Read Online The Arena (Ultimate Soldier Book 1) by Tessa Escalera - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Tessa Escalera
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in her throat. Fighting back tears, she jumped up and grabbed her backpack, stealing a gaze at the darkness of the tunnel beyond the fire. She set the pot of stew near Katie's head on the off chance the young woman woke and was able to eat. For one single, horrible moment, she considered leaving all this behind, dropping everything and running back to the cave-in, to take her chances with the loose rocks. For one aching heartbeat, she imagined climbing out, seeing that new forest in its entirety, the possibility of escaping the wolves forever. I could be free of all this...forever.
Just as quickly, she reclaimed her runaway thoughts and slung the backpack over her shoulders, taking one last glance at the still figure on the floor before heading for the ladder. She slung Seeker over her shoulders before heading down the rough wooden rungs and across the clearing into the gray mist.
At the edge of the trees, she stopped to look back, taking one last glance at the yawning black hole with the ladder leading up to it. The rain fell across the clearing like a curtain, obscuring her view of the tunnel until it looked like something seen in a dream. Sighing, Lila settled the backpack on her shoulders and turned away, plunging into the forest.
Chapter 5: Into the Storm
The rain, which had grown into a downpour, had soaked Lila by the time she and Seeker had gone a hundred feet through the forest . Her hair stuck to her face and neck and her clothes clung to her skin, heavy with water. The only landmark she knew to look for was the little stream that ran from the Cliffs, past the mansion and on southward toward the plains. She carried the worn and faded map of the Arena that she had found in the mansion years ago. The Arena looked a bit like the three layers of an egg, with the Cliffs forming the impregnable shell, then inside that a thick band of forest with a roughly circular patch in the middle that formed the grassland Protector had called the plains. Lila's tunnel was on the very north side of the Arena. On the southwest side of the plains was a lake, and all the streams that originated from the Cliffs ran toward it. Lila's plan was simple, if more time consuming than she would like―she would follow the Cliffs until she came to the next stream, then follow it toward the plains. If she reached the grassland, she knew she had not come far enough and would follow the edge of the woods until she reached the next body of water. When she and Protector had left the mansion, they had made it several miles to the west of Lila's tunnel by the time the older woman had disappeared. When Lila had finally given her mentor up for lost, she had wandered in a daze, hardly caring if she lived or died, not bothering to hunt and barely eating or sleeping. She had seen the streams only as sources of water, not landmarks. By the time she had happened across the tunnel she had been hopelessly lost and more than half starved, certainly not coherent enough to know where she was.
Since she followed the Cliffs instead of ranging south like they did when they hunted, she had to fight her way through a pathless forest full of saplings, vines and trailing branches that grabbed at her hair and shoulders. Seeker panted at her side, as the dog wove her way through the tangled undergrowth. The only blessing was that here in the trees the rain did not come down as hard. There was a constant drip-drip-drip as drops fell from the leaves overhead onto the thick carpet of leaf litter and dirt. The woods were silent but for the fall of water and the barely audible sound of Lila's feet against the ground. Even the squirrels and birds had the sense to hide from the weather, with only the occasional twitter of a finch revealing a bird that was braver than most. Lila hoped the muted sunlight coming through the clouds, along with the drenching rain, was enough to keep the wolves asleep for the day. Even so, she tread as quietly as she could and only used
Just as quickly, she reclaimed her runaway thoughts and slung the backpack over her shoulders, taking one last glance at the still figure on the floor before heading for the ladder. She slung Seeker over her shoulders before heading down the rough wooden rungs and across the clearing into the gray mist.
At the edge of the trees, she stopped to look back, taking one last glance at the yawning black hole with the ladder leading up to it. The rain fell across the clearing like a curtain, obscuring her view of the tunnel until it looked like something seen in a dream. Sighing, Lila settled the backpack on her shoulders and turned away, plunging into the forest.
Chapter 5: Into the Storm
The rain, which had grown into a downpour, had soaked Lila by the time she and Seeker had gone a hundred feet through the forest . Her hair stuck to her face and neck and her clothes clung to her skin, heavy with water. The only landmark she knew to look for was the little stream that ran from the Cliffs, past the mansion and on southward toward the plains. She carried the worn and faded map of the Arena that she had found in the mansion years ago. The Arena looked a bit like the three layers of an egg, with the Cliffs forming the impregnable shell, then inside that a thick band of forest with a roughly circular patch in the middle that formed the grassland Protector had called the plains. Lila's tunnel was on the very north side of the Arena. On the southwest side of the plains was a lake, and all the streams that originated from the Cliffs ran toward it. Lila's plan was simple, if more time consuming than she would like―she would follow the Cliffs until she came to the next stream, then follow it toward the plains. If she reached the grassland, she knew she had not come far enough and would follow the edge of the woods until she reached the next body of water. When she and Protector had left the mansion, they had made it several miles to the west of Lila's tunnel by the time the older woman had disappeared. When Lila had finally given her mentor up for lost, she had wandered in a daze, hardly caring if she lived or died, not bothering to hunt and barely eating or sleeping. She had seen the streams only as sources of water, not landmarks. By the time she had happened across the tunnel she had been hopelessly lost and more than half starved, certainly not coherent enough to know where she was.
Since she followed the Cliffs instead of ranging south like they did when they hunted, she had to fight her way through a pathless forest full of saplings, vines and trailing branches that grabbed at her hair and shoulders. Seeker panted at her side, as the dog wove her way through the tangled undergrowth. The only blessing was that here in the trees the rain did not come down as hard. There was a constant drip-drip-drip as drops fell from the leaves overhead onto the thick carpet of leaf litter and dirt. The woods were silent but for the fall of water and the barely audible sound of Lila's feet against the ground. Even the squirrels and birds had the sense to hide from the weather, with only the occasional twitter of a finch revealing a bird that was braver than most. Lila hoped the muted sunlight coming through the clouds, along with the drenching rain, was enough to keep the wolves asleep for the day. Even so, she tread as quietly as she could and only used
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