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I ran toward him, tears stinging my eyes, and I threw myself into his big powerful arms.
He enveloped me in his own and squeezed me so tight I could hardly breathe.
I pulled back and looked him over.
He wasstanding!
He was no longer sick or injured!
Talan’s once pale and sickly complexion was now healthy.
The cuts and bruises that had littered his skin were gone, and he stood tall and radiant.
They had healed him!
Unable to contain my joy and relief, I threw my arms around him, holding him close, our hearts beating in unison.
Tears of happiness streamed down my face as I buried it in the crook of his neck.
“We made it,” Talan whispered, his voice filled with awe. “We’re free.”
“Completelyfree!” I announced.
We looked down at our wrists where the handcuffs had been.
There weren’t any red marks where they had rubbed against our skin.
We were free from their restrictive grip.
“I thought… I thought you were…” I said, unable to find the words to complete my greatest fear.
“So did I, for a little while,” he said. “Then I woke up in a pod by myself and—”
“They played our highlights!” I said.
His eyes lit up. “Yeah. I always wondered what happened to the winning contestants. I guess now we know.”
“But we’re stuck in here now,” I said. “How are we meant to get out?”
As if in response, another light flicked on in the ceiling, revealing a small shuttlecraft.
Talan took my hand and led me toward it.
We got onboard and he strapped us in.
He pressed the buttons before a large hangar door in the wall began to drift open.
I held my breath, hoping against hope that this wasn’t all some part of the Malquarans’ Game.
We ascended out from the belly of a gigantic ship with the thousands of platforms floating on the other side of it.
My heart went out to the creatures still stuck there, still embroiled in their own personal nightmare.
But they would have to rescue themselves, the same way we had.
I hadzerointention of ever going back there.
* * *
