Contender: The Chosen: Book 1

by Taran Matharu

  For a moment, nobody said anything. Then Finch let out an exaggerated laugh, slapping his knee with one hand.

  ‘This kid tells you we’re brought here by – what, gods? And then you believe him?’

  ‘The Codex confirmed it,’ Cade said, pointing at the floating drone.

  ‘Who cares what it says,’ Finch said, still laughing. ‘It’s all lies anyway.’

  ‘It knows more than you think,’ Cade said. ‘It’s how I found this sword. It’s how I confirmed where Quintus came from.’

  Finch rolled his eyes.

  ‘So, what – you’re saying we should go play this game and get ourselves killed, because some dude who thinks he’s a Roman and a flying robot told us that our entire planet will blow up if we don’t? Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?’

  ‘What do you think is going on out there?’ Cade said pointing down the passageway. ‘Have you forgotten what you’ve seen, heard – hell, even tasted?’

  Finch looked away, shaking his head with pursed lips.

  ‘What they said is hard to believe,’ Cade continued. ‘But then so is everything else. And everything else is real.’

  ‘He has a point,’ Amber said, and Cade hadn’t realised how much her support meant to him until that very moment.

  ‘Screw the world, then,’ Finch snapped. ‘Even if it is true, I couldn’t care less about anyone back home.’

  Cade groaned with exasperation, motioning to his surroundings. ‘You want to live like this? Because Quintus left the Keep a year ago, and this is where he’s ended up.’

  ‘But he still left,’ Finch retorted. ‘Him and all his friends, and they knew what they were facing better than we do now. He’d clearly rather live out here than back at the Keep. And he had weapons, armour, probably a whole bunch of soldiers with him too. So what is it about that place that’s making him hide out here?’

  ‘Maybe he has the same attitude you have,’ Cade said, throwing up his hands. ‘Screw the world, right. Let’s live in a dank hole and eat lizards.’

  ‘Sounds pretty good when the alternative is getting your guts ripped out by monsters, just because a robot told you to,’ Finch retorted.

  ‘You mean like I almost did a few minutes ago?’ Cade said. ‘It’s not exactly much safer here. What happened to Quintus’s friends, huh?’

  ‘Maybe they stayed behind and died,’ Finch said.

  The two glared at each other.

  After a few moments, Scott spoke. ‘Look, I’m all for saving the world. But I don’t think we have much of a chance without weapons.’

  Cade smiled. They were considering it at least.

  ‘I agree,’ Amber said. ‘If we’re going to fight, we need more than this axe and some rocks.’

  Cade walked over to the wall where his sword still sat, gathering dust. That was twice now he had left this room without it. Never again. Now, he slung it over his shoulder and drew the blade.

  ‘If I can get everyone a sword like this one, would you fight?’ he asked.

  They paused, exchanging silent glances.

  ‘Maybe,’ Grace said.

  ‘Yeah,’ Scott said, shuffling his feet. ‘We’d have a chance at least.’

  Amber nodded.

  ‘Worse comes to worst, we run away,’ Spex said. ‘See what happens. But we need everyone on board. Just a few of us won’t stand a chance. I only survived the vipers last time by pure luck.’

  ‘OK, only if the others agree.’ Scott nodded.

  ‘How many more of you are there?’ Grace asked.

  ‘Five,’ Cade replied.

  He had expected Amber to be pleased, but instead she looked conflicted, her eyes darting over their uniforms. The idea of being outnumbered by so many strangers likely worried her. Cade considered for a moment, and the trace of an idea began to take shape.

  ‘Codex, bring up the map,’ Cade said.

  This time it wasn’t just Quintus who gasped when the map appeared beside the timer in the air.

  02:10:42:21

  02:10:42:20

  02:10:42:19

  ‘Told you the Codex knows a lot,’ Cade said, allowing himself a smirk.

  He turned to Quintus and pointed at the spot where the Keep was, then the timer. The legionary nodded, showing he understood what they meant. Cade then pointed to the others and himself in turn, before pointing at the Keep once more. Quintus nodded again.

  Now was the moment of truth. They could use a real warrior on their side. Cade pointed at Quintus and raised his eyebrows questioningly. Would he come with them? He pointed between Quintus and the others for added effect.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Finch said. ‘You look like an idiot.’

  ‘Shut up, Finch,’ Amber said.

  Quintus looked at Cade for a moment, then drew a finger beneath his throat, pointing at the Keep and the timer. He was telling them of the danger there. Now it was Cade’s turn to nod. Then he shrugged his shoulders, as if to say they would go regardless. Then he pointed at Quintus again.

  Again, the legionary paused. For a few agonising seconds he stared at Cade, considering his new companion. Then he gave a final nod.

  Cade whooped and clapped his shoulder.

  ‘Well, if you want to stick around here, go ahead,’ Cade said to Finch. ‘We’re going.’

  Then he turned back to the map.

  ‘In the meantime, let’s work out a way back to the Witchcraft. We don’t have much time.’

  THIRTY-SIX

  It seemed that the sauropods had been faring well when they’d left earlier, but when the group finally emerged from the temple complex, Cade was dismayed to see the remains of one of the youngsters. Luckily for them, the crocodogs were long gone, having stripped the beast to the bone in under an hour. Whatever remained had been picked almost clean by the piranha-like compies skittering about the place, leaving only a pile of bones and armoured plating. Even the dead crocodog’s corpse was gone, dragged away by some predator, if not the other crocodogs themselves.

  Now only the pterosaurs remained, hunched over the sauropod skeleton like vultures and snapping the smaller bones between their powerful jaws.

  ‘Ready?’ Cade asked.

  He didn’t wait for a reply, instead walking across the open plaza, avoiding the many piles of dinosaur droppings that coated the ground. It seemed the predator attack had cleared out the place of larger herbivores, at least for now. Even the city’s usual inhabitants were thin on the ground, and the few compies and pterosaurs he passed flitted away as soon as he neared them.

  ‘Smells like a farm,’ Spex groaned, lifting a sullied boot. He’d stepped right in it.

  ‘More like the can after Gobbler’s dropped one in it,’ Scott said, holding his nose.

  Cade hushed the boys, surprised at how relaxed they were. But then, they hadn’t seen what he had. Not really.

  The others hadn’t been trapped up a tree by a monster, or been hunted by a pack of raptors like an animal. Every minute in the open was a risk.

  And every risk brought the end of the world a little closer to reality. An end to his friends. His family.

  They headed towards what turned out to be the smallest of the pyramids there, the same one that Cade had fought the raptors on. Cade could see the bloodied marks from where he had crawled the day before – far less than he thought there would be. It must have been shock, rather than blood loss, that had made him so weak.

  As he walked, the wounds on his legs itched more than anything else, though after that morning’s sprint, they throbbed when he put pressure on them. In a pinch he would be able to run again, though it wouldn’t be easy.

  Finally they reached the pyramid, and it was a relief to step into the shade. The ground had been torn up by the raptors’ talons near the base of the stairs, and Cade was shocked at the size of the footprints. Had he really fought such creatures? And won?

  Well. With help from Quintus.

  ‘There you are,’ Cade whispered, seeing the bag of swords jus
t where he had left it. He’d had some irrational fear that the raptors had taken them, but of course they weren’t that smart.

  Kneeling with a wince, he fished inside and tugged out an oilcloth-wrapped sword for each of them, handing them out like candy.

  ‘What are those?’ Finch snapped.

  ‘Remnants identified as the swords named Nagamitsu, Kunitoshi,’ the Codex began, ‘Tak—’

  Cade hushed it before going back in and giving each of them a scabbard too. Only Quintus refused the sword, preferring the gladius he had brought with him. In the light of day, Cade was again struck by the boy’s gaunt figure with the stick-thin legs beneath him. A year in this place had taken a toll on him. Food was not so easy to come by.

  ‘This is badass,’ Scott said, pulling off the cloth and admiring the blade. ‘Better than pickaxes.’

  ‘Keep quiet,’ Cade whispered. ‘This is where the raptors almost got me the other night. They could be waiting.’

  That shut them up.

  Finch went to pick up the bag, still containing the remainder of the swords, but Scott got there first, slinging it over his shoulder and giving Cade a wink. Cade was glad. He had almost forgotten the way Finch had hoarded the weapons at the Keep, such as they were, for himself and his two allies. Now he’d been lucky to get a sword at all.

  Cade wished he hadn’t had to arm Finch, but if it did come down to another confrontation with the raptors, he would need all the help he could get, wherever and whoever it came from. And even with a sword of his own, the power had shifted out of Finch’s favour.

  Trepidation filled Cade’s head as he stared at the jungle’s edge. Despite the hot midday sun, it was dark beneath the canopy. All his instincts were telling him to go back with Quintus. To take their time, talk it all out, make more of a plan.

  But there was no time – the countdown was ticking away with every second. If the Witchcraft wouldn’t start, they had a long walk ahead of them, perhaps too long. And if they missed the deadline, whatever opponents these so-called gods had in store for them would overrun the place. Which meant the world would end. His parents would die. His friends would die. The human race would die.

  Everyone but the lost remnants left on this godforsaken planet.

  ‘Come on,’ Cade said, hefting his sword and heading towards the jungle. ‘We’ve got a boat to catch.’

  His legs felt like he’d pulled every single muscle in them, but he managed well enough. Soon they were back in the jungle, surrounded by the whine of insects and the calls of the creatures from the canopy above.

  It was a relief to get into the cover of the trees, however ominous the shaded interior felt. Even so, it seemed damper in the forest, and soon Cade was coated in sweat again.

  He felt so dirty – his socks were crumbling with dried blood in his boots, while dirt, sweat, soot and more blood encrusted his face and arms. The first thing he was going to do when he got to the river was jump right in, wounds and river monsters be damned.

  They walked through the charred remains of where Cade had set his fire – a vast swathe of jungle where trees had been scorched black and the leaves burned to nothingness. The canopy above had been thinned, leaving patches of sunlight beaming through. Some of the vegetation, such that was left, was still smoking. Yet despite it all, green shoots were already emerging from the dark soil, reaching up for the light. Even in death, the cycle of life continued.

  The group slowed as they walked through the ash-coated ground.

  ‘If I’d done this back home, I’d be in so much trouble,’ Cade said as Spex trotted up beside him.

  ‘You did this?’ Spex whispered, impressed. ‘It took out a mile of the jungle.’

  Cade allowed himself half a smile. ‘Well, it’s not like any of the wildlife is endangered … right?’

  Spex chuckled and Cade didn’t shush him, in part because they were nearing what he hoped was the right section of river. According to the Codex’s map and his best guess as to where the Witchcraft was, they should be right on top of it.

  Even as he began to worry he had taken a wrong turn, he heard the rush of the river up ahead. He hurried forward, eager to get to the water, when a yelling figure jumped out in front of him. He fell backwards, swiping blindly with his sword, but it was only Jim, brandishing the pickaxe above his head. Behind him, Gobbler poked his head around a tree trunk, his eyes wide with fear.

  Cade felt his face flush with embarrassment.

  ‘Holy … I didn’t think I’d see you again,’ Jim said, moving to help Cade to his feet. He stared behind Cade, a grin slowly plastering across his face as he saw the new arrivals.

  Finch cleared his throat as Jim bent to grip Cade’s hand, as if expecting the boy to release it. But Jim ignored him and pulled Cade up.

  ‘Nice sword.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Cade said, resisting the urge to return Jim’s smile.

  It seemed that Finch’s influence over Jim was weakening, though Gobbler still embraced his old crony with enthusiasm. Cade wondered if Jim had done some soul-searching while Finch had been gone.

  Cade wasn’t one to hold a grudge, but it would be a while until he trusted Jim again. He hadn’t been given the same choice as Jim had back at school, but he was sure he wouldn’t have allied with Finch, had he been in Jim’s shoes.

  Still, with Jim being friendly and enough swords for everyone, the playing field was more than even. Between the humans, at least. He suspected the playing field in the real game was stacked heavily against them.

  Leaving Scott to introduce Quintus and the girls to the others, Cade hurried ahead to the boat. He found it pressed up against the beach and held there by a rusted anchor and a fraying rope. Beside it, he saw the broken remains of the Chinese junk, which the anchor must have been salvaged from. It was exactly as Scott had described, with rotten rigging and sails, but also a rusted engine half submerged at its rear.

  Yoshi and Eric were huddled at the Witchcraft’s back end, up to their waists in the shallows. Both of them were covered in a layer of oily green gunk from their hands up to their shoulder blades, as if they had been reaching into the gas tank and scooping out the old, rotted fuel with their arms.

  ‘All right, boys?’ Cade said, filling his voice with as much bravado as he could muster. The trio would still need convincing to return to the Keep, so best to put on a confident face. Eric and Yoshi turned, and Yoshi flashed him a rare smile.

  ‘You made it,’ Eric said, wading ashore to embrace him.

  ‘Woah, woah,’ Cade said. ‘I’m filthy enough as it is. How’s it looking?’

  ‘We’ve cleaned it out as best we can,’ Eric said, flicking some oil at Cade with a grin. ‘Yoshi almost climbed into the damned thing. Yoshi thinks it will run, with a bit of luck.’

  There was a large, rusted canister propped on the deck of the Chinese ship that must have taken some strength to lift.

  ‘Is that the diesel?’ Cade asked.

  ‘Damn right it is,’ Yoshi said, patting the can. ‘Plus three more like it on board. If this works, we’ll be able to sail this thing for weeks.’

  Cade’s heart sank. Somehow he didn’t think Yoshi was going to be impressed with his plan to just go back the way they had come.

  ‘So, history boy,’ Eric said, slapping Cade’s shoulder. ‘Any idea what this ship is?’

  Cade turned to the Codex floating just behind him. It was strange how used to it he had become now.

  ‘Watch this,’ he said, winking. This was a crucial moment. One that would make the Codex more credible in their eyes, and in turn its assertion that the world might be about to end.

  ‘Codex, what is this ship?’ he asked. ‘And feel free to give us a bit more detail this time.’

  The drone replied instantly.

  ‘Remnant identified as the Sea Dragon. It was owned by author, traveller and adventurer Richard Halliburton. The ship was constructed when Halliburton challenged himself to sail across the Pacific Ocean on a Chinese junk, though e
quipped with a diesel engine in case they ran into trouble. Along with eight other crew members, the ship disappeared in 1939 during a typhoon, never to be seen again. Sightings of wreckage were rumoured until as late as 1945, but all turned out to be hoaxes or false—’

  ‘All right, that’s enough,’ Cade said, eyeing the timer.

  02:09:58:38

  02:09:58:37

  02:09:58:36

  As the Codex had been speaking, the others emerged from the jungle, shouting their greetings. Cade wasn’t sure whether to quiet them. Would raptors attack them out in the open, in such numbers? It was too late now anyway. They had to get out of here as soon as possible.

  Eric waved and boarded the ship, leaving Cade and Yoshi together.

  ‘Mystery solved,’ Yoshi said. ‘Maybe we can find out who Louis Le Prince was too.’

  Cade smiled. ‘Or find out if I was right about those coins.’

  There was a shout from inside the Witchcraft’s cab, and the two turned to see Eric waving his arm through the front window.

  ‘Moment of truth,’ he yelled. ‘Cross your fingers.’

  For a second there was silence, then a splutter as the engine turned over. Cade held his breath.

  The splutter turned into a juddering roar, and now Cade joined in the cheers, wading into the water and whooping alongside Yoshi.

  Finally, a victory.

  Cade sank to his knees and buried his head under the surface. It was blissfully cool on his skin, and he could practically feel the dirt dissolving from his face and body. Even his injured legs seemed to appreciate it, only stinging briefly before the cold water relieved them of the itching.

  It was heavenly, and Cade let himself fall in before turning on his back and staring at the bright blue sky. He was going to have to convince the others to turn back soon enough. But not right now.

  THIRTY-SEVEN

  They sat inside the boat, perched facing each other on the cushioned benches on either side. The removable padding had been thrown from the window already – the things were so rotted and covered in fungus that it was a wonder there was anything left of them.