Underland(35)

She stumbled and grit her teeth. Don’t cry. Just don’t. It was impossible not to look up when they ran, and watch the red teams catch up and take out anyone they caught.

Kira breathed a moment of strange relief. White runners weren’t the only target now. Everyone was.

A faun slowed in front of her as he stared in horror at the image displayed on the wall.

Kira almost plowed into him. “Run!” She maneuvered right to pass him and hit him on the shoulder. He stood absolutely frozen, distracted by what she assumed were gruesome images. Her heart thudded loudly, so she counted in her head to calm her nerves.

Her smooth path veered left and disappeared over a cliff. Whoa! She backpedaled, hands in the air. Her feet skidded as she almost tumbled over the hundred-foot drop. Down below she heard the pitiful cries and saw the odd angles of a few runners who hadn’t managed to stop in time.

Kira studied the cliff. It could be scaled, but it would take time—time she didn’t have. A red runner came up behind her, and Kira expected to be knocked over the edge, but he was only interested in racing. His arms morphed into giant eagle wings, and he flapped his arms a few strong times to gain a little altitude.

A crazy idea formed in her head.

She liked crazy.

She stepped back and gauged his distance. As he neared the edge, she paced him and leapt with him. At him, actually. She grabbed onto his uniform and joined him for the glide down.

“Let go!” He snapped his beak at her in frustration, his head and upper torso still in bird form. He couldn’t use his arms to knock her off, or they’d both tumble from the sky. As they descended, he lifted his booted leg and tried to shake her off. She felt herself begin to slip, but glanced down. They’d nearly made the hundred-foot descent.

If she fell, she’d survive. For at least a moment.

“Thanks.” Kira let go and tucked her body into a roll to ease her fall. Her landing was neither smooth nor elegant. Her back slammed into the hard rock, knocking her breath from her. Her chest and back ached. She saw stars. When she stopped rolling, she was lying face down on something soft, warm, and definitely unmoving.

***

Den had bitten his nails down to the quick as he paced the floor in the sponsors’ box. He glanced back up at the TV screen and then back to the field below. Kira surprised him. With the way the betting started to turn in her favor, she was surprising a lot of people. Her odds had just gone up.

And the commentators keep replaying the elevator rescue over and over. As soon as the elevator gate didn’t open, he looked over at Remus and knew. He had done something. He had paid, or manipulated someone, into jamming the gate in the hopes of killing the girl. Did he know Den had bet on her?

This time, if Den lost, he’d end up in the Gamblers’ Market as a slave.

One smug look from Remus, and Den knew that had been his plan all along. Remus sat in his chair across the room. His ringed fingers lifted and he pointed to the pit where Kira’d just landed. Then he made a slicing motion across his throat.

Sweat trickled down Den’s back. He looked back to see Bogeyman leap into the air to land on all fours in the pit, mere feet from Kira’s prone form. He bit his thumb harder and tasted blood.

***

Kira, able to breathe and move again after a moment, turned her head. Her arm was stained bright red.

Don’t look. She told herself. Keep going. She was about to push herself up when she heard something heavy land on the ground next to her. Instinct told her to stay very still.

Something huffed and scratched at the rock and bodies of the unfortunate runners who hadn’t survive the jump. At that point, Kira couldn’t have moved even if she wanted to. Fear had made her its slave. She closed her eyes and slowed her breathing.

The thing made its way over. Its claw moved across her body, and its horrid breath saturated the air around her as it leaned over her.

A faint cry of pain sounded in the distance and drew its attention away.

Kira opened her eyes and saw the heavily muscled back of the beast in a black uniform stalking toward the injured runner. Her gaze rose to see the shining white of a bald head. The bald thing rushed over toward the pained noises. Its large hand rose in the air and came down quickly.

The cries stopped suddenly.

The thing howled and moved further on its hunt.

More runners climbed down the wall, others jumped. The red and black teams had all run the course before—they knew about the cliff. A few had even teamed up to help each other.

The thing roared at them as they landed on the canyon floor. A few darted away as soon as they saw the beast.

Kira spotted a blur of black and yellow. Chaz was now ahead of her.

The other runners didn’t scare her as much as the beast across from her. She couldn’t stay. As soon as its back was turned, she jumped up and ran. She heard a loud howl, and the crowds cheered. She couldn’t help but look up and see the camera zoom in on the thing’s face—the stuff of nightmares.

A banner ran across the bottom of the image, its name and kill tally. That was the boggart—Bogeyman—and he had just finished off four at the bottom of the cliff. If she had stayed, she would have been just another kill, another number—five.

Up ahead, the course went into a darkened tunnel with no lights. The green light of another runner’s bands bounced as they ran deeper into the tunnel. Those lights wouldn’t turn off, she remembered unless someone was killed. Actually, they sort of created a beacon in the blackness. Not good.