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The Gods’ Challenge wasn’t about being the better person or doing the right thing. It wasn’t about mending damaged relationships or going out on a limb for other people.
I had to think about myself.
No matter how strong my guilt felt.
Chapter Eleven
My arms were sore, my head was pounding, and there were blisters forming on nearly every surface of my hand.
This place was wild and hot, and I had sweated so much I wasn’t sure where the water was even coming from anymore.
Several hours after I left Merrick behind, I found a stream flowing along the edge of a small ravine. Relief flooded me, and I dropped to my knees beside it. But before I thrust my hands into the stream to scoop up some water, I paused.
Is it safe?
I had to remind myself that I was in the massive arena of the Gods’ Challenge. In this wild place, I wasn’t sure what was dangerous and what wasn’t.
So I did the best I could, attempting to use my magic to filter the water before drinking it. Considering I had no idea what I was doing, I had no idea whether the streams of magic I shot into the water did anything more than scare the little fish darting about under the surface, but I felt better for having tried.
Finally, I took a sip, hoping it wouldn’t kill me.
It tasted fine and looked clear and crisp, so I scooped up handfuls and brought them to my mouth, gulping it down like a dying woman. Stealing Merrick’s pack had been a good tactical move, but I hadn’t found any kind of water bottle in there.
Maybe there was one, and Merrick took it out before I jumped him and stole the pack.
I found myself hoping that was the case. It would relieve some of the guilt that still nagged at me for just leaving him tied up in the jungle like that.
Fuck. Am I going soft out here?
I’d spent my whole life fighting to get by—often literally—and I’d never had any qualms about doing what needed to be done to survive. And now, when I was in more danger than I’d maybe ever been in before, I suddenly found myself worrying about other people’s safety.
Hell of a time to develop a conscience.
Rolling my eyes at myself, I stuck my hands back into the cool, clear water.
For the past several hours, I’d trudged toward the dome I’d seen from my high vantage point, but it was slow going. The thing had been miles away from the tree I’d climbed, and I’d encountered several threats that had put me off course.
None of them had been quite as bad as the flaming birds, but my most recent attacker, a creature shaped like a dog with dark green and blue scales and wickedly sharp teeth, had chased me almost a mile in the wrong direction and nearly taken an eye out with its claws before I’d managed to bring it down.
I was in pretty good shape, having trained almost every day for the past several years as a fighter, but I was quickly learning there was a difference between training at a gym, or even fighting in a ring, and forging my way through a magical jungle in the godly realm.
Squatting next to the water, I took a moment to look around me and listen to the sounds.
This place was eerily similar to earth in some ways, and vastly different in others. I wasn’t exactly sure how it all worked. Up until I had acquired magic, I’d known nothing about the gods. I’d also known absolutely nothing about the godly realm, but I was learning by force.
All around me, I could hear the hum of what sounded like locusts. The sound came on fast, and I had a sudden vision of a plague of them chasing me down and covering me like I was in some horror movie.
But that didn’t happen. Instead, the sky above me began to darken, and the temperatures were quickly falling.
Night is coming.
A shiver worked its way up my spine. I couldn’t risk staying out here, exposed and vulnerable, all night. I had no idea what kind of creatures lurked in the darkness of the gods’ realm, but I was sure as shit I didn’t want to encounter any of them.
And I needed to get some rest. I was fucking exhausted, and that made me an easy target—either for the creatures around me or my fellow competitors.
About a mile back, I think I passed a cave of some kind.
I threw my pack back on and retraced my steps to the cave’s location. A small magical flashlight hung the side of my pack, so I clicked it on and started to scramble down the three feet decline to the entrance into the cave.
