Keno, Youssef, and Li Kang started across their bridge, moving with slow, deliberate steps. Their senses were on fire, scanning the water, listening for any sound from the sky. It wasn't long before the giant eagles swooped down.
As they braced for a fight, Li Kang said, "I'll handle the birds. You two watch the water. The fish are the real threat here."
They nodded, their eyes fixed on the black lake below.
As the first eagle dove, Li Kang pointed a hand at the sky. A searing red beam of energy shot from his palm and pierced the bird clean through. The massive creature fell from the sky and was immediately swarmed by fish. When the next one came, he brought it down just as easily.
"Well, this should be easy enough with you around," Youssef joked.
Keno wasn't laughing. His eyes were on the other bridges. He had seen what Sairi and Ivanov had done, stunned by their raw power. He watched as Ivanov's kick sent two fish tumbling away—and saw them change direction, now heading straight for his own team.
"Get ready," he said, his voice grim. "They're coming!"
Youssef's gaze snapped nervously to the water. Li Kang, having cleared the sky, now focused on the new threat. Two fish were leaping toward them. He glanced at Keno, who gave a sharp nod.
"I'll take the one on the right," Keno said.
The back of his hand split open, metal plates retracting to reveal the dark muzzle of a cannon. He fired. The projectile hit the fish mid-air and exploded with incredible force, tearing the creature to pieces.
At the same time, Li Kang unleashed a wave of pure heat from his hands and eyes. The thermal blast burned straight through the second fish, killing it instantly. Its charred body fell back into the lake, turning the water red.
Suddenly, an eagle they hadn't seen dove at them from behind. It was almost on top of them when Youssef shot out a hand. The bird froze in the air, held fast by an invisible force, screeching in pain and confusion. Then, Youssef's hand flashed with black metal. He lunged forward and punched the eagle with devastating force, sending it crashing into the lake.
Keno stared at him, his mechanical hand retracting back to normal.
"You steal powers?" he asked, astonished.
Youssef looked nervous. "Something like that," he admitted. "When I touch someone, I can… borrow their power. Just for five minutes. My real power is healing. Normally, I pour my energy into someone else. But I can reverse it—pull their power into me instead. You can't tell anyone. Either of you. Understood? We can't trust anyone here."
Li Kang crossed his arms. "An incredible ability. But if people know about it, they'll know your weakness."
"I know," Youssef said quietly. "That's why I keep it a secret."
"Don't worry," Li Kang assured him. "It's safe with us."
Keno said nothing. He just turned and headed for the end of the bridge.
"We need to hurry," he said, his voice clipped. "The first two teams are already across."
They made it to the other side, where Noor came over to congratulate them. In the distance, they could see Sairi and Ivanov already running, getting smaller with every second.
"We can't waste any more time," Keno said impatiently. "Let's go."
Noor sighed, his shoulders slumping. "Look at him," he said, nodding toward Akira. "He used everything he had to save us. I'm staying with him until he recovers."
Akira, hearing this, sat up straighter. "Go, Noor. Don't worry about me. I'll catch up once I've recovered. You know I can."
"No," Noor said firmly. "I owe you my life. I'm staying."
Jean added that she would stay as well. Akira argued, but Noor was stubborn. Finally, Akira fell silent, accepting that they would wait.
Keno, Youssef, and Li Kang gave a final nod and took off after the others, running toward the final stage of the deadly race.
Noor watched them go. He glanced back at the bridges, realizing the fourth team must have crossed long ago, though he hadn't seen them do it. A flicker of fear went through him—what if they'd been eaten? He pushed the thought away.
Fewer competitors means a better chance for me, a cold part of his mind whispered. He hated that thought, hated the war inside him between wanting to win and not wanting anyone else to die.
Meanwhile, on the last bridge, Ares was staring at Yassin.
"What's with the blue face?"
Yassin looked back, his expression blank. "I don't know. Is it strange?"
"Of course it's strange!" Ares shot back. "Do you see anyone else here who's blue?"
"I don't see the difference," Yassin said, his tone flat. "You have dark skin. Others have white skin. Some have narrow eyes. What is different about my face?"
Ares was speechless.
Nader, the third member of their team, leaned in and whispered, "He doesn't remember anything, just like us. Maybe he doesn't even remember what normal people look like. It's stranger than that, though. It's like he doesn't remember how to feel."
Yassin simply turned and started walking. His body dissolved into a swirl of air molecules, gusted across the bridge in a silent breeze, and reformed on the other side.
Nader watched with envy. "Lucky bastard. If I had that power, this race would already be over." He looked at Ares. "No time to waste."
"It must have limits," Ares grumbled, mostly to himself. "I just wouldn't want to be the one to find them."
He got no reply. He looked over and saw that Nader was gone.
"Where did that snake go?" he muttered angrily. "Left me talking to myself..."
He looked toward the end of the bridge and saw Nader appear out of thin air, beckoning him forward.
Invisibility, Ares thought. He has invisibility and he's jealous of the wind guy? What a hypocrite.
Ares touched the wooden planks of the bridge. His skin shifted color, perfectly matching the weathered brown wood. Like a chameleon, he crawled low and fast across the bridge, the sounds of battle from the other crossings urging him on. He made it to the other side with ease and rushed to catch up with his team.
"Alright," Akira's voice cut through Noor's thoughts. He stood up, looking energized. "I've recovered my strength. Thanks for waiting, guys. Now, let's go win this race."
The three of them set off at a run, following the countless footprints in the dust that showed the way forward.
A few minutes later, they arrived at a large, circular arena. Before them stood ten massive, closed gates. They peered through the bars of one and saw a path filled with high walls and obstacles. Another gate revealed a water channel that would need a boat. A third path looked perfectly normal, almost suspiciously easy. And beyond them all, gleaming in the distance, was the finish line.
"The finish line… finally," Jean breathed, a wave of hope washing over her. "I thought we'd never see it."
"We made it!" Akira cheered. "Now… how do we get these gates open?"
Noor found a panel next to one of the gates. He read the rules aloud. "To open a gate, you must find the keys hidden on its path. There are four keys for each gate. One key lets one person pass. All methods of getting a key are allowed. Including killing."
They stood there, the weight of the words settling on them.
"Gate five, obviously," Akira said, pointing to the easy-looking path. "It's a straight shot. We'll get there faster than anyone."
"Think, Akira," Noor countered. "If it looks easy to us, it'll look easy to everyone else. It'll be a bloodbath for those keys. Others will rush in without thinking and get themselves killed. Besides, a path that looks too simple is probably a trap. We go somewhere else."
Akira scratched his head, embarrassed. "Ah. Right. Of course. So if we choose a harder path, we might be the only ones there. A longer route, but maybe a safer one."
"Exactly," Jean said decisively. "So we've made our choice. The question is, which one? We need to hurry. The others are probably already on their way back with keys."
Noor walked along the line of gates, studying the paths. One was a maze of ropes you had to swing across, with a fatal drop below. Another was filled with a fog so thick he couldn't see two feet in front of him. A third was a steep, icy-looking slope that plunged downwards into darkness.
He stopped, his mind made up. "I know which one," he said.