Dmitry Matveev

Everything went wrong the moment the judge on the cliff announced the task:

"Find the Guide. He is the only one who can help distribute human death—free the soul trapped between the shore and the water. The first one to touch the Guide and receive his sign will complete the test."

The air grew thick. The participants froze, scanning the shore. Sasha stared at the horizon, Maryana dipped her palms into the water, Vlad began drawing pentagrams in the sand, Lina closed her eyes, reading auras. And Dima and Oleg, as always, gathered in the center.

---

Dima Matveyev struck first—not at Oleg, but at the space itself: a sharp burst of energy caused the sand to rise in a column, "erasing" the alien thought forms and revealing the true trace. He was convinced that the Guide was an ancient spirit that needed to be lured out by force.

But Oleg Sheps stood motionless, only moving his fingers slightly as he wove the threads. His voice was even:

"You search where there is noise. The Guide does not respond to anger. He comes to the one who is quiet."

Dima snapped, creating a whirlwind of wet rocks and foam around himself—he wanted to mark the entire coastline, to force everyone there to reveal themselves. But at that moment, his gaze caught something that didn't fit into the battle scene.

A little further away, on a flat boulder, sat a girl. Short and slender, wearing a light top and short skirt, she was clearly cold, but she didn't seem to mind. Her short, light-brown hair glistened with moisture, her brown eyes gazed calmly downward, and her long, graceful fingers twirled wet seaweed and white pebbles, weaving them into a wreath. There was no aura of struggle around her—only silence.

Dima lost his rhythm. His whirlwind flickered and died. Oleg, noticing this, chuckled:

— Found it?

"She?" Dima didn't believe it. "She's just... a girl."

"A guide doesn't have to look like an old man with a staff," Sheps said, putting his hands in his pockets and taking a step back. "Go ahead. I won't interfere. Death abhors fuss."