by Jayne Faith
I’d expected to have to walk for a bit and eventually board some sort of vehicle that would take us to the site of the contest. When the Obligates ahead of me turned into a small room not far from the throne room, I nearly stumbled as my shoes scuffed to a halt.
In front of us was the dizzying, blinding swirl of an open portal.
Akantha stood to one side and swept her icy gaze over us. “This is the way to your first challenge. To conquer it, you simply must survive the night. As soon as you pass through the portal, you are free to speak to each other. Let the challenge begin.”
11
Maya
A STIFF, COOL breeze hit my skin before my eyes fully recovered from the bright light of the portal. I took in strange smells and the touch of crisp air on my face. Blinking spots from my vision, I immediately noticed the low angle of the sun—it seemed to be evening wherever we were. I had no idea if we were still on Calisto or had passed through the portal to some other world.
There were a few spindly trees nearby. Old wood creaked under my feet, and I looked down to see that we stood on a platform that was fifteen or twenty feet from the ground. Strange calls of birds and other animals sounded all around us.
I whirled, looking for Orion. Finding him behind me, I clutched at his arm. “Will you team with me? Our odds might be better if we work tog—”
My hasty plea ended in a shriek as the platform under us snapped loudly and then tilted. My arms flailed as I reflexively struggled for balance and screamed again. Just before I pitched over the edge, a strong hand clamped around my upper arm and pulled me to safety.
I looked up into Orion’s blanched face. He had a hold on one of the support posts of the platform with one hand, and gripped me with the other.
“We need to get off this thing; it’s going to collapse any second,” he said.
I nodded breathlessly, vaguely registering his use of “we” and hoping it meant he’d accepted my proposition.
A terrified scream and plea for help came from the other end of the platform. The dry, splintering platform had broken away from one of the four uprights, but a scrap of a plank still hung on the post. An Obligate balanced on it, her arms wrapped around the post.
“Pull me over, please!” the girl was begging the nearest Obligates—Cheytan and Britta.
Britta started to reach across the gap to extend a hand to the girl, but Cheytan swatted her hand away. “Leave her! We can’t take any more weight on this side.”
Cheytan was probably right—many Obligates were on their hands and knees clinging to the floor planks to keep from sliding off as the platform creaked and sagged. Still, her heartless tone chilled me.
The other Obligates were talking over each other, wondering where we were, why there wasn’t a ladder down. A couple were whimpering or staring silently with wide, shocked eyes.
“Can you make it over to that branch?” Orion asked in my ear.
I followed his gaze to a tall, thin tree, and nodded. We shifted around so I was nearest the tree. I stood on the edge of the plank, balancing with Orion’s hand to steady me. The branch I was aiming for required a three-foot jump, which I knew I could make. My bigger concern was whether it would hold my weight.
The platform shifted again, the broken side dropping another couple of feet, and everyone shrieked. I grabbed the support post to keep from toppling backward, found my balance, and jumped.
My stomach hit the branch, my arms wrapping over it. The branch bent and bobbed under my weight, but it held. I quickly swung my feet up and shimmied toward the trunk.
Before I could move to the other side to leave the branch free for Orion, the platform cracked loudly. I turned to see Orion jump just as the plank below him gave way and the entire platform went crashing to the ground. He caught the branch with one hand but then slipped. I gasped as he fell, but he managed to grab the next branch down.
The tree pulled to one side under our weight, its trunk much more flexible than I’d expected. I scrambled around to try to balance out our weight.
Below, there was a cacophony of moans and screams. The Obligates who hadn’t already slipped off the platform had plunged to the ground when it fell, and the distance was far enough to break bones.
I squinted in the fading light. Through the trees a sliver of sun balanced on the horizon. Soon it would be dark. I looked around, trying to get a sense of the land. I caught a glimpse of a copse of trees about a third of a mile away that looked taller and much more sturdy than the ones that surrounded us.
I turned to Orion, who’d moved against the trunk. Our tree was still bobbing back and forth from the impact of his weight.
Before I could point out the trees in the distance, several fast-moving dark, bulky forms on the ground drew my attention.
Orion saw them, too. “What are those things?”
A giant hand seemed to squeeze my chest as I watched the creatures streak our way, straight toward the Obligates below.
I sucked in a lungful of air. “Run!” I screamed at them with everything I could muster. “Something’s coming! Run! Get off the ground!”
At least a few of them seemed to hear me. Some sprinted to nearby trees. Others moved much more slowly due to an array of serious injuries. One of the young men began climbing up one of the still-standing platform supports. A women lay on the ground with her arm twisted behind her at an angle that made my stomach lurch. It was Larisa. It looked like she hadn’t moved since she’d fallen.
The dark creatures came barreling in, and I watched in frozen horror. Two of the creatures went after Larisa. A couple of others chased Obligates who were still trying to get to safety. When I saw a flash of jagged teeth and a spray of dark liquid, I turned away and squeezed my eyes closed, praying that Larisa was already dead. My entire body began to tremble as the warm metallic smell of blood hit my nose.
“Maya.” Orion’s fingers dug into my shoulder. “We need to get away from here.”
I kept my eyes closed and shook my head violently. “We can’t go down there.”
“We can’t stay,” he said, his voice low and urgent. “Look.”
I opened my eyes and looked to where he was pointing. One of the creatures—it appeared to be something between a dog and a bear—had its front paws high up on the post where a boy was perched. The creature sniffed the air and then emitted a rumbling growl. It dropped back to the ground, but instead of slinking away, it gathered itself and then sprang into the air with surprising power.
It jumped high enough to nip at the boy’s foot, and he cried out and pulled himself another couple of feet up the post.
A new terror ripped through me. We weren’t high enough. I scrambled up a few branches with shaking, sweaty hands, but the tree’s trunk was too thin. It began to list to one side and then bend.
My mind raced as I clung to the trunk and swiveled my head around, looking for any escape, any greater safety.
“Orion, one of us has to get off this tree,” I said in a panicked whisper, not wanting to draw the attention of the snarling, snapping creatures. I pointed. “If we bend the trunk that way, I can jump to the next one. Then we can both climb a little higher.”
He nodded and came around to my side, and I crawled out onto a branch. We both threw our weight to my side, trying to bend the tree toward its neighbor. I leapt. Leaves and small branches whipped at my face and forearms, but I managed to hold on.
I turned to make sure Orion was still secure where he was. His gaze was cast down. Two of the creatures prowled around Orion’s tree, muscles rippling under their fur. Then one of them reared back and sprang. It didn’t hit anywhere near Orion, but the impact caused the trunk to jerk and swing violently.
Orion threw me a wild-eyed look as he hugged the trunk with his arms and legs. The two creatures prowled again, now circling my tree, too.
A strangled terrified scream ripped through the forest. Both of the creatures turned, half-rising on their hind legs, and then sped away toward the noise.
“Orion, there’s a better spot not far from here,” I hissed urgently.
I was already dropping down through the branches, my heart in my throat. I let go and flew down the last several feet, landing with a thud. I took off as fast as I could, heading in the direction of the copse of thick, sturdy trees I’d seen earlier.
When I heard pounding feet behind me, I turned only long enough to make sure it wasn’t the creature’s. Orion was a couple of yards back, and the boy who’d been on the post trailed behind him. I thought I caught a glimpse of one of the female Obligates following, too.
Sucking air into my lungs and pumping my elbows hard, I flew across the soft mat of dirt and decaying leaves. In a corner of my mind, I wondered if we were back on Earthenfell, if we’d passed through the portal only to be deposited in some strange corner of the Ten Protected Zones or maybe completely outside the shield.
But our location wasn’t important. All that mattered was staying alive.
Someone came up beside me, and I let out a strangled shriek of surprise and nearly stumbled to the ground. It was Britta, striding with an almost easy-looking gait.
“Where?” she panted, glancing at me.
I hesitated, remembering Iris’s warning. Would Britta betray me somehow? I decided to chance it. I pointed. “Those trees. We’ll be safer up there.”
When we reached the copse, I went right to the thickest tree, hoping Britta wasn’t going to try to challenge me for it. To my relief, she chose a different tree. Just as I pulled myself up to the first branch and swung my feet off the ground, Orion and the other boy raced up and began climbing trees, too.
Fragrant sap stuck to my hands, and I noticed these trees had bark similar to the conifers back home, but instead of needles they had long fronds that grew in bunches, like little hand brooms. I sent out a silent prayer that the sap wasn’t some sort of toxin like that of the poison vines back home. The last thing I needed was an inflamed, oozing rash.
When I got high enough to begin to feel some measure of safety, I paused to catch my breath and wipe my sweaty brow with my arm. The sun was down, but there was a bit of faint light left in the sky.
I began pulling at branches, bending them toward each other, twisting a few of them around and through each other to form a sort of loosely-woven seat. Not as sturdy as the nest Court and I had made in the orchard, but enough to cradle me so I could curl up and let my exhausted, shaking muscles rest.
I was tempted to call out to Orion but was too afraid of drawing the attention of the dog-bear creatures or any other predators that might be nearby.
I reached out, feeling for a small branch with enough heft that it might be used as a weapon but small enough that I could break it off. When I found one that seemed suitable, I held my breath and pulled at it. The crack as it snapped seemed to report out through the quiet forest like a gun shot. I froze, listening. The birds had silenced at some point, and I wasn’t sure what was more eerie—the quiet or the unfamiliar chirps and calls of before.
I stripped the leaves and smaller twigs from the stick, deciding that we definitely weren’t on Earthenfell. The creatures that hunted us, that had fallen upon Larisa and killed at least one other Obligate as I’d sped away, were not Earthen.
Clutching the stick, I felt the jagged end where it had broken off and imagined how I’d jab it into a creature’s eye or snout. But I was fairly certain the dog-bears couldn’t reach me. Their muscular bodies and sharp claws might allow them to jump to a low branch, but they didn’t seem agile enough to be true climbers.
As the hours passed, my adrenaline faded and weariness seeped deep into my bones. How long had it been since I’d slept? It had been late evening on Earthenfell when we’d passed through the portal to Calisto. Was it morning yet back home? Were Mother and Lana making coffee? Maybe Lana was already in the orchard, back at work after the weekend.
I pressed my fingers to my mouth as I imagined Lana going to work without me. Who was guiding her? I hadn’t thought of that part, only of making sure her quota was met. My chest tightened at the thought of someone else taking her elbow, walking her to the orchard and settling her under a tree with her canteen and skeins of dyed thread.
Sadness pulled at me and a heavy ache settled in my stomach. This was the first time I’d ever been away from home. I’d never imagined it was possible to feel this homesick. I’d never imagined I’d have reason to feel this homesick. But I was too exhausted even to cry.
I tipped my head back, trying to blank my mind, and watched as night darkened the forest. After some time, a spectacular swath of stars lit the sky enough to throw faint shadows. The beauty was comforting at first, until it struck me that I did not know these stars. They were arranged in unfamiliar patterns with none of the constellations I’d been taught to pick out as a child.
It made me feel even farther away from everything and everyone I loved. I pulled my legs to my chest, closed my eyes, and rested my forehead on my knees. I kept dozing and then waking with a start, my heart pounding.
When something rustled my hair, I mumbled, swatting at whatever was trying to interrupt my dream of sunshine and bergamine trees.
A sharp stab at my shoulder brought me fully awake, my heart thumping with alarm. Faint reddish-orange light was brightening the sky. I had no idea how long I’d been asleep. Or how long the night lasted there, for that matter.
Disoriented, I swiveled around trying to see what had jabbed at me. There was a rustle of movement to my left, and I whipped that way, brandishing my stick.
I saw nothing, and for a moment wondered if I’d been hallucinating.
A soft warbling drew my attention upward. A huge black eye peered down at me, and I let out a strangled scream and tried to scramble back. Just a few feet away sat the largest bird I’d ever seen. Its beak was as long as my arm, gracefully curving down to a point. Its wickedly serrated talons gripped its perch.
I flailed for a breathtaking second, nearly losing my balance before my fingers found a handhold.
The bird hopped down a branch, coming closer, and I froze. It peered at me with one eye, seeming to size me up, and then dipped its head toward me. I gasped and jerked back. I couldn’t take my eyes off the sharp point of its beak. One peck would probably crack my skull open like an egg.
Keeping my eyes on the bird, I blindly reached for another branch, aiming to creep out of the bird’s reach and hoping it would lose interest in me. I dropped my feet to a branch below and slowly lowered myself.
The bird hopped down a level, still peering at me with avian curiosity. A string of curses streamed through my mind.
Suddenly its head darted forward, the beak snapping. I jerked back, but not fast enough. The sharp sting at my shoulder shocked me into dropping my stick. It knocked through the branches below and landed on the ground.
The bird cawed and opened its long beak, and started to fan out its wings. I flipped over onto my stomach, kicked my feet around until I found a foothold below, and started dropping down through the branches as fast as I could go.
Flapping and rustling sounds above told me the bird was in pursuit. I screamed as it swished down with a flap of wings and raked at my arm with its claws.
In my panic I lost my handholds, and for a moment I was flying. I landed with a hard thud on my left side, bruising my hip and jamming my shoulder. Scrambling, I frantically searched for my stick. There! I grabbed it and spun, swinging out blindly.
The bird had followed me to the ground, and it wasn’t alone. Another one danced near me on light feet, its enormous wings spread. I swiped, and it hopped back out of my reach.
Then two more birds alighted from the trees. They were calling to each other, surrounding me in a shrinking half-circle of terrifying feathered creatures that stood as tall as me.
My heart in my throat, I edged backward toward the nearest tree, hoping to use the trunk to shield myself from the back.
One bird hopped and flapped its wings, darting straight for
me. I fell to the ground and covered my head, shrieking as white-hot pain exploded across my upper back. It came again, raking my shoulders and back with its claws, this time actually clutching me long enough to drag me forward several feet.
It wanted to carry me away, and I suddenly realized it was strong enough to do so.
I heard a voice, curses and hollering, but I was afraid if I looked up I’d get clawed across the face.
When the bird let me go, I finally dropped my arms to look. Orion, Britta, and the other boy were yelling at the birds and throwing rocks.
It seemed to be working. The birds were cawing and dancing around but had stopped their attack.
I ran in a crouch to the other Obligates, scooping up my stick and a couple of fist-sized rocks as I went.
The sun was nearly up now. My mouth went dry as I caught a clear glimpse of something through the trees. A dark shape, prowling my way.
“Orion, it’s one of those things, those creatures,” I said urgently over the noise of cawing and the Obligates’ hollering.
The birds had noticed, too. One took off with great whooshes of air as it flew away. A couple more flapped up to perch on low nearby branches, as if settling themselves to watch how we’d deal with this new threat.
I eyed the dog-bear. It was circling wide around us and sniffing the air.
“What do we do?” I whispered, my voice shaking.
“Three more, over there,” Britta said.
I heard the low growls before I saw the creatures.
Terror spiked through me. We couldn’t take refuge in the trees. We couldn’t outrun the giant dog-bears.
They circled closer now, baring their teeth at us. One of them lunged—not an attack, but just a test. I hollered and jabbed my stick at it, and it retreated.
There was a brightening point of light in my peripheral vision, but I didn’t dare take my eyes off the creatures.
Another creature lunged and snapped, and again I stabbed out with my stick.