Page 94 of Shadow Bonds

A loud whistle rings out. “Two-minute break to fix the rope.”

Robin comes over to me with a happy expression.

“Well done. You cut off a whole minute,” I tell her.

Her smile widens. “Good luck.”

The two-minute break passes quickly, and my name gets called.

I move over to the start of the obstacle course and drown out everything around me. The horn rings out, and I run for the tilted wall, getting over it in seconds to the stepping stones. Keeping my focus, I move onto the balance beam but pause when it starts to sway.

Thinking I’m probably just feeling a little dizzy, I get moving again but have to slow down when it starts to sway again.

What the hell?

I get moving while trying to keep my balance. It takes longer than I would have liked with the beam swaying from side to side but I pass it without falling and quickly bend down and start my crawl through the trip wire.

My back brushes against the wire and a sharp burst of pain spears through me making me hiss. Moving again, I try to ignore it, but it happens again and again every time I accidentally touch off it.

Lowering my body to the ground, I keep moving, not willing to give up.

Getting up, I shake of the sting of pain and head for the high wall. I move closer to it but pause when I find small spikes all over it.

My stomach churns. It’s not hard to figure out what’s happening here. Someone sabotaged it.

I immediately slam down the barriers between me and my mates. If they find out what’s happening, this will end, along with it their chance in the war games.

Gritting my teeth against the sharp slices of pain in my hands, I keep moving and make it over the wall in no time.Getting to my feet, I slide my hands down my trousers trying to wipe the blood away before heading for the long tunnel. But as soon as I enter it, I know something is wrong.

It’s dark. Completely dark and covered in shadows.

My gut tells me to turn the fuck around and not be stupid. But my head and heart tell me I need to finish this no matter what.

Ignoring my instincts, I rush forward but gasp and still when cold steel slashes across my legs and back, leaving a fiery burn of pain in its place.

Catching myself from falling, I try to push the pain to the back of my mind and get moving when I realize there’s something or someone else in here with me. And that someone is going all out to sabotage me and the guys.

The sliver of anger inside me grows to a pit of rage and explodes out of me in a burst of light.

I hear a gasp as I make my way out of the tunnel, but I blank everything around me as I move to the pit. Jumping in, I rush as fast as I can to the other side. But halfway there, mud coils around my ankles trying to stop me from moving any further. I glance down and try to wiggle it free when a sharp sting slams into my ankles over and over.

I hiss and bend forward.Fuck that hurts.

Allowing myself to fall into my continuously building rage, something almost shifts inside me. Like another part of my mind awakening. I glance down and somehow seethroughthe mud to the dozens of black snakes coiling around my legs.

A rush of energy slides down my body as an almost out of body experience happens and I watch on as more energy rushes out of me in small pulses into the muddy water, instantly killing the snakes.

The pain almost disappears, but I know that all of my injuries are still there.

As if on autopilot, I get out of the mud and head for the jungle ropes, my eyes narrowing when I spot the slimy substance on the hanging knotted ropes and the fraying ends of the long ones.

Glancing down at my hands, I watch on in awe as tiny shadows cover my palms.

I climb up to the ropes and grab the first one, smiling to myself when the tiny shadows on my palm dig into the knot like nails giving me the grip I need.

Pushing my body, I nearly make it to the end when the strange out of body experience slowly starts to fade, bringing back every slice of pain. Every bruise and ache.

I gasp but keep moving. Dragging my trembling body to the end.

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