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“Himureal must’ve felt benevolent today.”
Just as the sun starts to crest the sky, we pack the last of our things and prepare for the day ahead. My limbs are stiff, residual aches from the confrontation the day before, making them feel like lead. I must not be the only one feeling that way because Tulip groans loudly, stretching to loosen her limbs.
“What are you groaning about, Tulip?” Max calls out, checking the dressing on her hip. “You only got a cut on your face!”
Tulip sticks out her tongue at Max. “But it’s such a pretty face, and now it’s ruined!”
I glance down at my bicep, barely registering the pain anymore. My tinctures are good. I remind my companions to take another dose, placing small drops of the bitter liquid on their tongues, and then we head out of the cave.
We find a rocky, narrow pathway up the mountain, interspersed with moments of climbing the face of the mountain. On a break, when we catch our breath from a grueling vertical summit, Tulip asks, “How many more days until we get to the arena?”
Max wracks her brain, thinking back to how many sunsets and rises there have been. “I think three, maybe four if we keep up our pace.”
Tulip dramatically flops herself to the ground, an arm draped over her eyes. “I cannot continue at this pace anymore. We’re out of food! What kind of food are we going to find on the face of a mountain?”
Max gives me a look of agreeance, and I shrug. “Not sure, Tulip. But what choice do we have?”
She pulls her arm down and whines like a child as she says, “We could find the elevator.”
Max huffs out a laugh, and I crouch down, eye to eye with her. “That’s a myth, and you know it, Tulip,” I implore.
I haven’t thought about the elevator in many years. It was a story told to children, and that’s all it was. I remember Link, the only man I’ve ever loved, telling me he knew where it was.
I’ve always told myself he found the elevator, but that’s my own stubborn refusal to accept that he is dead.
Tulip shrugs and waves her arm. “Look around us, Lola. Everything’s a myth. The origin of the fae, Wendigos, seps… they’re all myths. And what have we learned over the past few days? Myths can come true.”
I sit back on my heels, absorbing her words. The cut from my brawl with Amio nearly healed thanks to a few choice salves, tightening with the flex of my muscles. There is no doubt some truth to what Tulip says. Since she told me of the origins of Ytopie, it’s been like an open wound in my gut, gnawing and thrashing for me to recognize its validity. I look to Max, who stands stark still. “What do you think, Max?”
Her arms uncross from their position across her chest, and her shoulders slump. “I think we continue upon our path, Vi. We’ve made it this far. The elevator doesn’t exist, and at this point, it’s unlikely we’ll even make it into the other ten. Let’s just finish the Race and go home.”
“You don’t even want to get to Ytopie anymore,” I say quietly. While her words have some truth, I still have trouble processing them. The fatigue that weighs our bodies down could pull us under if we let it, but I know I have more fight within me.
She shrugs at me with a pained glance. “Yeah, you’re right. But I have to finish the Race anyways.” We sit in a steely silence, broken only by our breaths and the soft song of birds.
I reach into my pack and pull out the carved talisman from my father, running my fingers over its smooth surface as my free hand taps a calming rhythm on my thigh. My stomach is churning with indecision. I rub my fingers vigorously along the stone’s surface, part of me wishing it could reveal what we should do.
My nerve endings are lit up with the inexplicable urge to go for the elevator. It’s like I can see a clear path to it in my mind, lit up with promise. I whip my glance between Max and Tulip, each waiting for me to say what I believe we need to do.
Max, my past, the woman I have spent more time with than anyone else in this world. She has always been my conscience, my guiding force. We’ve grown so much together, and she’s seen me at my absolute worst. I’m still not great, but I’m getting better. I attribute so much of that to her.
And Tulip, a new friend I never asked for. I did not want to bring Tulip with us at first, and now I cannot imagine not having her by my side. I feel so much attachment to her in such a short amount of time. In my life, I have always actively focused on avoiding attachments and connections with people. But Tulip barreled through trees and latched herself onto me, my defenses forgotten as swiftly as she arrived. She’s a beacon of sunshine everywhere she goes, and though I prefer to live in the shadows, she still pulls me into the light.
I slide my talisman back into my bag, and my fingers brush across the Witch’s Ladder again. It whispers to me, curling in the recesses of my brain.
I know what to do.
“We’re going to the elevator.”
Chapter 19
Zeph
Thepastfewdayshave been a whirlwind of covert operations and carefully planted sabotage, cementing in my mind that I was right to bring others into my plan. Plume, Loris, Nimh, and I have toiled tirelessly behind the scenes, orchestrating a series of interventions to level the playing field for the human Racers and ensure their collective arrival at the arena. The more people in the arena when we reveal the truth of the Race, the better.
Nimh, drawing upon her Gods-granted power as a Nereid, has ingeniously manipulated the water levels and created an abundance of streams to follow towards the mountain. In a particularly clever moment, she enlisted the help of the selkies, who have been appearing to Racers to subtly guide them in the right direction should they veer off course. The fact that the selkies are willing to work with her furthers the rumors of her heritage.
For my part, I have been harnessing light to expose lurking dangers hidden in the shadows. On several occasions, I have used wildfires to clear paths through dense underbrush, guiding Racers away from perilous routes and toward the safety of other groups.
