Page 76 of Veiled Flames
Tynan grabs the rope for the second crevice, and flames shoot up from the gap’s center. He pushes off harder with one leg, crossing the space in an arc and narrowly missing the flames. The rope swings back at a different angle leaving it swinging wildly.
Burchard has entered this section now. He stops and retreats, needing to build up his running speed to make a second attempt for the first crevice. I watch as both men continue. The flames rise in different places for Burchard but he successfully crosses without being burned.
The distance between the two men expands, as they continue over four more crevices. Each time flames rise from a different place, and the rope is often swinging when Burchard makes his approach. The key to surviving this part of the course will be based not only on our individual performances, but also on whomever we follow.
I wonder if I can volunteer to go first in my pair. It seems to be the favored position, and therefore no shock that Tynan claimed it.
Tynan crosses the final gap, then disappears from view. Several of the other recruits run along the viewing platform as ifexpecting some kind of secret way to see inside the tunnel Tynan entered, and I take the opportunity to move to the spot where Tynan and Burchard started the course, hoping that will make it easier for me to go first.
Tynan has yet to reappear, but a thumping sound rises from below. This gauntlet terrifies me, but I’m even more frightened by the idea that my chance of surviving might be dependent on whomever I follow—especially if it ends up being Egon.
Burchard enters the tunnel, neither man is visible for a while, and then a sound lifts my gaze.
Tynan is climbing a long rope at the far end of the space. As he climbs, senior candidates are firing flaming arrows directly toward him. In front of Tynan’s rope lies a wall of silvered glass, and he watches it carefully, pushing himself off with his feet to avoid being struck.
One of the arrows bounces off the silvered glass, and I realize that the arrowheads could be rounded. But even if the missiles might not pierce the skin, they would undoubtedly bruise, and the flames would burn if they hit anything beyond leather. I make sure every strand of hair is tucked inside my riding cap.
Tynan reaches the top of his rope and uses his strong upper body to hoist himself smoothly onto a platform.
Burchard starts to climb a second rope. He springs away from an arrow just in time, but when he starts climbing again, hand over hand, an arrow strikes him right between his shoulder blades.
A bell sounds. Burchard’s body jerks in response, and flames cascade down the leather protecting his back. Burchard’s hands slip. He drops close to six spans, at least his own height, but he regains his grip and starts climbing again.
Tynan is now walking along what looks like a very narrow ledge, several stories up from the floor.
He stops.
A huge block of stone shoots out from the wall in front of him, then it retracts. If Tynan had moved another finger width, the stone would have pushed him off the high ledge. He starts moving again.
Several more times Tynan pauses or jumps back to narrowly avoid being forced from the ledge. What is the secret to this part of the course? There must be a sound or a pattern—some kind of warning. What is it?
Tynan finishes the section and then leaps forward off the ledge. Grabbing a long narrow pole, he slides down it into another area not visible from above.
Burchard has reached the top of the rope and starts along the ledge. I observe his progress carefully, comparing it to Tynan’s. There is no set pattern. The rocks shoot out in different places and at different intervals than they did for Tynan. For Burchard, the second rock shoots out a mere two spans past the first, and then a third doesn’t appear for another ten.
If there’s no pattern, the warning must be a sound.
Tynan reappears on a ladder, climbing back up toward the ceiling. The ladder is made of rope and it’s twisting and shifting to make it very unstable.
When he nears the top, he stretches forward and grabs onto a bar. Holding the bar, he swings, arching his body to gather momentum, and then he releases it. He flies through the air and grabs a second bar that’s lower and forward from the first.
Tynan’s skill and athleticism are impressive. He may be spawned from cruelty, but his command over his muscular body astounds me. As he grasps the lowest bar, I realize that it’s situated over a large open pit so deep I can’t detect its bottom even through my looking tube.
On this final bar, Tynan takes four long swings, his long body arching and piking, and then he releases the bar and sails easily over the pit, rolling as he lands and then fluidly running forward.
Tynan steps onto a platform containing a bow and arrow, and I lean forward over the railing.
Several targets are swinging back and forth, others are rising and lowering. Again, there doesn’t seem to be a set pattern.
Tynan cocks an arrow, but just as he’s about to shoot, the platform he’s standing on lurches to the side. As if prepared for the possibility, Tynan quickly adjusts his aim, and his arrow strikes one of the targets, remaining lodged there.
He cocks another arrow, and this time, just as he’s about to shoot, the platform rises a few spans and a ball of fire flies toward him. He ducks under it, and still manages to release his arrow, hitting another one of the moving targets.
The fire lands in what I now see is water beneath the platform. Burchard releases the final bar, but lands with his weight on his heels. He stumbles back, windmilling his arms, and he barely catches his balance at the edge of the pit.
Shaking his head, he races to leap onto a second platform that’s parallel to Tynan’s.
Tynan, rapidly strikes his last two targets, leaping over a fireball as he shoots his last arrow.
