Revival: Of Cethore ✔

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Two: We Always Come Together

There were many things that Samari had imagined would be the obstacle, from tightrope bridges to mazes to puzzle challenges, but she was not expecting a herd of sleeping winged wolves to be blocking their path.

Winged wolves were about as gentle as birds but just as annoying. Hardly did they want to eat dixons as their ticon did not settle well in the pups stomachs. There were accounts of them taking other species captive once they entered their den.

Samari had wondered why the tournament would allow such dangerous creatures to be part of the course, but after looking to the top of the walls on either side, she saw that there were mages stationed to watch the contestants--just in case.

"I counted six. How did they even manage to find six winged wolves!" Dillian rasped.

"Shh!" Samari poked her head out from behind the boulder they were hiding behind. Seeing that no wolves had stirred, she let out a sigh of relief.

"Okay, so we should try to sneak past them or take them out. I would rather we take them out, just in case, but I can't figure out how, " he continued.

Eyes narrowing, she raised her shoulders. "Why are y-you asking me for a plan? Y-you're...the captain."

"Maybe, but you're the one who figured out how to keep the others out of our way."

"And...I could not have done i-it if you had not known what...we needed to do i-it!"

Having nothing left to say, they sighed in frustration of their predicament. Samari rubbed her eyes. "Wha-what if, urgh...what if we put up a barrier and walk through like that? Oh, by they could follow us, " she mused.

He shook his head. "No good. The only barrier that doesn't take too much ticon needs ticon from outside to strengthen it. It would take too much of our ticon to hold against physical attacks."

They were silent as they pondered their ideas.

"Got any knock-out gas?"

"I haven't learned about that stuff yet, " she shook her head. "Ok-ay, how about we just...sneak past them?"

"They can smell us."

"Then we climb the wall and walk past."

Dillian folded his arms over his chest, raising his eyebrow at her suggestion. "I'm pretty sure that will get us disqua..."

His face froze, eyes wide as they stared at something beside Samari. Slowly, she turned to see what it was. She held back a yelp at the sight of a wolf pup sniffing her curiously.

Seemingly liking the smell, the pup started licking her arm. Despite her cautious nature, Samari couldn't resist the urge to pet the small creature. As she stroked its back, the pup looked from her hand to her. Its tail wagged ferociously when she switched to scratching it.

Looking up from pup, she saw Dillian's face tight with worry. She motioned for him to pet the pup as well. They switched places, the Volcanic giving it a vigorous rub until it became bored of them and ran after a passing fly.

"That was adorable and so soft!" Dillian cooed, eyes sparkling as he watched it run around.

Samari smiled, her cheeks burning from seeing his soft side. In times like these, she easily forgot how tender the spellcaster was. Shaking her head, she said, "Yes, and now we ha-have its scent, too."

As she started to stand, he grabbed her hand. "I don't think we have nearly enough to trick them, " he protested.

"It's something, and whe-while we...are here, the Flames get...closer to the gem. Besides, I can use a smoke bo-bomb to distract them, too. So we can, uh, run away."