Page 100 of Stormbreaker

She doesn’t wait for us to answer as she adjusts a few knobs.

A disembodied voice starts counting down from ten overhead as we all assemble at the starting line. I’m on a team with Domino, Journey, and a few other people I know. Those I don’t are easily identifiable by the purple bands we all wear around our biceps.

Rook ended up on the other team, wearing the same bands in green.

The simulation spans the size of several city blocks, and the far wall recedes into darkness, where a large digital scoreboard hangs.

The numbers continue counting down. 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . .

A horn blares, signaling the start of the game, and everyone spins into action. It’s slow at first, with everyone taking a moment to assess the corners and angles, the blind spots, the potential paths through the maze. A deep rumbling overhead precedes the start of the first few purple flickers dancing across the ceiling.

I watch several gather into a bright knot just as the first bolt of Spark forms and strikes the center of the room, erupting into a plasma arc before winking out. We’re all still safely deep in our ends, so it feels more like a warning strike than anything sinister.

That’s when I notice someone running.

Domino is taking advantage of everyone’s surprise as she pumps her arms and legs, covering a stretch of open area with her head down.

“There!” someone from the green team shouts, but she’s already disappeared into a large pipe by the time they realize what’s happened. I cheer quietly for her as I look for an opening of my own. With the green team distracted by Domino’s escape, I make a break for it, weaving through a maze of tall towers. The rubber mats absorb the sound of my footsteps somewhat but not entirely.

“This way!” another person shouts. “Get her!”

I swerve as I catch sight of someone between two buildings off to my right. I duck and slide into a rubberized “concrete” tunnel wide enough to barely shimmy my way through. Quickly, I drag myself to the far end to emerge at the edge of a plaza. Checking to ensure the coast is clear, I sprint across and hide behind another building.

A second burst of Spark splits from the ceiling, and I brace myself. It strikes somewhere off to my right, and someone screams as two more successive bolts strike through the simulation.

One hits to the left, and another hits the building across from me.

I barely have time to register the blast before an explosion sends chunks of the buildings flying. I cover my head with my arms and start running. It isn’t real—the buildings are made of the same rubberized material, but they look heavy enough to knock someone down.

Something sharp slams into my back, and I go stumbling, barely catching myself before I face-plant on the floor. Instead, I crash into the side of a building, breathing heavily as sweat gathers at my nape.

The scoreboard at the far end blares, and I cheer inwardly as my team wins a point. Someone made it. I attempt to gauge how far I’ve come and estimate I’m about a third of the way down the field. How did someone reach the end so fast? I hope it was Domino.

After three deep breaths, I forge ahead, snaking past buildings and other obstacles, keeping my eyes and ears peeled for movement.

It grows quiet as people pause to lie in wait.

More rumbles shake underfoot, and another few blasts shatter the silence.

Nothing hits close to where I stand, so I take a calculated risk and run.

I leap over some rubble, checking behind me until I round a corner and stop. Three people from the green team wait for me at the end of a plaza, hunched and ready.

I quickly assess my potential exits. I can’t run past them—they’ll catch me for sure. An alley opens to my left, and to my right is a dead end.

“We’re coming for you,” snarls a giant guy with a thick neck and dinner-­plate hands. He approaches with two more Fiama members, and I hang a left for the alley.

But they aren’t naive. They take off through another exit leading from the plaza, and it quickly becomes obvious they’re trying to herd me into another dead end.

I veer left, doubling back the way I came, passing through a ruined section of the simulation and spotting a body lying face down on the floor. I wince and almost stop to check on them, but a team of medics is already approaching.

So I continue running, twisting left and right, attempting to lose myself inside a tight maze of buildings.

“You’re surrounded!” the big guy chasing me shouts. “Come out, little girl!”

I spin around and around, trying to figure out where each person is standing. I have several exit options, but if I choose wrong, it’ll lead me straight into their arms. As I shuffle to my left, I glimpse the profile of one of my hunters through a narrow opening.

Loping away in the opposite direction, I keep close to the buildings, staying as light on my feet as possible. Good thing I have a lot of practice moving silently through our apartment at home, lest I incur my father’s temper.