Still on this side of the bridge, the red and green teams are engaged in battle, weapons clashing and talents colliding. And above them in the clouds…
I have to rub my eyes. There in the sky is an enormous white dragon. Its iridescent scales shimmer like icy teeth, and its eyes blaze with an intense yellow fury.
“Is this real? I thought dragons were extinct…” I breathe.
“Not this one.” Taron’s gaze follows the beast through the air.
The dragon unleashes another mighty roar, and the chasm quakes. The red and green teams persist in their brawl. Savannah and Kara retreat towards us, a shield crafted from sand deflecting a burst of flames from an opposing competitor.
When their opponent’s flames sputter and die, Savannah dissolves her shield and sends a cascade of sand at him, wrapping it around him and pulling him towards her as if by a chain. Kara impales him with a spear radiating light.
“It’s about time you got here,” Savannah snarls when she sees us. Her long black plait has come undone in wild strands that cling to her sweat-drenched face.
“Is everyone still alive?” I ask, scanning the chaotic scene.
“Incoming, six o’clock,” Savannah warns, tapping Kara on the shoulder.
She spins, her light sword at the ready, blocking a strike from an approaching competitor. The sharp whistle of light clashing against metal echoes across the clearing and, with a resoundingcrack, the competitor’s blade shatters into pieces.
“It’s nothing personal,” Kara quips, ready to deliver the finishing blow. But the dragon’s colossal form sweeps overhead, casting a shadow that eclipses us.
Another earth-shaking roar echoes, nearly drowning out Gigi’s voice coming from behind a crumbling heap of ruins to our left. “Take cover! Over here!”
We follow the rest of the green team behind the low wall, weathered and cracked. A scorched window frame is the only thing hinting at the cottage it once was. I don’t want to think about what must’ve happened to leave it in such a state.
Our group crouches low in the shadow of the old cottage, afraid to move, afraid to breathe. We’re all here. Cyrus and Gideon. Mei and Rhius. Even Xander and Cleo. From where I’m sitting, I can see two members of the red team near the bridge. They lie motionless, hands raised in a final act of defence, faces frozen in fear.
Their skin looks charred and hardened. They’ve been scorched.
A dark silhouette cuts through the sunlight as the beastcircles overhead. The dragon’s wings beat against the sky. It’s searching for its next target. When it sweeps past us, deeper into the village, the bridge is left exposed.
“It’s gone,” Mei heaves. “Should we make a run for it?”
“No,” Taron says, and his voice is stone cold. “It could be a trap.”
“But the trial checkpoint is right there.” Xander points at the stone archway, looming tantalizingly close on the other side of the gorge. “This might be our only chance.”
“No, wait. Wren could be right…” Kara tries, but Xander is already standing.
“Come on, Cleo!” Xander charges towards the swaying bridge, calling over his shoulder. “You want to get through to the next trial, don’t you?”
Cleo hesitates. “Xander…”
But she’s standing, too, starting to run. I watch uneasily.
“Hurry!” he shouts as he reaches the bridge. He begins to run across, boots thudding against the worn wooden planks as the ropes groan under his weight. The bridge sways more violently, the chasm below a dizzying drop into darkness. “Come on, before that thing comes back!”
Cleo follows closely behind. She runs on to the bridge, but then suddenly stops in her tracks. Stares at her feet. A shadow sweeps across their path, and Xander looks at the sky.
I follow his gaze, forced to bite back a scream when a deafening roar vibrates through the air. The dragon descends, molten scales glinting in the sun.
The entire bridge shakes as the beast’s massive wings send powerful gusts through the gorge. Cleo stumbles and falls. Her form becomes hazy, blurring before separating into three versions of herself – an Astro projection. Her state of panic must be affecting her talents, because her projected clones are flickering, staggering, struggling to stay on their feet.
“Cleo!” Xander screams, but it’s too late.
The dragon unleashes a torrent of flames from its mouth, and Cleo, attempting to shield herself, is engulfed in the searing wave.
For a second, she’s lost in the inferno, all three of her silhouettes barely visible through the flames. When the fire recedes, the three Cleos stand frozen, transformed into statues of solid black stone, each one of their expressions caught in a moment of terror.
