“Wait, wait,” Molun said, flinging up his hand. “Hold on. Do you mean to tell me you were hidingribbonsyesterday?”
“Isn’t he sneaky?” Perian said proudly.
Molun blew out a breath. “Or crazy. I would have been having sex with you.”
Thankfully, the whole group seemed to know how to take that, and they laughed.
“Thank you,” Perian said, grinning. “But we can have sex back at the castle, right? When do we get to chase through the forest looking for ribbons?”
Molun seemed to be struck by this, and after a moment, he nodded. “Yes, all right, I concede your point. As long as the day ends in sex.”
“Afterthe training,” Brannal reminded them, looking a bit like he couldn’t quite believe this was something he had to repeat so often. He continued, “Perian and I will obviously be on separate teams, since we each know where our ribbon is.”
“I want Perian,” Molun announced immediately.
Perian looked at him with a bit of surprise, because strategically, this wasn’t a very good bet. If you were picking between Summus and the person with no elemental ability at all, Perian knew who you were supposed to choose. But Molun looked staunchly determined.
“Summus,” Delana said immediately, because she was sensible like that.
Arvus and Nisal exchanged looks and shrugged.
Arvus said, “We seem to be splitting up the couples?”
They nodded, and so Arvus went with Delana and Brannal, and Nisal was with Molun and Perian.
Molun looked genuinely excited about the whole thing, and that made Perian smile.
“I realize our teams are not precisely even when it comes to elemental abilities,” Brannal said, “so I will restrict myself to air only.”
Perian nodded. That was probably the closest they could get under the circumstances. His team doubled up on air, but Molun could wield water too, while the other team would have earth, air, and water.
“The goal,” Brannal continued, “is to find the other team’s ribbon and get it back here to the fire first. It’s up to you as a team to decide if you wish to defend your ribbon, find the other ribbon, or attempt to do both. Each ribbon is tied to a tree at about eye height. We didn’t obscure it.”
“And what can we do with the elements?” Delana asked.
“Nothing that will cause irreparable harm to the forest, and, needless to say, nothing that would injure your opponents, but you can work to block or slow down your opponents as you see fit—with one exception.”
They all looked at him.
“Since Perian can’t wield any elements of his own, none can be used against him. You use an element on Perian, and you’re outof the game.”
Delana opened her mouth, and Perian thought she was going to object, but after a moment, she just closed it again and nodded.
Perian was pretty sure this was back to Brannal being protective of him. And maybe remembering when everything had gone wrong during the training exercise where Cormal had injured him.
Molun flung an arm over him. “See, I knew you were the right pick for our team. You’re our secret weapon!”
“That’s a really nice sentiment,” Perian said, “but I would like to point out that you’re all Mage Warriors, and I’m definitely not.”
Still, it was a nice way to keep Perian from feeling totally useless. Brannal’s original plan, Perian remembered, had been for him to sit out. But Perian had wanted to be involved, and Brannal had decided how that could be done while minimizing the risk to him.
Molun was practically bouncing with glee, and Perian had to admit that he was feeling much the same way. Nisal looked a lot more contained, but remembering the way they’d quietly won yesterday, Perian was not discounting them by any means.
He looked at his opponents. They were fierce, too. He’d thought before that he wouldn’t want to be up against Delana. Arvus was that quiet one you wouldn’t suspect, and then he’d pull the ground out from under your feet—and this wholeideahad been Brannal’s. Even limiting himself to one element, he was still a formidable opponent.
This really was an adventure.
“If neither team has won by noon, then we’re declaring a draw,” Brannal said. “You can’t move your ribbon unless it’s first been found by the opposing team. You can’t carry your own ribbon with you. Once it’s been taken by the opposing team, one person from the team has to carry it in their hand. That ribbon can be stolen back, and if it is, you have five minutes to retie it elsewhere in the forest. If you do find your opponent’s ribbon, the entire team together must get it back to the fire pit before noon to be declared the winner.”
