‘A handful each,’ Scott murmured. ‘Well, two handfuls. Piece of cake, right?’
Cade didn’t dignify that with a response. It was an insane number. True, some of them had defeated one before, and armed only with rocks or chains, no less. But he knew they had used the dust to blind them like he had, or been helped along by the other boy kept in their section of the canyon. To face so many seemed an impossible task.
Now that he thought about it, their last challenge had been more of a puzzle to be solved than a battle to be won. Finding a weapon. Adapting the environment to create an advantage. Working together with others.
But this, this was … well, now that he thought about it, wasn’t it the same? Hell, there was even the wall serving as the ledge, with them above and the monsters below.
It was just on a larger scale, with far more at stake. Now they had swords. And they were working together, more or less. So what was he missing? Adapting to the environment had to be more than just finding some rocks to drop on them. There had to be something else he could do.
‘Not too late to get back on the boat,’ Finch called.
‘Not too late to shut the hell up,’ Amber snapped back.
Cade ignored them. They had just under two days to prepare, a good portion of which would be spent eating, drinking and sleeping.
‘All right, guys, we won’t get much done tonight,’ Cade said. ‘Let’s get some food in us and sleep. We’ll have to figure this out tomorrow.’
‘You think I’m going to bed with all those things over there?’ Gobbler asked. ‘What’s to say that invisible wall thing comes down and they slaughter us in our sleep? We should leave a watch or something.’
Right now, Cade just wanted to rest. He doubted that whoever their strange overlords were would set all this up only to kill them while they slumbered. If he trusted anything in this world, it was that the entities that had brought them here wanted them to play the game as it was meant to be played.
‘Are you volunteering?’ Cade asked. ‘It’s awful dark out here.’
Gobbler scratched the back of his head.
‘Well, uh … maybe for the first few hours. Finch’ll keep me company, right, Finch?’
Finch rolled his eyes but assented with a curt nod. He was losing friends. He couldn’t lose his last ally.
‘Three hours then,’ Cade said. ‘Anyone else?’
‘I’ll do it,’ Yoshi said. ‘And I don’t need someone to babysit me.’
Cade looked to the others, but already they were drifting towards the stairs, eager to get some shuteye. All of them were dead on their feet. Only Quintus remained alert, staring out at the vipers with grim intensity.
‘Fine,’ Cade sighed. ‘Wake me up when you’re done, Yoshi.’
Six hours’ sleep. It would have to do.
Leaving Finch and Gobbler to their vigil, the rest of them trooped down to ground level and lit the torches there, taking two with them. They made their way to the quarters on the third floor of the Keep, as they had done before. This time, Cade found himself with all of the boys in one of the two rooms up there.
The opposite room was where the girls had set up camp – nobody wanted to sleep alone among the bunk beds or the doorless rooms downstairs. Of course, both of the doors to their current rooms had to be left unlocked so those on watch could get in and wake them, but it was a comfort nonetheless.
Seven boys were far too many to fit in one bed, though, so Spex volunteered to bring one of the three-tiered bunk beds up to the room, with Jim trying to make amends by volunteering to help.
Quintus was already curled up in the corner, having made a makeshift bed from the cushions in the room, and looking more comfortable than he’d been in a long time. That left Cade, Eric, Scott and Yoshi to share the main bed.
Before they all crammed into it, Yoshi stopped Cade in his tracks and looked at the Codex following him.
‘Who is Louis Le Prince?’ Yoshi asked.
‘Louis Le Prince invented the first film camera and projector. He disappeared mysteriously on a train with his prototype in the year 1890.’
The pair of them exchanged a grin. A day ago, that would have been a revelation. Now it was just interesting.
Cade wondered if Louis had marched off and died with the legion, or stayed and eventually abandoned the Keep like Quintus had.
He could hardly imagine what it would be like for a Victorian-era man to appear among a bunch of Romans upon another planet. Not to mention using his camera-projector to film them battling monstrosities.
He had to hand it to the gods. They had good taste in history.
That done, the pair squeezed into bed beside Eric and Scott. It was a tight fit, and Cade found himself hanging off the side of the bed. He sat up to see if there was more room on the other side.
‘What else can that thing tell us?’ Yoshi asked, stifling a yawn. Then he froze, his eyes widening. ‘Codex, how can we get back home?’
‘Contenders may return to their home planets when they reach the top of the leaderboard.’
‘Damn,’ Yoshi breathed. ‘A way back then.’
‘Can we see this leaderboard?’ Cade asked.
‘Action prohibited. Contenders must complete qualifiying round to access leaderboard functions.’
Cade thumped the bed.
‘Just when you think you’re getting somewhere,’ he moaned. ‘Why does it have to be so reticent.’
‘Yeah, reticent little pest,’ said Scott, who clearly didn’t know what reticent meant.
Cade couldn’t help but smile.
‘They probably don’t tell us to give us another reason to play the damned game,’ Eric said. ‘Sounds like we’ll have to survive tomorrow if we want to find out why we’re here.’
‘Yeah, well, if it’d told us all this in the first place, we probably wouldn’t have left here,’ Yoshi argued. ‘If they wanted us to stay and fight, they have a funny way of showing it.’
Eric held up a hand.
‘Maybe they wanted us to go into the caldera,’ he said. ‘There is a reason they created it.’
Cade lay back down with a groan, sick of the whole debate.
‘Pointless trying to work out what they want,’ he muttered. ‘It’s all madness anyway. Why should their reasoning be any different.’
Somewhere far below they could hear Jim cursing, and the sound of wood thudding against stone. Clearly, the three-person bunk bed was not easy to manhandle up the steep steps.
They lay there for a minute, staring at the ceiling.
‘Someone’s got to put out the torch,’ Cade whispered.
‘Not it,’ Eric said.
‘Not it,’ Scott said quickly.
The only sound from Yoshi was a deep snore.
‘Goddammit,’ Cade said.
FORTY
Cade drifted into consciousness. The sun was filtering through the ragged curtains, filling the room with a honeyed glow. For a moment he basked in it, allowing himself a moment to enjoy the comfort of half-sleep.
He sat up with a start, nearly hitting his head on the Codex floating above him. Nobody had come to wake him. Had Yoshi stayed out there all night? Cade stretched and rubbed the sleep from his eyes before stumbling over to the curtain and staring out at the wall. There was nobody there.
So much for the watch. Not that he had been particularly worried about it anyway. If their mysterious overlords wanted them dead so soon, they would never have put together this elaborate game. Still, it seemed strange for Yoshi to abandon his post. Unless … Finch and Gobbler hadn’t woken him up either?
He scanned the beds. Spex and Jim had given up on bringing the bunk bed up, instead laying the straw-stuffed mattresses out on the floor. Scott and Gobbler had somehow managed to fall asleep with their faces pressed together, much to Cade’s amusement. No sign of Finch, nor Yoshi.
Curiosity and concern intermingled, enough to drive Cade from the warmth of the window into the upper floor’s main chamber, the
creak of the bedroom door eliciting groans from the others. He let them sleep, padding past the enormous stone table and to the bedroom door in the opposite wall.
Within, he saw Amber draped over the edge of the bed, her head hanging upside-down, mouth lolling open. He was about to chuckle when he remembered that both Yoshi and Finch were missing – there were only the girls in there. And if they weren’t on the wall … something was wrong.
Fighting growing panic, Cade hurried down the stairs to the ground floor. He saw it then, crusted on the floor in a spatter pattern that spoke of violence. Blood.
‘Guys,’ Cade yelled. ‘Help! Help!’
As his eyes adjusted to the light of the window openings, he saw more blood smears. As if something had been dragged towards the stairs of the baths.
Cade’s hand strayed for a sword that was not there – they were piled up in the bedroom. Above, he could hear movement and shouts of concern as the others came to join him, but he didn’t wait. He jumped down the stairs, running into the gloomy cavern with his hands balled into fists.
He saw him then. Trussed up like a turkey, blood pooled on the stone beside his head. Yoshi.
Even now, the boy struggled against his bonds, groaning through the gag that had been wrapped across his mouth. His eyes were wide, though whether with anger or fear it was hard to tell. Cade hurried over and tugged frantically at the tight knots.
With a sinking heart, Cade began to piece together what had happened. Finch was gone, and that probably meant the Witchcraft was too. He must have attacked Yoshi in the night, stolen the keys to the boat and left.
Finally, the knotted rags came free. Yoshi yanked the gag from his mouth and spat out the wadded cloth that had been stuffed in there. Then he unleashed a tirade of curses that continued long after the other boys had turned up on the scene, their swords drawn, faces pale with fear. There was no sign of the girls – they must have slept through Cade’s shouts.
When Yoshi was done he took a deep breath and dabbed at the cut at the back of his head with the cloth he had spat out. He winced, but the cloth came away dry. It seemed the bleeding had stopped.
‘Are you OK?’ Spex asked, kneeling beside him.
‘I’m all right,’ Yoshi groaned. ‘Head wounds, man. They bleed a lot.’
‘What happened?’
‘He jumped me,’ Yoshi said. ‘Finch, after him and Gobbler came to get me. I woke up down here.’
Cade swallowed. Whatever chance they had of leaving was now gone … unless they planned on hiking through the dinosaur-infested jungle. The silver lining was that he wouldn’t need to convince the others to stay any more. But that was little consolation. In truth, he barely knew if he himself would have stayed, in the face of such overwhelming odds. Now, it seemed, they would win or die trying.
‘Did you know about this, Gobbler?’ Cade asked.
He turned, only to see the boy staring at the floor with glazed eyes.
‘He left me …’ was all Gobbler said.
‘I guess that answers that question,’ Yoshi said as Spex helped him to his feet.
‘Scott, Spex, Jim, stay here,’ Cade said. ‘Eric, with me.’
He took Gobbler’s sword from the boy’s nerveless fingers and hurried up the stairs, motioning for Quintus to stay. The soldier wordlessly stood guard by the steps, gladius in hand.
It took them five heart-pounding minutes to get through the tunnel and into the field of stumps, but Cade already knew in his heart the yacht would be gone. His suspicions were confirmed as soon as they emerged into daylight.
The plunge pool of the waterfall was glaringly empty.
FORTY-ONE
They trudged to the water’s edge, as if by some miracle they would find the Witchcraft still there, hidden in the weeds. But all that remained was the wooden stake, and the end of the attached rope that Finch had sliced through after pulling in the anchor. He must have left in a hurry. Cade sighed deeply and sat down on a stump. He wasn’t sure how to feel.
Doubtless, Finch wouldn’t last long on his own. But this meant one less fighter. No escape route if they lost, or were forced to run. And a crushing blow to their morale.
There were footsteps behind them, and Cade turned to see Yoshi had followed them. He shook his head, then winced and touched his head wound.
‘It doesn’t change anything,’ he said, as if reading Cade’s mind.
Cade grunted and lowered his head, sweat from the hot sun above trickling down his cheeks. Eric sat beside him and squeezed his shoulder.
For a moment the three of them were silent. It was almost peaceful there in the dull roar of the waterfall, letting the cool mist from the crashing foam of the plunge pool coat them like morning dew.
Yoshi cleared his throat, and Cade turned to look at him. He had a sly smile upon his face.
‘What’s up?’ Cade asked.
‘I just realised. This sword,’ Yoshi said, holding his weapon up to the light. ‘It is a Muramasa blade. Do you know what that means?’
‘No,’ Cade said.
‘Muramasa was a great swordsmith, second only to Masamune. But his swords were said to be cursed – once drawn, the blade must be bloodied before it may return to its scabbard, or the owner will be driven mad.’
Yoshi looked him in the eye, and Cade realised that in some strange way, his friend was trying to cheer him up.
‘Tomorrow, I plan to.’
Cade grinned and nodded despite himself. He would save telling Yoshi about the Honjō Masamune until after the battle – he had a feeling Yoshi would ask to trade for it. He’d become attached to the sword – it had saved his life after all. Plus, he’d rather not have a cursed blade.
Eric stood, holding his own blade up. It was enormous; so long that, with his height, he was probably the only one of them who could wield it. Other than Grace, perhaps.
‘Who made this one?’
Yoshi looked closely at its base and shrugged. ‘It’s not a name I recognise.’
Cade thought for a moment, then called out to the Codex over his shoulder.
01:08:23:15
01:08:23:14
01:08:23:13
‘Codex, tell us about this sword. In detail, please.’
The drone replied in its dull voice.
‘Remnant identified as the Hotarumaru, forged by Kunitoshi Rai in 1297 CE. It is known colloquially as the Firefly Sword, so named for a legend that tells the story of its owner, the leader of the Aso clan, who damaged the sword in battle. That night, he dreamed of fireflies settling on the sword, and awoke to find it had magically repaired itself. The sword went missing in 1945.’
‘Badass,’ Eric said, swiping the blade low against the ground and cutting the head of a flower clean off.
Cade grinned at the look of jealousy on Yoshi’s face.
‘How do you know so much about swords?’ Eric asked.
‘My mom is an arts dealer,’ Yoshi said. ‘Specialising in Japanese antiques. Swords are some of the pieces in highest demand.’
He turned to Cade.
‘Plus, I signed up for kendo lessons, hoping to find some marks to sell my fake swords to. You wanna find people obsessed with Japanese swords, go to the source, right?’
Cade’s eyes lit up.
‘You learned how to sword fight?’ he asked.
‘Well, yeah,’ Yoshi said, shrugging. ‘Only for a few months. Made my mom happy, so I stuck with it longer than I had to. Then I got caught, and she sent me to reform school.’
‘Why didn’t you tell us this before?’ Cade demanded. ‘Don’t you see, you can train us how to fight!’
Yoshi smiled and shook his head.
‘Fighting a trained opponent with another blade isn’t the same as fighting a monster.’
‘But—’ Cade stopped, realising the truth of Yoshi’s words. ‘Well, at least you can teach us how to hold it right,’ he said. ‘Teach us how to strike, how to parry.’
‘I mean, I’m a layman at best, but …’ Yosh
i thought for a moment, then nodded.
‘All right then.’ Cade grinned. ‘That’s what we’ll do today.’
‘Good,’ Yoshi said, standing. ‘I’ll go prep.’
He strode off, though to prepare what, Cade had no idea.
‘Don’t you think it’s a coincidence that he knows how to use a sword?’ Eric said, breaking his long silence. ‘It’s not exactly a common skillset.’
Cade realised Eric was right. He furrowed his brows.
‘Then we’ve got you, almost an expert on Rome. Spex with his general knowledge. Now Yoshi with his sword skills.’
‘And you?’ Cade asked, raising his eyebrows.
‘I guess we’ll find out,’ Eric said. ‘Maybe for my size – I was a linebacker after all. But don’t you think it’s strange?’
Cade sighed.
‘I think we were chosen for a reason,’ he said. ‘Maybe all of us know something useful.’
‘So, they got us sent to the school?’ Eric asked, twisting his hands. ‘You think they have that much power? That they went to all that trouble?’
Cade stared at his hands, thinking back on his false conviction. Was it possible that these ‘gods’ had planted the laptops?
‘Maybe,’ was all Cade could say. ‘I am innocent.’
He paused.
‘Could they have done it to you?’
For a moment, Eric didn’t reply. He stared into the rushing water of the waterfall.
‘I know the rumours at school,’ Eric said. ‘That I’m a murderer. The truth is … I am.’
Cade was speechless. Somehow, in getting to know the boy, he had convinced himself it was just a rumour. It seemed impossible a killer would be at school with them.
‘I killed my best friend,’ he said, and to Cade’s surprise, the boy’s eyes were shiny with tears. ‘I never spoke at school because … I didn’t want to make friends. I didn’t deserve them.’
‘What happened?’ Cade asked, as gently as he could.
‘We were celebrating winning the playoffs,’ Eric said. ‘Best season of my life.’
Contender: The Chosen: Book 1 Page 21