Burned 1.3

Merith grabs my arm and pulls me back into the cover of the trees. We’re running so fast that I stumble and nearly trip over the roots. “What’s the hurry?” I shout ahead.

“They’re going to realize I was lying to them,” Merith responds. “There’s only one of these and we have it. Kellar will be able to track it no problem so we have to get as far away as possible.”

I curse under my breath. She’s right. Kellar is Colton’s comms and he’s one of the best; even Will admits it. “So where did you really find that?” I ask, dodging a large tree that appeared out of nowhere. Merith has since let go of my hand and my arms are pumping in order to keep up with her.

“The far wall. That part was the truth. But there’s only one of them and everyone is searching for it. That’s what the clue said. This will lead us to the ultimate treasure.”

My stomach twists in anticipation. “What’s the treasure?”

“No idea.”

Static crackles through my earpiece. “You two need to kick it up a notch,” Will informs me. “The professors have cut the time down an hour. You have twenty minutes to complete the exercise.”

I try to fight the panic rising inside of me. Twenty minutes. We – Merith – have solved the first three clues, but there’s still one more out there. What if we don’t find it? I really can’t afford to not succeed.

I reach into my jacket pocket and wrap my hand around the tiny box I had found buried at the base of a tree. It’s small enough to hide easily in the fabric of the jacket. Its rough sides scrape my fingers, but not enough to draw blood. Once we find a place to stop, we need to figure out what this is for.

I stop suddenly, frozen by my realization. I call out to Merith, who luckily hears me and doubles back.

“This better be important,” she snaps. “We’re not nearly as far as we should be.”

“The boomerang,” I say breathlessly. “Hand it over.” She gives me a strange look, but hands it over anyway. I pull the box from my pocket and it immediately begins to shake. A quiet alarm sounds and small blue lights flash on both object.

I can’t contain my excitement as I place the box on the boomerang, lining up the lights. They flash a single time, basking the trees in a bright light before plunging them back into darkness. Merith activates the flashlight on her watch and shines it on the box. We watch as it slowly opens, revealing a piece of paper. I hand the boomerang back to Merith and pull out the paper.

Holding it close to the light, I read it out loud. “Congratulations, you have reached the last demand of the exercise. Report to Headmaster Caddarick with the Flesure and the box before time expires. But beware, your path will not be easy. Take care and let nothing happen to the Flesure. You will be forgiven if the box is lost, but will fail if the Flesure returns in someone else’s hands. Good luck, Bryn Patterson and Merith Hache.”

I raise my eyes to meet Merith’s. “How did they know it was going to be us?”

Before she can respond, the trees around us disappear into the ground and blinding white lights fill the entire area. I blink desperately, trying to adjust to the new lighting. Once I can see again, I look around to see everyone frozen with confused looks on their faces. The only kids who seem to understand are Colton and Jordin, who are staring at us from the far wall.

There have to be about a hundred kids out here, all looking for the two objects that we have. The professors seriously expect us to make it back to them with the boomerang – which they call the Flesure; although I have no idea what’s so damn special about it that it gets its own name – before time runs out? It’s impossible.

“What do we do?” I whisper to Merith. I had expected everyone to look directly at us, to start advancing and attack in order to get the Flesure. But no one even pays attention to us. Maybe this’ll be easier than I thought.

“We have to get back to the professors now,” she responds, equally as quiet. “Let’s go.”

“No,” I snap, grabbing her arm so she doesn’t take a step. “We can’t. At least not without a cover. We’ll only draw attention to ourselves. No one else knows what’s happening; we have to take advantage of that.”

“But we’re not going to just be able to sneak over there! Everyone can see us,” she responds in frustration, running a hand through her thick blond hair. “We’re going to have to make a break for it eventually. Why not now?”

I look back at the large fortress behind us, the old building that holds our school. It’s a long distance back to where the professors are, watching us expectedly. The building looms over them, casting an ominous shadow. Even from behind, the school looks like a king’s paradise. I still can’t believe that this is where I’ve spent the past five years training.

Kids are starting to talk; I can hear their hushed whispers and panicked voices traveling through the air. Soon they’ll start rushing to solve their clues. And the sooner that happens, the sooner they’ll realize that someone else already solved them. Once they find out it was us, they’ll come rushing like a pack of angry bulls.

Merith is right, we have to make a break for it. But only when it’s safe. We have to time it perfectly. Everyone has to be so distracted with trying to solve the puzzles that they won’t notice us running back to the professors. If they do find out, we’re screwed. A hundred against two is hardly fair. Neither of us is a self proclaimed skilled fighter. I may be top of the class, but so far the only combat we’ve been trained in is one-on-one. Put me up against a large group and I’ll hardly survive five minutes.

“One of you needs to make up your mind,” Sharna hisses in my ear. “With all the time you wasted running, and now debating what to do, there’s only eight minutes left. Make a run for it or lose. That’s the bottom line.”

I’ll be damned if there’s another day this year when I agree with Sharna. Hearing the truth only solves my debate faster. Merith and I lock eyes. We both know she’s right. I look back at the far wall and see Colton and Jordin’s heads close, their lips moving quickly. Colton looks up at me and I can see his hard glare from here. He knows. My heart speeds us.

“It has to be now,” I tell Merith. “Colton knows. No doubt he’ll start telling everyone around him. We have to make it now.”

Merith grins. “About time you caught on.”

“I’ll cover you best I can,” Will’s voice rings in my ear. “They knocked out half of the communications and I have no control over the lights out there. What I can control though, is quite helpful. Just watch your step. I’m going to set off all of the traps I can. Unfortunately I can’t promise that you two won’t be in the crossfire.”

I nod, knowing full well that he isn’t able to see the motion. But even my silence is reassuring. If I don’t argue, that’s the green light.

I turn to Merith with determination. “Let’s do this.” After stuffing the Flesure and the box into my pockets, we take off running.