Chapter 15 #2
The crowd went wild as my toe landed back on the rope, but I made myself finish the last half of the tightrope before I allowed myself to celebrate.
A quick glance at the royal box showed me that Azurill had collapsed back into his seat, a look of relief painted across his chiseled face.
He ran a hand over the top of his hair, raking through the teal hair there as he rubbed his sharp jaw, speaking to the sapphire-haired man sitting beside him.
I refocused my eyes forward, not wanting to lose because I was too busy watching the stupid king, and sighed deeply when my foot hit the wood of the tower’s platform.
And yet, still, I was far from done.
I scurried down the side of the tower and found there was a small circular tunnel on the ground before me.
It was so tiny that I had to contort my limbs just to get into it.
I crawled through the dirty ground as my braid rubbed along the walls, pieces of pink hair coming loose and irritating me by falling into my eyes.
My breathing sounded like the sharp whizzes of firing arrows, high pitched and frantic, the darkness somehow worse than the previous tunnel when combined with the enclosed space.
I shut my eyes, blocking out the sight as I reminded myself that I wasn’t in that small, dark closet.
I’d dealt with this kind of panic many times, and Ula’s advice came back to me in a rush…
Ten…nine…eight…I wasn’t there…seven…six…five…I was no longer small and helpless…four…three…two…I was going to kill the bastard who caused this…one…
When my breathing finally evened out, only slight hitches remaining, I forced myself into action, because yes—if I could just get through this, I could make the man responsible pay, but if I failed to win, then all of this was for nothing.
, Zumra would have to do this too, ruining her hair as she crawled through the dirt, which at least brought a smile to my face.
It didn’t last long, though, as despite the fact that I was beginning to see light emanating from the end of the tunnel as I shuffle-crawled my way through it, the memories kept trying to drag me back. But with the monster who orchestrated that tragedy watching on, I couldn’t afford to crumble.
When my head finally cleared the tunnel after what felt like years, I was able to breathe in the fresh air as the sun hit my face, allowing those memories to fade into the back of my mind once more.
I crept all the way out and stood to face the next challenge, refusing to let it show that such a simple obstacle had affected me so powerfully.
I could see a rock wall waiting in the distance, but getting to it was obviously going to be another challenge.
What had been the dirty, slightly sandy ground of the arena was now…
broken. Vast voids instead yawned into an endless nothing, with only a map of platforms interspersed throughout providing a way across.
I’d have to cross this wasteland before making it to the wall, and it was clear to me that I’d need to jump to each platform to even have a chance of making it with the large gaps between each one.
They weren’t all spaced apart evenly, either, with some smaller apertures and some much larger and riskier.
My years of planning heists came in handy now, with my brain automatically jumping to different tactics and mapping out the different routes I could take to reach the other side.
After judging each platform’s distance and which jumps would be easiest, I found the perfect path forward and jumped onto the first platform.
Once I’d landed, I couldn’t help looking over, straight down into the void.
Chills broke out along my skin, and I shivered, redirecting my focus forward.
I had no idea what might be waiting below or if it was just some kind of illusion, but the idea of falling endlessly through that nothingness was a nightmare I had no desire to experience.
I hopped to the second platform, but as a bellowing roar echoed out into the arena, and the noise from the crowd picked up once more in tandem, I jumped in a rare burst of absolute fright. My head flew in the direction the roar came from, and I found a fucking lion bounding toward me.
My eyes widened in shock as I processed what I was seeing.
It wasn’t even just that there was a damned lion headed right toward me, but this was definitely not an ordinary lion.
This was a beast made entirely of magic.
The shimmering fur of silver, sapphire, emerald, and onyx made it crystal clear that it had been created with a specific purpose in mind.
Each gem had its own properties, and each had been added to make a creature that would work to the exact goal they had in mind when creating it.
I eyed the rock wall I was heading toward and hurriedly jumped across to the next platform.
Before I could get to the next one in my planned path, however, the lion had already caught up to me.
I swore under my breath as, with a large leap, it skidded onto the platform, its claws digging in.
It let out a bellowing roar, its multicolored mane shaking as it shook its head.
A shiver went down my spine as its multi-faceted diamond eyes watched me with the kind of intelligence that could only have come from the magic powering it.
I tried to shuffle slowly right, and it followed me step for step, one large paw after the other shifting to the side.
My perfect route across was definitely blown now, but I needed to get to that rock wall regardless.
They’d definitely put their all into this damned course.
No wonder it felt like forever waiting for Faiza to finish; I was having issues, and I was already used to the obstacles that came with being a thief, activities that most noble ladies would faint at.
I could only imagine how much longer it would take someone not used to it like I was.
But I’d been chased more than once to avoid capture, and a magical lion wasn’t going to get the best of me now.
I kept moving to the right like I was going to continue in that direction, before abruptly turning on my heel and sprinting to the left, the roar of the lion’s anger chasing me as I readied to jump the distance to the next platform.
I sprang upward, flying through the air before landing on the next one, my breath coming hard and fast as I tried to get to the next best platform.
Except I felt the wind shift as it was displaced…the godsdamned lion had caught up again, landing solidly in front of me and blocking my way forward.
I looked up to where Azurill sat watching, narrowing my eyes at him in irritation. His lips twitched, like he was about to smile, but he managed to get his expression under control before I was forced to accelerate my plans for murder.
Smart man.
Considering my next move, I was forced to admit that the lion was much too fast for me to get across the easier platforms I’d planned on using without getting mauled in the process.
I also wasn’t about to attempt the ones spaced so far apart that I would need giant running leaps to make it across, if it was even possible at all.
I had no wish to fall into whatever pit was waiting below.
Ula had taught me that it was always better to conserve your energy and use your brain to defeat your opponent when you could. Which left me with only one option.
Outsmarting the beast.
I shifted from foot to foot, like I might take off at any moment, and the lion bristled, its fur standing on end as it slunk low into a position that would easily allow it to pounce at the slightest wrong move.
Massive teeth were exposed as it snarled at me, its tail flicking menacingly back and forth from high up in the air.
What I really needed was to get to the platform positioned directly behind the lion, but it was determined to block me from it, guarding its territory fiercely.
It watched me closely, its whiskers twitching with the snarling movement of its upper lip, looking much too satisfied as I shivered in instinctual fear at the predator before me.
“Here, kitty kitty,” I cooed at it, and its tail stilled for a moment before starting to swish faster, drawing my eye to it.
It had a tuft at the end that was tipped in emerald with sapphire at its base, the colors bleeding into one another.
The rest of its long rope of a tail was made up of a shimmery silver and black swirl.
Those colors were a representation of its magic.
Emerald for protection, sapphire for wisdom, diamond for power, and onyx to manipulate the body, creating its form.
It had plenty of power, surely, and the wisdom in its eyes gave it enough insight to be a problem, but more than anything, it was built to protect this spot, and it wouldn’t be swayed.
It would prevent me from reaching that rock wall, or it would die trying.
Which meant if I went in the opposite direction, I might stand a chance of confusing it, making it think I’d given up on trying to get to the wall. It was worth a shot, at least. I needed to do something to get this moving when every second counted towards my standing in the competition.
Bouncing on the balls of my feet, I looked into the lion’s eyes and then spun around, running in the opposite direction. A confused rumble came from behind me, and I looked back to see its head tilted to the side like a bewildered puppy before it huffed and lay its head down on its paws.
Satisfied that it had scared me off.
A slow smirk grew on my face at the thought.