by Eva Ashwood
A twinge of worry fluttered through my chest. I wasn’t sure if the worry was for the other contestants, or for us.
“I’m sure they’re fine. They’re probably either lying in wait to attack us, or they’re coming at it from a different direction like Knox and Chetna did. Maybe they’re even closer to the goal than we are.”
I still didn’t know exactly what the goal was. We were making our way toward the glow I’d seen in the distance, but just as with the dome all those weeks ago, I had no idea exactly what we’d find when we reached our destination.
It just seemed like the most promising path to pursue.
“Yeah, that makes sense. I’m assuming this is all set up like one huge scavenger hunt, with different clues in different locations all pointing to the same ultimate prize,” Merrick said thoughtfully. “So it’s entirely possible other contestants are coming from the opposite direction we are.”
“If any of them are still alive,” Trace muttered, his expression darkening.
I bit my lip, fighting down the rush of guilt that filled me. Gods, I hated this. Fuck Knox for throwing a damn spear at Merrick’s head. If he hadn’t tried to attack us, we could’ve all come through the portal.
I had no problem racing a couple of competitors down a mountain to try to beat them to the next clue, or whatever awaited us in the jungle. Sure, it would be dangerous and possibly deadly, but it wasn’t the same thing as outright fighting our classmates.
“They’re alive. They have to be,” I said, for what felt like the millionth time.
Lachlan took in a deep breath as he hauled himself to his feet, draping a heavy arm around my shoulders. “Look at it this way, sweetheart. The fewer people you have to compete against at the end, the more you can embarrass yourself trying to beat me to the gem.”
My gaze shifted up at him, and I rolled my eyes, hiding my smirk as I caught the teasing gleam in his eye.
It was weird. Back at the beginning of the semester, his words would’ve made my blood boil with rage, but now they just filled me with a warm amusement. Maybe it was because I knew he respected me as a fighter, and I also knew he was trying to lighten the mood and draw my mind away from my worries about whether we’d left our classmates behind to die.
Poking him in the ribs to make him squirm, I cocked an eyebrow at him. “Don’t be so sure, dickwad. You are the master of underestimating me.”
He caught my wrist, pulling my hand into his larger one and tangling our fingers together.
“I did. Once. Don’t think I’ll be makin’ that mistake again. I shoulda recognized a badass bitch when I saw one.”
A strange ache tugged at my heart. Some girls might not take that as a compliment, but I absolutely did—and I was certain that was how Lachlan meant it.
“Watch out, big man,” I murmured. “I might start to think you’ve got a thing for me.”
He froze, his gaze finding mine in the early dawn light. All hint of humor faded from his expression, and a loaded silence hovered between us.
“Guys,” Trace called out. “Look at that.”
Both of us jerked, pulled out of the little bubble we’d found ourselves in. I twisted the hem of the oversized t-shirt between my fingers as I stepped over to stand next to Trace, who was looking out at the valley that stretched before us.
We stood at the edge of a lush forest. Without the height and distance we’d had on the mountain, we couldn’t see over the tops of the trees.
But we didn’t need to.
The glow I’d spotted before seemed to pulse through the trees. I was pretty sure we were at least a couple miles away from the source, but whatever it was, it was so bright that there was no way to miss it.
It flickered and pulsed, but in no specific rhythm or pattern. I knew it couldn’t be coming from fire—thank all the gods in the realm—but that was the kind of light that it gave off. It flickered like a flame in the wind.
The only difference was, it was a hell of a lot brighter than one single flame.
I clapped my hands together and rubbed them swiftly, palm to palm. “At least we’re getting close to whatever it is. Let’s go.”
We started off through the forest, diverging briefly when Lachlan caught the sound of running water. We’d left our pack behind, which meant we were entirely out of food and drink, as well as any other supplies we’d had, and although I was anxious to reach the source of the glow, we had to be smart.
There was no guarantee the challenge wouldn’t continue for another month, so we couldn’t afford to pass up a chance to hydrate.
“Thank fuck. I feel like a new man.”
Trace shook out his wet hair as we tromped through the thick underbrush. He’d stuck his whole head in the stream, and water droplets clung to his bare neck and shoulders in little beads.
The temptation to stop and bathe in the stream like we’d done on a few other occasions had been strong, but that could wait until we knew what we were dealing with up ahead.
I sighed. “Gods, I’d kill for a hot shower right about n—”
A loud crack sounded from my right, cutting me off.
We all spun in that direction, instantly alert. Half a second later, two figures came barreling through the trees, hurling bolts of magic at each other.
For a wild moment, hope actually made me perk up. Was it Chetna and Knox? Had they survived.
“Fuck! Ari, look out!”
Merrick’s cry of warning made reality slam back into me like a truck. The figures approaching us were locked in a deadly fight, and one of the blasts of magic had gone wide, heading right toward me. I threw up a shield at the last second, and it deflected the sharp, glowing spear, although the force of the blow still sent me staggering back.
The newcomers both caught sight of us at the same time, pausing their fight for a second as they processed the fact that they were no longer alone—that this was now a six-way fight instead of a two-way battle.
Then they took off, pivoting at almost the exact same moment.
“Shit! Hurry! Don’t let them get there first!”
Trace’s yell came as we were already sprinting after them, heading straight for the flickering light. We couldn’t let them get there before us, especially since we needed a clue. Without any kind of guidance, we’d be left wandering the deadly landscape aimlessly.
We bombarded them with magic, not trying to kill them, just trying to slow them down. None of us wanted to be the cause of someone’s death out here.
Merrick was the quickest of all of us, pulling at least four body lengths ahead of us, right on the heels of one of the contestants.
It wasn’t Chetna and Knox, I realized. It was Brielle and another student named Shane. I hadn’t seen either of them since the very beginning of this whole ordeal.
Merrick slapped his hand downward, letting a long, thin rope of magic extend from his palm. Shane looked back as he ran, cursing and flinging what looked like balls of smoky energy at Merrick. One skimmed his cheek, and his stride stuttered.
Picking up his pace again, he reached up and wiped soot from the burn across his skin.
His face tightened with anger as he pulled back his magic rope and whipped it toward Shane. The lanky guy yelled out, tumbling forward and slamming against the forest floor.
He slid through the leaves and twigs, coming to a stop face down.
Still alive.
I hope.
Merrick didn’t slow. He leapt over Shane’s form as I sent a spiral of energy toward the downed man, wrapping him up to keep him still.
Trace waved his hands in front of him as he pulled ahead of me, forming a small round web of sparkling orange magic. He shook his hands one last time and then stopped them hard. The web of energy went stiff.
“Merrick, duck!” he yelled out.
Without question, the blond mage dropped into a roll. Trace reared back and threw the plate of magic like a frisbee straight at Brielle’s back. The disc spun over Merrick’s head and slammed into
the girl with a thud.
She went down hard, and this time, I didn’t even bother sending out any magic to restrain her. The fall looked like it’d dazed her enough to give us a head start.
As we left the downed girl behind, a soft noise floated across the breeze, coming toward us.
My footsteps slowed, and beside me, the three men slowed too. Listening.
It sounded like wind chimes at the beach and reverberated with the same feeling of power as the light.
Merrick, Trace, Lachlan and I stopped in a line, all staring out into the distance toward the light. It had been growing brighter and brighter as we approached it, and now it was so strong that it lit up the whole forest, as if someone was shining a spotlight through the trees.
“It’s not a clue,” I murmured, certainly filling me. “It’s the gem. It’s the end.”
We had finished the competition.
Well, we were about to anyway.
Trace took in a long, deep breath and rolled his shoulders. Then he glanced over at the rest of us. “I have to say, it was a pleasure being on a team with you. Up to this point.”
Lachlan chuckled. “Agreed.”
Merrick nodded, his gaze flicking to me. “It was. But I guess all good things must come to an end.”
There was a momentary pause, and I wanted to say so many things that the words all jumbled up in my mouth.
I wanted to thank them for the help. I wanted to thank them for the company. I wanted to thank them for protecting me and letting me protect them right back.
Maybe this doesn’t have to be the end. Why do we have to go back to the way things were?
But we had to split up here, didn’t we? How would it even work, otherwise? Were we all supposed to grab the gem at once, like some kind of four-way tie? I had a feeling that wouldn’t end the game. The whole point of the Gods’ Challenge was to have one winner, one champion.
One soul deemed worthy enough to meet the gods.
So I pushed the unspoken words back down into my chest, glancing over at the three men and catching Merrick’s gaze last. “May the evilest person win.”
He belted out a laugh, and before he even finished, I was already moving.
Hey, I said “evilest”, didn’t I?
My cheat move bought me about a second and a half head start, but the men were hot on my tail. We all sprinted forward, using our magic to boost us as fast as we could.
Ahead of us, a clear, thin border of some type floated down to the ground, and for a moment I almost stopped, thinking it could possibly be a bad idea to run straight into it.
But it was too late to change course. The four of us were neck-and-neck as we passed through the nearly invisible, shimmering field—and all of us instantly slowed.
The very air around me seemed to thicken, pushing against me with so much resistance it took all my strength just to keep myself from falling backward.
Lachlan looked around him with confusion, lips curling as he worked to move. “What the hell?”
Trace grunted, throwing his arm out and pushing on Merrick as hard as he could. “It’s the light! It’s a physical force! You didn’t think it would be easy, did you?”
My gaze shifted toward Lachlan, and I almost felt bad. I would’ve thought he’d have the easiest time getting through this challenge, since he was undoubtedly the biggest and strongest of the group. But his size also gave the resistance in the air more to push against, and he seemed even more stuck than the rest of us.
I maneuvered my body so I was almost facing sideways, trying to make myself as thin as possible as I pressed forward.
Motherfucker.
This was ridiculous. The final sprint to the finish line was being done at a snail’s pace.
Trace was trying to use magic to help him go faster, throwing out ropes that latched onto tree trunks ahead of him and using that to pull himself through the resistance in the air. But it seemed to be only partially effective, since his ropes were hampered by whatever magic infused the air too.
Several yards from me, Lachlan had totally ripped off my idea, squeezing sideways like he had when we navigated the narrow tunnel after the cave collapse.
“Cheater!” I called out.
His gaze flicked to me, a grin spreading across his face as he forced his way through the thick air. “Sorry, sweetheart. It’s not cheatin’ to recognize brilliance when I see it.”
Well, when he put it that way…
He was still a dirty cheater, but it was a lot harder to stay mad at him.
“Godsdamn you! I’m gonna be so pissed if you get there before me!”
He chuckled, jerking his chin toward something over my shoulder. “I’d worry more about that fuckhead.”
I glanced over my shoulder and saw Merrick sneaking up alongside me. He was too far away for me to reach, and I couldn’t afford to waste precious time or energy trying to knock him over or anything. He was using his magic as a sort of shield, pushing it through the thick air ahead of him and clearing a path. It didn’t allow him to go very fast, but at the pace we were moving, a little speed went a long way.
Merrick laughed as I cursed under my breath.
Every muscle in my body burned as we forced our way forward. I was vaguely aware of the sounds of Brielle and Shane behind us—they must’ve recovered from the stunning blows.
So… close.
I could see another shimmering veil ahead of us, like the one we’d passed through earlier. And beyond that, in a clearing, a gem the size of a plum hovered at chest height. The light seemed to be radiating from it, bathing everything around it in a brilliant glow.
My breath heaved in my lungs, and when I finally forced my way through the second barrier, I almost fell over as the resistance in front of me suddenly evaporated.
But I was free.
I could move.
I took off at a dead run, sprinting side by side with Merrick. He glanced over at me, measuring the distance between us, measuring which one of us was closer.
He was.
His longer legs had given him the advantage, and he was nearly a foot ahead of me as we neared the gem, which hung suspended at the core of the radiating light.
Dammit! I hurled myself forward.
He thrust his arm out at the same time I did, his fingertips just centimeters further than mine.
But instead of closing around the gem, his hand closed around empty space.
And my fingers curled around the cool, hard stone.
I dug my feet into the dirt as I gripped the gem, shock radiating through me. But before I could fully register what’d just happened, I felt an intense tug pulling me forward, as if the gem itself were hurling me toward space.
A portal sucked me in, spinning me about wildly in the mid-plane before dumping me onto hard-packed earth with a thud.
I lay on my back, the wind knocked out of me, staring up at the sky.
A flag flying from a pole above me flapped in the wind, and as I caught sight of the Magic Blessed Academy crest on it, I knew for certain where I was.
I’d made it back to the earthly plane.
I’d won.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Holy fuck.
Those were the only two words that made it through my stunned brain as I lay there.
A roar filled my ears, and for a moment, I was sure the sky must be falling, collapsing down on me just like the cave ceiling had done back in the godly realm.
After everything that my body had been through, I felt like I’d been hit by a truck. I rolled to my side, groaning as I pushed myself up to a seated position. It took me a minute to get my vision back fully—bright spots still danced in front of my eyes from staring at the glowing gem for so long as I’d fought my way toward it. It had felt a little like staring at the sun.
Looking around, I realized I was on The Hill, the same place where we’d had the departure ceremony before all the contestants had stepped into their portals. And just like it had been when we’d
left, the area around the small pavilion was filled with students.
That was the source of the roaring sound, I realized. They were all cheering.
It didn’t look like the whole school was present, but it was more than half. I had no idea what day of the week it was—maybe not everyone had been able to get out of class to come observe. The admins must’ve been able to see that we were getting close to the prize, so maybe they’d let certain students come watch.
A hand touched my shoulder, and my head snapped to the right, adrenaline flooding me. My nerves were still on edge from being in the jungle for so long.
Several of the school admins stood gazing down at me—including Dean Frost, who had a broad smile on her face.
“Welcome back, brave competitor,” she said formally, and her voice rang out over the pavilion, magically amplified. I almost rolled my eyes at the term, and it occurred to me that maybe she’d just forgotten my name in the time I’d been gone. It felt like years, although in reality, it’d only been about a month.
“Uh, thanks.”
The crowd had quieted a little when Dean Frost spoke, and now that I was aware of their presence, I could feel their gazes on me, the attention making me shift uncomfortably. I’d barely seen another human being besides the three men I’d teamed up with for weeks, and to be suddenly surrounded by people was a bit unnerving.
Forcing myself to ignore my discomfort, I stood carefully, feeling the burn and stretch in my thighs. After battling monsters and barely surviving various threats over the past several weeks, I was beat to hell and probably covered in bruises.
Then a thought struck me, and I turned in a circle, my gaze searching the pavilion. Panic made my heart thud harder in my chest as I whirled back to face the dean.
“Where’s everybody else? I know for a fact there were at least five other people near me right when I grabbed the gem.”
Frost’s smile widened reassuringly, and she put her arm around my shoulders, smiling up at the crowd. Worry punched a hole in my chest, and I wanted to fling her arm off and scream my question at her again, but I held back. I needed fucking answers, and losing my shit at the dean probably wouldn’t get them.
