Jayden walked down the hallway of Chantel's apartment complex. He had been here every second that his parents let him out of the house just waiting for any sign of life from Asher. Since yesterday, Asher had not woken up from his fight with whatever the hell it was the Aquins made him battle.

Jayden was worried for his best friend. He and Elle were cool, but with her being obsessed with Judah recently it's made Jayden feel awkward. When they were off by themselves yesterday while they waited for Asher, Jayden couldn't help but feel something was going on between them.

Not to mention Jayden tried to contact both of them multiple times last night to ask for help with Asher, and neither of them picked up.

Had everyone lost sight of what is happening? They were in a war. This wasn't about relationships, or finding love again. They were going to have to eventually fight an evil dark wizard. They were going to have to solve a plague that seems almost impossible to defeat. They had to find their friend, Judah's girlfriend, and reunite for the power of the Dominions. They had enough to worry about with getting the stubborn group members of the MCA to join them. Jayden didn't need his team falling apart too.

When he got to the steel door he knocked.

Moments later the latch unlocked and Chantel opened the front door. She smiled brightly when she saw Jayden standing in the doorway. "Hey!" she smiled brightly. "He's just starting to wake up!"

Jayden walked through the door quickly and saw Asher sitting up on the bed. He had a dazed look on his face and nodded at Jayden when he walked in. "What's up, Superstar?" he asked confused. "Did I win?"

"You did great," said Jayden sitting down next to him on the bed. "The Aquins send their thanks for solving their squid problem."

Asher lifted his arms and flexed like a superhero, but winced and grabbed the back of his head. "What the hell, did it play hockey with me?"

"Something like that," Jayden joked. "Elora called an emergency meeting because of you. She said it wasn't fair, and sheer luck that you didn't die. She was pissed when she saw you after the fight. I was surprised she didn't jump down there and go fight their Queen herself."

Asher tried to get up from the bed but winced again and Chantel gently pushed him back down into the mattress. "What the hell are you doing, Asher? Sit down," she instructed.

"There's an emergency meeting-"

"That you're not going to," she commanded. "You're going to sit down and get rest so when the next giant squid monster comes around you'll be ready."

Asher let out a loud whine and looked at Jayden for support. Jayden held up his hands in surrender. "Sorry, bro. I'm with your lady on this one. We need you in perfect condition. The last thing we need is for you to push it and collapse."

Asher crossed his arms and pouted on the bed. "What am I supposed to do while you guys are out saving the world?! Not to mention if I see that smug blonde Aquin again I might punch his ugly face in-"

Chantel rolled her eyes and covered his mouth. He looked annoyed, and Jayden couldn't help but burst out laughing. Asher Kidd was never like this in all the years they had known each other from school. Seeing this side of him was different. Asher had grown since meeting Chantel.

"That is precisely why you aren't going," Chantel said definitively. She handed Asher the remote. "Look through some movies or shows and I'll be back in a minute."

She got up and walked to the bathroom. Moments later the shower turned on. Jayden watched as Asher begrudgingly began looking through streaming services. His brow ruffled. "All her suggestions are lame," he complained. "How am I supposed to get excited about a cake show?"

"Some of those are pretty cool actually," Jayden said. He frowned. "I don't know if I should be telling you this. I know that you're needing rest, but I think something is going on between Elle and Judah."

Asher paused browsing. "What kind of things?"

Jayden sighed. "Yesterday, when you were fighting, they were laying on a rock, and I can't be sure, but I think they might have been holding hands. One, I think that's super disrespectful to Selena, on both of their parts. Two, we can't have them both in turmoil. We need a strong team. I don't know what to do."

"There's nothing you can do," Asher said definitively. "They're going to make their own choices. If they want to roll around in the hay, as they say, they're going to do it. Is it wrong? Yeah. Is it going to cause stress? Yeah. We can't stop it. That's if it already hasn't happened."

Jayden felt his chest start to tighten at the thought. He turned to talk to Asher when a blue portal appeared in the center of the living room. Jayden leaned his head back and sighed. "I guess it's time for that emergency meeting."

The sound of the water running in the bathroom filled the silence that followed. Asher looked at Jayden mischievously. "If you help me I could come-"

"Nice try, lover boy," Jayden said as he got up and walked through the portal.

The small studio apartment faded away and Jayden was left standing in the hallway that led to the chamber of the MCA. When he walked into the golden room, everyone else had already taken their seats. Elle and Judah waved him over as Elora stood in the center yelling at the Aquin people.

"Where have you been?" Judah asked him. "You didn't make it to the spot in time."

"Asher woke up," Jayden whispered back. "He was mad he didn't get to come," Jayden felt his stomach tighten. He wanted to ask them why they didn't answer last night, but he hated confrontation. He didn't want to argue with them today if he didn't like their answer. Against his better judgment, he took a breath and looked at his friends. "Where were you two last night? I tried calling to ask if one of you could go help Chantel last night and nobody answered."

Elle quickly looked away, and Judah's cheeks burned. It was then that Jayden noticed that Elle was wearing the same clothes as she was yesterday. He looked at Judah and saw a small dark mark on the side of his neck just barely sneaking out of his hoodie.

That he was wearing in the summer!

"Are you two fucking serious?!" Jayden hissed at them.

"Jayden, this isn't the time," Judah corrected.

"It will never be the time!" Jayden said trying to control his temper. "You two-" he grabbed the arm of his chair and bounced up and down. "This is not just about you two! We have a lot on the line here! Including your girlfriend!"

Judah flinched upon hearing the word girlfriend. Elle's face contorted into a sad expression. "Lay off, Jayden," Judah said. "It's not your business."

Jayden resisted the urge to laugh dramatically loud. "Not my business?" he hissed back. "This isn't my business?! You two are precisely my business. We are a team! You're bringing chaos and destruction to us at the worst possible moment, and now you're telling me it isn't my concern?! Like we aren't fighting in a magical war!"

The two sat there quietly and looked at each other. Guilt flashed on both of their faces. Had Jayden gone too far? Had his words been too harsh? No, they couldn't have been. They needed to hear it. Elle and Judah created this perfect bubble world while in the middle of a field of needles. This was bound for disaster.

"We didn't want this to happen, Jayden," Elle said. "It just...did."

It just did, Jayden. Jayden mocked her in his head. Frustrated, Jayden turned his attention back to the conversation that Elora was having with the other realms.

"You had no right to send him into that dangerous task!"

"The boy knew the risks of coming to our trial," said the redhead Aquin that picked him up at the cave. "He had a right to decline the trial."

"You sent a teenager to fight a monster that your people couldn't even fight! What if he had died?! You'd have left my kingdom completely unprotected. The power would have gone to who knows where!"

"That's not our problem, your Majesty." the redhead nudged Danwren. A small smile appeared on his lips.

Jayden resisted the urge to get up and smack him.

"The Queen is right," said Aethelwynn of the elves. "We have no right to expect these children to do things that we could not do ourselves. I assume your guardian is alive?"

"He was returned to us barely holding on with a wound on his head," Elora said. "The Aquins better hold up their end of the bargain we struck-"

"We Aquins are honorable people!" Danwren said standing up. "This is outrageous to even consider anything to the contrary!"

"Then I want it bound," Elora said. "Bound by a magical contract. Each of you will sign one today that states if we complete your trials we have your one hundred percent support. If your alliance offered is of true friendship then this shouldn't be a burden."

The speakers for the other realms got up from their table and gathered around each other. They whispered back and forth for what felt like an eternity. Jayden felt his stomach doing backflips as he watched the occasional speaker glance at their table. When they finally broke apart, Lizia was the one to speak.

"We have decided to agree to your terms, and to sweeten the deal, we have agreed that we will not put your guardians in potentially life-threatening situations."

Elora nodded and held out her hand. A white light illuminated from her palm and a piece of golden paper appeared in the air. The speaker from each realm held their hands out, and a golden light appeared on each of their palms.

"Do you solemnly swear to the terms stated?"

"We do," they said in unison.

One by one the gold light diminished from their hands as their names appeared on the golden document floating in the air. Elora's palm turned to gold, and then the document vanished. "As you know, failure to complete the contract will lead to devastating consequences to the signer until they complete it." Elora smiled at the kids and nodded reassuringly.

"Now that we have that settled," said Elora. "Aquins, was the task completed to your satisfaction?"

"Yes," said Danwren. "We were very impressed-,"

"And surprised," interrupted the redhead Aquin.

"Yes," said Danwren. "Both. We were impressed and surprised to see your boy come back at all, let alone with the head of Vican." murmurs traveled throughout the meeting room. "Your guardians are the real deal, Elora."

Jayden felt a beam of pride for his best friend. Asher might not make the best choices under pressure, but he always pulled through. In a way, Jayden was envious of him. Sure, he had a hurt head, but he also was in bed with a beautiful girl to take care of his every whim.

And his trial was over.

"With that being said," Volkon from the Minotaurs stood. "We have the trial that we would like for your guardian to compete in."

Elora turned and ushered Elle to the middle of the podium. Jayden watched as she looked tall and confident standing before them. That was something she learned from her dad. He looked over at Judah who had a fearful glint in his eye as she stood before the minotaurs. Jayden wanted to punch him. How could he be so stupid?

"We invite the guardian to play a little game with us," Volkon said. A sly grin plastered across his face. "We would like this to be done tomorrow."

"What game?" asked Elle confused.

The minotaur bowed low to the ground. "Lady, you are going to compete in a game of Skydance. We will give you the evening to learn about it. We will see you tomorrow."

The members of the MCA walked out of the room. When all the other realms cleared out Elora put her face in her hands. She slumped over the podium and sighed deeply. "They would challenge you to a game of Skydance."

"What's Skydance?" asked Jayden.

"Essentially," Elora began. "You stand on a platform and try to maneuver from platform to platform why your opponent tries to block your moves."

"Why is it called Skydance?" Elle asked.

"Because," Elora said. "You're fifty feet off the ground when you play."