Chapter 51

Chapter 51
There’s nervous excitement in the air as we step out of our cars, our entire clan dressed in light blue cargo pants and jackets with white shirts and combat boots, displaying our clan colors proud, much like every other clan gathered in the parking area. We make our way towards the entrance of the area, the line moving surprisingly fast for the sheer volume of people here. Somehow, we find a spot to call ours and settle down for the announcement of the games. 
“Do you think we’ll get to use our abilities?” Jason asks, bouncing in excitement at the prospect. 
“Depends on what the game actually is.” Gina shrugs. “I don’t see the need for any elemental powers, so fire and air are out and we’re not building anything, so there’s no need to use earth magic. We’re not fighting to the death either, well at least not yet, so spontaneous combustion is out of the question. I think we’ll have to rely on brute strength and teamwork for this game.” 
“So, do we stick with our assigned roles?” Kayla asks and I shake my head.
“No, we set out the teams based on the terrain we were given for each game, not what the game entails, so we’ll swap around as we go.” Sam explains. I busy myself with watching the clans closest to us, looking over their leadership and warriors, some who I know, others who are strangers to me. 
“How many unranked clans are here?” Grant asks, eyes slightly panicked as he looks over all the clans gathered here. 
“Twenty unranked. Breathe, or they’ll think you’re an easy target.” I tell him, patting his shoulder as he takes a deep breath. 
“So, we need to beat out all twenty of them to gain an official ranking?” Jason muses, his lopsided grin and wild eyes speaking of nothing but trouble. 
“A high raking, yes. If we beat half of them, we get an official ranking. Beating all twenty pushes us into the bottom fifty of world ranked clans and beating already ranked clans ensures we climb further up the ladder. We could technically leave here in the top ten rankings if we can manage to beat all of the remaining eighty clans that are ranked and then we still need to consider the ranked clans that didn’t get an invitation to the tournament.” Falkor explains, his posture relaxed as he leans against a post, hands stuffed deep in his pockets. 
“No pressure.” Garreth gives a low whistle and everyone chuckles. It takes twenty more minutes before it seems everyone is here, and I hear speakers coming on. 
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the first game of the Tournament.” Maximus’ voice rings through the arena. “You will divide yourself into a team of five people and head to the starting line. The aim of the game is to light all the torches with your clan symbol in this cross-country race. If you are caught lighting the torch of another clan, that will mean an automatic disqualification from the game and a five point drop in your ranking.” Murmurs flood the field around us, and I can’t help but share in the discomfort of the high stakes of these games. “You may only utilize your fire elemental powers, the use of any other abilities will be cause for a point deduction based on the ability used and for what purpose and under no circumstances may any of your morph into your dragons. Should there be an injury during the game you will shoot up a flare using the gun that will be handed to you at the starting line. You are allowed to take one backpack with supplies and nothing more. You will be tied together for the purpose of this race and any team who does not complete the course in five hours will be disqualified. You have twenty minutes to finalize your teams and head to the starting line.” 
“Hydra, Falkor, Nathasha, Lilly and Trent. You’re the fastest among us. You’ll take this challenge.” Gina rattles off as soon as the speakers turn off. The five of us nod, change into our running shoes and Falkor grabs the backpack Kayla hands him. Twenty minutes later we’re at the starting line with ninety-nine other clans. The five of us tied together by our waists with secured bands and the flare gun placed in the backpack. We don’t stand around for long before the horn sounds and everyone sets off. 
“What are we waiting for?” Lilly asks as Falkor stops us from moving. 
“For the stampede to end. We have to move as a team and the more surrounded by other clans we are the harder that will be. We move at one pace.” He explains and we wait two more minutes before he nods, and we set off. Lighting the first few torchers are fairly easy but then the ground starts to become rougher, and our pace slows down a bit, but we still manage to pass five other clans with our pace. 
“How many lamps do we have left?” Trent asks as Nathasha lights our fourth lamp. 
“Six, but we still have four hours left. We’re making good time.” I explain as we start moving again. We manage to light five and six before we stumble upon a mountain like obstacle in the way. 
“They’re kidding, right?” Nathasha asks and I shake my head. 
“No, we packed gloves, remember?” I’d thought Kayla was being extra, now I owe her a huge thanks. Trent removes the gloves from the backpack, and we make quick work of putting them on before we start climbing. About halfway through Trent’s foot slips, causing both Falkor and I to lose balance as he’s tied between the two of us. 
“Hold still.” Falkor demands as Trent dangles and I’m holding on by one hand. Falkor manages to lift him up, making sure he’s aligned with us once more, feet on a more secure rock before we start moving again. When we reach the top of the mountain, we all groan as we step ankle deep into mud. 
“How fun.” Lilly mutters as we start trudging through mud, our pace slowing down in some places where the mud seems to be mixed with glue as it sticks to our feet, holding our feet close to the ground. We light two more torches before the mud finally gives way to more stable terrain and then find ourselves stuck in a fork in the road. 
“Do you think we’d have to double back if we make the wrong choice?” I ask and Falkor shakes his head. 
“No, they want us to think that but both paths will lead to the next torch. In any case, you can never go wrong with going right.” So, we go right and by the time we reach our ninth torch we burst out in laughter when the area has two paths leading to it. “Told you.” Falkor brags as Natasha lights the torch. 
“One more, let’s do this.” Lilly beams, her sudden burst of energy rubbing off on the rest of us as we head to our final torch.