“Thank you for your feedback, Brenna. Now let’s move, shall we, before everyone else has completed their task and we’re left as failures due to your incompetence,” I state, plastering the widest, fakest smile across my face as I shoulder past her and continue to venture deeper into the woods.
I have no idea where the hell I’m going, but the sound of hurried footsteps behind me tells me my group is following regardless. Trying to keep my chin up and not trip over anything, I miraculously make it to the edge of a clearing. The way the sun peeks through the trees makes my heart beat faster as hope takes root in my chest, but the second I place my foot in the sunlight, another roar cuts through the air, stealing my breath. A hand lands on my shoulder, tugging me back a step, and straight into a firm chest.
Daring to glance back, I gulp as I come face to face with Rion. He winks, smirking like always, even in the face of danger, and I shake my head at him, but before I can give him a lecture, Thorne’s voice bites through the air.
“It’s yellow. Keep moving.”
Frowning, I side-step to follow everyone’s line of sight. It takes a moment for me to understand what has everyone’s attention, but understanding quickly washes over me. Every muscle in my body locks inplace as I gape at the being before me. “What the…”
“It’s an ogre.” I hear Kael’s words, but I don’t turn to him. I can’t look away.
It looms among the trees in the distance, an insane mountain of muscle and thick, coarse gray skin. If its size doesn’t scare me, the terse grin that curls his horned mouth does the trick. It promises pain. Its yellow eyes are wild and searching. The ogre takes a step and the ground trembles beneath it, but the worn yellow cloth tied around its wrist confirms it isn’t the beast we’re looking for.
There’s not a single sighting of the institute matched with this monster, and we’re wasting time just gawking at it. “Let’s go,” I murmur, taking a slow step back, then another, and another, until we’re redirected and heading toward a different beast lurking in the woods.
The ground rumbles beneath our feet a few times, making us pause, but we continue deeper until the forest floor shakes so hard my feet leave the earth for a few seconds.
“One’s close,” Ocean mutters, and I nod, tilting my head high, searching for another giant lurking nearby.
The cry that rings through the air is twisted with battle, set on pain, and desperate for victory. Itdoesn’t come from a beast, but it lures us closer. Breaking through the next treeline, a flash of boiled-leather-gray skin comes into view, with puckered scars trailing down its back and a pink cloth tied around its wrist.
A spear launches through the air from a distance, and as I follow the weapon’s trajectory to its source, it’s clear the institute has found its mark, but is severely struggling with committing to the challenge that now lies ahead.
Dammit.
I stumble back a step, ready to keep searching, when I see a familiar guy with pink stitching on his uniform charge toward the ogre, but before he can get within a close enough range to make contact, the beast swipes its arm out, knocking him off his feet. I watch in disbelief as Dominic sails through the air, slamming into a tree with a thud before tumbling to the ground.
A shudder runs down my spine as I wince at the impact, but I turn away, trying to shake it from my mind as I remember that we’re here to participate, not just watch others attempt to make it to the next round.
Drenched in heavier silence, we move as one through the shrubbery, beneath the heavy trees, and over fallen logs. The ground rumbles ahead and mystomach churns, my gut warning me, but of what, I don’t know.
My pace increases of its own accord, but as I race ahead, screams and cries whisper in the wind from afar. Fear lashes through the thick air and I pause, trying to hear what’s being said. Glancing back over my shoulder, I frown, focused, when I see the others doing the same.
“Help!”
“Rebels!”
“The Rebellion is here!”
“Is that…”
Ocean nods as she hurries toward me. “I think rebels have infiltrated the games.”
“What does that mean?” I ask, but I don’t get an answer and the ground rumbles beneath my feet again.
It’s close, too close.
As slowly as I can, I turn back around, my neck craning instantly as my gaze latches on to a deep-purple rag tied around an ogre’s wrist. I force myself to keep looking, my eyes finding theirs as it blinks at us.
My gut twists even tighter as I blink up at the beast. We’re supposed to slaughter it, take out its heart, and for what? To win? To get out of here? Is my freedom worth the cost of that? It wasn’t backat the trailer park, but here, it seems everything is different.
“What’s our first move?” Brenna asks, and I look at her helplessly.
The screams of battle grow louder, making it impossible to think, but I can’t sense where they’re coming from. All I know is I can’t focus. Turning my attention back to the beast as murmurs grow around me, I begin assessing how we can bring the beast down, but I find myself drawn to its eyes again.
It looks… scared. Or maybe it doesn’t and I’m seeing things that aren’t there, but it’s enough to make me pause.
Its lips part, a roar ready to break free, but the sound that comes is gargled and pained. It sways, moving in slow motion before it falls to its knees, the ground trembling from the force before the ogre topples forward. The earth moves beneath them, leaves and dust fluttering in the air, but a flicker of light dances in the air, more prominent than anything else. It’s only when the fragments settle that I can see what it is. More specifically,whoit is.
