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My feet have only been planted a few seconds, but I step back into the crack, attempting a rapid take-that-fucker descent. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
I can’t stop myself when my clawless human feet slip sidelong through the crack, sending me straight down with a force I can't manage. Thank the stars Rylan is down the mountain and has quick reflexes.
We’re not so high up that I would die if I fell, but I’d certainly be out of the race. He grabs me at my waist before my body pummels down the steep ridge below us. He flips me face-first to the merciful ground, and I throw my head back to look at him. My lungs beat fiercely to catch up.
“Slippery.” It’s all he says. I can’t help but laugh, his arms around me and my limbs whole and unshattered. He saved me. He didn’t have to. But he did.
“Thanks,” I reply. But instead of being cold or catty, I throw him a small and genuine smile.
Something akin to a blush appears on his cheeks, a purple hue over his blue cheeks. It lasts only for a moment, but I notice it. Maybe it is adrenaline coming down from his life-savingmaneuver. Or maybe having his hands on me got him a little worked up.
I don’t know which I’d prefer.
The rest of the climb with him is almost pleasant.
Field Journal. We’re officially in the Tournalese now, having crossed the bridge at Upton’s Point. The bridge is in good shape, but Rylan stayed with me when we crossed anyway. Trying not to read too much into that. We ended the day camping on the top of the ridge with a handful of other aspirants.”
“So, about your first trial, what was that like?” Thippe asks over the fire and power bars.
Rylan takes his time in answering. “I was a fearless 19-year-old.”
“So, the time of your life?” Maxe asks, looking nostalgically into the distance.
Rylan looks uncomfortable. Something about them seems to annoy him. They’re super fans, begging questions like a trivia game, but I don’t think that’s why.
“Not quite,” he says, his eyes set on the fire. “I was just a kid, didn't pack enough sanitation tablets. Ten days into the Lake Trial, I was dying of thirst.”
“What happened?” Lila asks, taking notes studiously as he talks. By nightfall, we’ve been joined by the siblings Renxel and Jorath.
“I drank a fish.” A smile tugs at his lips.
“Turlipine trout carry water in their stomachs, drinkable water,” Lila answers robotically.
I can’t stop the delight from crossing my face. “Is there anything you haven’t done?”
“I’ve never been farther out in the universe,” he answers, his smile becoming more familiar by the second.
Field Journal.There was trouble in camp this morning as several aspirants woke to slashed tents. People are saying it was animals, but I’m less convinced. Rylan’s got the worst of it. My over-planning saved the day as the only aspirant who brought centripetal tape.
This morning, I have a theory. Taking advantage of the sleep I never get, I head out an hour earlier than usual. I slept fully clothed and ate only protein to catch the advantage at sun-up.
While the other racers are fixing their tents and eating, I’m the first on the trail. I catch a glimpse of Rylan as I head up the first switch back. But this is a controlled study. As such, I don’t give him any goodbyes.
The day passes peacefully until, sure enough, the familiar crunching sound of boots comes up the path behind me. It’s him.
I knew it would be.
By late day, we’re back in a group and notice we’ve lost two more aspirants overnight.
“They called in,” Devon explains, looking at his comm’s daily race readout.
As the mountain turns yet colder, we huddle up together to read it by the fire. Rylan is close to me, leg to leg, and, for once, isn’t acting weird. I don’t get a chance to revel in it as yet another run of bad luck has kicked someone out of the competition.
“They said they thought they packed enough protein, but something got into their stores overnight,” Jorath confirms. “They thought it was animals,”
“Was it, though?” I put the question to them. “The protein’s supposed to be unscented so it doesn't attract anything.”
“Whatever it was, I’m off to bed,” Jorath grunts on his way to his tent. Lila and Devin soon follow, leaving me at the fire with Rylan, Renxel, Maxe, and Thippe.
