Page 42 of A Sky of Storms
I had to hide, because there was no way in hell I’d be outrunning this beast, and the trees weren’t close enough together to keep me safe for long. My breath came in ragged gasps as I stumbled towards a tree with a root large enough for me to crawl under, and as I curled myself into a ball, I strained my ears to listen for the creature.
It was hunting me. The blood sucker was persistent, I’d give it that, but if I was lucky, it would be forced to give up and find its meal elsewhere. I frowned. There’d be plenty of other people on the menu.
The thought made me shudder. If there were more of these things, hopefully they’d be too preoccupied by the fresh meat of the splatters to kill anyone else, but I knew that was wishful thinking. I’d bet there were a whole lot of Potentials in a world of hell like me right now.
Not that that was a comforting thought. Damn, this whole trial was off to a bad start. Just twenty-nine days to go, no biggie, right?
The flapping of wings grew closer, the monster hissing angrily as it circled the trees above. Finally, its shadow moved on and the sounds grew distant as it lost my trail, seeming to head towards the sounds of another screech somewhere far away.
I let my head fall against the tree trunk, wincing at the damage done to my wing. It needed healing, but there was a slim chance of finding med supplies stashed anywhere. I just had to hope it was merely sprained and the wound wouldn’t get infected, which meant I’d need to clean and bind it either way.
“Great start Fallon.” I sighed, cautiously scrabbling out from beneath the tree. My jumpsuit was wet with blood from the injuries at my shoulders, and I gritted my teeth against the pain.
Everything hurt, and things would only get worse. Water, that’s what I needed … which also meant I’d need a fire because in this swampy hell hole, there certainly didn’t seem to be fresh water flowing anywhere.
Fuck.
Cautiously, I made my way through the trees, keeping my ears strained and my eyes open in case any other unwanted visitors thought they’d take a bite out of me. Not to mention other students. Mark and Victoria’s faces flashed before my mind’s eye. There were no rules, just a free-for-all and an all-you-can-eat buffet for any sharks that would come circling.
And I knew they would. This place would make people go mad. I’d seen it in movies and read it in books—it always started in places like this. The weak would fall prey to creatures or the beasts wearing human masks, and in the end only the strong would be left to assert their will over the masses.
It was a game of power and, right now, I was on the losing team. My determination hardened as I set my jaw. At least I had my wits about me. I was a survivor, and if my parents had taught me one thing, it was that common sense and a clear head prevailed.
They’d laugh if they saw me now. Wounded, miserable, and muddy as a wet dog trudging through the bog. They thrived off pain in all its forms. That was what they did—it was who they were.
And all of this, it was to put an end to their bullshit. To live in a world free from the vice-like grip of the Auger family and their thugs.
I looked to the sky. The sun was hidden behind the clouds, but I could tell it would be getting dark soon, which likely meant more monsters would come out to play tonight.
Gotta find shelter. I trudged on for what felt like an hour, my nerves shot and my instincts on high alert until I finally found a tree that seemed to have given up on life as it leaned heavily, its boughs providing a good hiding spot free from any predators.
I had no water or food, but it would have to do for now. Travelling in the dark in unknown territory would only sign my death warrant.
I just had to hope my wounds wouldn’t fester overnight.
Islidintoalanding, managing to brace myself as my boots sank into the marsh water. Unlike the rest of the Potentials, this trial wouldn’t start with me being completely saturated. Unclipping my parachute, I let the pack drop into the mud and scanned my surroundings for threats, but I was struggling to see too far into the distance. The sky had been blue while I was falling, yet down here there was a fog that made it hard to get a look at anything more than a few feet away. Loud, unnatural screeching echoed around me and I whipped my head around to try and see the source. There were things flying around out here and I had a hunch there would be other monsters waiting in the shadows. It reminded me of a thriller movie I’d once seen where a city was trapped in a fog and monsters would jump out at people. The movie hadn’t scared me, and the real deal was doing a worse job.
The screeching grew quiet and I rubbed my temple with the palm of my hand. It didn’t help that I was also still foggy from whatever the fuck they’d given us on the jet to knock us out. My heart was thundering in my chest from the fall, adrenaline coursing through my veins, but I embraced the thrill running through me. It took a lot more than throwing me from a plane into a marsh filled with monsters to rattle me. I’d been brought up to take everything thrown at me and use it to make myself stronger. At the end of the thirty days, I’d still be standing and anything that had stood in my way would no longer be breathing.
A body crashed down beside me, knocking me to the side, and I quickly threw out a hand. I stopped myself from falling into the cold murky water, though I was saturated all the way up to the elbow of the hand I fell on. Righting myself, I looked over to where the guy was groaning in the fetid water, his parachute spread out ahead of him.
I marched over, grabbing him by the scruff of his neck and lifting him to his feet. “You’ll need to work on your landings, bro.”
“Yes, sir,” Dick whimpered, attempting to stand on his own.
“Come on.” I marched forward, leaving him to unclip himself and catch up.
We passed a body that was floating with their face to the heavens, and I couldn’t help but wonder why most of these Potentials had signed up for the trials. They weren’t made for this shit. Someone should have told them that they weren’t cut out to compete. Didn’t they have families or friends to dissuade them? Or were they so clouded by their own misplaced belief that they didn’t listen?
“He’s dead?” Dick asked from my side, looking at the body.
I nodded. Judging by the lack of parachute, I assumed it hadn’t opened, though I was unable to tell whether the thing was faulty, or he’d simply never woken up to give it a go. Guess it didn’t matter anymore; the fall had killed him. The body drifted away from us towards the tall reeds and I gave it no more of my attention. It was time to focus on my own survival. I needed to find the rest of my followers if I wanted to increase my odds over the next month.
It’s not that I didn’t have confidence in my own abilities to survive by myself, because let’s face it, Dick wasn’t going to help. I knew I had it in me, but it would be easier with other people following my orders. Playing smart was the way to go and besides, having people around me would be a convenient shield against whatever was hiding in the fog. And, sure,maybea small part of me wanted to look out for my soldiers. I’d been training them after all. Especially those from the Crimson Steppes.
Walking through the cold water, I eventually found some dry patches of land. My feet were soaked and I hated the feel of wet socks in my boots. Living in an arid part of Terrulia meant that I wasn’t used to this sort of shit. Give me dry sand and the hot sun any day. I dodged a couple more people falling from the sky, chuckling at their shrieks and wide eyes. I had no idea how they expected to last a month when a little skydiving scared the shit of them.
Amongst those dropping to the marsh, I spotted Flynn and made my way to where he landed. He was unclipping his parachute when I approached, a grin on his face.
