“There’s only one way they win.” I leaned forward on my right leg, preparing to sprint toward the course. “If they make you believe that you don’t even deserve to try.” I launched myself at the first metal ring, hands charged with magic, heart pounding as I leapt forward at a running start. Emerson’s panicked voice called after me. “Elvira—DON’T!”
My hand connected with the first ring. With a loud “Umph!” I swung my other arm upward, gripping the next ring in the sequence, hanging suspended between them. They were warm. Uncomfortably so. But they weren’t burning me or causing me any pain. The silvery light radiating from my hands was successfully neutralizing the white-hot glow of the metal rings. I focused all of my mental energy on maintaining the magic.
Now the only question was how far my strength would take me.
I tuned out the exclamations from my audience below.Take it one ring at a time.
I extended my arm, swinging forward again, trying to conserve as much of my initial momentum as possible, letting it carry me along. Toward another ring. Then another. Each moment of release accompanied by a small thrill of trepidation until I securely grasped my next target. I was making headway, but the cost was steep. I felt iteverywhere.My stomach clenched painfully. My arms burned from overexertion. Sweat poured down my brow. Stubbornly, I forced myself to continue. Limits ceased to exist—given up to my relentless, forward pursuit.
A little before the halfway point, my body started to visibly shake from the strain.
“Too weak to finish?” Sargan yelled tauntingly from below.
I growled, a low rumble in my throat. Because he was right. I wasn’t going to make it to the end. Realistically, I had a few more swings left in me before I was bound to fall. The wise thing to do would be to drop before my arms gave out unexpectedly. Malwin’s voice reached my ears. “I knew she didn’t have what it takes!”Or…I could at least try and make it farther than Malwin did.
The thought was too tantalizing to resist.
Just a bit farther… Just one more ring… Just hold on long enough to show him up…
The shaking in my arms grew more pronounced. A metallic taste filled my mouth. Exhaustion overwhelmed me, no muscle spared from its heavy embrace. I reached down deep, searching for any ounce of strength left to call upon, and came up empty. A wave of nausea crashed over me, causing me to slow my pace.
I winced as a few burn blisters erupted across my hands. The acrid smell of burning flesh quickly followed. My physical strength wasn’t the only thing failing me. I was finding it harder and harder to maintain the magic I called forth—the willpower required to sustain it almost as taxing as the obstacle course itself.
Admittedly, it was too much to handle. Yet I was so, so close to my goal. So close to wiping that smug look right off Malwin’s face. Gritting my teeth, I swung my body past the halfway point, bellowing in triumph. That was when I made the mistake of looking down.
The ground suddenly looked very, very far away.
When had the beams risen so high? How had I not noticed they were starting to slope upward? From this distance, falling was not an option. If I fell now, I would seriously injure myself. Pride forgotten, blind panic overtook me.
I threw myself forward. A final desperate surge toward a lower ring. My vision blurred around the edges. Frightened, Ilooked down again.Still too high. Still too high.An icy knot of dread settled in my stomach as I came to a grim realization, one I was powerless to prevent:This is going to hurt.
My strength deserted me and I dropped like a lead weight.
Crack.“Argh!” A bloodcurdling scream tore from my throat as the bone in my arm loudly snapped.
In an instant, my awareness narrowed to a single pinpoint—the searing, white-hot pain from where my bone poked through my skin. Voices floated around me in a confusing tangle of sounds, but all I could focus on was the all-consuming pain radiating through my arm.
“Is she dead?”
“Burn me!She broke her arm.”
“What do we do? She’s bleeding.”
“Should we drag her to the road?”
“It’s too late. Emerson already ran to get Merrick.”
“We’ll say it was his fault. He’s the one who let her do the course.”
“I didn’t think she’d make it past the first ring!”
“How did she get so far anyway?”
“Fiere must have gone easy on her!”
“But her hands are burned.”
“Farther than you…” I managed to rasp out, my breath growing shallow.
