“You will race in five heats of ten flyers. The best times will advance; the worst times will fail. I will pick the flyers for each heat.”
I quickly moved away from my friends, hoping Hermes didn’t just put a group together by proximity. I didn’t want to race against them. Despite my tactic of moving around, I ended up in a group with Lucian, Ren, Marek, Mia, Revana, Diego, and three others I didn’t know well.
After Hermes described the race route, we lined up on the starting line on the ground. Part of the trial was how fast we could produce our wings and shoot into the air. Thank the Gods, Lucian and I had a done a lot of practicing.
Hermes stood in front of us, his arms raised. Then he dropped them, shouting, “Go!”
My big, black wings popped out of my back in seconds, and I was air born. Lucian was right behind me, with Revana, Ren, and Mia shortly behind him. The others took a little longer to get their wings out, and then they flew into the air.
It was now a game of follow-the-leader, and I was in front. Lucian kept up but stayed a little behind me, and I wondered if he was protecting my back from Revana because I knew she was going to come for me given half the chance. In the air away from prying eyes was the perfect opportunity.
I soared past the first spire over the citadel and was swooping around the north towers when I risked taking glancing behind me. Lucian was still on my tail, but Revana had gained some ground. She was wing to wing beside Mia. Ren was a little bit behind them.
She must’ve known I was checking for her position because she edged in closer to Mia, her wing flapping against the other girl’s. She was trying to knock Mia out to get my attention. Well, it was working. I slowed my pace a little, intending to drop back, but Lucian saw what I was planning and shook his head. He came up beside me.
“Don’t play into her games. Keep flying.”
I looked over my shoulder again to see Revana violently bumping into Mia. I wasn’t having it.
“You take the lead.” I could afford to fail a trial. I folded my wings in and dropped back like a shot to where Revana and Mia flew. Revana’s eyes nearly bugged out when she saw me.
“You want to mess with me, mess with me, not with my friends.” I shot out my wings and did a spin around her. The force of it knocked her off balance, and she fell behind. I nodded to Mia. “Get in front of me.”
She did, and we flew in a triangle formation, Lucian in the lead, Mia, then me and Ren along the side. Revana was right on my tail, but my huge wing flaps were too forceful for her to fight against. She couldn’t get any speed around me.
By the time we flew around the towers and back to the finish line, Lucian was already touching down. He crossed first, then Mia, Ren, me, and Diego had managed to come in alongside with Revana, and Laura, one of the girls I didn’t know well. Marek came in then the other two.
I didn’t know what our times were, but for sure Lucian and Mia had the fastest times. I was fairly certain I’d be okay, but it all depended on how the other heats went.
Nervously, we watched the other groups fly. Jasmine did really well in the second heat, and I was sure she’d pass. Georgina, on the other hand, came in seventh in her heat.
After all the races finished, Hermes had us line up again then he told us the results. I’d been right—Lucian and Mia had the fastest times. I’d passed, as did Ren, Jasmine, and Revana. But Georgina and Marek had failed the trial. I think that was number three for Marek and two for Georgina. I was going to have to keep an eye on her during the next few trials. There was no way I was going to let her get kicked out of the academy.
Chapter Twenty-Three
MELANY
Georgina and I huddled in our room and talked for the rest of the afternoon and evening. She was upset she’d failed the flying trial, but I assured her that I wouldn’t let her fail anymore. We talked about our pasts and our families and about boys. She told me about the boy back home that she’d left behind, and I told her about Lucian.
“Are you in love with him?” She nudged me playfully with her foot, as we sat on her bed.
“I honestly don’t know.” But I did know. And I was. I just didn’t want to say it out loud because I didn’t know what it truly meant here in the academy, especially during the trials. Love and friendship were complicated constructs, especially at a time when getting ahead meant leaving others behind.
In the morning as we assembled to get our meal for the day, I palmed my protein bar and when no one was looking, I gave it to Georgina.
Her eyes widened, and she shook her head. “I can’t take this.”
“Take it and eat it. I don’t need it, Gina. I can afford to lose.” I moved away from her, so she couldn’t give it back. I peered over my shoulder and was satisfied to see she ate it.
Out on the south training field next to the stables, Artemis greeted us on top of one of the great fire-breathing horses that no one thus far had been able to ride. The beast snorted and stamped its big hooves against the dirt, making us all flinch backward.
“In this trial, you will wrangle one of the great beasts and ride them out here to the obstacle course.” She gestured to the field, where a track had been created, including jumps and other hurdles. “There are ten targets. You must hit eight of them with your bow. Missing more than two is an automatic fail. You will also be timed, so even if you make all the required targets, you can’t be slow. The best times and targets of the best twenty-five will pass. The rest will fail.”
There were quite a few groans in the group, as well as a few very concerned looks. A couple of people were already sitting on their third fail.
“Get into two lines.”
We all scrambled to do as she asked, but I didn’t like it.
“I forgot to add that you will be racing against each other but through opposite ends of the course.” She pointed to the line I was in. “You head through the course from here.” She pointed to the beginning of the track. “And this line will start from here.” She gestured to the end.
I looked across from me to see whom I’d be racing against. Isobel glared at me. I nodded. It was a good choice. She was no threat to me. She could barely ride. During class, she’d fallen off every mount she tried.
I looked behind me to see who Georgina’s opponent was and my heart sank. Revana would try everything she could to win. I wouldn’t put it past her to cheat. I turned, grabbed Georgina, and switched places with her.
“Trust me,” I whispered in her ear.
Artemis rode her horse in a path between our two lines. “Look across from you. This is whom you will be racing against.”
I turned my head and gave Revana a huge, smug grin.
We were four back in line, so it was going to be an hour or more before we raced, but I knew the time would go by quick. And watching the others race wasn’t at all boring. Lucian was two ahead of me. Before it was his turn, he turned around and gave me a quick smile. I returned it and gave him a lame thumbs up, which made him laugh. I checked to see whom he was racing against, Hella who wasn’t very good at animal handling, and relaxed. Lucian was by far the most formidable one in the group.
When Artemis blew her whistle, Lucian grabbed the bow and quiver of arrows from the ground and sprinted into the stable. He was a millisecond behind his opponent. A few minutes later, Hella rode out on a unicorn. Unicorns were swift creatures; they could sprint faster than all the other horses. Another few seconds ticked by and I wondered what was taking Lucian so long.
Then he burst out through the large hole in the stable roof on Pegasus. Throughout our training, he’d been one of the only ones who the winged horse liked. Everyone else couldn’t even get within a few feet of her.
Everyone broke out into cheers and whoops as the big beast swooped toward the obstacle course. Even Artemis grinned as Lucian made easy work of the course. He was back before Hella, missing only one target.
When he landed and dismounted, Artemis nodded to him. “Well done.”