"Rogan, help me pull her out!" Oliver shouted, rushing forward and grabbing her arm. Rogan grabbed her other one and the boat rocked precariously.
"Get me out. Get me out!" May said in a panic, gripping their arms tightly.
Another huge jerk of the boat sent Oliver and Rogan flying out into the lake. The ice-cold water filled Oliver's mouth and nose. He couldn't breath. He kicked harder and harder until he finally reached the surface and took a deep gasp of air.
He had floated a few feet away from the boat which was now occupied by just Anna and Quinn. They were pulling May up with Rogan pushing her legs as he treaded water beneath her.
Oliver swam towards them feeling vulnerable in the open water. His foot connected with something hard below the surface and he kicked backwards away from it with a shout of surprise.
The others looked up at him and he spotted that May was back in the boat. "What's wrong?" she asked, her face pale as a ghost.
"I felt something," Oliver said, spitting water out of his mouth.
He started swimming forwards again and, whatever had been beneath him, was no longer there. His heartbeat kicked up a notch as his mind conjured terrifying images of creatures beneath the water.
"Get out of the lake!" Anna shouted, staring wildly around him as if she expected to see a monster. "Come on. Swim," she encouraged, leaning over the boat with her arms outstretched towards him.
Rogan clung on to the side and Oliver reached him in a few, short bursts of forward stroke."I'll boost you up," Rogan said.
Oliver nodded and reached up to the side of the boat. The girls gripped his arms and Rogan pushed him. He landed in the boat awkwardly, twisted around into a kneeling position and leant out to help pull Rogan in.
He gripped the back of Rogan's wetsuit and hauled him upwards. Rogan was almost out of the water when he cried out and began slipping through Oliver's grip as he was tugged back down.
"ROGAN!" Quinn screamed and gripped his arm as tightly as she could.
"PULL ME OUT!" Rogan roared, digging his nails into Oliver's shoulder. A long, greyish green tentacle was snaking up and around Rogan's body. It curled upwards and slithered around his throat.
"No, no, no," Oliver said through gritted teeth, pulling harder so his arms wrenched in their sockets.
Another slimy tentacle launched out of the water and wrapped around Oliver's wrist, then another and another, all latching onto his arms. The tentacles stung and burned where they touched making him almost release Rogan.
Oliver forced himself to grip tighter and his face contorted from the pain.
Quinn let go of Rogan, sending Oliver lurching forward a foot. He was about to shout at her for letting go when he saw her ripping the tentacles away. He felt arms encircle his waist and tug at his shoulders as May and Anna helped to hold him in place.
Oliver yanked Rogan as hard as he possibly could, making a noise of exertion in his throat. The tugging stopped abruptly as Quinn snatched away the last tentacle. Rogan was hoisted up into the boat and fell on top of them in a heap.
"Let's get out of here. Now," Rogan said, forcing himself up on to the bench with the oar already in his hand.
They returned to their positions and started rowing as hard as they could. Oliver's vision became blurry and he wasn't sure whether it was from exhaustion or from the stings on his arms.
He blinked away the water that had gathered in his eyes and looked down at Rogan's legs. His wetsuit was ripped and his skin was blotted with raised, red patches. His own arms were covered with smaller versions of the same thing and they burned like a fire was licking at his skin.
"You alright?" Oliver asked through heavy panting.
Rogan nodded but his face was pale and he looked dizzy and weak.
"I see the island. Keep going straight ahead," May said with a sigh of relief.
They got within a stone's throw of the beach and Oliver and Quinn jumped out to pull the boat up to the shore, the pain in his arms beginning to dull. Oliver counted eleven other boats already on the beach.
"We're in twelfth place. We have to move!" Oliver said, starting forwards.
"Wait a second, will you?" Quinn said.
Oliver turned back to see Rogan hobbling forward onto the beach.
"Dammit, I could heal this if I was allowed to use magic," Rogan said, wincing in pain.
"What the hell was that thing?" May asked, staring at Rogan's red legs, revealed beneath his torn suit. She rushed forward to support him.
"Damn luggerfish," Rogan said, ripping away the rest of the material that was pressing on his legs as he sat down on the beach.
"What's a luggerfish?" Oliver asked.
"It's got a long body covered in a tough shell and tentacles. Seriously gross," Rogan said.
"Yeah I noticed the tentacles," Oliver said, rubbing the stings on his arms.
Anna rushed to him and ran her hand gently over the bumps. She looked up at him with concern burning in her eyes.
"I'm alright," Oliver said and felt a warmth spread through him.
"I would have been a gonner without you guys," Rogan said with a grin. "I think I'll be alright in a minute. They've got venom in their tentacles but it's already wearing off. How's yours Oliver?"
"Yeah the pain's pretty much gone now," he replied, running his fingers over the welts.
"Shall we go?" May suggested.
They nodded. Oliver turned back towards the tree line at the top of the beach and started walking.
"Wait!" Anna called to them and they looked back at her. "There are boxes here for each of the teams."
Oliver noticed them now, large wooden chests running along the beach with the team names inscribed upon them. Many of them had been opened and soaking wetsuits lay inside.
"It must be a change of clothes," May said, looking around for their box and pointing when she spotted it.
It was padlocked.
"We don't have a key," Oliver said, looking up at the others.
"Wait, check your packs," Anna said, starting to rifle through hers.
They all swung the packs around off their backs and looked inside. Oliver took a quick swig of water after finding nothing in his bag.
"Here, it's in mine," May said, running forward with her hand outstretched.
She dropped to her knees and unlocked the box. Outfits the same as the previous day's were inside. May quickly passed them out to everyone and Oliver was half way through changing when Anna shrieked, "We have to change in front of everyone? We're being filmed!"
"Here," Quinn said, fishing out a couple of towels from the bottom of the box and holding one up for her. May took the other and stood opposite Quinn so the towels formed a circle. Anna smiled with relief and the girls changed one by one between them.
Rogan and Oliver were ready first. Oliver was grateful for the warm, dry material against his cold skin and felt ready to carry on.
No more boats had appeared since they had landed at the beach which was encouraging. They headed up towards the thick woodland with a renewed determination. There were several routes heading up the mountain all splitting off through the trees.
"Which one?" Oliver asked, glancing back at his friends.
"We're behind so better choose the quickest route," Rogan said thoughtfully.
"And how do we know which one that is?" Anna asked.
"The steepest," May said, pointing at a path that climbed up at a sharper angle than the others.
Rogan raised his eyebrows at her as they marched forward
"Larkin's team are already ahead of us," Quinn said angrily, pointing back at the boat marked Visikin.
"Then we better catch them up," Rogan said with a confident grin.
28
Encounter
They climbed the steep incline through the forest, occasionally stopping to catch their breath or help each other up a particularly difficult ascent. Parts of the route were so steep that they had to crawl on their hands and knees, dragging themselves up
with tree roots and rocks that jutted from the muddy ground. Despite this, they were making good time though they hadn't seen any sign of the other teams.
They finally reached a clearing in the woodland. It was bordered by trees at one edge and the other ended in a steep cliff that looked back out across the lake. They paused to rest a moment, taking a snack from their bags. Oliver devoured an energy bar that was overly sweet and chewy but immediately helped him recover from the climb.
May walked towards the edge of the cliff, stretching her back. "Woah," she said and the others followed her to have a look at the view.
The island was much larger than he had first thought. They were about two thirds of the way up the mountain now and he could see the small beach where they had left their boat, far below them.
He spied several more boats lined up next to their's, meaning more teams couldn't be far behind. He looked out at the lake to see a swirling mist located solely in between the shore and the island.
"It's magic," Quinn said in realisation.
"What about those Lugger things?" May asked.
"I don't know. I mean, I know they live in lakes but those things were after us," Anna said.
"Maybe not after you. I noticed you kept pretty dry," Oliver teased and she grinned at him.
"We need to keep going," May said.
Oliver nodded. "We still haven't passed any of the other teams. What if they've already finished?" Panic broke through him.
"Don't worry. They won't have finished yet. We've made good time up the mountain and they all took different routes anyway. We can still catch them," Rogan said, though Oliver detected concern in his voice.
A rustling in the trees made them turn and Larkin's sneering face appeared, surrounded by the rest of his team.
"Well, hello, fancy seeing you here," Larkin said to the sniggering of his friends.
"Shove off, Larkin," Rogan said, rolling his eyes. "Let's go," he said quietly to the others.
They started forward in an attempt to go around the Visikins but Larkin moved to block their way and placed a hand on Rogan's chest.
"Take your hand off of me," Rogan said calmly.
"What are you gonna do if I don't? Can't use magic, it's against the rules," Larkin said, squaring up to him.
"So is ambushing other teams," Anna snapped.
Larkin took his hand away and held both of them up as if to prove he wasn't doing anything wrong.
"No one's ambushing. I just heard you coming up behind us and thought I'd come say hello to my friend." He moved towards Quinn who stepped away from him.
Kuti rolled her eyes from behind him. "Larkin I actually want to win a key. Can we go?"
"In a minute," Larkin dismissed her. "What's the matter Quinny baby? Come give me a kiss." Quinn squirmed as the boy's on his team roared with laughter.
"Back off," Oliver said, stepping towards Larkin. "We need to get on with the race."
Larkin's eyes snapped to Oliver's with a look of pure venom as his friend Arrow sidled up beside him. "Shut it, Earthy."
"Or what? You touch any of us and you'll be disqualified," Oliver said, glaring at the boy.
Larkin was in his face in half a second. He was so close that Oliver could smell his hot breath but he didn't blink.
"Go on," Oliver said, daring him. "Or is just girls you like to attack?"
Larkin frowned.
Oliver felt Rogan's presence beside him and that of Larkin's team closing in. No one wanted to make a move in case they were penalised. A crack of thunder broke their attention and Larkin's eyes slid to the sky. Oliver could tell it took everything the boy had to pull himself away and turn his back on them.
"Come on, we can get them once we win. Once the cameras have stopped rolling," Arrow said, smirking at Oliver.
"You're right," Larkin said, starting back towards the tree line.
Larkin's team lingered a moment longer before following him back to the forest but Arrow remained, cracking his knuckles at Oliver. They held eye contact until the boy finally backed down, turned and disappeared into the trees. Oliver's heart was hammering and he let out a shuddering breath to help calm his anger.
He looked to his friends, ready to rant about how much he hated Larkin, when a clap of thunder sounded again and rain poured from the sky in torrents.
"Come on. Let's get going," Oliver spoke loudly over the clamour of raindrops.
"If we run I bet we can pass them," Rogan said with a glint in his eye.
Before he could answer, a vibration in the air sent a wave of ice through Oliver. It was a feeling he had only ever felt once in his life. And one he had hoped never to feel again. The presence of a vark.
29
Bloodthirsty
It looked completely different to the one Oliver had seen before but he knew it had to be a creature of Vale. The vark stood as tall as the trees behind it, rainwater running down its body in rivulets. Its head was shaped almost like a wolf's but its snout was turned up at the end into a pointed nose and numerous fangs hung out of its jaw in a constant snarl.
Its eyes were like shadows with a thin, red slit for pupils that flitted from side to side, taking in its surroundings. Its arms were overly long and hung down to the ground, dragging enormous, curved claws behind it.
Its stance made its chest jut out to show protruding ribs as if the creature was starving to death. Its bottom half reminded Oliver of a giant ape as it stepped forward slowly, trailing its forearms behind it.
The others shouted out in shock. They began backing away towards the cliff in fear. May ran to Oliver's side and the two of them took several steps backwards away from the creature. The vark hadn't seen them yet and was distracted by something behind it. Oliver realised, with a sick feeling, that Larkin and his teammates were screaming.
The creature swung its arms around at them. Its claws ripped trees fully out of the ground and threw them aside to try and reach them. Their screams retreated further into the trees and the vark gave up trying to force its way through the dense foliage, twisting around to face Oliver and his friends instead.
It set its blood-red eyes on them and let out a guttural roar that reverberated through Oliver's ears. All of them stumbled backwards, closer to the cliff edge.
"Is this part of the challenge?" Anna shouted over the thundering wind and rain that whipped about them.
"No!" Oliver shouted at the same time Rogan did. Oliver met his eye and saw that his friend knew what the creature was.
Rogan nodded and hurried towards Quinn, talking close to her ear. Her eyes widened in fright then she nodded and a steely determination crossed her features.
"Keep behind us!" Quinn shouted, the rain making her hair cling to her face.
Oliver, Anna and May took a step back as Quinn and Rogan moved steadily toward the vark, peeling the gloves from their hands and discarding them on the ground.
Rogan raised his arms and fire poured from his hands, searing the vark's arm as it swung towards them. The flames lit the scene with red and orange as it pummelled the vark's body. The creature roared in outrage but the fire didn't seem to be damaging it.
As the vark stepped closer, its claws buried deep into the ground behind it, digging up a mountain of earth as it progressed. It left a trail of black fire in the great gouges it tore through the ground that burned relentlessly despite the rain.
The vark's arms swung forward abruptly and a ball of the black fire hurled through the air towards them. Oliver, May and Anna dove forward onto the ground and Oliver felt wind rush over him as the fireball missed them by inches.
When he looked up, he saw Rogan and Quinn sending a tumult of electricity at the vark, causing it to roar in fury. The vark slowed under the attack but continued to ready another ball of the black fire that was caged in its palm by colossal claws. It swung the fireball and Oliver shouted for everyone to move as he and May dove to the left and Anna went to the right, leaving a large gap between them.
Oliver saw Quinn
crumple to the floor in the corner of his eye and began to panic. It was only a matter of time before the vark was on top of them. His heart thumped against his chest as if it were fighting to get out. He leapt to his feet in a mad fury and waved his arms at the creature, luring it away from his friends.
It swivelled its ugly head towards him and locked its dark eyes upon him. Its lips were quivering and drool was pouring out between pointed teeth. It stepped towards him, leaving massive footprints in the wet mud. Oliver's plan was working but he hadn't thought any further ahead and his mind wouldn't kick into gear.
He glanced at Rogan who was running toward them, blasting the vark's head with a stream of lightning that sparked and cracked with blue and silver light. Anna was cradling Quinn on the ground and Oliver thought he could see blood. He ran forward in an attempt to reach them but the vark's clawed foot slammed down between them, blocking his friends from view.
Time seemed to stand still as the creature turned back towards Rogan who had closed the distance between them.
"Wait-!" Oliver tried to warn Rogan as the vark's enormous arm swung backwards and struck Rogan in the chest, sending him flying through the air. He landed hard on his back, unmoving.
"NO!" Oliver roared and ran towards him.
The vark's arm hurtled towards Oliver and he fell to the ground to duck the blow, missing him by centimetres.
He glanced back at May who was at the cliff's edge and saw the soft mud beginning to slide away beneath her.
"WATCH OUT!" Oliver cried to her but the words were lost over the sound of a bellowing roar from the vark.
The rain soaked him to the bone and he watched helplessly as his world fell apart around him.
Instinct kicked in.
He jumped to his feet and dove towards his sister as the beast's claws ripped through the ground he had just vacated.
The vark flung an arm at Oliver, colliding with his chest. The force of it sent him flying through the air. He was unable to breathe until he smashed into the muddy ground.
He slid to the edge of the cliff next to May, her fingernails clawing at the soft ground as she tried to stop herself from falling over the edge that was just feet behind them. Oliver started drifting backwards and dug his nails in to stop himself.
Creeping Shadow (The Rise of Isaac, Book One) Page 28
