Page 34 of Creatures of Chaos

“Don’t worry about it,” he says, and then puts his hands in his pockets and something jingles. I don’t miss that it sounds like loose coins knocking against each other.

My eyes widen. “You have more than one coin?”

From the sounds of it, he has several.

He shoots me a sly smile. “The less coins available, the less competitors going through to the next round.”

He’s right, but my mind is spinning on the fact he was able to collect multiple coins. I almost died getting just one, and from what I could tell going through the tunnels and passing other competitors is that none of the coins were just lying there, waiting for someone to pick up. You had to work for them.

I look back at Talon with new eyes. Whoishe?

“Why are you giving this to me?”

He’s silent for a moment before answering. “You earned your coin. No one should take that away from you.”

Talon’s explanation is simple, but it resonates with me.

I close my hand around the coin, fresh hope swelling in my chest. “Let’s get out of here.”

Talon nods in the direction of the tunnel. “You go. I’ll be there in a second.”

“But time’s running out. You said so yourself.”

“Don’t worry about it. There’s just something else I have to do. I’ll be right behind you.”

I don’t understand what he could possibly still need to do, maybe he’s going to collect more coins, but I get distracted when I hear voices coming from behind Talon. I don’t want another run-in with any other competitor if I can help it.

“Take this.” Talon holds the small flashlight out for me.

“Don’t you need it?” I ask, but still take the small light.

“Naw. Don’t worry about me. I can see pretty well in the dark,” he says even as he’s backing up into the shadows. “See you out there.”

The voices are getting louder, and so with a last look in Talon’s direction, I take off. The flashlight is a huge help. It allows me to run through the tunnel, which slopes up until it ends in a large cavern. Moonlight shines down through an opening in the cavern’s ceiling and a small handful of competitors are scaling the wall to reach the hole. It looks like a fairly easy climb, which may be the only easy part of this whole exhausting and terrifying night.

Rushing to the wall, I start to climb. Good thing I’m not afraid of heights. Voices filter through along with the moonlight, and it’s clear there’s a celebration going on somewhere up on solid ground above.

Even though the climb isn’t difficult, my muscles shake from fatigue and adrenaline, making it harder than it should be. Rather than looking up to track how much farther I have, I keep my eyes on the wall right above me and search for the next handhold until I reach the opening. Before I heave myself up and through it, I have to deposit my Chaos coin into a carved slot on the wall. After, I hear my name being announced above, letting everyone know I’ve passed the first trial. A cheer sounds, but I’m hardly paying attention as I muscle my way out of the cavern and collapse on the ground.

Twelve

I can’t makeout the stars through the tree branches above me. I’m lying on the soggy ground for less than a minute before Becks is there, reaching for me and helping me to my feet. Uncontrollable shudders rack my frame, violent enough to make my teeth chatter as I come down from the adrenaline rush.

Becks crushes me against his chest, and I soak in his warmth.

I did it, I think to myself. Sure, I probably wouldn’t be standing here if Talon hadn’t helped me out, but I’d still made it through the first trial when other competitors hadn’t.

A bubble of pride starts to swell in my chest until Becks’ voice shattered it. “What were you thinking?” he snaps as he pulls away, his face reflecting a storm of emotions, all of them bad. “You could have been killed.”

The warmth that had started to permeate my body immediately flees. I take a step back, wrapping my arms around myself.

Granted, what I did was rash, but the last thing I need right now is for Becks to throw it in my face.

“Come on,” he says as he grabs my hand and starts to tug me through the crowd surrounding the hole I just climbed out of.“We need to figure out who is in charge of this and get you out of this mess.”

Wait. What?

“Becks, stop.” I plant my feet, but he’s so strong it takes him a few beats to realize that he’s dragging me behind him.

---