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He tilted his head and pursed his lips for a moment. “I think so. We’ll have to be quick. Those rocks will slow us down, and I don’t want to be up there long. We’d be too visible out in the open, and we don’t know what, or who, will be watching.”
“Let’s plan to head back down the same way we came so we’ll be somewhat familiar with the path—”
My voice was cut off when large thorny vines sprang out through the trees toward us. I dropped to my stomach with a gasp as the air whooshed from my lungs, narrowly evading the thick plant.
Njall wasn’t so lucky.
As I looked behind me, the vines from a Lurvinea plant quickly wound their way up Njall’s body as he struggled to free himself. The thorns dug into his flesh while squeezing around him. Once it got to his waist, it pulled him across the forest floor as he roared.
I jumped up and chased after him, grabbing the sword that he dropped along the way. I needed something bigger than a dagger with the vines being nearly as wide as my body.
The vines were pulling him faster than I could run and I pushed myself to the point that everything around me passed in a blur. I could hear him bellow even as he was out of sight. I followed the sound along with the trail of his blood left behind through the forest.
I’m coming Njall.
Adrenaline filled my veins as I continued to run faster and faster. I could barely see where I was going as the trees rushed by me.
I was gaining on him.
Within my distorted vision, I hadn’t noticed that I had entered into a much darker place where the air was thick with a smoke-like substance. It took only moments for the cloudy air to enter my lungs and its effects began to sink into my bloodstream.
Dizziness. Blurred vision. Headache. Nausea. Suffocation.
It was so much. Too much.
This was what the Trial did. It took out those that couldn’t survive, couldn’t endure. That was the purpose. To fight against all odds for only a fraction of a chance to survive. And even then, that didn’t guarantee being deemed Worthy. And everything here was meant to kill. Gods was I sick of everything trying to kill me. It was already midday and the mountain would still take us until nightfall. There was no time for additional shit to deal with.
I want out of this place.
If I were smart, I would have turned around and left Njall to his fate. I would have only worried about my own survival. I barely knew the male anyway.
I guess I was stupid.
I held my breath and ran harder than I thought my body could handle. The vines seemed to slow down and I could see Njall gasping and coughing from the poisonous air. My lungs ached and pleaded for oxygen, but I knew that the more toxic air that I breathed, the faster it would kill me. I got closer and closer as I had to keep telling myselfjust a little farther.
I was finally close enough to see Njall thrashing and clawing at the ground in a desperate attempt to escape the clutches of the carnivorous plant. Pushing my body to its limit, I thrustmyself through the air, Njall’s sword over my head, and stabbed it into the vine below his body. It writhed, finally stopping. With all my weight behind it, I pushed down on the blade, slicing through the dark green appendage as an opaque liquid oozed out of it. I lifted the blade and chopped through the rest of the vine, effectively severing it. The vine trembled, but ultimately retreated farther into the murky forest.
I didn’t have time to think as I pried the remaining vine from Njall’s suffocating body. My vision filled with spots of black as I struggled for air. Njall’s eyes closed as he fell unconscious. I couldn’t scream and waste the last remnants of oxygen.
Pulling his arm with all my might, I wrenched him through the smoky air until we were clear of the poisonous gas. I collapsed on my hands and knees and sucked the fresh oxygen into my lungs. After a few minutes and half a canteen of water, when I could finally see clearly and breathe normally, I went to Njall. His body was covered in blood from waist down.
“Njall.” My voice was scratchy. “Njall, I need you to wake up because I can’t drag your big ass all the way to the mountain.” I shook his shoulder until he stirred.
I offered him the canteen, which he drank deeply from. He coughed and sputtered for a second before finally opening his eyes and looking up at me.
“Been looking at my ass, Roav?” he wheezed.
“It’s hard to miss.” I huffed a laugh. My face fell as I observed his wounds. “Do you think you can walk?”
“It’s mostly superficial cuts. I’ll make it.” He gritted his teeth as he stood. “And I don’t want to stick around here any longer. That Lurvinea could come back. Let’s go.”
Chapter Fourteen
Kya
Standing at the edge of the tree line, hidden amongst the shadows, the mountain loomed above us, stretching toward the stars that were beginning to twinkle in the fading sunlight. Between Njall’s injuries and mine, it took us longer to trek to the end of the forest than we had originally anticipated. My body ached and I was sure that Njall’s did too but thankfully his wounds had stopped bleeding after wrapping them with large leaves and securing them with the rope. My stomach was in knots as I looked at the mountain towering above us. We would be completely out in the open on the slopes.
The peak of the mountain was our target—it gave us the best advantage for spotting whatever it was that we were to look for. Hopefully it would be obvious, like a trail of dead trees that we could easily follow. It had to be. We were out of ideas. And out of time.
