Craize is faster. We reach the bunny a heartbeat before Faro does, but he doesn’t slow. I lean out and rip the knife free from its neck as we surge past. Instantly, the bunny splits—then splits again—its fiery offspring exploding outward.
Their rage collides with Elijah and Faro instead of us.
Elijah is out of the game.
Craize and I retreat into the clouds again, climbing high to reassess and strike from above. Trina is down to one knife now—Nala must have beaten me to the same conclusion. She’s already using her Gift, Influencing blades straight from holsters. I’ll have to watch her.
Every instinct in my body screams to use my own powers, to level the field in seconds. But I don’t. I don’t know who’s watching—and that uncertainty is more dangerous than the bunnies below.
“Next target: Trina,” I say, feeling the wind whip through my hair.
Craize dives below the field of fluff and fire like a shark in a churning current. I track Trina, waiting until her knife sinks into a bunny. Then, like a vulture, we swoop, claiming her kill for ourselves.
She shoots me a glare, but I barely notice as I holster her knife. Smoke and fire swirl around her, masking her features in a flickering, chaotic haze.
Now it’s just Nala and me left in the game. Her fingers clutch Kareem as he slices through the air with deadly speed. She watches me from a distance—I know instantly: game on.
The sky streaks with fire trails and smoke plumes from the flame-belching bunnies as they catapult through the clouds. I glance down at my holster: five gleaming knives cling to my thighs. Nala hides behind a smokescreen; I can’t see her.
A bunny streaks dangerously close. I barely flick my knife, plunging it into its fur. Retrieval should be easy—just a few inches away—but the blade slips free and arcs through the sky… landing perfectly in Nala’s palm.
I have to think fast. The bunny divides again, and Craize and I shoot upward just as the heat from the flames kisses my shoulder.
“Seriously, Nala?!” I shout, incredulous at her four knives.
She shrugs, laughing cheekily. “It’s the game.”
I can’t help but grin back. Now we both have four knives.
Nala and I race through the sky, striking targets and dodging flames. She wields her powers to her advantage, snatching threemore of my knives—leaving only one clinging to my holster. I grip Craize’s mane and hold my knife tight, heart hammering.
“Give in yet?” Nala taunts, seven knives gleaming in her hands.
“Not a chance,” I scoff, even though I know winning this is now highly unlikely.
I feel Nala’s focus locked on me—patient, poised, waiting. The moment my knife leaves my hand, it will be hers.
But I hold my course, tense and silent, ducking with my lone blade ready, refusing to give her the opening she craves. For a long heartbeat, it’s a standoff among the clouds, eyes locked like hawks circling prey.
Then a bunny bursts from my side, spitting fire directly at Craize. Instinct takes over. My arm flies back, knife poised—but Nala is faster.
The blade shudders in my grip, yanked away by an invisible force, and sails perfectly into her hand as the fire fizzles just inches from Craize’s wing.
Unarmed and breathless, I glance over. Nala grins—not with malice, but pure, gleeful triumph.
The game is over.
***
I steady myself on the cable cart as we descend the valley. The smell of singed hair and smoke lingers, and now that the adrenaline has faded, every muscle aches and every movement feels heavy.
“That was some game,” I say to Nala, wiping soot from my eyes.
“I never thought I’d see fire-breathing bunnies in my life,” she laughs, patting out a small ember smouldering on her jacket.
“They looked cute, but man, were they fire-sty,” Elijah adds, chuckling as he leans back against the cart window.
“Literally, bunnies from hell,” Nala says, plucking a clump of pink fluff off her thigh. We all burst out laughing—even Trina, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything other than a scowl cross her face.
