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CHAPTER 30
My eyelids flutteredopen, revealing a scene of entwined torment.
My body was ensnared. A cage surrounded me.
Wicked brambles and sinuous vines embraced my body.
I twisted and turned and they grew tighter. Sharp thorns poked into every exposed bit of my flesh, scratching my face and tearing at my hair.
Through the web of vines, I could see movement. Were my competitors facing the same thing I was? Or had they already freed themselves?
My gaze fell upon my hands, pressed tightly to my chest. The gauntlets were etched with sigils that Draven had promised would give me better control.
Would I be able to control my flames in such a confined space? Or would I burn myself to death?
As I possessed no other weapons and couldn't have moved far enough to grab them even if I did, it didn't seem as if I had much choice but to find out.
Summoning my will, I extended my arms as far out as I could towards the constricting mesh of entangling foliage.
A tempest of fire lashed out with wild abandon, igniting the brambles.
I turned my head away from the heat, gritting my teeth as the flames seared the exposed skin of my hands.
Agony seared through me as the fire that was burning through the vines dipped back against my fingertips. The cage was too constraining. I had nowhere to go. I had never had to wield in such close quarters.
I closed my eyes tightly, my breath coming in short panting gasps, unable to do anything but endure the pain as the fire burned through the thick fortress of vegetation.
A few more moments and a space opened up. I lowered my hands and shoved my shoulder through, then twisted my body and ducking my head, squeezed out of the opening.
Relief coursed through me, intermingled with searing pain. I held out my hands. My fingers were scorched raw.
What were the chances I wouldn't have to use my hands for the rest of the trial?
Slim to none, I thought, shoving down a wave of nausea as another wave of pain swept over me.
I looked around.
To my left, two similar cages to mine lay empty and open. One had been literally split in two. The other was covered in traces of familiar green acid.
