Page 78 of Veiled Flames
I follow his gaze and my heart stops beating. Rosomon is standing ready to begin the course.
I thought I’d have more time. I start toward her, but someone tugs on my arm. I look down. It’s the kid who Rosomon befriended. Samyull.
“Get out, quickly,” I tell him. “You won’t survive this.”
“Master Saxon.” He raises his chin. “I have no wish to die today, but I do have a strong wish to remain here at camp, so I may serve Othrix.” He widens his stance. “My maid told me you might grant me the chance to turn recreant.”
“Last chance to leave the room,” Treacher calls out. The senior recruits start counting down from ten, and I crane my head to see through the crowd. Surely Treacher won’t allow Rosomon—the very smallest recruit—to run the gauntlet first.
“Please, sir.” Samyull says.
If the boy doesn’t leave this moment, he’ll be forced to run the gauntlet.
I open the door, and usher him through. “Wait here for me. We will discuss your status later.”
I re-enter the room, and a cheer rises up from the crowd. I push forward.
Rosomon has landed atop the first pillar. My heart rises to clog my gullet.
Almost immediately, she leaps again. Her legs split into a very long stride as she flies through the air toward the second pillar.
She lands. My heart is racing; my emotions mixed. I’m terrified for her. Sad that she’ll die. And yet I’m proud of her, and gratefulshe hasn’t fallen. The first two leaps are the farthest, but the pillars themselves grow smaller in diameter as they descend.
I have no wish to witness her death but can’t look away as she leaps again.
Thirty
Rosomon
Narrowly missing the flames, I land on the far side of the final fire-breathing crevice. The flames shot all the way across this one so there was no way to swerve to avoid them. But as I held the rope, I tucked up my legs and used my arms to pull myself higher, as fire scorched my backside.
Grateful I wasn’t burnt alive, I dive into a dark tunnel, crawling forward quickly and staying alert in case something comes flying at me from the sides. The tunnel is cylindrical, and the acrid smell of singed leather fills the air, but there’s no time to consider whether my backside is now exposed, or whether some of the burned skin smell is my own.
Something clanks, metal on metal.
The tunnel turns, tossing me to the right.
I land hard, then I’m pulled up its side and tossed down again.
Regaining my bearings, I crawl forward quickly, angling myself against the direction of the rolling tunnel. Its surface has ridges.They dig into my hands and knees but also help me to grip. I’m getting the hang of this.
The speed of the rolling increases.
My body flies up and drops hard, but I adjust, crawling almost sideways against the roll, hoping to avoid being tossed again as I progress forward.
In the total darkness, something wet brushes my face, and I startle at the disgusting texture that’s now under my hands and knees and brushing my face. This part of the tunnel is filled with long strands of some damp material. It’s repulsive, but I continue and soon push through a gap in a heavy curtain.
Standing, I blink to adjust my eyes to the light. Another tunnel lies to my left, one tall enough for me to walk through. But as I approach, a door closes its entrance. Before I can look for a handle or lock, the floor beneath me starts to spin.
I spread my legs as the floor turns, speeding up as it rotates.
I crouch down, tucking my head, hoping it will help with the inevitable dizziness. My brothers and I used to play a game where we’d put our foreheads on a long stick, run circles around it, and then laugh at each other as we tried to walk a straight line. I well know the dizziness this spinning is bound to produce.
The rotations slow, and I stand. The door to the tunnel is once again open, but my head is still spinning. And instead of a floor, the tunnel has a narrow beam above a very deep cavern. It’s impossible to see what lies below, but falling off this beam could mean death. I spot a ladder at the side coming out of the depths. That indicates it could be possible to survive a fall, but it would add a great deal of time to my finish.
I step onto it, considering how long I should wait to regain my balance. Speed counts too.
I hear a thump and then shouts from Egon behind me. He’s entered the rolling tunnel. The rules say that, if he catches up with me before I start any segment of the gauntlet, I must let him pass. No chance will I let Egon ahead of me.
