Aimilia didn’t acknowledge him, and instead she tucked her egg into the crook of her arm and waited. Prisca called out, “On my mark! Three… Two… One?—”
Aimilia took off. She very narrowly missed a vitae whip that had been aimed at her ankles by one of her cousins. Cyprian also had the same idea as Aimilia and had just started running as fast as possible. Aimilia kept running, the egg tucked in one arm asshe began fumbling with her cloak with the other. She was going to need both hands.
She unpinned her cloak with one hand and reached down, grabbing it and pulling it around her until she could let go of the egg and it remained secure in the fabric. She quickly reclasped it with both hands, and picked up her speed.
The egg was practically burning her side, but it was secure.
Now Aimilia could focus on the ground and on the traps most certainly laid for her. And just for good measure, Aimilia threw up a trip wire of vitae behind her. As payback for the cousin who’d tried to take her out already.
Cyprian had pulled ahead of her, but he had yet to cast. He was still holding his egg in one hand. Just so no one else would steal her idea, Aimilia threw an illusion over her so it looked like she was still carrying her egg in one hand. The grass crunched under her sandals as she wove around the trees. She had already narrowly spotted two illusions and managed to avoid the traps hidden beneath them.
Cyprian disappeared from sight. Aimilia picked up her pace.
She couldn’t let him get too far ahead. Aimilia gasped when a blur raced by her. It was the commander with the other phoenix egg. Aimilia had never been the fastest runner. Even though she was tall, she wasn’t as tall as some of the others in her family.
Nikias had been right; she was at a physical disadvantage.
She stomped out the thought. He’d only been saying that because he wanted her to give up. Whether it was true or not was irrelevant.
Aimilia threw up a shield just in time to block the bolt of vitae her cousin threw at her. It ricocheted off her shield, and he let out a loud curse. Aimilia spotted another trap up ahead, hidden beneath an illusion. She curved her path and started moving her hands as if to cast. Her cousin picked up the pace and tried to put distance between them, running right into the rune andactivating it. The second vitae lit up the ground, the plants in the circle began to move as well.
The roots shot up, grabbing his legs and wrapping around them. He pitched forward and the egg slipped from his hands. Aimilia ran by him right as the egg hit the ground, shattering. His scream tore through the air, and Aimilia choked as a molten liquid that looked like fire poured out.
She’d heard of it before. Certain mountains that weren’t mountains at all. Inside them was a liquid fire. Lava. Lava hit his arm, and he screamed again.
Aimilia couldn’t afford to stop. He wasn’t going to be able to finish the race. Aimilia looked down at her egg nestled in her red cloak. If her egg broke, that would happen to her.
Good to know.
Sweat poured down every inch of Aimilia’s body as her lungs burned and her body was screaming at her to slow down, begging her to stop. But she couldn’t. She passed the halfway point.
How far ahead was Cyprian?
Aimilia vaulted over a log, just narrowly avoiding the rune on the other side of it. The back of her heel activated it, but she was out of range before it could get her.
She looked over her shoulder to see a pulse ripple through the air, distorting everything around it. And then she glanced down at the rune, a sound wave meant to disorient or even deafen. Aimilia had no idea which of these runes were meant to be here or which could have been placed by someone else.
Aimilia heard a scream in the distance. One of her other cousins must have been caught in a trap. Aimilia wasn’t sure how many of them were actually going to make it to the end at this rate. She had to stop for just a few seconds to catch her breath, and she leaned against the tree. The swelteringegg against her side wasn’t making it any easier, as she kept sweating.
Something flashed in the corner by Aimilia’s eye. She reacted instinctually, flinching away, turning on her heel as Cyprian landed on the ground. A blast of vitae went right toward her side where her egg was, even though it shouldn’t be visible beneath her illusion. Aimilia wrapped her arm around her egg and threw herself into a roll. The second her shoulder hit the ground, she was blinded by vitae. She looked back over her shoulder and Cyprian was gone.
He hadn’t even been real. It had just been an illusion. Aimilia looked down, but it was too late.
A large boom ricocheted through and she was flying through the air.
The ground and foliage went with her. Aimilia flipped and tumbled, getting her arms under her to catch herself. As she began to cast, her egg tumbled out of the sling she’d made with her cloak. Aimilia kept on as they both plummeted back toward the torn-up ground again.
Aimilia had to choose.
What did she save first, the egg or herself?
Easy.
Aimilia chose the egg.
She abandoned the platform she was starting to cast that would catch her, but would shatter the egg. Instead, she switched to a whip lassoing around the egg and pulling it back into her arms. Aimilia twisted, pressing the egg into her stomach and curling around it.
She hit the ground again, and hard. She landed on her back with a scream. Pain shot through her whole spine, but more debris was falling, so Aimilia stayed exactly where she was, one arm and her body curled around the egg.
