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It's that verve that sends my feet pushing with that extra force for that extra mile. Nothing puts a fire under me like being treated like a girl. Ever since the farm, trying to prove to my Pa that I could work like my brothers, it's an insatiable appetite within me.
After sprints, we take our turns with the ropes course. My Kiphian friend is the first to go.
Watching him on the ropes is like watching a hopnit swing from branch to branch of the Ficacia trees. He’s not just limber, he’s light on his feet, too. He’s moving with a level of agility I've only heard about.
It has me wondering what he’s like on the trail. Something in me fires up. Attraction? Competition? Doesn't matter. It’s a nameless pursuit that boils within me.
In these moments, I’m no different than a new prisoner in the yard. I find the biggest, toughest guy on the course, and suddenly I have my target.
I don’t have to beat him. I couldn’t on my best day, anyway. But I do need him to think I can be behind him every step of the way.
“Look at him.” A fellow aspirant points to the Kiphian, who made his way to the top in record time. “Rylan Xanath. Can you believe it?”
“Wait.” My jaw drops. “TheRylan Xanath? The last winner of this competition?”
“And the year before that. He practically lives on this course.”
“Cantrell. Your run,” the course instructor calls from over a comm pad list of names.
If I had known I was this close to one of the greatest champions this Challenge has ever known, I would've paid attention to more than just his butt. As it’s my turn for the course, I see this is my one chance to get on his radar.
The whistle sounds as I dive under the ropes. The thing about being a small human woman is that there are advantages. I’m lighter, for one. My core muscles are in peak condition, making my tall frame nimble.
“Holy shit, did you see how fast that was?”
“I could do better.”Good. Keep talking.
Next is the parallel wall course, which I run through like it's any day on the farm. Swinging onto the next platform is the rock wall. It's an elementary example of the treachery we’ll face on the course ahead.
My Kiphian friend scaled this wall in four movements. I won’t be as quick as that, but I can still hear the naysayers from beyond.
“Decent grip strength for a human, I guess.”
Good.Keep it up. Some people feed off of praise. I just don't happen to be one of them.
As I near the top of the course, I see an outstretched hand ready to help me over the final platform.
Not likely. I stare him down as I pull myself up with ease. I’m sure he’s a perfectly nice two-time Challenge champion. But I’m a perfectly capable girl.
When my time is over and recorded, I take my time pulling my head together. Pushing myself this hard has its disadvantages, too. It's something I need to write down for later. Then I feel a set of eyes on me, and I look over to see him staring.
I’m a female in a male-dominated sport. Being stared at isn't new for me, but this Kiphian’s gaze tugs at me somewhere under my heaving chest that I've never felt before. I'm gasping for air but also for understanding.
I came here to keep my focus, but I can't deny this strange pull I feel as we stand on the platform together. Suddenly I’m wondering where this race is really headed.
No. Fates be damned. I’m the first human and the first woman to enter this race in its history. I didn’t come all this way to blow it on some guy. Even if he is fucking hot.
3
RYLAN
Ican’t take my eyes off the girl.
Girl. I'm slapping myself thinking about how stupid I was this morning. Our only human aspirant is a woman. I'll be damned.
As aspirants finish the course and join us at the top, I’m not the only one staring. It's hard not to with her lean, muscular frame. Her blonde hair shines like a beacon at the top of the climbing wall, but it’s nothing compared to her eyes.
On a clear day like today, with rain clouds just forming over the mountains, her eyes deepen into a blue as dark and clear as the waters of the Lakes Kingdom. I’m lost in her for a moment. Lost in my own memories of the freedom of being submerged in water.
