The platform rumbled to a halt and a faint, dim red light illuminated a long tunnel ahead. There were two narrow concrete paths on either side of some water that ran the length as far as I could see. The top of the ceiling was rounded, and thewalls were made of pure bone. I could feel my power awakening down here, strumming to life with electric energy.
A sudden burst of red light from above sliced through the air with a loud booming shot, and a male sounding voice echoed off the tunnel walls.
“The Games have begun. You have a five-minute head-start. Use it wisely. If you shall perish, may your soul be granted the God of Death’s favor.”
Here we fucking go.
The lights went out for a moment, and we all stood there struck dumb or too scared to move. But then the dim light returned with a flicker and Regis, always the first to take charge, leapt into action, plunging into the water from off the platform, only to scream out in agony.
Smoke rose from the part of his legs that were touching the water as he thrashed around, scrambling to get out. “Help me!” He cried, falling to his knees with a rotted hand outstretched. His skin was sloughing off his body and his bones were beginning to poke through as he became engulfed by the steaming water in seconds. It splashed onto Céline and hit her square in the thigh. That one round splotch ate through the cloth on her pants, burning her skin with a sickening sizzle.
And right before our eyes, Regis was eaten away bit by bit by the water.
Acid water, I thought, remembering the guard’s conversation from the night before. There wasn’t time to grab him out. He’d just perished, the water bubbling like a stomach digesting a large meal.
The rest of the teams would most likely make the same choice— to trudge straight through, not knowing that the water was a death trap.
Odessa was all I could think. Someone had to warn her.
“Are you coming?” Céline asked, making her way on the right side of the tunnel. It was a narrow fit, but she could place her feet side by side comfortably enough. The slope of the ceiling might be a problem for me with how tall I was, but I couldn’t make my feet move.
Odessa would be down here at any moment, and I couldn’t let her end like that.
“No,” I responded, my hand reaching out and engulfing her small neck. “I’m sorry.” Her eyes were wide with terror as I yanked her mask off and pushed her into the vat of acid with a scream upon her lips and a sinking in my gut. I knew the cost of being down here, and it was kill or be killed. And there was only one way Céline could be parted from her magick.
I rolled my shoulders as her body disintegrated with a sickening hiss. I didn’t want to look as she died, but I couldn’t look away. That fear and betrayal that flashed in her eyes before the light went out of them. The power to control liquid was now mine.
If the gods weren’t entertained yet, they would be soon.
The tainted water was practically roiling now while it ate through the two bodies of people I’d called my teammates. I wondered how many more would be its victim. From the sixteen we’d started with we were now down by five. There were just eleven of us left and the odds of winning were getting better and better with each passing moment. If only I could make it to the end, wherever that lay hidden.
Now I just had to sit here and wait for Odessa’s team to get here, and hopefully I could intercede before she wound up walking straight into a trap.
I knew I didn’t owe her anything. And my goal hadn’t changed. In fact, now that the games had officially started and I’d already bagged another power, that desire to have it all wasonly growing. But there was no reason I couldn’t bring her along with me while the others floundered amongst themselves.
A mechanical clicking sound alerted me to the three other platforms being lowered.
Fuck, which one was she in?
My eyes strained as I watched intently, wanting to spot her before any chaos erupted. And it would too. With three teams converging on a small tunnel that was filled with acid, there were sure to be casualties.
I could see the tips of feet appearing. Her team had four people so that immediately eliminated the platform in the middle. There were only two other possibilities, and each were on opposite ends.
Legs appeared next, and to the right I spotted her with a small, almost unnoticeable bump on her leg. That fucking dagger.
I dashed over to where her platform was lowering just as they hit the bottom.
“Games are now commencing,” that same voice said, drowning out all the other voices. The red light pulsated, and Odessa’s eyes found mine before we were plunged into total darkness.
Screams started filling the air from all around. Small hands gripped onto my forearms and pulled me down. Fire ripped through the area, making us duck and roll in the small landing space as the scent of burnt flesh stung my nostrils.
I cradled the small figure against my body and knew immediately who it belonged to. My hands wrapped around her braided head of hair, protecting her.
“Stay out of the water. It’s full of acid,” I warned, loud enough for her to hear. Her whole body was fucking shaking under me. “Follow me, now, Odessa.” I pulled her to standing and shieldedher as best I could from the magick that was being thrown about without a thought of who or what it might hit.
Tell-tale sounds of people being gutted and thrown into the acid rang out between screams and the moans of the injured. I pulled Odessa by the wrist onto the lip of the tunnel.
The lights flickered then in that ominous red hue that made everything around us look sinister.
