She dashed forward, taking the middle path as Raider darted for the one on the far right. Her water diversion worked, distracting the drones from Raider and focusing all their attention on her.
Droplets of water rained down on her, making the path slick as she sprinted forward. She'd chosen the shortest one, but she was betting it was also the most difficult. The Tuann seemed like the type to turn a simple exercise into one of deceit. No doubt she’d chosen the most treacherous.
As if to confirm her assumption, she spotted Graydon ahead, Finn on the path to her left.
Kira flipped in midair, barely managing to avoid twin bolts. She came out of her flip, landing on one foot and immediately leaping sideways to avoid another blue bolt.
For several long minutes, she lost herself in the difficulty of avoiding being turned into swiss cheese, ducking and swerving as she pushed her body to the limits.
Exhilaration fed into her movements as she listened to her instincts, leaping and twisting whenever danger threatened.
For the most part, her wooden sword hung forgotten at her side. She preferred to evade and dodge instead of attack. She used the sword when absolutely necessary, which was to say never.
She landed on a tree branch, taking a second to get the lay of the land.
Graydon roared as he challenged twenty drones, his movements full of restrained fury as he snatched one out of the air and threw it at another. At that moment, he was the warrior, fierce and powerful, and full of a heated need to destroy.
She'd never seen anything like it. The sight tempted her to challenge him, to test her skills against his to see who came out the victor.
She shook off the thought. She couldn't afford such things right now. She had a match to win.
She turned and looked for Finn.
She muttered a faint curse when she finally spotted him, way too close to the finish line for comfort.
He just needed to clear a twenty-foot wall, walk across a log on a see-saw, and then find a way across a ten-foot chasm.
Raider, by contrast, had over half of the course to go.
They were going to lose.
Kira whirled, catching the drone behind her with the flat of her sword. It reeled away, crashing into the tree where she perched.
Seconds later, its broken pieces began to reassemble. It rose, turning to Kira as a light pulsed deep inside.
"Calling your friends, huh? Bring it on," she told it.
She didn't wait, turning and leaping onto the obstacle course again. Something drastic needed to happen to turn the tide.
The obstacle course had been built into a long lake and had seen much use over the years. The ruined remnants of previous paths lay barely visible beneath the water. Some pieces broke its surface, but not many.
Taking it would be a risk but worth it if she could delay Finn.
Kira arrowed over the water toward her guard.
She leaped and whirled, evading the drones, her feet flying over the unsteady footing as if they'd been given wings.
This was what freedom felt like. For one timeless second, she remembered what it felt like to fly, defying both the odds and gravity as she used every ounce of strength and willpower to reach for a bit more speed, to add a little more height to each jump.
Her footholds changed from the smooth wood and polished surfaces of the obstacles, to barely submerged rock or broken tree branches.
The drones raced after her, turning an already difficult route more perilous. One swooped close, and only her quick reflexes kept it from hitting her in the head.
Halfway to Finn's side. Not far now.
She leaped, catching the edge of one of the drones as it veered too close. She grabbed it and swung her body, using the momentum to vault into the air, completing the arc to land on another drone.
The slightest tingle ran under her, like a storm gathering power. The warning came microseconds before lightning crackled beneath her feet. She catapulted off the drone, flipping in midair.
