Page 39 of Wild Hunt
Before the vine could reach the unsuspecting Valkyrie, a blade sliced through it from the back rings.
Kore turned to look back at the other first year who’d sabotaged her attempt. Ingrid sailed across the finish line, with Daphne coming in second.
Interesting. Cali and Ingrid weren’t even on the same team.
In the past, the other students had been focused enough on their own performances in the Games that the unlucky Rabbit had a rare reprieve. It seemed that wouldn’t be the case this year.
It was just one of many events set up for the day, and the second years were next. I found myself zoning out since no one else really caught my attention.
To be fair, Kore captivated it for all the wrong reasons.
Loki finally came over at some point in the early evening and dropped down beside me. There were dark circles under his eyes like he’d been on another bender. “You’re here late.”
“It’s just the first year culling,” he said boredly. “Don’t tell me you’ve actually been here all day.”
I looked back to track Kore’s performance in the disc throwing event. At the moment, she wasn’t using her power, which was wise. The less other students knew about her abilities, the more effective they would be when she really needed them, and these first events were orchestrated so that no one really needed supernatural abilities if they had trained enough. They were tests of discipline and will, not power.
“Of course,” he scoffed, shaking his head.
“You can’t tell me you’re not the least bit curious about how she does. Her and Dionysus, at least.”
He shot me a withering glare, making it clear he didn’t appreciate the reference. “Where’s Hades?”
I shrugged. “How should I know?”
“Are you kidding? You’re literally his guard dog. Keeping up after him is kind of your job.”
I rolled my eyes. “Everyone needs a break.”
Loki sighed. “You two can’t keep this up. You at least have to talk to each other before we start competing.”
“I’m not worried. With a few notable exceptions, this year’s competitors aren’t exactly fierce.”
“Regardless, this can’t keep up forever.”
I just shrugged, not feeling up to arguing with him. Hades obviously wasn’t in any hurry to bury the hatchet.
Besides, the Games had only just begun.
Chapter 21
Kore
First came the sprint. Then, the discus throwing. I was beginning to think the Games weren’t going to be much worse than the preliminaries.
Then, the walls went up. I recognized the grid made of light, spanning the arena in a dome, and felt a familiar sense of dread wash over me. Training room exercises were always brutal, especially when Thor was coming up with them. Since it was the Games, it was probably a team effort.
The crowd disappeared as the walls filled in, forming a canopy of trees overhead. When I looked around, there was no way of telling I wasn’t actually in the middle of the woods.
“What fresh hell is this?” Dionysus muttered, backing up to me along with Daphne.
“Another sim?” Daphne sighed. “They didn’t do this last year.”
“Alright, gather round,” Thor continued, walking through the trees toward us. He had a grin on his face, making it clear he was enjoying whatever he was about to drop on us.
“As I’m sure you will notice, more of you made it through the early rounds than we expected,” Thor said, looking around at the relatively large gathering. We weren’t nearly what we had been at the beginning of the day, but he was right. I hadn’t expected quite this many people to have gotten through and I was nervous about what was ahead, since tomorrow it was the second years’ time to shine.
“In order to thin the herd, your teachers have approved a special kind of event,” he said with a terrifying glimmer in his eyes. “This forest is full of hidden dangers, and the challenge is to find your way through it and back to the finish line before anyone else, using whatever means necessary.”
