Chapter 20 #3
They shifted into wolves through some of the narrow passages. The light drew them toward it, but it was taking forever to reach where they thought the opening was.
They might be going on a wild goose chase. Or if it opened near where the flag was, Iris and Caspian might reach it first. But Rune was fine with it because they cared enough about Lolita to try to figure out how to help her.
After the challenge was done, no matter who the winner was, Rune had to return for the rope. She still planned to give Silas her gift for helping her with Xena.
She and Lolita turned around a corner in the cave and saw the opening.
"Woohoo!" Lolita said.
Rune wasn't getting excited yet until they knew if they were anywhere near the flag. They could be a mile away, or maybe closer.
They left the cave and started running along a trail, calling out for Iris and Caspian. No one responded.
"I hope we don't have to return through the cave, climb that rope, and go the way Caspian and Iris went," Lolita said.
"I agree. I was thinking the same thing."
"There, on the hill!" Lolita said. "Go get it!"
"You should. This is your challenge."
"No, no, you and Stone need to be the pack leaders. You can give me a great position, but the two of you need to take over the packs."
"Yes!" Iris said. "Go for it."
Caspian was right beside her, and they had come on the same trail Lolita and Rune had gone. Caspian shouted, "Go! Get it, Rune!"
"All right!" With a smile on her face and her adrenaline running high, she shot toward the flag on the small mound and grabbed it, then waved it. "Woohoo!" Now Rune could celebrate.
"Did you converge with our trail from the way you were going in the cave?" Lolita asked Caspian and Iris.
"It dead-ended," Iris said, laughing. "We had to return to the rope to join you and hoped your path didn't dead-end. But we saw the light, smelled your scents, and figured you were both on the right track."
"Did you win your challenge?" Caspian asked.
"Yeah, with Silas's help. He pinned Xena down, and she was so mad," Rune said.
Both Caspian and Iris laughed.
"I want to thank all of you for coming to my aid," Lolita said.
"I can't imagine that was the way to go—before we had the rope," Caspian said.
"I know, Lolita's falling down into the hole really made it an easy way to go, but it was dangerous for her to fall like that. We took what we thought was the most direct tunnel. But there were others. We might have found another way out through one of those," Iris said.
"But we wanted to make sure the two of you were safe." Caspian led the way. "Xena and Vesper are going to be mad that you won two of the challenges today. I guess that means Elon and Vesper are climbing the mountain against Stone."
"They are. We figured Stone was a better climber than we were, so he took that challenge," Rune said.
"See?" Iris said. "They make decisions as a group."
"Yeah, I was the smallest one, so we figured that I could make it through narrower areas of the cave. I didn't plan to fall into a hole."
They all smiled. Then they finally reached the rope and began climbing out, Caspian being a gentleman and letting the girls out first. Plus, he said he would catch them if any of them fell.
But they realized there were handholds and footholds in the rock face if they had really looked!
They were grateful for the rope to help them out though.
When they climbed out, they still had to navigate the rest of the cave. Caspian untied the golden rope and handed it to Rune. The rope coiled into a perfect coil, and she nearly dropped it.
"Oh, wow, how cool," Iris said. "You were lucky to get a wizard sponsor."
Rune had promised herself she would give her next sponsor gift to Silas, but she sure wanted to keep it for herself.
She attached it to her belt, and they headed through the cave.
"Who knows what Vesper might try to do to Stone to make him lose," Caspian said.
"But Stone and Rune have won most of the challenges, so even if Vesper wins this one, he still won't have won most of the contests," Iris said.
"True." Rune just hoped Vesper wouldn't do anything to Stone to make him fall. "Let's go see where they are at."
"I'm all for it," Lolita said.
Then Rune dropped off the flag and told the Grand Master they were going to watch the other competitors.
"Go, enjoy. And congratulations, you four. You all won this competition for doing this as a team and helping each other out."
"Yes!" Rune said, thrilled that the others got credit too, and they hugged each other.
The Grand Master was smiling.
They were elated and took off to find the cliffs where the last three competitors were competing for the flag.
Rune belatedly wondered where Silas and Xena were. Surely they had told them that the game was over.
When they finally reached the cliff face, they saw how high it was and where the guys were: Elon was to the left of Stone and down below him, and Vesper was to the right of Stone. They were neck and neck.
Vesper kept eyeing Stone as if he were planning something evil.