Legacy

Chapter 14: Fight It Through

The gauntlet. An obstacle course that could actually kill you. And did.

"You're both ridiculous," Alaysa sighed, rolling her eyes in exasperation at Val and I. We were psyching each other out for the gauntlet - being the carefree, irresponsible young adults we were. I grinned in response, the thrill of anticipation increasing my viciously happy mood. "You know, the gauntlet isn't one hundred percent safe. People have actually died - "

"A few out of the millions that have tried it," Val scoffed, disregarding her objections. He stretched, both arms swinging back and forth in front of him as he released the tension bunching his muscles together. He shot me a lazy smile. "You ready for this Kat? Remember, if you can't catch up - you will probably be hit in the face by something heavy."

"Please," I sallied back, stretching my arms over my head and easing out the soreness. Tatianya - who had joined us especially for our expedition - glanced over me, from top to toe. I winked at her, giving her a lascivious grin. She snorted. I turned back to Valeryan. "I'll be fine. Don't be looking back for me; I'll be in front, Val."

"Right," he said dryly, shaking his head. He asked Alaysa a question, something about whether they wanted to go to the gardens after - and I promptly tuned out. Tatianya was eyeing up a few people who were about to enter the gauntlet: those strapped securely to a chair, electrodes being steadily applied to key areas of their head.

The room was splitting at the seams with participants today: the young turning out to make an interesting spectacle. Perhaps it was flattery to call it a room: a dingy, unused warehouse that used to hold shipments of weapons but now was abandoned. For these kinds of illicit activities, we used what we could get: anywhere that was just near the edge of the city and overlooked by the Light.

The place itself had mould growing in the corners, a couple broken windows here and there and an up-raised roof, leading high into the sky. The smashed outlook into the outside showed an azure sky, though it was starting to bruise here and there, blending into strains of cobalt. I kicked at a persistant touch of crumpled plaster on the ground, aimlessly giving my glance around.

A nearby presence had me follow the shadow spilling out on the ground and follow it to a pair of off-brown boots, trailing halfway up her calf. "You going in today?" I asked Tatianya, not bothering to draw my gaze upwards. That sweet fruits scent lingered in the air, a welcoming breeze from my ex-girlfriend. "You used to like to."

"I did use to," she replied evenly. "But the whole idea of gauntlet is to get yourself high on adrenaline, using your fear to kickstart those hormones. Of course it's a challenge as well... but I lost interest when I started getting bored in the middle of it all."

"Hard to get bored when an axe is whistling through the air, ready to cleave your face in two," I pointed out, catching sight of her face. She seemed disinterested now, her eyes flickering between the inhabitants of the room. "You need more danger to really get the adrenaline flowing?"

"Maybe," Tatianya responded, shrugging. "In any case, the gauntlet's just another game. I won't be participating today... but I'll watch you and Val and see who wins."

"I'm shocked and hurt that you don't just assume."

"You're right," she conceded. "Valeryan is faster and more agile than you."

I slapped her shoulder, playfully teasing as I used to. She went to brush  my hand away but then somehow, instead paused her hand against mine. Gradually, as we had done so many times before, she laced my fingers with mine. The space was filled: a familiar echo of the past. Her pale fingers gently moved on the back of my hand, drawing tiny shapes as we held together.