Gift of the Goddess

Chapter 23- Flying too close to the sun

It was odd, I could breathe just fine. Even though I was seemingly floating in an endless sea. There was this cold sensation washing over my body, kinda like gentle waves sweeping over me. Yup, this was the same exact feeling from before.

I looked around and saw what I assumed to be the sun above me. It was like opening your eyes underwater. Soon I felt myself being pushed up by the waves, getting closer and closer to the light. I prepared myself and soon popped out. I kept my focus and shot out of the blue, and landed on the dirt ground.

I took the time and began to take in my surroundings, we were deep in the woods somewhere. It kinda looked familiar to me, but I just couldn't put my finger on it. Suddenly a roaring screech pierced through the woods from behind me. It sounded like a little girl, my adrenaline activated and I quickly summoned a sword.

I quickly turned around to an icy patch on a tree. The patch was screaming...? No, no this sound was actually sounding pretty familiar now. I lowered my sword and began to relax.

That's when Zack popped out from the ice like a kid off a slide.

He finally stopped screaming once he crashed face-first into the dirt.

He popped up quickly and frantically, holding out his hand like he was ready to shoot fire at someone.

"Where are ya frosty!? Huh!? Huh!?" Zack hollard. (He looked like he was gonna crap himself).

It had just occurred to me, we technically could still be in the challenge. The likelihood of that is low, especially since I feel like the ice healed us. But could it be a trap to lower our guard? No, if he restores my stamina he restores my ability to summon and use my eyes.

"Not bad for a couple of street rats!" I heard Jack cheer as he walked from behind the tree.

Which made me calm down.

"For Narnia!" Zack yelled as he attempted to shoot fire at Jack. But nothing came out.

"You read a book!?" I cried out in shock.

"Aaahhhhhh...... Oh." Zack said softly. "No more juice."

"Good observation Einstein." Jack sighed. " Here I was about to compliment you..."

"So...it's over?" I asked.

"Yes, the snowflake was pretty much a floating bomb of ice. I used it to heal you both and teleport you here." Jack said as he walked forward toward us.

"Arthur was right, you two just might be something. Don't get me wrong though, you both are turds. But with a whole lot of work! You two can be fine a piece of crap!" Jack cheered.

"What?" Zack asked.

"Your teamwork is your best attribute. You both compliment each other well. But that only works for when you two actually work together." He said sternly. "Stryder, you need to be more loose and confident in battle. Your hesitation nearly caused your demise in the first five minutes. There won't be a therapy session in a real fight."

"Right!" Zack cheered.

I slowly looked down to the ground in embarrassment, Jack was exactly right.

"Oh don't think you're safe! You're too confident! If Stryder didn't remind you about the level of your opponent, you wouldn't have seen me coming! Plus you're impulsive, going in thinking everything will be fine. You almost blasted Stryder away!" Jack huffed. "Like I said, your both turds."

I looked up for a moment and I could see Zack looking away from Jack, his fist balled in frustration. We were all silent for a moment.

"So what now?" I asked.