alive?" I asked.
Natasha stared at me as though I had lost my mind.
"Because we answered the riddle correctly."
I blinked.
"What?"
"When you decided to close your eyes and prepare for death," she said dryly, "Zoah entered the answer."
Confusion gave way to curiosity.
"What was it?"
"Fire."
Of course.
The answer suddenly seemed obvious.
Fire was always hungry.
It had to be constantly fed.
Anything it touched eventually turned red, blackened, or burned.
Who would have thought of it in time?
I released a long breath.
Twice.
Twice we had escaped death because of the same cold, ruthless dragon.
Then again, this entire mess was his fault.
The least he could do was keep us alive.
Four riddles were behind us.
Only one remained.
One final challenge separated me from freedom.
And when this was over, when Herb C was secured, I was done.
Completely done.
I wanted no further part in this suicide mission.
Losing Zoah would hurt.
But dying would hurt far more.
I was still young.
There were places I wanted to see, dreams I wanted to chase, adventures I had yet to experience.
I refused to let my life end in some forgotten death trap because of someone else's obsession.
After this mission, I would cut ties with everything.
Including Zoah.
I would return to being the girl I used to be before the search for the herbs turned my life upside down.
Before feelings complicated everything.
Before death became a daily possibility.
The fifth and final puppet stepped onto the stage.
Silence immediately filled the room.
Unlike the others, this puppet carried four wooden blocks and four tiny seeds.
Strange symbols were engraved onto each block.
Names, perhaps.
The puppet carefully placed the blocks in a line before dropping the seeds onto them.
We moved closer.
The first block was labeled Corner.
Two seeds rested upon it.
The second was Room.
One seed.
The third was House.
No seeds.
The fourth was Shelter.
One seed.
A timer appeared overhead.
20 seconds.
The countdown began.
"Wonderful," Natasha groaned. "What has two in a corner, one in a room, none in a house, but one in a shelter?"
Nobody answered.
The seconds vanished mercilessly.
Fifteen.
Ten.
Five.
My pulse quickened.
Not this time.
I wasn't dying here.
Not when I had already decided to leave this mission behind.
My eyes moved rapidly over the words.
Corner.
Room.
House.
Shelter.
Then it clicked.
"The letter R," I said.
Natasha froze.
Then her eyes widened.
"Oh my God."
Without hesitation, she typed the answer.
The room fell silent.
For one agonizing second, nothing happened.
Then the puppet smiled.
A soft chime echoed through the chamber.
Correct.
"We did it!" Natasha shouted.
The puppet and the others appeared beside it.
Together, they bowed.
"Congratulations, challengers."
Their voices echoed unnaturally through the room.
"You are champions."
The next moment, the puppets dissolved into particles of light and vanished.
A hidden speaker crackled to life.
"Challenge completed. Participants declared victorious."
Relief washed over me so suddenly my knees nearly gave out.
We had survived.
Zoah stepped forward and claimed Herb C.
The herb pulsed with dangerous energy, but he immediately surrounded it with flames, using his fire element to suppress its power before it could harm him.
Moments later, a large door materialized before us.
At last.
Freedom.
Natasha grinned.
"Finally. Our escape route."
Zoah glanced at us.
"You two go ahead. I'll catch up. I need to return the system first."
Natasha and I exchanged a look before nodding.
Without another word, we stepped through the door.
Fresh air greeted us on the other side.
For the first time in what felt like forever, I could breathe without fear.
"Goodbye, India," Natasha said happily.
I smiled.
If only she knew.
India wasn't the only thing she was saying goodbye to.
Soon, they would discover that I was leaving too.
This group.
This mission.
This life of constant danger.
All of it.
And unlike the riddles, my decision had already been made.
There would be no second guesses.
No turning back.
I was done.