I turn back to the path of thick foliage in front of me, a smile tugging at my lips thanks to the girl behind me. Then I hear a muttered sentence followed by a string of curse words that only manages to make my grin grow. “I’m sorry, what was that, Gray?” I ask, not bothering to look over my shoulder.
“We are all only being forced into one area for a bloodbath,” she huffs, brushing past me.
“That sounds about right,” I say with a sigh.
The sky above us is quickly darkening, and under the cover of the trees, the light is even dimmer. She turns, and I see her open her mouth to likely make some smartass comment before clamping it shut when the sound of a twig snapping echoes around us.
We halt, eyes scanning the endless trees and plants surrounding us. Whatever it is sounded heavy and heading our way. Then, I hear a muffled voice grow louder as the owner of it grows closer.
“Please, there is no way you can Blink from here to the edge of the Whispers.”
“I most certainly could. It’s just dark now, so I can’t. Oh, and there are too many trees blocking my view. But if it weren’t for that, I totally could.”
“Sure. Use that as your excuse.”
“I think you’re just jealous.”
“Keep telling yourself that.”
I hear the echo of laughter, and the sound of scuffling feet no doubt the result of playful shoving. The power of the two opponents nearby seeps into my bones, but I don’t need to know their abilities to know who they are.
Paedyn hesitantly follows behind when I head in their direction. I push through the trees and plants, my pulse quickening in anticipation. Shoving aside a branch, I spot the two figures walking towards us.
Andy sticks out her foot and catches Jax’s ankle, nearly sending him sprawling to the ground. Their quiet laughter is abruptly cut off when they see me and halt in their tracks.
“Well don’t look too excited to see me,” I say dryly, taking a step towards them.
“Kai?” Jax is squinting through the growing darkness, but his eyes light up with recognition. He’s before me in a few of his long strides, and I catch his head in the crook of my arm to scruff up his short hair despite his protests.
Andy walks up with a smile. “Good to see you’re alive.”
“Yeah, that’s great,” Jax agrees, rubbing his head. “But I could do without your usual greeting.”
“So, how was your stay in the Whispers—” Andy stops short, her eyes sliding to something over my shoulder.
Paedyn steps beside me, offering a hesitant smile. She doesn’t trust them, and I don’t blame her. But it’s clear that she trusts me, or else she would’ve run rather than follow me out here. I suppress a smile at the thought as I say, “We have had quite the eventful stay in the Whispers.”
Andy offers Paedyn a smile and a nod of her head while Jax grins sheepishly. My gaze flicks to the darkening sky, and I sigh. “We better keep walking if we want to make it to the edge by dawn.” We turn and begin heading through the thick foliage, fumbling slightly in the dark. “So, tell us what happened to you two.”
Andy laughs bitterly. “A better question would be what didn’t happen to us.”
“We found each other on the third day,” Jax cuts in, “but before that, I was lying pretty low since my ability doesn’t do so well in crowded terrain like this. I saw Blair once but Blinked high into a tree before she could spot me and rip my arm off to get my leather.”
“And Plagues knows she would, too,” Andy mutters under her breath while Paedyn hums in agreement.
Jax continues with a shrug. “But other than her, I didn’t see anyone else when I was on my own. My biggest competition was just surviving in the forest alone.”
“And what about you, Andy?” Paedyn asks curiously.
“Well, unlike Jax here, I was lucky enough to encounter two opponents on my own.” She almost rolls her eyes in annoyance. “I came across Blair, and the fight was…intense. But unfortunately, the bitch got my band. And then,” she draws out the words, “the day before I found Jax, Hera paid me a visit. I woke up in the middle of the night to an invisible knife trying to saw the leather from my arm. I eventually got her band, but it wasn’t easy considering that I couldn’t see her half the time.”
“Then Andy found me, and we’ve been together since.” I hear the easy smile in Jax’s voice. “Braxton found us, but after we—well, mostly Andy—took him down, we found that he didn’t have a leather on him.” Jax’s eyes widen, and he blurts, “Oh, and he was covered in all these nasty burns. It was gross.”
I clear my throat. “Yeah, that’s thanks to me.”
Andy laughs. “That’s not surprising at all.”
“Oh! We also fell into a pit of snakes,” Jax cuts in with a shudder. “Those things were worse than the Trial itself.”
A snort escapes Andy. “Yeah, I’m surprised every contestant in the Whispers didn’t hear Jax screaming like a little girl.”
At that, Jax simply shrugs, not bothering to deny it. “And then we found Ace. With the both of us, it wasn’t too difficult to take him down and steal his leather.” Jax scratches his head, considering something. “Especially because he was limping so badly.”
I can see the flash of Paedyn’s grin even in the darkness beginning to swallow us. “And that is thanks to me.”
Paedyn and I quickly fill the two of them in on what we endured this past week, though she carefully avoids the more intimate details of our time together.
“So, Sadie is dead?” Andy asks, the question sounding more like a statement.
“Yes,” I say simply. “She is.”
We talk for a long while as we continue heading towards the edge of the forest. Inevitably, we eventually fall silent, the only sound coming from the birds above us and the crunch of leaves and twigs beneath us.
I see the opening just as the sky begins to lighten. Freedom yawns hundreds of yards away as the trees start to thin, and the edge of the Whispers draws nearer. Our pace quickens, all of us itching to be rid of this place while the sun races us, heading for the horizon as we head towards freedom.
A mass of bodies comes into view between the trees. Less than a mile past the edge of the forest, hundreds of people are gathered within the wide field, waiting patiently to watch the show.
An audience.
We are all silent as we finally step to the edge of the tree line. The sun has slowed its pace, too lazy to rise. So the Trial isn’t over just yet. I look towards the sea of people, all pointing in our direction. Though their powers are just out of my reach, I do feel the weight of Sights all around us, preparing to document the finale.
Movement flickers in my peripheral. We all swivel towards it, Paedyn’s bow already drawn and aimed at the figure stepping out of the trees and into the open field on the other side.
Tangled, lilac hair blows across Blair’s face as her lips twist into a sneer, taking us in. Her cold gaze is pinned on Paedyn as she says, “Don’t you know that alliances ruin all the fun?”
Paedyn sighs. “I would say I’m happy to see you’re still alive, but apparently I’m a horrible liar, so why try.”