Page 54 of Powerful

This place really is the Pit.

Why am I in the Pit? I can’t possibly be in the Pit. Today must be the final Trial and—

Did I wake up in the final Trial? I couldn’t have… I mean, why would I be…?

I spin in a slow circle, struggling against the shackles binding my ankles together. My head is pounding from whatever it was that knocked me out, making my vision eerily hazy.

Thundering feet and growing cheers are my only indication that the Trial has begun.

So I stand there. Stunned and still and silently hoping this is all in my head.

Pae will find me. She’ll know what to do. She always knows what to do.

Sweat rolls down my face. My fingers throb. My head aches. My stomach growls.

Time seems to slow. I hear a muffled scream and spin in its direction.

That terror couldn’t have belonged to Paedyn. No, because she’s strong and safe and probably standing right beyond these hedges, about to find me.

Patience has never been a quality I’ve possessed.

493.

I’ve started counting the seconds out of sheer boredom.

My legs are shaking, feeling unsteady beneath me.

494, 495, 496…

I’m not sure what this Trial is supposed to be, but I’m pretty sure I have the worst seat.

It’s difficult to ignore my throbbing fingers, or the nagging thought that I was thrown into this Trial for a reason.

What could they want with a useless seamstress?

521, 522, 523…

Pae will win this. Her prize will be finding me.

Shouts echo from every direction, chanting names I can’t make out.

Do they know I’m here? Do they see me struggling to stay standing?

The world begins spinning around second 547.

My mouth is so dry I can barely swallow.

552.

Any second now. She’ll save me any second now.

The corners of my vision are creeping in on me, making it feel as though I’m looking through a long tunnel.

I just want to wake up so I can see the stars.

I’m so dizzy that I almost don’t see the figure running towards me.

‘Adena?’

---