The rustling and other night noises continued, but they seemed much less frightening after the howling. Still, Lucy and Justin took turns casting out their senses at each noise to make sure it was either an illusion or something small like a harmless rodent rather than assume nothing was out there. An occasional wildcat snarl did cause Maya to jump, but she kept moving forward through the trees, checking the compass regularly.
Lucy began to wonder how the other groups were doing. They hadn’t seen anyone for hours. Who else was left? Were they in front of Lucy’s group or behind them? Was everyone walking through the night or did some of them stop to rest? Lucy couldn’t help but wonder how Darren’s group was doing. She wished them the best, but she also knew they were horribly outclassed for this kind of competition. They were very talented, that wasn’t the issue. Lucy was simply sure that they hadn’t learned enough to handle some of the challenges they were up against. Lucy continued to walk.
It started to get light again, and Maya began to visibly relax. They took a minute to stop and rest. They ate some more of their dwindling food supplies and removed the glow spell from their boots. Everyone was looking disheveled and tired.
“I feel better knowing that if something is close enough for me to hear it, I can probably see it,” announced Maya rubbing her eyes.
“I agree,” said Lucy, stifling a yawn.
“Don’t start that,” said Maya, “or we’ll all be doing it.”
“Don’t wimp out on us now,” teased Gavin. “This is nothing compared to Orin’s day of physical endurance.”
“Isn’t that a day though? This is longer even if it isn’t as physically challenging, and there have been some mental challenges as well,” said Lucy.
“It is a day. However, the day ends when there is no one left competing. I participated in last year’s, and it ran about 38 hours before everyone either wore out or dropped out. Who’s up for that?” asked Gavin.
“No thanks,” said Maya.
“I prefer to watch and smile because I’m not the one putting my body through that kind of pain under the delusion of personal pride,” said Justin with a smile.
“I think I’ll be more interested if you ask me after I’ve had some sleep,” said Lucy. She began to stretch. It felt good to move some muscles that hadn’t been used with all the walking. “Anyone have any idea how much farther we have to go?”
“I don’t know, but I wouldn’t think it would be too much farther because we still have to get out again once we find whatever it is,” said Justin. “Shall we continue?”
“I’d almost suggest running, to use some different muscles and help wake us up, but I think we are going to want to do that on our way back, and I’m not sure I’d care to do it twice,” said Lucy.
That got some smiles from people. Maya stood up and checked the compass. The rest rose and followed. They hadn’t walked for very long before Maya turned. They took a step, and she turned again and one more time. They were standing on a rocky area in between some trees. They all looked around, and then at each other.
“According to the compass, this is where we are supposed to be,” said Maya.
“Do we have to dig?” asked Gavin.
“I’m not sure,” murmured Justin.
“Could something be magically cloaked or hidden?” asked Lucy.
“It could be,” said Justin. He sat down cross-legged on the ground to be closer to the spot. “Lucy, sit and then study. Tell me what you sense.”
Lucy sat and relaxed. She breathed in deeply, closed her eyes, and tried to sense what was there without drifting off. She heard Maya and Gavin sitting down. They probably decided that if they weren’t going to be walking for a little while, they might as well sit down and rest. Lucy opened her eyes and looked at Justin. His eyes were still closed.
“I only feel rock. I don’t think there is anything buried here. I don’t think there is anything magically hidden. I don’t think there is anything here other than rock. What if we aren’t the first ones here? Could it have been sitting right here out in the open and another group already left with it?”
“If they did, I think what ever it was, was a decoy,” replied Justin.
“A decoy?” asked Maya.
“Yes, I could see them putting something here that a group would take, but it wouldn’t be the object we were after. I was expecting there to be multiple objects and we would have to pick.”
“You think it’s a rock,” said Lucy suddenly.
“I think it’s a rock,” agreed Justin.
Gavin looked around them with wide eyes, “Which rock?”
“That’s what Lucy and I are going to try to figure out. See if any of them feel different to you for any reason. We’ll separate out the ones that feel different and then pick.”
Lucy nodded and they both closed their eyes. Maya and Gavin watched as the other two sat there with their eyes closed.
“How do we know if they fall asleep?” asked Gavin with a grin.
“If one of them starts snoring, we know,” replied Maya. “Right now, our job is to make sure no other group comes up and takes the most sacred rock before they figure out which rock it is.”
“Does this feel a little ridiculous?”
“Yes, but the teachers seem to have a dry sense of humor. Poisoning everyone for breakfast was odd too.”
Gavin could only nod in agreement with that.
Lucy extended her senses out and tried to feel each rock. First, she tried to sense traces of magic in case the teachers had located something here rather than walking it in. When that failed, she tried to sense which rocks had been handled by people. That didn’t seem to help much either. She was getting traces of rocks that were kicked as someone walked by or sat upon for a rest. Then, she tried to sense if any had been handled by someone who handled magic. Magic got into the skin and as skin cells are always flaking off, so are bits of magic, when something is handled. The stronger the magic user, the more of a trace they can leave behind. Hopefully, Eric had been the one to place the rock. Lucy was sure he couldn’t help but leave a trace. Finally she found a rock that felt different. She opened her eyes and found Justin’s already open.
“Find it?” asked Maya, noticing that their eyes were open.
“I hope so. I only felt one. If we both felt the same one then I think we’ll call it the rock we’re looking for and hope we are right. On the count of three? One. Two. Three.”
Justin and Lucy both reached forward, picked up the same rock, and smiled.
Gavin breathed a sigh of relief. “Now, we have to find our way back, but at least we can get started without sitting here any longer. I do feel the need to point out that I’m going to feel awfully silly if we get back and they’re not looking for a rock.”
“That’s the beauty of it. I wonder how many other groups will sit and agonize over that thought. Hopefully it will cut down on the number of people following us,” said Maya.
“Anyone up for Lucy’s run?” asked Gavin with a smile.
“Yes, but I think we should wait a bit. Any group that sees us running in the opposite direction of their compass is going to follow us assuming we have it. Let’s get further away from the scene of the crime, so to speak, before making a break for it,” suggested Justin.
“Would it help to make ourselves invisible?” asked Lucy.
“That might be a good idea, but then, we couldn’t see each other either. Anyone find any rope last night and not bother to mention it?” Justin asked with a smile.
For the time being they decided to walk, and so they did. They started retracing their steps. After a while, though, they couldn’t remember where they had been. Lucy began to worry about this until Maya figured out that the compass was now focusing on something else. Maya hoped that it was the school and was willing to follow it. Justin thought the idea made sense because the teachers may poison everyone for breakfast, but they wouldn’t leave them stranded in the middle of a forest. Or so he hoped. Gavin suggest
ed that whatever they decided to do should involve moving faster because he was eating his last roll. Maya agreed but more so because she had no desire to spend another night in the forest.
The sun was almost overhead before Justin decided they had put enough distance between themselves and the rock pile and they might as well run for awhile. They hadn’t seen any other groups and agreed to risk it. Lucy thought running felt good. She was tired, but running worked different muscles than walking did, and sometimes that makes a difference. They were all in good shape, but tired so the run changed to a jog much earlier than it would have had they all been rested. The sun was warm again today, and it beat down upon the group adding to their weariness and dripping sweat into their eyes. Their jog turned into a walk. None of them felt like talking and concentrated instead on putting one foot in front of the other. Around midafternoon, they stopped for a break and all drank their fill from Justin’s water skin.
“If we weren’t so close to being done with this, I’d ask for permission to take a small nap,” announced Maya with a yawn.
“I’d offer to carry you and let you take a nap, but I don’t think I have the energy to do that since it’s not a life or death situation,” said Gavin with a smile.
“I appreciate the thought,” responded Maya.
“Other than tiredness, is everyone doing ok?” asked Justin. “I may be tired, but I can heal small things, like blisters. However, I can’t do much for sore muscles.”
Everyone nodded that they were ok.
“I’m looking forward to a shower,” said Lucy, wiping the sweat off her forehead and wrinkling her nose as her hand came away wet and dirty. She looked at the others and noticed grimy marks on their foreheads where they had also wiped away sweat with dirty hands.
“I agree, but I’m eating first, then showering, and then sleeping,” said Gavin.
“Of course, you’re eating first,” said Maya, rolling her eyes. “We wouldn’t expect anything else from you. We do hope you at least wash your hands first.”
Gavin grinned. Justin stood up.
“Since our sense of humor is returning, it must be time for us to move on again.”
Everyone groaned but agreed. This was a challenge after all and the only way to get the things they wanted was to get back to the school. Justin held out his hand and helped Lucy up while Gavin helped Maya. Maya continued to lead the group and set a quick pace. There was a silent agreement that the quicker they walked now, the shorter the amount of time they would have to walk in the dark. Or so they hoped. In fact, the more the sun dropped, the quicker they tried to walk. They even tried another brief jog before it got too dark to jog safely through the forest. Once the sun set they took another break. They would be walking the rest of the way in the dark. Everyone put the glow spell back on their boots.
“Justin, can you sense how much farther it is?” asked Maya. “Maybe not in exact time or distance, but there should be people waiting for us at the entrance to the woods. Can you sense them?”
Gavin looked up hopefully as he crunched on his last apple. Justin nodded and closed his eyes. It wasn’t long before he opened them smiling.
“I sense a lot of people. They know we are coming, and they are waiting for us. We should be able to reach them in less than an hour.”
Everyone smiled and got up, their break ended. That kind of news was all they needed to give them that last burst of energy, and they broke into a light jog. They had slowed to a walk by they time they exited the forest, but they made it.
Chapter 34
People cheered briefly at the sight of them, but it ended quickly, and everyone was quiet. The crowd wanted to see if they had brought the right object and what that object was for that matter. Lucy noticed that there were other groups back too and wondered how many groups were still in the forest in the dark. Eric stepped up to them.
“What did you find?” he asked.
Justin held forth the rock they had brought back.
Mumbles broke out from the crowd. A rock?
“You have an odd sense of humor,” said Justin with a mocking smile.
“I do,” Eric agreed. “I do occasionally use it to teach too. Objects are only objects until they are given value. Some are given value based on how much work went into creating them, or because they are aesthetically pleasing. Some objects are valued because of the reasons they were given or earned or who they were given by or taken from. Never let the simple appearance of an object determine your perception of its value. Appearances can be deceiving. You have brought the assigned object. Congratulations.”
The crowd cheered and Gavin shook his head. He still couldn’t believe they had done all that for a rock despite what Eric said. Eric collected their compass from Maya and spoke into it.
“The object has been successfully recovered. Your compass will now point towards the school, and all obstacles will be voided. Please make your way here. If you need assistance, speak into your compass, and a professor will come to help you.” Eric then addressed the people milling around. “You are invited to stay and welcome back the other groups. They would enjoy your support. Although, I think, you four should get some food and go to sleep. I’m guessing you haven’t slept yet,” he winked at them.
Gavin headed straight for the Dining Hall. Maya followed him joking that he would eat a seven course meal if the food was available for it. Justin and Lucy followed at a slower pace. Lucy turned towards the stairs instead of entering the Dining Hall.
“Aren’t you hungry?” wondered Justin.
“Yes, but I also feel too tired to eat and too dirty to sleep in my clean bed. I’m going to shower first. If hunger outweighs tiredness at that point, I’ll come back for some food. Otherwise, I’ll go to bed and eat in the morning,” Lucy responded.
“See you later,” said Justin. He might be tired and dirty too, but he was going to eat first. “Careful, Gavin might not leave any food for you to eat if you wait until after your shower,” he smiled.
Lucy returned the smile, “That’s a chance I’m willing to take.”
Lucy walked to her room and began stripping off clothes as soon as she was inside. She unbraided her hair and worked a brush through it. If she didn’t brush it out before her shower, she would never get a brush through it afterwards. Then, she turned on the hot water, stepped in, and enjoyed the feel of the hot water running down over her sore and tired muscles. She reached for her shampoo and spent more time than usual lathering up and massaging her scalp. She also washed her body twice before she felt clean. Then, she just stood under the hot water with her eyes closed and basked in its warmth until she could feel her fingers pruning.
Lucy stepped out of the shower and toweled off. She silently thanked who ever invented toothpaste as she rinsed her mouth after brushing and mentally smiled at the minty aftertaste. It felt good to put on pajamas after wearing her clothes straight for so long. She brushed out her hair and pulled out The Many Wondrous Uses of Wondrous Plants to read while her hair dried. Lucy hated to go to bed with wet hair. It made the pillow wet, and that was unpleasant. Lucy paged through the book scanning bits and pieces but unable to concentrate enough for any focused reading. She had only scanned a handful of pages before there was a knock at her door.
“Come in, Justin,” she said.
“How did you know it was me?” Justin asked as he entered. His hair was wet and his clothes clean. He had managed to eat and shower in the time it took Lucy to shower. She had taken an extraordinary amount of time though.
“Who else would it be?”
“Darren?”
“Don’t start that. I’m too tired to argue about it. I invited you in, and I’ll throw you out.”
“You certainly could throw me out, but you won’t because I come bearing food,” he brought his hand from behind his back with a flourish. He was holding a bowl. “I brought you rice with some chicken, carrots, peas, celery, and onion mixed in. I had to beg to be allowed to leave the Dining Hall with a bowl an
d spoon and promise to return both right away in the morning. Admit it, I’m wonderful.”
“You’re wonderful. Hand over the food.”
Justin smiled and gave Lucy the bowl. His smile widened as he watched her attack her food.
“How much did Gavin end up eating?” Lucy inquired.
“I have no idea. He was dissecting a whole chicken when I left to go shower.”
Lucy laughed and almost choked on her rice.
“Really? You’re doing homework?”
Lucy shook her head and swallowed, “I needed something to page through while my hair dried. Then I was going to go to sleep.”
“I do have to ask. Did you enjoy that last challenge?”
“That’s a hard question to answer. I would have enjoyed it more if we had had more information. We did pretty well, but with more information, we could have planned better, brought more food, or, if we knew it would be longer, blankets to sleep or, if we knew it would be shorter, paced ourselves better. Why do you ask?”
“Call it mild curiosity.”
“I’d rather get a straight answer than suggestions on what to call your excuses to avoid questions,” said Lucy.
“That was harsh.”
“Was it?”
“To some questions, I don’t think you want or are ready for straight answers.”
“That’s beside the point. I’m ready for the answer to that question. You and Eric know more than you are telling, and I’m ready for some answers.”
“I would agree with you. However, as you pointed out, Eric and I know more, and Eric has said I cannot reveal more. You will have to wait.”
“Fine, but I don’t have to like it,” replied Lucy scraping the last of the rice in her bowl together for a last bite. “Thank you for the food.”
The Eye of Elicion: The Kinowenn Chronicles Vol 1 Page 26