“Move your pampered royal ass,” Reever shouted, bumping his shoulder.
Teddy ran to the side and wheeled around with short swords flying as the lobster swooped close. His steel blades met a leatherywing, and the beast shrieked, tumbling into the dirt, sparkling brown blood puddling on the ground beneath it. The beast curled in on itself. A pungent herbal scent laced the air and Teddy’s ears rang. Whatever magic had created the beast for this contest was powerful and made Teddy’s skin prickle up close.
A loud whooshing sound split the roar of the crowd. Water rushed in from all sides of the pit. It was too fast to be natural.
Thiswas why they had started on low ground. Water witches stood on the side of the pit, summoning water from the ground beneath them. Teddy’s magic bubbled in his chest, eager to spin the water away.
But magic wasn’t permitted in this part of the competition, so he forced it down. Sweat broke out on his brow. He needed to fight the bond, the beast, and his own impulse to rely on his magic.
As if they needed one more thing to demonstrate the urgency. It made sense that the wisdom challenge required knowing your ally and being able to think on your feet.
Normally, the first challenge of the Gauntlet Games was the easiest and the bloodbath came in the second challenge once opponents had a chance to size each other up. Of course, the god of war would choose as many violent obstacles as possible in just one challenge. If they wanted to advance, Endros wanted to make sure they bled for it first.
Water sloshed around Teddy’s boots. He’d never admit it to her face, but Stella was right. He was too slow for this type of adversary in his bulky armor, and now it would weigh him down in the water. To make matters worse, he didn’t know how to swim since they didn’t exactly have easy access to beaches in Argaria. He could have learned in the few summers they spent in Olney, but his father had drilled it into him not to be bad at something publicly and he wasn’t sure he’d recover from the embarrassment of needing to be saved from drowning in front of a crowd of Olney onlookers.
However bad that would have been, drowning in front of two kingdoms’ worth of spectators now would be worse.
Teddy needed to get the armor off, but that meant openinghimself up to easier wounds from Reever and the monster they were fighting. He unsnapped the hinges on his left thigh guard and let it fall into the mud.
The wounded lobster rolled onto its stomach and skittered toward them. They stumbled back, and the beast climbed onto its humanoid legs. It slammed its tail down and mud sprayed across Teddy’s face.
As it arched back, readying to strike, a glint of ruby shone from within the interconnected shell on its torso.
“Fuck me,” Reever said, clearly seeing the jewel as well. “We’re going to have to kill it to get that ruby. No way it’s going to let us just reach in there and I’m not about to have all my fingers clawed off.”
He lifted his axe and brought it down on one of the beast’s humanoid legs with all his might. The blade glanced off the shell, and Reever narrowly dodged a claw. He tumbled into the dirt and brought the long handle of his axe up just in time to block the lobster from crushing his head in its giant claw.
Teddy dashed forward and swiped a short sword across the back of the lobster’s humanoid leg joint. It screeched and slapped him back with one of its wings. Teddy rolled over backward and pushed right back up to his feet, the blood rushing in his ears blending with the sound of water pouring into the pit.
Teddy only had a moment to glance at the water witches again. They could fill this pit in mere moments.
His mind spun wildly as the flying lobster launched into the air. The water turned the pit muddy and Teddy’s boots slipped as he searched for the solution.
It made sense why they needed luck and talent. Talent would serve them well enough, but luck would have meant they knew something about the creature they were paired with, or perhaps not being matched with a beast that essentially had natural armor. Lots of men blamed their success on talent, but plenty of great warriors fell. Battle was not a meritocracy, and it was a foolish fighter who wouldn’t admit that luck played a hand in who came out on top.
Years of training had taught Teddy every weak spot in armor, butit was hard to fight an adversary whose anatomy you didn’t know. He needed to be able to move and adapt faster.
Teddy fumbled with the buckles on the side of his chest plate and it popped free and clattered to the ground. He instantly went to work on his other thigh.
“We need a plan,” Reever said, his gaze fixed on the circling beast.
“I’m not allowed to use magic and even if I could, it wouldn’t make sense to boil water we’re standing in.”
“I think you had the right idea before.” Reever distanced himself from Teddy. “If we take out the wings, that will keep him on the ground.”
“Wings and eyes. Once he lands, I’ll—” Teddy cut himself off as the lobster charged toward them.
The beast was definitely laboring with its damaged wing. It was coming right for Teddy. He forced himself to be still, his swords at the ready.
At the very last second, he ducked, and the lobster careened past him into the wall of the pit. It crumpled to the ground, momentarily stunned.
Teddy had his opening. He took a step to charge at it and snatch the ruby.
“Teddy, duck!” It was Nathan’s voice cutting through the din of the crowd from above.
Teddy ducked and an arrow just skimmed his shoulder guard. “What the—” He turned and spotted Rett Roachelle on the edge of the wall to their right.
“The fucking Roach,” Reever yelled. Apparently, the mercenary was already acquainted with Rett. “He’s basically shooting fish in a barrel.” The mercenary drew his bow and shot an arrow back. “Dixon must have boosted him out to try to take out the competition. You focus on the beast, and I’ll focus on that weasel.”
