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Unfortunately, that won’t help me now.
I need to find a key before I find the exit, and that means heading deeper into the maze rather than toward the perimeter. If I knew what style maze this was…
Oh well. There’s only one way to find out. I take a deep breath and head in the approximate direction of the center in an easy jog. Fast enough to cover ground efficiently, but not so fast as to be caught unaware if I come upon another champion. The only champions that will be eliminated are the ones still in the maze when the time runs out, which means the smartest way to deal with anyone I come across is to incapacitate them in some way. Knocking someone unconscious isn’t an easy feat, so that means going for the legs. Knees are the best bet.
Unfortunately, the other champions will be trying to do the same to me.
I wind my way through the maze, the paths leading me away from and toward the center in turn. With the arena being the way it is, it’s impossible to know if I’m making progress or just moving farther away from my goal.
The crowd screams and I stop short, gaze flying to the screens I can see from my current position. They all show Atalanta. She’s flying through the maze, sprinting at a pace that has her locs streaming out in her wake. I see why a moment later when the Minotaur veers around the corner behind her.
“Oh fuck,” I breathe. He looks like he wants to kill her.
He’s almost on her when she turns on her heel, launching herself against the wall and spinning in the air to deliver a brutal punch to his square jaw. It knocks him back a step into the opposite wall. By the time he recovers, she’s gone, disappeared around the nearest corner.
I watch for several more heartbeats before it’s clear that she got away, and I feel a strange sort of relief. We’d be better served for Atalanta to be eliminated this trial, but that doesn’t mean I want her hurt in the process. I exhale slowly and force myself to refocus. Now’s not the time to get distracted. I need to keep my eye on the prize.
A flash of movement at the corner of my eye has me turning…
Right into Hector’s fist.
21
Helen
It takes several long, frustrating minutes of weaving through this endless maze before my brain kicks into gear. Athena stated the rules at the beginning. Find the key. Get to the door out of the maze.
She didn’t say anything about how we had to go through the maze.
I eye the walls. They’re ten feet tall at their lowest point and mostly untextured, not leaving grooves or handholds to climb. But one of the potential obstacles I trained for was running up a wall. With enough lead-in, I might be able to make it. It’s hard to tell how wide the walls themselves are, but I used to do the balance beam. They can’t be much narrower than that.
It takes me a little longer to find a section of the maze with enough space to get a good takeoff. Overhead, the clock ticks down, but there’s still plenty of time. I can’t see all the screens from this position, but the ones I can see show the champions trying to work their way through the close paths.
If I do this, they’ll video me.
The others will follow suit quickly. Or at least they’ll try. They’d be fools not to. Whatever advantage being the first brings won’t last for long if I don’t hurry.
I take a deep breath and wipe my damp palms on my clothing. I haven’t seen anything of Achilles or Patroclus yet, and I can’t help worrying about them. My life would be easier if they were both eliminated in this round. I should be seeing this in black and white—what helps me become the next Ares and what stands in my way.
But if they’re eliminated…this strange thing between the three of us ends.
They’re the first people I’ve come across who seem to truly see me. Spoiled brat, yes. Pampered princess, mostly. But the strong, savvy woman beneath, too. Patroclus treats me like I’m something of true value. Achilles just takes my strength as fact. They both regard me as an equal.
It’s a heady thing. Maybe I’m a fool, but I’m not ready to give it up yet.
There’s no time to mull it over now. It doesn’t matter what the clock overhead says; if I don’t reach one of those keys first, I won’t make it to the next round. I haven’t come this far to fail.
I sprint at the wall. It feels a bit like running for the vault in gymnastics, except the vault is a ten-foot-tall wall and I get a quarter of the distance to pick up speed. I take one last step and launch myself at the wall. Up, up, up. My fingertips barely brush the top. I curse as I drop back to the ground and nearly land on my ass. “Fuck.”
