Page 50 of Run of Ruin

I shook my head. “Well.. sort of.”

Briar’s smirk grew, a knowing look crossing her features. “You made a map, didn’t you?” she said, her voice filled with impressed amusement.

I couldn’t help the small surge of pride that bloomed in my chest.

“I did,” I admitted, a quiet confidence settling in. “I mapped out the whole trip in my head while I was falling. It’s all right here.”

Thorne’s eyes widened, his jaw dropping slightly. “You’re incredible.”

Briar chuckled, but there was a softness in her expression,a rare warmth that made my heart race just a little faster. “That’s impressive, Hollis. Really impressive.”

“Hell yeah it is. Who knows... maybe we actually stand a chance at winning this damn thing,” Thorne said, sauntering onward with that cocky swagger of his.

I tried to ignore how his use of the word “we” hit me. How it made my chest tighten in ways I wasn’t prepared to deal with. As we pressed forward, the weight of it stayed with me, but I kept my focus on the path ahead.

By the time nightfall came, we were working like a well-oiled machine. The tasks had become second nature. I gathered firewood, Briar ventured off to hunt, and Thorne set up the chutes between the trees, turning them into makeshift tents. If it weren’t for the fact that we were in the middle of the Reclamation Run, I might have even enjoyed myself. Being in nature, alongside them, it was a surprisingly peaceful feeling.

Briar had a deep reverence for the forest that I couldn’t help but admire. There was an artistry in the way she moved through the woods, as if the trees whispered to her and the breeze carried stories only she could understand. She taught me to listen to the birds, not just to hear them, but to decode their songs, to recognize their calls like a hidden language. She read the tracks of animals with that same kind of reverence. It was a deep thoughtful connection, a bond between her and the forest.

I watched her, captivated, and saw how she hummed to herself as she worked, her voice so quiet it was like a breeze among the leaves. It wasn’t something she did consciously, I don’t think. It was just a part of her, like breathing. The melody seemed to flow from her without effort, a soft tune that blended with the rustling of the trees and the distant calls of wildlife. It was as though the forest itself was making music,and she was simply giving voice to it. I began to realize that this was her art. Her gift was not only her connection to the land, but the way she could pull harmony from it, without even trying.

I found myself longing to hear her sing again. The night around the fire, I was captivated by the rawness of it, the emotion woven into every note. There was something so real, so genuine in the way she sang, it was beautiful.

Meanwhile, Thorne was a walking encyclopedia of the wilderness. He eagerly pointed out different species of plants and creatures, explaining their unique properties, and his enthusiasm was contagious. I had always been good at learning quickly, but Thorne’s mind, his knowledge, it was incredible. And in those moments when he let his expertise shine through, there was something undeniably beautiful about him.

The fire crackled between us, and I couldn’t help but notice how the flickering flames cast shadows across their matching, yet entirely different faces, how their dark eyes sparkled with excitement as they spoke and playfully teased each other. It was strange how, even in the middle of this chaotic trial, these small moments made everything feel like it was going to be alright.

My heart tightened at the thought of Ezra, a wave of missing him crashing over me. I forced myself not to let the fear take hold. The fear that he wasn’t okay. Briar had told me about the man from Ironclad who never even made it to the ground alive, and I pushed the image of Ezra meeting a similar fate out of my mind. But at night, when everything was quiet and we were all drifting to sleep, his face was the only thing I could think about.

A selfish part of me hoped he was still looking for me, but I also hoped he hadn’t stayed behind to do so. Maybe we’d runinto him soon. We hadn’t encountered any other Challengers yet, but we had stumbled across a campsite earlier that day. The embers of the fire were still warm. Whoever it was had gotten ahead of us, but not by much.

I tried to convince myself it wasn’t Ezra to stop myself from using what Briar had taught me about following tracks and racing after him.

“If all goes right, we’ll probably reach Praxis by midday tomorrow,” I whispered, my eyes closed as I updated our location on my mental map.

“How desperate are we to get out of these woods?” Thorne asked, his gaze expectant.

“What are you suggesting?” Briar replied, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, I don’t know about you two, but I’m getting pretty tired of sleeping on the ground. Not that your company hasn’t been delightful,” he added, sending me a quick wink. I smiled back, appreciating how he always seemed to lift the mood with his words.

“You want to hike through the night?” Briar asked, cutting to the heart of her twin’s rambling.

I glanced between them.

“Maybe we’ll catch up to whoever’s ahead of us. It would be nice to have the train come more often. I hate how infrequently we can get to the Center, and you know you do too.”

“What’s the Center?” I asked.

Briar broke her gaze with Thorne and turned to me. “It’s like a trade hub in our Collective. We bring our hunts there to trade for food, supplies... trouble is, it’s a several days’ hike on foot.” She chuckled. “Not unlike this one.”

“The train would get us there in a few hours, tops,” Thorne said, a gleam of encouragement in his voice. And I saw it the moment it flashed in Briar eyes. Determination.

They were done just surviving the trial. Now they wanted to place.

I refused to hold them back. I was content keeping a steady, easy pace when I was sure none of us cared to win this trial. But now that they did, I wouldn’t give them a reason to blame me. I stood, grabbed my pack, and tossed over my shoulder, “Well, what are we waiting for, then?”

I heard them scramble behind me, cursing as they put out the fire and stamped it out. Their jogging footsteps quickly followed as they caught up.

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