Aello smirked at her. "Spoken like a true queen. But let's see if your skills match your tongue."
Sam gripped her spear with her right hand and her bow with her left. And as Aello sprang forward into the obstacle course without notice, she remembered something crucial about her people.
Amazons always cheated.
Chapter 16
Dev held his breath as he watched Sam run to catch up to Aello. He'd known Sam was a fierce fighter, but this was without a doubt the most impressive display of skill he'd ever seen from anyone.
The first test was an open pit that had arrows shooting up from it in random spurts that had no pattern whatsoever. Aello hit it at a dead run. She launched herself into the air and flew to the other side as several of the arrows grazed her, but none did any real damage.
Safely across, she brushed at the bloody patches on her skin and kept going.
Sam took a second to put her bow over her head and shoulders so that it lay diagonally across her back. Tossing her spear to the other side where it embedded itself in the soil, she ran up a side bank and, jumping up, backflipped over to catch four of the arrows that the pit shot out before she landed on the far edge, facing him, right beside her spear. In one fell swoop, she winked at him, put her gathered arrows into the empty quiver on her back, and yanked her spear out of the ground. With a grace that the gods would envy, she turned and ran for the next obstacle.
"Damn," Fang breathed in awe.
Dev beamed as a wave of fierce possessive desire tore through him. "That's my girl."
Ethon scoffed at both of them. "Trust me. You ain't seen shit she can do. That was child's play"--something she proved well at the next challenge. There, they had to launch themselves up from a small springboard made of moss to land on single poles jutting out of the ground that were barely as big around as their feet. In fact, they had to stand on their tiptoes to fit. The only problem was the poles weren't stable and the moment their weight hit the tip, they wobbled, requiring superb balance to keep them from slamming down and crashing into sharp rocks lining the ground.
If that wasn't difficult enough, Aello attacked her as soon as she was on one, using her spear as a staff. With her own staff in hand, Sam countered the rapid blows that came so fast, Dev heard them more than he saw them. Sam shoved Aello back, then moved to jab her with the tip of her spear.
Aello danced to the next pole and renewed her assault.
Sam followed and the two of them created a frightening ballet of lethal skill as they moved down the line while fighting like juggernauts.
Dev's heart pounded as he feared for her. One sneeze...one subtle miscalculation and she would slam onto the rocks below and be killed.
Aello jabbed at her feet, requiring her to dance to one pole, then jump to the next. One pole crashed to the ground, splintering into pieces as the rocks rose up literally to devour it.
Without thinking, he took a step forward, intending to lend a hand.
The manticore in front of him reared up and forced him back. "Help her, Bear, and she forfeits."
And they would all die....
But it was hard to sit back and watch as she risked everything for them.
Sam landed a vicious blow to Aello's side. The Amazon wobbled and just when Dev was sure she'd go down, she flipped to the ground on the safe side. There, she ran to Sam's poles and used her spear to start knocking them down before Sam could reach them.
Cursing, Sam ran as fast as she could while maintaining her balance. As Aello knocked over the last, Sam caught it with her foot and literally rode it to land beside Aello.
With a cry of fury, Aello tried to stab Sam. Sam caught her wrist and head butted her, driving her back. She sliced at Aello's throat. The Amazon barely dodged it before she swung around with a cut Sam countered like pro. Then Sam lifted her leg and kicked Aello back.
Realizing Sam was the better swordswoman and fighter, Aello threw a dagger at her and ran to the next obstacle.
Sam caught the dagger and automatically moved to toss it at Aello. Dev saw her barely stop herself before she threw it. Most people wouldn't have had the integrity to do that, especially given the way Aello had been cheating.
But Sam was better than that. She refused the cheap shot and he couldn't be prouder of her.
Go baby...
The next obstacle had them climbing up a thick vine into a copse of trees they had to run across. The only problem was the trees were thin and some kind of prehistoric bird of prey that looked like a cross between a pterodactyl and an eagle kept attacking them.