84: The Field of Death

I awoke with a piercing screech and my hands outstretched in the air, almost reaching out. But my scream was cut short by a brisk wind and the slight wobbling of my legs. Before I knew it, my arms were flapping in the air, and I was leaning backward, almost about to fall off of the edge of this sliver of a rock I was on. I took a moment to catch my breath and then proceeded to stare right below me. Unfortunately, there was hardly anything to see but darkness. It would be a horrible way to die, or in my case, a horrible ordeal to survive through.
“Phoenix!” I heard a familiar yell to my left and when I saw the person to whom the voice belonged, relief shot right through me like an almost inappropriate sense of euphoria.
“L-Liam!” And a little further from him, standing on his own rock spike, Xavier, and next to him, David.
“Hey, what’s with the water works?” Liam asked with a light-hearted chuckle.
I lifted my fingertips to the underlids of my eyes. They were wet and warm with fresh tears.
“Why else would she be crying you idiot! She’s happy you didn’t die after the stunt you pulled last time.” Xavier yelled.
Liam chuckled and then winked at me with a smile. “I’m alright Phoenix. As long as you and Xavier are alive and breathing, nothing else really matters.”
“Oh, cut the mushy bullshit you two!” This came from Samantha who I could hear but not see as she was behind me. But I assumed she was on her own narrow rock spike, dangling there in the air like the rest of us.
“You don’t have to be a bitch about being single Samantha.” The voice to which this statement belonged, was Aaliyah, and I found a small smile appearing on my face.
“Is Felicity still with us too?” I asked.
“Right here!” She yelled out from behind me.
“Yeah, thanks to me! I wonder what sick and twisted game they’ll have us playing now. This sort of looks like the wind elemental room back in the training hall.” Said Jayden.
I nodded in agreement. It did look exactly like the set up they had in the wind elemental room. Only this time, these tall, narrow spikes of rock with flattened tops, seemed to span endlessly, and they felt more unstable and weaker than I would have liked them to be. In fact, I was sure that if I moved too quickly, the entire piece of rock would collapse into the next few and send this entire place collapsing into the dark abyss below.
Suddenly the ringing of a loud bell began to sound and Meera’s voice filled the air.
“Good morning survivors! I trust that you are all well-rested and revitalised! I will begin this round by announcing the results of the previous round. Out of the sixty-seven nobles, fifty-eight are alive and breathing. It’s a low number of deaths and disqualifications, in fact, much lower than we would have ever anticipated, but we have made a few adjustments to correct this. Today, as you can see, we are testing your strength in terms of the wind element. However, there is a twist! We have decided to test two elements instead of one. And so, we have combined both the earth and wind elements in this round. Each of you is placed on a narrow, tall, flat topped rock spike based on the order at which you finished the previous round.”
I realised, after she’d said this, that there was no one standing in front of me, nor anyone in front of Liam, Xavier or David. We were each in a row at the front. That meant that although we’d taken a long time to get to the portal in the previous round, we were the first few to make it through.
“You will all need to compete against each other in a race of sorts. We have thirty-five spots available. The first thirty-five to make it to the end of the “Field of Rock” will make it through to the next round. The remaining survivors will be disqualified.”
The Field of Rock? So that was what they called this Field of Death. I was certain that my name for this horrible place suited it more.
“Now, at the sound of the horn, you must begin.” Meera then paused a moment before saying, “Long live the eternal monarch.” And then, this time loud and clearly, she said, “And long live Diana Lorenzo.” It seemed she’d be making this a pre-game tradition, one which now left the rest of the nobles highly confused as they questioned who exactly Diana Lorenzo was. The select few who knew who she really was, however, spared me a concerned gaze which I decidedly ignored.
Within a short moment, the ear-piercing sound of a horn erupted, and this time, I was more than ready to win this round. Her little attempts at trying to psychologically get to me wouldn’t work. Not after the last stunt she’d pulled with those sadistic mermaids. And so I placed my right foot behind me, and leaned into it before launching myself onto the next rock. But just as I began to hit the air, the air hit me, quite literally. Soon I found my body flying backward, but it wasn’t just me who got caught up in the strong winds. Liam and Xavier flew back as well, crashing into the players behind them. I, on the other hand managed to twist my body-mid air and launched myself onto one of the empty rocks. Unfortunately, I wasn’t as graceful as I’d hoped to be and ended up snapping the shard of rock horizontally in the middle.
“Oh fuck…” I uttered as the rock began to sink beneath me.
“Phoenix!” Xavier and Liam yelled out in panic. But they were too far to help me out of this lethal predicament I’d gotten myself into. Instead, I’d have to think quickly on a way to get myself off of this broken spike. And so, in a swift, quick motion I launched myself off of the falling rock and into the air in hopes of finding myself in one of the strong currents of wind. Luckily for me, I launched myself into one which not only saved me but began thrusting me forward. I aimed for a few spaces ahead of where I was before, and outstretched my arms and hands as I braced to land. Once I did, I used my hands to push myself off of the rock and landed safely and softly on the one in front of it. I then looked back, over my shoulder and was relieved to see Liam and Xavier safe and a few spikes behind me, along with David who had dedicated his time to helping them move forward. He really was proving to be a great sportsman and a valued member of our little team.
“I’ll wait for you over here!” I yelled out.
“Move if you need to.” Xavier yelled back. But I was adamant on waiting for them.
“That was quite an amazing way to dodge your certain death. I’ve never seen anyone move that swiftly.” David said, once he, Liam and Xavier had caught up to me.
I smiled and thanked him before urging us to push on further. But it seemed our face-off with death was far from over as the ground beneath us began to rumble and the spikes we were standing on began to shake vigorously, causing my feet to slip against the flat surface of it. Suddenly, spikes began shooting up from the ground below us, but instead of being flat at the top, these were sharp and menacingly jagged, and unfortunately for some of the few unlucky nobles who were mid-air when they began to appear, these shard-like spikes were perfect for impaling, and the loud and pained screams of the impaled began to fill the air as a dreary reminder of the consequences of failing this round. Katherine had truly outdone herself this time.
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Yayy!! Liam and Xavier are safe and sound... for now.
Stay safe! Stay healthy! Sending my love!💕