Page 56 of A Kiss From Death
“You may begin.” The Illuminist gestures to the two of us, and everything fades to the back of my mind as I zero in on the one block between me and my safety.
Racing forward, I wedge my foot into the crevice where two blocks meet and hoist myself up. Flinging my hands up, I latch on to a block in the center of the stack that seems the sturdiest. Thankfully, the tower holds, and I continue my pursuit. I make quick work maneuvering around the blocks, avoiding ones that look off centered or wobbly.
I’m halfway up the tower when suddenly, my left hand slips on a simple side shuffle from sweat coating my palm. I squeal as pains pulses in my right shoulder from holding my dangling body. From this height, I wouldn’t die, but it still would hurt like hell.
My fingers slowly slide closer to the edge of the block as my feet aimlessly try and find purchase. I feel a bead of sweat roll over my forehead and down my nose, landing on the top of my lip, forcing me to taste its saltiness. I close my eyes and take a deep, calming breath. Looking down, I see the perfect crevice to wedge my flailing feet in and secure them under my body again, drawing my chest close to the tower.
Looking up, I count eight more rows until I can reach the block I want. Slowly, one hand at a time, I drag them each down to my leg to wipe them dry again, before I continue with my climb. Reaching the last row, I look over to see Aeron has already successfully pulled his block and is reading his question. I can’t hear what he’s saying over the loud screams from outside the Bubble ringing in my ears.
Twisting to lean against the tower, I slowly prod the block with my fingers, finding the best angle to dislodge it. At first attempt, it doesn’t move an inch. When I go at it from the opposite side, it slowly wiggles free enough for me to wrap my hand around it and slide it out.
I draw it close to my chest, catching my breath before going any further. Flipping it around, I read the words burned into its surface. I read it three times through in my head, just as confused as the first time reading it over.
“Out loud, contestant!” the Illuminist screams from below over the raging crowd.
Cursing to myself, I hold out the block and read it aloud, “What is so fragile that saying its name breaks it?”
What kind of trickery is this? I should have known the Empress wouldn’t have given us easy questions…but this? This is just nonsense. How does solving a silly riddle like this prove I’m intelligent? If anything, I thought the questions would be on the history of magic, the lands we live in, and ourperfectEmpress. Maybe some of them do contain questions like that, which, honestly, I wouldn’t know the closest answer to either, so maybe this is my best bet.
I assume there is no time limit to this, but I’m sure my competitors are not far off from scaling this tower just to throw me off at this point. My mind races a million miles a second, trying to latch on to anything. There’s too much noise around me, making my brain foggy and confused. Citizens scream while beating their chests and stomping their feet to a loud rhythm. It’s too much for me to focus. I just need silence.
Silence!What is so fragile that saying its name breaks it… The answer is silence. A huge smile takes over my face as I confidently shout my answer, earning a nod from the Illuminist.
I silently praise myself for somehow pulling that answer out of my ass. Who knew I had it in me? Chuckling to myself, I look upto the top of the tower and scout my path while figuring out how to carry the block up with me.
It’s only a short way to the top, so I decide to wedge the block long ways between my thighs and use my upper body strength to pull myself up another row. My feet dangle in the air, my legs gripping the block for dear life. Once my hands are both wedged in tight a row up, I reach one hand down and grab the block so I can wedge my feet in again for stability, relieving my one arm holding me up. With only two rows between me and the top of the tower, I decide I’m close enough to carefully hoist the block high above my head and slowly stack it at the top.
Grabbing the top of the block, I shimmy it up between my body and the tower, making sure if I accidentally drop it, I can still throw my body into it to stop its descent. Once the tip reaches the top of my shoulder, I pull it up and balance it on the top of my shoulder, making the very tip of the block go slightly higher than the top of the tower, leaning against it. Grabbing the bottom resting on my shoulder, I slowly push up, the top tip cresting over the upper row and sliding into place.
Not thinking, I look down and realize just how high I’ve climbed, making me dizzy. Shaking my head out, I realize climbing down is going to be a bit more difficult than the ascent, but not impossible, seeing as I’ve scaled down more buildings than I can count.
I make quick work of my travel back to the ground, looking down every now and then to scan over my competitors. Aeron is already safely back on the ground, and Jade is now scaling the tower next to me, making quick time with her tiny frame. Jumping the last few feet, my shoes hit the ground, and the tower remains stacked high above me. I look over to the Illuminist, who nods his head to Rayah for her turn to start.
Getting back in line with my opponents, I watch as Rayah follows my lead, climbing a decent way up the tower before decidingwhich block to pull. Reaching for one of the blocks, she goes to tug it free, but the block holds steady, making her arm fling back and knocking her unsteady. Her other hand slips, and she topples backwards, freefalling to the ground.
Letting out a loud gasp, my heart lodges itself in my throat as I go to lunge forward, attempting to lessen her fall. My feet stay planted where they are, though, no matter how hard I tug at them. Shocked, I look down and notice two shadowy black rings binding my legs together, rendering them immobile. A loud thud draws my eyes up as I see Ray’s small frame encased in a cloud of dust from harshly hitting the sand.
The dust clears, but she remains still for a few seconds before her body starts to wiggle the smallest amount. She lets out a loud gasp, drawing in her first full breath. She slowly sits up and tries to regulate her breathing. Looking down, I notice the small, barely noticeable black rings are gone, and I run over to my friend to check on her.
“Are you hurt? Can you move your arms and legs? Talk to me, Ray,” I beg.
“Flowers, that was both exhilarating and just plain painful,” she huffs out in a breath. “Remind me never to do that again, Nyxi. Do you think everyone saw that? My family is going to be so embarrassed.”
Grabbing her face in both my hands, I look intensely into her eyes. “Listen to me very carefully when I say this. Who gives a fuck what anyone thinks? You’re here and you’re doing the damn thing, and that’s a hell of a lot more than any of these people will do with the entire remainder of their pathetic lives, your family included. Now, what I care about is if you’re hurt or not.” I give her no room to object.
I couldn’t care less what anyone says about her, as long as she makes it through this round alive. This woman is sweeter than sugar and deserves the chance to finally have a life worthliving. She pokes around her body, wincing at a few places, but she shakes her head at me that she’s okay, making her vibrant pink hair bounce.
Helping her up, I brush the dust off her back and give her words of encouragement and tips on a few places I saw some easy blocks to pull. Returning to the line, I watch in awe as Ray makes quick work of scaling the tower once again, like she didn’t just almost fall to her death.
I notice Jade has pulled her block, and she must have answered correctly, because she is now placing it securely at the top of the tower. The back of my neck suddenly tingles, and I squirm uncomfortably. I drag my eyes back to Ray, and they snag on two piercing eyes that are undeniably solely focused on me.
Hade.
I should have known the second I saw the black bands holding me that it was his doing. He lives to control me in any way he can, which apparently extends to when and where my body can go. I don’t believe for a second he did it out of the kindness of his heart to protect me. He must have some ulterior motive behind the move, one I can’t name.
Flipping him off, I choose to ignore the beast and settle my focus back on my friend, shouting her words of encouragement along the way. She makes it back to her original spot but decides to pull the block to its left, which was one of the loose ones I pointed out to her. She then reads the question out loud for all to hear.
“What is the species of flower that resembles a white feathered bird taking flight?” Ray giggles to herself, making it seem like everyone should know the answer to this question. If I got this question, I would be shit out of luck, but seeing the sweet smile bloom on Ray’s face makes me confident she is certain of the answer.
