Chapter 4 #3
“This is insane isn’t it?” My attention is drawn to my left where number Seven has joined me on the periphery of the mass of bodies. She’s shorter than I am and her icy blonde hair hangs in loose waves. She sounds excited though, not scared, as she engages with me.
“Yep, totally insane,” I mumble back.
“I’m Seffy by the way. I don’t think we’ve talked much since you joined us the other day.” She holds out a hand for me to shake.
I take it tentatively, wondering why she’s all of a sudden trying to be friends. Her grip is firm and she doesn’t keep up the contact for too long. It’s such a weird human custom, why do they feel the need to touch each other when they’ve just met?
The only place that is acceptable is a hook up.
“Tacita,” I tell her.
“Isn’t this the most exciting thing that could be happening?
I’ve always loved fantasy books and now it looks like we get to live one!
” She’s beaming from ear to ear and I look at her a little closer.
She’s totally average. Well, she’s got decent curves, and somehow looks flawless and fresh despite the fact we’ve been without any skin products or make up in days.
Scratch that, with her low assignment number she’ll have been in that prison for months, and more if she came from being incarcerated elsewhere.
I have no idea how she’s landed on Hades’s list but she looks incapable of squishing a bug, let alone committing any serious crime.
“What do you think our first task is going to be?” She continues talking to me even though I am practically ignoring her.
“I don’t know,” I say irritatedly. I wish I’d insisted on knowing now, especially as it looks rather likely that we’re diving right in with the first game before we’ve even been taken to the place we’re going to call home for the next three months.
“I hope it’s not too physical. I hate running.” She looks around us at the mountainous terrain. “And climbing. I really hope it’s not climbing.”
“I’m sure it won’t be that simple.” I surprise myself by joining in on speculating what we could be doing out here. “Maybe they’ll get us to spar with that lot,” I add, indicating the guards creating a ring around us.
“Urgh, I'm useless at fighting too.” Seriously, what is this girl doing here?
The portal turns a bright white as Hades steps through and disappears.
Officer Dick-wipe quickly takes up position, flanking Hades right as another guard comes to his left.
There shouldn’t be any threats out here but he is our leader, the instinct to protect him is as natural as breathing.
I feel it too. And normally it’s me standing up there as his bodyguard when he’s out in crowds.
I’m not his lead assassin by chance. My skills in quick killing and identifying threats are the best in this realm.
“Alright recruits.” Hades’s voice carries across the valley clearly.
“We would normally allow you a couple of days to settle in first but this year we’ve decided to mix it up.
Your first challenge starts right now. The compound you’ll be staying in is right over the other side of that mountain.
” Thankfully, he points to one of the smaller ones surrounding us.
“Your task is to make it to the compound alive. All that do, will have a bed waiting.”
Assessing the climb up the steep ground, I notice several little yellow painted sticks sporadically placed across the mountainside. Hopefully, that’ll be the safest path to take. Cocking my head, I try to figure out the catch. It can’t be that easy.
“Did he say make it over alive? Like, there’s a chance we could die?” Seffy asks, still standing beside me. Oh yeah, they still don’t know about that bit of these games.
“What do you mean alive?” someone else repeats, loudly.
“As in not dead,” Officer Relishing-in-his-new-role responds helpfully.
“Can we die doing this challenge thing?” one of the guys that follows Wyatt around like a puppy pipes up.
Garrick laughs and I see Hades’s eyes crinkle.
“Absolutely,” Garrick says, recovering his composure. “Did you think interviewing for Hell was going to be easy?”
“I want out. I changed my mind,” shouts another man, one I absolutely believe is built to be an enforcer with how stacked he is.
“I’m sorry. It’s too late to change your mind. You were given the option before we crossed the portal.” Hades informs him. “If you die though, we will give your soul the chance to reincarnate, either here or back on Earth.”
Several more faces pale and the excitement that was palpable a few minutes ago has dimmed.
“We should mention the one other rule that you will have to follow whilst you’re part of this process.
During the challenges, you may use any needs necessary to complete the task, even if that means killing each other.
However, and I stress this, if you harm any of the other candidates outside of the challenges, you will be disqualified.
” Hades pauses for a beat. “And then killed by a guard. With no option of reincarnation.
“On that note, I wish you all the best of luck, candidates. I will drop in throughout your time in the recruitment process, but I must leave you now.”
Hades catches my eye once more across the crowd before he disappears in the same way he entered, with a huge billow of black smoke.
It takes several minutes, a ton more questions and a few raised voices from the guards but eventually everyone is gathered at a makeshift starting line.
Seffy sticks to my side and constantly mumbles strategy to me, about the route she thinks will be best to tackle the climb ahead of us. She sounds nervous.
“Stick to the marked path.” I throw her a tip. “Use the markers and stick to them as much as you can.”
I may not have any inside knowledge on the task, but I know Hades.
And I know what has been used in these challenges previously.
They’re barely ever as simple as they seem.
As the officers had been gathering us to start, I’d been studying the placement of those yellow beacons.
They veer off, indicating a route that looks less direct and more treacherous as they disappear over the clifftop. But, they must be there for a reason.
The adrenaline of the group rises as Officer Kitty-Cat counts down from five.
“Three, two, one, go!” he shouts and the contestants surge forward.
“Hey, aren’t you coming?” Seffy calls over her shoulder when she realises I haven’t moved over the start line.
“In a minute,” I reply back to her, folding my arms across my chest and planting my feet in the soil beneath.
“Ooooh-kay.” She gives me a puzzled look before taking off. “See you on the other side!”
Noting that she heads to the right, to where the first marker is placed, I find myself hoping she does make it.
I don’t move, waiting to assess the rest of the contestants for a few minutes.
“In a minute? Don’t you want to win?” comes a less than welcome voice as Officer Irritating-as-fuck steps up behind me. “Come on Ninety-Eight, the challenge has started.”
“Give me a second.” I don’t turn as I reply, keeping my focus on the slowly fanning out wave of humans reaching the base.
“What are you waiting for?” he asks, sounding annoyed.
“You said we had to make it over the mountain alive, not be first to cross the finish line. So, it doesn’t matter that I’m last. Leave me to assess,” I snap back.
He’s silent but doesn’t move away. I can feel the heat of him at my back, it makes my skin burn. Trying to ignore it, I focus on the scrambling humans, attempting to figure out the pieces I’m missing about this challenge.
When the first explosion happens, I brace against showing any kind of reaction with the panther shifter breathing down my neck. Screams ring out as a few of the contestants are sent skyward in pieces.
There it is.
That’s what you get for rushing.
“How did you know?”
“I didn’t. But I’m not stupid. Climbing a mountain is physical, yes, but it’s too simple.” A second explosive is stepped on and another couple of humans are taken out.
Swinging my head to the right, further than the parameters of the markers, a few of the contestants that went that way are now also screaming.
The terrain there is grassier, long stems, easy for Sprites to hide in.
I can’t see the little fairies from this distance, but from the swatting and darting motions of the group now losing their shit, I’d bet that’s what they’ve discovered hiding in the fauna.
“If you don’t start soon it will class as a failure, which means you die,” Officer Needs-a-decent-lay-to-chill-the-fuck-out taunts me. “Not that I’d particularly mind, but it seems a waste after the effort I had to put into capturing you.”
“I’m going, alright?” I huff. Turning, I walk the first few steps backwards, just so I can give him my best glare. For good measure, I also raise both middle fingers, before taking off to tackle this thing.