Page 66 of The King of Frost and Shadows

“We need to keep moving,” Lorne rasped, turning my attention to him. “Or we die. Though I’d love to see you fade into oblivion, I’d rather it not be while you’re chained to me.”

At least we were on the same side … for now.

Pushing away the horror, I focused on the task ahead. “Let’s go.”

We moved easily to the next platform, but the second obstacle course—a thin beam with swords sticking out from all around—had already begun descending.

We were taking too much time.

The other two groups had already made it to the caged steeple with the fire underneath. A sour taste filled my mouth. That one would be hard for Lorne, so we needed to reach it as soon as possible to give ourselves as much time as we could get.

Lorne must have realized the same thing because he moved up the stone steps and waved for me to follow.

He balanced on the thin piece of wood and waited. Growing up, I’d never been one for gymnastics, desiring to be out in the woods, swimming and kayaking. At this point, I wished I’d gotten familiar with the balance beam.

I tightened my core and stepped on, hoping like hell I could balance.

I held out my arms, helping to keep me centered, and took a step. My foot wobbled, and I swayed from side to side.

“Don’t overthink it!” Lorne barked. “Just focus on the end. Use your own advice.”

A laugh lodged in my throat, but I swallowed it, not wanting to add more instability to my balance. I inched forward.

The two of us moved with caution, and each time he had to use his bad leg, he wobbled as well. I didn’t call him out on it—that wouldn’t help him since it wasn’t something he could fix.

When we got to the midway point, the platform jerked, and something clicked behind me. I started, and my foot wobbled on the beam, so I placed the other one down, forcing myself to center.

I turned and saw that a sword had shot a few inches upward.

Lorne continued, so I cleared my mind, needing to catch up before the chain strained between us. Keeping my eyes on the piece of wood in front of me, I tried to tune out the rest of the world.

At the end, I stepped onto the level platform and noticed we were six inches lower than the other platform.

That wasn’t a good sign. We were getting farther and farther behind.

Lorne and I glanced at each other, and no words were needed as we stepped onto the next empty platform. But when we looked at the towering wall of metal chains we had to climb up and down, icy tendrils of fear curled around my chest.

The two groups in front of us were moving at a much faster pace, but Rona and Moira were still making their way to the top, and Bran and Dougal were on their way down. The second group had taken the lead, but even they were moving slower than I’d expected.

Not wanting to insult Lorne, I tried to keep my tone light. “Are you ready?” Of all the challenges, this was theone likeliest to kill us. The climb would take both arm and leg strength to complete.

“I’m fine,” he muttered, telling me more with his curt reply than if he’d used more words.

We made our way onto the third platform and stood at the bottom, looking up. The incline was forty feet high, with a blazing fire underneath to make us sweat and overheat while we strained every muscle.

I decided to take the lead. He might need me to support some of his weight as he climbed, and we’d already wasted too much time. At least the platform hadn’t begun descending yet.

Taking a deep breath, I gripped the first chain to pull myself up, but the skin on my palm burned. I gasped and jerked away, stumbling back, and the heel of my foot missed the back of the platform.

My body tipped backward.

22

LIRA

My toes dug into the front of my boot, and I threw my weight forward. My knees crashed into the platform, and pain exploded while my hands felt like they were on fire.

Lorne had almost gotten to his knees, reaching for the chain as if to prevent me from falling, but with his injury, we would have both dropped had I not overcorrected.

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