Page 79 of Veiled Flames
I take two tentative steps forward.
A swoosh of air lifts the hair off my head, as a heavy log crosses in front of me. It comes so close I’m forced to lean back to avoid being knocked off the beam. Ahead in the tunnel, more logs swing across, and I pause, trying to spot a pattern. This time, there is one.
Counting and gauging the distances between each swinging log, I let the sequence play out three times before starting again. I didn’t come this far to be knocked off this beam.
I take three steps forward. The first swinging log passes behind me, just as another swings ahead. I pity candidates like Egon whose bodies are thicker. These first two logs were positioned very close together, swinging back and forth about four counts from each other.
I wait for the second to swing past again, then rush forward beyond the third. Once there, I stop abruptly, knowing the fourth will swing past almost immediately.
It swoops in front of me, nearly knocking me off balance, but then I step forward, easily getting past the final three and out of the tunnel.
The next section is the rope I saw Tynan and Burchard climb. Knowing I’ll need my legs to push off the silvered glass wall toavoid the arrows, I climb using only my arms. Rope climbing without legs is more difficult than I expect, especially after all I’ve endured these past days.
Both my arms and back scream in protest, and my hands burn from the rough rope. I consider wrapping my legs around it for relief, but spot the first arrow coming toward me. Pushing off the glass with one foot, I swing to the side. The arrow misses me. Using my legs, I stop my swing and keep climbing.
Another flaming arrow flies toward me, and then another. I avoid them all but can’t hold onto this rope for much longer. I dare not look up from the silvered glass to see how much farther I need to go.
My hand strikes what feels like leather. I shift it from the rope to find stone. I’m at the top.
But now I need to get myself off the rope and onto the narrow ledge.
Trusting there won’t be any more arrows, I wrap my legs around the rope.
Using my legs to assist my arms, and digging deep for energy stores, I push down on the platform and will myself to ignore the pain in my shoulders, in my back and arms, all of them protesting that they have nothing left.
I hoist myself onto the platform.
My body is trembling from overexertion, and I’m so lightheaded it’s hard to see. This ledge is very high, and only a few spans wide. And I remember that slabs of rock will shoot out as I progress. It’s dark up here. The area is shaded from the light that comes through the roof’s opening, and the wall is black.
Below me, I hear what sounds like a splash. Is there water beneath that beam? If Egon fell, there’s no risk he’ll pass me before this section.
I wait a few moments. Nothing happens. I take three tentative steps forward, wondering if my steps will be what triggers the thrusting stones. There must be a pattern. Some kind of clue. Surely this gauntlet isn’t designed to kill at random. This gauntlet is meant to test courage and skill, not luck.
Taking more careful steps, I move forward.
Something clicks, and I spot a slight groove in the wall just ahead. I step back as a large slab of stone shoots out over the ledge. I lean back, and it barely misses me.
Continuing, I keep my eyes and ears open and manage to hear and spot every opening before the stone shoots out.
There must be people behind the wall, waiting to trigger the stones when I get near. That’s the only explanation I can fathom, but at least the mechanism they use has an audible catch.
At the end of the ledge, I jump forward and grab onto the pole. My hands burn as I slide down it more quickly than seems safe or wise. But my arms refuse to slow my descent.
I land so hard my teeth crunch together, making me dizzy again. But I step away from the pole, ready to face whatever perilous test awaits in another area we couldn’t see from above.
Ahead, I spot the rope ladder that leads up to a platform from which I can leap to the first of the high bars Tynan swung across. But the bottom rung of the ladder is too far up to grab. Too far for any of us, not just me.
To the left lies a pile of rocks and boulders. Am I meant to pile them?
Seeing no other way, I quickly start moving the largest rocks, using my entire body to carry the biggest ones that I dare. Then I start tossing smaller ones on top of the base. Soon, I have a precarious pile.
I hear a grunt and, glancing up, I spot Egon dangling from one of the protruding stones. I suck in a breath. But he manages to get himself back onto the ledge and continue. I can’t waste time watching him.
I stare at the rocks I piled, wondering if it’s high enough, and also if Egon will be allowed to use the fruits of my labor. If so, starting first was not the advantage I thought. But there’s nothing I can do about that now.
I race forward and scramble up my pile of rocks. Some of them tumble back down beneath me, but I leap off the top and catch the bottom rung of the ladder with one hand. I pull up and crook one elbow over the bottom rung so I can raise myself high enough to climb the unstable ladder.
Below me, five of the senior candidates are quickly undoing my rock pile, moving them back to where they were.
