Fatefall - 23

Chapter 23 - Adrian

Dusan laughed in my face the first few times I attempted to speak to him as an equal. I tried a variety of approaches: flattery, sympathy, secret conspiracies. Zara even tried seduction, and Dusan took one look at her and said that if she attempted it again, he’d kill himself out of disgust.

Adrian needed to have a talk with his father about making a fool of oneself. Of course, that meant actually speaking to his father, which he hadn’t done since before the Tournament started. 

Still, embarrassment flooded Adrian’s face with heat as King Hector delivered his speech regarding how the competitors should be honored that they were even allowed to participate. He went off on some tangent about his struggles during the Fatefall and Adrian knew he wasn’t the only one who’d nearly fallen asleep. Jett hadn’t even made it five minutes before he started snoring. 

He distracted himself by running through his mental checklist of supplies. 

Koda had showed up that morning with several wooden crates full of supplies. New uniforms---gold tops, dark pants and boots, lightweight jackets. Same bandanas as last time to tie around their arms or as they saw fit. He was glad masks were still permitted, although that probably wouldn’t last for much longer and sooner or later he’d be exposed. Adrian tucked that away to deal with another time. 

Their packs were filled to the brim with food and bottles of water. They’d also been given a variety of other items like blankets, lanterns, and even daggers. Daggers. Adrian couldn’t remember any Trial where competitors had been trusted with real weapons after the Qualifiers. No one wanted to risk competitors killing each other (when it did happen, everyone always ignored it) but handing out knives like candy seemed like the exact opposite of that.

You’ll be fine, Adrian assured himself. The survival supplies probably just meant that this Trial would be a little longer than the previous one. Nothing his team couldn’t handle. 

He tried to focus on his father’s story, feeling guilty for having zoned out, but his mind continued to wander until King Hector noticed the restless competitors. 

The king frowned deeply, as though offended that no one had truly been paying attention to his twenty minute ramble. He sighed, gaze roaming over the five teams gathered around him. 

Once again the teams had been given simple blankets on the ground, arranged in the vague shape of a star. At least this time there were no bottles of sedative present. 

“I suppose I should probably explain the rules,” King Hector said, more to himself than the crowd. He glanced at his wristwatch and paled, probably realizing that he’d wasted far too much time on his story. “Welcome, competitors to the second Trial of this Tournament of Fates. I must congratulate you making it this far--”

“Cut to the chase!” someone shouted, startling Jett awake. 

King Hector glared at the competitor. “The second Trial is a bit more complex than the first. It serves to remind us of how much work our soldiers put into defending our city and its people long before Fatefall occurred.” He paused, checking the time again. “Your goal for this Trial: survive.”

“Because that’s not ominous,” grumbled Nakoa, crossing her arms. 

“To the west of Xegalla lies a great deal of wilderness, explored but uninhabited. It’s mostly desert and forest, but in the midst of the land lies two checkpoints---at least for the purpose of this Trial. These checkpoints are safe-zones. One team will be able to occupy each of the checkpoints every night. During the day, the locations of these checkpoints will shift. It will be nearly impossible for you to find the same checkpoint two nights in a row,” King Hector explained. 

A sense of dread weighed on Adrian’s shoulders. He could tell his teammates were thinking the same thing as he was: what happened at night that made the checkpoints so important?

“You are free to wander around as you will, but at night five ‘Fates’---or carefully trained hunters---will be searching for you. Should they find you, your team is not automatically disqualified. There is always the option of fighting your way to freedom, though it may come at a cost. If any of your teammates dies or surrenders using the white silks that have been provided to you, your team will be Eliminated.”

“So it’s a glorified game of hide-and-seek,” Jett said, smirking. 

“What is it with you and games?” Adrian asked, recalling how Jett had said a similar thing about the First Trial. 

Jett shrugged. “That’s what this is, is it not? The Tournament of Fates---also known as the Graced Games.”

“Both of you shut up,” Nakoa hissed. 

“Surrender can be forced by other teams as well,” King Hector continued. “As soon as someone’s silk touches the ground---dropped by their hand---the surrender is official. In addition to the hunters, you will be pitted against the land itself and all of the dangers that entails. Are there any questions regarding rules to this Trial?”

Adrian ran over the rules in his mind. Hide from the hunters. Checkpoints are safe zones, but only one team per night. Surrender occurs when silks touch the ground. His hand drifted to the pocket of his jacket that housed his surrender flag, which was only about the size of a handkerchief. 

“Can we kill a member of another team?” called one of the competitors from the violet team. Was he looking directly at Adrian’s team? Adrian couldn’t tell.

Poppy tensed. Adrian wondered if she knew the competitor. Maybe it was Hunter.

The king took a deep breath, like he’d already gone over this with the Tournament judges and didn’t like the answer. “The short answer is yes,” King Hector said. Fear buried itself in Adrian’s chest as he realized that if the competitor who’d asked the question was Hunter, maybe he’d meant it as a threat to Adrian. 

Ridiculous, he told himself. Hunter doesn't know you’re a competitor.

“However,” his father continued, his voice sharp with warning, “murders that occur during the Trial will be punished as such following the end of the Tournament. If you kill someone from another team, be prepared to face appropriate punishment. Even winning won’t protect you from the gallows, so you have been warned.”

“But theoretically if I were to kill a competitor from another team, their team would be Eliminated,” the competitor pressed.

King Hector nodded reluctantly as whispers erupted in the crowd. 

Adrian shot Poppy a look, though to her credit she didn't appear to be afraid. Sage, on the other hand, seemed pale under his mask. He hadn’t been the same since the day he’d returned with Jett and the theory that his father was behind the kidnappings and stolen Graces.

Personally, Adrian didn’t believe that Franklin could be responsible for something so…low. He didn’t know Sage’s father as well as Sage did, but the few times that they’d met had been unremarkable and pleasantly polite. 

Though he couldn’t quite erase the image of Jett’s wide eyes as he showed the team the cut on his neck that he claimed Franklin had left. 

“Let me repeat myself: murders inside of the Trial will be treated as murders outside of the Trial. Just because you are a competitor does not entitle you to avoidance of the justice system altogether,” King Hector clarified. 

Not if they never figure out who the killer is, Adrian thought, and immediately regretted it. 

Some of the competitors rose to their feet, raising fists and demanding the weapons be revoked. King Hector bore these remarks with surprising ease, reminding the competitors that the rules were out of his control. Once the dissent had been dealt with, King Hector finally announced that they weren’t to be sedated for this trip. The competitors would board wagons outside the arena where they were seated and they’d be dropped off at the border of the Trial lands. 

Adrian tried to focus on keeping his team organized and all of their packs neatly arranged as they loaded into the wagon, but he couldn’t stop imagining all the ways this Trial could go wrong. 

And he couldn’t quite shake the feeling that when the competitor had asked about whether murder was allowed, his eyes had been fixtated on Adrian’s team.

Adrian’s knee bounced aggressively and he couldn’t figure out if it was a result of nerves or the bumpy wagon ride. 

His teammates were silent, though that probably had to do with the man assigned to read off the rest of the rules that the king had failed to mention. The hunters would start searching for teams at nine in the evening, and the hunt would pause at seven in the morning. Each team would be given a singular watch for the duration of the Trial. Fireworks would light up the sky each time a team was Eliminated. The man laid out the borders of the “arena” and explained that while they may have been closed off from society, the judges couldn’t be sure exactly what other dangers lay hidden in the wilderness.

Adrian watched his teammates, trying to communicate a strategy so when they arrived at their “drop-off” location (which would be different for every team, though supposedly it would be a fair distance for each of them), they could immediately begin looking for a checkpoint.

Sage played with the zipper of his jacket, moving it up and down until Adrian was tempted to slap the zipper out of his hands. Jett beat Adrian to it, resting his hand over Sage’s with a soft smile that turned Sage’s cheeks a bright pink. Nakoa stared at the wooden walls of the wagon, distracted by---if Adrian had to guess---the mysterious person she always visited in the evenings. And Poppy…her expression betrayed no hint of her emotions. Until she spotted Adrian watching her and offered a tiny smirk, like she’d caught him doing something illegal.

The wagon jolted to a stop. 

“Once the doors open, your second Trial has officially begun,” the man explained. “Good luck to all of you. May your Graces carry you to victory.”

Sage snorted at that, and then the doors swung open.

Adrian was on his feet a moment later, his pack slung over one shoulder as he burst out of the wagon and into the bright heat of the day. 

The wagon had dropped them right at the edge of a forest. 

To Adrian's left lay dense woods, the leaves of the trees providing a blanket of darkness. Eerie silence hung in the air, despite the branches of the trees visibly shifting. An illusion? Adrian couldn’t be sure, but it seemed oddly coincidental the forest ended with a very distinct line. 

Because to his right was the vast expanse of desert. Golden dunes of sand created an ocean-like appearance except there wasn’t any water in sight. The sun hovered overhead and Adrian could practically smell the heat radiating off of the sand.

He had the thought to check the wheels of the wagon to see if he could ascertain what kind of terrain they’d crossed to arrive at this point, but when he turned around, the wagon was gone. There were no grooves from the wheels in the ground either, like it had never been there to begin with. A shiver rolled down his spine. Or maybe that was sweat.

“What a lovely place for a Trial,” Poppy commented dryly, her voice uncomfortably loud with the silence that surrounded them. She peeled off her jacket and tied it around her waist, wiping sweat from her brow. “Fates, it feels like I’m back in Aecheral.”

“Happy memories,” Jett said, copying Poppy’s idea with the jacket. 

Adrian mimicked them too. Maybe their Aecherian background could be of use in this Trial. Adrian’s royal lessons hadn’t exactly extended to Aecherian geography, but he’d heard enough stories to know that most of Aecheral was consumed by deserts. 

“We need a plan,” he said. “Obviously, if we could find a checkpoint before nightfall, that would be ideal. Who has the pocket watch?”
Nakoa pulled the tiny device from her jacket. “We still have six hours until the hunt begins.” She handed the pocket watch to Adrian. When he stared at her incredulously she shrugged. “I have the Grace of Time, remember? Since I know the time now, I’ll be able to keep track of it on my own for a few days. A lesser known perk of my Grace that I haven’t found a use for…until now.”

“The real question is desert or woods,” Sage said as Adrian tucked the watch away. 

“Woods will be easier to hide in come nightfall,” Adrian reasoned, glancing at the constantly shifting shadows of the trees. “Plus it’ll be cooler and we’ll be more likely to find water.”

“But the desert will make it easier to see a checkpoint from a distance,” Poppy pointed out. “We’re also less likely to encounter beasts---and probably other teams, too.”

Which was a good point. He waited to hear any other opinions but found that his teammates were watching him. Like they were waiting for an order.

“Why are you guys looking at me?” he asked, flustered. 

“Because you always make the decisions,” Jett said. 

Adrian fell silent, trying to think of a time to prove them wrong. They hadn’t made that many decisions as a team… 

He shook his head. “What do all of you think we should do?”

“Personally?” Poppy said. “Jett and I are used to the desert climate, so it’s probably just my past speaking when I say I would vote to head out to the sands. Of course, I’ve lived in Xegalla for several years now so I’m probably more acclimated to living here now, but…” She shrugged.

“I’d feel safer in the forest though,” Sage muttered. “Well, actually I don’t feel safe at all. But hiding from the hunters at night will be easier in the woods.”

“All right, so what if we walk out in the desert a few miles and then if we can’t see the checkpoint, we’ll turn back and take refuge in the woods for the night,” Adrian said. “Does that sound like a plan?”

His teammates nodded. Adrian realized that, just as Jett had said, he’d made the decision for the team. But at least he’d listened to their ideas. Had allowed them to offer advice and voice their opinions. 

So why did he feel like he was becoming his father? And why did the thought make his insides feel coated with oil?

“Hey, look over there!” called Sage. “I think I see something!”

His shouts jarred Adrian out of his thoughts, and Adrian eagerly followed Sage’s pointed finger. He prayed to the dead Fates that Sage was right and there was something of value in this miserable desert. 

Adrian flicked a few sweat-soaked strands of hair off of his forehead, squinting against the sinking sun. 

“I don’t see anything…” Nakoa began, but then her voice cut off. “Wait, I see it too! There’s something reflective out in the distance.”

A sharp burst of light caught Adrian’s attention. Sage and Nakoa were right---in the distance was a tiny speck of something. Relief overwhelmed him and his knees nearly buckled. Thank the Fates.

Poppy and Jett, however, did not seem convinced. 

“Don’t you see it?” Adrian asked. 

“I see it,” Jett said, his eyes fixed on the tiny light. “I just don’t trust it.” He turned, facing Adrian. “The desert is known for playing tricks on people’s eyes. You see things that aren’t actually there. We’re all exhausted and dehydrated--”

“We can’t all be having the same hallucination,” Nakoa pointed out. 

“True,” Poppy said. “That light may be very real, but we have no way of knowing if it’s actually something worth pursuing. For all we know, it could be a sparkly rock.”

“It could be a checkpoint, though,” Sage reminded them. 

Adrian pulled out the pocket watch. “Time check, Nakoa?”

She closed her eyes for a moment, and then announced, “We have two hours, fourteen minutes, and thirty-two seconds until nightfall.”

“Thirty-six seconds,” Adrian corrected under his breath, amazed at Nakoa’s accuracy. 

Her eyes flashed open. “Your watch is four seconds behind.”

“The point is that we don’t have much time before nightfall,” Adrian said, tucking the watch away again. “So once again, we’re faced with two choices: head back to the woods for the evening, or follow the light and pray it’s a checkpoint.”

“We’re about an hour’s walk from the light,” Jett estimated. “Give or take thirty minutes.”

“Not enough time to make it there and back to the woods if something goes wrong,” Sage said. “We might not even make it back to the forest at this point. Our pace is sure to have slowed. It’s a gamble either way.”

“Don’t ask me,” Adrian said before his teammates could look at him. 

Poppy sighed. “I have no idea which way would be better. We’re far enough out in the desert that tomorrow morning we’ll have a good chance of spotting a checkpoint. But, of course, that’s if we survive until tomorrow morning. Our survival chances are better if we can make it back to the forest, but then we lose what progress we made today.”

“We could always fight off the hunters,” Nakoa offered. 

Jett scoffed. “We have no idea how well-trained these hunters are. They might be street urchins like me, or maybe royal guards, or maybe even assassins. Not to mention they’re Graced---and obviously powerful enough to warrant a position impersonating the Fates themselves.”

And, of course, they all looked to Adrian at that point. 

He ran a hand through his hair, his insides twisting. He was hungry and tired and hot and he just wanted to get home. Not to mention the sunburn that left his skin raw and painful to the touch. 

Maybe it was exhaustion speaking when he said, “I think we should go for the light.”

“You realize how horrible this sounds, right?” Poppy said. “We’re going to go towards the light. People say that when they’re dying--”

“Well is the afterlife cold? Because I would die for a block of ice,” Adrian grumbled. 

“Hey, and I’d kill for a block of ice,” Jett commented dryly. “So we can both get our wish.”

“We head for the light,” Nakoa said, stepping forward. She put her hands on her hips. “Worst case scenario, it’s not a checkpoint and we have to use Jett’s Grace to hide ourselves for the evening.”

“Umm, my Grace won’t work against a Graced of Void or Deceit,” Jett said. “And it’s highly unlikely a Graced of Life or Soul would fall for an illusion either.”

“We’ll figure it out later,” Adrian said. “But right now? We walk.”

And so they did. The sand shifted under Adrian’s boots and his head was spinning enough that he nearly toppled over several times. He tried to picture what kind of food and water and ice they might have at the checkpoint. He was practically drooling at the thought of it. They kept pushing onwards as the sun slid towards the horizon. 

Adrian crested the hill overlooking the light first and--

“No checkpoint,” he breathed. The light reflected off of a dented metal shield half-buried in the dunes. He dropped to his knees, hugging his arms to his chest. Fates, he’d been a fool to think the light was a checkpoint.

He’d led his team astray, and now they were going to pay for it with their Graces--if not their lives.