Thud! This was the fifth time Riya fell off the broom but she was determined. Sure it was a fast means of transportation but it was not exactly comfortable, only a few people of Belarus could ride a broom.
She could hear the laughs, Hayden was laughing at her from the comfort of his transportation. His means of travel was so weird. She could never imagine herself traveling In a box with circles under, what if the circle broke?
"Anytime you're ready. The doors are open." Hayden shouted from the opening of the car, he was amused that a powerful being like Riya was still backward with technology, in her words the more she learns the more powerful she becomes.
"Shut up and lead the way." If she knew the place she would have teleported there and not make a fool of herself.
"We're almost there" he shouted trying to overcome the noise caused by the car on the forest floor.
"You don't need to shout, super ears, remember?"
"We just need to stop and take down the barrier" he told Riya but she didn't listen she flew past the barrier, breaking it like it was a piece of cake, leaving everyone astonished.
"Well there goes our maximum security." Hayden scoffed he drove in.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~🌺~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Is this the best you've got?" Riya asked looking at the fresh room with disgust, it didn't have that homely feeling, the smell of blood that had been washed out.
Hayden scoffed "The last I checked your house was not any better." He was clearly angry that she broke his barrier. If he wasn't afraid of death he would have brought his pet lion to scare her. But the poor pet would just end up dead.
"But since you like being in the wild so much I'm sure you would be happy to know that this luxury is just for the night. You people would be purged out of this place into the woods by tonight." He took a sip from his cup. "Isn't that exciting?" Cruelty always excited Hayden.
"I would love nothing more."
"Get ready, you'll be meeting your opponents soon and you'll also be thrown out of this room you hate so much." He left his glass on the counter, Riya knew it was one of his temptations, she sensed the poison in it ever since he walked in.
"Before I forget, I have a favor to ask, you'll like this one" he smirked before whispering the one thing I like doing in my ears…getting rid of pests.
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"Get ready!" Hayden's head appeared from the door.
"It's show time. Aren't you excited?"
"About what? The fact that you are invading my personal space? Yeah." She scoffed fixing her hair, not that her appearance mattered but it had to be perfect for her cloak. Which would be on her till she finished the race. She couldn't take the risk of people seeing even more of her.
When she finally arrived at the door, the last door she would walk through before everyone invaded her privacy she took a deep breath and stretched her hand to open the door but the breath synchronized with hersthe Muggle assigned to her was quivering.
"What!" She asked rudely, giving her a once over as she strapped the mic on.
"Nn-nothing." She wasn't used to this, it was either they ran away screaming and looking for their masters or she killed them before they get to run. She shooed the Neophyte away. Just when she was about to change her mind and maybe call her back for a little snack she heard Hayden's voice.
"Introducing contestant number 1, Riya, one like no other, The only Qyshol you would never see and live to tell the tale...for now. Perhaps she got bored of snapping the lishas' necks and thought she would do a little exercise in this contest. Perhaps being the strongest person ever is not a gift after all, or maybe she is lonely." all could hear the smirk in his voice, when on air he acted like he didn't know her, he said it's being professional.
He took a sip of the liquid in his cup, everyone knew it wasn't water but no one would risk telling him and losing their heads. "Contestant number two, don't let his name fool you he is nowhere near the light, the only one who can stand up to a qyshol...at least close enough to get killed in an exciting way." Everyone cheered, they cheered not because he was their favourite but because someone would get killed in the long run.
"I present to you, Korren the xincta!!"
He walked out pretty confident about himself, like he wasn't scared the Qyshol would kill him.
"The other contestants are not worth calling their names, a waste of my breath, they can come out whenever they like. I am only here to watch the battle between these two" The xreo who would also be acting as the judge announced while he batted his eye at the contestants.
"This is the run!!!!!!" The crowd erupted, everyone breaking anything or anyone in their way.
.
.
.
The other contestants shamelessly came out, mumuring under their breaths about how wicked and disgusting he was.
"Stupid xreo"
"The xreo doesn't get more rotten"
"No he is more rotten than the maggot"
"I don't know who made him a presenter, he probably threatened them."
"A waste of his breath? He is a waste of my hearing capacity."
"If he were here he wouldn't survive 2 days."
"May he be struck with 7 different lightning bolts!"
"I heard he is doing this not because he wants a good show, not even for the money but because he wants to kill the audience for food... especially the males."
"Silence" Hayden's voice boomed. It was obvious, he loved the attention but he loved even more the audience he was gaining and he wouldn't jeopardize it with mumurs of him killing the audience.
"The first dimension you will be travelling to is the glacier dimension. It isn't exactly in the right state right now but you'll find out when you get there." A mischievous smile surfaced on his face.
"The artifact you will be looking for is called the crystal mask. It is the most prized possession of that dimension so it won't be a very easy task. The mask is said to hold the power to see the future and slow down time, anyone wearing it is said to be unbeatable. The people of that dimension would guard that mask with their life so be careful" he looked away when he caught Riya looking at him.
"...not that I care I just don't want my show to end quickly. Everything you would need for this dimension is in that duffel bag, In it you will find a cot and other things essential for the mission but I think the cot is the most important thing there. It is about -100 degree Celsius there. I think I have said enough. My mouth is starting to hurt. The portal is about to open, put on your mics and brace yourselves." Hayden said while yawning.
"let the race begin." there were no violent outbursts this time, everyone held their breaths as the the contestants moved, eyes mostly in Riya, the ten contestants were guided to a pool in the middle of the stage, this was no ordinary pool, it was pitch black with a whale in it, the whale occupied so much space yet so little at the same time. A drop of blood was fed into the whale's mouth, the drop looked like a grain of sand in a desert, just when everyone was getting tired the whale burped, emitting a poisonous gas.
Riya fanned her face scrunching her face at the bad breath before turning and noticing that 1 contestant was on the floor.
She grabbed a stick and touched it to him, *poke* "hey" no response *poke poke* "you still alive?" no response.
Riya moved 2 feet away from the body, pretending not to notice that there was a dead body near her, she telepathed to Hayden that a contestant was dead and almost immediately Hayden shouted into his amplifying device,
"Our contestant has started her killing spree already and she did it without anyone noticing." He said in a sing song voice.
"I didn't kill him" she telepathed.
"And I don't care" Hayden telepathed back, the end of their conversation.
"Save some of the killing for when you get into the Glacier dimension" he shouted for everyone to hear and laugh to which they obliged.
Riya made to enter the portal as soon as most of the gasses dissipated
As she approached the shimmering portal, its iridescent colors seemed to pulse with an otherworldly energy. The air around her appeared to vibrate, like the hum of a harp string. The portal's surface rippled and undulated, like the gentle lapping of waves on a summer lake.
As she stepped closer, the edges of the whale's mouth began to glow with a soft, ethereal light. Colors began to form and in less than 3 seconds they deepened as a light hum was heard from the other side of the portal, the colors became more vivid and intense, like a rainbow on fire. The hum grew louder, resonating through every cell in everyone's body.
Riya felt a strange, tingling sensation, as if her molecules were being rearranged to match the portal's vibrational frequency. Her heart raced with excitement and a hint of fear, no one knew what to expect from the other side, not even Riya. She raised a hand, hesitantly, and touched the portal's surface.
It felt like silk, smooth and luxurious, but also alive. The portal seemed to welcome her, enveloping her hand in a warm, comforting embrace. She felt a sudden jolt, like a burst of electricity, in no time she got over her doubts and she stepped into the portal, the light clouding her vision for a moment.
When her eyes cleared, she found herself standing on the other side, in a world unlike any she had ever known.
The portal's magic still lingered, a tingling sensation that seemed to echo through every fiber of her being.
Contrary to what Hayden had portrayed the glacier dimension was hot, it was a deserted land, the heat glazing each contestant's skin.
~~Belarus Dimension~~
"I don't know if it's sheer luck or because our Qyshol was among them but they made it successfully." The crowd cheered even though they did not know what he meant by that, most people got disfigured or cut up by wraiths when they travelled dimensions, only 3 successful multi dimensional travels had been made but he was able to pull it off I one try, it was probably why that contestant and 10 people from the audience died.
Riya did not know this but thankfully she played along.
~~Glacier Dimension~~
"Is everyone complete?" One of the contestants asked.
"I don't care, I'm going to start looking, the faster I get it the better." He took a step north before he disintegrated into a blood mist.
"And then there were 8" a redhead spoke, apart from Riya she was the only other female in the group.
'Citizens, please wait till the curfew has been lifted before attempting to move out.' a voice sounded from a speaker miles away.
'Curfew will be lifted in 3 hourglasses' another voice sounded.
"Well, what do we do? We've got 3 hourglasses to spare." The redhead spoke again. "I have an idea, why don't we introduce ourselves, let's get to know ourselves before we try to kill each other." She pulled a water bag from her duffel bag, chugging on it like her life depended on it, not caring that they had only one bag of water each and each bag was the size of a heart.
"Let's start with you" she pointed at Riya, "the infamous Qyshol" she smiled but Riya could have sworn she saw a glare behind that smile. It was expected, Hayden made them worthless when he did not Introduce them.
"Are you listening?" She said again when Riya said nothing but instead looked into the surroundings, feeling for predators.
"Hey! are you listening?" She pointed her bag at Riya but the bag slanted forming a 7 making Riya stifle a laugh.
"Is that supposed to scare me?" She asked, letting out a chuckle.
"You're female?" Another person spoke, shocked that her voice did her power no justice.
"No, I was born with this voice and male parts." She replied as she dragged the cloak forward, covering as much of her face as it can and also hiding the humourous look on her face. This is the most she had ever interacted with someone who did not know her identity, were all beings like this or was it just the ones in Belarus, they believed anything she said.
"Oh, I'm sorry brother." The male said feeling sorry for her.
"Hello? I'm still here" she waved her bag. Riya ignored her, she was not ready to give out her info on live broadcast.
"Will you do it?" she pointed to another person who has rotten teeth.
"I'm okay with anything to take away my boredom." He said
"Will you?" She asked another
"I'm down if you are" he gave her tight fitting clothing a once over. Pervert, Riya labeled him mentally and adjusted her cloak.
"Will you?" She pointed at the Xincta.
"Well someone has to do it since the Qyshol is afraid to."
"Who said I'm afraid?" She asked the Xincta-korren was his name, Hayden had mentioned it.
"Then will you do it?" He urged.
"I do not fancy it." Riya tried to brush it away.
"Like I said, afraid." He smirked as Riya let out a low growl.
"Fine. I'll do it." Riya obliged, it was more of a challenge than a game, Qyshol's were never afraid, they could do anything and she would prove that to him.