As we began to run, we noticed the markers indicating the course. We ran at least two miles before we entered the woods and encountered our first obstacle course. It looked easy enough, it was a bridge spanning a gully. There were five bridges side by side. Our team, Terrance’s team, and two other teams arrived there almost at the same time. Our morning runs were paying off.
“Stop,” Jaxson called out as Rachel went to cross one of the bridges. “It’s an illusion,” he laughed as one of the teams lost a couple of members to the gully. It was only twelve or so feet deep and about ten feet across, but it wasn’t going to be any fun trying to climb out of it or it could potentially injure anyone that may fall in. I imagined it would add an addition five to ten minutes to their course time at least.
“Which one isn’t an illusion?” Jace asked as he looked over at the other ones.
“They all are,” Jaxson said thoughtfully. Since all our connections were made, each guy had said they felt an increase in their gift level. I guess Jaxson was now capable of casting, as well as seeing illusions.
“So, I’ll jump across first and, Remy, you throw them to me,” Dawn said confidently.
“I’ll go with you,” Gavin told Dawn, “I really can’t imagine you catching Terrance or Remy by yourself.” Gavin chuckled.
“I can get the wind underneath the person, to slow the decent,” Sam stated.
“I’ll help Remy throw,” I volunteered.
“Sounds like it’s a plan, let’s go,” Jace stated clapping his hands.
I watched in surprise as Dawn and Gavin stretched like human Gumby’s. Their bodies stretched the whole gully with ease. I imagined lifting things with ease, so I could call on my gift of strength. I waited to feel the tingling in my arms and legs before I turned to grab Rachel, since she was the smallest.. Remy launched Terrance seconds after I did.
By the time we launched the fifth person across, Sam, Gavin, Dawn, Remy, and I had it down to a science. I couldn’t help but notice Ned’s team was still struggling to get their teammates out of the gully. Rose’s team had found a log to throw across the expanse. I watched in consternation as she teetered across the log. I truly believed her doctor wouldn’t have approved of this activity. Even if the child she carried wasn’t Drake’s, it just seemed reckless to me.
Remy threw Sam and I across before he ran down to the log the other team had foolishly left behind. He had great balance for a man his size.
“Kick it in,” Terrance yelled at him as he got off it. Remy picked up the log like it was a broomstick and launched it in the gully away from the fallen team.
It made sense to me. We weren’t directly sabotaging another team, but we weren’t going to help them out either.
I glanced up as we started to take off once more and gave the illusionist a jaunty wave. He tilted his head and smiled at me. He was probably one of the monitors for the course. Until we were under him, I hadn’t even noticed him perched in one of the trees. Three other teams had caught up, and I could hear some of them had also fallen in. I giggled as I sprinted up towards the front of our pack. This was kind of fun.
We ran for about half of mile before we came across our next obstacle. The other team was already there, but relatively far away from us. We looked up at the wall of logs and sticks that was kept together by mud. It was clear someone with the gift of earth had created this obstacle.
“There’s no way we can climb that,” Jace muttered as he looked up at the wall that was easily forty feet high. The other team was unsuccessfully trying to scale it as we came up with a game plan.
Michael ran at the structure and was back within moments. “It’s about three feet deep,” he said slightly breathless.
Troy stepped back and created a fireball, “So I can burn a hole through it?” He raised an eyebrow at Michael.
“We don’t want to burn the whole structure down,” Rachel said nervously eyeing the sticks and logs.
“Okay fire boy,” Marcel stated as he produced a sphere of water as big as a soccer ball.
“I’ll go last,” Terrance stated. “I’m going to close it back up when we’re all through.”
“Ready?” Troy asked Marcel. When Marcel nodded, Troy threw his fireball.
It was done quickly, and the other team was yelling and cursing at us when Terrance patched up the hole we had created.
By the fifth obstacle, we were no longer running—we were walking. We could hear the other teams in the distance, but we couldn’t see them, so we felt confident that we could catch our breaths for a while.
We came to a pit of fire.
I remember some of the girls and guys at my previous high school participating in a ‘fun’ run. They had talked about the obstacles they had come across, and one of the girls had been horrified at the fire obstacle that was incorporated in it. She was flashing around a picture on her phone. Her obstacle had been about three feet high and ten feet across. They had to leap across it.
There was no leaping across this fire. It was at least six feet high and twenty feet across. We could go around it. If we did, we would be off the course and disqualified.
Marcel attempted to throw water at the fire. It would go out. If anything, it seemed to have gotten bigger and more agitated. We stood back and looked at it, contemplating.
“So not normal fire,” Rachel stated dryly.
A few of us laughed; some of our more serious members, not so much.
“How are you feeling, Sam?” Drake asked thoughtfully, as he eyed the obstacle.
“Good,” Sam said warily. “What did you have in mind?”
Drake turned and looked at me. “Kiss me,” he demanded softly.
My eyes widened in surprise and shock.
Jemmy, Rachel, and Dawn had been close enough to hear him, so they immediately dissolved in laughter.
Drake held out his hand and repeated himself. “Trust me. Kiss me.”
I took his hand and let him draw me in. I stood on my tip toes and let him capture his lips with mine. He gently cupped my face, and I lost myself in his kiss as he opened my mouth, his tongue tangling with mine. I was vaguely aware of the catcalls and whistles. I was lost in his touch. I wanted more of him.
He finally broke our kiss, and at my groan of displeasure, he gave me a smile, even though he was red. He was generally not into public displays of affection, so I was surprised by his boldness.
I turned around, feeling my cheeks warm. I saw that the other team had caught up and Rose was in the front of the group, shooting daggers at me with her eyes, while most of her teammates called for an encore.
Drake smiled at me again before he turned and created a force field around Jemmy, Rachel, and Dawn. I watched in amazement as he raised his hands. The force field became a sphere around them, now hovering above the earth.
The girls squealed in surprise, before they grabbed onto each other, laughing nervously. I could see the studied concentration on Drake’s face as he continued to lift them. He barely spared Sam a glance as he said, “When they clear the fire, push them to the other side.” He then shouted to the girls. “Yell, when I can release you.”
“Okay,” they shouted back, but their voices sounded distorted.
“Did you just have Blake…boost you?” Michael asked in awe.