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“We’ll be able to take them off?” she asked. The silver bracelets were about an inch wide and reminded her too much of the electro-cuff Tag had forced them to wear.
“Of course,” the attendant said, giving her an amused smile, as if he found the question a little odd. He picked one up and held it open, as if to help her put it on.
Not wanting to make more of a scene, she offered her wrist, showing only the slightest tremor, and the attendant snapped the bracelet closed. Its weight was unexpectedly light, considering its size. The attendant then showed her how to remove it using a small latch on the side. She glanced back at Caryn, who still appeared unsure. When Onnika gave her a nod, she allowed the attendant to fit her with one as well.
Then they all filed inside the tent. Onnika sighed heavily at the blast of artificially cool air on her skin and fluffed her hair, shaking away some of the fine sand that had clung to it.
She looked out at a massive circular space, sectioned off by painted lines in the dirt. She counted twelve in all, each dedicated to a different contest. Some of the contests were easy to understand at first glance. Directly to her right, for instance, a line of sharpshooters aimed weapons at a three-dimensional holo-screen showing a set of different sized targets, one so small she was amazed to see someone hit it. To her left, large males fought in a caged ring, bloodying one another to the surrounding crowd’s ravenous delight. Near the back, she spotted something she might be able to win: a flight simulator. Too bad she didn’t see any cook-offs for Caryn.
Groups of fans milled all around, drinking and watching contests. Large holo-screens had been scattered about the tent, each playing highlights from the first leg of the race.
“Remember,” Aidan said to them all. “Only one ticket can be won from each individual game. That includes team events. If two of you team up and win, neither of you will be able to team up with someone else to play an event you’ve already had a go at. We have no time for losses, so chose partners wisely. Once we’re finished competing, our tickets can be redeemed for vouchers. Let’s meet back here in an hour to update me on your progress.” With that, he turned and strode off into the crowd.
Priya headed straight for the sharpshooters. Asher veered in the direction of the cage fighters. The others disappeared just as quickly, leaving Onnika and Caryn to find their own way.
“Well, what do you think,” she asked Caryn. “See anything you think you can win?”
Caryn gazed around with a hopeless expression. “You know I’m no good at this stuff.”
“Let’s have a look around and see how you feel. There might be something you can win.”
Already Asher was squaring off against a beefy opponent in the ring. She would have thought it a bit early in the race to risk getting one’s brains bashed in, but she supposed they had little choice but to try every challenge. Although Asher wasn’t one of their supporters and had been needlessly rough with Caryn, a zing of guilt slashed through her gut. If she and Caryn hadn’t caused the delay, Asher might not feel compelled to risk injury to himself so soon.
Or maybe he would.
With one meaty strike, his opponent hit the mat…and didn’t get back up.
The line for target shooting was much longer. Priya was still waiting to get started when Onnika and Caryn strolled past. Onnika might veer back later in the day to try her hand at it.
The next challenge looked like a kind of puzzle game. Ten individuals lined up next to a set of tables, each with a collection of misshaped blocks scattered in front of them. A bright-eyed Zeek watched from the sidelines.
“What do they have to do?” she asked him.
Without taking his eyes from the players, he explained, “The winner will be the first to arrange the blocks into a perfect circle.”
A buzzer rang and the contestants went to work, shoving pieces together as fast as they could manage, turning them this way and that to see how they fit. After a few moments of watching blocks being added, removed, turned, flipped, replaced, and discarded, only to be picked back up and reconsidered, Onnika got bored. Zeek, on the other hand, was riveted. She didn’t think he even noticed when they strolled away.
Many of the games appeared to be carnival themed, but with a twist. A kind-of ring toss game was decked out with complicated mechanics; twelve rising and falling platforms for contestants to stand on as the whole thing twirled around a dais of pegs for the participants to aim at. When the game started up, it began to spin much faster, and five contestants immediately fell off their platforms.
Movement drew Onnika’s gaze up to where a tightrope hung high off the ground. Two individuals balanced on either end were inching toward one another holding gladiator jousts. She gaped as they proceeded to knock each other off the rope. The only thing to catch their fall? A patch of fine sand below.
There was an archery range that appeared normal enough until she looked closer and saw a force field between the archer and the target with several small circular openings that seemed to travel along the force field at random. The shooter had to make it through one of those holes while also hitting the target.
Onnika didn’t feel confident about any of these outrageous games. Caryn seemed equally dismayed.
As they worked their way through the crowd, Onnika thought she spotted a familiar gait. Her heart nearly stopped from dread. The man was quickly swallowed by the crowd, and when she looked again, she didn’t recognize anyone. It was unlikely Tag was here, but just in case, she put up her guard, searching the faces and intentions of the crowd as she walked. She didn’t tell Caryn. It wouldn’t do to alarm her if there was nothing to worry about. Caryn would only go into panic mode, and they had work to do.
