Don't be pushed around
by the fears in your mind.
Be led by the
dreams in your heart.
"Welcome one and all to the 6,335th annual competition to find a brave, beautiful, noble and fearless consort to our beloved dragon prince!" The voice shouted while the adience screamed.
I wondered how the host could keep his voice cool with what he just said.
I sighed, I could already see my death, I could already read what the tabloids will have to say about me.
Girl given black rose by quintessence dies before second level.
So I ask this question: was she really the best in her grade?
What did the quintessence see in her?
"Maybe this year our beloved dragon prince Remira would find his consort!"
The crowd booed.
The host sighed. "We will have to hope that this will be the last summoning to come for centuries!"
The crowd shouted "Hope to Laeta!"
"We have a celebrity in our midst today, our dear tutor, our beloved child, best friend, roommate, classmate, the one who was molested by the quintessence and lived to tell the tale-"
Someone snorted behind me.
"Our dearest Raven Kharhahlac."
The crowd went wild with screams.
"The higher they climb the harder the fall."
I pivoted to see the person who had talked. "Excuse me?" I was met with a tall looking Asian woman, she had bright green eyes, a round face and pouty red lips. Her was packed in a ponytail, she wore a tight fittin short leather gown with the edge stripped straight to her tighs.
She snorted and looked away.
I could already tell she was going to be trouble.
I turned forward and stared ahead.
"Contestants." The host began. "For the very first trial of the first level you are to go across the desert looking for a key and the moment you find it, a door will appear you have to then get to the door and open it using the key to get to the next level." He repeated what he said. "You have only 285 seconds to finish this trial, and of course, expect delays."
Okay here we go I breathed out my nervousness.
"And your time starts now!" A horn blew, the shouts of the crowd deafening.
But I stood and watched, waited to study my surroundings as others rushed by.
"Maybe you're smart after all." Someone said beside me. It was the Asian woman again, I ignored her.
"Oh shit!" I whispered, involuntarily stepping back on instinct. There were things, wriggle giant black wormy things coming out of the sand and swallowing those who couldn't escape fast enough or who didn't see them fast enough. I noticed the crowd had gone quiet, I couldn't see their expressions but I knew they weren't smiling.
I had to wonder if the prince had a heart at all with how he just let the girls die for entertainment when he already knew he wasn't going to be choosing anybody.
"Amateurs." The Asian girl snickered and then rushed forward in a burst of speed, her right and left hand holding two swords.
I took that as an incentive to start running.
How were we supposed to look for a key when we were busy fighting for our lives and in a dessert at that?
"Shit!" I gasped and reared back in fear as one of the worms appeared in front of me. My first reaction was to run but then I thought it was stupid to run and quickly summoned my chain.
It was fifteen feet long with sharp edges and a short spikey knife at each end, if I wasn't careful, it could cut me to. I threw the chain at the worm making sure to wrap it around the body tightly before drawing it back to me.
It screeched loudly in pain and tried to throw itself at me but I jumped out of the way.
"Hey Celeb!" A familiar voice shouted somewhere beside me. "You've gotta kill it to find the key."
How was I supposed to kill it when it wouldn't stop wiggling.
Every thing has a weak point, it's usually the eyes or the underbelly the voice in my head said.
You didn't think to tell me that before!
I could never give the voice a name, little me taught giving it a name would make it real, so as I grew up, it became "the Voice"
I studied the giant worm as I fought and avoided it.
It didn't seem to have an underbelly, nor eyes, it seemed to be attacking on instinct and…. Smell. If it couldn't smell me, it would be a lot easier to kill.
The voice in my head snorted. You're welcome by the way
I looked for anything that looked like a nose and saw two small holes on what I assumed was the face. I summoned my knife and jumped with a scream aiming for the holes.
It made a glop sound as the knife connected with it, it screeched and started trashing around but instead I continued pushing the knife in as it threw me every which way.
And then it fell to the ground with me on top of it. It took a heaving breath and then stopped entirely before disappearing making me fall to the sand with a loud hmph.
I stood up immediately and a small key fell to the ground in front of me I bent and took it then started running for the brown mahogany door that had appeared before me.
I made it with 23 seconds left.
The moment the door closed behind me I went to my knees and tried to calm my breathing. I didn't want to have a panic attack with people watching me.
"Here, have this." I looked up and saw the Asian girl staring down at me and holding a water bottle. I quickly collected it and had a long drink.
"Thank you." I said standing up and passing back the water bottle.
She smiled radiantly. "No worries, you humans have tricky upkeep."
I decided to forget how our first meeting went as I finally took in my surroundings.