Creeping Shadow (The Rise of Isaac, Book One) (27 page)

25

Smoke and Flame

W
ater dripped off of them in the corridor as they took a brief moment to catch their breath.

"Time?" Oliver panted, too exhausted to check his own watch.

"Fifteen minutes to go," Anna said, holding her side to ease a stitch.

"We'd better hurry," Rogan said, setting off.

They followed him at a jog down the corridor and descended a winding staircase, dripping water everywhere.

Rogan stopped dead at the bottom and Anna walked straight into his back. "Hey, what do you think you're -?"

Rogan held up his arm to silence her and pointed into the room. The first thing Oliver saw was a massive exit to the cave. It was surrounded by large boulders that lead out to a small beach in front of a perfectly still lake.

Relief swept through Oliver at the sight of it. They had made it out of the caves. They could only be minutes away from the finish line.

One of the boulders stirred and rolled over, making him jump. They weren't boulders at all. The animals were enormous, some the size of elephants. They were coloured a mixture of dark greys and browns and were all sprawled out across the cavern floor.

"What are they?" he whispered to Anna.

"Hogtrouts," she breathed. "I've always wanted to see one but, er, they're pretty dangerous actually..." she trailed off, looking concerned.

"Rogan? What are you thinking?" Oliver asked in a hushed voice.

"Best bet is to sneak past them. If they wake up they're gonna get angry."

"Let's do it." Quinn crept ahead and wound her way through the sleeping mounds, heading towards the exit.

She stopped a few feet away and gestured for them to follow, a small puddle forming around her feet as water dripped from her clothes. They tiptoed after her.

Oliver got close to the first animal and it rolled over making a guttering, rumbling noise that emitted from deep inside its throat. The hogtrout's face came into view and a puff of smoke emerged from its pig-like nostrils.

The body was seal-like and smooth but its head and front legs were completely alien. Its head was enormous and covered in long, brown and grey, wiry hair. Its snout was short and ended in smoke-emitting nostrils that were filling the air with a cloudy haze.

It had two sharp horns between its ears and curling tusks protruded from the mouths of some of the larger creatures. They had thick front legs and strong, hand-like feet where sharp claws glinted. Oliver felt his mouth go dry as he eyed the dangerous-looking beasts.

They were making good progress past the animals and the fresh air blowing in from outside was calling to him.

"Psst," a voice said from up ahead.

Oliver looked out towards the exit and saw Larkin standing there with the rest of his team. He had a rock in his hand that he was tossing up and down. The only girl on their team, Kuti, kept glancing around them as if afraid someone might see her.

"What are you doing, Lark?" Quinn whispered with a grin.

Larkin pulled a false frown. "Oh, sorry babe." He winked at her, caught the rock he had thrown up in the air and threw it as hard as he could at the hogtrout in front of him. He ran away laughing loudly with his team, Arrow's thundering guffaw echoing back to them above the rest.

The beast awoke in a sudden fury, waking the creatures around it. Its front legs pulled it up to a terrifying height and it emitted a ferocious roar that sent fear shooting through Oliver's body. Fire burst from its nostrils, aiming at Quinn. Oliver knocked her to the floor out of the way, sprawling across the rough stone.

They crawled behind a rocky outcrop for protection. Oliver chanced a look over the top to check that the others had escaped the blaze. He spotted May and Rogan huddled behind a large rock but couldn't see Anna anywhere.

"What in Vale was he playing at?" Quinn spat. Oliver frowned at one side of her face that was badly grazed from where he had pushed her to the ground.

"He's trying to stop us qualifying for tomorrow's race." Oliver raised his voice over the roaring of the hogtrouts.

He glanced over the outcrop again to see them focussed on an alcove at the back of the cavern. His heart sank as a piercing scream echoed through the cave.

"ANNA?" he shouted and stood up fully to search for her.

The animals were sending clouds of smoke and huge balls of flame into the air in their rage.

"Help! Help me!" he heard Anna screaming.

Without a moments hesitation, he leapt out from behind the rock and ran across the cavern toward her. He grabbed a handful of pebbles from the ground and threw them as hard as he could towards the animals.

He clapped his hands and shouted until they turned their attention towards him. They dragged their enormous bodies with their muscular forearms and closed in on him as he ran towards the exit.

He ducked as a fireball came his way but kept running out onto the beach, his heart galloping in his chest. The animals emerged, around fifteen of them, rearing their huge heads and shaking them angrily.

Oliver waded out into the water, hoping it would offer some protection from the fire. The hogtrouts kept coming and became more agile as they slid on their bellies into the lake. Their streamlined bodies allowed them to move swiftly towards him. Oliver started to regret his move into the water.

Some of the creatures snapped their short, stubby teeth at him. Oliver began panting as he struggled to keep the distance between him and the animals. He kicked out at one that almost took his leg off as it swam by. His heart raced and he began to panic.

A keening noise cut through the air. It pierced his ears and Oliver clapped his hands to them to try and shut it out. The hogtrouts wailed and moaned, also affected by the sound. They started to dive under the water and disappear. Oliver watched as their hulking bodies swam out into the lake beyond him, into its depths. The final hogtrout dived under and the noise stopped.

He took his hands from his ears and turned to see a mage with a dark beard standing on the beach with his hands outstretched. "You'll a'right, there?" he asked in a strong accent.

"Yeah. Err- thanks," Oliver said, feeling exhausted. He waded out of the water onto the small beach, his clothes sopping again. The mage walked back up the hill that led away from the caves. The rest of Oliver's team rushed out of the cave mouth to join him.

"That was brilliant," May said, looking at him like she had never seen him before.

"Yeah, thanks, man," Rogan said.

"You saved me," Anna said, her eyes sparkling. A deep burn ran up her leg and she limped as she walked forwards.

"Thanks," Quinn muttered, looking miserable.

Oliver and Rogan linked arms underneath Anna's to help her move.

"We've only got two minutes to cross the finish line!" Anna exclaimed, looking at her watch.

They ran full pelt up the hill, Quinn taking the lead.

Anna was half-carried by Oliver and Rogan, her legs swinging wildly as they ran. They huffed and puffed as they rounded the top of the hill then began a downhill descent along a pebble beach, thronging with people.

The crowd went mad at the sight of them. Oliver saw a clock ticking down on a screen ahead with less than a minute to go. His legs ached with the effort of running and carrying Anna.

The finish line was marked in red on the beach, just a few feet away. His feet slipped and slid on the pebbles but somehow he kept his balance.

They crossed the line with only a couple of seconds to spare. The roar of the crowd hurt his ears. They were ushered into a first aid tent for medical attention before Oliver could even register that they had made it in time.

A medic sent him to a bed and he collapsed onto it, his chest heaving as he breathed in and out. He heard Rogan laughing from somewhere to his right and started to join in as he caught his breath.

"We did it," Rogan said, pounding a fist into the air from his bed. He winced from the wolverbat bite on his arm and returned it to his side in pain.

"That was only the first day and I'm knackered," Anna exclaimed, flinching as a medic attended the burn on her leg.

"We barely made it," May breathed, reaching a hand to her chest.

"Yeah, thanks to Larkin," Rogan said, looking disgusted. "We were making good time before he turned up."

"Won't he get his team disqualified?" Oliver asked hopefully.

"Yeah, should do actually," Rogan said with a smile on his face.

A medic came over and tended to Oliver's arm where the wolverbat had attacked him. She pulled away the tattered remains of the bandage Anna had strapped there.

The mage held her hand over his wound. "Wolverbat?" she asked with a friendly smile and Oliver nodded.

"Nasty little buggers," she muttered.

"Tell me about it," Oliver said, wincing as the mage touched the open wound.

A familiar, green light trickled from her hand down onto the wound and his skin knitted together, leaving no trace of the bite behind. The pain diminished and Oliver sighed with relief.

"Thank you," he said.

"You're welcome," she replied with a smile, walking over to tend a boy whose hand was red and swollen. Despite the injures, the boy was more occupied with gawping at Quinn.

"Let me through. Where are they?" Oliver heard Ely say from outside the tent.

"You're not allowed in yet, sir. You'll have to wait," a medic responded.

"What nonsense," Ely said. "I'm family."

Oliver got up off the bed and walked outside to greet his grandfather. He was drawn into a hug by the small man.

"You did it. I can't believe it. Of course, I never doubted you. But you actually
did it
," Ely said, grinning from ear to ear.

"I know. I can't believe it either," Oliver said, feeling elated. "What happens now?"

"We'll just wait to get you all patched up. Is everyone, alright? No major injuries? May's not hurt at all?" he asked, trying to peer into the tent.

The medic zipped down the tent door in his face.

"Yes, they're fine. Anna burnt her leg, Rogan has a few cuts and Quinn grazed her face, but apart from that, I think everyone's great." Oliver still couldn't believe they had made it through to the next race. His head seemed to be floating through the clouds. "How many teams qualified?"

"You were the last team over the finish line. There were twenty seven before you so you've practically halved the competition already. Although, everyone will be fighting tooth and nail tomorrow to place in the final ten. But don't worry about that now. You'll be taken to the team cabins by the lake where you'll stay until tomorrow morning."

"Where are you staying?"

"With Laura. You'll be debriefed soon and they'll tell you which teams made it through and if anyone's been disqualified."

"Larkin's team better be." Oliver looked grim.

"Why, what did they do?"

"Larkin threw a rock at one of those hogtrouts and the whole bunch of them attacked us," Oliver said, fury rising in him again.

"They didn't show that on the survision. All we saw were the animals chasing you out into the lake," Ely said.

"But they'll know what happened, won't they?" Oliver asked desperately.

"Oh, yes. They have a whole team of people watching all of the cameras so someone will have reported it," Ely said, patting him on the shoulder.

The crowd cheered as the last of the losing teams finished the race back on the beach.

"The final team has crossed the finish line. I need all teams to gather by the lake in fifteen minutes," Abbicus Brown's voice boomed out over a speaker a few moments later.

The losing teams stumbled past Oliver and Ely into the various first aid tents. He saw two boys from team Suddle limping into one. They had both sustained burns around their ankles reminding Oliver of the fire holes in their first challenge.

Oliver's team appeared through the tent flap. Anna was already putting weight on her leg, Rogan's cuts were reduced to faint red lines that were fading by the second, and Quinn's cheek was fully healed. Their team had emerged relatively unscathed from the race.

"How are you doing?" he asked Anna.

"Not too bad. It stings a bit but the mage who healed me said I'll be completely fixed in an hour or so. That hogtrout would have burnt me to a crisp if you hadn't distracted them," she said, pulling him into a hug. He held on to her for a little longer than was necessary but she was smiling when he released her.

"Yeah, cheers man. We'd all be toast if it wasn't for you," Rogan said, nudging Quinn.

She placed a hand on her hip and smiled at Oliver appreciatively.

"Shall we go down to the lake?" May suggested, tucking her wet hair behind her ears.

"Err, I think Quinn and I better meet you over there. We might get mobbed if we go through the crowd," Rogan said and they headed off behind the tents.

Oliver had almost forgotten about their fame. He found it strange to think of them as celebrities.