Page 58 of On Broken Bonds

After a brief silence, she stands shakily from my lap and steps back, running her hands over her braid as she looks around nervously.

“What should we do now?”

Answering a question with a question. It’s clear she doesn’t want to talk about the magic, or about how she can wield it. I’m curious about her and I could argue that this falls under the umbrella of things we promised to tell each other, but I’m also no stranger to keeping secrets.

My own truths could influence her to make different decisions.

It would be hypocritical of me to push hard against this now. But I won’t forget. And maybe later I can get more information about what, exactly, the range of her abilities are.

“Well,” I say, heaving myself up off the ground and standing to face her, trying not to think about the fact that no longer sitting on the ground means the kiss is definitely over, and I’m not sure when my next opportunity might be to get that close to her.

Not that it matters since we’re in a fight for our lives. I’m not looking for a romantic partner.

That sobering thought does nothing to keep me from thinking about her warmth and weight in my lap, the rise and fall of her hips, how she’d pressed against me, fitting so perfectly.

“Thorian?” Nyx prompts, and her face is flushed red. Perhaps I’m not doing a very good job of keeping my thoughts hidden.

“Well,” I begin again, realizing I trailed off before amidst my thoughts of her. “Unfortunately, as you’re well aware, the other teams in this fight are a bit more advanced than us.”

She lets out a dainty snort, kicking one of her boots against the ground. The tension around us is beginning to relax, so we can breathe once more.

“That’s why our strategy is simple. We can’t be the team that wins through strength or fighting ability, so what we’ll be is the team that wins through stealth. We need to start moving and get away from the others as fast as possible, especially because in this forest, we’ll never know when dusk sets in.”

Nyx looks up at the sky, which is still the deep blue of mid-morning. Though it might seem like we have the rest of a long day between us and nightfall, I know we don’t. As the gods said, the forest is unpredictable and specifically made to be difficult.

“Okay,” she says, leveling her gaze back on mine, and there it is again—that deep, persistent pull in my chest. The one that makes me want to pull her against me and keep her safe. It's the same feeling that first drew my attention to her in the palace and convinced me to follow her out to that tavern in the first place. Maybe it's recklessness. Maybe it's the simple fact that she's beautiful.

Or maybe it's the fact that I can never leave well enough alone.

"We'll need to get to the water," I say, turning and closing my eyes, trusting my nose to lead us to it. It's different every time, the rivers and streams that run through the land, but we'll find one. "Find a stream and follow it. Hopefully, there are canteens in that bag we found."

Nyx nods, taking another deep, shaky breath.

I think about saying something. Commemorating the fact that we’re still alive, which is honestly farther than I expected we'd get after running into bone serpents and dire wolves so early. But even I don’t want to tempt the gods to that degree.

I sling the bag off my shoulder and rummage through it as we start walking. Relief washes through me when my hand closes around two leather canteens. I pull them free before taking a quick inventory of the rest of the contents. An assortment of supplies fills the bag, all of which will no doubt prove useful in the Trials.

After making sure my sword is secure at my waist, I sniff the air again and start walking. Together, we set off through the forest.

The woods are anything but peaceful. Strange calls echo through the canopy overhead. Every so often, a distant roar or growl rolls between the trees, reminding me that the creatures we encountered on the mountainside are only the beginning. Several times, both of us go still as unseen creatures crash through the distant underbrush.

The forest itself seems alive.

Not merely growing, but watching.

Vines twist around trunks thick enough that five men couldn't circle them. Massive flowers bloom among the roots, their petals larger than shields. Shafts of sunlight spill through the canopy in brilliant columns of gold, illuminating drifting motes of pollen and mist.

Despite the danger surrounding us, the place possesses an unsettling beauty.

The light catches in Nyx's dark hair as she walks ahead of me, her attention fixed on the terrain. She's clearly trying to remember everything I taught her during training. Watching for tracks. Listening for movement. Looking for signs of water.

If I didn't know better, and if the distant sounds of monsters weren't constantly reminding me where we were, I might almost forget we're participating in a competition designed to kill us.

Almost. But not quite.

It’s an hour into our walk when I become aware of someone following along behind us. Whoever is following us is good. They’re so quiet I don’t hear them. So subtle as they move through the forest, they’re almost like one of the animals. Most competitors would've missed their presence entirely.

The first clue is the birds.