The Arena (Ultimate Soldier Book 1)

by Escalera, Tessa

  The dream Lila stopped for a moment and leaned over with her hands on her knees, gasping for breath. As soon as she could breathe normally again, she set off at the same fast pace. This dream was as unusually clear as the last...she could feel her heart pounding in her chest, the shaking of her legs from exhaustion, the soreness in all her muscles, the way her stomach clenched in fear. She couldn't hear any wolf noises, so that wasn't it. The sun was high in the sky and rays of light dappled the narrow path. A slight breeze, not enough to dispel the heat, teased the leaves of the trees. The dream self kept running, spurred by an unkown goal, running even though her legs threatened to give out, though her lungs gasped for air. Where was Seeker? Seeker was always with her, even in dreams. But the dog was nowhere to be seen.

  Lila woke so suddenly that her head immediately began to pound. The back of her shirt was damp, and a heavy layer of gray clouds blocked out the sun. A drizzling rain lay a misty blanket over the forest. A crash of thunder pealed through the air, which didn't help her headache any. Sighing, Lila got up and tried to stretch the stiffness from her joints. She walked over to Katie, who was still unconscious. A quick check of the ankle made Lila's stomach clench with disgust and fear at the sight of the rampant infection. She took the warm cloth from Katie's arm and wet it in the stream, replacing it on the young woman's burning forehead. The baby kicked when she placed a hand on Katie's belly, and Katie moaned, stirring weakly.

  “I'll be back,” she whispered, not knowing whether Katie could hear her. “I'll be back as soon as I can.”

  Katie weakly grabbed at Lila's hand. Her lips moved, but the sound was so quiet that Lila had to lean closer to hear. “Promise me,” Katie begged. “Promise.” Her head lolled back and her body went limp, her breath fast and shallow.

  Lila swallowed back the lump in her throat. Fighting back tears, she jumped up and grabbed her backpack, stealing a gaze at the darkness of the tunnel beyond the fire. She set the pot of stew near Katie's head on the off chance the young woman woke and was able to eat. For one single, horrible moment, she considered leaving all this behind, dropping everything and running back to the cave-in, to take her chances with the loose rocks. For one aching heartbeat, she imagined climbing out, seeing that new forest in its entirety, the possibility of escaping the wolves forever. I could be free of all this...forever.

  Just as quickly, she reclaimed her runaway thoughts and slung the backpack over her shoulders, taking one last glance at the still figure on the floor before heading for the ladder. She slung Seeker over her shoulders before heading down the rough wooden rungs and across the clearing into the gray mist.

  At the edge of the trees, she stopped to look back, taking one last glance at the yawning black hole with the ladder leading up to it. The rain fell across the clearing like a curtain, obscuring her view of the tunnel until it looked like something seen in a dream. Sighing, Lila settled the backpack on her shoulders and turned away, plunging into the forest.

  Chapter 5: Into the Storm

  The rain, which had grown into a downpour, had soaked Lila by the time she and Seeker had gone a hundred feet through the forest . Her hair stuck to her face and neck and her clothes clung to her skin, heavy with water. The only landmark she knew to look for was the little stream that ran from the Cliffs, past the mansion and on southward toward the plains. She carried the worn and faded map of the Arena that she had found in the mansion years ago. The Arena looked a bit like the three layers of an egg, with the Cliffs forming the impregnable shell, then inside that a thick band of forest with a roughly circular patch in the middle that formed the grassland Protector had called the plains. Lila's tunnel was on the very north side of the Arena. On the southwest side of the plains was a lake, and all the streams that originated from the Cliffs ran toward it. Lila's plan was simple, if more time consuming than she would like―she would follow the Cliffs until she came to the next stream, then follow it toward the plains. If she reached the grassland, she knew she had not come far enough and would follow the edge of the woods until she reached the next body of water. When she and Protector had left the mansion, they had made it several miles to the west of Lila's tunnel by the time the older woman had disappeared. When Lila had finally given her mentor up for lost, she had wandered in a daze, hardly caring if she lived or died, not bothering to hunt and barely eating or sleeping. She had seen the streams only as sources of water, not landmarks. By the time she had happened across the tunnel she had been hopelessly lost and more than half starved, certainly not coherent enough to know where she was.

  Since she followed the Cliffs instead of ranging south like they did when they hunted, she had to fight her way through a pathless forest full of saplings, vines and trailing branches that grabbed at her hair and shoulders. Seeker panted at her side, as the dog wove her way through the tangled undergrowth. The only blessing was that here in the trees the rain did not come down as hard. There was a constant drip-drip-drip as drops fell from the leaves overhead onto the thick carpet of leaf litter and dirt. The woods were silent but for the fall of water and the barely audible sound of Lila's feet against the ground. Even the squirrels and birds had the sense to hide from the weather, with only the occasional twitter of a finch revealing a bird that was braver than most. Lila hoped the muted sunlight coming through the clouds, along with the drenching rain, was enough to keep the wolves asleep for the day. Even so, she tread as quietly as she could and only used her knife to hack at the vines if she had no other option.

  After a few hours of struggling through the dense forest, Lila was sweating and panting despite the chill that her wet clothes imparted. She and Seeker sat in a hollow in the trunk of a massive tree that created a shelter just large enough for the two of them. Lila fed the dog a few bites of the food she carried, and ate just enough to quell the growling in her own stomach. The tree that sheltered them bore few branches until several dozen feet above where the trunk abruptly ended and spread into a concave platform with a branch emerging from the edge every few feet like the spokes of a wheel. Protector had called these Bowl trees, and taught Lila to spend the night in one of them whenever possible. Most of the trees were just big enough to hold a few people and supplies, but some grew to the point where they pierced the canopy and could hold an entire house―the purpose for which Protector said that the trees had originally been bred. Lila had never been able to figure out how someone “bred” a tree, though that was the exact word Protector had used. Something about rich people who had nothing better to do than build houses to suit their particular taste and whim. The bowls had often been claimed by birds, squirrels or even snakes, but dealing with any of these was far easier and safer than expecting to survive a night on the ground with the wolves, or trying to sleep while balanced on a branch in a normal tree.

  All too soon, Lila folded the food pouch and set it back in her backpack, settling the pack into place on her shoulders and twisting her hair into a knot on the back of her neck that she secured with a rope made of braided bits of vines. “Time to go,” she told the dog. Seeker yipped happily and licked Lila's hand. “At least one of us is enjoying this,” Lila rolled her eyes tolerantly at the dog, rubbing Seeker's ears.

  Thunder crashed overhead and the dripping of water turned into a rush as the skies opened. Lila found a deer path that led in the general direction that she wanted to go and they followed it between the tree trunks, heads lowered against the onslaught of rain, Lila watching the ground to make sure that a misplaced step did not result in a twisted ankle. The trees stood out starkly against the vivid green, their trunks darkened by the water. The cloying sweet scent of honeysuckle hung in the air, joined by the smell of dead leaves disturbed by their passage.

  After a while Lila realized that the rushing of water she heard in the distance was more than just the pounding of the rain on the leaves. The path twisted around the trunk of a massive Bowl tree and plunged down the mossy edge of a rushing stream that wound between deep banks. The water was too narrow and
rocky for Lila and Seeker to walk in it and small trees grew too densely on the banks for them to walk alongside. After several moments of trying to hack a path through the undergrowth a couple dozen feet from the stream, Lila found hints of an animal path that let them quicken their pace. The path was narrow, and the branches of saplings grabbed at Lila's arms as she passed, but despite this she was able to settle into a mile-eating jog. Winding through trees, jumping over roots, ducking under branches. Seeker trotted along behind. The rain did not let up, and the water streamed steadily from the leaves, making the day seem much cooler than it was. Lila hoped to reach the mansion―and if not, the plains―by nightfall, but the more time that passed, the more her optimism waned. The spaces had seemed deceptively small on her map. Protector had told her that the Arena was approximately two hundred miles wide east to west, and a little less from north to south. This meant that even if she were to travel in a straight line from the Cliffs to the edge of the forest, she would have to run at least ten miles. Even now with no grassland in sight she had already traveled farther and through worse conditions than she normally did in a day. Her legs were beginning to ache, one of her heels was raw and her shoulders were sore where the backpack straps lay. But she pressed on―Katie and the baby depended on her speed. She could rest when dark fell.

  Fortunately for Lila but unfortunately for the people she sought to help, the cloud cover caused the forest to start falling into darkness far earlier than normal. It was only a few hours past noon when the first wolf howl rose into the air and Lila was forced to quickly seek out a bowl tree big enough for them to spend the night in. She found one of suitable size within sight distance of the brook, and whistled to Seeker. The dog came bounding up, tail wagging as if she was glad for a chance to rest. Lila had noticed the dog's energy fading and felt sorry for the dog who had no idea why today's journey was so much more grueling than that of any other day. Lila picked Seeker up and pulled the dog over her shoulders, using a length of rope to secure Seeker to her shoulders. She grabbed the lowest branch and began to climb, using knots and swells in the bark as handholds when branches were scarce. As they passed higher into the tree, the rain was less hindered by leaves and fell more freely on her head.

  When they reached the top, Lila loosened the rope to allow Seeker to hop into the bowl before pulling herself up and over the rim. A squirrel chittered madly at this invasion of its space and Seeker barked, chasing it until it ran over the edge and disappeared down the trunk of the tree. The dog stayed peering down after it for several minutes, her long tail high in the air. Lila shook her head in amusement, pulling her pack open to find the food pouch. Here in the higher layers of the forest there were few of the surrounding trees close enough for their branches to provide any shelter from the driving rain.

  Lila fed Seeker a couple strips of deer jerky before taking one and a handful of berries for herself. Her stomach protested the meager offering, but she wanted to save as much of the food as possible for when she was more tired and would need it more desperately. She pulled a skin of water from the backpack and let Seeker lap some from her hand before draining the rest. She did not worry about saving any. They would refill it at the stream tomorrow. Wringing out the hem of her shirt in a vain attempt to feel a little less drenched, Lila had the depressing throught that the water in her clothes would probably keep her hydrated for a day or more.

  Even in the warm air the cold drops soon chilled Lila to the bone. Seeker's body curled in the small of her back was only a small comfort. Lila lay down with her backpack as a pillow, pulling her arms inside her shirt and curling up as tightly as she could. Despite her efforts she was shivering within minutes.

  Seeker tensed just a moment before a wolf howl split the air just below their tree. Lila elbowed the dog in the ribs before she could growl―no sense in bringing more attention to themselves than necessary. Another wolf answered, and soon the whole pack began to sing in a wild harmony. As a group they moved through the forest, the individual songs blending and becoming one. The harmony rose and fell, echoing through Lila's body, making her heart ache to hear the terrible beauty. The howls rose to a crescendo After a while she heard the pack grow silent and she knew they were stalking something. She only hoped it was not her scent they followed. There was a solitary bark, a loud crunching noise, then a pained yelping. The sound of a large creature crashing through the undergrowth came toward Lila's tree, and in the gloom of twilight she could see a large buck, his antlers dark with blood, come running past the tree. Hot upon his heels followed the wolf pack, and she could hear his loud snorts and an awful braying sound as he was overcome, the death scream of a deer. He was overrun by half a dozen wolves and soon all the buck's sounds ceased. Seeker let out a quiet whine, and Lila cuffed the dog in the ribs, hissing at her to be quiet. The dog groveled and licked Lila's hand, but stayed silent.

  It seemed like hours while Lila and Seeker huddled together, trying to stay warm, listening to the wolves' feeding frenzy. Finally they began to disperse, some of them more loudly than others. True dark had fallen at this point and the rain had all but stopped.

  Then they were gone and the forest was silent but for the quiet rustling of leaves in the wind. Lila curled up as tightly as she could, her back to the upward curve of the wooden bowl, Seeker huddled in the space behind her knees. Lila used her pack as a lumpy pillow and closed her eyes, trying to will her body to sleep.

  Lila slept fitfully, when she slept at all, and if she dreamed she could not remember the dreams when she woke. A few hours before dawn she was startled into alertness by a huge clap of thunder and her damp clothes and hair were drenched by a sudden downpour. The rain was so severe and unrelenting that even the wolves seemed to give the day up as a lost cause and retreat to their dens. After a couple hours of silence, Lila fed her companion the last of the cold deer meat, pulled Seeker over her shoulders and they climbed to the ground. She ate the last tuber and berries as they jogged along the narrow path. Her head throbbed with the lack of sleep and her legs complained with every step. She doggedly continued to run, pushing her waterlogged hair out of her face every few minutes.

  Alternating between walking and a slow jog, pushing on through the trees when the path veered away to the west, They came upon the grassland sometime around noon. There was no thinning of the undergrowth to signal the forest end, no dispersing of the tree trunks in front of her. The sun was beginning to peek through the clouds, turning the air hot and humid.

  The end of the trees was so sudden that Lila stumbled, catching herself on a sapling. For a moment, she couldn't focus her mind enough to do anything but stare. She had known what a grassland was, but the theoretical knowledge of all that open space was very different than the impact it had on a girl who had never been outside the forest she was born in.

  Besides the few trees that clung to the banks of the stream, the only vegetation covering the vast expanse of space was knee-high grass that rustled in the breeze. The sun beat down on Lila's head without any branches to block the rays. Despite the humidity, her clothes had already lost much of their dampness. Lila tugged at her shirt, the thought flashing through her mind that her clothes were going to be awfully stiff once they dried fully.

  It was so empty. Lila had never known that a piece of land could feel so open and exposed. There was nothing to block the sky, and her view of the land was unimpeded. She felt that if she just strained her eyes hard enough, she would see the southern side of the Arena, and the Cliffs that bordered it. She felt horribly unsafe out in the open, with no trees nearby that she could climb if needed. Yet at the same time she wanted to take off running, to feel the wind rush through her hair as she ran without the need to watch for trees or roots blocking her path. She could run until her heart and her legs gave out, and she would still not have crossed this wide land. In a way, it was just like the wolves―so beautiful it made her heart ache, yet so frightening that she wanted to run and hide.

  Shaking her head to bring her mind
back to the present, Lila filled her waterskin in the stream and soaked her sore feet for a moment, pulling handfuls of blackberries from a bush a few feet away. She wasn't overly fond of blackberries with their little seeds that got stuck in her teeth, but it was better than old tubers or wild apples.

  All too soon, it was time to go. Lila called to Seeker and they set off at a jog to the east, following the line of the trees. Her legs protested, the muscles threatening to cramp with each step. Her breath was jagged in her chest, stinging in her throat. The afternoon sun was merciless as it beat down on her head. Seeker was showing the effects too, with her tongue lolling out and stumbling every so often.

  Lila placed a hand on Seeker's head when they stopped to rest. “I'm sorry dear one,” she said to the exhausted dog. “We've got to keep going.” Seeker's tail wagged feebly and the dog licked Lila's hand. Lila hugged Seeker tightly for a moment before pushing herself to her feet and limping onward to the east.

  As the afternoon sun began to burn away the haze of humidity, Lila started to see hulking shapes on the horizon. They were red and brown like rocks, though far too square and regular to be anything natural. The shapes wavered in the heat like monsters lurking just on the edge of vision. Lila wondered if this could be Antoch, the ruined city of the Arena. Was this where Katie had come from? Was there anyone who regretted her loss, or was everyone in the city as hard and unforgiving as Katie said? It seemed that the last few days had brought a wealth of questions and disturbing thoughts, but no answers. For now, there was no time to wonder. She had to keep going if she wanted to hold onto the hope that she would see Katie alive again.