by Lan Chan
The arrows had become a swarm of bees. They buzzed and zipped around us. There were more arrows embedded onto the damned poles than I could count. I couldn’t concentrate on anything that was happening with the contestants because I was so busy anticipating the next arrow that might kill us.
They were taking their damn sweet time.
A gurgled cry tore me out of the Ley dimension. I gaped at the sight of an older man pinned to the pole on his platform by a series of arrows. Blood dripped onto the platform, decorating it in crimson blots.
“This can’t be happening,” Sophie said. I could barely hear her over the roar of the water. The tide must have been coming in because more and more of it was spilling over the lip of the whirlpool.
Steam rose from the lava pit until it felt like every breath I took was burning my lungs. Over the older man’s shoulder, I locked eyes with a thunderous face that I knew. Meryl Laurent. The soft curls in her hair had turned into frizz. The floor-length sundress she wore was torn all along the side. I watched her step forward with the ease and grace of a dancer. Arrows glided through the air where she had been standing. I gulped. She was fast enough that she could sense when an arrow was coming.
She leapt through the air and landed with a light step in the middle of the next platform. The platform’s owner, a small Fae girl, dropped to her knees to avoid an arrow to the back of the head. What she hadn’t counted on was the vindictive Nephilim who latched on to her shoulder.
Meryl smiled as she lifted the Fae to her eye line. I screamed when she tossed the Fae over the edge. Cassie lunged forward like she thought she could do something about it. I grabbed her arm and held her back.
The Fae girl thrashed in the air in a desperate attempt to unfurl her wings. Black magic laced with red crackled around her. It kept her completely immobile. Her white blouse was the first thing to catch fire. Then it was her hair. Somebody on the beach howled. The Fae’s body crashed into the lava and disintegrated.
For a millisecond all noise ceased. It was as if the whole arena held its breath. I whirled around to watch the beach. I was just fast enough to catch the last smudge of a Fae contestant as he was teleported out of the arena.
First one down.
The arrows stopped coming.
Sophie leaned in close. “Why isn’t this over?” Her voice trembled. Her hair was a thick halo around her head. It too was frizzed to the max. Sophie’s question reverberated in my mind. Why wasn’t this over? The objective of the game was to weed out the odd contestant. Surely that had been achieved. Unless this now became about speed.
Several of the contestants had managed to map out a path to the water’s edge. By some miracle, one of those was Andrei. Kai, Max, Chanelle, and Bradley were also amongst them.
There was a twenty-metre stretch of water around the whirlpool. If it had been a game of sheer bravery, a few of the contestants would have jumped in headfirst. But they weren’t the best of their Academies because they were used to running in blind. Max paced a length of the beach, his nostrils flaring. I could almost see the cogs in his brain working.
They were so used to their own ingenuity. And that was where I saw the problem. Faith.
Without warning, I ran and jumped back towards my platform. As soon as my feet touched down, the rain of arrows resumed. I turned once to the left, pivoted to the right, ducked an arrow that got dangerously close to my head and leaped again.
I landed badly on my knee, but the pain was masked by adrenaline. I was back on my own platform. The orb that had been out of reach before was now a prize at the end of a stepladder of arrows. I swiped my palms against my jeans and scrambled up to the top using the arrows as footholds.
“Andrei!” I screamed. I couldn’t see if he heard because I was too busy trying to stay out of the way of other arrows. Somebody landed on my platform. I glanced down and cursed. Meryl lifted her head and gave me a menacing smile. She started to climb up behind me.
Was this bitch kidding?
I tamped down the rage and focused on getting to the top. My hand was just within reach of the orb when fingers latched on to my foot. I had just enough time to hug the pole before Meryl yanked. My jeans ripped. My shoulder popped like it had come out of its socket.
I drew my free leg back. With every ounce of strength I had, I slammed my foot into Meryl’s face. Above all the noise in the arena, I heard the crack of bone. She screamed and let go of me, clutching at her face.
Ignoring all the aches in my body, I pushed up. My palm touched on the orb. A beam of light whipped from the orb. It was followed by another until there were hundreds of them. They braided together in the air to form a glowing silver bridge that anchored itself in the sand.
“Andrei!” I called out again. “Run!”
His head snapped up. He looked at me like I was insane. “What the hell are you waiting for?” I snapped.
“There’s a damned gaping hole in the way!” he shouted back.
“What are you talking about? There’s a bridge!”
By now the others on the platforms had figured it out too. “Max!” Sophie shouted. We were out of time. Max would run through a fiery chasm while being shot at with silver bullets to get to Sophie.
Andrei and I had zero trust between us. We weren’t friends. Heck, we were barely even enemies. That had been the point of this game.
Sensing that harming me wouldn’t win her daughter this challenge, Meryl leaped off my platform. Moments later, another bloodcurdling scream filtered through the air. My gut clenched. As did the rest of my body.
When Max burst into a run, Andrei shot out and slugged him in the side of the head. The shifter when sprawling into the water. Okay, he wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but Andrei was good at playing dirty.
We didn’t have time for this. “You got me into this mess,” I shouted at him. “A metre to your left and start bloody running!”
Maybe it was the steel in my voice. Or the fact that Meryl called out to Chanelle. This time he didn’t hesitate. Even though he stepped wide, the bridge compensated and allowed him to run across it. He reached my platform in three seconds flat. A column of grey light shot up to the sky around us.
“First,” Angus’s voice called out.
I let out a heavy sigh thinking it was over. And then Cassie screamed.
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Andrei held me back just as I was about to jump. “We can’t help her!”
I rammed my knee into his gut. He let out a soft grunt and let go. I jumped over two platforms with my heart in my throat. The mage who was trying to rip Cassie from where she sat on her pole was the size of a fricken bear. Sweat made two dark patches under his armpits. He was dripping moisture from his brow and nose. I slipped on some of it as I hit the platform. My cut palm landed in some more. Great. Now I would have to get some kind of magical tetanus shot.
The guy barely moved when I tried to shove him aside. I was hot and sweaty all over. My side was bleeding. There was no strength left in me.
The beast-mage ripped his arm back. He was going to club me across the head. Andrei appeared behind him. With a distinctly bored expression on his face, Andrei grabbed the mage by the scruff of his neck and pushed him over the side of the platform.
“Go!” I screamed at Cassie. She scrambled her way to the top and smacked the green orb. I couldn’t see the bridge that materialized, but Kai was already halfway across it when Andrei wrapped his arm around my waist and dragged me away.
Kai was the second-last to finish. Andrei almost killed himself laughing at the black look in Kai’s eyes.
When the final contestant, Barbara in this case, reached her platform, the mirage dissolved around us. A green field took its place. In front of me, a portal opened.
“Not this again,” I muttered. Andrei yanked me through it. I brushed him off as we landed back on the amphitheatre stage. Waiting in the wings was the Fae boy who had first disappeared. The girl who Meryl had dispatched stood beside him. She was wrapped in a to
wel, but other than that, she seemed unharmed.
I didn’t know it, but I must have made a sound. “You gotta be tougher than that in this game,” Andrei told me. I dug my finger into his rib.
“Don’t even speak to me right now!” I hissed at him while the others came though the portal. “We are not friends.”
He showed me his fangs. “Of course not. I wouldn’t know what to do with a friend.”
I wanted to slap him so badly. I would have if Jacqueline hadn’t come back on stage. Only the contestants were here. A scan of the crowd showed me Sophie and Cassie safely back in their seats.
“There you have it, ladies and gentlemen,” Jacqueline said. “Your sixteen contestants for this year’s Unity Games.”
The crowd got on their feet and applauded. I wanted to roll over and throw up. My side was throbbing something fierce. The way Sophie was clutching at her shoulder told me these injuries were real. I thought of the people who had been seriously injured. I was biting my lip and didn’t hear what Jacqueline said next. Everyone on stage and in the audience was looking at me.
“Huh?” I said. One of these days, someone was going to give me an award for eloquence.
Andrei pinched the bridge of his nose and dragged me up beside him. “As Andrei and Alessia came first in the challenge, they will get first choice of their partners.”
I almost spat out my lungs.
That’s right. The first two days of challenges were done in pairs. It was called the Unity Games for a reason. We were meant to work together to help each other reach the finish line.
“Andrei,” Jacqueline said. “Since you were technically the contestant, you’re allowed first pick.”
He turned to me. “Don’t you dare do it,” I said as low as I could. The crowd chuckled like they all heard me anyway. I was glad they were finding this amusing.
Andrei smiled at Kai behind my back.
“I don’t want to be on his team,” I told Jacqueline.
Andrei clutched at his heart like he was hurt. “Then I guess we’re at a stalemate,” he said.
Jacqueline frowned. “He’s first. If he chooses you, refusing isn’t an option.”
Wasn’t that just the story of my life?
Andrei leaned down and spoke into my ear. “Let’s make a deal,” he said. “If I win, I’ll give you that stupid ring. If you win, I want the favour from the Council.”
“Why would I want to do that?” I said.
“What do you think are the chances of you being able to win?” he said. “That was just a preliminary round and you got real lucky. The last day is going to be an all-out show of brute strength. Take a look at Captain Nephilim. In what dimension do you think you’re going to be able to take him on?”
I made the mistake of actually looking up as he spoke to me. Kai stood ramrod straight. Though he made a show of not reacting, I could see dark flecks in his eyes. There was no alternative universe in which I would be able to out-muscle either Kai or Max. I had my doubts about Andrei being able to either.
“You think you can beat him?” I asked.
“Not a chance. That’s why I’m not above cheating. Do you want to win, squirt? Or do you want to be the nice guy?”
He knew he had me.
It felt like I was signing my life away. “Okay,” I said. “I’ll be Andrei’s partner.”
The crowd started to laugh. They really thought this was one big joke. As I stood there staring out at all those faces, something cold settled over me. They were here to watch me fail. In their minds, I was just entertainment. Without my powers, I wouldn’t be a match for any of the supernaturals.
Fine. If they wanted a show, I would give them something to watch.
After Andrei and me, Chanelle had been the next to complete the task. Nobody was surprised when she picked Kai. Bradley went next and it was a surprise when he picked Max. I’d never really seen them hanging out at school. It was a purely strategic move. One by one the numbers were whittled down.
Drake and Barbara.
The two pairs of mages picked each other.
The necromancers did the same.
The last pair was the remaining Pantheon Fae and the female vampire.
“Empty all of your pockets,” Headmistress Carmichael ordered. Two Nephilim guards began to pat us down. I hadn’t expected a shakedown today.
Mine were already empty except for some leftover tomato seeds. Yes, these were the same jeans I’d worn to plant seeds with Nanna. Andrei scowled. So did the guard. Andrei handed an assortment of talismans and a tiny package like a teabag that had some small wafers in them.
“Take off your shoes,” the guard added.
“What is this?” Andrei huffed.
“I think they don’t trust you,” I muttered.
I could hear people in the crowd laughing. The guards were right. From inside the sole of his shoe, Andrei pulled out an armguard made of very thin leather with silver needles in it. How he managed to walk with it in there was beyond me. Where there was a will, there was a way. Andrei was proving to have an iron will.
Everybody besides Kai and Max had something stashed in their clothes. Both of their nostrils flared. Captain Nephilim and Captain Shifter.
When they were finally done with the shakedown, all of our belongings were placed on a small table on the stage. Guards then proceeded onto the stage and laid other weapons onto the table. Two swords, a mace, a bow and arrow, a pack of three vials, at least one of them being ambrosia. They added a small hunting knife to the mix. The last guard set down a pair of bracelets much like the ones that Jacqueline wore. When she was done, the guard turned to Andrei and the other vampire. “Your light amulets, please.”
I balked. “How are they supposed to move around in daylight?”
She shrugged. “They’re technically aids.”
I gawped at Andrei, but he was surprisingly compliant. On the way back, he kept under the awning on the stage. He was already squinting.
“You may choose one thing on this table to take with you,” the guard said. She nodded at Andrei. I let out a sagging breath. Thank goodness. If the order had been reversed, one of the other teams could have taken the light amulets and we would be screwed.
Bloody Andrei walked up to the table like it was a buffet. He sauntered around it as though he was actually contemplating what he was going to pick up. I stepped up to him.
“What the hell are you doing?” I snapped. I picked up the light amulet and shoved it into his hand. His eyes were actually running. I could see him blinking them clear as the light amulet pressed against his skin. But he wouldn’t hold on to it.
“Give me a second to think, woman!” he said.
I almost kicked him in the balls.
It was the most agonising three minutes I’d had in a long time. I was sure he was doing this just to yank my chain. My jaw hit the floor at the same time the audience grumbled when he picked up a pouch holding a set of three elemental orbs. They belonged to the mages. Andrei slipped them into his pocket and stepped back leaving me at the table.
My hand touched down on the hilt of the knife. It took all of my willpower not to pick it up and stake him through the heart.
“Chop, chop,” he said.
In the amplification of the big mirror, I saw my cheek twitching. I looked like I was going to lose it. Begrudgingly, I picked up the light amulet.
“I’m going to kill you,” I mouthed at him when I stepped back in line. I threw the amulet at him and cursed when he caught it easily.
The others took turns choosing. Everybody weighed up picking something that gave them an advantage versus something that would weaken another competitor. I wasn’t surprised when Kai chose the vials of potion. He hardly needed a weapon, but being without the ability to heal must have chafed at him. Nor was I surprised when Chanelle took the other light amulet. Kai latched on to her wrist before she could secure it.
“Drop it,” he said in a low growl. She did so with a guilty grimace.
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“Jump,” I muttered under my breath in an imitation of Kai’s baritone.
“How high?” Andrei responded in a high-pitched mocking voice.
I burst out laughing despite myself. Then I had to bite my lips together to remain stoic. In the end, Chanelle picked the silver needles Andrei had discarded.
Storm clouds rolled across Max’s features when she stepped back in line. Silver needles were used to subdue shifters. She had judged him to be Kai’s biggest threat in the games.
Max spent a lot of time at the table. In the end, he shrugged his shoulders and stepped away empty-handed.
“Idiot,” Andrei said. I booted him in the shin.
Bradley took the other light amulet. The vampire girl glared at him so hard I thought he might burst into flame. The crowed descended into a chorus of equal booing and cheering. They just loved the scheming. I wanted to get this over and done with as quickly as possible.
The vampire girl ended up picking the bow. It was a good choice. If she made it through to the gladiatorial round, I could imagine she was thinking about shooting holes in Bradley’s wings.
When we were done, the guards carried the table away.
“From this point on,” Jacqueline said, “you are in the games. You will not be allowed out until we have a winner. The final eight of you will compete in the gladiatorial round. Remember that the Lodge is neutral ground. There will be no fighting inside of it.”
Another portal opened. “One pair at a time,” Jacqueline ordered.
Andrei and I had to wait until the end. As I stood there waiting to go through the gaping mouth of the portal, the crowd cheered the start of the games. A chill spiralled through me. What had I gotten myself into? I was about to step into a brutal battle of strength with supernatural creatures. Finally, it was our turn. Beside me, Andrei threw his head back and gave a maniacal battle cry. It sounded like something that wailed at you from a dark place. Well, at least I was going into this with the monster on my team.
