"I'm putting this out there," Romes said. "The boat is wooden. The lava is hot. Does anyone else see a problem?"

They were scrambling down the slope, sliding over loose shale and stone. Heat radiated from the ground, searing the bottom of Jax's feet. Everything smelled of rotten eggs. He breathed through his mouth, trying to ignore the screaming of his shoulder. His ankle felt like it was gritting its teeth.

"Maybe it's enspelled," Xander suggested.

Romes gave him a look. "By who?"

"I don't know." Xander shrugged. "A god?"

"There aren't any oars," Romes observed, her eyes on the wooden boat.

Asa adjusted his rucksack. "Maybe it propels itself."

"I'm hearing a lot of maybes," Romes muttered.

"It's the only way across." Asa raised his shirt to mop sweat from his face. "Unless you have another suggestion?"

Romes surveyed the bubbling lake. It reminded Jax of a massive cauldron. "We could hike around it."

"We have to do the trial," Jax said.

His voice was tired. Gods, he felt tired. How long had they been hiking for? Days? Weeks? He'd lost track. Every part of him ached. He'd fought carnivorous birds and vicious plants that tried to bash him to death against trees. And now, Jax thought, he'd have to cross a bloody boiling lake of death.

No, thanks.

"Again," Romes said. "Says who? Don't say a god. Or a prophet. I'm getting sick of that answer." She looked at all of them. Nobody spoke, and Romes blew out a breath. "Screw it. I'm turning back."

Romes turned.

There was a grinding sound. Iron spikes burst from the earth, spiralling towards the itchy grey sky. Jax stumbled back as the iron knitted together, forming a towering gate. No, he realized, turning in a circle; not a gate. A fence.

They were trapped.

Asa whistled. "Well done, Romes. You've made it angry."

She glowered. "This is so stupid. I'm not going in that boat. It'll burn."

"We'll be fine," Asa said.

"Oh, yeah?" Romes raised an eyebrow. "Why don't you test it out and let me know how it goes?"

Asa started down the slope. "We have to get it unchained first."

Romes didn't move. "You can't be serious."

Asa circled the boat. He pushed at the boulder it was tied to; the rock didn't budge. He picked up the metal chain and then dropped it with a curse; his hand came away red and shiny. "There must be a task of some sort."

"I'm not going in that boat," Romes said.

"What's that?" Jax asked.

He pointed to an indentation on the rock; it was half-obscured with soot, and Jax brushed the black dust away impatiently, his heart hammering in his throat. He read the words aloud:

Tell a secret nobody knows;

Tell a secret that rarely shows;

Tell a secret you're loathe to part;

Tell a secret wrenched from the heart.

Silence fell. Jax scanned the lines again, his mind working. This was the test of the heart, he realized; not a test of courage, but a secret. A truth wrenched from the heart. Something that you didn't want to share.

"Why," Asa said finally, "does everything have to bloody rhyme?"

"I like it," Jax said defensively, patting the rock. "Excellent choice of meter and rhythm. And the couplets give a nice structure to the poem."

"It's not a poem," Xander said. "It's instructions."

"Technically," Jax said, "it's a quatrain."

"Whatever." Asa waved a hand. "Somebody admit something."

They all stood there, observing one another. The smell of sulfur was overwhelming. Xander had sweated through his red bandana; it was stained a dark mauve colour. Asa crossed his arms, his dark eyes narrowed.

"Well." Romes nudged him. "Go on."

Asa's scowl deepened. "Why do I have to go?"

"Because you're the shadiest," Romes said. "You have the most secrets."

"That's not true," Asa said.

Romes rolled her eyes. "You're literally a criminal."

"Was a criminal."

Romes sighed. "I'm pretty sure you can't be absolved of that status."

"I'm not doing it," Asa said firmly.

"Fine!" Romes threw her hands up. "Fine. I'll admit something." She licked her cracked lips. "Okay. When I was twelve, I nicked my father's whisky out of the cupboard. I drank half of it, vomited all over the workshop, and blamed it on the cat."

She looked expectantly at the silver chains. Nothing happened. Xander tapped his chin, his brown eyes thoughtful. "I don't think it was a big enough secret."

Romes frowned. "That's a very good secret."

"No offense," Asa said, "but Xan's right. That was crap."

Romes blew a dark strand of hair out of her eyes. "Are you serious? I've been holding on to that for years." Everyone looked at the ground. She nudged Asa in the ribs. "Fine. You go, then."

Asa's face shuttered. "No."

"You have a secret, don't you?" Romes said.

"No," Asa said.

She raised an eyebrow. "I can tell by your face it's a good one."

"No."

"Guys," Xander said.

He was staring at the lava pool, his brow slightly furrowed. Romes sighed. "I really, really hate it when you do that."

"Is it just me," Xander said, "or is the lava getting closer?"

Jax swallowed. He could see it now: the lava was creeping up the banks, reaching towards them with knobbly fingers. And it was growing faster, Jax realized, his breath hitching in his chest; the liquid was swelling, a plant overflowing its pot.

"Bugger," Jax muttered.

Romes' eyes didn't move from the lava. "What do we do?"

"We could move further uphill," Asa suggested.

"And then what?" Romes's voice was tense. "Scale the twenty-foot fence?"

The liquid spilled over.

The lava came in waves, a great ocean of fire. Jax sprang on a boulder. Asa followed him, cursing colorfully. Heat seared his feet. Jax could hear Romes screaming, hear Xander shouting something, but it all felt faraway; the smell of rotting eggs assaulted his senses. He couldn't think. Couldn't breathe.

"The boat," Romes shouted. "We need to unchain the boat!"

She was clinging to a rocky shelf, the muscles in her arms straining. Her feet dangled over the lava. Something in Jax went still. He was suddenly aware of every beat of his heart, of every bead of sweat trickling down the back of his neck.

He turned to Asa. "Do it."

Asa cursed, stumbling back as lava bit at his toes. "What?"

"Admit your secret." Jax's heartbeat was painful. "Now."

Asa's face was red. "I don't have a secret!"

"Yes, you do," Romes said, her eyes flashing. "Why are you in prison, Asa?" Lava sloshed on her calf, and she made an anguished sound that could have been a groan or a scream. "Who was that man in the forest?"

"I'm not saying," Asa snapped. "And you can't— Ow."

The last word was an indistinguishable roar. It took Jax a moment to process what he was seeing: Asa, his foot raw and red; Asa, his left shoe missing. The lava had burned away most of the top layer of skin. Panic unfurled its wings.

"For gods' sake, Asa," Jax said, "we're about to die." He leapt backwards as the lava surged. "Just say it."

"No!"

"Now!" Jax roared.

"Okay, fine!" Asa snapped. "Fine. When I was fourteen, I watched my parents die." His breath was ragged. "It was a Tuesday night. We were sitting in the kitchen, eating a lenaani bread. It's a sweet loaf baked with raisins and crap. Whatever. Doesn't matter. Just after midnight, three men burst into the house – kicked down the door and everything — and they were carrying knives. They told us that we'd all been chosen as sacrifices."

Asa's chest was heaving, his breath coming in shallow pants. He looked like a man dangling from the edge of a cliff, Jax thought; like it was taking everything he had just to hold on. Asa continued.

"They went for my mother first. I remember it was quick; just a slash across her neck. My father caught her as she fell, and I remember watching her bleed all over the table, all over the bread we'd been eating. He was begging them to stop. Please, he said. He just kept saying that, over and over again. Please don't hurt them. I'd never heard him beg before. Then the man stabbed him in the chest."

Asa's cheeks were burning. "They turned on my sister, next. Sapphy. She was twelve at the time. I remember one of the men grabbed her by the hair. And something in me just broke. I took an iron poker from the fireplace, and I started swinging. I killed one of them with a blow to the face. And the other two ran."

His eyes were dark. "I didn't even think about it; I just ran out of the house after them. I'd never felt anger like that before. All I wanted was for the bastards to turn around, for them to have the decency to face me. I cornered them in an alleyway just off the main square. I remember one of the men was crying. I made them get on their knees." He took a shaky breath. "Then I bludgeoned them to death."

Jax looked to Xander, his heart racing. "That cult you spoke about— the one that worships monsters—"

"That was my village." Asa's voice was ragged. "Those were my neighbours. And they murdered my parents."

Silence fell.

There was a slurping noise. The lava was retreating, Jax realized, sucked down into the depths of the volcano. The metal chains on the wooden boat unsnapped. Romes dropped to the ground, rubbing at her arms. Her legs were shaking.

Asa sat on the boulder. His foot was swollen, although if he felt any pain, he didn't let on. "Three days later, the king's guard showed up outside my house. I didn't even try to fight them; I just let them take me. I've spent the last three years in prison, and I've never regretted it once. I'm not sure what that says about me."

Jax swallowed. "Asa..."

"Sapphy's fifteen now," Asa said. "She lives in a cottage just outside Netherton, but the money's running out. That's why I need to complete the quest."

He was staring at his hands. Jax placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Asa," he said. "Really."

Asa's face tightened. "Let's just get in the stupid boat, alright?"

They pushed the wooden boat to the lake. Jax held his breath as they released it, but the wood stayed intact. Maybe Xander was right and it was enspelled. Still, Jax thought, he didn't really care what the mechanics were, so long as he didn't turn into a living candle.

"For what it's worth," Romes said, "I don't judge you for killing them." She climbed into the boat. "I would have done the same."

"Yeah, well." Asa's jaw tensed. "It turns out that murdering people doesn't make you feel better. It just means that more people are dead."

He clambered into the boat. Xander went next, followed by Jax. Bibi was curled up in the top of Xander's rucksack, letting out little snores. Jax wondered if the pegapiglet had slept through all the commotion. Probably. Bibi had once slept through a minor earthquake; her talents were unparalleled.

The boat sputtered to life. The vessel cut through the lava like a butcher's knife, cleanly parting the bloody waters. Jax turned to Asa.

"Thank you." His voice was quiet. "For telling us."

Asa shrugged. "Didn't have much of a choice, did I?"

Xander flopped back on the boat, resting his head against a wooden seat. "That was a close call. I really thought we were going to die."

"At least it's over with," Romes said.

"Don't say that." Asa's eyes were dark. "There are three more tasks. It's only going to get worse from here."