“The first runner must free your team’s torch, lap around the arena, and then light it on the braziers beneath the royal box.”
As the queen spoke, magic pulsed all around them. Eira could instantly pin where from, looking from Arwin to other morphi dressed in attendants’ tabards positioned on the walls that circled the arena. Some of the supplies stacked around the arena shimmered as though made of water. And where there was previously nothing, behind where the competitors stood were four torches, wrapped up halfway in a stone pillar. A locked box of metal around them. It was fascinating to see the obstacles come to life in a manner she imagined was similar to the maze yesterday—the portion of the game Eira had been unconscious for.
“After racing around the arena, the first runner will pass the torch to the second runner, who must carry it through a maze of rope.” Behind the first obstacle, a new one formed. Eight walls appeared. Stretched between them at every angle imaginable were ropes. “If you burn a rope, or hit one too hard, water will come crashing down, and if your torch is snuffed, you’ll be immediately disqualified.”
Eira suspected which obstacle she’d be running.
“After the second runner laps the arena, they’ll pass off the torch to the third. The third runner will be tasked with climbing to the top of a sheer wall and then leaping off into a pit of water.”
“While we still have to keep our torch lit?” Noelle muttered.
“It wouldn’t be a challenge, otherwise,” Cullen responded.
Eira’s earlier guess for which obstacle she’d be running was wrong. Attendants she didn’t recognize carefully moved water into the next obstacle, giving it special attention. Eira had spent weeks learning the faces of all those around her. These were new. She was certain that it wasn’t her paranoia getting the better of her.
“I’ll be the third runner,” she said hastily, watching as the attendants disappeared underneath the portcullis.
“Sounds good to me,” Noelle agreed with ease, still oblivious to her worry.
“The third runner will take their lap before passing off the torch to the fourth runner. The last runner will immediately lap the arena a final time to then stand on the final pedestal. At which point, the other teams will attempt to extinguish the torch. Before then, competitors may do nothing to try and prematurely extinguish other teams’ torches.”
Ah, there it was. That’s why she had said the last torch lit won. It wouldn’t be a game in the tournament of five kingdoms if there wasn’t some way for them to do battle against each other.
“If no torch makes it to the final platform, the winners will be decided based on whose torch remains lit for the longest time,” the queen finished. “Each team will be given five minutes to strategize and decide their order. Good luck!”
A large hourglass rose up from the balcony where the competitors would usually watch from. It hovered in the air and turned over. The sand began pouring from top to bottom as the teams hastily discussed their strategies. Eira tried to keep her focus in the game, she knew how much it meant to her friends, and everyone from Solaris. Plus, if she acted strangely now, the Pillars would know she was onto them. She had to stay in place and act the part. Vi was counting on her to do it.
But, all the while, Eira couldn’t help feeling like the sands of a different hourglass were about to run out…
Everyone was lined up and ready. The sand in the hourglass was almost gone. Noelle was positioned at the first obstacle. Cullen was ready at the second, Eira at the third, and Alyss at the fourth.
The last placement had been a heated debate among them. Alyss would have an easier time getting the torch out initially. But Noelle pointed out that it was more important to place their strongest competitor at the end. The game didn’t reward speed. It rewarded accuracy and endurance. And Alyss had already proved she could outlast in her rock shell more than anyone else.
Eira had warned them all to be especially on their guards for this game. Luckily, by now, her friends trusted her enough to believe her without question.
“When the sands run out, the final game of the first annual Tournament of Crowns will begin!” Lumeria announced.
Noelle clapped her hands together. Fire crackled around them.
“Three…two…” the whole crowd chanted, a unifying cry, “…one!”
The bell chimed and everyone sprang into action. Kotol began trying to rip the lock from the bars of the cage that protected the torch. Lop wasted no time: with one spin of his bracelets the lock was off. Sorrah was equally fast and Menna was right behind with her Lightspinning.
Noelle’s flames burned so hot around the door that the metal was already turning orange. She walked up to it, pulling back the iron as though it were clay and not metal. The crowd erupted with cheers.
Kotol leaned down and began biting the lock. Eira’s jaw stung with phantom pains at the sight, to the point that she had to look away.
Qwint, Meru, and Twilight were all already running. Noelle was in the process of executing the Solaris team’s second strategic decision:
Don’t bother freeing the whole torch from the stone.
There was enough torch to grab that was already exposed. Freeing the rest was nothing more than a time waster. Noelle burned through the wood just beneath the top of the rock and sprinted from the cage to the brazier, lighting it and beginning her run. Kotol was on her toes, catching up quickly.
“Run, Noelle!” Eira screamed as her friend passed. Kotol had malice in her eyes and if she caught Noelle, Eira had no doubt that the draconi would trip her friend.
The first three teams to have finished freeing their torch ended up with the torches in the hands of their teammates expectedly early. But each of them seemed to be approaching the rope maze in the same way—very carefully. None of them really used any magic, instead working their way through the ropes slowly and methodically.
Was it intended to be a challenge of physical dexterity? If it was, Cullen certainly didn’t get the note.
