The Girl Who Dared to Descend Read online

  I hung there for a second, looking down to make sure my path was clear, then let go. There was a rattle from above as I fell, and I realized they were already at the entrance.

  I bent my legs and hit the ground hard, but caught myself, my entire skeletal structure feeling like it was rattling in its joints. Leo helped right me, and then began pulling me down a long, dimly lit corridor.

  “This way,” he said softly, and I saw that Maddox and Ambrose were already down the hall, waiting for us at a junction.

  I pulled out of his arms and began to jog, just as I heard the sounds of boots hitting the floor behind us. I ignored the pain in my shoulders and the shakiness of my knees, and turned, spinning a lash bead quickly and throwing it. It hit the man in the shoulder, and before he had even began forming his yelp, I wrapped the line under my arm, took a step back, and yanked, ripping him off his feet and face first onto the ground. His scream ended as suddenly as it began, signaling that I had probably stunned him.

  I detached the line and spun, even as sparks began to spray from the wall as the woman extended the thermal cutter in the tight confines of the hall. I hunched my shoulders and ran, chasing after my team as they disappeared around the first corner, Leo fast on their trail.

  I ripped around the corner and saw Leo waiting, baton in hand. I barely had a moment to slow down before I heard a sharp crack, and then Leo was behind me, pushing me forward as the woman yowled. A quick glance over my shoulder showed her holding her nose, blood spurting from her fingers—but still upright, and already bending over to pick up the cutter from where it had landed behind her. We had bought a few seconds, but not many. I poured on the speed.

  Leo raced ahead, finding speed, and we quickly closed the gap between us and Maddox and Ambrose. We let him lead, as he had the entire map memorized.

  The sound of our running feet was thunderous to my ears, but there was nothing we could do to disguise it. We just had to keep moving.

  Leo took a right at the first junction thirty feet down, and this time I slowed in time to see the woman rounding the corner, her eyes lighting on me. I picked up the pace, my heart pounding. We had a thirty-foot lead, but we needed to lose her, quickly. Luckily, we had Leo—if anyone could get us a lead, it was him.

  The next junction came quickly, only ten feet in, and Leo hooked a left this time. We continued on for another twenty feet, and then he took a right, followed by another right. I glanced over my shoulder, and didn’t see any sign of the woman behind us, but I could hear her, the heavy sound of her footfalls still coming after us. She was probably following us by the noise we were making.

  None of that mattered, however. Well, it did, but it was distracting us from our ultimate goal—getting one of the two remaining cauldrons lit. We couldn’t do that while we were trying to escape the people behind us. We needed to hide.

  No, we needed to do more than hide: we needed to escape. As I realized that, I crossed under one of the shafts leading up, and an idea was born.

  “We need to get up in the shafts before they can see us,” I said loudly, checking over my shoulder. We were in a long hallway now, and there was no sign of our pursuers, but I knew they weren’t far behind. We would only have seconds to act.

  We turned another corner, and a second, and suddenly there was another shaft. Leo leaped up, grabbing onto a lower pipe, and then swung himself up a few feet. Maddox, Ambrose, and I all followed, and I got my boots up and clear of the shaft just as the woman ran by underneath us. She never even looked up.

  I didn’t wait for her to double back—just started climbing as soon as she raced past. Within moments, Ambrose was helping pull me out of the shaft with one hand, the torch held in the other. I thanked him with a tight-lipped smile, my nerves too strained to manage anything better, and then froze when the trumpet blast sounded again.

  The second cauldron had been lit.

  27

  We exchanged looks and began running. There was no more time to strategize—the other half of the team that our attackers were on had been bested by the other, and had managed to light their cauldron. Only one remained, and the remaining two members of the team trying to kill us were likely trying to get there before us. Because eliminating Ambrose was just as effective as killing him, when it came to shutting him out of the Tourney.

  My eyes scanned the platform, searching for a sign of their crimson uniforms, and sure enough, I spotted them at the base of it, beginning their climb. We were maybe fifty feet away. There was no way we were going to reach it in time.

  Ambrose realized it a heartbeat after I did. “We’re not going to make it,” he roared, his aggravation and frustration evident.

  I kept running, trying to think. The team was climbing by hand, which meant that the lashes weren’t working on the pipes, either. That bought us time, but not much—and I doubted any of us could climb faster than them. Not to mention, we were still too far away from the walls that made up the platform, giving us little chance of reaching the wall before they did. We needed to think of something.

  “Does anyone have any ideas about how we can get up there?” I shouted, scrambling for some chance of winning.

  Everyone was silent for a second, and then Leo said, “I have one, but it’s going to sound a little insane.”

  I took a glance at him. “Insane is better than nothing.”

  We were slowing, partially because we were all getting tired, but also partially to hear Leo’s idea. What he said, however, caused me to stop right in my tracks.

  “I want you to use the lashes to slingshot me up there.”

  “You want us to what?” I asked, whirling and facing him fully, unable to comprehend what he was saying. It didn’t make any sense.

  “Okay, I understand how it sounds, but hear me out. Our lash lines are twenty-five feet in length, and the gears inside can retract them at a rate of thirty-two feet per second, if I turn the safeties off. If two of you throw a single line at me, which I can hit with my own lines, I can use the gears in the harness to create the velocity, while the two holding the line create the guides. If my angle and velocity are good, I can make it to the top of the platform.”

  I blinked several times. I understood the words individually, and realized he was trying to convey complicated science in the quickest shorthand ever, but couldn’t seem to wrap my head around the concept. It sounded too fantastical to be possible.

  “You can’t hit a lash end with another lash end,” Ambrose said, equally baffled. “That’s not possible. They’re too small.”

  Leo smiled politely. “I assure you, I can.” He gave me a pointed look, and I realized that because he was an AI, he might actually be able to pull it off, even with Grey’s physical limitations.

  We had to at least try. Otherwise we were out of the competition.

  Ambrose saw me staring at Leo, and realized what I was about to say. “You can’t be serious! There is no way anyone can make that shot! We’re wasting time here. We have to—” He broke off as his voice began to grow more panicked, and clenched his jaw tight.

  “Ambrose,” Leo said gently, and the other man looked up at him, his eyes hooded and angry. “I can make that shot.”

  “Ambrose, if you have another idea, now’s the time to tell us. But do it now. We don’t have much more time before we lose completely.”

  Ambrose pressed his lips together and then emitted an aggravated noise. “Fine! Let’s just get this over with.” He handed the torch to Leo, who accepted it quickly.

  Relieved that I didn’t have to overrule him or shoot him down, I turned to Leo. “What do you need?”

  “Running space and time.”

  “Good, then let’s—”

  I cut off and stepped around him, the movement coming from one of the holes just over his shoulder attracting my attention. I bit back a frustrated noise as I saw the woman who had been chasing us emerging, and immediately looked around for the male. I couldn’t see him anywhere, but that didn’t mean he wasn’
t lying in wait.

  All they had to do was prevent our last-ditch effort with Leo—which I still wasn’t sure was possible—and we’d be out of the competition. Lacey would turn us over for sabotaging Scipio’s programming, the position of Champion would fall into the hands of another legacy group, and both Scipio and the Tower would eventually fall as a result.

  I couldn’t let that happen.

  “Go,” I told everyone, slipping my baton out of my belt and turning it on. “All of you are needed for Leo’s plan to work. I’ll stay and keep her distracted.”

  I could sense that they wanted to argue, but they immediately realized that I was right—they needed to go now, while there was still any chance left to do anything.

  “Good luck,” Ambrose said, just as the woman made it to her feet.

  “You too,” I replied, readying myself. I heard their boots start to move toward the platform behind me, but didn’t stop to check over my shoulder as I moved forward to meet the woman.

  Her thermal cutter wasn’t on yet, but as soon as she saw me coming, the pommel dropped from her sleeve into her hand. Then the scarlet plasma blade shot into existence.

  I pressed on with more confidence than I felt, my baton up, closing the distance as she waited, her back to the edge.

  My heart beat once, twice, three times, and then I heaved the baton up and charged. It was a ploy on my part—the maneuver would leave my chest and torso wide open for an easy attack—and she fell for it. She brought the cutter up, the tip pointed right for my chest, but I was already gone, spinning around it on her left and then jamming my baton into the small of her back, right over a kidney. I released the charge, and held the baton in place.

  Her body immediately locked up as she seized, and a second later, the thermal cutter clattered out of her hands and into the pipe network below, the orange blade immediately disappearing once the tool left her hand.

  I held the baton against her body for the full three seconds before it automatically cut off, then brought it up and back down over her right temple with a sharp crack before she could recover. She dropped onto the pipes, flat on her chest in an awkward heap, and I took a step back, my body now covered in sweat and shaking slightly.

  Even though I had purposefully left myself open for the attack, it had been far too close for comfort. I watched her for a second, waiting for her to move, but she didn’t.

  Shaking off my brush with death, I turned to see what was going on behind me. Leo was standing a few feet away, with Maddox and Ambrose closer to the platform. Even as I turned, I saw them spinning their lines and casting them directly at Leo. Leo had his own ready, and as soon as they cast, he did too, breaking into a flat run toward them as his hands extended and released the lines.

  I didn’t have time to see if they connected. My gaze was drawn to the man exiting the shaft just behind Ambrose. Ambrose’s attention was solely on Leo, so he couldn’t see him—but I could.

  Tightening my grip on my baton, I took off, angling for the man as he began to pull himself up, his hands finding plenty of holds in the network of pipes. He leapt to his feet and immediately began rushing for Ambrose, something dark and glinting in his hands.

  I was only feet from him, the blood in my veins surging hotly as I saw him lift his fist toward the back of Ambrose’s head, the black pulse shield leveled at Ambrose’s neck. From that distance, he could easily snap it. I wasn’t going to allow that.

  I drew back my arm and threw my baton at him, not willing to wait even a second before I impacted him. He was close enough that it was a clear shot, despite the oblong nature of the baton, and it hit him on the side of the face, bouncing off and back at me. I caught it purely on reflex, and then slammed into him, unwilling to stop my momentum in the slightest.

  The shoulder I had injured during my fall down the shaft screamed out in agony, the pain causing me to grit my teeth, but I ignored it as we both went crashing down. I rolled off of him a few feet away, the world spinning so violently that I had to shut my eyes to keep from getting dizzy.

  It took me several precious seconds to register that I had fully stopped, but when I did, I quickly opened my eyes. I flinched back as I saw legs overhead, but then realized it wasn’t someone trying to kick me. It was Leo, and he was flying.

  Ambrose’s face blocked the view, his hands reaching down to help haul me to my feet. A hiss escaped from between my teeth as he jostled my shoulder, but I didn’t cry out, thankfully, and within seconds he had me righted.

  I held onto him for a second or two while my weight settled onto my shaky feet, and looked around, searching for the man I had just slammed into. I caught a glimpse of him staggering to his feet—and then saw Maddox dropkick him in the chest, knocking him back into the hole he had climbed out of. He hit the side with a grunt and then slid out of sight, but I heard him hit the ground with a crunch—followed by an earsplitting scream.

  Maddox moved up to the edge and looked over it. “His arm’s broken. He’ll be fine.”

  “He deserves worse, trying to take that potshot at me,” Ambrose spat.

  I ignored him, my eyes moving up toward the platform. I hadn’t heard the trumpets announcing victory yet, and I wasn’t sure how Leo’s crazy plan had worked for him. My eyes slid from side to side at the top of the scaffolding, but found no sign of him anywhere.

  “Where is he?” I asked, taking a few steps back to try to get a better view of the top. “Is he okay?”

  “He landed near the top,” Maddox replied, following my lead. “I didn’t see what happened after he released the lines, though. I was too focused on that guy behind Ambrose.”

  “Where’re the other two guys?” I asked, my eyes darting around. If they had made it at the same time, then that meant Leo was up there fighting two people on his own. I knew he was skilled in martial arts, but even he couldn’t prevent someone else from getting lucky.

  The trumpet blasted over whatever Ambrose started to say, and I winced and began to move backward even faster. Drones were circling the third cauldron, which was now lit and burning fiercely. Standing in stark contrast against it, I recognized Leo’s silhouette as he let go of the torch he had just plunged into the cauldron. Two other figures were picking themselves off the ground, their shoulders rounded in defeat.

  He’d done it. We’d won. The relief was so strong that it felt like my legs were going to give out, and I reached out and placed a hand on Maddox’s shoulder, exhaling. “Guys, I don’t think I’m going to survive the next challenge.” I meant it as a joke, and although it wasn’t in the best taste, both Ambrose and Maddox laughed.

  “I know what you mean,” Ambrose said, shaking his head. His smile faded, and then his eyes grew distant. “Thank Scipio you were there, Liana. If you hadn’t—”

  “It’s literally my job, Ambrose,” I said, holding my hand up and forestalling any argument. “So don’t mention it.”

  He hesitated, looking deeply conflicted. I could tell he wanted to say something anyway, but couldn’t decide if it was worth it to press me or not. I, for one, did not want the gratitude. Yes, I had been doing my job—that much was true. But if I was honest with myself, I had to admit that I would’ve done it anyway. Ambrose might have been a jerk in the past, but he wasn’t all bad.

  I heard a buzzer go off, announcing the end of the match, and that was followed by a loud clang from above. I looked up to see a flat black disk being lowered from the ceiling.

  “Candidates will attach their lashes to the crane,” Scipio’s voice boomed through the cavernous space.

  I looked over at Leo to see two of the same cranes being lowered over the platform. He was already tossing his lash and connecting to one, while the two members from the enemy team used the other. Maddox, Ambrose, and I quickly attached our lashes to the disk being lowered toward us, and within moments we were being hauled up and swung over the pipe maze.

  I watched as it grew smaller the higher we rose, thinking about our attack and my brush with dea
th. Whoever our enemies were, they weren’t holding back anymore. Openly attacking us had been a major risk, especially with the weapons they’d managed to smuggle in.

  And the weapon choices, too—the pulse shields from the IT department, used here and also in the attack in the Lion’s Den, and the thermal cutter from Mechanics or the Water Department. That was new, and alarming. Surely Lacey and Strum kept a close eye on their weapons. Didn’t they?

  Because if they didn’t, they should definitely start doing so now.

  I couldn’t help but feel that the thought was too little, too late, and turned my mind toward the greater implications of what it could all mean. We were definitely going to have to use the advantage Lacey’s maps gave us—but we were also going to need to come up with something to fight back with.

  And we needed it yesterday.

  28

  We swung into the opening that had just appeared in the side of the wall, the crane patiently waiting for us to get fully inside the makeshift lashway before detaching our lashes. An official was waiting for us down at the end of the hall, by a circular staircase that must have led back to the main level.

  I ignored him, backing away from the ledge to make room for Leo as his crane settled into position in front of the door opening. He swung lightly onto the ledge, disconnecting his line, and then looked up, through everyone else and directly to me, his face instantly concerned.

  “Are you all right?” he asked. “I saw you hit that man and go down before I landed on the platform. He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

  His concern was sweet, but unnecessary. My shoulder was likely bruised, more than anything else, and with some of that salve my mother had given me, and a hot pad, I’d be right as rain before tomorrow.