Chapter 24 #2
‘Fall back,’ Mace says. ‘Strike camp as quickly as possible. Julian, keep an eye on enemy movements. See if this is a trap, and if they plan to attack again.’
I follow them back to the camp, though I can barely see where I’m going. I’m about to be sick. I’m horrified about what we’ve done. I’m staring at my tent, when Mace lays his hands on my shoulders. ‘Ellie, I know. I know. But there’s no going back to undo it. And we need to get out of here. Fast.’
I feel the push of calming feelings that try to settle over me. Allen comes up to me, already carrying his backpack, and begins to collapse my tent. ‘We’ll talk about this later. Okay, love? We just need to go now.’
Mace’s hands tighten on my shoulders. ‘Can you do that, Ellie? I don’t want them to catch us. I don’t want us to have to defend ourselves again.’
I don’t want to put you in a position where you have to do the same once more, is what he isn’t saying. I nod, and stuff the collapsed tent into my backpack. Small steps. Small steps, I tell myself.
We gather in the centre of our camp – it’s only been less than half an hour since I had that honest conversation with Mace on that rock – when Stella appears in front of us. ‘Congratulations, Team Gold. You’ve completed the final mission. You may return to The Citadel now.’
Mace lets out a string of curses. ‘Do you mean that the attack wasn’t a coincidence?’
Stella’s expression hardens. ‘No. They were drawn here, towards you. It was the final test that Central Command devised.’
My knees melt. How could they have done that? How could they have sent us in a direct battle with the enemy? I thought that the way they set the trap for us with Team Silver and Bronze was bad… But this? This?
This is murder. Is this why I had to hurt another person? Because of Central Fucking Command?
Hate and anger blister through my veins and my magic roars inside of me. I’d obliterate them, if they were in front of me. They’re wrong and the system is wrong, and I hope someone will wipe them out from the face of the Earth.
Stella opens a hatch and five flyboards drift in front of us. ‘You may use these, since you completed the mission. There’s no reason to linger in the Disputed Lands any longer.’
I’m too numb to filter the words I’m saying. ‘Will the Pikenians come back with reinforcements? Will they try to hunt us down?’
Stella grimaces. ‘That’s not out of the question.’
I hurry to grab a flyboard, just like my teammates.
And then we’re off, through the trees, and back to The Citadel. Julian can ride his board obnoxiously well, watching for the quickest path to the city on his ART, while steering. He leads the way.
We travel through the night. My thoughts, tangled and knotted, begin to rearrange themselves and become clearer as day breaks.
I should be glad that this mission is over – if someone had asked me a few weeks ago, I would have been delighted by the idea – but things have changed. This is the beginning of the end for me and Mace. Who knows how long until Top Team can challenge Central Command?
Oh, but they must.
They must.
I have a lifetime’s experience of being at the bottom of the food chain.
From not finding my place in one of the Quarters, to being relatively poor compared to the more successful Apprentices.
But I’ve never felt as desperately powerless as I do now.
My heart pounds in my chest and I try to calm my breaths.
Tomorrow I might go back to my own personal nightmare.
I finally see the real Mace, the man he’s become in the years we were apart, and he’s exceeded even the most far-fetched fantasy I’d ever had. I see his flaws, and I see his heart and his kindness, and I see how he makes me feel. There will never be anyone like him for me.
And sooner or later Central Command will tear us apart. Did I ever have doubts that they need to be challenged and replaced? I have none now.
We collapse with exhaustion late in the morning. Though we can travel fast and just slide over natural blockages like ravines, or cliffs, we still need more time to reach The Citadel. We sleep for a few hours, and then we’re back on the flyboards.
I’m caught in a strange feeling. I don’t want this to end, and I want, at the same time, to have it over and done with. We travel until late into the night again and make camp in an area sheltered by cliffs. Mace slips into my tent, as usual.
I lift the edge of my bedroll, inviting him in, and when he’s lying down, I curl around his body, hoping to melt against his skin.
‘Do you want to talk about what happened last night?’ he says.
I lay my head on his shoulder. ‘No.’ I don’t want to replay that horrible moment. I’ve done it enough in my mind, during our ride today.
‘Do you want to talk about what might be waiting for us? Once we’re at the Citadel?’
‘Like what? You finishing your Apprenticeship with flying colours, and me not even knowing what sort of job I’ll have? Hard pass.’
Mace rubs his nose to my temple. ‘If someone had told me, a few weeks ago, that I’d be absolutely wrecked by you being quiet, I would have told them they’d lost their minds.’
I kick him in the thigh. ‘Shut up.’
‘Bossy Ellie,’ he purrs. ‘I think I might like that.’
‘You’re a clown,’ I say with no ire whatsoever. I’m too exhausted for that, physically and mentally and in any other imaginable way.
He brushes my naked arm with his fingers in wide, soothing motions. ‘Tell me what to do. Tell me what you need. It’s driving me mad, seeing you like this.’
I settle even closer to his body, if such a thing was possible. ‘Just hold me, Mace. That’s all I need.’
The next morning, we’re moving about a bit sedately. This is the last breakfast we’ll have together, for a while. Or for ever.
Mace is sticking close to my side, but I think I’m going to miss everyone.
Xandra nudges me with her foot. ‘When we go back, don’t be a stranger. Meet me for lunch or whatever. Or if you want to keep training in hand-to-hand combat, just hit me.’
I can tell what she isn’t saying. When Mace won’t be able to train you anymore because they’ll separate you.
My mood sours even more, but I still appreciate the offer. ‘I might call you to ask you to do my eyes … you know … make-up?’
Xandra smiles. ‘Deal.’
Allen says, ‘I’ll call you up and organise a sleepover.’ He winks.
‘No one is sleeping over at Ellie’s except for me,’ Mace says.
I pat his thigh. ‘We’ll see.’
Allen smirks. He’s very possessive.
I frown. Stop baiting him.
He wiggles his brows. But it’s so fun.
Julian stares at the time. ‘Right. Should we hit the road, then?’
It’s late in the evening when we reach what I’ve come to recognise as one of the openings to the tunnels leading back into The Citadel on the side of a hill. Julian whoops loudly and we increase our pace.
I find there’s nothing to be joyful about – except maybe a shower and clean bedding – and I dread what’s waiting for us. Just thinking about my tiny room at The Citadel, and spending the night alone in it, makes my chest tighten.
We hop off our flyboards.
‘Ready, Team Gold?’ Mace asks.
No. I’ll never be. His gaze locks with mine and I think he’s about to say something, but then he just shakes his head and brings his hand to the surface of the rocky hill.
I tell myself, It doesn’t end here. It can’t.
The illusion – which must include some kind of texture illusion, as well – dispels, and we’re met with the surface of a smooth rock that begins to slide open. A tunnel is revealed behind.
‘Congratulations.’ Stella’s ethereal voice floats to us. ‘Team Gold, you are the first team to reach The Citadel. This gets you a maximum of twenty-five points. Your lead is secured.’
‘Woohoo,’ I say, a bit flat.
‘Yeah,’ Julian says. ‘I kind of thought this would feel better.’
Mace splays his hand on my back and leads me inside. I breathe in the sterilised air, take in the smooth metal walls of the tunnels.
Wow. I didn’t miss this at all. It feels like I’m being ushered back into a cage.
And I nearly turn around and flee, beg Mace to take me and go anywhere else but here.
But where would we go?
I grind my teeth and take one step after the other. Once we’re inside the tunnel, the door closes behind us with a click and we’re bathed in silver light.
We’ve done it, and we’ve done it as a team.
We worked past our differences, helped overcome each other’s weaknesses, and played up to each other’s strengths.
If you’d asked me a few weeks ago, as I took my place on the golden circle that marked me as a part of their team, I’d have never, ever thought we’d get here.
I never thought coming back would hurt so much.
‘Well then,’ Xandra says on a sigh, ‘let’s go and bask in our glory, then.’
We make our way through the winding maze of tunnels underneath The Citadel. Julian is guiding us to the Command Centre, the finishing point of our mission. Where it all started.
Mace and I walk hand in hand, our fingers woven tight together. We’ll have to let go soon. I can barely breathe.
I try to push back the niggling worries that are threatening to overwhelm me.
We’ll find a way, I tell myself for the umpteenth time today.
Mace slings his arm around my shoulders and pulls me to him, and I can tell that he’s worried, too.
The metal panels next to us light up and Stella’s golden, cloaked silhouette appears on the makeshift screen. ‘Ellie,’ she says. ‘We have a problem.’