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Chapter Seventeen
Several hours later, Lachlan stopped, leaning against a tree and shaking his head.
“I don’t know about ye ladies, but I think we’ve gone far enough for the night. We swam across a ragin’ river, fought off mer-creatures, and we’ve been hikin’ for a couple of hours straight. We’re moving at a glacial pace here, and if we come across anything that we have to fight, we probably won’t survive it.”
Stopping beside him, I put my back against the tree and closed my eyes for a moment. He was right, even if I didn’t want to admit it. I felt absolutely tapped, mentally, physically, and emotionally.
“I agree,” I said. “We should stop for the night. It’s probably going to get dark soon anyway, if it even gets dark on this side of the barrier. Either way, we need to rest, eat, and dry off any clothes that might still be wet.”
Trace dropped to the ground dramatically, his limbs splayed. “Yes! Finally! The drill sergeant agrees that we can have some rest. I was starting to think we were going to hike until we dropped.”
The guys all chuckled, and I rolled my eyes, sticking my tongue out at him. Merrick smirked. “You better be careful with that thing. You can’t just go sticking it wherever you want to, not around us.”
“Oh, is this how the night’s gonna go?” I swatted him playfully, although there wasn’t much strength behind it. I really was beat. “You guys busting my balls all night long?”
Merrick shrugged. “You just might have the biggest and most rock solid ones out of all of us. And I mean that as a compliment.”
I smirked at him as I picked up my bag and opened it up, searching through for the food. “Good. ’Cause I’m taking it as one.”
Now that we’d stopped walking, all I wanted to do was sleep for a fucking week. It took extreme effort to get moving again as the four of us started to make camp. There was definitely a sense of urgency hovering around us. We had no idea when someone would find the gem, and if they did, we really didn’t know if we would be brought back to the school. We were on the other side of the barrier that surrounded the Gods’ Challenge playing area, and I honestly wasn’t sure if whatever magic brought all the contestants back would find us out here.
Still, we couldn’t risk it. We had come too far to be snatched back at the last second. We were dead on our feet though, and we’d learned last time that we functioned better when we were well-rested. Fighting magical creatures off was exhausting, not to mention the hiking and the heat.
As Merrick used his magic to create a canopy for us to sleep under, Trace stood up and nodded behind us. “Maybe it’ll be a little bit safer to go in there.”
We all turned, looking over at a cave that had been hidden by ropes of thick vines. But as the breeze blew through the thickly wooded grove, the cave revealed itself. At first, I was a bit skeptical; the last cave I’d stepped into in this realm had ended up collapsing around us.
“I’ll go check it out. Be right back.” Lachlan held up a hand to stop the rest of us and stepped in first, sending up a ball of light as he disappeared inside.
We all stood
watching the vine-covered hole he had disappeared into, waiting for him to come back.
After a few minutes, Merrick shot me a slightly concerned look. “Should we go in after him?”
“Oi, mates!” Lachlan yelled from inside the cave.
I let out a sigh of relief, then raised my voice. “Took you long enough! Is it safe?”
Lachlan poked his head out of the small rounded entryway into the cave, brushing aside the vines. “Aye. It’s completely empty. It doesn’t even look like any kind of animal has lived in here for quite a while. It might be a wee bit cold in here tonight, but it’s better than sleepin’ out in the open. Especially outside the barrier.”
Merrick created his own ball of light, allowing it to hover over his hand as he stepped inside. “You don’t have to tell me twice.”
Trace and I strode in after him, ducking through the short passage and into a cave that probably could’ve held an entire football team—not that I wanted to share it with anyone except my three men.
Falling into our usual duties, we spread out around the space. I made a fire in the center for light and warmth, and the others used their magic to create a bit more of a comfortable sleeping situation. None of us wanted to sleep on the hard stone ground. My body already felt like it’d been put through a meat grinder.
Sitting down next to the magical fire, I opened up my pack. We still had some food rations left, but our supply was getting pretty low. And outside the playing area, we wouldn’t find any more packs to help us.
“Sorry guys but we have to cut the rations in half. I don’t know when we’ll find food again, and we’re getting close to crumbs. We can always hunt and forage if we need to, but I’d rather not unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
The guys just shrugged. We all remembered this from our last time in the challenge too. I had spent an entire month constantly tired and hungry.
Trace chuckled, running a hand through his hair. “At least we have food this time. I’m pretty sure by this time in the last challenge, we had gone days without food. I’ll take a little over nothing anytime.”
Lachlan laughed. “So, you like blue balls, aye?”
Trace punched his burly friend in the shoulder. “Okay, maybe not anytime.”
