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SUMMER
“Wha!” I shrieked, scrambling down the opposite side of the wall. I didn’t wait to discuss what we were going to do. The sun was about to wink out, and we still had more course to get through. Damn scorpions were not going to slow me down.
When I was close to the bottom, I jumped, landing on a scorpion head, smooshing it down to the ground. Before its tail could poke me, I jumped to another, using them like the rocks in the water.
I was not going to give up when we were near to finishing. The end was in sight, along with a nice long rest period where I could screw Adone all night.
It was ridiculous, but the scorpions seemed confused by me jumping from one to the next. They must be used to everyone screaming and running instead of attacking. But really, their heads were big and their exoskeletons thick. It wasn’t hard to use them like the rocks. As for their tails . . .? I did a lot of yelping, swaying, and darting.
Adone remained behind me, though he raced around the scorpions, covering my back. I liked how eager he was to protect me since I felt the same.
We reached the end of the desert stretch and Adone jumped up to the platform. I peered at him standing about ten feet above me and sighed. Grabbing onto the side of the structure, I scrambled up to join him, though he held out his hand to help me the last few feet.
“How far through the course are we?” I asked, panting. I stood beside him, feeling a hint of pride that I’d made it this far. I truly hadn’t thought I had it in me. Hey, Universal Council, what do you think about that? Adrenaline surged through me, making my muscles ache and my heart pound in my throat.
I peered over my shoulder at the setting sun. Damn thing. I hated how the time kept running out when we were just getting started.
“About halfway.” He shot me a grin, and I wondered if his thoughts mirrored my own.
I hadn’t enjoyed falling into the river with the giant snake-like thing, but otherwise, this was almost fun.
Ha. Like being kidnapped from Earth and forced to compete in a life-or-death game was fun?
Actually, it almost was. Or it would be if I wasn’t thirsty and hungry, and I didn’t have to worry about them killing Adone.
“Let’s go,” I said, easing around the barrier to see what came next. My groan slipped out. “Oh. This looks . . . Wow.”
Intermittently spaced stalks about twelve feet tall wavered in the breeze, planted in what looked like deep blue mud. The mud boiled, bubbles popping to release stinky steam. I had a feeling if I stepped on it, it would suck me down like quicksand and cook me within seconds.
Our destination waited about a hundred feet away, another platform. After that, it looked like we had three more mini challenges before we reached the final destination.
“How do we cross this?” I asked.
“Let me . . .” He jumped and grabbed onto one of the stalks. He clung as it swayed back and forth, before shooting me a grin. “It’s holding my weight.”
“How are you going to get to the next one?” It appeared about three feet away from him. Not a great distance but without leverage, how could he jump?
He scrambled up the stalk and perched on the top that wasn’t big enough for more than the ball of one foot. A hop, and he landed on the next. It dipped forward, nearly smacking into the mud, and he used the momentum to grab and pull himself onto another. Within a few seconds, he’d made it halfway across.
I wasn’t so sure I could do this. I’d changed my mind. This was not fun.
“Let me work my way back to you,” he said. “Then I can help.”
“I want to try on my own first.”
His gaze fell to the bubbly, steaming muck.
“I don’t intend to dip my toes in,” I said. “Promise.”
A smile flirted across his lips, but I had to hand it to him, he didn’t laugh. “That would not be wise.”
I scowled and fidgeted, but truly, I couldn’t hang out on the platform for long. We should be running through this course if we hoped to finish before sunset.
I leaped and latched onto the first stalk. My body slid, but I gripped the shaft with my knees and hung on while it swayed. Taking a cue from Adone, I didn’t pause but grabbed onto the next. Because I hadn’t jumped, it remained mostly steady.
“This isn’t too bad,” I said, shimmying up the stalk to the top. I stretched out to grab onto the next, and the stalk went with me. When my grip felt secure, I thrust off with my heels and smacked against the next, trying to tighten my hands around it while my body glided downward. Digging into the pole with my shoes made me come to a stop a bit too close to the bubbling gook. I swallowed and tried to control my breathing. My heart was poised to burst from panic.
Because I hadn’t jumped to this stalk, it remained upright. The one I needed to get to next was about four or so feet away. Adone still waited, his face filled with confidence. I wasn’t so sure about myself, though I refused to give into fear. We could do this. They wouldn’t assign a task we couldn’t complete, would they?
Sure they would. Burmoot appeared to be doing whatever he could to make this easier, though I had no idea why. The rest of the galaxy would be more than happy to watch us die.
One of the monitors kept pace with Adone, the other with me. It kept flying in close, like an irritating cluster fly, and tiny lights flickered behind its beady viewscreen.
“Blasting a pic of my pimple to the universe?” I snarled, wondering how the hell I was going to get from this stalk to the next. Heat rose off the mud, making my skin feel like it was melting. My sweaty palms kept slipping on the pole, and my muscles ached and spasmed.
After leaning away from the stalk, I shoved myself forward against it, and it swayed in that direction. Using my distant memories of the elementary school swing set, I used the momentum to get the stalk swaying. Yes. When I dipped forward again, I grabbed onto the next and hauled myself over to it.
I looked up to find Adone smiling.
Damn, but I liked making him feel proud.
