25. Ahmina
AHMINA
Ahmina trembled as she took each step out into the forest, adrenaline snaking through her muscles.
She wished it were cold; at least then she would have an excuse for shaking like a leaf.
It didn’t help that at step ninety-seven, she tripped over a low branch and tumbled to the ground, her orb necklace smashing alongside her.
She traversed the remaining hundred and three steps in complete darkness. She thought about cutting the steps short and lying about how far she went but couldn’t bring herself to break the rules despite her desperation to finish this assessment as quickly as possible.
“Two hundred,” she whispered to herself and spun around.
On the route here, she tried to remember as much as she could about any landmarks—large branches, a small stream, a collection of Glowbugs in the trees.
But now, everything looked the same. It was so hauntingly dark, and she questioned if she was even facing the right direction. She had walked straight, right?
What if she had become disoriented when she fell? Panic rose in her chest and she tried to push it down.
You’re fine. Stay focused.
The best thing, the only thing, she could do was walk back in the direction she thought she came from.
But somehow, her feet stayed planted. She was out here alone, with only a dagger and her chakrams for protection.
Her breathing quickened as she pushed back the terrible thoughts clawing at her mind.
You’re fine, you’re alive, it’s okay. But any step forward could put her in danger.
A branch snapped, and she crouched down on instinct.
Something was approaching her, and her heart pounded, ready for a fight.
“MINA?”
“RORY!” Relief swept over her when she saw a flash of auburn hair. Their harsh whispers met in the dark, and Rory stumbled fully into her vision.
“Oh Goddess.” Rory’s arms were around Ahmina’s neck in seconds, her frizzy hair clinging to Ahmina’s cheek. “I scared the shit out of myself.”
“Why?” Ahmina let go of her and held her at arm’s length.
“I just had a bad feeling that something was going to happen to you and I ran in the direction I saw you walk. I didn’t think I would find you.”
“I’m fine,” Ahmina reassured her. “I was just about to walk back but…” She looked around. “I wasn’t sure which way to go.”
Rory looked around, nodding to the left. “That way, I think.”
They walked into the darkness, and Ahmina’s heart calmed with Rory beside her. Thankfully, Rory’s glow light was still intact and it lit the way.
“I don’t think we’re supposed to be doing this together.” Ahmina wanted to pass this assessment; she didn’t want to lose points for doing it with Rory.
Rory scoffed. “I care more about you and I staying alive than I do Barrow’s judgement.”
They walked in silence, holding hands, stepping over thick fauna and dodging the small puddles of water that had collected on the forest floor—until Ahmina started to get a gut feeling they had gone the wrong way.
“It feels like we’ve been walking for a long time,” she said, afraid to accuse Rory of pointing them in the wrong direction. They stopped and looked around to gauge their location, although it was pointless. The forest all looked the same.
“We should be back by now,” Rory said, frowning.
“We’re lost and it’s my fault.” Ahmina buried her head in her hands. Her throat swelled as the tears pushed on her lower lids. If they didn’t find their way back, they would both fail, and it would be her fault. “You came to get me, and now we’re lost.”
“We’re not lost until I say we’re lost, and we’re not lost, okay?” Rory reassured her.
“You’re definitely lost.” Lennox’s familiar voice came out of nowhere, and they spun around to find him standing behind them, leaning up against a tree, arms crossed.
Ahmina could barely see him in the dark. Still, he was unmistakable.
“Lennox,” Rory said, as if confirming it was actually him. “You seem to pop out of nowhere often.”
“You’re just too distracted by your own self-centered troubles to notice me.”
“Why are you lurking?” Ahmina asked. Had he been following them? Watching them fail the assessment? Was he just waiting to rub it in?
“Lurking?” Lennox pushed off from the tree and approached her. “I don’t lurk.” He paused. “Most of the time.”
“What would you call it then?”
“Just checking you’re both alive and well.”
“So babysitting.”
“You’re not a child.”
“Then don’t—"
“Both of you shut up,” Rory ordered, arms tense at her sides. “Are you going to tell us how to get the hell out of here or not? We’re wasting time.”
“Sorry, that’s not allowed.” He shrugged playfully, the corners of his lips tipping up.
Ahmina scowled at him.
“Wouldn’t want to break the rules, would we?
” His eyes flared. “But if we were to break the rules, I’d say you shouldn’t go that way.
” Ahmina looked at Rory, who gave a small nod.
They should head right instead of continuing left.
She would never say it out loud, but she was glad to see Lennox.
At least they were going in the right direction again.
Now with her two companions, Ahmina moved at a quick, confident clip, feeling her way through the underbrush. While she didn’t like that they had needed Lennox’s help to get back on track, she was eager to complete the assessment and get back to the safety of the castle.
They hadn’t descended far down their path when Ahmina felt it.
A burning sensation ripped through her ankle, and within seconds, climbed her calf, carving out her thigh before seeping into her stomach, ribcage, chest, neck, and throat.
Every vein in her body burned, fire racing through muscle and organs, down to her very cells.
She screamed, the pain blinding. The seconds felt like minutes, until the pain was so unbearable she lost consciousness.
When she awoke, she was drenched in perspiration, curled up in the fetal position. Her body was an ember, burning softly, the pain slowly easing. She opened her eyes to find Rory crouched down in front of her. Tears streamed down her freckled cheeks as she lifted Ahmina in a hug.
“I thought you were dying!”
Ahmina found it difficult to speak. Her whole body ached. But she managed to scrape out enough of her voice to ask what had happened.
“You were bitten by a Venom Viper.” Lennox’s voice was hoarse, his mouth and chest covered in blood.
Venom Viper, a serpent of the night whose venom pierces your bloodstream and increases its temperature to unbearable, lethal levels.
She recalled the information that had been ingrained from night after night of study.
“Come on, we need to get you back to the infirmary.” Even in the dark, she could see the blood in his teeth.
“What happened to you?” she croaked out, horrified, her voice barely a whisper.
“Don’t ask questions. Just rest,” Lennox ordered, his tone strained.
Rory and Lennox supported her on each side, and she limped along with them, tripping over everything.
Her legs felt like ash. All she could think about was how this would impact her assignment grade.
Her anxiety surged as she realized she would most definitely fail.
While her thoughts swirled, she slipped in and out of consciousness, chanting “pass the assessment” in her mind over and over and over again until the darkness claimed her.