The others fall into step on either side of me, giving me a buffer to the crowd. It leaves me the center of my own little bubble, Raiden, Stone, and Kodiak keeping the rest of the world at bay, if only long enough for me to catch my breath.
“Have you looked at yourself in a mirror lately? I might be defective, but I'm not dead. My vagina appreciates the finer things in life with shameless enthusiasm. Please, feel free to take your shirt off before you run.”
A full-on belly laugh escapes him as he maneuvers us past various trampoline zones and foam pits swallowing toddlers down into their depths. “You’re good for a man’s ego.”
“On the contrary, I’ve made several cry in public. Trust me, Kodi, that ego of yours keeps itself afloat all on its own.”
Raiden places his hand on the small of my back with a quiet chuckle. “Isn’t that the damn truth?”
My nervous energy starts feeding off of Kodiak’s excitement, and by the time we’re ten people away from the starting line, I’m actually looking forward to trying my hand at the course. It doesn’t carry any of the pressure of a race, and times are for bragging rights only. Better yet, everyone that gets knocked off into the pit of foam blocks below is met with cheers and playful ribbing from their friends instead of mockery.
Stone leans in close, breath tickling my ear. “If you want to take the easy route, bet Kodiak he couldn’t do it with you on his back. He never backs down from a challenge.”
I chuckle, turning to face him as he pulls away with a secretive wink. “Didn’t you take a vow of ethics or something?”
Recapturing the white hairs that have slipped out, he holds his leather band between his teeth, speaking around it. “Do no harm? Isn’t that what I’m doing now, trying to save my mate from trial by fire?”
––––––––
My stomach flips athis casual use of the term. Rather than get caught up in a moral debate, I give him a noncommittal hum of acknowledgment and turn my focus onto the people ahead of us. Even if it won’t magically make me any more athletically capable, studying others will allow me to learn from their failures and avoid repeating their mistakes. In theory. Application is a different beast entirely, but deep,deepdown I still have a modicum of pride, and would prefer not to make a fool of myself if I can avoid it.
Keeping my voice low, I ask no one in particular, “What if he’s watching us right now?”
A crack appears in Raiden’s composure as he bands an arm around my waist, not-so-subtly staking his claim as he does another scan of the room above my head. “Then he'll see what a mistake it was to lock you away.”
Stone catches my eye, a myriad of emotions hidden behind his multifaceted gaze. “Dragons weren’t meant to be caged,mo stór. The world is long overdue for a reminder of what we’re capable of; starting with that bastard.”
Before I can ask for a translation, Kodiak takes off running, and I make a mental note to look the term up later, maybe order an Irish to English dictionary to keep on hand since they slip between languages mid-sentence sometimes without even thinking about it.
Kodiak’s the epitome of everything I expected, moving with a deadly grace that alludes to his battle experience. Each jump is executed without hesitation, yet with perfect precision, and to my great envy, he doesn’t break so much as a sweat. Obstacle after obstacle is conquered like it’s nothing, and before I know it, he’s a dot in the distance, shooting me a blurry thumbs up of encouragement.
Poor guy is going to have to get used to disappointment. If he thinks that I can follow his lead, he’s in for a rude awakening.
Taking a deep breath, I dry my sweaty palms on my yoga pants and break into a sprint. The first hurdle is easy enough; a small gap onto the platform that truly signifies the start of the course. From there it’s a quick set of five padded mats, all slanted at an angle to simulate a wall jump, unable to hesitate longer than a split second or risk falling. I land on the larger platform after them at a roll, but manage not to fall off the edge. Ambling to my feet, I shake out my hands, staring at the series of rings and wishing they’d die a sudden death.
My hand wraps around the first ring, and I use the momentum to reach the next, and the one after that, then another. My palms are burning, and my arms are screaming in protest, but I ignore them both. I may not have anything to prove to be worthy of these men, but I have something to prove to myself. I don’t want to spend my life playing second fiddle, relying on them for everything. If I can’t even finish a damn obstacle course, how the hell can I hold my own against everything else waiting for me?
The hard jolt reverberates through my knees as I land, but I remain upright, even if I stumble a little. Righting myself, I shake out my arms on my way to the next trial, glaring at the rockwall like the asshole that it is. Obviously there’s no harness, and the padded mat at the bottom will only absorb so much of the shock.
Once I start, there’s no point looking back. Committed to moving forward, I grab the first nodule and haul myself up. Even if it costs me some time, I’m conscientious of my footholds. I’d far rather have an unimpressive finish time than not have one at all. A small eternity later, I sling my leg across to straddle the top of the wall, sucking down ragged breaths as sweat trickles down my spine. Eyeing the next obstacle, I rise to my feet, precariously balancing on the top of the wall.
Bracing myself, I launch off, my fingertips brushing the handle on the zipline, but missing the mark by a hairsbreadth. “Motherfucker.” I fall for ages, the air knocked out of my lungs even though the foam blocks cushion the impact.
Lying in the impromptu bed, I suck down a few breaths laced with stale sweat and the more alarming faint hint of piss. I try to shove myself up, but these things act like quicksand. The more I fight, the more they suck me down, my struggles an effort in futility that hardly get me anywhere.
A hand grips my wrist over my sleeve, dragging me closer, and moving to grab me under my armpits to pluck me out of the pit of shame. Setting me on my feet, Kodiak assesses me for injury swiftly and efficiently before offering me a lopsided grin when I pass inspection.
“Color me impressed,” he purrs, like my failure is something to be commended instead of commiserated.
“Let’s go again.”
Fifteen minutes later I’m back at the start of the course, running through the first part quickly. This time when I’m at the top of the rock wall, I add some extra oomph behind my kick-off and manage to grip the handle of the zip line. It takes me down swiftly enough to cool some of the sweat beading across my body, but not nearly all of it. Hell, it would take a miracle to pull that off in my underwear, much less long sleeves and pants.
With a harsh thud, I reach the end and am forced to release my hold, landing in an undignified heap on the padded mat below. Recovering quickly, I take off at a jog, eyeing the rotating pillars with padded barbs branching off of them like an abusive carwash. I make it to the last one before a bar catches me off guard and knocks the wind out of me, slamming into my stomach and flinging me off into the pit waiting below.
Stone handles the pathetic mate retrieval process this time, and I all but growl, “Again.”
Third time’s the charm as they say, and I make it past my last failing point quickly enough, having a good feel for the course by now. When I reach the last spinning pillar, I slide to my knees, letting my momentum carry me under the barbs in the world’s most impressive game of limbo. Rising to shaky legs, I walk the narrow balance beam welcomely, grateful for the temporary reprieve. The nerf darts begin from the waiting workers, simulating poisoned arrows in some treasure tomb quest, and even though I know they’ll bounce off, I’m far too invested at this stage.
