Page 78 of Trial of Thorns
“Well, you almost achieved that. He’s out cold.”
“He’ll be fine in an hour or two. Our bigger problem will be getting through the task while he’s like this.”
Tyadin purses his lips. “Why not just leave him, then?”
“He’ll die if we leave him, and then my rebellion would be for nothing.”
“Hide him somewhere? So he doesn’t make it through the first day of the challenge but lives to tell the tale?”
I consider this. It’s not a terrible option, even though I doubt it would work quite like that. He won’t be giving up. So, when he wakes, he’ll have a little more time to adjust before he faces his new enemies, but he’ll still face them out of pure stubbornness and refusal to give up on the competition.
Four to one.
He’s still likely to die.
Besides, there’s one more aspect to consider.
“Without him, we’re two against four, and that’s if we stick tightly together. With him... our chances rise significantly.”
Tyadin looks around like he’s examining the entire competition in the few miles around us. His expression falls as he turns back to me.
“Regretting all your life choices, aren’t you?”
He signs. “Pretty much.”
“Well?”
“Help me carry him to the well. We’ll see if we can get him to complete the task. I’m running for it, though, the moment the others wake.”
I nod. Fair enough. “One step at a time it is.”
Tyadin grabs Rev under his arms, I grab his ankles and together, we awkwardly carry him the final mile to the first trial task. We grunt and groan, muscles tense with effort as we stumble, sweat dripping from every inch of our bodies under the overbearing desert sun.
“This alliance thing seems overrated,” Tyadin says as we finally drop Rev’s limp body beside the red glowing well.
My face is as red as the sand on my feet when we finally fall down. A half hour of our cushion time is already gone. We need to complete the task and move away from the area as quickly as possible. Luckily, Rev got less of a hit than the others so he should rouse sooner. And the others will still need to complete the task, which should slow them down even more.
Now, all we need to do is figure out a way to get an unconscious male to complete the task...
Tyadin is on his feet first, he grips the brown paper hanging from the bucket above and reads it aloud. “First Task: Drink from the well and make a wish using a single word.”
I purse my lips. That’s deceivingly simple. “A one-word wish?”
“This well is renowned for fulfilling wishes in... unpleasant manners.”
I bite my lip, considering. That’s unsurprising, but it means that legitimate consideration should be taken when making the wish.
The first thing to come to mind is redemption—exactly what everyone thinks I want, and even though it’s true in a way, I don’t trust it. There are too many ways to define that word. I don’t want to be forgiven because I don’t forgive myself.
I could wish for something simple like self-preservation. But then I imagine being trapped at the bottom of the well alive but tormented for all time. Nope, definitely not that one. Victory, but one word isn’t enough to clarify. Victory in what? Victory in a race off the edge of a cliff?
Tyadin pulls the bucket up and gulps down water eagerly. “Friendship,” he says.
I nod. Friendship is simple enough. Difficult for that to go wrong.
Taking the bucket from Tyadin’s stalky fingers I fling it back into the shadows below and heave it up one slow pull at a time. It shouldn’t be a challenging task, but at the moment my arms rage in protest. Using all of my magic in one blow isn’t something I’ve ever done before. It’s not something any fae would ever suggest because it takes hours to recharge, and that leaves us extremely vulnerable.
In this case, it was worth the risk knocked all of my enemies unconscious. But if Tyadin decided to take me out? It would be easy for him. If the task had been to defeat a magical creature? I’d be done for.
