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Please, gods, don’t let me die in a fucking cave.
Although maybe praying to them to let me live through this was stupid, considering they were the ones who’d brought us here. They were the reason any of us were here.
“This seems like a really fucking stupid plan!” Trace yelled as we ran.
“You got a better one?” Lachlan shot back, and Trace made a noise that might’ve been a laugh if he wasn’t sucking in gasping breaths.
“Fuck, no.”
The grumbling noise had resumed behind us, but for the moment at least, the passageway we were in didn’t seem to be collapsing the same way the main cave had been. Who knew how long that would last though?
Drawing on my magic, I threw several orbs of light ahead of us, trying to help Lachlan see the way ahead. After another several yards, his steps slowed slightly.
“What? What is it?”
I almost bumped into him, grabbing his shoulders to steady myself. I’d had to let go of Trace and Merrick’s hands—it wasn’t conducive to sprinting, and besides, there wasn’t room in the narrow passageway to run side-by-side.
“It’s gettin’ narrower,” Lachlan grunted.
I glanced around his broad back, realizing he was right. Up ahead, the hallway began to close in, growing narrower and narrower. We continued forward, but it got to the point where the guys had to turn sideways to fit through.
“We should turn back. There has to be another passageway!” Merrick yelled out from the back.
Lachlan shook his head, even that movement seeming difficult in the tight space. “There’s not. I checked the whole perimeter. This is the only way.”
He looked like he was about to have a panic attack, and I couldn’t blame him. His chest and back both practically scraped the rock on either side of him as he forced his large body through the tight space. If it got any narrower, he truly wouldn’t fit.
I had a sudden horrifying vision of him getting stuck, wedged between two slabs of rock, pinned down like a bug as the ceiling collapsed and crushed him.
“You okay?” I muttered, fear tightening my chest.
“Yeah.” He grimaced, sucking in a breath as he forced his way through a tight spot. I could see tears on his shirt and scratches on his skin from where he’d scraped against unforgiving rock. “Good thing I’m such a wee man.”
A short laugh belted out of me, wild and a little manic, and his eyes twinkled for a moment. Then the ground shook again, drawing us both back to the danger of the situation.
The walls shivered, making me worry that they’d crush us, but at least nothing was coming down from the ceiling. The sound behind us was dying out too, and I wondered if the entire cave back there had collapsed.
Finally, just when I was sure we’d have to either turn back and try our luck or stop where we were and try to dig our way out or something, we reached the end of the narrow corridor.
Lachlan squeezed out first, and we all followed, stumbling forward into an enormous space. It was another cave, even bigger than the one that’d held the lake of fire. My magical orbs of light flew up toward the ceiling, casting a blue-white glow over the place, and I shivered as I glanced around.
There were bones and cloth, and what looked to be old types of armor and weapons, strewn all across the ground.
Wherever we were, it was not a place of peace.
“A portal!” Trace called out. “There! Thank fuck.”
My gaze flew up, following his pointing finger as we picked up our pace again, dashing across the wide floor and avoiding the piles of bones.
On the other side of the huge cave, a large portal swirled and shimmered wildly in front of us. It looked like it was combusting or something. Sparks shot out from the sides of it, and I knew that we only had a limited amount of time to get through.
“Hurry! Before it closes!” I yelled, putting on another burst of speed despite the protests from my aching lungs and legs.
When we were about halfway to the portal, two other contestants came stumbling out of another entryway to the right of us, one several paces behind the other.
Chetna and Knox.
For a second, I thought they’d teamed up just like we had, but then Knox turned around and shot a blast of energy at Chetna, who just barely avoided it. They both looked rough—bleeding, bruised, and covered in ash and dirt. Whatever they had gone through to get here, they had taken it hard.
