I looked for the north wall and found it.I stared upwards, marking where I thought the mid-way point would be.Overhead, clusters of silver cameras moved like shoals of fish, darting and flowing in the air above me and zipping off into the distance.Far above, massive screens drifted through the air, showing the live audience dozens ofangles of the contestants on the sands.I couldn't make out much from the ground, but one rotated slightly and I saw Andiri's form, her narrow black eyes, her bared teeth, her heaving chest, her haloed crest flicking and rippling behind her.
Fear prickled at the back of my neck.She was coming for me, I was sure of it.I just needed to keep my distance and find Araxis before she caught up.
My job was simple: run fast and hard, and stay the fuck out of her way.
"Alright," I said under my breath, bouncing on the balls of my feet.I'd be faster without my swords in hand, so I rolled my shoulders to loosen them in case I needed a quick draw.I jogged on the spot, and then braced myself, ready to launch into a sprint toward that distant point on the far wall.Overhead, a massive chime sounded, reverberating through the air.The branches of the bushes shivered with the sound."You've got this, Sashen.You're fast.You're smart.You've got a great ass, and that's going to be a major distraction for anyone coming up from behind."I added that part mostly for Silver Sea's benefit and because being flippant made me feel a bit less like I was going to projectile vomit all over the sands the minute my feet stepped off the platform.
I'd been fine with dying, mostly.At least that was what I told myself.But Araxis had given me a sliver of hope – and now fear was a living, violent beast inside of me, clawing against every scrap of sinew and meat.
The chime sounded again.More silver leaves quivered on the nearest bush.
One more, and it would be time to go.I flicked my eyes upwards again, trying to catch anything on the screens overhead, but they were just a blur of colour and vague shapes.The audience continued its roar, and I willed myself to let that chorus fade into white noise.
Five.
Here I was.The path I'd been walking, or stumbling along, had led me here.
Four.
Odds were that I was well and truly fucked.But at least I'd made the most of the weeks since Seraphim had decided to throw their weight around.
Three.
I had told him I'd try.I was going to try.
Two.
Because what if it worked?What if hedidhave a way to fix this?What if we got to ride off into the sunset together, way beyond where Seraphim could ever reach?
One.
What if everything worked out in the way I hadn't even let myself fully want, because the wanting hurt too much?What if I got that?What ifwedid?
So I was going to fuckingtry.
The chimes boomed overhead, the energy field around my platform fizzled out, and I launched myself forward.The ground was soft underfoot, softer than I expected, so I stumbled when my feet planted in the gray sand before righting myself and taking off toward the wall.The arena was massive – I'd known the scale from the map – but it was different being on the ground.The bushes around me loomed tall, gathered in sinister clusters that formed jagged walls.I dodged around a boulder, quickly reviewing the other starting points in my head.
Andiri was the closest, maybe only a few minutes away.If it was a straight shot, I might get to the wall in fifteen or twenty minutes.I had a head start and a destination, and I was faster than her.Andiri would have tofindme to come at me.
I just really hoped I didn't run into anyone else on my mad dash to the meeting point.And I really fucking hoped I was as fast as Araxis thought I was.At least it was hot: that would play to my favour, and Iwas pretty sure Andiri hadn't been working on her tolerance in the hot training room like Araxis had.
A line of bushes cut off the straight approach to the wall, so I had to swerve around them, sprinting over loose rocks as I launched myself up a slope.Getting higher ground would be good: I could map the best route to our rendezvous point and make sure I didn't have anyone on my tail.
I skidded over a loose patch of gravel, slamming down to one knee.Adistantjoltof painstabbed up my leg.Ishook it off before surging back up again and taking off toward another boulder.Had to get some cover.
Around me, the crowd screamed, suddenly shrill.Like one massive, living organism that had just found prey and was yelping and chittering with excitement.
I slid behind a boulder, pressing my back to its hot surface, and looked up at the screens overhead.I couldn't make anything out except a violent spray of dark – black or maybe blue.
Who bled like that?I let myself catch my breath while I ran through my mental catalogue.Mar.Brin.
What colour did abaya bleed?How did I notknowthat?
Araxis was fine.He had to be fine.
I licked my lips, my skin already parched from the air of the arena – so much drier than the air in the rest of the complex.Heatshimmeredfrom the gray sands.The rock against my back was uncomfortably warm.These conditions would be hell for species who liked it colder, like abaya.But Araxis would be okay; he'd prepared for everything.And maybe Andiri would be erratic, clumsy.I could sweat all over her if she came close.
I tried to tune out the sound of the crowd screaming and listen instead to what was around me.If I could hear stones skittering down the slope, I'd know someone was coming – but it was too loud, even down here.
